Why did we name this sweet little son Samuel? We felt so blessed with our two boys (Micah, named for "justice and mercy" and Paul, named for "walk humbly with God" -- Micah 6:8) and we were praying about whether or not God was calling us to have another child. Samuel means "God heard." God heard our prayers and gave us baby Samuel as the answer to them, together with the promise that God always has been and always will be faithful. In 1 Samuel 1:27-28 Samuel’s mother Hannah says,”For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord.” The God who hears can give us the same attitude about our sons. Another prayer for Samuel, Paul and Micah is from 1 Samuel 2:26, “Now the young man Samuel continued to grow in both stature and in favor with the Lord and also with man.” Samuel's middle name is Monroe in honor of Anthony's dad, Harold Monroe Tongen, who came to visit us last week. In the above picture, Samuel Monroe is pondering his state of the union address.
Victory! Samuel Monroe's talented Great Aunt Jean, whose brother (Harold) and father (Sherwood) both have the same middle name (Monroe,) made this beautiful quilt; it is perfect for a boy with a name fit for a president. 
Micah was learning how to ride his bike without training wheels last week. 
We took Harold on a hike up to Stoney Man and got to enjoy a beautiful sight!
I need proof in Paul's baby book that he got good one-on-one time with his dad even when he had to share him with an older and a younger brother.
Micah gets quality and quantity time with Anthony, too.
Here's our newest family photo.
Harold enjoyed our front porch during his vacation so much that Sam was also convinced it is the place to be.
See what I mean?
Micah went to Worship Arts Camp for Kids at another church a couple of weeks ago and enjoyed practicing his clowning skills. Paul joined in on the funny fun, with some help from dad's face-painting at the children's museum.
Sam had smiles for his Auntrea!! Contrary to popular opinion that babies smile when they have gas, he always smiles when he is about to fall asleep. (He may like sleep as much as I do: this blog post is rather uncreative due to my current lack of it.)
Can you tell which one is Paul and which one is his cousin Jack?
Just when you thought you had it figured out which was which, they switched places!
The arboretum is a great place to document time with Grandpa "Papa" Tongen.
Harold has four sweet grandsons, if I do say so myself.
Oh yeah, he also has two really sweet kids. If you still weren't sure which one was Paul and which one was Jack, they are sitting on their respective parents' laps now.
We all got to enjoy some more good times with Grandma Jo, including some ring-around-the-rosie
and other fun giggles.
Micah aptly named this photo, "Doctor Samuel Tongen!" Samuel M. Tongen, Ph.D. is in the making.
One week ago, Anthony and Drew took Micah, Paul, Noah and Ben to the safari park and they all had a really great time!
They enjoyed feeding lots of animals and apparently held an ostrich egg.
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