FOUR!

Gabriel also celebrated a birthday while on our vacation. Lillian's was on the day we left for vacation. Gabriel's was the day we returned home. Both of them, unfortunately, had birthdays that were primarily spent in the car.

Thankfully, though, we had a big birthday bash while at our family reunion...celebrating Lillian's, Gabriel's, and my niece's birthday. There were presents, three(!) cakes, and lots of fun. Here, Gabriel is sporting the fun sunglasses that Grandma Patty found for him. Aren't they cool?

Gabriel received a replacement pair of yellow rain boots from us. Many of you may know about his rain boot obsession. It started because he could put them on by himself. Then, they became his favorite shoes in the whole world...worthy of wearing with shorts, church clothes, and his bathing suit! He also received a cowboy guitar, Thomas stuff, dinosaur eggs, and goggles to wear when he swims.

What can I say about Gabriel? My friend Karen summed it up when she asked how I can get anything done with him around. It's too easy to just listen to him talk and crack up all the time. And that is so true. He is such a charming, witty little guy. He keeps everyone in the family laughing. What a great quality! So, happy birthday, Big Boy! Here's to another year of tickling our funny bones!

Lucky Number 7

We left for our family vacation on Monday, June 11th, which also happens to be Lillian's birthday. We were all a little sad that her birthday had to be spent in the car, but she was a wonderful sport about it! We made it to Sacramento (California is a really LLLOOOOOONG
state), found a hotel with a pool, and Lillian got to pick a movie to see. The winner? Shrek 3.
I stayed back in the hotel watching Animal Planet with Gabriel and Kurt.

Lillian is turning into such a sweet young lady. Her sense of humor keeps us constantly in stitches. She asked for a rock polisher for her birthday, so I see an increase (which is hard to believe) in the number of rocks coming into the house. My little geologist!

Happy birthday, Lillian! You bring joy into our lives and we are forever thankful to the sovereign Lord for lending you to us in this lifetime. May you be richly blessed this year!

Lucky Number 7

We left for our family vacation on Monday, June 11th, which also happens to be Lillian's birthday. We were all a little sad that her birthday had to be spent in the car, but she was a wonderful sport about it! We made it to Sacramento (California is a really LLLOOOOOONG
state), found a hotel with a pool, and Lillian got to pick a movie to see. The winner? Shrek 3.
I stayed back in the hotel watching Animal Planet with Gabriel and Kurt.

Lillian is turning into such a sweet young lady. Her sense of humor keeps us constantly in stitches. She asked for a rock polisher for her birthday, so I see an increase (which is hard to believe) in the number of rocks coming into the house. My little geologist!

Happy birthday, Lillian! You bring joy into our lives and we are forever thankful to the sovereign Lord for lending you to us in this lifetime. May you be richly blessed this year!

Plans and Pancakes

This past Saturday morning while Gustav was at his men's Bible study, the kids and I sat down to some steaming whole wheat banana pancakes and some exquisitely sweet cantaloupe and a little conversation. Here's how it went:

Gretchen: When I grow up, I am going to marry a man I like. He's going to make a lot of money and we'll have a big house.

Gabriel: I'm going to have one of those long things with the water that you race on.

Me: A slip and slide?

Gabriel: Yeah.

Gretchen: And we'll have 6 kids.

Gabriel: I'm going to have TEN kids, but no wife.

Everyone: (giggling) You can't do that, Gabriel!

Lillian: These pancakes are so yummy!

Gabriel: They are soooo good I'm gonna throw up!

Me: Thanks, honey.

Lillian: Did he just say he was going to throw up?

Me: Yes, but I think he meant it as a compliment.

Me: Nicholas, what do you want to do when you grow up?

Nicholas: Aaahhhh...Welll...I might be in the military. Or maybe I'll go into I.T........just joking.

Me: (laughing hysterically) Good one, Nicholas.

Gabriel: I'm going to be a navy.

Nicholas: You can't be A navy, you are IN the navy.

Gabriel: No, Nicholas, I will be A Navy!

Everyone: Lots of laughing.



I think every family needs a four year old.

Travels to Atlanta

My parents celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary on June 25th. In this world, with so little emphasis placed on the commitment of marriage, such a milestone is definitely worthy of much celebration. And so, my Mom and Dad, brother Mike and his girlfriend Kristen, and Kurt and I traveled to Atlanta, GA to my sister Beth's house. It had been years since all of us were together in the same place, and we really enjoyed the sweet time spent together.

Here my Mom and Dad are holding their gift from us...a one-of-a-kind Main Street, with many, many memories from growing up within the picture. The date of their wedding, our names and birth dates, the sports we played in high school, the car we learned to drive on, our colleges, favorite restaurants, family pets, and all their grandchildren. It was the perfect gift! Kudos to Beth for finding such a thing.

That's my sweet and beautiful niece, Meghan, holding Kurt above. It was so fun to spend time with her, as well, and she just loved Baby Kurtain (as she calls him!)

I won't go into detail about my travel experience there and back. Suffice it to say, it was miserable. Delays, missed flights, long hours in Dallas' airport. (I almost called you, Carol!!) But, despite all of the headache getting there and getting home, it was so worth it to celebrate with all of my family. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Thankful Thursday

...but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ...

Ephesians 5:20

Back when I was a good homeschooling Mom, we would periodically have "Thankful Thursdays" in our home. I found that, come Thursday, everyone was a little weary and edgy and requiring a checkpoint to show us all how good we have it. Seeing as I am a bit low right now (those post-vacation, I want to get back to work but no one else does blues), I figured it was high time that I sit here and dwell not on what is wrong in my life, but on what is really good. So, here goes:

Today I am thankful:

*that the Lord does not ever forget or go back on His promises. Despite my own sinful, selfish, prideful, wicked thoughts, actions, and attitudes, He will not change from His perfect, loving, holy Self.

*that the plum tree in our front yard is bursting with hundreds of ripe, juicy, delicious plums.

*that my children never seem to lose their collective sense of humor, even when I do.

*for 10 hands to hold.

*for the steady, quiet breathing of my precious baby in the next room.

*for air-conditioning.

*that I do not own the crispy burnt straw that used to be the front lawn.

*that tomorrow is a new day, “with no mistakes in it yet.”

*that Gretchen has taken such delight in the Anne of Green Gables series, just as I did at her age, and she constantly asks me what MY favorite part was. That she loves that this is our little secret that no one else can understand.

*that Christ's sacrifice is enough, for God knows, I can add nothing.

*that I have a husband who loves the Lord with all of his heart, mind, soul, and strength.

*that I have a husband who loves me despite stretch marks, extra pounds, moody bouts, and wrinkles that have literally formed overnight.

*that I may drink deeply of the Word of God and know that my place is at His feet.

May you all have a wonderfully blessed Thursday, full of many little things for which to be thankful. I sure will.

We're baaaack...

Hello all of you out in blogdom. The family has returned from our month of travel, and boy, we are glad to be back. We had a marvelous time in Yosemite, Atlanta, and Seattle, but there really is no place like home!
Gretchen just whined over my shoulder, "We are NOT glad to be home!" So, I will modify my previous statement:

Everyone over the age of 30 and under the age of one is glad to be home. There, I am certain THAT is true.

Anyhoo, I will give a synopsis of our first-ever family camping experience in Yosemite. First off, it is breathtakingly beautiful. Really. Completely amazing. Yosemite Falls, Half Dome, El Capitan...pictures cannot do these places justice. You just really have to see them to appreciate them. The majesty of Yosemite was such a testimony to the awesome, majestic powers of the Creator Himself! The grandeur of His creativity a glimpse into His character.

I think we did a pretty good job in our debut camping trip. It was A LOT of work! Definitely not one of those sit-back-in-your-beach-chair-type vacations. The food preparation and packing for 7 was tiresome, but I have to say, it was worth it once we were there. A time in God's glorious creation, without computers, cell phones, jobs, TV's, etc. was...well....a true vacation. It was just time together with family and friends. Simple fun.

We had a wonderful time getting to know the Harasick, DeShong, Berggren, Tubbs, and Brooks families. Every one of our children had someone just about their age to play with. We ate really well, had s'mores every night, and hiked, biked, and swam as much as a family with young ones can.

On a funny and ironic note: we had a visit from a bear the first night we were there. This may make those of you in CT laugh, as you surely remember our run-ins with a different brown, four legged, bird-seed stealer in our backyard. The others in our group had collectively been to Yosemite many times, with nary a bear sighting in their campsites. How ironic that on our very first night there, a bear broke into one of our Rubbermaid bins and shredded a role of paper towels. Thankfully, we heard him and my big, strong, brave hubby scared him away. Apparently, we attract bears like others attract mosquitoes. Bear repellent, anyone?

The above picture was taken at Glacier Point. We had a picnic lunch there, overlooking the most magnificent view! We only had a three-fifths happiness rate in the offspring, as you can see, but hey, we were all in the picture!

Many thanks to the wonderful Harasick family for their invitation to camp with them. We found ourselves thankful many times that their trailer was right next to us!

Up next: "Nancy and Kurt's adventure to Atlanta" a.k.a. 'Why I may never fly again" (at least on American Airlines!)