Back to School

Last month, we joined the Nickel clan and took the kids back to the place where Ryan and I met over 12 years ago...Michigan State University! I graduated with a degree in Business and Ryan with his in Building Construction Management. We never thought we'd end up back in Michigan after living in Chicago, California, Budapest and Maui, but we love it here and this is our home. Here we are at the 4H Gardens.Peyton, Jenna, Jacob, Riley & Malia

We're all in our Spartan Green!

We wouldn't miss the MSU Dairy Store for some homemade ice cream!

Ryan and Mark were roommates in college here at Wonders Hall.
Now look at how grown up they are!!

Spartan Stadium

What a great day! The girls can't wait to grow up and go to college. They think college is a huge ice cream store with lots of cows. :) Good night!

Locks of Love

The day after Lucas was born, I decided to chop my hair and donate it to Locks of Love, a non-profit organization that provides wigs for children battling cancer. Ryan provided his usual caution by reminding me that my hormones were running crazy and that I might regret an impulsive decision. I've had long hair most of my life and thought this would be a good way to start the summer with 3 kids while doing something good for another person. Here's my before picture...

At the salon, my stylist kept asking over and over again if I was sure that I wanted to cut my hair. She finally asked me why I was doing this and I told her that I had a little baby at home. She asked, "Is your baby sleeping through the night?" I hesitated for a moment and said, "Hmmm...tonight's his first night at home but I'm pretty sure he won't be sleeping through the night." She was in hysterics and yelled across the salon to tell everyone the news.

The Perrault family delivered a cookie bouquet to celebrate Lucas' birth!

I like my haircut! I usually hit Fantastic Sam's 10 mins before closing for a cheap, fast & low maintenance cut. I got a FREE cut when donating 12 inches at a fancy salon! I think I prefer long hair but this was a worthwhile thing to do. Glad I did it!!

Uncle Jerry's Farm

This weekend, we drove up north to Cadillac, Ryan's hometown in Michigan for a family party and bunked up at Uncle Jerry's farmhouse. It was a fun weekend and a great reminder that "less is more". Here's the fresh water well pump. The kids played with it all weekend!

Uncle Jerry opened his barn for the kids to see how the cows were fed. Uncle Jerry grows corn, tomatoes, potatoes, etc and has LOTS of land, tractors and old fashioned vehicles.

We enjoyed quality time with Dad & Mom Husted, Uncle Jerry and Kent, Becky & the boys! Here's Riley on a tractor ride! She loved it!Lake Cadillac...Ryan's childhood memories
Malia & cousin Elijah

The kids loved playing together and making LOTS of noise!! Riley got 3 stings from a nest of yellow jackets she stepped on while picking apples off the tree.

Lucas chillin' with dad.

Duck, duck goose with all the cousins We can't wait to go back for another visit this summer! Riley said she wants to live on the farm.

Faith at HOME

I just finished a proposal for Family Ministry at Trinity. Here are some shocking statistics from The Barna Research Institute:

• 85% of parents believe they have the primary responsibility for the moral and spiritual develoment of their children, yet 2 out of 3 of them abdicate that responsibility to their church.
• Fewer than 10% of parents who regularly attend church read the Bible with their kids, pray together (other than meal times) or participate in an act of service as a family unit.
• 90% of kids active in high school youth groups drop out of church by the time they are sophomores in college. One third will never return.

A study was conducted by the Search Institute to determine what influenced teens in their faith. The results showed that mom and dad are 2-3 times more influential than any church program yet only 12% of churched youth have ever talked with their mom about faith and only 5% of churched youth have talked with their dad about faith. What's the problem?

• Families today have more things competing for their time than ever before.
• Just as parents take their kids to soccer, piano or school to learn a skill, they take their children to church for them to learn faith.
• Many parents feel ill-equipped to lead their children in the faith.

So, what do we do? We must re-establish the home as the primary place where faith is nurtured. While parents have the God-given responsibility, the church serves as a vital partner. What if we equipped parents to live out their faith at home with a new skill each year of their child's life? Prayer, serving, devotions, Bible reading, etc. Imagine what would happen if every family learned a new skill each year from the birth of their child until that child reached age 14. Even if you took a cynical look and claimed that over the course of 14 years, a family only engages in 3 faith skills, at least they are doing 3 more than they were before! A family serving together for Christ will be changed. A family prayinb together will be changed. A family reading the Bible together will be changed. In the long run, we'll see transformed families!

God designed the home as the primary place for spiritual formation. A strong family is where "the Word" becomes "flesh and blood" in the context of real relationships. Our perception of God is heavily influenced by the relationship we have with our parents - for good or bad. The church needs to keep fulfilling its role with excellence but the time has come for us to call the family to fulfill its role and help them do so in an intentional manner. We must re-establish faith at home and this is what I'll be giving myself to for this next ministry season.

Baby Pictures!

We took Lucas and the girls to our favorite photographer, Kristy Taylor. She's a friend and does a great job with the kids!! Here are a few of our favorite pictures... Look at those tiny toes!!The girls ADORE their baby brother. They always ask to hold him and completely smother him with love. Malia will hold him til he cries and then she's done. Riley is a lot more patient.

Malia's 3rd Birthday!

Today we celebrated Malia's 3rd birthday & cousin Brandon's 5th birthday!!

Cousins Silas and Isaac with Malia, Brandon & Riley.Aunt Becky & cousin ElijahThe kids played musical pillows & hot potato.

We love presents!

Malia loved her princess towel!!

Everyone took a swing at the pinata!

Lots and lots of CANDY and TOYS!!

Nana brought a slip n' slide for the kids!

The kids ate pots of cookie crumbs (dirt) and gummy worms.

Lucas slept through most of the party but stayed awake long enough for everyone to hold him for a few minutes.

Annie's Wedding

Last month, we went to the wedding of our little cousin Annie who's all grown up. We got lost on our way to the ceremony and slipped in to the back row just in time to hear, “You may kiss the bride!” Here's Ryan and Annie....so beautiful!

Between the wedding and reception, we had just enough time to nurse Lucas, warm/eat Ryan’s gluten free, dairy free, sugar free dinner, change diapers and for the girls to eat as many snacks as they could manage without having a belly ache. The girls loved seeing a REAL princess in a white dress! They asked if she was wearing glass slippers and were mesmerized by the cake cutting.

As a party favor, a photobooth was available for free picture taking. We were able to get fun pics and the bride/groom received a photobook of all the pictures taken along with personalized messages from friends. It was a really cool idea!

Now that all the kids are married with families of their own, we took a commemorative picture of the Husted kids now that they're all grown up! Looks can be deceiving. :0)

Ryan and Lucas

Malia wanted to dance so Nana took her on the dance floor while the rest of the kids played out on the golf course lawn.

It was a beautiful day!