April and May 2012

The last two months have been filled with lots of activity and fun things for our family. God continues to bless in us in this season and direct us in His path. His path is narrow and the world's is wide. Walking the narrow path isn't always easy, but always the best! We have had a very dry Spring here and warmer temperatures than normal, so it's really felt like Summer these past few months.

April was Autism Awareness Month. Around here, that is a special month for us. The Lord surprises us from time to time, and April was His surprise month for us. Tyler was awarded 2 camp scholarships and another camp grant this month. Because he was awarded all this unexpected and gracious amount of money, he is able to attend a 7 week special needs camp in Boulder and a one week overnight camp for kids with autism. Tyler was also awarded a yearly grant until he is 14 years old to be applied to therapies, respite, or any other camps. God continues to show us His hand in Tyler's life and directing us to the proper treatment and help for Tyler. We couldn't be more happy for this summer and what Tyler will now be able to experience.

The beginning of April Markus went to the East Coast for a business training for the week. We survived but was hard on the kids because they aren't used to Markus being gone at all. April was mostly filled with sports - Abi played soccer and was in a gymnastics class, Markus was the assistant soccer coach, Tyler played baseball, and mom started taking a Water Aerobics class. Abi has loved taking her gymnastics class each week and playing soccer for the first time, was a good experience for her-learning that its a sport and not a social hour....girls! Every Saturday and Sunday for 8 weeks was filled with a soccer field, snacks, baseball field, and our chairs. You know your kids are getting older when your life is like this.

Tyler and Abi's last day of school was May 14 (we pulled Tyler out a week early). Tyler finished 2nd grade and Abi finished 1st grade. On Tyler's last day of school we had a little party for him with all his friends and teachers. He loved his teacher and was very attached to her, but sadly he won't be returning to that school next year. It was a hard day for him to say the least.

That same day, we left for Oregon to celebrate my sister's wedding. We had a great time staying with my brother and his family. The cousins all loved being together and the adults enjoyed family dinners each night together. It was a busy week filled with a Bachelorette Party, Bridal Shower, and Rehearsal and Dinner, and the Wedding. I was honored and blessed to be a part of such a special day for my sister as the Matron of Honor and the Wedding Coordinator. Markus was of course the sound guy and babysitter. Abi was one of three flower girls and Tyler had the honor of walking my mom down the aisle.

The following morning Markus, my 2 brothers, and cousin went for a boys hike. I slept in and returned all the tuxedos.

We left the next day for home and was able to meet my dear friend from college and her kids for breakfast. It was so great to be able to see her again!

And summer vacation began!!!

BBQing almost every night, fires in the backyard, s'mores, staying up late, sleeping in, and just plain fun!

Our first weekend of summer vacation Rebekah and Aaron stopped for the night on their way back to Mississippi. It was so great to see them and just hang out, laugh, and have fun together.

The next weekend Markus mom came to visit us for a few days. We went to a Rockies game with her and some friends. We went swimming, bowling, and the usual summer vacation protocol, listed above.

Have a happy Summer!

Six Chicks and Us!

Well March is now gone. But life became a bit different for our little family in March....we got us some chicks! March has been all about our six little chickens.

We talked before we moved to Colorado about the possibility of getting some chicks and how cool that would be. We would love to have a small farm one day, but for now we were able to get us some chicks. Our new friends from church have 15 chickens and we visited them in the early March. They gave us Raising Chickens for Dummies and told us that the local feed and grain store were getting chicks the following week.

So on March 9, we got six little chicks. Don't ask me what kind they are. I just know that they lay eggs about once a day and some of the type we got lay pastel colored eggs.

Each weekend, we bring them out on the lawn and play with them. All the neighborhood kids come over and play with them.  Cousin Bear was brave enough to hold them, but still not sure about them.

This little addition to our family also has given Markus the opportunity to build something. For the last several weekends, he has been building the chicken coop or "the cookoo " as the kids call it. It is still not complete, but getting closer. We have had fun going to a local resource yard finding "treasures" to help us build the chicken coop. We also have been getting the "oops" paint from hardware stores to decorate their little house. It has been a fun project that we all have been a part of.

They are now almost four weeks old - eating like crazy, flying out of their little nest in the garage, and ready to transition to their new home in the backyard. So, hopefully this weekend the coop will be done enough for them to move on out.

The kids had spring break the last week of March. It was so nice for us to relax and enjoy being home with no schedule. We were able to do a family day up in the mountains about 25 minutes from our house on a gorgeous spring day. Tyler was able to go fishing and Markus and Abi panned for gold (thanks to Gold Rush!) . It was great to get out and do something fun and different as a family.

I have been busy turning the soil and getting the garden all ready for a busy planting season. I also have been planting seeds in pots and in our garden. The peonies, dahlia's, onions, and lettuce have already began to sprout. There are a ton of iris sprouting that were here already.

Happy Spring!

January and February 2012

Wow...it is March 3! Where has the time gone? I guess we are just having the time of our lives!

Here is a glimpse of life in our house over the past two months....

January-

Tyler started at his new school! 

We celebrated Bear's 4th birthday! We love seeing my brother and his family a couple times a week.

Poppy came to visit all of us. I love the 3 generations in this picture.

Abi and I did a week lesson on Daniel and the Lions Den. Here are some of the fun crafts we did and cousin Bear joined us for one of those days.

We celebrated Markus' 35th birthday! 

February-

We got the largest snow storm since we have been here, the day before my birthday...what a glorious birthday present!

We celebrated my 35th birthday!

 Abi has found a new love...science! Here we are growing carrots and green onions from a root and cat grass in egg shells.

Fun family time with my good friend from college, sledding and riding the quad

Abi and I took the most coldest, yet glorious walk around a local lake one afternoon. The scenery was amazing and our talks were precious. I love having the opportunity to be able to homeschool.

Tyler was so very proud to have us all come and visit him at school for his class play and party on Valentine's Day! 

It was so rewarding for him to be part of a play with his friends.

Abi continues to love art and be creative! For Valentine's Day, we made "love birds" and a heart garland with love scripture. We are learning in social studies about our environment and did a craft on my place in this world (thanks to Pinterest!). She is reading more and more on her own and joins us wherever we are  and reads to us.

Continue to enjoy life and live it to the fullest! Live in the moment and enjoy your family!

Blessings!

Six Weeks Down...and a New Life

So, we have been here in Colorado for 6 weeks now and if the last few weeks have any indication of what life will be like....I am thrilled! I love it here....every ounce of it. God is so very good and He surely cares about our lives and our dreams (don't ever forget that!).

We see our family - Joe, Lauren, Bear, and Indie almost every day. How cool is that? We love living by my brother and his family. We have never lived near a sibling before and its the best. We exchange kids so we all get a break. We have meals together. We play together. We go to church together. We laugh together. Lauren and I hang out a lot together when either of our husbands are out of town. We have called each other the A/V Wives (instead of Military Wives); but the same concept!

Markus loves his job. After almost 10 years of being self-employed, he thought it would be a hard adjustment to be an employee again. God surely had His hand in providing such a perfect company for him.


Tyler started school after 6 weeks of not being in school. He has to take the bus for an hour to get to school, but the program he is in is fabulous. We couldn't be happier with his teacher. He loves riding his bike with all the neighborhood kids, playing in the snow, and making jumps for his RC car.


Abi has embraced nature and the snow. According to her, this is best winter ever! She loves watching all the squirrels and various birds eat in our front yard. We take walks and ride bikes almost every day for school. We are doing more art in school, as per her request. She is really making mom work! :) 


So with moving to Colorado, we are now on fixed budget. We haven't been on a fixed budget for almost 12 years. So its been an adjustment....but a good one. We are really looking at our budget, cutting things that we don't really need, and just using our resources more wisely. I had told my friends before leaving California, that I totally saw myself becoming "granola". And well, I am and I am loving it.


We made almost all the Christmas gifts that we gave away. We recycle almost everything. We have a compost pile. We are planning what to plant in our 18x30 garden area in a few months. We drink water from the tap (no more store bought water bottles..imagine that!). Markus made a really cool Eiffel Tower out of used wood and leftover lights for Abi's headboard. We shop at the thrift store. I made 9 jars of blackberry jam today with Lauren. I am learning to make things from scratch. I am also going to be making hand soap tomorrow. I am planning on making a sign out of the pallet that was found out in the backyard shed. 


If you follow me on Facebook, you might have noticed a photo album entitled "Giving thanks in the everyday". That's another thing I am doing and trying to institute it in our family. Falling in love with Ann Voskamp and her blog, I had to get her book, "one thousand gifts". So I bought it for myself for Christmas. I am trying to change my heart and become more thankful, living fully with where I am at. I try and capture my gratefulness mostly through photos and an occasional word. Either little things throughout our day in the house or while going on walks in the neighborhood I try and capture those things that express my gratefulness. I started a written thankful journal for the family, so we write in it after dinner ever night. I can't wait to see how this transforms our hearts and our family. 


So, you could say that these are New Years resolutions for me and our little family. But, it just so happens that we started a new life 6 weeks ago. It's all good timing...God's perfect timing. 

How did we end up here?

A person’s steps are directed by the LORD. How then can anyone understand their own way?

– Proverbs 20:24 (NIV)

I have always had a dream to live in the snow and to move out of California. We have never been able to leave Southern California because of our business and Markus' career. But nonetheless, it was always a dream of mine, not ever thinking it would become a reality. As Markus and I had been praying about it the last several months, God has brought it to a reality for us. We couldn't be more happy! And the journey that God has taken us on in the last few months is just plain glorious and God deserves all the praise and glory. It's truly a God story and I wanted to share it with you. 

We have lived most of our married life for our glory, for our desires...not really very healthy or recommended. And in the last several months, we have both been on a journey to surrender our individual lives and our lives as a family unit to God alone. Brought to our knees. Brought to the foot of the cross. Our lives experienced the disorientation like Saul in the book of Acts. It was a contrast of dependence on ourselves instead of God and living in the power of God.

"Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do. The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind and did not eat or drink anything." Acts 9:6-9

Our old life has ended and we are going to create a new life in God. It's not that we are running from anything, actually quite the opposite. It is the transforming power of a surrender life. 

"And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." 2 Corinthians 3:18

As God was lighting our path on exploring this journey, He couldn't have been more clear. It seemed that every few weeks God was bringing us something new that would direct us to Colorado. We recently met and became very good friends with two couples that had recently moved from the exact area in Denver we were looking to move to. And what a blessing they have been in our lives these past few months. Markus' career opportunities were not as fruitful as they had been in years past and God was closing opportunities here in Orange County. While doors were closing here, we decided to move our trip to discover Colorado earlier so we could potentially move during Christmas. We visited Colorado the middle of October and ended up being there for 12 days, originally only planned for 6. During our visit, God made it very clear - by providing ONE house and ONE job!!! You can't get any clearer than that. God was so faithful and surely directed our every step.

"Your Word is a lamp for my feet, a light to my path." Psalms 119:105

After leaving Colorado we knew that is where we belong. It was now up to God to continue to unfold His plans. Five days after coming home, God provided Markus an amazing job offer and our housing was then confirmed. It would just be three short weeks from that point till we move to Colorado. 

During this whole journey God has provided the finances, a friend who just happens to own a commercial trucking company, and a peace that only He can give.

So here we are three days from packing the moving truck and six days till we leave Orange County and head to our new home state.  It is all very surreal. It surely has been bittersweet saying goodbye to our friends and leaving all the memories we have here. But, knowing that we are in God's will and following His plan for our lives, makes it all worthwhile. We are excited to see what else God has in store for our family, an amazing journey I am sure. But may it be all for His glory and sharing our story of Him with others.

Surrender

But now, God's Message, the God who made you in the first place, Jacob, 

the One who got you started, Israel; I've called your name. You're mine. 

When you're in over your head, I'll be there with you. When you're in rough waters, 

you will not go down. When you're between a rock and a hard place, 

it won't be a dead end - Because I am God, your personal God, 

the Holy of Israel, your Savior. I paid a huge price for you; all of Egypt, 

with rich Cush and Seba thrown in! That's how much you mean to me! 

That's how much I love you! I'd sell off the whole world to get you back, 

trade the creation just for you. 

~Isaiah 43:1-4 The Message

God loves you and me! Do you believe it? Do you live like it? Does your hope reflect it? Does your day to day life reflect Jesus' love for you?

Bad things and circumstances in our lives, although hard and painful and uncomfortable, happen for a reason, but the biggest reason is because God wants to be in unity with you! He wants to be in communion with His creation! God Almighty wants intimate connection with YOU! 

God took me on another torturous, heart-wrenching journey a few short months ago. It brought me back on my knees, the only place I could be that provided comfort and hope and love for my crushed and broken heart. The only choice I had was to depend FULLY on God Almighty. Nothing else mattered. Nothing else I could do. So that is where I stayed and where I have learned to remain. 

I had a choice. I came to a crossroad. And in that crossroad, I had to choose between trusting God and running away. Was I willing to take that risk to trust God? It would have been so much easier to run. Trust me, running is the easy way out, but in the end you tend to lose and you look back on life and wished you had trusted God. By trusting, you risk your selfish ways and have to surrender your very life. 

"You are going to be hurt and you cannot do anything to prevent it, 

but what you can do is trust God each time a hurt comes along. 

Trust that while you don't have the power to protect yourself, 

He has the power to turn every hurt into something that improves who 

you are and glorifies Him. You will never protect yourself from all the hurt, 

but you will protect yourself from missing the life God intended when you

 make the choice to risk. 

Healing is a choice. It is God's choice, but many times we stand 

in the way of what God wants for us. Our stubbornness often prevents 

us from looking at the reality of our lives, but God challenges us to 

make choices that heal. No choice is more difficult than the choice to risk. 

My hat is off to all of you who will make that choice today. 

Blessings of God be upon you for your amazing courage." 

~Stephen Arterburn

You see, when those hard times come in our lives, where do you turn? What is your natural instinct to turn? Where does your heart tell you to turn? I pray the next time you have a choice, your choose to lean on God and take hold of His love. It's in those times, we learn to trust in God more, because remember, all He wants is connection with His creation. The downfall sometimes is after the hard time passes, will you remain in connection with Him? It's so easy to go back to our old ways, but so much more blessing and heartfelt connection comes when continue to stay in close connection with Jesus. It is soothing to our soul. 

I know it is so counter-culture to walk in the Spirit moment by moment. It takes constant work. Its continually surrendering our lives to Jesus. I challenge you to live by the Spirit in your day to day lives and not just when life is hard. I promise you, your life will be transformed like mine has. Blessings and joy come like you have never experienced before. You begin to ache for more of Jesus and your soul overflows with love and joy.

Life isn't sunshine and roses (yet!), but life is sweet today. Sweetness that only comes from a life living by the Spirit moment by moment. The journey continues to be long for my heart to heal, but I know that God will bless my efforts in risking to trust my life completely to Him. 

Don't bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. 

This isn't a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we're in. If your child 

asks for bread, do you trick him with sawdust? If he asks for fish, 

do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? As bad as you are, 

you wouldn't think of such a thing. You're at least decent to your own children. 

So don't you think the God who conceived you in love will be even better? 

~ Matthew 7:7-8 The Message

My friends - ask, seek and knock.

I would love to walk alongside of you and pray for your journeys, your heartaches, your crossroads. 

Summer 2011

Summer is slowly coming to a close around our house. Abi and I started homeschooling last week and Tyler starts his new school on September 8.

This summer was fun! It was the year, both kids realized that it's summer for the first time - a time of fun, relaxation, and no school...so we embraced it full on! It was filled with play dates, pool time, sleepovers, learning to ride a bike, park days, sleeping in and staying up late, beach days, soccer classes, a visit from the tooth fairy, clay classes, and camps - all sprinkled with love and lots of memories!

First stop - Scottsdale, Arizona for our annual family trip with my family. We had a light group this time - only Mom and Dad, Rebekah, and Lauren and the 2 kids. We surely missed every one else. The week was full of laughter, lots of hot sun, pool, movies, and some  relaxation.

We managed an Angel's baseball game with some friends.

Playdates with some good friends and silly times-

Movie in the park with Grammy-

Jewelry Making with Grandpa-

Airshow, Picnic, and Rides at the OC Great Park-

Lots of riding bikes and park days-

Fun Water Day at Church-

Special Camp for Special Kids for 2 weeks all day for Tyler-

Family dinner dates by the ocean-

Celebrating our 14 year anniversary at the Sawdust Festival, Dinner, and time at the beach during sunset-

Summer 2011 has come to a close. Now to start back to real life, with real responsibilities, school, schedules, and new memories.