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Six-years-old, and so beautiful.  We’re so thankful for special Kayla, who had a birthday on Monday!

Kayla has been asking me to teach her to knit for a while now.  So the other night we worked on it.  She’s doing pretty well, and she can’t wait until she can make a dress for Madeline!  Here’s a picture of the little knitter:

Don’t you love the outfit?  When Aaron came home from work, she decided she wanted to dress like him!  :)

Follow the link below to see pictures from our anniversary trip to Seattle:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=20718&id=100000235606871

Arroz con Leche*

Arroz con Leche was one of my favorite dishes in Spain.  The family I stayed with added grated orange peel, which I highly recommend.  I’ve tried it without, and it’s just not the same!

3 cups milk

1 1/4 cups water

1 cup rice, short or medium grain

2 cinnamon sticks

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 to 1/3 of a 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk** (from the health food store so it doesn’t contain high fructose corn syrup)

2 tsp. vanilla

grated orange peel (I used the zest of one mandarin orange.  Adjust to taste.)

Bring milk and water to a slow simmer in a large pot over medium-low heat.  (This takes a while.)  Stir in rice and cinnamon sticks.  Barely simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  When rice is soft, remove cinnamon sticks and stir in sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, salt and orange peel.  If necessary, return to a low simmer for 10 – 15 minutes until most of the liquid is absorbed and the rice has a pudding-like consistency.  Serve hot with a sprinkle of cinnamon if desired.

*Adapted from this recipe:  http://mexicanfood.about.com/od/sweetsanddesserts/r/arrozconleche.htm

**The recipe I originally used called for a whole can of sweetened condensed milk.  I definitely recommend cutting it back to more like 1/3 of the can.  It would be way to sweet with a whole can.  The remaining condensed milk can be refrigerated for up to two weeks.

Recently Aaron and I unpacked my wedding dress.  It had been preserved after the wedding, and we were planning to take it out this year for our ten-year anniversary.  During the move, however, two boxes got wet.  It’s a good thing I spent the money to preserve it, because the box holding my dress was soaked.  We opened it and found layer upon layer of boxes with a perfectly white dress inside.

As soon as Madeline saw it (on moving day), she wanted to try it on.  We waited a couple weeks until we had time to fully appreciate such a magical moment.  So here is Madeline, the beautiful bride.

Here she is again with her daddy walking her down the aisle and her bridesmaid fixing her train.

One of the new friends I’ve made here in Grand Rapids has two daughters, and they invited us over for a little girls tea party yesterday!  We had also sorts of delicious finger foods and various beverages, and we all had a delightful time.

On March 24, I took the girls to the Blandford Nature Center to learn about the making of maple syrup.  Having learned about sugar making in the Little House books, the girls were very excited to see it with their own eyes.

Since we have the audio version of “Little House in the Big Woods,” we listened to a refresher while having breakfast that morning.  Kayla knew exactly which chapter to go to—”The Sugar Snow.”

It was a cool but sunny day, perfect for a walk along the sugarbush trail.  Here are some photos from the day.  We learned a lot, especially from the “sugar maker.”  We were the only ones in the sugar house at the time, and he explained things so the girls could understand and also answered our questions.

Late last night I found out a local homeschooling group had plans to visit “Butterflies are Blooming” at the Frederik Meijer Gardens today.  Though I normally like to plan ahead and anticipate fun things like field trips, we decided to be spontaneous!  We were planning to go sometime before the end of April anyway, but it was extra nice that it was such a bargain (just $9 for the girls and me).

This year Saint Patrick’s Day came just one and a half weeks after we moved into our house, so the only thing I planned was to have all of us wear green!  Perhaps I’ll get more creative next year.

The weather was absolutely gorgeous that day, so we had lunch on the deck.  You’ll notice Madeline hadn’t changed into green yet.  She forgot it was Saint Patrick’s Day when she woke up and dressed herself before I saw her.  She actually didn’t change into her green sweater until it was time to take the green picture.  :)

Well, we’re reaching the end of this season in our life.  I guess if I were to name this season, it would be something like the “feeling God’s calling to a new place, job seeking, job finding, home remodeling, home selling, home buying, and moving” season.  All the ballots have been cast, and as expected, the vote wasn’t even close.  Our winner won by a landslide.  This season’s MVP is… (drumroll…….)

Jen Kerr!!!

I’m sure you’re not surprised, but this award is well deserved.  Throughout the entire process, Jen has been an incredible asset to our family, helping us to follow God along each step of the way.  Highlights from Jen’s season include:

• Being willing to take on the big array of extra responsibilities during the Fall 2009 semester so I could take 12 credits and finish my Master’s degree while working full time and running a small side business
• Supporting and encouraging me as I explored several new job opportunities
• Faithfully caring for our girls and homeschooling them through all the busyness and uncertainty we were facing
• Reading all about selling a home and contributing tons of ideas and work to help have it fully ready to sell
• Packing most of the house by herself while I started my new job in Grand Rapids
• Walking with God, hearing from him, and being willing to let Him change her heart and give her a desire for a new home and community

The list could go on and on, but you get the general picture  By sharing her heart, mind, and efforts, Jen has blessed our family in amazing ways.  I am blessed to have her for my wife and can’t wait to celebrate 10 years of marriage in a few short months.  Love you Jen!