Christmas 2009 Stokes Family Update!

Tim said recently that when you are reading a good book and you come to the end you are kind of sad because you really enjoyed it and got to know the characters and now you are left wondering when the next one in the series will come out so you can find out what's going to happen. We were pondering together that we feel like there is a significant ending taking place in our lives and we are glad we can trust the Author, because we don't know what's going to happen when we open to the first chapter in the next book!

As most of you reading this know already, we are moving back to Minnesota at the end of this month. The plan is that we will live with Tim's parents in Coon Rapids, MN, until God makes it clear what we are supposed to do next (or until they kick us out. haha.) Tim has a computer/IT job in Saint Paul (we are very thankful for) beginning early January. So God has really provided for us. My parents still have their house in northern Minnesota on the market and if they are able to sell in the near future, we will hopefully find a house with them in or near the Twin Cities. My parents are doing a remarkable job of hanging in there up in the frozen "boondocks" but my mom's stage in Parkinson's requires 24-hour care and we hope to aid my dad who is her sole care-giver right now.

It is a bittersweet time in our lives. We are excited to be closer to family and dear friends; we are sad to leave all the beginnings here. . . our children were starting to flourish here with their various schools and activities and we were starting to really invest in some sweet relationships we will miss dearly. But for many reasons, the "cloud" has clearly moved. I have been reminded that God wastes nothing - He had everything to do with us uprooting our family and coming here to minister at Victory Baptist in February of 2008 and He has everything to do with the exact timing of us being called back to Minnesota for the start of 2010. We certainly do not understand it all, but we are experiencing His grace and provision day after day and have every reason to be hopeful as we celebrate our Emmanuel - God is with us wherever He leads. What a joy and comfort that is for our family this Christmas!

Since my last update, Ruth has celebrated her 9th birthday, played flute in her first band concert, performed her book 2 cello recital, and got glasses. Ruth's teachers and classmates at her school and at church have made it clear that they will miss such a sweet and gifted young lady. Rachel has performed in her first orchestra concert with CKYO, played beautifully for her piano recital and her book 4 violin recital, and perhaps will leave the biggest hole at Victory Baptist for this reason: she gives hugs every week and shows such an interest in so many older or lonely people at the church that they have made it clear how much they love Rachel and will miss her. Sometimes I think her sweet hugs and giggles have meant more than anything we could give with our hours of music. Our children can minister more than we sometimes realize! Even Joseph and Bekah have been blessings! Joseph is learning to read and enjoyed his first half of the year in kindergarten here. Bekah is just such a little conversationalist now - if you get the chance, sit down and have a chat with her. She's just a little charmer. She also has a sweet singing voice!

Have a blessed Christmas and celebrate Jesus humbling Himself in obedience to His father and making a REALLY big move - from heaven to earth - so we can experience the reverse. Love to you all and your families! (posting pics of Victory's staff party, my piano students, and fun kid pics.)

Another Season of God's Faithfulness!

Summer, winter, springtime and harvest. . . our Lord is faithful in every season. I have been looking at the beautiful leaves lately and just being in awe of how the beauty of nature can lift my spirits. And that is only a glimpse of the beauty of our great God - imagine how all of our cares will lift when we truly see Him in all of His glory! . . . Anyway, I haven't sent out an update in several months and I have wanted to for quite a while, so here goes!

My parents visited us a couple weeks ago from Northern Minnesota. It was so good to see them and spend some time. We did manage to hit the races at Keenland on a beautiful fall day - saw the Kentucky Derby winner, Calvin, racing and had a good time watching the horses up close. My dad and Tim took the girls to a Lexington Philharmonic concert and heard an awesome cellist. We went to a park and fed ducks one day, made pumpkin pies and ate a lot, and just got to hang out and enjoy games with my mom and see the kids buzz around with the excitement of this long-awaited visit.

Some exciting things have been going on in the lives of our young musicians. Rachel auditioned for the youth orchestra here in Lexington and made it into the Concert Orchestra. This was a big achievement, since she is only 10 and has only been playing violin for 2 years. There is a preparatory orchestra that she bypassed and now she is playing some pretty serious orchestral music! We are looking forward to her first concert in a couple of weeks. Rachel and Ruth are both playing in a chamber music ensemble each week. It has been delightful to listen to them progress from their first rehearsal to their first performance this past week. They have a coach but Rachel is the leader as the only violinist - she begins and ends pieces. Then there are two violists and two cellists, Ruth being on of those. Rachel also just performed a Bach double violin concerto with her teacher playing the other violin part and me accompanying. That was so much fun and I can't wait to do it again soon. Rachel is continuing to progress as a pianist, too. I look forward to hearing Beethoven or Mozart to start my days. I am so thankful for a musical family - what a blessing!

Ruth has so enjoyed her new school, SCAPA, where she is dabbling in all the fine arts each week but focusing on her major - strings. Not only is she excelling in her cello playing, she is learning to play the flute in band. SCAPA is doing the musical, Peter Pan, in a couple of weeks and all the fourth graders get to be lost boys, including Ruth. You feel the buzz of excitement when you walk into the school and see dancers and actors and singers and all the other little artists busily working toward this production. Ruth will be a lost boy for two performances and will play her cello in a pre-show ensemble in front of the curtain for the other two. Then in December, we'll get to hear her SCAPA strings ensemble and band in performance. We're also hoping for Rachel and Ruth to do a more complete recital in December on their instruments. And in church they are looking forward to beginning handbells, among other things!

Well, you must be thinking "music, music, music" after hearing that. But as I consider the life of our family, these things are measurable achievements I can write in a blog update like this. There is a lot more than musical growth and change going on that is just harder to report. So bear with me! Joseph and Rebekah don't have many musical achievements to blog about, though they are doing well. Joseph is enjoying Kindergarten half-days this year and doing very well. I was not at all surprised by the teacher's comments, "Joseph participates in all classroom discussions." What an understatement that must be. This kid does not know a stranger! He does not merely "participate" but initiates conversations with anyone and everyone, sometimes much to my amusement. He is such a joy to so many with his unabashed friendliness and enthusiasm. :)

Rebekah turned three in August and continues to be extremely tall for her age. She is interested in princessy things like most girls her age. She does seem to have an aptitude for drawing and coloring - it's what she has always loved to do for hours so we'll see where that goes. She is growing in her vocabulary and communicating new things to us each day. And as always, she lives up to her middle name, "Joy," with her cheerful, laid back disposition. She tries to remind me when I call her my baby that she isn't a baby anymore. That's kind of sad to have no more babies, but for those of you who know Tim . . . well, let's just say I had better not mention that to him. :)

We are very much looking forward to visiting Minnesota at Christmas time and for anyone who has not been in touch with us lately and wants to be, feel free to email us at dmgstokes@gmail.com or write to us at 3512 Mildara Ct. Lexington, KY 40515

Hope you enjoy a few of our recent pics. God bless!

Summertime Stokes' Update!

Well, I'm sadly behind on blogging so I will have to sum up the last few months. Great to see many of you up in Minnesota! Our trip up there at the end of May/beginning of June was way too short and busy and we wish we could have spent more time up there but we still made some good memories. Thanks to those who helped Tim paint on our house up there, too. And it was fun to have two weddings in one week - Tim's brother, Mike's and my nephew Andrew's! Partly, that made it convenient for us to see a lot of people at one time and it is wonderful to celebrate these new marriages.

When we came home, the girls' did a strings camp and then got the opportunity to play for someone's wedding a couple of weeks later. They worked hard and it was a very rewarding experience for them. . . and for us as well. Then Rachel also attended a sewing camp and enjoyed every minute of that; she always has to keep those hands busy and useful.

We also took a short trip up to southern Illinois towards the end of June for a Stokes' family reunion (Tim's dad's side of the family) and though it was short, it was a lot of fun to stay at his Aunt Kathy's country home with the hummingbirds and meet a lot of wonderful relatives, some who we already knew and some we were meeting for the first time.

And now, we've all just been enjoying swimming either at the Y's outdoor pool or our backyard above-ground pool. It's been a beautiful summer after a very rainy spring. Can't complain of too much heat and yet there's been plenty of warm, sunshiny days. It's going by fast, though, when I remember that school here begins August 12! That just sounds way too early.

The main big news we have to share right now for those of you who haven't heard this yet: my parents are selling their property up in Northern Minnesota and planning to move down here and buy a house with us! We are very glad and excited about this, though it is sad that my mom has been struggling with more and more affects of her Parkinson's disease. And certainly, that is my childhood home and I will miss it. But I do hope and pray for a quick sale of their house and hope you will join me! The winters are milder in Kentucky than Northern Minnesota and well, we're here and we love them!

I hope you are all enjoying the summer! God bless!

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!

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