Wynnlee's Hats

I LOVE being Wynnlee's Mommy. 

Play with Tools

I LOVE watching my boys play together.  Today they were all using tools and playing so well together.  It just warms my heart when they all getting along and hugging and laughing!

 

Wynnlee is 1

Wynnlee is 1!  When did that happen?

Luke and I cannot express how wonderful it has been to be her mom and dad for this past year.  She is just a joy!  First birthdays sure do have their way of bring on bittersweet emotions.  

Wynnlee got to eat at Americana for her birthday!  Quite an exciting venue for a first birthday party.  A mashed banana from the Hukee household was all she got to eat, except for the bite of birthday cake Grandma Ludemann slipped her!

At home it was time for gifts.  She got a book, a few dolls, and 2 fancy dresses!  You'll notice later that Grandma Julie also got her 2 dresses, and Aunt Jenna got her 1.  So she will be dressed to match the beautiful, full-of-life self she already possesses.  

Her first bite of cake was a mini banana spice cupcake with apple nutmeg frosting.  She ate it all up with the help of a mom and a spoon after first just holding the cupcake as a toy!

Her adorable birthday party outfit was every bit girly from buttons to ruffles to seersucker pink!

Her so-in-love-with-her daddy.

Wynnlee was all cupcaked out, but Leighton enjoyed having her candle lit in his cupcake!

Happy Birthday Wynnlee Girl!

McCabe is 4

McCabe's cousins Inness, Wyatt, and Caleb were in-town from New Mexico for a few short hours on his birthday so he got to have a mini birthday party at Grandma and Grandpa Hukee's house.  A set of golf clubs, tennis racquets, tennis balls, and Lighting McQueen flip flops made the morning even more enjoyable!

That evening we celebrate with just our family and McCabe got a BIKE!  A black and neon green gravel-blasting 12 incher!  He loves it and does so well on it.

Friday night my parents came into town and took us out to Americana for dinner.  After a lot of meatloaf and dessert, we can back to our house to open presents from Grandpa and Grandma Ludemann.  Funky scissors, construction paper, awesome lego, and some huge coloring pages kept him entertained and busy.

And since 3 parties is not enough for a 4 year old, we celebrated a 4th time, this time with Grandpa and Grandma Hukee again today after church, while our we had an open house for the our house that just went on the market and while my parents traveled back to Minnesota!

Happy Birthday McCabe Babe.

LEELAND Concert

At the end of our church's annual Mission to the City mission trip to Des Moines, we had a concert on the grounds of the Iowa Capitol, only a few blocks from our Downtown campus location.  

What an awesome time of worship with a great band!

Luke and I had a song from the band Leeland in our wedding ceremony, so we were not strangers to their music, and definitely love it.  Worshiping god to their music is definitely a joy and spirit moving thing.  But not only did we get to listen to it, we got to enjoy it LIVE, OUTDOORS, on a BEAUTIFUL evening, with our FAMILY, OVERLOOKING THE CITY we are trying to reach with the message of Jesus Christ, the very city we had just spent a week serving and praying over, and mixed in with some HISTORY and a lot of TRUTH FROM THE WORD.  It was unforgettable.

A man of many talents, Leeland not only say songs that he wrote, but he also shared the Gospel, verses and a few bible stories with great passion and excitement.  Our love for his music definitely grew.  Not to mention Leighton got to give him and his keyboarding brother a high five before the concert started.

The title of their latest CD is The Great Awakening with one of the songs being about The Great Awakening in the 1700's where the gospel seemed to spread rapidly and change lives at the hands of faithful people allowing God to use their lives.  During that time, someone wrote a poem, which Leeland put to music!  Here are the words:

The Great Awakening

One man wakes, awakens another

Second one wakes his next door brother

Three awake and rouse a town

And turn the whole place upside down

Many awake, will cause such a fuss

It finally awakes all of us

One man awakes with dawn in his eyes

Surely then it multiplies

Listen to it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Mj8I1chdB0

What an amazing song to reflect on.  One life changed for Christ can end up having a huge impact on a city and even the world.  How challenging to think about the last time I shared my faith with another, or a next door brother!  This picture of evangelism and discipleship is precisely what Luke and I are so excited about and we have planted our flag at our church, Walnut Creek Church.

Since we are the topic of Leeland, and Im assuming I still have your attention,  I might as well share the  lyrics to another great song of is!

I Wonder Lyrics

At the Stars in the Night I wonder

And Your lightning in the sky I shudder

Your glory is a blanket that covers

Every living thing

I'm in awe at the majesty of who You are

Your love is a seal burns inside my heart

All of the day I want to be where You are

Holy Father

And it feels like there's not enough praise inside of me

With all these words, all my heart can sing is holy

You are holy

Jesus Christ

You bled Your love, laid down Yourself and gave me life

In naked shame You hung and You were lifted high

Here I lay in awe and wonder

I am afraid

For no one's ever sacrificed and loved me this way

So on my face I fall under Your heavy grace

Here I lay in awe and wonder, oh, oh, and I wonder

I'm in awe at the majesty of who You are

Your love is a seal burns inside my heart

All of the day I want to be where You are

Holy Father

And it feels like there's not enough praise inside of me

With all these words, all my heart can sing is holy

You are holy

Oh , and Jesus Christ

You bled Your love , laid down Yourself and gave me life

In naked shame You hung and You were lifted high

So here I lay in awe and wonder

Oh, I am afraid

For no one's ever sacrificed and loved me this way

So on my face I fall under Your heavy grace

Here I lay in awe and wonder, oh, oh, and I wonder

Oh, oh, and I wonder

And Jesus Christ

You bled Your love, laid down Yourself and gave me life

In naked shame You hung and You were lifted high

So here I lay in awe and wonder

Oh, and I am afraid

For no one's ever sacrificed and loved me this way

So on my face I fall under Your heavy grace

Here I lay in awe and wonder, oh, oh, and I wonder

Oh, oh, and I wonder

Listen to I Here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_45BT0cLuE