Trusting God through our seasons of life

Last week we took a road trip (do you call an hour drive a road trip?) to a tulip farm. 

I adore tulips. Probably because they are one of the first spring flowers to bloom. Something so beautiful pushes it's way through the cold, hard dirt and within a 2-3 weeks they are bursting with different colors signaling to us that the season has changed. 

Did you know that tulips need to be in the cold dirt for at least 15 weeks? You can’t just plant tulip bulbs in February and expect to have them bloom in March. That’s not how it works, tulips require a long period of cool temperatures to spark the biochemical process that causes them grow strong roots and flower. This reminds me of our lives. Sometime we have to go through some “cold” times in order to flower. 

God is omniscient. He knows exactly how much rain and sunshine we need to get. He knows exactly when to change the seasons over in nature just as he does in our lives, because not only do seasons happen in our climate, but they also happen in our lives.

We may need to go through some hard times (winter) where we may feel desperate and tired and wonder how much more “cold” can we endure. But God knows your capacity. 

Winter will end and spring will come. 

You will see all kinds of growth and blessings in your life. You can’t rush the next season to come, just as you can’t stay in one season forever. 

You need to trust God because he knows you. He knows what is best for you. 

“For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.” (Eccl. 3:1).

 I am so encouraged to see God's grace and blessings in my life.

When I learned (well, still learning everyday) to trust God, I felt a heavy burden lifted from my chest. I don’t have to carry this burden with me anymore. God knows exactly what I am going through, and I have learned to trust His timing and live by his strength and grace just as I hope you can to. 

Thank you for visiting my friends, 

Welcoming spring with open arms

Spring. 

Such a sweet word. Especially after the brutal winter we have had. I have lived in the NW for 25 years, and I believe that we have had a record breaking winter. Wettest, Coldest and snowiest. 

Well that is over and done with now and I am so thankful. 

After all the rain and snow, we are experiencing the most beautiful spring. As the trees awake from their slumber and spring flowers begin to bloom, it makes my heart sing with joy. 

How great is our God!

We started our spring break with a trip to the capital of Oregon, it is surrounded by the most beautiful cherry blossom trees. We strolled the grounds, the kids ran wild and free and we went out for lunch. 

It was such a beautiful day. We are so excited for the upcoming warmer days. Hopefully we can pack our winter coats away for good and pull out our sandals soon. 

We are tourists in our own back yard. There is always so much to see. 

 As good as a trip to a sunny island somewhere sounds right about now, it is just now doable right now for many reasons,  so this spring break, we will go on little trips near us whenever daddy can take a few extra hours off work, and we are pretty happy about that. 

Snow Days

Eight. That is the number of snow days we have had this school year. 

No, we have not been getting piled with snow for days. It snowed one night. 8 inches. Thats it. Who knew that 8 inches would cause so much trouble. Nobody shoveled their sidewalks, most businesses didn't clear their parkings lots, salt wasn't spread on the roads. Everyone assumed that the snow would melt by the next day. Just like it always does. But boy, were we were in for a surprise. Everything turned to ice. The roads were dangerous and the sidewalks slippery for almost 6 days. It took people hours to get home from work, wrecks happened, trees fell, roofs caved in. 

You see, we live in the NW. We are known for our predictable winter weather: RAIN. We know rain. We are comfortable with rain. We don't cancel school for rain. We know how to drive in rain. Rain doesn't bother us, rain doesn't shut businesses down. 

Don't get me wrong, we did enjoy the snow. The first two days were amazing. We woke up full with anticipation and had an amazing time  playing in the snow. We built a fort and a few snowmen. We went sledding and on walks.... but after a few days it begun to get inconvenient. Running errands was  risky, schools were canceled, gymnastics got canceled, garbage pick up was canceled, bible study got canceled, church services were canceled... basically life has been put on pause.

But then something wonderful happened. It rained! I have never been so excited to see the rain. The  rain melted all the ice and snow within 24 hours, and we couldn't not be more happy.

I don't know about you, but I am ready for spring now ;)


Thanks for visiting, 

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William's 3rd Birthday

My dear sweet baby boy has turned three! I don't say sweet lightly, he really is sweetest three year old you will meet. I kept waiting for the "terrible twos" to come, but they never did. 

 Out of all my kids he LOVES cuddles, hugs and kisses. He will come up to me multiple times throughout the day to hug and kiss me. He melts my heart and I can't stop from smooching his chubby little cheeks 100 times a day. 

We had a lovely party to celebrate his birthday. William loves anything that screams BOY. Trucks, cars, trains, dinosaurs, boats... I can go on and on.  It is like he is programed to love this stuff. 

Don't get me wrong, we have plenty of girl toys around the house, but he could care less for dolls,  play food and anything else that isn't a “boy” toy. 

He is fascinated by fire trucks, ambulances and police cars. I am sure it has something to do with their  loud sirens. So this year we threw him a fireman party. He loved it! and I loved planning it.

People ask me why I throw big parties for my kids every year. Well, coming from a large family, I never had a birthday party as a child.  I never had a day to celebrate me. A day to be showered with attention.  It is something I vowed to myself I would do once I had kids of my own. So as long as I am able (financially) I will celebrate my children by showering them with attention, love, cake and presents. They will have a day that is all about them. 

Heres a peek into William's special day:

 -Happy birthday my sweet boy!-

brick back ground paper AMAZON

fire hydrant cupcake stand AMAZON 

check table cloth AMAZON

fire cake pics AMAZON 

Birthday banner AMAZON 

fire fighter candles AMAZON 

fire man party hats AMAZON

fire center piece AMAZON  

Fire truck paper plates AMAZON

cookie cutters AMAZON

fire man costume AMAZON  

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Winter Vacation 2016

We recently went away on a little winter getaway. It was our third year going to Bend Oregon, and I was still blown away with how beautiful it is. It truly was a winter wonderland. 

You see, we live in a area which never gets more then about an inch of snow (which ends up melting fairly quick) so to be surrounded by snow up to our knees and more falling was amazing. 

The kids could not get enough of it. They wanted to spend every daylight hour outside. Even William (our two year old) enjoyed the snow this year. Last year he hated putting on all the snow gear and wanted us to carry him around in the snow. This year, he lay on the bed patiently while I got his snow pants, boots, gloves, coat and hat on.

I don't know about you, but after helping the kids put on and take off their snow gear two or four times a day for 4 days, I was ready to go back home where there is no snow. Do any of you know what I mean? It can be exhausting (whew). Anyways, I always look forward to our winter vacations, just to get away from the busyness and pressure that we can sometimes feel this time of year, and reconnect with the family and be together without anywhere to be and anything to do.

-our evenings could not have been more perfect-

-the beautiful cabin we stayed in-

-slow mornings are the best kind of mornings-

\

-sledding and building forts, a few of his favorite things-

-love his rosy cheeks-

Christmas 2016

Hello my dear friends, I hope you all had the merriest of Christmases!

We had a very quiet and low key Christmas at home. After opening our presents, we stayed home all day playing with our new toys (ahem.. meaning 90 % of my time was spent putting the toys together and 10% playing with the kids). 

I then prepared a delicious Christmas dinner and the rest of the evening was spent watching Christmas movies, I couldn't have asked for anything more. 

On Christmas eve we attended church and the kids were in the Christmas pageant, which was the cutest thing ever. I wish I had my camera to record Nico bowing and blowing everyone kisses at the end. Seriously, that kid thinks the whole world revolves around him :) He certainly made the congregation laugh.   Later that evening, we ate takeout and watched the Nativity Story. 

I love watching the Nativity this time of the year, It gets us thinking of the real reason for this Holiday. I feel humbled and thankful for the greatest gift this Christmas, the birth of our savior Jesus Christ.

Wishing you many blessings this season,