Update with no cheeky title

Alright, I was playing around with some funny titles but its been a long weekend. Perhaps I better just spend my time talking about what is going on and then uploading these 17 pictures I have staged. I have been with Network General for 8 years in July and have been in sales management for 5 years in the same position. I was asked to fulfill a new role in sales management in February of this year and have been building 2 new sales teams. It has been a challenge- one of the toughest so far but we had a good first quarter and God has certainly been with me/us.
The approach is the same even if the job changes: Work hard and "Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you." The key is: work hard. Be faithful. Seek God/spend time with him. Trust God- put him first. One of the key Bible passages of my life is Psalm 37. It is pretty much my creed. I like the first few verses a lot which I'll notate below however I really love all of it and meditate on it and pray it a lot. King David of Israel was the instrument God used to write it and he certainly had the challenges, blessings, and the need to trust God in his life- he lived these truths.
Verses 1-6 are a good flavor of it, "Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun."

There is a lot of application there if you spend some time on it. I can boil it down to how it has blessed my life:
- Trust God and don't worry about what others are doing
- Force yourself not to stress and complain, not because you don't see the
problems but because with God as your foundation you have hope and help
- Keep on working and don't run away from problems - again because you trust God
- Put God first in everything and in the long run you will be blessed
- Oh by the way- it works, just have to make Jesus your Savior and put him first

Jamie and I were blessed with a sales award trip to Kauai, Hawaii last week. We were there from Sunday 5/21 through Thursday 5/25. We were able to rest a lot as well as see some great sights. Kauai was absolutely beautiful and we feel very blessed we were able to go.

Maddie was in a wedding today along with some of her former school friends. "Miss Jenny" got married and she loved her former class so much she invited the kids to be in the wedding. It was a sweet time and we were so proud of Maddie. I got to do the daddy/daughter dance along with all the dads. It was so fun and crazy because all the friends from the daycare at one point spontaneously took over the dance floor and were dancing with each other- it was so cute! It was like a movie that it happened so spontaneously, I have a picture of that above as well.


Noelle is doing great, she is saying a few more words and getting along great. Maddie is such a sweet little "mommy" figure to Noelle, she does great with her. They are both so adorable and sweet.

Easter 2006

The most important thing about Easter is the spiritual significance. Jesus Christ died for our sins, paying the penalty to free us from our sins so we can have a relationship with God and experience salvation both in this life and especially in eternity. He rose from the dead 3 days later proving he is the Son of God and proving he was approved by God as the Savior he claimed to be. You can have your sins forgiven and be saved by believing in Jesus as well. The blessed life we live today does not mean that we don't have trials like everyone- but if you are going to have them wouldn't it be nice to have the help of God? We would be happy to pray with anyone on this and we love all of you.

We had our family Easter celebration today at Uncle Scott and Aunt Lenna's house with all the cousins. We had a big Easter egg hunt and got some fun pics we will show here.

What's Up!

Hey everyone, its been awhile. Noelle is walking fully now, we'll show a pic or two of that. Maddie is doing great in soccer, she made her first goal last week. Daddy took both girls to the park last weekend, it was Noelle's first time. Fun but too hot, we had to leave sooner than we wanted to. All in all, good times. Check out the pics of my 3 sweet girls taken right before our Good Friday Easter service at church- fancy schmancy!

Happy 1st Birthday Noelle!

We had two birthday parties for Noelle this year. Her birthday was on March 7th so we had a small, simple family party on the 7th. She loved everyone singing Happy Birthday to her and she LOVED the cake as you can see.



In our Gladney traveling group there were two families who live near us and their daughters are the same age as Noelle, they all have birthdays within three weeks of each other. So, we had them and their extended families over for a big combined birthday party. We ordered a lot of Chinese food, exchanged gifts, made a huge mess, and had a great time. The babies have all grown plump and so cute since China. They have also made a huge amount of progress just like Noelle in every area. All of them wore their Chinese clothes.

Soccer Playin' Girl!

Maddie started playing soccer 2 weeks ago. We had her first game last Saturday- great times! We are so proud of her! Her friend Makenzie's mom told us about it and asked us to play so we signed up- its great that she can play with her friend. Just tonight she confessed she was nervous at her first soccer game-so sweet. She also says, "I'm number 4 because I'm 4 years old!" Cute. Noelle thinks its great too and wants to play right along!
I'm also including a couple of pics of Noelle and Maddie playing which is a common occurrence around here. Finally, Maddie is pretty much reading on a simple basis now so I included a pic showing that. Noelle on 12/11/05 when we got her could barely sit up and was not crawling whatsoever. Now she crawls like crazy, pulls up, and is starting to walk from one piece of furniture to another. Miracle.

Having fun

Fun times! Noelle will be 1 year old on March 7th- almost there! Maddie is 4 1/2.. going on 8. :) Noelle's hair has grown quite a bit and she has really gotten big. She is 20lbs. She is in the 70th percentile on height and average on weight (American charts).

Noelle is crawling all over the house, pulling up on everything (including us), and smiles and laughs a lot. She is fun! Maddie is doing awesome and is a great big sister. Maddie carries Noelle around under the arms which is pretty amazing due to Noelle's size. It looks like she is carrying a big baby doll and I think Maddie wants Noelle to be her baby doll. She is really good with her and plays with her a lot. They are really perfect together and are the delight of our hearts.

Noelle is eating table food, she likes pretty much any food. When you hold out your hands and ask her to come to you she smiles and crawls to you. That is such a rewarding thing.
Jamie is still working for Experian-Scorex in a project-management type role. I am still with Network General though my job is changing after doing the same thing for five years. I am starting a couple of new projects for the company which are new, sometimes intimidating, fairly risky, but are good learning experiences. I am seeking the Lord in prayer and in the Word constantly for help on this and have assurance he is with me and will help me in this as well. Once you learn to trust the Lord with your life and salvation the next step is to take him out of the church environment and involve him in all aspects of life, living, and working. Proverbs 3:5-6 says "Trust in the Lord at **ALL** times and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths." Seems like a pretty strong exhortation to involve him at all times and not lean on your own abilities, knowledge, and experience.

Walt Disney World 2006

Well so much for going to Disney World in February in order to avoid the crowds! =) We are currently here with Grammy, Poppy, Uncle Jon, Aunt Lisa, Jase, Ellis and Granna (A. Lisa's Mom). We are having a great time. We have been to the Magic Kingdom, MGM, Epcot and we are heading to Animal Kingdom tomorrow. The girls have had a great time. Noelle has been quiet the trooper. She loves all the sights and sounds. I think this trip was suppose to be a vacation....this has definitely been more work than work, but it has been amazing. I'm sure we will have many more "vacations" here in the future. We were here in November of 2004 and it was very crowded as well. We're beginning to think there is not a time when Disney is not crowded.

Noelle is crawling, pulling up and walking around the furniture. She is also saying quite a few words (Boba-bottle, Book, Bite, Mama, Button, Bye-Bye). You can also ask her what a thirsty dog says and she pants like a dog. She also can say "Woof" when you ask her what a puppy says. She is super cute, we just want to eat her up. It's as if she has been with us forever.

Well now your up to date with the Howards. We hope everyone is well.