September 17th, 2012 | Alek | cousins | Hazel | Josiah | Lisa | Lydia | Matt | Raven | summer | vacation
I know its been a looooong time since I have updated this little blog. I have actually been so busy that I forgot about it, but I am hoping to pop on here every once in a while…sometimes with stories, sometimes just pictures.
So, here is what we have been up to…
Matt and I went to LA for a getaway!
Yellowstone vacation with cousins!
Camping with friends!
Ross Lake camping
Riding on the new ferris wheel in Seattle!
A visit to the Space Needle
Soccer
March 13th, 2012 | Disneyland | Hazel | Lisa | Matt | Raven | vacation
I can’t believe that this trip was weeks ago! Where does the time go?
The girls and I flew down early, and Matt flew down after work that night.
This is how ridiculous I looked walking through the airport with all of our stuff. Traveling with kids is a great workout!
Once we got to the hotel, we just relaxed by the pool! So fun!
We had a really great vacation! The girls did really well (thanks to everyone who was praying!), and we all had fun!
Our good camera broke, so our pictures aren’t the best…but they captured the memories just fine :) This was my first time to Disneyland too! I have been to Disneyworld, once. I want to do this every year! We’ll see if I can talk Matt into it!
I think we could probably twist his arm.
Micky Mouse's chair
First roller coaster
Mickey Mouse
Train
Sweet faces
Silly faces
After Disneyland, we took a day off to swim in the pool and hang out by the hotel. The next day we rented a car and drove to Phoenix, AZ! We have friends who recently moved there, so the girls were excited to see their little friend!
We went to this cool playground with a little train and a carousel. The girls had so much fun! We also went swimming late that day…also very fun! I liked the sunshine and the warmth!
Vacations are getting more and more fun as the girls get older…and I love vacations! Looking forward to the next…
February 10th, 2012 | dialogues | Lisa | Raven
the girls are constantly playing with babies and talking about babies in their bellies. this has brought up many many many conversations about the order of which God instructs us to live. meet a boy who loves Jesus, get married, then have babies.
yesterday raven and i were looking at a photography blog and there were wedding pictures on it. raven said to me, “awwww…did she find a good prince who loves Jesus?”
i’m smiling knowing that she has been listening to us this whole time.
did i mention we have been watching a lot of disney movies lately?
January 25th, 2012 | Food | Lisa
In an effort to be healthier (and to sneak green veggies into the girls diet) I have been on a green smoothie kick!
I think someone suggested this on facebook, so I looked up some recipes and thought we would give it a try!
Fortunately Trader Joe’s makes a green juice that I use…I don’t even know what all they put in it, but it is wonderful in smoothies!
This smoothie is:
Trader Joes’ Green Juice
Frozen Peaches
Frozen Mango
Frozen Pineapple
Celery
Kale
Vanilla Yogurt
It might not sound good, but it really is delicious! …and the girls love it! Its a win – win!
September 14th, 2011 | Lisa
Ok, I’m turning into a bit of a craft geek…and loving every minute of it!
I drove past these free drawers sitting on the side of the road 3 times before I finally stopped to pick them up. I’m learning that its ok to stop on the side of the road and check things out that have a “FREE” sign on them! The girls were a bit confused. “Mommy, what are we doing?” “Girls, Mommy really needs to stop and just look at these things that are free. Don’t worry about it.”
I am SO glad I stopped! These are so cool, and I am so excited to transform them! I’m thinking about paint colors. I’m thinking about hanging them up on a wall and using them as shelves! I’m thinking about where we could hang them! I’m really excited! Did I say that already? Well, I am :)
July 26th, 2011 | Lisa | music | Raven | reflections | VBS
It’s official. We have a big girl in our house. I honestly can not believe that Raven is old enough to have done this…but she went to her first vacation Bible school! I was hesitant because it was an evening VBS and evenings are so hard for us anyways, but it actually worked out really well! She absolutely loved it…and it probably helped that pretty much all of her friends were there too!
I’m really glad we ended up doing it! It was really a lot of fun for all of us!
On the sad note, though…after dropping Raven off one night…I came back to my car and saw this…
Shocked that this would happen across the street from the church while so many people were around dropping their kids off…I just couldn’t believe my eyes. I thought to myself, “ok, they took my purse. I’d better get on the phone and get this process started.” Then it hit me, my engagement ring was in my wallet. What ridiculous person leaves their engagement ring in their wallet…apparently I do. We had gone camping and I forgot to put it back on…and now I really miss it. I am very sad about it, stalking craigslist every day trying to find it. I think now, 2 weeks later, I have to say goodbye to it in order to keep my sanity.
Ultimately, God is good. He has been taking care of my family. He gave me great friends to comfort me when I walked up to this horrible sight. He has given me a fantastic husband…and there is no amount of sin in this world that can take away my love for him and my girls. I am loving God more now than I ever have before.
And after realizing what I had lost I got to go back inside the church and sing praises with my little big 3 year old. This song has become a favorite in our house!
http://youtu.be/lumwSIhrVy8
He’s wild, He’s wild, God is wild about us.
He’s wild, He’s wild, God is wild about us.
Its so amazing to think about God’s love,
The God of creation is looking out for us,
He knows us…
He hears us…
God is right here with us.
He’s wild, He’s wild, God is wild about us.
He’s wild, He’s wild, God is wild about us
God is great, He is awesome.
God is great, He is awesome.
I know that God is WILD about me…and He is looking out for me…and I am learning to trust Him and His plan for me (and for my ring) …and more importantly, His plan for my family.
This weekend will be our 5 year anniversary, and we are heading to Portland for a little R & R…
July 19th, 2011 | camping | Eliana | friends | Hazel | Lisa | Matt | playground | Raven
Wow, I can’t believe how fast things have been happening around here. I’m thinking I’ll try to just do a quick re-cap of the last month and a half…we’ll see how it goes!
Ok, back in the beginning of June some friends and I took all of our kids on the ferry to Bainbridge Island to have lunch and ice cream! It was really fun and so worth the messed up nap schedule!
Then we had swim lessons.
And we have had 2 camping trips, 2 weekends in a row…one was sunny and one was rainy.
But we did get to celebrate our great friend Asher. His awesome Mama put together a scavenger hunt! When the kids all returned there were dirt cups with worms in them! This was so fun!
More to come….Raven’s first time to VBS! She loved it…pics are coming.
And on a sad note…my engagement ring was stolen. I had put it in my wallet when we went camping the first time and forgot to put it back on when we got home. Then, when I was dropping off Raven at VBS someone broke the window on my car and stole my purse (which had my wallet and my ring in it). I am still praying it gets recovered from a pawn shop or that some other miracle happens….and I swear, if I ever get it back…it will never leave my finger ever again!
June 2nd, 2011 | Alma | birthday | Eliana | friends | Hazel | Lisa | Matt | Raven
There is a whole lot of purple around here. Raven’s current favorite color. …and since we are celebrating our big 3 year old this weekend, we are just going to roll with the purple thing!
She has really been loving her birthday this year! A lot of anticipation beforehand, and a lot of disappointment when the party was over.
(i just can’t get her to look at the camera)
On her actual birthday we did the traditional singing with cupcake in bed…only this year we had to tell her to go back in her bed so we could sing to her. (she was coloring downstairs at 6:20 am! ..and who knows what time she really came downstairs. 6:20 is the time that Matt thought he was sneaking down to get things ready. Our 3 year old does not like to sleep.)
Later that morning we had a visit from Grandma Virginia! They played and read Raven’s new book!
Then Raven’s friends came over! Pure excitement!
We played games and sang “Happy Birthday”
(she got a little close to the flames there…but she is fine, and she did blow them out)
My girls like cupcakes if you can’t tell by looking at their faces :)
The other kids like cupcakes too…see all the smiles?
Raven had so much fun! She was so excited to have her friends over…and the fact that they sang “happy birthday to raven” is something that has made her so happy, we have been talking about it all week! She has been growing up so fast! It is incredible to see her growing relationships with friends and with God (who apparently talks to her in a deep voice). She is so smart and loving and shy and sneaky and busy. She is a big girl now!
April 30th, 2011 | dialogues | Lisa | Raven
While on the potty…
R: God sees me when I’m naughty.
M: You’re right! Who told you that?
R: God did.
Thankful she has a relationship with God!
April 19th, 2011 | Hazel | Lisa | Matt | Raven | SPRING
This past weekend we went up to see the tulips! This was a first for us, so we didn’t really know what to expect. And as much as we prayed for sun, we still got rained on. Although we did get a good 5 minutes of sunshine, which we enjoyed thoroughly!
Family photo in front of the windmill. Its right behind/above us...you'll just have to trust me on this one.
Daddy's Girls!
April 13th, 2011 | birthday | Lisa | Matt
Matt’s birthday was on Monday, so over the weekend we had a little celebration! Everyone with kids got babysitters and we all headed out to the Eastside! We all got a groupon for a ropes course (see pics below) and a brewery tour (no pics below). We all had a great time facing fears, playing outside, drinking yummy beer, and hanging out!
the course
the crew
the birthday boy!
transfer 1, transfer 1. squeeze check. check. transfer 2, transfer 2. sqeeze check. check.
Some of us were more scared than others (I felt like I was going to faint before I got up there….my palms sweat with the thought of heights..yikes! The things I do for love!), but we all had a great time!
cat woman
action
March 14th, 2011 | Hazel | Lisa | Matt | Raven | snow
we definitely have spring fever over here since our trip to mexico…but we decided to take our first and likely last trip to the snow this season. (matt and i went skiing on new years day, but this is the first time we took the girls out to the snow with us) we didn’t last long…that just seems to be how things go with two little ones…but it was lots of fun! we don’t have a sled, so used a swim floaty mattress thingy…it worked pretty well! brought back lots of childhood memories for me, and i’m so glad to be doing these things with my family :)
March 2nd, 2011 | Alma | Eliana | friends | Hazel | Lisa | Matt | Raven | vacation | video
Leading up to our trip, I honestly thought we might not be going on our much anticipated trip to our beloved Sayulita. Hazel had a ear infection a week before leaving. Raven had pneumonia two days before leaving. The power of prayer (and powerful antibiotics) got her feeling well enough to fly….and although we were all sick before, during, and still have runny noses and coughs after…we had a great time!
Raven had been talking about Mexico for weeks (“Is Mexico over there?” pointing left), and we loved the build up of excitedment! (This is the way I typed it and I decided to leave it this way…it just seems appropriate :))
Day 1. at the beach!
sand chairs made by daddy!
swim lessons for the big girls
daddy swim for the little girl
jumping on the trampoline!
Day ?. The rest of the days are blurred together…all I know is that is went way too fast. Here are other highlights from the week…
family photo
group photo
the Daddys with the kids
December 6th, 2010 | Alma | Asher | Ben | Christmas | Eliana | friends | Hazel | Lisa | Raven
With Christmas coming, our calendars are filling up fast! This past weekend we had our 5th annual Christmas pj breakfast! We are at 9 kids now…but there will be more next year! (don’t get any ideas…I’m not having another one by next year) The kids love running around, playing with toys, and having tea parties…while the adults eat lots of yummy food and drink mimosas…good times had by all!
all the little kids
all the little kids with the big kids
Later that afternoon we headed up to Swansons. Its a garden center nearby where they bring in a live camel and reindeer for the holidays. Raven was mesmerized…and Hazel was grunting with excitement! (at least thats what we are going with…)
Most of our photos are of the back of Raven’s head…she never wants to miss a thing! I think this will become a holiday tradition..it was so fun (plus we had dinner out afterwards. I like eating out.)