Dankeschoen!

We're half way to Christmas already folks!! :) Which reminds me of Thanksgiving! And how much there is to be thankful for here and now. On that note I'll list six things we're thankful for here at Timberline and as a family:

1. The staff made it through (and thrived through!) the first two weeks of summer guest group season! Praise the Lord for Wooddale - what a wonderful group of 9th graders from Minneapolis, MN! They are always a blessing to the staff as well - this time they washed our cars and baby sat our kids again etc!

2.  Thanks to her little friend Niah, Jenna learned to ride a bike this week! ("and it only took Niah ten minutes Mom!!") I'm also deeply thankful for fellow staff members and staff moms and friends who

are just as excited as I am about Jenna learning to ride a bike! You, dear friends, are such a blessing to me! You know who you are!

3. Vacation Bible School at Winter Park Christian Church - the kids LOVE it. Ian really got to help out this year and was a part of the play (he is a robot and loving every minute of his time on stage and with the kids!).

4. Affordable summer sports activities! Julie-Joy has joined the swim team for the summer, Jenna is taking swimming lessons to improve and Ian is taking some golfing lessons.

5. Lillian's first birthday is this Saturday! What a joy she is to our family! Someone recently told me I must be completely stressed out adding a little one to our family after these years.  They could not have been more wrong! She has fit in to the family so easily and given all of us so much joy and laughter! One concern we have had is her growth. Unlike the other three Dale kiddos, she is on the smaller side (5th % for weight, can you even believe that? Unheard of for a Dale! :). It seems though that she is starting to pick up weight again and we'll know for sure at her check-up next week.

6. A friend who gave countless hours of his time and helped us fix the dent in our truck (and taught Ian some body-shop lessons in the process!). Something we were not planning to be able to fix! That


same friend got us set up with another friend who tuned our piano for free! And that same friend is giving our kids free guitar lessons! I don't know that I've encountered many people as generous with their time as this friend and his wife! What a blessing! I have been praying for that piano to get tuned for several years now! Thankful that the Lord cares about the "little" things!!

Life in full-time ministry can get really discouraging. Ask any pastor or missionary or even anyone volunteering at church in any capacity. It's good to remind ourselves of the MANY reasons we have to be grateful and to thank the Lord! Our cup truly does overflow!

(the snow pictures were taken in January - didn't want to confuse anyone! :) I need to make a mental note to take some more recent pictures of Reid! :) We do still have some snow left on the mountain peaks but spring has definitely arrived in Colorado! Thankful for the beautiful weather!!)