Thursday, July 31, 2008

I love this quote that I found
Don't wait to make your son a great man - make him a great boy.  Author Unknown




And this quote causes a laugh to escape from my lips.  :)

...Boys are God's way of telling you that your house is too neat.  Author Unknown


Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Who I am

The fact that I am a woman does not make me a different kind of Christian, but the fact that I am a Christian does make me a different kind of woman. For I have accepted God’s idea of me, and my whole life is an offering back to Him of all that I am and all that He wants me to be.           
  Elisabeth Elliot

Monday, July 28, 2008

Weekend Wanderings

On Saturday morning we packed up a picnic lunch, 
got the bikes ready and took off to discover a new area.  
We soon found ourselves on a local trail...












We discovered old barns...











and little fields of wildflowers...






















Olivia was not enjoying the bike trailer and needed a break
 so we quickly found a quaint little spot for a picnic lunch.  :)  












Friday, July 25, 2008

Creating




A treasure pouch to store all of those fun summer treasures.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Celebrating Us

I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine.  Song of Solomon 6:3



Nine years ago a boy and a girl, said "I do".  Nine years ago we began this journey...

We worked together and grew together, enjoying our days as a new husband and wife. 

Family vacations, traditions being started...

Right before our first anniversary we discovered that our first little one was on it's way and you stood with me as we welcomed him into our lives nine months later.  

Dad and Mom were so gracious in helping us get into our first home and we found ourselves moving from our apartment to our retreat.  

We soon welcomed our second little boy into our family and found that your job would be changing.  It was not a change that we wanted but we new it had to happen.  :)  I was so proud of you as you walked out your new role as President yet you kept your family your first priority.  

A little girl now joined our family and our days were beginning to become so full.  Life was busy...  so we found ourselves treasuring our evening walks.

Days came and days went... memories were being made...

A surprise baby, a move we only dreamed about now happening

A new job, a new home, new friends

Days to come... dreaming about the days to come...

What will the days to come hold?  We know that He has the pen and we have asked Him to write the story.  

There is no one else I would rather be walking this journey with...

I love you more today then the day we said, "I Do".  Thank you, my love, for choosing me... These years have been amazing and I look forward to all that is to come.





Tuesday, July 22, 2008

What a creation!


As I was busy making some more Strawberry Jam with the kiddos yesterday, my oldest decided he wanted to make his own creation. What could be better then some of this?  

Who needs a healthy snack???

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Making Strawberry Jam



The beauty of an art passed down through the generations

Friday, July 18, 2008

To drop like rain



My doctrine shall drop like rain, my speech shall distill as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass.           Deuteronomy 32:2








As I lead, teach, disciple, instruct, train, 
and encourage our little ones in the ways of You, 
may our doctrine drop like rain...    


Help my speech distill as the dew,
to encourage, to speak life...
 love flowing from my tongue, 
as rain upon the tender herb...  

As they sit in Church, listening, grabbing little pieces,
may the showers pour upon their grass...
Father, may our lives be full, abundantly full, so that it can overflow into their lives.  May they see something that they want to touch, may our lives be an "expedition to the value of knowing You" (Jim Elliot).

As our children see us bowing before God and serving others, tremors will pass down their spines, because they will begin to suspect that God really is real.  The intimate presence of the Holy Spirit, unleashing the power of a personal God in our lives, will allow our children to witness awe-inspiring encounters.  They will comprehend the passionate love God has for them, and will be irresistibly drawn to Him as they respond to the Romance.     Monte Swan


graphic from art.com

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Being Thankful

To continue our focus on a thankful heart...

I have been challenged and inspired by Ann at Holy Experience and her endless gifts and I so desire to cultivate that in my kiddos lives.  I want them to see God's hand in everything, to have a thankful heart and to find joy in the smallest things.

One of my goals for the summer was to work on a thankful book with them.  The boys each have their own book and in it they can draw, paint, paste pictures,  or choose whatever creative means they want to record all that they are thankful for.   

It has brought such joy to my heart to see all that they are recording...

simple things



special friends from Church



Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Ephesians 5:20

Sunday, July 13, 2008

A thankful heart


We have so much to be thankful for.  Even on hard days and long weeks, He is good and has blessed us with so, so much.  

Thankfulness is the way we think, Joy is the abundance it produces.
Debi Pearl


1) I am a daughter of the living KING. He has saved me by His grace and called me His own. I delight in knowing I am safe with Him. He really is my everything.
2) I have an amazing husband. We are growing closer together and he brings such joy to my life.
3) I love watching the boys explore nature together, jump in mud and just take pure delight in life.
4) Faith. God is so good and loving, so kind to have blessed us with a little girl.
5) Olivia Grace. She is such a joy and I smile each time I look at her.
6) Our home. It really is a home. God’s peace and joy reign here.
7) God’s will. He has made it clear that this is where He wants us to be. We are so content knowing this is where He wants us. Yet I am so excited and can’t wait to see what that next step is!
8) I love being outside.
9) I love working with the boys. They find such joy in working – I just love seeing that fruit in their lives.
10) It is so awesome when you see “evidence of God’s grace” in our lives. Especially the boys. I love hearing their little prayers and when they say that Jesus loves them most.
11) The peace that you receive from spending time with the Lord. I want to know Him more.
12) The joy you have after spending some time on your knees. What a sweet time that is.
13) I Love my bed.
14) I love a good book.
15) Long walks and bike rides.
16) Being with family.
17) The smell of homemade bread cooking
18) I love being able to encourage others
19) The Titus 2 women the Lord has provided in my life. He is so good. I just want to keep growing in my walk with Him. I want to know Him more, to see Him more, and to hear Him more.
20) The quietness of the home when the kids are sleeping.

God is so good! His mercies are new every morning.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Summer Rains


Being a California girl, I knew nothing of the thing.  Rain, it came in winter.  

I was seven years old when we made our cross country trip, visiting friends and family in many different states.  One stop was at my Aunt's home in West Virgina.  I remember spending the day out sight-seeing in her small town, riding a Double-Decker bus and then it came... the rain and thunder.   Everything within me screamed that I needed warm clothes and hot chocolate. After all, it only rained when it was cold, right?  We made our way back to my Aunt's home and I quickly dawned my new prairie skirt and turtleneck while we sat in her screened-in-room and listened to a mighty thunder storm.  

Here I am, several years later, in my home.  I'm standing against the slider soaking in the warmth of a summer day and I see the clouds coming, knowing that a summer rain is on its way. I have never heard as much thunder in my life as I have heard since moving to Colorado and I have come to thoroughly love it.  

The clouds come, getting closer and closer and the rain starts falling.  Slowly and randomly at first and then it begins to get stronger and faster. The thunder begins...   I stand there and close my eyes, drinking in all that is around me.

To hear the sound of a summer rain...  the smells...

It's fresh... it washes... it cools... it cleanses...  

And my heart swells within me, I'm thankful.  I have so much to be thankful for.

The rains last only for a minute but in that minute it causes me to stop, to listen, to smell, to breath and to be still.  

It is good.

Then to see the end of the clouds, to see the glourious blue skies again, and to feel the warmth of the sun returning.   It is good.  

How I love a good rain.



Saturday, July 5, 2008

Happy 4th of July

I was hoping that I would have been able to post this yesterday, actually on the 4th of July, but alas time escaped me.  

Here is the project that their little hands were making.  It went 
on the back of their wagon for the 4th of July parade. 





After the parade was over, it made a nice welcome sign 
for the many guests at our 4th of July gathering.

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Little Hands...




Little hands at work, creating 4th of July fun.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008