And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Matthew 25:40

Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

Matthew 25:45

My first thought this morning, before I had even opened my eyes, was "If ye have done it unto the least of these, ye have done it unto me." This thought came as a part of a dream, when I was beginning to wake up, about changing a dirty diaper. So often we only think about helping the weak, the poor, the needy, etc. What we mothers do every day -- changing diapers, kissing boo boo's, listening to the same questions 20 times in a row, reading little books, folding laundry, scrubbing floors, washing dishing, cooking meals -- we are doing it all for the least of these, and so we are doing it for Christ. I don't know about you, but that simple thought has made my entire day feel so worthwhile!

What's Been Happening At Our House?

We have been so busy lately, and I have had no internet connection; but everything is all fixed now. :) So, here is a very long awaited (I'm sure you have all been holding your breath in anticipation!) Vest family update!

Two weeks ago we had a family night and watched some old videos of Chad and I when we were teenagers. We watched our wedding video and a short video of Chad's mom with Mrs. Teller. It was so fun! The children really enjoyed seeing us, and we have never showed them that video of Grandma before. This picture is Budge and Tyler playing together during that movie night. Budge can get him to be happy and playful when no one else works!


That same night, Meagan lost her two front teeth. Actually, lost is too strong of a word. They were lose forever, it seems, but she wouldn't let Daddy try to pull them out. I'm afraid she gets that fear from me. I used to hang on to mine until they fell out of their own accord! Anyway, she was wrestling on the floor with Daddy, and they started to bleed because they were so loose. So, she sent us all downstairs and let Daddy finally pull those teeth after he promised her double money for both. So, the little stinker got $4 instead of just $2!


On Friday, April 3rd, the school had its Evening of Excellence. The third through sixth graders did a choric speaking piece. For as young as they are, they did a fantastic job! Everyone remembered their lines, and most remembered to say them with expression. A job well done! Elisabeth, Brian and Budge are all in this pic.

Elisabeth with one of her little friends from school. She was wearing a new little dress, and we curled her hair and put a little blush on. She felt like the bell of the ball.

Here's adorable little Meagan. She was so hilarious when she gave her part alone. I am trying to figure out how to cut out a portion of a DVD and upload it here. I could never convey just how hilarious she was without showing the DVD.

One morning I went in to check on Tyler, and this is what I found. Chad sleeps just like that quite often!;)

Our Easter Centerpiece

Our community has an Easter Egg Hunt for the kids through ten years old each year. We have never gone, but this year I promised the children we would, so we waited out in the cold for 30 minutes for the hunt to begin. It's not much of a hunt, as you can see all the eggs merely lying on the ground, but they get candy and some coupons for local businesses. There are three ages groups, and there is one Free Bike Coupon per age group.

Can you guess who won a bike?

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Brian!!!

Budge won so many coupons for free things; I think his total was 7 or 8!

Our chiropractor's wife with Brian and his new bike. She and her husband provided the bikes.

Budge holding Derek is the only way we could get Derek even remotely close to the Bunny.

Coloring Easter Eggs

Is she hiding an egg in her jumper?

Derek kept stirring his eggs and then checking on them. :)

We had a very busy day on Saturday, and Elisabeth fell asleep rocking Tyler to sleep.

We are getting ready to go on the Senior Trip next week. Only Tyler is going with us, so the rest of the children are going to three different homes. It's hard to find anyone willing to care for 6 extra children!

I hope you are enjoying your spring. It's been pretty chilly here, but is supposed to be in the mid-fifties for much of the week. We have been playing a lot of four-square as a family. I introduced the children to it at school a few weeks ago, and they've been going strong at it. We even downloaded the official rules so that we would know how to play correctly!

Enjoy your day today!

Spring Break

We were able to go to Houghton Lake over our Spring Break to a little waterpark there. We were the only ones there, and the kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves--except Lauren. She went under the water at the bottom of the water slide and was pretty traumatized after that. She pretty much stayed in the hot tub the whole time, but the hot tub was very large. We had such a nice time.

Derek was hiding in the shower curtain!

This was the morning view from our hotel room.