Summer is flying by!

Well, lots has been going on in the Schroeder house! We went camping with our church family a couple weeks ago, and then just got back Sunday from camping again with 28 students from our youth group. Each time was wonderfully spiritually refreshing. Joel did fantastic each time. He's such a trooper and easy going baby. I'll try to post some pictures from these trips soon.

Joel had his 6 month check up last week. He is now 14 pounds, 2 ounces, and 29 inches long. He is also in the age of discovery now. First it was his toes, then his tongue and the list keeps going. He is adorable! The pic below is from the day he found his tongue. It didn't go back in his mouth all day!
Another discovery is food! Joel began eating cereal a couple weeks ago, and loves it. He now eats (and wears) green beans and squash. We can no longer eat or drink without him getting very excited and trying to grab at our food. :)
Another blessing this month was a visit from our dear friend Laura Thien. We had a wonderful time together catching up and enjoying time together. Her time with us went by way too fast!

Well, now that we are in town for the rest of the summer, I am looking forward to updating this blog much more regularly. Thanks for your patience!

Katelyn

Chicago Missions Trip

Well, I know it has been a long time since our last blog. Since then we have been on our 2009 youth missions trip to Chicago, IL. You can read about our trip at www.chicagomissionstrip2009.blogspot.com. We praise God for how He worked during our time away. The gospel truly is the power of God to save men!

Vacation Bible School

What a tremendous week this has been! This week we have had Vacation Bible School here at Grace. VBS is a kid's club for children ages 4 through grade 6. Our time includes games, crafts, skits, and a lesson time each evening. The theme of the week is "Global Expedition: the ultimate trek through God's world." The lessons are focused on the call of God -- how each person is a sinner and in need of God's grace and mercy. What a blessing it has been to hear some of the children really understanding these truths from the Bible!

It's been a full week for us, but a wonderfully rewarding week to be able to serve the Savior. Tonight is the last night, and we will have a special presentation for the parents at the end of the evening, followed by make your own ice cream sundaes...yummm!

Here's a couple recent pics of our fun little bundle of joy. Enjoy!

~ Katelyn :)

Pomp and Circumstance

It's the end of the year for our students, which means...graduation! We are thrilled to celebrate the graduation of 6 high school students. We praise the Lord for the work He has done in several of their lives as they have grown in Christ. What a blessing!

Grace Youth Senior Honors Banquet

Joel was pretty comfy at his first grad ceremony...

...and fell asleep.

Wow, Joel is 4 months!

What a precious blessing this little one is to us! Joel is such a happy and contented baby. He smiles constantly now, well, except when the camera is out. For some reason he's very intrigued by the cameras, so he stops smiling and stares. Ahhh.... we still think he is pretty cute. :)

This past month has been quite full for our little family. In the beginning of May we traveled out to Illinois to visit the Schroeder side of the family and meet our new neice Hadessah. We had a wonderful time together! We spent the first week up in Wisconsin to have a family vacation where Justin grew up at Victory Home for Boys. What fun it was for me (Katelyn) to see and experience Justin's childhood! After that week Justin flew back home to CA and I stayed out with Joel for a week longer. We spent much time together and took lots of pictures!

Great Grandpa Schroeder

Great Grandma Schroeder

Papa & Mama Schroeder with their grandkids


the Schroeder family...as it continues to expand

the new family of three

the other new family of three

Katelyn learning how to shoot skeet

The cousins hanging out :)

Waking up Uncle Caleb Joel hiking with Dad

Celebrating Katelyn's first mother's day

Joel & Uncle Jared

Good afternoon to everyone out there in cyberspace - family and friends. Here are more pictures of little Joel. We are enjoying every moment with him (well - almost every moment). This first picutre is the little guy taking a nap - something which he does very well doing!

These next pictures are from Joel's first day at the Beach. We all took a picnic down to a lake near us here in CA - it was so very warm outside! The water was quite cold; Joel was not impressed. But, he soaked through his outfit as soon as we got there so he lived in his diaper (yes - we do put clothes on him at times). We are conviced that we have one of the cutest babies ever - but then again, every parent is.

Thanks for enjoying Joel with us! We are so thankful for him, and so thankful that God has given him to us to raise and care for. Continue to pray for us as we endeavor more than anything to point Joel to Jesus Christ. Our longing is that He will one day confess Him as Lord and Savior - truly that will be a great day!

Well, once again I have been deliquent in my blog posting. I thought for some reason I'd be doing this every other day. . . it seems I'm lucky if I do it every other week.

Joes is well and growing. We had to retire a few outfits last week because he has grown out of them :(, but we are thankful he is growing. He continues to make more and more noise; he is definitely not a quiet baby! He is a good baby, but not to quiet.

We hope you enjoy this video. We will try to post more pictures in a few days. We did have some very cute ones, but alas there was no memory card in the camera (sorry about that).

Have a great day! (Justin/Katelyn/baby Joel)

In this video, he was supposed be making lots of noise. However, as soon as the video camera came out, he got quiet. However - he's still the cutest kid in the world :)

Here is a view of Joel being "not so happy" in his bouncy seat.