Happy Easter and Springtime!

It has been a busy time for us these last couple of months, but I thought it was about time to send some pictures and greetings. We are looking forward to a visit to Minnesota at the end of May/beginning of June and are so excited to see our friends and family up there! It's been too long. Even so, we have been really starting to build relationships here and that is such a blessing. Some of the pictures you see include special friends here.
Kentucky spring has had some pretty extreme temperature variations, but overall I can't complain. Spring is a beautiful season here; I just commented today that I can't ever remember the kids hunting eggs in grass that was actually green already in Minnesota. Has that ever happened up there??? I think we were usually just happy if they didn't have to wear their winter coats and hunt eggs in the snow. :)
So as far as what's up with us right now - our homeschool co-op has finished for the year, we have the kids in swim lessons at the Y, I'm doing some playing "gigs" this month and getting my students ready for a May recital, Joseph just learned to ride his bike without training wheels - yahoo!!, Bekah is mostly potty-trained - double yahoo!!!!, and our Rachel is about to hit the double digits - WHOA! (birthday - April 20) Oh, I left Tim out of that list - he's probably a little relieved that Holy Week services are behind him as enjoyable as they can be, he's hoping to run and bike more, still homeschooling the girls and helping them with cello and violin, and he also was asked recently to be the President of the musical organization here that the girls take their string lessons through. . . so he'll stay busy as usual.
Looking ahead we have Tim's brother's wedding and my nephew's wedding up in Minnesota when we come up for a visit, then hopefully a more relaxing summer than last year - we moved again in the middle of summer last year and as of now we'll probably keep renting here another year - then mid-August the schools start here and not only will Ruth have a big change being in the arts school, Joseph will be in Kindergarten half-day at our local public school. I'll be homeschooling Rachel (with some help from Tim) and of course, my Bekah will still be home with me too.
We ask for your prayers as we continue to discuss how to handle our house in Minnesota - keep renting? . . . try to sell now? try to sell later? Ultimately, we are trusting God to guide in this and every other change and decision that may present itself. He has taken us through some difficult things this past year, but He is alive and ever-present with us - we couldn't still be smiling without His hope and peace. All of our plans are "IF the Lord wills. . . " and we know He is working it all for good. God bless!

Our Kentucky Winter

Hello to everyone! It's been a long time since I've blogged - I'm long overdue on this. We've had a lot of exciting things going on in our lives and I've been kept pretty busy!

Kentucky winter certainly has kept us on our toes (or our butts) and has made life interesting, too. As many of you know about the ice storm, I will just tell you our perspective on it. It was amazingly beautiful but incredibly destructive. We heard many thunderous crashes and our streets were messes of split apart trees. Thankfully, we were among those who did not lose power because our lines are buried in this neighborhood. I took a couple of pictures that don't necessarily capture it. Every detail of every bush, branch, leaf, pine needle, holly berry, fencepost, etc... was encased thickly in ice. I really wish I had brought my camera on a walk a few days after the ice storm - right before it all melted. It was a bright sunny day and all the trees looked like they were studded with diamonds. I have never seen anything quite like it in all my years of beautiful Minnesota winters. Anyway, we've not only had ice - we've also had some pretty decent snow this year. It comes and goes more quickly than Minnesota, of course, and I almost missed getting a picture of my kid's first Kentucky snowman before he melted.

In early February, we finally found out about the fine arts magnet school that Ruth had auditioned for. She not only was selected but according to someone we know from our church who works there she was put on their "prodigy" list. I guess that just means they think she has exceptional gifting. It was difficult for Ruthie to consider being in a school next year when she's a very comfortable little home-school girl (plenty of time for snuggling up with Nancy Drew.) And as of yet Rachel has not auditioned and will be home, which will be different for Rachel and Ruth not to be doing the same thing - Rachel may try next year for her sixth grade year because two spots open up for sixth graders. But when all was said and done, Ruth was the one to check the "accept" box on the card we were to send in and I think she's mostly excited about it. We've been visiting half-day kindergarten options for Joe (which are all private) so we will see what happens in the world of financial aid!

On Valentine's Day, Rachel and Ruth gave their first recital with just the two of them - solo cello and solo violin. It was their Suzuki "book" recital - Ruth, book 1, and Rachel, book 3. I had the honor of accompanying them and they both did an amazing job. It was a lot of hard work and preparation, but was a good experience for all of us. Ruth knew her book one pieces so well that her teacher had suggested having the audience pick hearts out of a basket with titles of the works on them and reading them out. That was fun, and of course the girls enjoyed making the valentine treats with Mommy for the reception almost as much as performing. (maybe more?)

Our performing wasn't done that weekend when the recital was over. We had a variety show at our church and Rachel played piano, Ruth played cello, the girls did a skit with some other kids, Tim did the sound board, and I - well, I lived out a teenage fantasy. I dressed as much as I could like 80's pop star, Debbie Gibson (who actually tended more 50's sometimes in her outfits) and performed her hit "Lost in Your Eyes" with the live band backing me up. I had way too much fun doing that. :)

Our next performance as a family will be March 12 for the Young At Heart group at our church. Tim and I plan to play a duet, we'll have the girls play their instruments and we'll just do their evening music program as a family. Fun stuff - I look forward to doing this kind of thing more as our family grows and the kids' skills grow.

After all the talk of Rachel and Ruth and music performances, I have to say that my Joseph has put in some good basketball performances for a boy his age. He made his first basket in an actual game a couple of weeks ago! I am a proud Momma! He's such a cute little 5-year old ball player and he is playing on a team right now of other cute little players. It's so fun to watch those little guys play. Sometimes you wonder how many legs the ball will go through before someone gets it or why some guy is blocking his own teammate or going to shoot on the wrong side of the court, but next thing you know they are doing so amazingly well for their age, the laughter stops and the cheering begins. Joe's a pretty good shot, too. It's just taking time for him to familiarize himself with how a game actually works, but he's getting better all the time.

I realize I bragged on everyone but Rebekah in this blog. My Bekah's claim to her Mommy's heart right now is that during her nasty stomach sickness of this past week she made doubly sure that I get a new couch. Thanks, Bek! Seriously, though, you all know how I love my baby.

God bless and keep in touch!

Minnesota Christmas/Kentucky New Year

We enjoyed our week in Minnesota over Christmas so much. What a blessing it was to spend time with our families and our friends! The all-night drives (though painful) were well worth it and we hope to do it again not too long from now.

We drove through the night Christmas Eve, leaving after our service here, and arrived at Tim's parent's house Christmas morning. It was such fun to see and explore their new home. What a beautiful place - we're very happy for them. (The scenic picture is from their back patio.) There is always a lot going on at the Stokes' house and our kids like to get right in the middle of it all. They loved the time there, sledding every day, horseback riding with Abbie, cribbage and other card games, staying up late and giggling with Mary, seeing their cousins Caleb, Angela, Emily, Isaac, Hannah, and even a visit to the new arrival (Cai) before we headed out of town, playing their instruments for everyone, good food everywhere, Grandma and Grandpa time etc... Partly, I just enjoyed seeing the kids reconnect with everyone. And I can't wait for Josh to send us the full Stokes family picture. . . I was just impressed that we ALL made it.

We also enjoyed our family Christmas time we had set aside with my parents, my sister Diane and my brother Eric, and my nieces and nephews (Andrew and his fiance Brittany, Jenni, Amber, and Christiano.) It was a blessing to all be together for those few hours on Saturday, sharing a meal and gifts and musical talents and just hangin' out. I'm glad we got some good pics - maybe we'll get the full family one next time. . . or at Andrew's wedding.

Not only did we enjoy our families, we also had some great time with our friends up there. We got to visit Faith Baptist and see many delighfully familiar faces, spending more time with some folks from there for lunch and dessert, etc... We celebrated Joe's 5-year old birthday with his best friend Sammy and that was such a blessing for our families to see each other and spend time together. Rachel and Ruth had play-dates and sleepovers with very special friends, we spent a fun New Year's Eve at the Chernyavsky's - the games were awesome. :)

Tim also worked on some details regarding the rental of our house there, which is where we are with that right now. It's not for sale at the moment - we pulled it off the market and are renting it until we pray and perceive the next step. As of now, our New Year still finds us in "Who-knows-ville" in that regard, but we are thankful for God's presence and promises as we start 2009 with much uncertainty about our circumstances. The only rock is our Lord God and He is unchanging.

Happy New Year and thanks to all of our wonderful friends and family for your love!

MORE PICS!

PICTURES FOR MY CHRISTMAS POST

The Stokes family wishes you a very blessed Christmas.

We are looking forward to seeing some of you soon. Today was in the 50's here, so make sure you keep some snow for us. It has been a busy time of year for us as I'm sure for most of you. We had our "Victory Family Christmas" this morning with lots of music and kids involvement and it was a delightful time though we are, of course, exhausted. It is such a joy to praise Him during this season through music. We feel very blessed as musicians. Like the little drummer boy story, sometimes it feels like a song is all we have to offer him. But if it flows from our hearts, even if our hands are empty, not only does Jesus accept our gift but He gives us so much more than we could ever deserve - grace upon grace.

We are thankful for a really good time with the Chernyavsky's over Thanksgiving weekend. We had wondered how to celebrate Ruth's 8th birthday and having them here was such a cool present for Ruth that it didn't matter much what we did. Although we did do some fun things that weekend. . . southern lights at the Kentucky Horse Park, swimming at the hotel, girls sleepover, birthday pancake breakfast with both our families and Tim's godfather, etc.. It was great having them here.

The next week I had my student piano recital, which though we videotaped it I don't have pictures of it right now. It was my first time with (almost) all my students here together and was very rewarding. That same day Ruth auditioned for the performing arts school here in Lexington and did, we've heard, a great job. We will hear for sure in January whether she will be accepted or not.

As I reflect back on this year, I remember when we were planning this move, our first major move as a family, to Kentucky, and Joseph kept asking things like, "Is there McDonald's in Kentucky?" "Is there Target in Kentucky?" Is Thomas the Train in Kentucky?" "Will my toys be in Kentucky?" And for all of us, there have been times of uncertainty and questioning, "Is Jesus in Kentucky? Is He really here with us through all we are dealing with?" We know now that there are Christmas trees and parties and lights and crazy shopping frenzies and music in December in Kentucky. Joseph now knows there is even McDonald's and Thomas the Train. And yes, there is Jesus. May you know Him this season wherever you are.

The drama continues. . .

We are very thankful for all of God's blessings to us this Thanksgiving season. The Lord has been faithful to provide for us during a difficult season of our lives. There has been uncertainty, waiting on the Lord for answers, and many pressures lately. Our house not selling in Minnesota continues to be a question mark for us, the fact that our church here has had to cut staff salaries a certain percentage across the board come January, questions regarding our education choices for the kids. . . but through it all, the body of believers here and there has supported us and we've always received just what we've needed and then some. So many unexpected and anonymous givers! We hope we will learn how to be as generous as others have been to us. And we see God's heart for us displayed through His body which is precious. This keeps us hoping, keeps us seeking, and keeps us thankful.

Meanwhile, our family of four young children is enough drama in and of itself! Today for their homeschool group, the kids dressed up as different historic characters - Rachel was Dolley Madison, Ruth was Laura Ingalls, and Joseph was Buffalo Bill. There have been some exciting things happening with our kids. On the musical side of things, Rachel has played on the worship team with her violin, Rachel and Ruth have started playing Christmas duets with violin and cello, Ruth has an audition on Dec. 6th for a performing arts school and we also have the piano recital for my students that day. Joseph, though he likes to play three blind mice on the piano, is not yet into studying an instrument. However, he is totally excited about starting basketball in January! We have him signed up for a neat program here. And Rebekah's latest news is that she is doing a good job of potty training - though we're not quite there yet.

Thanksgiving will not bring us home to Minnesota this year, though we so look forward to our Christmas visit. We do have some excitement Thanksgiving weekend, though. We have an invitation for dinner on Thursday from friends and then we have our good friends from Minnesota, the Chernyavsky's, coming to visit on their way down to Florida on Friday and Saturday! We are all so blessed by that, especially Ruth who is turning 8 years old on Saturday and will get to have her good friend Sienna here. Perfect timing!

I will include some pictures of our kids, our little bitty snow we had :) and Tim with the other staff here. It's hard to believe the holiday season is upon us. My next blog will probably be our Christmas letter! Giving thanks for all of you. . .