I'm adding on to the story of Lauren becoming a Christian...My kids see me doing my devotions every day, so I was very touched when Lauren tried to mimic this behavior. I heard her from in her bedroom say, "Don't bother me right now. I'm spending time with Jesus." Picturing her looking at her Bible, I called, "That's so great, Lauren!" Then Jordan yelled back: "She's looking at my Hardy Boys book!" I had to laugh, but I do believe she's headed the right direction.

Lauren asked Jesus into her heart. And it was a real prayer--not like when Jordan was three and he demanded, "Hey, Jesus! Come in my heart!"

The two of us were alone in the car and she said, "Mom? I can't hear God when he talks." So we went home and I read to her from The Picture Bible and then she repeated the prayer after me. I called Dan to tell him the exciting news and he said, "We should celebrate!" Of course, he was thinking of a cake, but when I asked Lauren how she wanted to celebrate she said, "I want to go bowling with Daddy." So Dan tried to take her bowling.

The bowling alley was closed so Dan took her to Build-a-Bear where they made a doll that looks like Lauren. The neat thing is that when you stuff the doll, you are supposed to put a little heart inside. Dan wrote "Jesus" on Lauren's heart. How perfect is that?

It made my day. We even had Lauren say the prayer before dinner. Her prayers always make me laugh. This night we were having cherries for dinner, and she prayed that Jesus would help her spit out just the cherry pit and not the whole cherry. It was her first answered prayer as a new believer.

So I prayed for new carpet--because God even cares about little things--and my husband decided to refinace. I not only got carpet (pictures above are after we ripped out the nasty old carpet), but I got wood laminate floors, new lighting, stainless steal appliances, new counters, tile backsplash and a tile fireplace. It was a lot of work (and I'll never forget the night we slept in the living room next to a toilet) but I love it. It's like we live in a new home. Now, if only HGTV would bring Curb Appeal to Boise and help fix up the outside...

I got invited to the Red Letter Cafe and Christian Bookstore to do a storytime with my short story The Water Fight Professional from the Summer Shorts anthology. It was a little over the heads of the preschool group, so I had them pantomime the actions--like throwing water balloons. Afterwards we took them outside to toss real water balloons. I think I got the wettest.

My brother-in-law, Scotty, was eight-years-old (and shorter than me) when I met him. Now he's a 20-year-old Marine headed to Iraq. We went to Portland to say goodbye.

Jordan's teacher's son is also in Iraq, so the class asked Jordan to take in a picture of Scotty to put on a bulletin board for prayer. When my four-year-old Lauren said, "I don't want Uncle Scotty to die," Jordan responded, "He's not going to because we are praying for him. Duh."

My girls got to be flower girls for the first time. We had their hair done professionally, and they were beautiful. Then before I knew it, they were rolling down hills and climbing trees. Such ladies.

My husband is in Seattle this weekend for an Upward training. Upward is a national Christian sports league for kids. Dan coaches Jordan in basketball and I coach Caitlin (and next year Lauren) in cheerleading. This year Dan was basketball commissioner. He spent his whole Saturday at the the gym for eight weeks, and you'd think he would be glad it's over but he misses it. The first time we watched the promotional DVD about the program Dan got chills when he heard the term "recreation ministry." I'm praying he can take an even more active role. His basketball team was named the Lions, so the parents made him a t-shirt and a mug with the team picture under the title "Daniel and the Lion's Den." Very cute. My team was named the Daisies and one of my cheerleaders actually named her puppy Daisy.

The program is amazing. The lights go off, music blares "welcome to the big game," the disco ball flashes, then each kid gets to run through an inflatable tunnel as their names are announced. The players get equal playing time, the cheerleaders cheer for both sides, every participant earns a star based on their strength for the day, and at the beginning level no score is kept. Besides that, the players have a devotion and memory verse learning time at practices and a testimony is given to the parents during half time. At the end of the season an awards ceremony is held. We rock the place with a worship band, there are lots of prizes, and then a guest performer. The first year Dan was called up to dribble basketballs with the guiness book of world record holder for basketball spinning, and last year I got called up to ride on the shoulders of a unicyclist. I didn't post that picture, because I'm wearing a dorky balloon helmet. (And because Caitlin's picture is a lot cuter.) Tons of people have gotten saved through this ministry. I'm so blessed to be a part of it and that my kids can grow up playing in such an encouraging atmosphere.