Just Another Sunny Day in Iraq

As many of you know, Aaron Towner, my childhood best friend and best man at Christina's and my wedding, is currently serving in Iraq. I thought you'd enjoy this photo he recently sent over. Please keep him and his fellow soldiers in your prayers.

Eliana's Birthday Photos

Three Years...

This is where I get to say that, three years ago today, I was in a bunch of pain, fighting with nurses, and truly thinking that my sweet-tempered husband was going to get arrested for punching an evil doctor in the nose! (Actually, the nurses weren't that bad. We had a couple really great ones that time...)

Happy Birthday, dear (creative, compassionate and opinionated) Eliana! God truly has answered us with joy! We love you bunches!

Eliana

David: "Do you think we'll ever describe Eliana as 'normal'?"

Christina: "Not a chance."

Duke the Wonderpup

Before leaving for our Colorado trip, we had the joy of puppysitting Duke, the newest addition to the Stoever family. The kids loved having him around...

Eliana discovered that the puppy napped often... so in order to get some extra puppy time, she joined in on his naps.

Danny thought this high-energy pup was a bit of a handful, until he uncovered the secret to bonding with Duke.

And Mikey and Duke became the best of pals, though capturing both of these speedy lil' guys in the same photo was the most challenging task of the week!

Piper in Sacramento

John Piper will be the featured speaker at this regional conference in Sacramento October 12-13. The theme will be the "Pleasures of God." The conference cost is $30, but for the price of admission you'll get a "free bag of Desiring God resources."

If you want to go, I'd suggest registering soon, because once the word gets out this conference will likely fill up fast.

Get $10 Cash Back at Ebates

From now through September 15, Ebates is offering a $10 "double bonus offer." Use a link in this post to sign-up for Ebates, make at least one purchase, and you'll receive a $10 bonus in addition to the regular cash back you get by making purchases through Ebates. (We'll also get a matching $10 bonus if you use one of the links in this post.) This is a great deal! It effectively means you can buy something for $10 online and get all of your money back.

Ebates is one of several "share the wealth" web sites that have sprung up on the web recently. Here's how it works: Let's say you're going to make a purchase at Target.com. Before you actually make your purchase, go to the Ebates web site, register or log in and click on the Target.com link. Once you do this, you'll get 4% cash back on any purchase you make at Target.com on that visit.

No, this isn't a scam. Ebates is simply sharing a percentage of the kick-back it receives for referring you to an online merchant's web site. Most other web sites keep it all for themselves.

Other great cash back sites include:

BondRewards: Instead of giving you cash, Bond Rewards lets you collect points redeemable for U.S. Savings Bonds. To find the true "cash value" of the bond points you receives at Bond Rewards, simply divide them by two (since a $50 series EE savings bond costs $25 to purchase.) If you're interested in signing up for BondRewards, let me know so I can send you a referral e-mail.

FatWallet: This site is a lot like Ebates but it includes some different online retailers and offers higher cash back percentages at times.

Jellyfish.com: In addition to providing cash back on certain retailers, Jellyfish.com offers a unique reverse auction live shopping show called "Smack Shopping." Christina and I have used Smack shopping to get great deals on quite a few products, including an iPod and a KitchenAid. (Use the referral link on this post when you sign up and I'll get credit.)

Although none of these web sites provides cash back on Amazon.com purchases, you should always feel free to use the Amazon.com link on this blog to help out your favorite diaper fund. We receive cash back on any purchases you make when you use our Amazon.com link, which is always readily available in the list of links on the sidebar of our blog (under "Other").

Diapers for Four?

Mommy is hard at work this week, with help from Auntie Laura, attempting to convince Eliana that, yes, she really does want to go "pee-pee" and "poo-poo" in her Winnie the Pooh potty seat.

Eliana, who turns three this month, has a mind of her own about these sorts of things. Although she'll happily sit on the potty seat, she seems particularly resolute in her efforts to ensure that nothing comes out, despite tempting offers of cookies and M&Ms as a reward for any small success.

As you may have guessed, the stakes for this blog, Diapers for Three, are high. If Eliana isn't potty trained by the time #4 arrives in January, we'll have four kids in diapers, making our current blog name and web address obsolete (at least temporarily so).

But to ensure that you, our dear faithful reader, do not lose sleep over this dreadful prospect, I've secured the blog address www.diapers4four.blogspot.com. Should Eliana's heroic resistance continue into 2008, we'll always have the option of moving our posts over there for whatever time is necessary.

Big Broods on the Rise?

According to NPR's weekend edition, the "newest status symbol for the nation's most affluent families is fast becoming a big brood of kids."

Of course, NPR seems to think that a "big brood" is three or four kids. This Arkansas mom might disagree. She just gave birth to baby #17 and isn't opposed to having more.

Amy and Lila Report on Colorado Trip

The following are firsthand reports by Amy and Lila, who accompanied us on our recent trip to Colorado.

Amy:

On July 20th, 2007, [David, Christina, Eliana, Michael, Daniel], Lila, and I left for Colorado. We were going to be gone for a week and were super excited! The first day of the trip we drove 10 hours, from California to Salt Lake City, then stopped at the Courtyard Marriott for the night. It was a very nice hotel. The next day we drove 7 hours to Montrose, Colorado. I have to tell you it was beautiful!

The next few days were wonderful! We went to various places including the Black Canyon, Ouray, and Box Cañon Falls, which were all wonderful because we were out in God's creation. I was very sad to have to leave Montrose but very grateful for the time we had there! This trip was one of the most wonderful trips I've been on and ever will be!

Lila:

Well, as everyone knows, Amy and I went to Colorado! It was supposed to be a surprise for Laura but her mom ruined it. That was very funny.

The day we left was a very long day. Nevada was very dull. We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott (aka, Cockroach Inn) which was very nice and the next morning we went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. Yum!

The day we got to Colorado, we received a very warm welcoming from [Christina's parents] and a wonderful dinner. Then we went to Charity’s house. Oh my goodness, it is soooooooo beautiful! We stayed in her bonus room, which has a pool table.

On Sunday we went to [Christina's parents'] house and had a BBQ for Charity’s home coming. (She had just returned from Hong Kong). That was very fun.

Monday was very relaxing. We just stayed home and watched movies and hung out. And Laura had a doctor’s appointment for her boil behind her ear.

Tuesday was awesome. We went to the Black Canyon, the second largest canyon in the world. It was AMAZING. Then we went to a going away party for one of Laura’s friends who is moving to Texas.

On Wednesday we went to Box Canyon Falls, where [David] proposed to [Christina]. It was so pretty! And we had some yummy ice cream in a little town called Ouray. That was one of the best days.

Then on Thursday, sadly we left. BUT! Laura came back with us!! Yippee!! We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott again, and Laura, Amy, and I got our own room! It was so much fun. We stayed up late, swam, and ate junk food.

Friday was very long because my nose started to plug up so I couldn’t sleep very well in the car. But it was fun anyway. We stopped at 5 McDonald’s on the way! I have to say it was one of the best trips in the world!! Every day was completely wonderful. I can’t wait to go again.

In case you missed them, photos of the Colorado trip are available here.

Piper on Minnesota Bridge Collapse

Minneapolis-based Pastor John Piper responds to the collapse of the 35W bridge over the Mississippi River.