Lauren’s Work in Art Show

One of Lauren’s art pieces was chosen for display at the 46th Annual Young Peoples Art Exhibition hosted in the Imagination Celebration space at the Citadel Mall here in Colorado Springs.

She’s really enjoyed her art class at school this year, and next year she’ll take Advanced Placement (AP) Studio Art. She’s a wonderfully talented young lady!

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Karma in Seattle

The day after her birthday Karma flew to Seattle to spend a long weekend with her best friend Heidi. They share the same birthday and are the same age (that denomination which shall not be mentioned), and have stayed close from childhood.

Here they are at the botanical gardens, and they did many other fun and girlish things besides.

Don’t ask me how, because the entire time is a fog, but somehow the kids and survived her absence. And though missed her dearly, we were delighted that she was able to go on this birthday adventure.

We celebrated Karma’s XXth birthday with a quiet ceremony at home after a nice dinner out as a family.

In this photo, we thought we were lining up according to height. But these days it’s hard to tell who’s actually taller — Karma or Gabe!

Also, in keeping with our unspoken commitment to never publish the specific denomination of this particular birthday, we have blurred out the number on the birthday card in the photo. We shall not speak of this again.

Father Daughter Dance

Leslie and I enjoyed our sixth Father Daughter Dance sponsored by her school — we’ve been going every year since she was in Kindergarten! It was a wonderful date, and we have learned over the years to leave shortly before the balloon drop, during which the voices of what seems a thousand shrieking girls echo off the cinder block walls of the multi purpose room.

In the photo, we’re all dressed up on our front porch and ready to go to the dance.

Battle of the Books Champ

Leslie is by far our most voracious reader - we sometimes have to tell her to put down the book and eat! Her school participates in a contest called “Battle of the Books” in which teams read books from an official list and write structured summaries to prove they did it. Last week her teacher announced the standings, and Lelise had read 31 books on the list, making her the 5th Grade champ (the next highest score was in the teens).

Our reading champ now heads to the disctrict competition. After that, who knows - maybe State, then U.S., then on to Paris or some exoctic location for the World Championships?

Karma Visits Oregon

Karma flew out to Oregon to visit Anders William Christensen, here newest nephew, son of her brother Mark and Eva. He was born just a couple of days after Christmas, and Karma got quite a bit of hold-the-baby time, as well as great time with her mom and Eva (pictured) and lots of our family and friends there in Oregon.

While she was away, Bill did his best to cover home school with Gabe and taxiing Lauren and Leslie to school, making sure everybody had something to eat and wear, and wondering how on earth Karma gets so much done with such grace and poise!

Here’s baby Anders, and daddy Mark and baby together.

Gabe’s Birthday

So Gabe had been hinting for the past couple of months with decreasing degrees of subtlety that he would really really really really like to have the game Rock Band for his 14th birthday and that he wouldn’t want anything else ever. Well, with a pitch like that, how could we resist? Besides, it was better in our minds than getting him a real drum set because at least you can turn down the volume on Rock Band! Plus, this is something his sisters and he can enjoyt together - it’s a PS2 game complete with a guitar, drums and a microphone, and it’s actually kind of fun.
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Colorado Tragedies

Dear Friends,

In the wake of the recent shootings here in Colorado, Karma and I wanted to let you all know that our family is safe. We are of course disturbed at the violence, and grieving at the loss of life, but none of us where anywhere near the incidents.

The YWAM center in Arvada, Colorado is about 80 miles north of us here in Colorado Springs. We do know people there, and they are a sister ministry, but we did not know the two YWAMers who were killed there last night, nor the two who were wounded.

The second shooting was a bit closer to home, at our church - New Life Church - though we were not there when it happened. There were five victims - one has died and the others are in the hospital. The shooter was shot and killed by a security guard at the church. There is no doubt that this guard saved many lives. The names of the victims have not been released, so we don’t know if we know any of them personally.

Our YWAM offices are located at the World Prayer Center on the New Life Church campus, so this tragedy is hitting us hard so closely on the heels of the Arvada tragedy. At this point there is only speculation about any connection between the two incidents.

This evening our family gathered in the living room to talk and pray and even laugh a bit with some fond family memories. We’d appreciate your prayers for us, for YWAM, and for our church, especially through the next week or so. I’m sure this will be in the news quite a bit over the next few days. If you have any questions as you are hearing things on the news, just drop us an email or give a call.

Much love,

Bill & Karma

Leslie’s 11th Birthday Party

We celebrated Leslie’s 11th birthday with a Nancy Drew themed party. Leslie and her friends solved a mystery that the rest of us helped create (something to do with jewels stolen from the museum), played other games, ate pizza, and enjoyed a sleep over.

They all had a great time, though the rest of us are still recovering from the amazing amount of noise 5th grade girls can generate when they’re having fun!

Hallelujah Night

Leslie and her friend Rachel (right) dressed up for our church’s “Hallelujah Night” - a safe alternative to trick-or-treating on the streets. Gabe also went to the event, and dad and Lauren just went to the store and bought candy and came back home.

This is probably one of the best Jedi cosumtes I’ve seen, though I admit I’m a bit biased.