6 going on 16!

Hope has been using a writing journal she got at her birthday now that school is out for summer. Every morning she works on a couple of pages during our "learning time".

I loved the one she wrote this morning



She must be her mother's daughter...before I could drive I always wanted a volkswagon too! :) If you are curious about the pink, purple, and red pj's...that is what she calls a car cover for when it rains, so her shiny car won't get wet. :) I also love that she is looking forward to going and getting the groceries for me, what a girl!

Father's Day

This is the gift I made for Andy for Father's Day. I had seen the silhouette project on another blog and thought I'd try it. What a joy to celebrate the love of my life yesterday. He is an amazing daddy! His life imitates that of Christ; he is a humble, wise, serving, gentle, loving, gracious man and I am so thankful that our children get to witness this character daily.

"The righteous man leads a blameless life; blessed are his children after him." ~Proverbs 20:7

The Garden

Here is a sneak peek of the garden this year. Because we haven't had the best spring weather we still have more to plant, but here is the start to our garden...you just gotta love the signs Hope made for us:










I am thankful for the beautiful weather today, so it's time to get off of the computer and head outside to weed and plant and PLAY!

Andy's MDiv Graduation

A couple of weekends ago we headed to Portland for Andy to walk in his MDiv graduation at Western Seminary. The last six years have been the hardest, yet most rewarding years of our lives/marriage. We have seen God work in miraculous ways. Oh how I would love to print every single detail of how God has been faithful and answered prayer and proved over and over again how great HE is, but I honestly don't think I am at the point yet to be able to put everything into words. I have been praying for a time to be able to do that, somehow share our story, our complete story. I mean I know our story isn't complete, but it seems like a season or a chapter has come to a close. Anyways, I have typed and backspaced and typed and backspaced...just not feeling like now is the time to share...but hopefully someday soon it will all come spewing out. For now all I want to do is give God ALL the Praise, Honor and Glory He rightly deserves and proclaim the excellencies of Him! I am thankful for a dear friend who shared Psalm 67 with me this week and it just fits our life right now:

May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face shine upon us, that Your way may be known on earth, Your saving power among all nations. Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You! Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for You judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You! The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, shall bless us. God shall bless us; let all the ends of the earth fear Him!




The Processional

Andy getting "Hooded" by Dr. Laney

Andy getting his degree and being surprised by an award he was given:



Andy was awarded the Arthur B. Whiting Award in Biblical Literature

Andy with Dr. J. Carl Laney, his Bible prof.

Good Friday

I drove Hope to school today. She was bringing her kindergarten teacher a Ziploc bag full of Amish Friendship Bread starter. As I was prepping the bag of liquid mush this morning, Josiah came into the kitchen and asked, "That's going to be bread?" I told him that we would add more ingredients and bake it and remember Jesus today. He interrupted before I could say more, "Oh I know about that story, how Jesus is bread." He then turned and left the kitchen. I smiled. I am glad Josiah knows the story. My prayer is that the story would get into his heart and it wouldn't just be head knowledge, but a heart knowledge which brings about life change. When we break our bread tonight at dinner we will re-visit the story of Jesus being the bread of life and talk about how Jesus offers us eternal life and sustains us spiritually.

On the drive home this morning, after dropping Hope off at school, Josiah said, "I see the cross Jesus died on." I asked, "You do?" Josiah pointed out of the car window and said, "Ya, it's right there." There it was. An old telephone pole (I think), ragged, forgotten, leaning to the side. I told Josiah that even though that wasn't the actual cross Jesus died on, it is good that it's there for us to remember. Remember His death on the cross. How Jesus, God's only Son, was a sacrifice for our sins. My sins. I have never noticed this old telephone pole before, or seen it in the way my son saw it this morning, but now I don't think I will ever drive by it again without looking at it and maybe even whispering up a thanks to my God in heaven for His Son, who gave His life for mine.

Last night Hope couldn't fall asleep and I suggested she remember some of her Bible verses and that would bring her peace and help her fall asleep. What a blessing to lay next to her and hear her repeating over and over again, "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16.

Tonight we remember that love equals sacrifice!


(This piece was carved by my amazingly talented husband)

Toddler Bed

On Sunday night we did it. We made the transition. We no longer have a crib in the house. Andy put together Livia's toddler bed (with a little help from Livia herself) and we braced ourselves for what life would be like for a 2 year old to have the freedom to get out of bed. Livia is loving her "big girl bed"! I'm a little nervous to write this, but everything is going so well, she has stayed in bed the last 3 nights and 3 nap times! We are hoping that this will continue, we'll see...




Livia helping put her bed together!


Night Night Livi Mae!

One Hour Twenty Three Minutes and Thirteen Seconds...

...that's how long it took my dear friend, Laura, and I to walk our 10K this last weekend in Wenatchee. The weather was amazing and God's creation was breath-taking! This was the first race I have ever been a part of and it was such a great experience. Laura and I said a number of times we should have just walked the half-marathon...I think we were too chicken to originally sign up for it, but once we were out walking and our adrenaline was pumping I think we would've pulled it off! My goal was to walk the 6.2 miles in less than an hour and a half and I was just pleased to accomplish that.




Still Smiling!


Besides the 10K walk, we had such a great time hanging out with our friends over the weekend. Laura's husband, Kyle, attended Multnomah the same time Andy was there and the doors to our apartments were about 8 feet away from each other. We have so many great memories with Kyle and Laura and we thank the Lord that we get to continue to make memories with them and our families even now. We each have three kids so when we get together there are 6 busy little kiddos running around!

Here are the highlights from our weekend getaway:
*Snow was falling on Steven's Pass Friday morning...I just LOVE snow!
*The Food...the Strong's always make the BEST food!
*Laura's J5 coffee...Yum!
*Sun shining, with a light breeze during our 10K walk...BEAUTIFUL!
*Lots of Laughter!
*Kids playing outside, riding scooters and bikes, throwing balls, hitting trees with sticks...yay for spring time in Wenatchee!
*Kids going to "Touch A Truck" and getting to sit in and play around BIG trucks!
*Hope lost her 2nd tooth!

We thank the Lord for good friends and the blessing of a safe trip!




Josiah and his friend Maddeck