I Almost Forgot.

I just realized that I forgot to include Austin's prayer from his baby dedication when I did his birthday post so here it is. As with Jake's prayer, this too is still my prayer for my little man.

Austin means, "worthy of honor" and William means, "great protector"

"Our prayer for Austin William is that he will carry himself with honor and spiritual nobility. As a child of the King of Kings, may he never forget his spiritual standing, royalty, or resources (Ephesians 1:3). May he always represent his Lord with great compassion, honesty, warmth, strength, and be worthy of respect. In his future, we ask for great success in his relationships and all other pursuits of his life, and may he recognize all wealth and honor comes from You (1 Chronicles 29:12; Proverbs 25:27). We also pray that he would develop great verbal skill and be an effective spokesman and apologist for the faith; one who skillfully disarms any arguments or attacks on Christian beliefs and doctrine (Proverbs 25:11; 1 Peter 3:15) We pray, however, that he will be so gentle and gracious in his speech that his words will bring refreshment, encouragement, and conviction to many (Proverbs 25:13,15,25)."

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We had a great day of family and food. Dean's grandparents have been bringing Thanksgiving up here to Bellingham for 10 years now. This year Dean's parents were also able to come up too. We spent the morning at home while I made some pumpkin pies and some yummy rolls. Then we headed over to Toni and Jason's house for the feast. We also celebrated Toni's birthday which was today as well. We ate very well (and a bit too much) and we also played lots of different games. The big boys played cribage and poker while Toni and I played "Big Brain Academy" with Jacob and Jordan.

The birthday girl getting things ready for dinner.

Griffen helping Great Grandma pop bubble wrap.

One of the most fun "games" we played was snowman tag. Our niece Jordan found it in "Family Fun Magazine" and decided that it should be done today. She made a little snowman and then put it on someone's back without them knowing. When they discoverd it they would then try to get it onto someone else's back. The snowman was passed around quite a bit and the kids really enjoyed trying to sneak it onto other's backs.

We had a great time together and are really looking forward to leftovers tomorrow. We hope you all had a great day to remember all of the blessings in your lives!

Our Aussie Bear is 8!

November 25, 2000 at 8:59 am, Austin William Hendrickson came into the world weighing 7 pounds 14 ounces. I will always think of that as my "movie" delivery. It was such a quiet, almost peaceful moment when he was born in comparison to Jacob's birth. There were only four people in the room this time (my doctor, our nurse, Dean, and me) unlike the many that seemed to appear at Jake's birth. The lights were low and there wasn't much noise other than a few incouraging words and then Austin's first cry. The biggest difference for me though was that I got to hold him immediately after his birth and I got to hold him for quite awhile (Jake had spent the first 30-4o minutes of his life being checked over by nurses and given oxygen). So from the beginning, our little Austin was proving to be different from his big brother.

We had to work to get a smile on film sometimes.

Not only was he a good deal smaller but he was a bit more demanding. He really expressed his desire to eat about every 1.5 hours (instead of the leisurely 3 hours of his brother) and he really didn't like to sleep at first unless he was being held and sucking on one of our pinky fingers. I remember Dean rather frequently mentioning that we needed to invent the "pinky binky." Looking back at pictures of him, he was a bit more on the serious side but would soon outgrow that and became quite the little ham. As he got a little bit older, he started to do a signature move we liked to call "the bob and weave" (he would be in the exersaucer and rock from side to side) He also had many funny faces he liked to make.

This was his favorite funny face to make. (He would usually breathe in and out of his nose really fast at the same time.)

Austin introduced his big brother to the wonderful world of imagination. This tended to cause Jacob some very uncomfortable moments as his little concrete way of thinking about things was being turned upside down by his little brother doing things that just didn't make any sense. My favorite memory of this was when two year old Austin finished a puzzle and then, with a sly grin, looked at me, took off one of the corner pieces and put it on top of a different corner and said, "it goes here." I thought Jake was going to explode like a volcanoe when he noticed Ausin's "mistake". That day I saw just how opposite they were (and still are to an extent).

The Mister Potato Head glasses were a favorite accessory.

Austin is still our imaginative kid. He absolutely LOVES to write stories. He gets so excited about the stories that he is writing in school and loves to tell us what page he is now on. He is also very passionate about Star Wars, video games, and Legos. Between him and Jake they could tell you about so many of the details of Star Wars. (In fact they helped me with a quiz about it on Facebook and we got a perfect score). He is amazingly good at many video games and gets good really quick. Of course he also expects to be great at them the first time he plays them.




--Did I also mention that he is also VERY, VERY competitive. I truly believe that this trait was there right from the beginning. Remember that he was significantly smaller than Jake at birth and that he also wanted to eat every 1.5 hours? Well my theory is that he knew that he was smaller and the race was on to get bigger. He succeeded and was our biggest one year old! He still has the drive to be first or to do things better.--

Autin loved his baby brother from the very beginning.

His legos ships are some of the most amazing creations in my opinion. He can sit for an incredible amount of time and just create ship after ship. They all have their own unique design and usually have a few great features such as escape pods, or special landing gizmos. He is also a little entrepenure and would love to sell his creations to earn money for the above mentioned and much loved video games. (click here for that story).

Showin' off his crazy, curly hair that he got from daddy.

He is also a pretty social kid. He has a lot of friends in his class (thought there are a few that are really special friends). He loves to play soccer though I am pretty sure that it is not for love of the game but more for the time he gets to spend running around with his friends as we see while watching him watch the ball roll past and then he enthusiastically joins the group celebration. He also loves both of his brothers. Even though he would love to beat Jake at many things, I also see admiration in his eyes toward his big brother. He will often ask Jakes opinion on things and seek out Jake's approval of his ideas. He also love having a little brother that will follow his lead. He does get a bit impatient with Griff but is also very loving toward him and really tries to teach things to him. I am very proud of my little creative man!

Happy Birthday Austin! We Love You!

The Big Birthday Bash!

Wheew...the big birthday bash has come and gone. Austin and his friend Nathan have birthdays two days apart (Nathan's is the 23rd and Austin's is the 25th) and they are in the same class in school so have the same group of friends. So this year, we decided to try a combined party. Today was also early release from school for parent-teacher conferences so at 12:30 Conne and I (and Conne's dad) headed up to the school and gathered about 14 boys and walked them all back to our house and three others arrived a little later.

Some of the MANY guests of the party.
The guests of honor open their presents.

The theme of this party was "Indiana Jones" and Nathan's dad planned lots of fun "Indiana" games. They had a race to wrap friends like mummies with toilet paper, a race to get water back to a teammate, an obstacle course, and a very fun game of capture the flag. The boys all seemed to have a great time and we all survived the noise that 17 eight year old boys can generate.

The mummies.

What a week...and it's not over yet.

Well it has taken me over a week to finally get to posting pictures from Jake's birthday party. It was a pretty quiet party with only four other boys able to come but they all seemed to have fun. Jake had picked a "Super Mario" party theme so what do you do at a "Super Mario" party...play Mario video games of course! I attempted to make cupcakes that looked like the mushroons that are in the game but they didn't quite turn out as I imagined them. The boys didn't mind though.

Not quite the cute mushrooms in the games.

Jake and Jake: They are good friends with lots of similarities not just the same name.

The other party guests: some of the sweetest boys you could know.

This past weekend, Jake, Griffen, and I drove down to Longview to my parents house. My mom was in the musical "My Fair Lady" and I wanted to be able to see her first stage performance. She did great! It was really fun to see her up there and was even better to see her smile after the show. I could tell that she really enjoys it and I am very proud of her! While I was down there, I also had the opportunity to get together with some friends from junior high and high school. It was a lot of fun to talk about those years together and also talk a bit about what we are doing these days. I hope that we are able to get together more often after this. The boys, my parents, and I also spent some time with my Grandma Mahlum. I am sorry to say that it has been awhile since I have really spent much time with her and I just really felt the need to see her this past weekend. She is very special to me and I love her so much. I did get a picture of the boys and me with her though I wish it had Austin and Dean in it too.

We love you Grandma!

Finally, today was parent-teacher conferences for both Jake and Austin. It is good te hear from their teachers that they are doing well. They each have their own small area that needs some work but overall they received good reports and their teachers enjoy having them in class! So now I am taking a little bit of time to catch up on the blog before there are WAY to many things to catch up on. Tomorrow we are having Austin's birthday party. In fact it is a double party for Austin and his good buddy Nathan as their birthdays are only two days apart and they have the same friends so we decided to combine forces. It should be lots of fun but I can also guarantee that it will not be the quiet party that Jake's was because there will be about 15 seven to eight year olds here for two hours. I will do my best to get pictures posted a little nore quickly this time.

Our Big Boy is Ten

November 10, 1998 at 3:20pm. Our big boy was born weighing 9 lbs. 9oz.

Gosh, I can't believe that Jacob is ten years old. It really seems that he should still be that little guy running around the house with that cute little voice. He is such an amazing kiddo and I am so proud of him. He has always been very determined (and a bit stubborn) which has served him well since he was very young. I can still hear his little voice saying, "I do it myself!" Even if he was struggling to pick up something he always wanted to do it himself. He also always seemed to hear me when I expressed a concern to his Occupational Therapist because when we would get home he would prove me wrong. For example, I remember telling her that he wasn't even trying to pull himself up to stand and wouldn't you know it, when we got home he immediately crawled over to his play table and pulled up to stand. Then he looked at me like "What are you talking about mom? I can do that!"

Jake loves to be like dad.

My sweet boy!

He was such and EASY baby. He had himelf on a very predictable schedule and LOVED to sleep. When we noticed that he was really favoring his left hand we were worried about what it would mean for him as he grew. Well, even though it did take him a little longer to reach some of the big milestones his determination got him there. I think that he just needed to be confident in his ability to do something (like walking) before he actually would do it. When he did walk all on his own, it seemed to be out of the blue. I remember that he was standing at the couch petting the kitties then he turned and took 4-5 steps toward me like it was no big deal. After that there was no stopping him.

Jake can be pretty funny too!

First day of kindergarten, 2004. Jake and his cousin Jordan are great friends. We are so blessed to live so close. (We were even neighbors for 5 years)

Jake's big surgery to lengthen his tendon, summer 2005.

He has always been the cautious one of the boys but as his brothers have gotten older, and more adventurous, he has come out of his shell a bit. He is also our concrete thinker who really loves science. He still likes learning about space though not quite as much as he did a few years ago. His all time favorite topic is any type of computer or video game. Just ask anyone he talks to. He will talk your ear off about Mario or the latest game he found on the computer. You would think that is all he ever does (really we don't let him play twenty four seven).

Jake and Jordan at the pumpkin patch. Still great friends!

He is a great big brother who can be so kind and loving toward his two little brothers. I have overheard him trying to explain things to Griffen in such a patient and loving way, it melts my heart. I am excited to see what the next ten years has for him. I pray that he will continue to have a few good friends who can be a great support for him. Most of all, I pray that he will find his greatest source of strength and support in Jesus. I pray that the sweet, sensitive side of him will not cause him too much saddness as he grows through junior high and high school but that it will help him be sensitive tho others around him.

Kindergarten graduation at church.

As I have been looking at old pictures, I found the prayer that was written for his dedication at church when he was about 3 months old. It reads, "May he be like the transformed Jacob, marked as one who without compromising, holds on to those things that are pleasing in God's sight (1 Cor. 15:1-2). Grant him success in everything his hands find to do, and may his ministry bring great blessing to many (Joshua 1:6-7) May he also be a good steward and caretaker of all he has (Matt. 25:14-30). Whether his resources are small or great. We pray that in every way Jacob would be a good provider for his family, and a spiritual example in whatever setting he finds himself (ph. 6:5-9: 1 Thess. 1:5b-10)." This prayer was written by the pastor of our church at the time, Bob Stone, and was based on the meanings of Jacob's first and middle names. Jacob means, "one who clutches" and Dean means "abundant supplier" This prayer, as I have rediscovered it, is still my prayer for him today.

We love you very much Jake! Happy Birthday!

The Phone Call We Got Today

Sorry there are no pictures today but I just needed to post about a phone call we got today. At about 2:15, I was getting ready to go get Austin from school when the phone rang. The caller id said unavailable. As a general rule, I never answer these since they are usually telemarketers. Well my curiosity took over (thank you God) and I answered it prepared to say "no thanks" and hang up. Well...the woman on the other end introduced herself and added that she was from DSHS. It almost didn't register at first. I wasn't expecting a call from them until after all of the other paper work was in. Anyway, she talk to me a little and then scheduled a time to come to our house next THURSDAY!

She said that she was retired but got called back to help out because they are swamped with applications for foster/adopt. She said that she also still needed to check with the other worker (who sent us our first letter) to see if she is doing our whole homestudy or just the adoption part. Anyway, I am excited but a little nervous as this process is once again speeding ahead. On the paperwork end, we are taking our cpr/first aid class tomorrow and should hopefully have the rest of this paperwork in the mail next week or the week after.

Please pray that things keep falling into place and that all goes well with the homestudy. Thank you!