Saturday, April 17, 2010

Another Turn in the Path

Life is funny. We never know where it will take us. About a year ago, we moved to Idaho. And the past year has been filled with the fun of getting settled, making new friends, playing with cousins, finding new doctors, dentists, etc., having a baby, looking for a place to live. You know--all the usual stuff after a move. And now, basically a year to do the day after moving here...we will be moving again. This time back in the other direction.
The decision to move has been hard for us to make. We've spent the past few months praying and looking for the Lord's guidance. Leaving new friends, cousins and grandparents is very hard. Just as hard as it was to leave our Seattle friends and family when we came here. But we know that we can only be happy when we allow the Lord's will in our lives.
So, with no house in the Seattle area yet, our little family of 5 will be moving in with my mom and dad for a period of time while we look for a house. The move is set to happen April 30th. We appreciate all prayers for both the move and finding a new house that suits our needs quickly.
We would also like to thank our family members for their prayers for us as we decided what to do. Thank you for praying and allowing us to make the decision according to the Lord's will!

This was the calendar page the day after we committed to the move:

"Lead me, O Lord, in Thy righteousness...Make Thy way straight before my face." Psalms 5:8
"I am the Lord Thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go." Isaiah 48:17

He does not lead me year by year
Nor even day by day,
But step by step my path unfolds;
My Lord directs the way.

What need to worry then, or fret--
The God who gave His Son
Holds all my moments in His Hand
And gives them, one by one.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

A Good Day For A Party...

...or even two. Last Friday morning we rubbed the dust out of eyes and scrubbed the rodeo scum off and got ready to party. First on the list was a shower for one of the expectant mamas around here. This was not your run-of-the-mill shower, but rather, a casserole shower. Each woman invited brings a casserole or two in foil 9x13 or 8x8 pans. You could take soup in a Ziploc instead. The key is to take your food in something disposable. This way the expectant mama has a freezer full of dinners with little to no clean up. I know that she also received half a dozen loaves of bread, some coffee cakes, granola, etc. So, she should have a few nights of easier meals after the new baby joins them. When I was expecting Ezra a lovely friend planned a shower like this for me. But instead of each woman bringing a casserole, they each contributed money and bought the meals from a local "Dinner's Ready". It was oh-so-helpful and I recommend it for anyone out there planning a shower for a friend--it's especially nice for mothers of more than one child.


Kids and moms alike enjoyed some yummy treats while we visited and played.



We managed to get all the babies lined up in one chair. These are 4 of the 7 that have been/will be born between May 2009 and May 2010. This here is "Levi and his Lady Friends". They are in age order: October, December, January, February. Notice how interested Levi was in that hair bow : ) The babies stayed so happy sitting together in the chair. We decided we need to sit them that way more often!


We left that party around lunch time and dashed home for naps. When we woke up it was time to get ready for party #2--Teddy's 4th birthday party! The kids were super excited, of course. Aunt Heather served up some delectable beef brisket with all sorts of tempting sides. We (read: ME!) stuffed ourselves beyond bursting. Then the kids all helped Teddy rip through his gifts before playing a game of pin the tail on the donkey.

The shot I didn't get was Ezra totally disoriented. He pinned his tail on a counter top across the kitchen, and then on the cupboard door next to the fridge. We all had fun watching.

The new and excited 4 year old!


Aunt Heather fed the obsession for Tom and Jerry with this really yummy cake.

These folks joined us for the evening.

We left Ezra to spend the night with Teddy. We hear there was not a lot of slumber going on for the boys that night. They stayed up late and got up early to keep the fun going as long as they could. Ezra came home with a giant smile the next afternoon and many stories of all the fun he had. Thanks Uncle Alan and Aunt Heather for all your hard work. And thanks to Teddy for having a birthday : )
This last picture is from two days ago. Miss Kine (yes Penny, we still call her that sometimes) was in a self-destructive mood that day. She "bonked her noodle" (as she says) three times in pretty amazing fashion. Poor thing. She's feeling better by today, but her head and face still bear the marks of her accidents.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Roh-Dee-Oh!

Yee-haw! Yipee-Aye-Ki-ya! Cowboy up! And that's all the stereotypical cowboyese I know, folks. What I'm tryin' to say, ya'all, is that--we went to the rodeo! And we had fun watching the "thunder under the dome". Here's the evidence...


Our very own rodeo queen.





Look at those bull fighters chasing that bull and rider down. They were pretty good fighters. We watched one of them get straddled by a bull. No one was hurt.


We had a drowsy ride home from the show.

'Nuff said!

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Someday

Someday there will be no dirty clothes strewn about the house. Someday there will be no potty seat on my toilet. Someday, no fingerprints will grace my windows. Someday there will not be a pile of dirty dishes forever by my sink. Someday I will make only my own bed. Someday I will take a shower in a quiet bathroom by myself. Someday there will be no dirty diapers. Someday there will be no colicky baby to walk for hours. Someday "why mommy" will not echo in my ears. Someday my house will be clean. Someday I will have very cute and very breakable decorations--and they won't be broken. Someday I'll have fancy gourmet dinner parties with adult conversation. Someday my house will be quiet. Someday I will be sad. Someday I will wish those fingerprints back on the windows. Someday there will be oodles of leftovers because I don't know how to cook for only two. Someday I'll dream about laundry strewn on the floors. Someday I will close my eyes and will the feeling of a colicky baby into my arms. Someday my walls will only echo with the memory of giggles and "why mommy". Someday I will miss today. But today there is laundry on my floor. And I must go take care of it.

Forgive me Lord for my daily complaints. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for healthy, loving, beautiful, messy children.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Easter

Easter dinner is my favorite holiday meal...although the older I get the closer Thanksgiving closes in. But for now--ham, potatoes, creamed corn, delicious rolls...you get the picture...is what I dream about. Plus a little chocolate...although I had to take it a teensy bit easy on that front, for Nora's sake. Aunt Heather packed over yummy rolls to bake fresh and light and fluffy cream puffs along with Uncle Alan and the cousins. Grandpa was out of town, but Grandma joined us at the table.

Food.



Cousins.




Watching Tom and Jerry clips on the computer. The dads and kids have a slight addiction.


Easter egg hunting.



Siblings.

He's trying to get her into position.

Grandma and a LOT of story books.

Snuggling.


Sisters

Add it all up and you get a wonderful Easter Sunday.

And we do know indeed that He is risen. I took some time Easter morning to think about what that really means. If He is risen--then He is alive. Alive and waiting for us. Alive and loving us. Alive and interceding for us. He is not some vague concept--but a living Saviour. Something to think about and rejoice over every day--not just one day of the year. Praise God!!!

Monday, April 5, 2010

Cousins

I tried to post this about a week ago and couldn't get the pictures to upload. So, without further ado...
Over the past few weeks we've had some visits from cousins...my cousins, Tadd's cousins and the kids' cousins. So, here's a quick review in pictures.



Yep, you guessed it, "my cousins" and "Tadd's cousins" overlap : ) NO--we are NOT related. My first cousins on my dad's side happen to be his 2nd or 3rd or something or other cousins on his dad's side. No blood relation, no marriage relation...no relation. As Calista said when she introduced herself to Ezra "Hi, I'm your mom's cousin, Calista. Well, I'm your dad's cousin too, but we'll talk about that another time." Haha.




Also, I won a blog give away a while back from My Every Day Life and she sent me not one, but two darling hats she made. Thank you so much, Holly! We love the hats and they fit great. I don't have any pictures of Ezra in his, but here's Caroline modeling hers.