a very quick update...

It seems like we have been soooo busy lately!  We have had lots of homework, lots of enjoying the BEAUTIFUL weather, and lots of getting together with friends and missionaries who were visiting the school(which results in late nights)...and no time for blogging.  So we are excited for our Spring Break, which starts after classes tomorrow!  I am hoping and planning to play some major catch-up on the blog next week (which we will be spending back home, with our parents--fun!!). 

Anyway, just wanted everyone to know we are still here, still loving training, and still excited about missions!  In fact, the more we learn the more excited we are!  Not excited in the sense that it will be so much fun, but excited in that we are learning more and more from the Word about God and His heart for the unreached peoples.  So we are so thankful for that. 

We are looking forward to catching up with many friends and family members this coming week...and hopefully I will be able to do lots of blog posts! 

Here is a cute picture of the 2 youngest members of our family...Daisy and Israel.  These 2 are so cute!  They will be good friends:)

More to come next week!!

check out my friend's giveaway...

My good friend, Sarah, is having a great giveaway on her blog!  It is for a thirty-one bag (they are awesome!)  The consultant, Bethany, is a good friend of mine, too.  So go to Sarah's blog to check it out!!

LOVING this weather!!

Wow.  This weather has been amazing!  As you all know, this time of year can seem kind of loooooong.  So we were very pumped to get outside!  Today it is especially warm, but these pictures are from earlier this week.  We went to the park with Aaron and Jill's family after supper one evening, and our kids had a blast.

Between our two families, we had to bring 4 strollers and a scooter:)  I'm sure we looked like quite a crew, walking down Michigan Avenue!  Since Nathan and I don't have a double stroller, we have to pack our kids in.  Halle likes to ride in her "little house", as she likes to call it.

Daisy absolutely loved the walk!  I was telling Jill, last summer Daisy was just 3-4 months old, so she really doesn't ever remember being outside (besides just being carted to the van in her carseat in the bitter cold)  So she was loving the outdoors:)

The swings were a big hit!

I thought this was soooo cute!  Our friends Stephen and Rachel taught us this last year.  I didn't even know these swings could be used for 2 babies, but it works so great! Daisy and Israel were loving it.  They were in this swing for probably a good 20 minutes or so!

And then we put Layla and Ivy together!  It was definitely a tighter fit, but they liked it for a little while at least:)

 I love this:)

So much fun!  Yay for spring!

Halle's birthday post...

Halle celebrated her 4th birthday this past weekend!!  I think 4 sounds so much older than 3...like she is not so little anymore:(  But that's okay, because the older she gets, the more she continues to delight and entertain us with her amazing God-given personality!  She is so much fun!

So Halle's birthday was this past Saturday (March 3).  We traveled to Bluffton the day before and spent Friday evening with Nathan's parents.  Mom M. made a really good dessert and Halle was thrilled to have her first celebration:

 We were so glad Gma Steffen could be there, too!

So that was a really fun evening!  The next morning, Halle woke up and was so excited that she was finally 4 years old!!

My dad told the kids a story at breakfast, like he always does when we eat breakfast at their house:)  (He pretends the salt and pepper shakers, the cinnamon shaker, etc are people in our family and he "acts out" the story.  Our kids LOVE it!!)

Kaine, Halle and Layla had fun getting into my parents' dress-up clothes:)

Then Nathan and I took Kaine and Halle out for lunch.  We did this for Kaine's birthday, also, and it was so much fun!  We let Halle choose and of course she chose McDonald's :)

(Kaine and Halle started to get cold, so we shared our coats...it was so cute!)

Then we got back to my parents' house and my mom had a cake for Halle:

So we had a small celebration right after lunch for Halle's birthday.  We are planning to have her official party in April (combined with Daisy's).  She will have a special cake, pinata, etc then.  I'm sure I will post plenty of pictures of that in April!

That evening, we went to Nick and Jessica's house with our friends...it was so fun, as always!  We love our friends:)

And Halle had another candle to blow out there!  Jessica was so thoughtful and gave Halle a present from all the kids, too.  Halle loved it:)

Happy birthday to our sweet Halle Rae.  We love her so much and are incredibly grateful to God for blessing us with her for 4 years!  (so far!)  We can't get enough of this sweetie:)