Fun on the 3rd

On the 3rd of July the boys and I went downtown with my parents for their 4th of July celebration.  (Tony was at Cornerstone-I'll have a few pictures of that later)

Joshua getting a tatoo

The bouncy slide they went down again and again and...

Lookin' good

We ran into Caleb's friend from his kindergarten class.  They drew with sidewalk chalk together.

We also watched fireworks afterwards which the boys really liked.  They were definitely tired by the end of the night. 

Seen in the Light

"You look hot!"  That's what Tony said to me as my parent's were riding in our van with us.  "You can't say that with my parent's in the car" I said as my face turned red.  "But with the light shining in the window, you look hot."  So even though I wasn't expecting it and even though I got a little embarrassed, it still made me feel special and loved to hear him say that (normally he says stuff like that privately).  The next day I was thinking about what Tony said and God put a thought in my head.  God is light.  In Him there is no darkness.  Like Tony saw the light shining on me through the window, God sees us through his light.  God knows we have flaws, yet we are beautiful in his sight...in his light.  Just as I felt special and loved by Tony, God wants us to know that we are special and loved by him.    

Summer fun

The boys with Noah that I take care of.

Caleb's new pet, wormy.

Joshua chillin'

The boys' new haircuts (they're trying to look tough)

anniversary continued...

Ha, ha...yes Sarah, we were very young when we got married.  It rained for a little while on our drive up to Minnesota, but the weather was beautiful once we got there.  We spent Friday at the Mall of America, but we had a chance to eat lunch out on the patio you can see from our hotel room on Saturday.  The book I was reading was a Passionate Life.  I liked it because I need visuals to help me remember things, and this book puts visual shapes to help remember the principles it talks about.  On to the pictures...

We're just eating breakfast here, but wanted to try out the new camera.  

The amusement park in the Mall of America is no longer Camp Snoopy.  I don't think a lot of kids even know who Snoopy is.  It just changed to Nickelodeon.  Dora and Sponge Bob are definitely something that will draw those kiddos in.

This is the restaurant that we ate supper at in the Mall of America.  It's called Kokomo's.

The next pictures are all from Underwater World at the Mall.

This is one of my favorite stores...this chair is great!

This was the wedding that we went to.  The bride is the one who was in the Jr. High small group and Sr. High youth ministry that we helped at while we were in college.

Our anniversary

Tony and I celebrated our 10th anniversary this weekend.  

 One of the girls that was in the youth ministry that we helped at in Minnesota was getting married, so we took a few extra days and celebrated our anniversary while we were there.  My parents were super wonderful and paid for our hotel while we were there.  What a blessing!  Our hotel was really nice.  There was a door between the living room and bedroom which was nice because I could come out and shut the doors while Tony was still sleeping in the mornings.

This is what I did in the mornings...it was nice to get up and have nothing to do...just sit and relax and read.  Tony got me a new camera for our anniversary, so I'm actually figuring out how to use it here.  I used the timer.  He also donated clothing, fruit trees, food and supplies through World Vision as a gift.  He wanted to buy me a necklace, but knows that I'm not a big fan of spending money on jewelry, so he got me this-the perfect gift, instead.  

The hotel room also had a full kitchen.  That was nice because I could put some of my food that needs to be refrigerated in it.  We had some leftovers and could reheat them in the microwave.  They had dishes, silverware, bowls, and containers too.

Here's the view out of our window.  They have grills so people can cook out if they want to.  

They also had a great hot breakfast in the morning (They even had a few things I could eat and Tony had a big variety to choose from).  We weren't there long enough to use it, but they also have free washers and dryers.  We thought it was cool anyway.  It was such a relaxing weekend. It was fun to spend time in the place where we spent the first 3 1/2 years of our marriage together.  (I'll post a few more pictures of what we did when I have more time.)

Awards night

I've had these pictures for a few weeks, but haven't had the chance to put them up yet.  The boys go with Grandma Pam to the Awana program at her church every Tuesday from September to April. 

Joshua with his friend Peter who he talked about every week.

Caleb with his first Skipper book award.  He was always so excited when he learned new verses and could add new jewels to the crown on his vest.

I hope the verses and stories they are learning now will not only be in their heads, but will change their hearts.

Entertainment at it's finest

What can keep you laughing for over a half-hour and make your sides hurt from laughing so hard?  Kids.  They are the best entertainment.  Sometimes the boys like drinking their milk out of straws.  Tony's cousin also taught the boys a different use for a straw.  So after they're done drinking with the straw, they like to do a little trick with it.  You put one end of the straw in your mouth and the other end under your armpit.  You blow through the straw and it sounds like farting noises.  Pretty soon the spit starts making it's way down the straw and all sorts of interesting sounds start to come out.  Tony and I just sit at the table and watch and listen and laugh our heads off...at the sounds and at the boys laughing at themselves.  I know that not everyone will appreciate this fun activity, but if you have kids that would like it, or you just want to try it yourself, let it fly.

Another cute conversation

Caleb:  Hey mom...you know what?  You're really a kid.

Me:  Oh yeah, why's that?

Caleb:  Well, really we're all kids down here on earth...and God, he's the adult.

Me:  We're all God's children?

Caleb:  Yep.

Me:  Pretty cool, huh?

Caleb:  Yep.

What was that?

Tony told me this conversation he had with the boys:

Tony: What did you talk about in Sunday School?

Caleb: Pagan.

Tony: Pagan?

Caleb: Pentagon.

Tony:  (Trying to figure out what the Pentagon has to do with church)  Do you mean Pentecost?

Caleb:  Yeah, that's what we talked about, Pentecost.

This is why it's always a good idea to talk to your kids and make sure they understand a story/lesson (or whatever) someone else teaches them.

March of Dimes

On Saturday we walked with our friends, the Tillberg's, in order to raise money (and awareness) for March of Dimes.  The March of Dimes website explains what they do: We're dedicated to improving the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality.  We didn't have our camera, but you can see pictures of the event at the Tillberg's blogspot.

The Big 3-0

My 30th birthday was last week.  I couldn't have asked for a better birthday.  It was great!  My sister started sending me "30 reasons to celebrate your life" cards;  each card had one letter of "Happy 30 Birthday" on the front side and then 2 reasons to celebrate my life on the back.  When you put them all together there were 30 reasons to celebrate my life written on the backs.  I also got a few other cards and some money and a few gift certificates...I normally don't go shopping for myself, so I'll have to think about what to get.  On the day of my birthday, I got to relax and enjoy the morning...no rushing.  (The sad part is that the boys I watch were sick and they couldn't come, that's why I didn't have to get ready)  Joshua and I went outside and rode scooters and enjoyed the beautiful sunny day....while the birds were chirping in the bushes by the parking lot we were in.  I'm pretty sure they were singing happy birthday.  Since I only had Joshua, Jessica and Steve-O (that work with Tony) took shifts and watched Joshua while Tony and I went to the Olive Garden for lunch.  The salad...the apricot chicken...so yummy. When Caleb came home from school he gave me a big bunch of flowers that Tony had taken him to get.  They were so pretty.  Then for supper we went to a Japanese habachi (sp?) grill restaurant with my parents where they make your food on an open grill right at your seat.  I have never been to one before.  The food was really good and it was fun to watch the chef cook everything in front of you.  The chef also does a few little "tricks" for entertainment.  My mom brought me flowers too, so it's been nice having all the beautiful flowers to enjoy.  The other thing I wanted to do for my birthday was to go to Comedy Sportz (which is on Fri.-the day after my birthday).  We had a couple of friends go with us and got to enjoy good, clean comedy-I love to laugh.  Then I got to enjoy a relaxing weekend.  I had time to read a whole book (Pagan Christianity) and Sunday night we had the college-age people that help with the youth ministry over for an impromptu b-b-q.  Today is another beautiful day and I get to go over to my grandparents house for a birthday dinner.  So turning the big 3-0 couldn't have been better.  Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

Listen, part 2

This post was written in response to the Jehovah Jireh post from my friend Jessica.

There are way too many things that have happened in my life to write how faithful God has been in revealing himself to me. Over the past few years God has continued to shape my heart, my attitude, and my actions. Although I don't think I've had "surpassingly great revelations" like Paul and need a thorn in my flesh to help me from becoming conceited, I have a much better understanding of what was spoken to Paul in 2 Cor. 12:9 "...My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." I've felt that weakness like never before the past few years and hope that God will keep humbling me so that his power in my life can become more evident. I need to be weak so that I will always be ready and willing to do whatever God wants me to do. I need to be weak so that I can listen. Listening ALL of the time. Sometimes I rely on my human ears too much. God has been really helping me to open my spiritual ears as well. But not just listening, taking action (if needed) is one thing that I've been working on lately. This verse has been on my heart for a while. "So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin." (James 4:17)  God has been so gracious in teaching me how to do this. There are several little things that I have done and I think "that's no big deal." Doing it was not a big deal, but obeying was. By obeying I become less selfish.  Sometimes, however, my selfish nature still takes over.  Because while I try to do what is right, I fail so many times. I need a reminder. I love giving to people/organizations in need. I find so much joy in helping others, but sometimes I get so busy at what I'm doing that I pass right by a chance to bless someone. My friend Merideth lives in San Diego and volunteers at the Salvation Army. Every once in a while she will write on her myspace that they need socks, and if you're in the area to drop some by and she'll take them with her. The other day I was grocery shopping and I saw a package of socks. Immediately I thought of Merideth and the Salvation Army...and I walked past the socks and continued getting groceries...that's what I was there for, right? A few days later Merideth wrote about going back down to the Salvation Army and asked if anyone had any socks they could send with her. I was so convicted that I had not listened to the Spirit's prompting. I was so focused on what I was doing that I didn't even take the time to respond to the Spirit's guidance. Obviously I couldn't take the socks to her, but I could send them in the mail. As my heart sank, "please forgive me" was all I could say. Then I needed to get some socks. Like I said before I love giving, but I don't just want to give 90% of the time, I want to give every time I feel God wants me to.  I hate when I look back at a situation and think "I should have..." I think that is why God is really working on listening (to him) with me right now so that I can look back at situations and say "I did..."  

I am in the same boat with you Jessica in that I cannot fully comprehend that the God of all creation would decide to choose such an intimate relationship with us. Each day I cannot help but sing and dance because God is worthy of all of our praise. Psalm 37:4 says, "Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart." God is the desire of my heart. God has given himself. Because of that I can experience his presence every day. I pray that God will continue to show me and guide my in ways to share his amazing love with others.

So exciting

I have been so excited since my sister told me that she was pregnant.  I keep checking on how the baby's developing.  I keep checking on how my sister's doing. I bought a little pair of sweatpants that were on sale that I couldn't pass up.  So yesterday I was even more excited because my sister had an ultrasound.  It was confirmation for my sister that there really is a baby in there; it's one thing to hear the heartbeat, but to actually see the baby is even more reassuring.  We talk over skype (video cam), so I could see the ultrasound images that she got from the visit.   It still amazes me that you can see the head, nose, mouth, body, spine, arms, legs, feet, etc. while the baby is still safe inside mommy.  Now I'm just waiting for her to download the images so I can check them out again.  I tried to get my sister to tell me the name that they have picked out, but that's going to be a surprise (I just know the few names they have on a list), so I guess I'll have to wait on that one.  I'm glad that everything looks good with the baby's health...only a few more months until I'm an aunt.

Brotherly love