Celebrating 95 Years...

The girls enjoyed the chance to visit with their Grandma Gigi (Great Grandma Stoops) at her 95th birthday party. At 95, Grandma still enjoys her daily chocolate and is a serious contender in a game of Rook! Those things in mind, following are Billie Stoops' pearls of wisdom:

Pearls of Wisdom

• Always set the table first so that when your husband comes home, he thinks dinner is almost ready.
• Eat a little chocolate every day. Eat your candy slowly so that it can last a long time.
• Always tithe and always budget. Wait to purchase something until you can pay for it. Save a little money each month and put it in a sock to use as mad money.
• Love someone the most when they seem unlovable.
• This too shall pass! Give it the water treatment! The more the merrier! NO is a beautiful word.
• Never pass up a game of Rook or a chance to have a piece of chocolate silk pie with a hot cup of coffee.

Words of wisdom from a Godly woman with 52 sons, dauthters-in-law, grandkids and great grandkids (and about that many more foster kids!). Happy birthday, Grandma!

Family Reunion

The Stoops family had a great reunion this past weekend for my grandmother's 95th birthday. Great reason to come together and celebrate! Just about all of her children & grandchildren traveled from around the country for the weekend. Grandma has quite a legacy, and we know she felt blessed having all of us gathered to celebrate with her.

Beach Beauties

Elise, Grace, Chloe

This past weekend we were back in southern California to join 2 days of festivities to honor my grandmother on her 95th birthday. Time was short, but we couldn't resist a quick run to Torrance Beach to dip our feet in the water and search for seashells (Ellie & Chloe have really gotten into this - doesn't matter what color or how broken the shell is; it's all about size!). The tide was low and perfect for our little ones to have some fun.

Dig In!

One of the many highlights of our Easter weekend in CA was joining twin pals Samuel & Caleb for their 4th birthday party. It was a bug party. Bugs everywhere. A bug guy even came with his amazing bug collection and a robotic inchworm. The fun continued with a bug dig - dishes of gooey jello filled with bugs and other little critters. Ellie (left, with Chloe just behind her) was first up in her group, and, after overcoming her disdain for bugs, finally dove in and resurfaced with a snake and a frog. What a catch!

After some last minute change in plans, we found ourselves back in CA for Easter weekend. After a great morning service at our home church, RHCC, we drove out to Alhambra to celebrate with Janelle's brother, Dave, and his family (his wife Anne is pictured here on the left, their mom in the center next to Janelle), plus their parents and sister Christa and her family. We continue to be very thankful for family, and for how much our family is committed to one another.

Hope you had a wonderful Easter, too. Jesus is risen. He is risen indeed!

Brooke - Easter 2008

Brooke, who turned 9 months old on April 1, continues be a source of great delight to everyone around her! Janelle went to pick her up at Sunday School last Sunday and the childcare workers were taking pictures of her while she slept. We still often get asked if we've tried to market photos of her. If you know a good agent, or hear of a good photo contest, Brooke's college savings fund would appreciate hearing from you :-) As my friends back in Azerbaijan used to say, "There's a little bit of truth in every joke!" That may be so, but most of all we simply delight in the great joy that Brooke brings to others. We hope this photo will put a smile on you today.
- Brad

Feathered Friends

This past Saturday, sandwhiched between our usual early breakfast (our girls are early risers!) and Ellie's dance class, we piled into the car and headed off to the Riparian Preserve just a few miles down the road from us here in Gilbert, AZ for the annual Feathered Friends festival. The weather was fabulous and there was tons for the kids to do - crafts (making masks, bird feeders, etc.), animals, activitives, etc. We only had a brief time to enjoy all that they had to offer, but one of the highlights for the girls was getting to hold some of the beautiful birds on exhibit (see below). Grace, who at 2 1/2 years of age is still a bit uncertain about whether she likes animals, surprised me by touching a large gopher snake as well as a fairly large lizard. Fun times for all!