The Life and Times of Mark and Jill

The Letter “I”

jilldekkers — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:58:55 +0000

I is for insect, icicles, and ice cream! Here are pictures from preschool last week with teacher Sarah.

Insects…

Using 3-D glasses with a cool insect book…

making icicles…

and last, but not least, ice cream! (homemade by Aliyah and Maddie…and Sarah)

The Safari Park

jilldekkers — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 04:26:52 +0000

One of the highlights of our vacation with Mark’s family was going to the Safari Park in Escondido. Thanks to a friend of Mark’s parents, we were all able to get into the park for free…major bonus!! It was a great day.

checking out the cool porcupine

all ready for her first visit to the park

It was so cool to see the baby gorilla. See him (or her?!) in his mama’s arms?!

getting sleepy…

Doug, Corrine, Derek, and Nathan

love this one!

and…out!

Fun at the Rec. Center

jilldekkers — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 00:54:05 +0000

While staying at the resort, the kids (and adults) enjoyed spending time in the rec. center. What made it perfect was that it was directly across from where we were staying…very convenient! The first morning Grandma went over with all of the kids. They enjoyed painting…here are some photos.

Teaser

jilldekkers — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 04:57:18 +0000

We had the opportunity to spend a week with Mark’s family (Mom and Dad and brother’s family) at the Lawrence Welk Resort in Escondido. We had a blast! It’s a little overwhelming to even know where to begin when posting pictures because I have so many fun ones. This first post is just a teaser, and I will probably post a couple more times with more pictures of our week. And what a great week it was!!

Hot Off The Press – The Leonard Gazette!

len20 — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 06:43:54 +0000

This year we decided we were too broke to print and mail Christmas cards, so we’ve gone into the newspaper publishing business.

Click here to download your copy of the Leonard Gazette, and read all about our 2011.

Christmas Fun

jilldekkers — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 04:51:24 +0000

I got so busy posting about the 12 days of Christmas that I have a little catching up to do. We took an evening to go see the Festival of Lights in Riverside. It was so much fun, and the girls loved looking at all of the lights! My pictures aren’t the greatest, but at least it gives you an idea of what it was like.

The girls enjoyed decorating a Gingerbread lady (Maddie made it very clear it would be a girl, not a boy!). This was one of the many gifts that we got from our 12 Days of Christmas friends, and the girls loved decorating and eating it.

Buddies

jilldekkers — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 16:55:25 +0000

Some older photos that I never got around to posting…

Calendar Signing

jilldekkers — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 03:21:01 +0000

Maddie had the privilege of being featured as “February” and on the cover in the Childhood Cancer Foundation’s annual calendar. She loved getting to be in two separate photo shoots, and she also loved the official unveiling/signing party.

Each child featured in the calendar got to go up and see his/her month before it was shown to everyone at the party. After the unveiling and numerous pictures were taken, each child got to sit in a special spot to sign calendars. Maddie must have signed at least 100 calendars, and she loved every minute of it! Here are some pictures of her/our fun.

The Final Days of Christmas

jilldekkers — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 06:38:18 +0000

I’m sorry for taking so long to post the final days of Christmas. We have been at Danae and Paul’s house over Christmas weekend, and now we’re back home. I have a lot of catching up to do on the blog. Here are the final days of Christmas from our amazing gift givers–the Konings!

We got a lot of sweets for days 11 and 12…sorry I didn’t get pictures.

We have been so spoiled and blessed this Christmas season. Konings, you are amazing. Thank you so much!

The Cat’s out of the Bag

jilldekkers — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 06:51:15 +0000

Ron, Karen, and Anna Koning, you totally floored us this Christmas season with your huge hearts and amazing spirits of generosity. It was so fun to open our door tonight and see all three of your smiling faces. Thank you for being the reason behind our excitement over the sound of the doorbell so many evenings. Thank you for helping teach our girls about what’s truly important at Christmas–giving! Thank you for showering us with blessing after blessing after blessing for the last 12 days!!

I will post pictures of the final three days of Christmas, but for now I must say good night. All of this excitement has worn me out.