Family Pictures

Right before we went to Minnesota my lovely husband suggested that we do our yearly family photo (one of my favorite events). So we headed over to the mall with our matching shirts and bare feet for a typically fun but stressful photo shoot. Surprisingly everyone did GREAT and we all had a great time! This was our first big outing since we really shifted as a family into putting our focus on taking our time and enjoying each other and it showed. We had fun taking our pictures, too bad I can't post them due to copyright stuff, and riding the carousel while we waited for them to print.

Neither Matt or I could believe how grown up Noah, Joshua, and Hope have become and what cuties they are when their personalities really shine through. Praise God for beautiful, healthy, well behaved children, they truly are a blessing from the Lord!

Alaska

The conference was awesome and so was the boat ride. Here are a few pictures from the trip!

Eagle Renee & Me

Me & Pamela on the boat

     Glacier: the darker the blue, the older the ice

It's been a while...

Since so much has happened in the few days since I blogged last I have decided to do a bunch of short posts, one for each event. Just keep in mind that all of these things have happened in the last 20 days or less and I know I will forget some of them. Amongst all of these has also been a number of illnesses in our household, Joshua had to go to the ER for breathing trouble and 103.5 fever, then Noah had the same fever but just a virus, then Matt got strep, REALLY BAD strep, then I got tonsillitis, mostly from being run down, and now Noah has strep.  Throughout all of this Matt's mom, Donna, has been in the hospital with blood issues so please keep her in your prayers. I will post about that later. So here we go......

Home from Mayo

Soooo....prayers have been answered, thank you GOD! Long story short, 6 weeks ago blood tests showed I was post-menopausal and had been for quite a while and all my complications seemed to go along with that. We got to Mayo and they ran every test possible and I got to meet a couple of really awesome doctors. Last Wednesday afternoon all of my tests came back and I am a typical 27 year old with normal hormone levels. They have no idea how this happened and can't really explain it but I know it was God and all the prayers that were lifted up by family and friends.

Matt & I celebrated Thursday with a bike ride through some beautiful country in Minnesota down a trail called the Root River Trail. We rented a couple of bicycles and rode 11.2 miles to the next town to have lunch at a great little diner. I was whooped after that since I haven't really exercised in months so Matt was super sweet and rode back to the car by himself and drove to get me. I got some good walking in and a little shopping at the small "main street" town. Plus, we all know that 11.2 miles is NOTHING for Matt and he rides so fast that it took no time at all, less shopping for me :o(

After that we decided to venture into Amish country which was an amazing experience. Not only was it cool to see the buggies on the road in person and all of the farms and such but we actually drove out onto one of the farms that said they sold furniture. We all know there was no way to get furniture back but we felt like we should go anyway. When we drove out I was really impressed by the Lord to stay in the car and let Matt have a man-to-man time with the men of the farm and I wasn't really sure how they would handle a woman with short hair, tattooed, and in shorts, with no head covering to boot! I'll tell the whole story in another blog but lets just say it was great for both parties. Matt was able to minister to the young man in the shop and he was able to share some of his life with Matt. More to come........after I get back from Alaska!

Praise you Lord in ALL things

Jesus is AWESOME! Crappy days happen and through the Lord they get better and we move on. Help comes in wonderful ways and in ways you would never expect. Oh, random note, I got a bicycle! Its purple of course, picture to come later. Anywho, I am believing God for no more crappy days and the strength to praise through them with new and increased zeal.

Crappy Day

Its only 9:30 am and I am already having a crappy day, how does that work? Why can't everyone just pull their own weight and work as a team?? Its not that I'm doing it all, not by a long shot, but the improvements I'm trying to make for the FAMILY and HOUSEHOLD are not being kept up by anyone but me, its makes me want to quit again! Support is key and I don't feel like I have any right now, around here anyway. I can't quit though, it would make me crazy, I tried that before and it didn't work to light a fire under anyone's butt so I'm out of ideas. I'm resolved to do what I can and the rest will just have to wait until another day. So a warning and apology ahead of time if you come to my house: its a mess but its getting better, its not dirty just cluttered, I try to put my kids and family before an orderly house so if thats a problem we'll meet somewhere. I am learning and we're in transition to an orderly home but its a learning process for all 5 of us which is going to take 5 times longer than if it were just us. Thanks for letting me rant. Encouragement is always welcome since its usually pretty scare. Pray that anyone who reads this has a blessed NOT crappy day!

Hallelujah!

So, quick update on my health. After much prayer by many family and friends we had breakthrough and I am feeling quite a bit better! Thank you Jesus! We also had breakthrough with Mayo and are heading up there the end of the month for about a week or so.

We had a GREAT time with Judah at Dog Days of Summer and saw a bunch of grown bulldogs! They were all super cute and the kids LOVED getting to pet all different types of dogs and all sizes too. Joshua loves the really bug Newfoundland we saw that was bigger than him but also ran to give a kiss on the nose to a tiny Pomeranian, so cute. Hope of course was constant "puppy, puppy, puppy" in her low, raspy, super excited voice. Noah was more concerned with the jump house and games but thankfully with Gamma and Papa there we were able to let everyone have a good time and we all shared lemonade, funnel cake, and snow cones under the shade trees. If you haven't made it out there before you should go next year, it is a great event even if you don't have dogs. A word to the wise: go early before it gets hot, I mean HOT!!

Until next time....may the Lord bless you and keep you and make His face shine upon you