December Daily: Day 1

Bought a new coat at Kohls. Cause "Baby Its Cold Outside!" I brought Kellan home for a nap while Jason took Mirielle to Disney Princess on Ice for an early Christmas present. I baked most of the afternoon while watching it snow out of the kitchen window and listening to Christmas music.









Made these delicious gingerbread and cranberry orange scones for a Christmas coffee house/movie night at the hangar for all of the Moody Av students and staff. I had a few too many samples! :-)

I like to browse the blogs of some of my favorite scrapbook girls for ideas, especially around the holidays. Ali Edwards has a great idea for December. She puts together a December Daily Album. I'm going to give it a try it this year and thought I would share our pictures on the blog. I have a few days to catch up so here goes!

Recipe for: Insanity

Moody just had their annual missions conference. We signed up to host a dessert following the sessions on Friday night. What I didn't know when we signed up and offered to provide the desserts is that we were supposed to plan for 20-25 people and the dessert wasn't supposed to start until 8:30pm! We weren't sure if our house would even hold that many but we managed to cram all 18 of us into our kitchen/living/dining area. Yeah! And the kids even fell asleep before everyone arrived and stayed asleep. Double Yeah!!

My kids were lots of help while I made 3 different desserts :-) I might go the Costco route next year because with the 2 little ones at my feet it was truly a recipe for one insane mom! The desserts were much appreciated though which made me glad I spent the time and effort on them.

We hosted almost an entire crowd of freshman guys. Some of them commented on the curtains or the paint color in our kitchen, which was so sweet of them. It just made me laugh though to see what a couple of months of living away from home made those guys appreciate! It was fun to have them in our HOME! It has truly been a joy and a blessing for us to be here and be involved in students lives.

It seems like in all of the places we have lived, no matter how small or the length of time, I find a spot that becomes a sort of favorite spot.

I think that it has been a way for me to survive all of the moves. I just find a little spot in the house that makes me happy. My new favorite spot in our house is the fire place in our living room.

I especially love it now because the little pumpkins I bought for fall match the colors in the room perfectly. It makes me smile! I can't wait to see it hung with stockings. Not too much longer....

Cute Kid's Book

My mom just ordered the kids some really cute books. The series is called Sam Books. They are written by Amy Hest and illustrated by Anita Jerman (illustrator of Guess How Much I Love You).

The stories are short and cute and the illustrations I would describe as warm, cozy and delightful. I want to crawl into the pages of the book and live at their house. I've thought about redecorating my house with all the colors in the book!

Just thought I would throw it out there if anyone is looking for a cute read for their kids. Kiss Good Night is probably my favorite, but just because it gives me an excuse to give my kids extra kisses!

On a fun note. I was looking at photographers on the web in our area the other day. There is a lady out of Coeur d'Alene that I found that does beautiful work. You can see her website, Captured Photography, here.

Anyways, she is just getting her blog started up and was giving away 3 free sittings with an 8x10 to the first three people who contacted her. I jumped on that right away and ended up winning the last free sitting! I am so excited!! I would probably never spend the money to do something like this, but I know it will be a treasure. Plus, I'm excited to go and see her in action, since I secretly wish I could have a job like hers. If you haven't noticed, I love taking pictures!! Click here for the latest.

Mary and Martha

I had kind of a Mary and Martha moment this weekend.

Jason and I had a discussion the other day about how our house is still not unpacked. You would think that with all of the practice we've had that we (or I, really) would be a pro at getting unpacked and set up. Not so. I definitely am not an organized person and I get distracted really easily. And I've found myself having a hard time deciding where to put things in this house. The closets are small, the linen closet is really small and we have a bunch of open shelving in the basement that is great for storage, but drives me crazy because it always looks like a mess.

All that to say that over the weekend I was trying my hardest to get the house picked up and a few more things unpacked. I was on my way upstairs and glanced over in the dining room and noticed Jason sitting at the table playing a game with Mirielle. The thought that first went through my mind was, "Why is he sitting playing with her when there is so much work to do around this house?"

The second thought was, "Wow, that sounds like a version of the story of Mary and Martha." I am Martha when it comes to my kids. I am too busy trying to keep up with the whirlwind mess, being distracted by the computer, yelling at our dog that is desperately trying to dig her way into the neighbors yard, and put a nice dinner on the table to take the time to sit down on the floor and play with my kids. How sad, I know.

I am very thankful that I have a wonderful 'Mary' husband that spends time interacting with our kids. It did hit me however, how little time I spend with them during my day. Which made me stop and think about what is really important. I don't want my kids to grow up only having fun memories with their dad. Guess it is time to start making time for some serious play!

My grandma just passed away on Wednesday. On Saturday she was at my cousin's wedding and by Saturday night she was in the hospital and from there, everything went really fast. Even though we will miss her like crazy, she was a believer so we are rejoicing that she is now in heaven.

After struggling with arthritis for years, it is an amazing thought to think of her in a resurrected pain-free body dancing in heaven!

She was one strong woman. This picture of her in her garden on the farm where her and my grandpa raised 5 kids puts me to shame. I think I've got it rough when I have to load the dishes in the dishwasher! It just amazes me to look at that picture and think of the life that she lived.

I guess her death has made me do some thinking about the legacy that gets passed down from generation to generation. And in the face of death, things become so very clear. It is so easy to see that the only thing that matters is Christ and Christ alone. At the end of your life, it is only what you've done in the light of eternity that counts. It has really made me think again about how I conduct myself as a mom, as a wife and as a woman. It challenges me to be intentional and active. My one desire would be that my kids and their kids and their kids would be followers of Christ. Because it truly is the only thing that matters.

While we have encountered different struggles over the last years and continue to be challenged in our new life here, my prayer is that through it all, God would be glorified and that I would be transformed. I want my kids to see that we believe and have hope in a living God that is real and is active in our lives and the world around us.

Its been a long time since I've posted. A really long time. I've decided it is time to return to the world of blogging. I suppose this blog won't be quite as exciting as when we were in the Philippines. Hopefully no more stories of worms in my kids and snakes in my house. The most excitement we've had around here lately is a giant spider in the washing machine. But all I had to do to kill it was turn the washer on and the scalding hot water that comes out of my wonderful American washing machine did the job. That spider couldn't stand the heat!

Anyways, things here in Spokane are still an adventure. We still definitely feel like missionaries here. It is just different struggles and different adjustments. More on that later.... I love that we are getting settled and are starting to know our way around. Spokane is a really beautiful place. The biggest small town you will find. Jason is starting to adjust to the schedule at work. I am starting to get a routine down with the house and the kids. AND the Lord has been so good to give me a good friend here already (makes me tear up just to write it!).

Well just wanted to get the ball rolling. More to come soon!

The worms go in the worms go out

Well, we've experienced another part of 'normal' missionary life. Living with worms. Not in our yard, not in our food. In our children's stomach. (I know this is probably too much info, but I can't resist!) Yes, this week we found a 10" roundworm the thickness of a pencil. I thought I was going to THROW UP when I saw it. I will spare you the rest of the details. We are now ALL on deworming medicine. I had no idea that I was supposed to deworm the kids about every 3 months. GROSS!!!