David's 1st trip without us

Friday night I packed David's suitcase and began the preparations to send my first born off on his first trip without mommy or daddy. He's had sleep overs before including two nights at Nana & Papa's but I took him there and was staying with my Dad close by so this was harder for me. He was so excited, even called Grammy Friday night to see what time she would be coming to get him in the morning. Saturday morning he woke up and said "I'm going to Shuswap today." He did say he was going to miss me but was definitely looking forward to his time at the Lake.
Saturday morning while he was getting ready Angeline tried to pack her toothbrush with his. He told her "Your not coming Angie" and she said "I'm not coming?"... as they were pulling away she pouted and said that she wanted to go too.
Looking forward to seeing him later today and to hearing all about his adventures. He is going to be 5 at the end of June and it seems lately that he is becoming such a little grown up. The other day when Jonathan telling him not to do something he said "I was just teasing you Daddy." At Costco last week when we were in the refrigerated produce section he took off his vest and put it over Angeline because it was cold. He certainly knows how to look out for his sisters. He is my sweet little man.

Sunday Girls Day

Sunday was girls day... just the girls. David is on his way home today from spending the weekend at the lake and Daddy was working... is working today and will be home tomorrow. As much fun as it is having some girl time we are ready for our boys to come home. Wanted to share a few fun pictures from our day.

I am definitely missing my boys but one thing I haven't been missing over the weekend is SLEEP. I am happy to say that Samara has slept until 4:30am the last 2 nights. She NEVER goes that long without nursing so to have 2 nights in a row is a breakthrough. She is my best sleeper so far. Angeline has been doing a bit better at night too so hopefully that continues as well.

May Days

 My Babies!

 Baby Chicks... no they're not ours but with the amount of eggs we've been going through it might be a good idea to get chickens!

 David watering his carrots... asked him to water them a few days later and he said "AGAIN!"... guess he thought they would grow themselves.

 Stunt Boy David... if I would have know he was scootering on the retaining wall I would have told him to put on his helmet!

5 going on 6 months

Samara's 5th month is nearing an end and I am overdue for an update. Near the end of her 4th month she began rolling over from back to front and has been on the move ever since. She now plays with toys, sits in her bumbo and exersaucer as well as jumps in her jolly jumper. We are thinking to start her on some rice cereal soon since she is becoming more and more interested in food. She often grabs my plate when I have her on my lap while I am eating. She absolutely loves her red ball. David and Angeline have been paying a lot more attention to her this last month and she adores them. We are anticipating the arrival of her first tooth... she is definately teething at the moment. Her schedule is a lot more defined... she usually has 2 big naps... morning and afternoon. Her favorite song is "Samara had a little lamb." We love her to bits.

Playoff Beard

 April 30

May 27

Baptism Pictures

Aquarium, April 30

Easter Bunny & Egg Hunt

My Baptism Testimony

My name is Melissa Neufeld. Some of you know me as Jonathan’s wife, and God has truly blessed me with an amazing husband and a wonderful marriage. Some of you know me as David, Noah, Angeline and Samara’s mom (or the crazy lady who had 4 children in 5 years). Despite severe sleep deprivation and a house that is never tidy I have been truly blessed by through motherhood as well. But the reason I stand before you today is because I am a daughter, not only of my earthly parents (whom I love deeply) but also of my heavenly Father… your sister in Christ.

Believing in God is not something new to me. In fact I can not remember a time when I didn’t believe in God. Going to church on the other hand was not something that was a regular part of my life growing up. I did attend enough to know what church was and to learn some bible stories. I also have memories of praying when I was quite a young child. Believing in God has always been part of who I am so much so that I can honestly say believing there is no god requires much more faith to me then believing THERE IS.

I have had many turning points in my 28 years of life and though I can not name an exact date I would say that I became a Christian when I was about 16 years old. At this point I was regularly attending church and youth group, reading my bible daily and just growing in my understanding of God. I would have to describe my conversion to be when my believing faith transformed into faith in action. I accepted Christ’s sacrifice on the cross (which we are celebrating this Easter Sunday), experienced healing and reconciliation through the acknowledgement and forgiveness of my sins and made a decision to live for God’s purposes rather than my own.

So, why wasn’t I baptized then?

All of this took place in and surrounding the Catholic Church I was part of, baptized into when I was a baby. There was no reason for me to even think to be baptized at that point in my faith journey. As I continued on in my teenage years I also attended a Baptist church and youth group and eventually associated myself more as a “Christian” not wanting to chose a denomination as a title be it “Catholic” or “Baptist.” Whenever baptism came up I felt uneasy and I have never been comfortable with the idea of re-baptism BUT I always said that if God spoke to my heart to be baptized as an adult that I would. It was in February of this year that I was driving in my mini van with my beautiful children… listening to “Praise” on the radio in just an ordinary moment that God’s Spirit spoke. So here I am.

God has been at work in my heart and in my life and has been convicting me of what I came to know so many years ago. I believe that God is calling me to be obedient to his word through baptism and in my everyday life.

1 John 2:5-6 says:

“If anyone obeys his word, love for God^[a] is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: ⁶ Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.”

This truth is something I can not escape from. I am reminded of it as I listen to the chorus of this song by Casting Crowns (If We Are The Body).

But if we are the Body
Why aren't His arms reaching
Why aren't His hands healing
Why aren't His words teaching
And if we are the Body
Why aren't His feet going
Why is His love not showing them there is a way
There is a way 

I want to raise my children to know “There is a way”… to know that God loves them… to know that sin separates them from God. To know that Jesus is God’s son who’s death on the cross is THE WAY to make atonement for our sins and to reconcile us to God. I know that seeing me love God, obey His Word and live like Christ will teach them these truths more then hearing it from my lips.

As I publicly proclaim my faith I am making a commitment to be obedient to God’s word and to live like Christ.

Easter Baptism

I (Melissa) decided in February that I would like to be baptized as an adult (was already baptized when I was a baby). We have set the date for Easter Sunday during the 11am service at Bethany Baptist Church in Richmond. Easter is a busy time filled with family events and dinners and many will be away or simply unable to attend but I wanted to get the word out in case anyone wanted to come. I will be posting my testimony on Easter Sunday for those who can't make it but are interested in reading what it is all about. If you are interested in coming and need more information please contact me.

Spring Break

Not a lot changes for us during Spring Break... other then some of our usual activities are cancelled. But this years Spring Break was a Break from the rain and a visit with my sister. Aunty Mandy spent the week with us and it was nice having the extra hands and someone to walk with in the afternoons. We walked 5km almost every day that she was here. I think I really needed the company and the sunshine this week. I was certainly glad to have both. I was also glad to be able to hang the cloth diapers outside... I thought this day would never come! 

After 2 nice days in a row Angeline woke up yesterday, looked outside and said "It's grey outside... Go away Grey!" Today we have blue skies again. Looking forward to being able to do the dishes while they play in the yard and to spending some time in the sun as well.