Benjamin is 3!!!

Wow, here I am again blogging about another birthday in our family. Time goes by so quickly and the kids are growing up way too fast! In another way, it seems like Benjamin has always been a part of our family. God has given this precious boy such a sweet personality and an enjoyable character. I pray daily that God will develop strong character in him and He is an amazing little boy. I love to hear what people have to say about him because he makes us so proud.

Benjamin Teaches Mommy About Perspective: The kids were all peeling little oranges for a snack the other day and Benjamin approached me with his orange saying, "Mommy it won't work". I turned around to realize that he was referring to having trouble peeling the orange I had given him. I told him to bring it to me and I would help him. As he started walking towards me I noticed that he was dripping orange juice all the way across the kitchen so I said, "Oh Benjamin, your dripping juice all over the floor!" His response: "But Mommy, it's all a part of God's plan." All of the sudden I didn't mind that there was juice on the floor. :-)

February

I always have intentions of posting more pictures, then the time goes by so quickly!! I can't believe February is gone...and it's nearly mid-March! We have been keeping ourselves very busy. The kids are still loving school.

Katelynn has started taking piano lessons and is really enjoying that a lot. Olivia has become quite the reading machine around here, moving very quickly through her "word sets" and getting her name on the star! Benjamin is growing up so fast...and still making us smile. He says the funniest things - mostly because he sounds like a grown-up when he says it! His newest manipulation tool when we say something he doesn't particularly like is to cross his arms and say, "But that's gonna make me cry".

We've had a interesting few weeks with all of the Middle East protests. The only way we have been affected so far is that we haven't been allowed to travel to Bahrain. We've made regular trips to Bahrain every 3-4 weeks, just to get a break from the chlaustrophobia of Saudi. It's amazing what a breath of fresh air it brings to be able to do that. You may have heard about the "day of rage" planned for Saudi on March 11 and 20th. It's been a little unsettling and we're praying that it remains calm and doesn't go into chaos. Please pray for us to remain safe and feel God's presence with us here. We are not called to live in fear.

These are just a few pictures from this month. Enjoy them! We'll keep you updated on the situation here.

Yay!! Beach weather!

Olivia and her good friend, Taf.

We had our first Texas visitor!! Thank you Rick for coming to see us - it was SO FUN having you here and showing you around our new life.

Ruben has become the big brother Benjamin never had. He totally adores him! He most often refers to him as "my friend Ruben". Ruben skyped Benjamin one day and asked him to come over and play, so this is Ruben taking Benjamin to his house to play. It was the cutest thing ever and Benjamin will never forget the day that Ruben let him play in his room! (he's usually banned because he destroys all of his lego ships.)