Happy in Montana

spinach casserole

2012-01-30T19:17:00.002-07:00

Just got done with an excellent tasting, very filling, and simple dinner. I love those kind! We had slow cooked BBQ elk steaks over rice with a side of spinach casserole. The kids didn't go for the spinach, but Adrian & I enjoyed it enough, I will be making it again. (Oh, and you can tell we're not disturbed by saturated fat in this house!):
Spinach Casserole
1 pound fresh spinach
8 oz cream cheese, cubed
cubed bread
melted butter
Combine spinach and cream cheese in casserole dish. Top with bread. Pour melted butter over bread. Broil until bread is light brown (I stirred once before completing broiling). Enjoy!

a tiny report

2012-01-29T21:11:00.000-07:00

This afternoon, Adrian finished a 14 page application for a new position within Bonneville Power Administration! This is a supervisory engineering position located in Kalispell (about 4 hours NW of where we live now). We have known about the possibility that he could take his boss' place upon his retirement in March for over 4 years. Now the day has finally come to apply, and so we are going to have some direction soon!

I have personally gone through a myriad of feelings on the matter over the last 4 years. With Adrian's job, our family has visited Kalispell many weeks (probably 12-15), and a certain hotel there has become the kids' "home away from home". We have gotten to know the front desk and housekeeping staff, and the kids love the routine of swimming in the pool each night and grabbing a fresh baked cookie on the way back to the room. During our weeks up there, we have gotten to know the area, as well as the outlying areas, and they are all beautiful. Compared to brown and arsenic polluted Anaconda, Kalispell's natural beauty alone is vibrant, awe-inspiring. That's not to mention all the conveniences the larger city has over our current home. I have spent many days here in Anaconda dreaming of Kalispell and "how much better life would be there". I have also spent many days reminding myself, the grass is NOT greener up there (well, it is literally, but maybe not figuratively!).

More recently, after repeatedly hearing that Kalispell tends to be overcast, and a news report that it is the 6th cloudiest city in the NATION (we figure they must be excluding SE Alaska), a great amount of hesitation was born. Gold Creek (where Adrian currently works), with it's mountain views and simple lifestyle seemed to be much more enticing.

I have mentally wrestled with this for way too much time. When future thoughts consumed me day and night, I had to lay them at the feet of Jesus. I was casting my cares on Him; casting over and over, like you would cast a fishing line. Then there was peace.

I'm happy to say that I feel completely neutral about the decision now. I am personally convinced that Adrian is the best man for the job. I also know that in this fallen world, the best man doesn't necessarily get the job. (Take for example the current President & Republican candidates. But before we get into politics, back to us...) Adrian is applying for the job, giving it his best, and then God is making the decision for us! The answer will be one or the other. The Awesome God of Heaven and Earth knows what is best for Adrian in the workplace, for us in a new home, what is best for our children, and for our future neighbors. We have no idea! What a blessing it is to lean on His will unfolding, and know that whatever the answer, we will be in the best place.

"For the Lord God is a sun and a shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: NO GOOD THING will he withhold from them that walk uprightly." --Psalm 84.11

So if you ever get an answer of "no" ... God knew that was not a good thing for you!

We will likely know much more about our future within 1 month's time. Thank you for joining us in prayer that the Lord's Will be done!!

Bloopers

2011-12-28T18:51:00.001-07:00

Someone commented that on the Christmas card, all our girls' smiles are so nice, but "what's with Aaron"? I wouldn't say he is a less happy child than his sisters- by any means. But he is extremely hard to get a picture of. First, because he is only still while sleeping, it's hard to get a focused picture. Second, he is camera shy and won't look at the camera or mommy or the person trying to get his attention-- he keeps looking down. I have dozens of looking down shots, but figured friends & family would prefer to see his eyes!

And then there's the girls: they are very good picture takers, but Jaci got snow in her shoe when we were at the park (ouch!), and I caught Ella "exclaiming" when I promised Aaron a candy cane if he would *just*look*up!!

(Ella thought maybe she could make Jaci smile?)

And these ones almost made the cut...

December joys: making foot warmers, pretzels, sugar cookies, homemade placemats & scramble!

Christmas Letter

2011-12-18T13:42:00.010-07:00

Christmas letters. Some people love 'em. Some people hate 'em. I figure if you made the effort to come to the blog, you're the interested party that I'm writing to. I personally love to sit down and read about other people's lives and the past year. But when I go to write one for my family, I begin to contemplate: "Do I just write about all the successes, triumphs and happiness? Or, in an attempt to put off the "good image" (which is only an image), do I write about all of our struggles, weaknesses and discomfort?" We have all had both in 2011. All of us and all of you. But I think God would like me to write about what HIS hand has done in our hearts and in our family. Here's an attempt at that:

First off, the big announcement: we are getting ready to welcome another baby into our family! The timing of this pregnancy and due date were extremely difficult for us to accept. Although we wished to have more children, this would not have been our timing. As we wrestled through shock, denial, and even disappointment, we came to believe God's bottom line: what isn't our plan IS God's! This, another precious blessing from God, is His plan, and he couldn't have made him/her at any other time. Who are we to question, when we couldn't be more pleased with the others He has given us?! Stay tuned for the announcement of our baby's arrival late April/early May.

Aaron Rio (23 months) is just about to turn two! He is an inquisitive and deep thinking little boy who knows what he wants. These traits have made his age 1 year very long and trying. He never took to signing, so could often be found yelling for what he wanted, with mommy making 5-10 guesses, and then giving up. (Up 'til now, we have not found a volume control on him). He has just begun communicating in English sentences, the first complete sentence last month being (when asked if he was ready for bedtime story) "No Mommy, I playin' with horses!". Due to Daddy's influence and the Green Bay memorabilia that has found its way to our home, he says "Go Packers" every time he sees the Packers logo. Aaron is a very sweet little boy (and the most cuddly of our children) who just this morning said perfectly "I love you Mommy". He loves to sing "Jesus Loves Me" with the family. At bedtime he can be heard saying, "Daddy, 'Come to Jesus'" or "Give me Jesus", thereby requesting to be serenaded to sleep. He especially loves his sisters, horse figurines, legos, Layla, and throwing balls.

Jaci Claire (3 1/2) is both delightful and spunky. Unconcerned about winter temperatures, she insists on wearing sun dresses most every day, and will not wear socks. She is most often the helper in the kitchen, joyfully pulling a chair up to the counter to help add salt, break eggs, or stir the pot. She has begun reading lessons in school, and asks to have one as often as her older sisters are studying. She proclaims herself "best buddies" with one of her siblings on any given day, and interacts well with all of them. When she believes she has been wronged, she recognizes the need for some "quiet time" and spends a few minutes behind a closed door before offering forgiveness. She is very independent, and finds it hard to take "no" for an answer. No, she doesn't stomp, scream or shout-- she simply waits until mom isn't looking to quietly help herself to a cough drop or gum. We're working on that. She is an excellent swimmer, and is the most exuberant about visiting hotel pools on daddy's business trips to get some more water time. In fact, her exuberance has caused her parents quite a bit of stress at times. She happily jumps into the water (whether an adult is watching or not) and can swim the width of a hotel sized pool.

Tessa Jane (5 1/2) is at the adorable stage of beginning to think for herself. She can be heard making such comments as, "Mom, God has no beginning and no end, but we have a beginning and no end". To which I reply, "That's exactly right, Tessa!" She then confesses that it is hard to belive that God has no beginning, and I must concur! She can typically be found doing ballet twirls and pirouettes through the house as she sings and asks all manner of questions. She was elated to be old enough to join the local 4H Club this year, and attends monthly meetings along with her older sister.

Ella Rose (7 3/4) is a born leader. She is our #1 helper around the house, and pitches in cheerfully. She also has an acute sense for justice, and quickly reports if a younger sibling is misbehaving, or if something is "not fair". She enjoys homeschool, and likes to get Math over with before moving onto more interesting subjects like geography or gems. Just this year, she has discovered a passion for independent reading, and can be found curled up with a paperback when the house becomes quiet. She is currently reading C.S. Lewis' "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe".

Adrian continues to enjoy his position as Field Engineer for Bonneville Power Administration. He is anticipating increased responsibilities that will shift to his shoulders when his boss retires in March. A highlight of his year was a horseback camping trip into the Bob Marshall Wilderness in July. He also had a successful hunting season, bringing home a cow elk in October. Work evenings, he is bombarded at the door by a miniature stampede of children who are very happy to see someone who is bound to be more playful than Mom. At bedtime, he can be found reading a chapter to the children before ushering them off to bed. He is a picture perfect example of Ephesians 5.25's exhortation to "love your wife", and that keeps this whole family very, very happy!

As for me ~ well, I don't have a lot to show for all my energy output, but am not seeking a career change. By some miracle of Heaven, I am enjoying homeschooling the children at their diverse stages, and find it easy to keep up with lower elementary curricula. As dishes, laundry and vacuuming demands have increased, I have sought serenity by not overcommitting to extracurricular opportunities. I do help coordinate the local homeschool group that has consistently attracted 25 kids each week since September! My prayers are often for a good night's sleep, as well as for all the friends & family that cross my mind frequently!

Merry Christmas, with Love!

~Anna

Giving Thanks

2011-11-28T16:22:00.000-07:00

I wanted to create some sort of "Thanksgiving Tree" for our gathering this year. I found a photo suggesting the use of real branches, and it was sooo simple to assemble. Then, with everyone's expression of thankfulness on the leaves, it became really colorful and fun!

all the Thanksgiving kids!

Taylor surprised Adrian & I with a "Birthday Pie". It was sooo nice, since we didn't get to celebrate the week before!

And yes, we are cheering on those Packers. They are 10-0!!!!

thankful

2011-11-25T19:54:00.002-07:00

Yesterday we enjoyed an amazing feast followed by lots of games and time with good, closer friends. Today when I asked Ella whether she had as much fun as she thought she would have (with all the anticipation and all), she replied, "I had way more fun that I thought. I think God was trying to tell me something. He was trying to tell me that heaven is going to be like Thanksgiving every day, only better!"

such a sweet, smart, and intuitive girl! :) And just one of the people I have to be thankful for!

...and I'm camera shopping so I can continue to post pictures here :)

aaron video

2011-10-30T19:37:00.001-06:00

Aaron identifying the Catan cards at 21 months. (For timber, he sadly explains, "tree fall down").

Are you impressed, Uncle Stephen?

October in Pictures

2011-10-30T19:19:00.000-06:00

Summary of photos:
A deer hit Adrian's car one dark morning; he was fine; we're not sure about the deer. We enjoyed a trip to Oregon: fun, food and family! We returned home to find our maple tree adorned with golden leaves. When they all fell last week, we enjoyed them from the ground, too. Ella has wanted to make "dark" bread for a while, so we took the time to make some Swedish Rye bread yesterday. Out of it (plus some previously baked oatmeal bread) we were able to make checkerboard sandwiches! And our girls are learning how to play Catan with us. Ella won the first game she played!

things dads do

2011-10-30T17:45:00.000-06:00

Last weekend, upon returning home from a week in Oregon, my sweet husband offered to help me with the 8 loads of laundry that had accumulated while we were away. Even though laundry is my "favorite" house chore, looking at the mountain caused me to gladly accept.  Somehow when we work together, work seems to take less than half the time. A few hours later, Adrian was occupied when I heard the dryer end its cycle, so I went to switch out loads. Upon opening the dryer, I discovered that he had re-washed and dried the huge, heavy jeans load that I had already placed in the clean laundry basket ~ only I hadn't folded them yet. One thing about house help, whether husbands or kids: you can't always have it "your way", it may not be the most efficient, and it may not look the way you usually finish ... but still, I am thankful! I think thankfulness is the key to getting more help in the future.

As our family grows, I am finding my chore systems to need constant adjustment. I am still confused as to why, when we had our 4th baby the laundry seemed to double and I was running the dishwasher twice per day instead of once. After all, he was just an infant ~ why the increase? As he has gotten older, those adjustment have become "normal", but I am still battling the way toys reproduce while we aren't watching, and the way there are 8 little hands dropping items around the house no matter how closely I watch. Luckily Ella is stepping up to be a great help. I was once told that age 7 is when they really begin to pitch in around the house, and I've been waiting... for Ella, it was 7 1/2 (this autumn) when she suddenly started organizing and cleaning in a way I didn't know she was capable of!! Hurray!

Back to Dads. Last weekend, the girls were begging to go for a bike ride in the crisp autumn air. We also needed a handful of things at the grocery store, so Adrian combined the tasks and took E&T on bikes to Albertsons to shop! Along with all the fresh apples, oranges, bananas, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, zucchini, & yogurt I had requested, they came home with mini Butterfingers, frosted sugar cookies, bologna, Cheetos, and a big tub of Tillamook ice cream.  I am one (1 out of 6, that is) who attempts to keep high fructose corn syrup and artificial anything out of the house ~ and here walking in was a load of all of the above. I was rather amused. Oh, how the children would be lacking in balance if it weren't for their dad! They truly NEED the balance their daddy provides. (Well, maybe not the Cheetos...)

Adrian provides "balance" for the kids in many other ways, too.  We have a routine of picking up toys (and books and clothes and many other miscellaneous items) before daddy gets home. Upon his arrival we have to strategically plan our 1.5 hours before bedtime. We eat dinner, clean up, set up a game, and then start the bedtime routine. Over the last week, we have been playing board games almost every evening.  Sometimes game playing is slow going as they learn, but we are REALLY thankful to be together after Adrian was gone weeknights for 6 out of 7 weeks. And I'd much rather be telling the children which card to pick up than watching who-knows-what on the DVD player. We happily canceled Netflix a few months ago, and *might* get back to wholesome video watching when the weather turns really cold.

So... I am the one who calls out orders to get dressed, eat healthy food, wipe your mouth, keep on task in school, put away one project before you begin another, pick up your toys, you've played with the computer/iPhone/laptop enough, and get to bed on time.  Adrian is the one who comes home, plays games, serves dessert, wrestles at bedtime, and knows how to relax.... God knew our children needed both.

Can you relate? I'd like to hear how YOU are balanced out by your family!

HE provides!

2011-10-28T11:48:00.000-06:00

Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord will provide. "And Abraham said, God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son. So they went both of them together" (Gen 22.8) "And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh. As it is said to this day, In the mount of Jehovah it shall be provided." (Gen 22.14). And of course Abraham's experience was a foreshadow of the LORD providing himself a lamb who would take away the sins of the whole world. He has provided.

We are thanking Jehovah-Jireh this morning, as Adrian just called from the side of a mountain to announce that he successfully hunted a cow elk! We will now have local, organic, grass fed meat provided for our family for another year! Thank you God, Creator and provider of all.

"The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven." --Hebrews 1.3, NIV

September...

2011-10-10T20:38:00.000-06:00

Ok, well, these photos are hopelessly out of order, but blogger won't let me move them right now, and I'm vowing not to lose my sanity over it. Instead, I'll lose my perfectionism ~ most of these were taken during our 2 weekends at Gramma Mary's house in early Sept.

Tessa learned to ride without training wheels a while ago, but one weekend in September she suddenly found her confidence, and now embraces any opportunity to go for a ride! We are so proud of her!! One walk in the park had 2 girls riding independently and 2 in the bike trailer, so we are finally hopeful that whole family bike outings will actually be a fun thing in the future!

The kids at the picnic spot before a carousel ride (photo courtesy Elissa ~ thank you!)

Aaron with his 1st Birthday wagon (only assembled 8 months late!)

The kids enjoying a snack during our sadly unsuccessful hunt for huckleberries

Our kids are never happier than when outside...

Gramma Mary and Jaci riding Missoula's carousel.
Ella & Tessa took great delight in choosing which horse they would ride, but photos of them turned out blurry!

Since we homeschool year round, our "first day" of this school year was July 1. However, this photo was taken on our first day of Homeschool Group in early September. We are delighted to have a large group of local homeschoolers meeting weekly this year; there have been 25 children attending for the past 3 weeks. The kids enjoy great lessons and very fun play time! We've done projects like baking, science experiments, and making duct tape wallets. Up this week: decorating cake pops, lesson by a professional cake decorator mom!

Tessa was the one who suggested the photo shoot, and posed very cutely!

Ella pulling smaller siblings in the new wagon!

Bob Marshall Wilderness Fishing Trip

2011-10-10T20:10:00.000-06:00

Since Adrian doesn't blog, I got to choose some photos from his Bob Marshall Wilderness Fishing trip from August! Our camera remained broken at that time, so I was glad Kris shared his photos with us, which include a lot of Adrian! :) Even though we missed him at home for one summer weekend, this was truly a once in a lifetime trip!

Gathering up the horses ~ there were 6 men with 11 horses (6 to ride, 5 to pack out camp)

crossing a stream near the beginning of the trail

Kris & Adrian

August re-cap

2011-10-10T19:26:00.000-06:00

summer didn't arrive until July, and then August 29 we had this huge hail storm, so once again summer felt very short! Thankfully we had reason to keep out the summer gear until October.

We attended the local Tri-County fair in order to see what ribbons Ella's 4H projects had received. The girls were so excited to see projects from our house at a fair, and Tessa is now exuberant about joining the Clover Buds as well. I have completely loved 4H as a complimentary activity to homeschooling. It only requires 1 evening meeting per month, instills healthy values, always involves a cute craft and lots of fun! A lot of people still don't know that involvement in 4H doesn't require that you have farm animals; the art and craft entry selections seem endless!

Ahhh, the joys of summer ~ like drinking out of the soaker hose!

A family trip to Storm Lake

Gleefully throwing rocks into the lake!

Amazing scenery and amazing little blessings...

Daddy & Aaron in the float tube, ready to go fishin'

adrian & jaci out on the float tube

They caught one!!!

mmmm, those made some yummy dinners!!

An ominous looking sun while the skies were smoky with nearby forest fires

Oh what fun, with friends from Michigan!!!
Our daddies had fun in the Bob Marshall together, and then we got to play too! Here they are lined up, in order of age ~
Jalynn, Ella, Jocelyn, Madelyn, Tessa, Jaci, Aaron!

July Memories

2011-10-10T17:17:00.000-06:00

4th of July!

Aaron's 1st sparkler

Just in case those sparklers are noisy...

So this is *part* of the process of packing 6 people for a 2 week trip. Actually, I only pack for 5 of us; Adrian graciously takes 5 minutes to pack himself x amount of tshirts, jeans and socks... and wonders why it takes me so long to pack. :{ On Day 1, I make sure all the laundry is clean so that we're not limited in what to pick out ~ I want to be able to choose comfortable clothes for traveling, play clothes for the beach, and formal clothes for Sundays without having to pick through laundry baskets! On Day 2, I pack all of our clothing, which requires matching tops to bottoms, and sometimes coordinating matching outfits. You also have to think about socks, shoes, and jammies... On Day 3, I pack "everything else", which is, of course, more than half of the list. Since we travel so often, I have a packing list that I print off the computer and just cross off as I go ~ so I don't forget to put the mail, milk and egg deliveries on hold, or a camera cable, or underwear for somebody. I am looking forward to the day when the girls can be trusted to pack for themselves! :)

So we took off on our 2 week road trip, and saw a variety of landscapes ~ The main destinations were the Doland Family Reunion in Grants Pass, OR and David Oakes' reception in Eugene, OR. But we also managed to visit Heyburn, ID, Bend, OR, Medford, Applegate Christian Fellowship in Jacksonville, Crecent City, CA, Lincoln City, OR, and Wilsonville. Our camera broke about half way through the trip or else we'd have more to share ~ but I'm sure you're glad I have to stick to the highlights here!!

We weren't prepared to see *S*N*O*W* on our climb to Crater Lake! In my 22 years of living in Oregon, I had never visited this famous landmark, so we were glad to go as a family on our way to Medford.

Freezing at the top

The kids enjoyed the view, yes, but not as much as the little chipmunk that darted across the rocks beneath them!

Drove through the Redwoods on our way to the CA beach. Looking at these monstrous trees just forces you to say "WOW!" and marvel at God's beautiful creation!

The reunion began at Crescent City, CA where my grandparents honeymooned 60 years ago in June.
It was an unusually sunny and warm day for the area, we were told...

Crescent City, CA
From there, we all traveled back to Grants Pass for our 4 day reunion. We managed to rent a large property that provided plenty of beds for all, in addition to a lake, game room, basketball court, hiking trails. Forty-five of us were able to attend, only missing 6 of my cousins and 1 dear Auntie!

Basketball games for all ~

And then the fierce competition showed up!

Honoring these wonderful people, my Doland Grandparents.

A new favorite photo ~ sleeping angel

The whole group: Grandpa and Grandma with their 9 living children and spouses, 16 out of 22 grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren

My brothers and I

Another favorite: this crisp photo clearly depicts the relationship enjoyed between Uncle Darryl and Aaron. I think because Darryl was able to be at our house in June, Aaron really bonded with him, and recognized him again in July. Any moment he had a chance, Aaron would RUN to Uncle Darryl and demand, "Uppie!". Mommy's arms got a break for all the toting Uncle Darryl did!

From Grants Pass, we went to Lincoln City, where we enjoyed a few days with just my parents, brothers, and us. I have no photos. From there we went to Wilsonville where we stayed until it was time to travel to Eugene for the wedding reception of this happy couple: David & Jeanelle Oakes!

Little girls in summer dresses and a rope swing ~ what could be better?

June Memories

2011-10-10T15:52:00.000-06:00

What Adrian does at work! Well, not usually. This was a special training; usually he is not working on the high voltage stuff.

The girls got to see Daddy's work "Snow Cat" up close & personal! Adrian drives this to mountaintop sites during winter, when no other vehicle could access it because of snow.

Does this photo need an explanation? Uncle Darryl just makes everything fun! Like finding a stump while you're hiking, and pretending it is a bucking rodeo horse!

Jaci loved this natural little pond we found on our hike

The hiking crew, minus Adrian!

Mr Dirt Man. I can't keep him out of the dirt. And that's bad, not because I don't want to let my little boy be a boy, but because we live in Anaconda, one of the biggest superfund sites in the nation, where the dirt is known to be unhelathy. I wish we had room for a sandbox... but winter is coming, and hopefully we'll be moving soon!

Summer means weather for pony rides!!!

Aaron's first pony ride ~ it went better than the girls' first; they all bailed very quickly!

Soap Giveaway

2011-10-06T13:08:00.001-06:00

How would you like to win a free bar of Montana-made Goat's Milk Soap? The soap is manufactured in Kalispell MT, good for you and are all natural: the ingredients are Goat Milk, Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Shea Butter, Vitamin E, Fragrance Oil and saponified Lye. If you're interested in entering the contest on my friend's website, click here and leave a comment! Good luck!

10 years with my best friend

2011-09-19T08:54:00.000-06:00

I meant to be posting little updates of our 10 year anniversary of this and that this summer... but honestly, we can't remember every date, and don't have it written down. In the summer of 2001, Adrian spent a lot of time out of Skagway for the power company, and I spent all my time in Skagway driving horse & carraige tours. We seemed to miss each other while apart, but didn't really want to admit that to anyone else. We emailed and instant messaged (via dial up) when possible.

Some long summer night we met for dinner at the Bonanza (Adrian asks if that was our first "date" but I didn't think so!). Afterward, we met up with some of his cousins and their cousins at the old haunted Pullen House. We had quite a freight as darkness fell. Another day we went out to lunch together, and he got back to AP&T much later than he was supposed to-- because my lunch "hour" consisted of unhooking the buggy, getting the horse his lunch, and then going to lunch myself. We went to the Fish Co that day and sat at a 2 top; me in my long hot velvet 1800's dress & felt hat. One Saturday in July or August, we hiked AB Mountain together. Keen memories and the embarassment of our descent lives on...

It wasn't until the end of summer (and after another road trip from Alaska to Montana) that we decided to admit we liked one another. That was prompted by one day in late August when we went innertubing on the Blackfoot River. We were with some of Adrian's childhood friends, and it was supposed to be a good time. At Thibodeau Falls, however, I flipped out of my inner tube and went under the cool water. In the commotion, with water rushing and rocks bulging all around my head, I couldn't tell which way was up. Even if I could, would I be able to propel myself that direction? The water was far stronger than I was, and the undercurrent was holding me down. I thought to myself, "so this is what it's like to drown"....

A few seconds later, someone grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the waves. It was Jason, Adrian's childhood friend whom I had only met once before. I got dragged to the river bank, coughing and sputtering, having swallowed a bunch of the river. Adrian came and sat beside me, and I could tell he was scared. That experience opened a good opportunity. That night, I told him I had once before promised myself that I would never hold back expressions of love for someone (I had deeply regretted that before). And that I felt a "connection" to him and didn't want to ignore it. I can't remember if it was that conversation, or another during the same time period when Adrian had me listen to a Tom Petty song about "changing the locks". He was a Tom Petty fan anyway, so we listened to a lot of his music to/from Alaska. But I was quick to recognize that Adrian had plans to "change the locks" -- in other words, disappear and cut off contact with me (out of fear of hurt, I believe). I asked him directly if that was his plan, to which he replied "I don't know" (translated: yes)! I told him I hoped he would reconsider.

We drove back to Oregon, where we attended Boring 1 together; his cousin Denita snapped this photo, and it was on impulse that I put my arms around him for the first time ~

Then in September, I went on our Doland Family trip to Hawaii, a gift from Grandpa & Grandma for their 50th wedding anniversary. I used the time to pray about what I would do next, and felt like moving into Mary's would be a good idea. Our romance heated up while we were apart, and we decided we didn't want to be apart. I was on an island in Hawaii on Sept 11, 2001. The no-flight policy delayed one of our inter-island flights (not really an inconvenience in my opinion!). Once we were ready to leave Hawaii, planes were allowed to fly again. When I got back to Oregon, I quickly packed to move to Montana. Upon arriving there, Adrian was back at school in Bozeman. On the weekend, I was both nervous and excited to see Adrian when he made the 3 hour drive back to Bonner ~ and we sealed it with a kiss Sept 21, 2001.

So here's then & now ~ September 2001

and September 2011

do you think it looks like we've survived having 4 kids, many sleepless nights, and 10 years together? Yes, we're a little older, and a lot happier! :)

Homeschooling Is....

2011-09-08T15:55:00.000-06:00

     Homeschooling is the joy of coming to a quiet park, the grass still green and lush, the sunshine perfectly warm, the quiet because public school is in session.     Homeschooling is the freedom to dictate our own schedule, to go where we need to when we're at our optimum, to catch the sales, to have time to devote ourselves to the Lord & His Word first.
     Homeschooling is being flexible. It's realizing I may be teaching my 3 year old & 5 year old to read simotaneously. It is soaking up the days and seasons and not being tied to a clock or a calendar. It's rolling with the interruptions and learning to love the way every day is unique.
     Homeschool fills me with responsibility. I am to answer for the childrens' safety, manners, education, the soil of their hearts and the seed of the Word. Sometimes we homeschoolers focus too much on the product of our instruction and it becomes a source of pride when all is going well, and delivers a sense of defeat when it's not. But what really, truly is the goal? Jesus Christ, the righteous. Seek first the Kingdom and His righteousness, and all the rest (yes, the manners, the discipline, the character, the education, the patience, the energy) will come. Sometimes I believe I'm just as responsible for keeping our calendar free, open and non-stressful as I am for teaching a basic education.
     Homeschooling is hard. But so is sending your children to public school, I've heard. Dealing with the classmates and the teachers and the principal and all. The stress of what they are exposed to, and the trials of all interpersonal conflict. I've heard a LOT about this from friends, and I think that's a word from the Lord. Perhaps public school is a more easily measured progress. Perhaps not.
     You see who the local homeschoolers are when you come to the park in mid-day, school year. God, may my words & thoughts be pleasing in your sight (Psalm 19.14). May my secret thoughts be humble, so that my life will be. It's my heart you want, Dear Lord. And there's no experience that gives me opportunity to turn it in quite like homeschooling does!

treasure in heaven

2011-08-02T14:36:00.000-06:00

May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other--- each with the attitude of Christ Jesus toward the other. Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. -- Romans 15.5, NLT

Today, this verse made me feel satisfied that ALL of us ~ souls on earth and those already in heaven, together with the heavenly host, lift one voice praising the only Worthy One!

Saturday night I had a dream about my friend Angel who died nearly 12 years ago. The dream itself was kind of unexplainable, as dreams can be, but I awoke with the overwhelming feeling that I would do ANYTHING to see my friend again. The way human life goes, all feelings left on their own weaken with time. Memories become blurred, and the sharp pain of losing a loved one thankfully fades. However, this dream dramatically and unexpectedly propelled me to feel that same intsense urge to be with Angel that I felt for most of 1999. That was the year I met him, and that was the year he died. I had to cry some after waking up, just to let that feeling go somewhere. I don't remember ever crying in the morning before now. It was good. God lovingly reminds me that I have more than one reason to joyfully anticipate heaven!

Gone but not forgotten ~

Jace is 3!

2011-06-25T14:32:00.008-06:00

We were exuberant to celebrate Jaci's 3rd Birthday last week! Adrian and I have said many times that if we had a choice, we would keep a 2 year old version of Jaci around the house permanently! Age two has been her cutest, funniest, sweetest age yet. So for the first time ever, I felt the feeling of wishing my child were not growing older.

But now I can see, at three, Jaci is still full of fun and not going to stop filling us with joy each day! She is the most "unique" child we have, with a personality that is downright impossible to pinpoint. She is both extroverted (loves to go places, be around people), and shy (it has been 1 whole year of having her cry, or run away anytime a group sings, following the trauma of having "happy birthday" sung to her last year). She is both sweet and sassy. She is both a clan member (feels most secure when our family is all together) and independent (will wander more easily than her sisters). She is a very quiet child, with few demands, but also can be heard screaming the loudest of anybody if she deems the situation appropriate. She is both bold and sensitive. She repeats herself often, always beginning with "Hey Mommy..." which means she has sometimes been lost in the shuffle as the 3rd child, and I need to listen better. She is daring at the swimming pool, but wants to be held close ("uppie") in new situations. She stands up for herself with her sisters and parents in a way that proves she has no idea how small she is. She is small. We have no idea how her huge personality can fit inside her tiny little frame. She is complicated to discipline, because she can be very willful, but also runs and hides if she is told she "no". While hiding behind a closed door, she will often announce, "I need some quiet time". She likes to be spoken to gently, she follows in her sisters' footsteps very closely, and she keeps us all laughing.

Saturday night, I let her play with the flashlight in the dark for a minute before sleep. When I told her it was time to turn it off, she was glad to use her little fingers to control the switch. Once the flashlight was off, she complained about the dark. I reminded her that she could talk to me or talk to God until she fell asleep. She immediately launched into prayer, "Lord, please help me turn this light on!" She and I laughed and laughed, and then she fell asleep quickly.

Wow, what an amazing little girl our Jaci Claire is! I cannot imagine what plans the Lord has for her unique personality and talents yet, but it really doesn't matter to me. Now, and when she's all grown up, she will be my daughter, and for that, I'm so very blessed!

This year, Jaci requested a "black cake with black frosting and horses on top". So this is what we came up with ~ a chocolate sheet cake with the girls' figurines galloping across. Like my sister-in-law often says, the third birthday is the first a child is really able to anticipate, understand, and enjoy. Jaci was so very patient waiting to celebrate her birthday (18 days after watching Tessa's), and she shined like a little jewel when the spotlight was on her!

To help celebrate, we had Uncle Darryl, Gramma Mary, Logan and Elissa, Coy & Bentley on hand!

Since Uncle Darryl's birthday was 3 days later, we gave him a candle to blow out as well!

FARKLE!PRESENTS!

Little mr. casual, not trying to steal the show or anything...

Tessa Turned Five!

2011-06-04T13:03:00.006-06:00

Here's a short pictorial journey of Tessa's 5th birthday. Despite being a super busy day, we had a wonderful celebration with her! We are so very blessed to have this precious child. Not only is she beautiful, she has a beautiful heart as well. She is generous with her sisters, and ultra- affectionate to her brother. She is happiest when helping mommy with cooking, cleaning, or laundry. She prefers to wear dresses every single day, and can often be found dancing ballet-style around the house, her long blonde curls following her twirls. She is horse crazy, often asking when it is that we can have one of our own ("next week, mom?"). She is at the stage of saying funny things that crack us all up, and she loves to explain why God made things the way he did.

Happy Birthday to a true Princess!The gifts just waiting to be torn apart...

My first sewing machine!

A stallion figurine from Ella
Drawing by an original artist!
Clothes and headbands! (All 3 girls are planning to use these!)

A floral arrangement sent by G.G'ma A ~ a watering can filled with flowers, complete with a purse filled with chocolate kisses and a cuddly teddy bear!
Off on a birthday date with Dad and Mom. Tessa wanted to do the same thing as Ella did in February, so we headed to Fairmont to swim and ride the 25 cent horse. Unfortunately the swimming was cut short as Tessa had some intense fears about sharks being in the water. Hope that fear is short lived, and that it is soon left to only be a funny memory...

Giddy-Up Cowgirl!

The Best 10 Years!

2011-05-16T12:36:00.007-06:00

This year, Adrian and I are celebrating 10 years! May 14, 2001 was the day we met. We both had extended family in Skagway, Alaska, and had secured summer jobs there. I wanted to drive my brand new yellow XTerra to AK, rather than fly. So our family members, knowing we had an identical destination, suggested that we could make the drive up north together.

We emailed and IM'd a few times, and agreed to begin the journey in Oregon. We met at Adrian's sisters' place in Boring, OR on the day that we embarked on this 2,000 mile road trip ~ complete strangers, other than knowing some of one anothers' family. Here we are on the day we met

(Why was this picture taken? None of us are quite sure, but I am so very thankful to have it now!)

...and again 10 years later, striking a similar pose!

On that day in 2001, niether of us had any idea, hope or desire that our acquaintance would turn into a happy marraige. But now we can say with 100% honesty, these have been the very best 10 years of our lives!

Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T13:52:00.004-06:00

For Mother's Day 2011, my favorite gifts are these kids ~
they are so very precious, adorable, entertaining and lovable!

I actually got my present from them about 10 days ago; Adrian brought it home from a road trip, and knew I could begin using it right away!

Even though I researched it and picked it out, they wrapped it up just for fun:

And I just love my new little vacuum! I recommend it to absolutely anyone looking for a lightweight tool for bare floors. I used to complain about the need to sweep our kitchen floor about 5 x per day. Now we are all discussing WHO gets to use the new vacuum! I love that I can do it one-handed (while holding a child), and that the kids can do it too since they were never any help with sweeping! :) There's a product description & good video here !

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms! May your children rise to call you blessed (Proverbs 31)!

Risen Christ Celebration

2011-05-02T15:22:00.005-06:00

Easter was a good excuse for baking sugar cookies with the new Wheat Montana recipe I found:

My "helpers" get quite creative at times ~

In the week leading up to Easter, we found many fun ways to celebrate our Risen King! I wanted our remembrance of the cross and resurrection to be "special" to me this year, so sought out ways to make it be. And let me tell you, God is good, and when you ask, you receive! I had a few ideas out of a Focus on the Family magazine, and all these little projects centered around talking about the cross, the tomb, our sins, betrayal, the atonement for our sins, the resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ our Lord, our Hope, our All ~

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." --Galatians 2.20

They also did an egg decorating project with Daddy:

Adrian, Ella and I also attended a play about the last days of Jesus' life. It brought tears to my eyes many times, imagining this man loving me that much. His personal message to me this year? Even though everything seemed to be spinning out of control when Jesus was beaten and killed on the cross, God was still in control. His disciples and best friends had scattered; the Romans were getting their way; the sky went dark; there was an earthquake, Jesus was buried. But the resurrection proved that there were no surprises for God, and that he won in the end. Death has no sting; the grave has no victory. That's true in my life too. When I start to believe that God is distant or not intimately involved in my life, I'm wrong. He is in control, and ALL THINGS are working together for good!

Saturday afternoon I spotted these dresses and found I could buy one in each of the girls' sizes ~ so now they have cute matching dresses for any warm weather we come across this year!

With Friends on Resurrection Day! Imagine the excitement as the believers ran around shouting the news: He is Alive! He is Risen! He Lives!

With more good friends ~

Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool." --Isaiah 1.18

More Travel

2011-05-02T14:52:00.007-06:00

After our week in Portland, we were home for 2 weeks. Then we packed up again to tag along with Adrian during a 2 week business trip to Kalispell!

Jaci doing some yoga at the hotel in Kalispell

Aaron meeting Jeana's dog before we went out to dinner!

Almost every night of a stay in Kalispell, we take the children swimming. Unfortunately the pool water is really cold, so we have to jump back & forth from the pool to the hot tub. The kids have really improved with all the practice & instruction from Daddy! Ella and Tessa can swim independently; Jaci still jumps in at her leisure, and trusts someone to catch her; Aaron prefers the hot tub!

We got to have one night with our friends the Harris' -- we met sweet Melita for the first time, Alison served an amazing meal, and we all had fun. In fact, there was great disappointment and tears when it was time to go, so next time hopefully we can get together on a summer vacation day!

The weekend in between our 2 weeks in Kalispell, we drove to Plains to hang out with our good friends, the Grants. We really, really miss having them in Anaconda, but are happy for them in their new spot. We got to explore their property, home and community. Here, the girls are discovering the season's first wildflowers!

Any time with Taylor is a good time!

We love Taylor! And her dog, Buddy!

You wouldn't believe that morning we woke up to snow covering all the hills. By the afternoon, it was sunny again!

Oops, out of order. On our way to Kalispell, we stayed two nights with Logan & Elissa's! They have some miniature horse neighbors, which were a great delight to our girls. We continue to hear every day that they would like one of their own!

trying to get all the kids in one frame ~ Elissa has better photos here!

We also stayed one night at Gramma Mary's on our way up:

Time to Catch Up!

2011-05-01T08:33:00.009-06:00

On our way to Portland in early March, we all needed a break about 30 minutes from our destination. So we stopped at the gorgeous Multnomah Falls to take a short hike in the fresh air. Here's my cute little family in front of the waterfall:

Here's the look that says, "If you would stop taking pictures, we could get goin'!" I LOVE the way Jaci put her little foot forward to "pose" without me asking her to!

I also LOVE the way my girls line up when I say I'm going to take a picture.

I LOVE the way they LOVE each other.

And I LOVE them! GREEN! We miss seeing that in Montana. We would eventually hike up to the bridge you can see above
Every person we passed smiled because of our girls. They were either holding hands exploring, or running exuberantly up the trail. Maybe it's because they're little. Maybe it's because they're cute. Maybe they are simply precious, and everyone can see it! I was glad they gave strangers some of the joy we have every day.
...and NOW I see the reason we constantly hear, "Wow, you've got your hands full!"

I guess it looks like we do!
So we traveled on to Portland for a week's stay. We enjoyed spring flowers since there's no sign of spring at home, celebrated our 8th anniversary, and spent time with family!
I'm pretty sure I have the sweetest daughters in the world.

They bring me flowers whenever possible:

...and leave me love notes with flowers!

Ella is a terrifical helper with Aaron, and Aaron is just ... well, Aaron.

Fun times with Uncle Mike (the dress-a-princess app on his iPhone is a big hit!)
And Uncle Paul too!

BACK AT HOME:

One snowy day the girls made this "fort" on top of our dining room table:

Aaron's 1st haircut!! He just had a few stray long hairs at the very back of his head, so I decided to clip them after a bath one night (I think it was St Pat's Day). It was a bit of a fiasco: a naked, wet baby boy grabbing at everything in sight, feet slippin on the counter, me aiming at his head with scissors... thankfully it was short and successful.

Tessa's newest talent:

And Jaci's attempt at crossing her eyes like TJ:

The Story of Ella's Birthday

2011-02-14T16:02:00.006-07:00

We had a lot of fun celebrating Ella's 7th Birthday last weekend! We started with a beautiful young girl who took great delight in picking our her birthday outfit, and poses so pretty for pictures:

We added a home made birthday cake. Ella designed her birthday cake ~ a spice cake with flowers on top. At the last minute, shopping for groceries, I was really tempted to pick up a store bought cake. However, making a homemade cake feels like part of my "gift" to the birthday kid, so I made everything from scratch. I can never quite make a cake look the way I picture it in my mind, but luckily my kids are gracious enough to like it, despite mom's abilities! Maybe I'll have enough practice with cake decorating that I can impress them by the time they are more critical!

Here is our family gathered to celebrate Ella on Sunday morning

(she also picked out her parents' shirts, just for fun)

Mmmm, we LOVE our sister!!

We added 1 Gramma Mary

...and 1 Gramma Linda (here we are playing a family game of Farkle).

To have 2 Grandmas with us for a birthday weekend was ....

well, a gift in itself!

Saturday night ~ Ella's Birthday Date: She chose to go to Fairmont Hot Springs with Adrian and I, to eat at the Resort's restaurant, and swim in the hot springs. She & Daddy took 2 rides down the 5 story slide into the pool, and she was treated to a ride on a coin operated horse. She also got to pick out a gift in the gift shop! Here we are on our way out the door...

The above *happy* photo was taken AFTER we sorted out Daddy's clothing. As we were preparing to leave (just the 3 of us), Daddy casually walked into the living room holding 2 pairs of swimming trunks, wearing the famous Brown Outfit. He innocently asked Ella which swimsuit she would prefer that he wear.... But before the question was finished, she was running away, exclaiming that Daddy could NOT go in that outfit!

A close-up of the great Brown Outfit Shoes. I adore my husband's sense of humor!!

Just before the Super Bowl was to begin, two friends surprised Ella by coming to our house to play whole we adults watched the game! Here are Bianca, Sydney and Ella, ready to have some fun!

...and then the Packers won!!! That made Ella's 7th birthday special for Daddy and I, more than for her! Even though the FBI confiscated the internet channels that Adrian usually is able to watch the NFL on, we were able to find another link and watch it here at home. Here's a picture of Aaron with Aaron, accepting the Lombardi trophy after the win!

Finally, the next day, mommy remembered one more present that was stored out in the garage: Ella now has her very own kid sized snow shovel, so she can help Daddy clear the walks when we have fresh snow!
It was a wonderful celebration that spanned several days, and we are oh so blessed to have Ella Rose in our family! She is an exceptional big sister, a great student, an amazing help to Mommy, and just as much a gift from God as the day she was born, 7 years ago!

The End!

The Brown Outfit

2011-01-31T13:37:00.002-07:00

We've reached the stage of being able to embarass our kids far sooner than I imagined. Adrian was cleaning out his closet on Saturday night, while I did dishes and the girls soaked in the tub. He casually came out of the bedroom wearing his long lost "Brown Outfit", which I had not seen in a long time! The photo above is from 2004, and Adrian has probably lost 20 pounds since then, so he looks better than ever in it. Well, as good as one can look in such an outfit..

I remember vividly the day we happened upon "The Brown Outfit". We were browsing at the Goodwill in Missoula, and when Adrian found the pants, he suddenly became determined to find a coordinating shirt and shoes. I remember him being VERY disappointed that the shoes cost more than the pants and shirt together -- they were $2. They are probably actually old men's "house shoes" made of cheap brown vinyl with large loops in the back for ease of pulling on. Still, he made the difficult decision to purchase them, sure that he would have several years of use of them. And he has; they are still around!

We were laughing about how the outfit came together when Adrian said, "Do you think the girls would notice?" Sometimes they can be so entrenched in their playing that they won't even look up unless we draw their attention to something. Adrian sauntered into the bathroom and asked, "How are you girls doing?" Before the words were completely out of his mouth, Ella erupted into a very adamant tirade about how there was something wrong with that outfit, and that he had BETTER NOT wear it on the birthday date we are taking her on next Saturday!! Since she often comes up with clothing combinations that I would not personally wear, I didn't think she would care too much. I had to laugh though, because she is only 6 years old and somehow her parents' appearance has already become important.

I think The Brown Outfit will have to resurface when Adrian is preparing for Ella's Birthday Date on Saturday! ;)

to wrap up January

2011-01-29T15:26:00.002-07:00

Birthday Cake, New Hats, and Sister Love !!

Happy Birthday Baby Buddy!

2011-01-19T17:50:00.003-07:00

One year ago, I was getting less sleep than I enjoyed last night! Aaron Rio arrived at 2:00 a.m. 1 year ago today. I remember being so excited after his birth, I didn't sleep all night. Around 5 a.m. I began calling my friends on the east coast to tell them the news, and then continued dialing numbers toward the west... We thought he was due on New Year's day, so waiting all the way to the 19th seemed like a really long time. Once he came, he was cute, healthy, and has been keeping us busy ever since!
This post is mostly for Adrian, who has to be out of town working until Friday night! Here are some ways your "Cook" celebrated his 1st birthday:

unloading tea bags from the cupboard:

(Today I added something to the "Favorite Things in Life" list: a little boy "working" in his overalls!)

Opened the presents that had arrived so far, in the presence of Grandma Mary and the rest of us ~ he got some Green Bay Packers PJ's, an awesome hand knitted hat, some socks, and a John Deere wagon!

Talked on the phone to several adoring grandparents and aunties, plus Daddy:

Walked around outside and at playgroup:

Ate mac 'n' cheese for lunch:

"Helped" with the dishwasher:

We love our baby Buddy! Or as Daddy affectionatly calls him, "Cook". That seems to be an abbreviation of Tessa's longer nickname for him, which is "Aaron Buddy Doodie Cookie Mommy". Baby buddy didn't quite make it to my prediction that he would weigh the same as Jaci by 1 year. She is steadily keeping 2 pounds ahead of him, which of course I think is great! Aaron began walking at 10.5 months, and has been more content to self entertain since then. He loves to go outside, and throws a fit whenever we shut an outside door. Or the dishwasher door. He loves his sisters, and already has a unique relationship with each of them. He loves dogs, the goldfish, and baths. He is a hefty bundle of joy, and we love him very much!!

amid the bustling

2011-01-19T15:21:00.006-07:00

We have been busy traveling (we were away from home 16 weeks in 2010), working on the house (new & improved laundry room as of the weekend!), homeschooling (I count it a priviledge and am loving it!) and raising 4 children. Since Adrian said we aren't planning to travel again for a while, I committed to a few weekly activities, including a sign language class (Ella and Tessa attend with me), tumbling class (all 3 girls participate) and a playgroup that is refreshing for us all. The following photos are of fun times we've had amid the daily routine!!

New Years Welcoming Comittee 2011

(and time for bed for Aaron!)

Jaci is such a nurturing little girl!

A photo of the ONLY time we had all 4 in the bath at the same time:

Aaron Rio eating:

Had to pick up the camera in the moment that I had 4 little people helping me prepare dinner last week! The girls gladly peeled the carrots that night, saving me all sorts of time!

Ella fashioned this dress / baby sling out of a blanket!

Winter Wonderland

2010-12-30T10:48:00.005-07:00

We've traveled over the river and through the woods, and today we are cozily tucked away at Grandma's House! I think this is the most amount of snow I have ever seen up here. There are 2-3 feet on the rooves, 3-4 feet on the ground, and 6-7 feet where it has been plowed or shoveled. It is completely beautiful! Happy 2011 to you!

"She is not afraid of the snow for her household:

for all her household are clothed with scarlet"

--Proverbs 31.21

"Come now, let us reason together," says the Lord.

"Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;

though they are as red as crimson, they shall be like wool."

Isaiah 1.18

(Our dog, Layla can walk straight onto the porch which is normally 3 feet off the ground)
"He says to the snow, 'Fall to the earth'"

Job 37.6

"His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow,
and his eyes were like blazing fire."
Revelation 1.14

The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth.

They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry.

It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit.

It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it."

Isaiah 55.10

CHRIST-mas

2010-12-30T10:35:00.004-07:00

Mas means "more" in Spanish, so I like to think of Christmas as more of Jesus!! The girls got to explore the story of Jesus' miraculous birth through practicing for a Christmas play, and imagining all the people who came to worship him ~ there were rich and poor, young and old who came to greet the Messiah as a baby. They also learned a few Christmas songs. I wonder if they will remember them next year!

Here are the girls' dresses, all ready to go for the Sunday before Christmas ~

Beautiful sisters
With baby brother

We were at Gramma Mary's house on Christmas day. We cut out, baked and decorated sugar cookies, molasses cookies, and gingerbread houses

When we got home, we opened presents over the next few days. The girls received new bear dollies, a bunch of homeschool books, a dishwasher sized box with windows and a door cut out, a play kitchen, and lots of other toys. Everything (except the box, which was free) was hand me downs from friends and family, so we spent a grand total of $0 on Christmas gifts this year! THANK YOU Taylor, Aunt Charlene, Pflugs and Blomquists for your generosity!!

Thanksgiving

2010-12-30T10:25:00.003-07:00

Here are some snapshots of our trip to Wilsonville for Thanksgising!

All in a Day's work: A closet project!

Before:

After:

Great Grandma Alm with the kids:

I found a whole bin of play dough tools at Goodwill for $5!

The weather was pleasant for walks, and a ride in a wheelbarrow!

Aaron walking

2010-12-07T16:43:00.004-07:00

He pulled it off at 10 1/2 months. He is doing "bath" sign while walking, in case you're not sign language literate! :) If you listen carefully, he says "up" before climbing the step stool. He is also talking earlier than the girls did, clearly saying "hot", "up", "Ella" uh-oh as well as several signs. We have a little communicator on our hands!

Blessed Beyond Measure

2010-11-25T12:35:00.005-07:00

Today I'm absorbed with how undeserved and unmeasureable the gifts from God are to me.

If you're not very well acquainted with Psalm 103, I encourage you to start knowing it today!

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, Bless His Holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits!
He forgives ALL my sins (I am becoming increasingly aware of how many there are!)
He heals ALL my diseases (my body is subject to the decay of this fallen world, and without His intervention I would not become well again from cold, flu, allergies, scrapes, bruises...)
He saves my life from the pit (that's where it was, and how it would be without Him!)
And crowns me with love and compassion (I am loved every minute! I am his precious child!)
He satisfies my desires with good things (oh, let me tell you, He does! The list is very, very long of how he satisfies the desires of my heart, soul and body)
So that my strength is renewed like the eagle's (every mommy knows we need strength that doesn't come from ourselves to do our job, and I can and do rely on His strength!)
The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love (He shows me HOW to be a parent. I've experienced this compassion, this grace, this abounding love, and it is blissful! It is the way every child wishes to be loved!)

He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.

That line is my testimony of the Lord today. He has not treated me as I deserve. I have had pride when I know nothing, and am like a fading blade of grass. I have made myself into God, taking control of my own life when He knows best. I have sought honor and glory for myself, when He is the only one deserving of it. I have misrepresented His name by judging others harshly, and by saying God could only love me if I acted/dressed/looked/worshipped a certain way. I have cursed, fornicated, stolen, committed adultery and murder (according to Jesus in Matthew 5). I have treated his little children harshly. Worst of all, I have neglected the greatest commandment, to Love. But He has not repaid me according to my sins. My life would look a whole lot different right now if he had. And that, my friends, is the definition of grace.

"His MERCY endures forever" appears 42 times and "HIS LOVE ENDURES FOREVER" appears 44 times in Chronicles, Ezra, Jeremiah, and the Psalms. Why the repetition? Because someone else experienced the same mercy and love I'm experiencing! Mercy is withholding the punishment/judgement/condemnation we DESERVE. Seems that would be enough. But no, after lifting the burden of sin through Jesus Christ, He heaps grace and love on top of what is left. Grace is being showered with the love, compassion, adoration, blessing protection, salvation I DON'T DESERVE.

In my house, I have a God fearing, God praising, God worshipping, God praying, God loving husband. And he leads the other 5 of us to the Lord's Table, His Word, and worship. In my house, I have 4 beautiful children, each of whom is really beautiful to look upon, even more amazing to know, with healthy bodies, intelligent minds, and happy hearts. I don't deserve that.

Last Sunday, a Christ follower said to me, "You have a beautiful family. It is difficult for those of us who have been through divorce to hear messages about being a solid family becuase it didn't work out for us. But your family is the depiction of what a family should be, and I can tell you really love the Lord." Her words hit me like a ton of bricks. Still does, as I re-type her words. You know why? Because it's true. And because I don't deserve it.

When Adrian and I got married, neither of us had ANY MORE certainty than anyone else that we would still be in love and wanting to do this thing called life together almost 8 years later. We didn't have any more assurance that the immensity of heartache wouldn't overtake the promise. When we had kids, we didn't have any more assurance than anyone else we would be able to have kids or that they would be healthy. Or whole. Or cute. We don't deserve it. We could have never earned it. We can never express our daily enjoyment. We are handling the very creation of God, and He wants us to see His heart through it.

He has given me "above all I could ask or think" -- better than I could have imagined, planned, created or orchestrated for myself. That means better than my best plan. Yes, He did. I'm giving more than thanks to God today. I'm giving wholehearted and humble worship, for He is good!!

Birthdays

2010-11-19T16:01:00.003-07:00

11-18-2010 The Birthday Breakfast Crew. Happy 32nd Birthday to my awesome husband!
11-19-2010 And it IS a Happy 32nd Birthday for ME! This post contains the things that make me the HAPPIEST, every day, and especially on my birthday!!

My girls made me a beaded necklace with a Snickers bar attached (from Ella) and a beaded bracelet with a Reece's Peanut Butter Cup attached (from Tessa). All their idea and creation, and a surprise to me! Soooo creative! Soon after I put on the bracelet, Tessa said, "Mom, we could open the candy now!" :P Love, love, love my family and thank God for daily blessing me!

November At Our House

2010-11-19T15:29:00.007-07:00

11-14-2010: Grrrr!
11-11-2010: Games with Grandpa Harold

11-9-2010: Ella was invited to model in a fashion show by JCPenney. Afterward, she found out she got to keep the dress. Tessa didn't model on stage, but wanted to dress in her finest for the evening too! And she just grew out of her dress shoes, so fancy boots go with everything, right?!

Nov 11: some meat to fill our freezer! Thank you hard working husband, and thank you Lord!

11-6-2010: Work and fun in the leaves!

This one's for you, Gramma Mary!

Slam Dunkin'

2010-11-06T10:45:00.001-06:00

two more; one less

2010-10-21T14:23:00.002-06:00

Aaron is now 9 months old. He is such a sweet and cuddly boy that he wants to be held *EVERY* minute of every day. So that wears on mom a bit, especially at 22 pounds!

Photo evidence of Jaci's first foray with scissors (she is 24 pounds):
I had sent the girls to get dressed one morning this week when I heard Tessa say "Hey Mom! Look, I'm a scarecrow!" Pretty creative, I thought!

Ella has ONE LESS tooth as of Sunday! It began to wiggle around lunch time, and came out at dinner time! It was a bit traumatic for her, being that she is the squeamish type and I had told her it would probably be several days before it actually fell out! Instead of continuing the tradition of "tooth fairy", she got to choose a special activity to celebrate.

...And we have TWO MORE mouths to feed in this house. The kids won these goldfish from Kids Club Tuesday night. I consider taking on pets as a very big ordeal, something we talk about, decide on, and prepare for. Obviously, the prize givers don't. Sigh. Guess who gets to remember to feed them and clean their tank and console the kids when their little feeder fish lifespan is over? :) Names TBA.

quick post

2010-10-12T17:47:00.003-06:00

Our very own, Jaci Claire

Aaron Rio, nearly 9 months
On Saturday, the process of harvesting, coring, cutting, simmering, and seasoning with VERY limited counter space yielded 7-8 gallons of applesauce...
When I get overwhelmed by all the clutter around me, I find that it often helps to take a picture of it, knowing it won't always be this way. So here's a photo of the girls' "treasures", which they drag out, sort, organize, bathe and leave out just as often as I let 'em:

A very typical view for me--Aaron holding onto my legs, wanting up:

Go Beavs!

Lots of ballet happening here this autumn...

One quiet afternoon I found the girls watching a movie from this position...

...and I love them, even though they are an insanity inducing amount of work!!

We're Baaack!

2010-09-26T15:48:00.004-06:00

One week ago, we arrived safely at our home sweet home! That was no small feat, considering we saw 10 states and 5,000 miles in three weeks. It was a completely wonderful and blessed trip-- in which we got to see many of our friends and family in their home places, and were able to worship and serve God many miles from the comfort of home!!

As you can imagine, we saw many landscapes. Without intending to, we planned our itinerary around a most gorgeous time across the midwest: just before harvest, when thousands upon thousands of acres of corn, soybeans and wheat are readying for harvest. Honestly, I expected to see more "nothingness" across eastern Montana, Wyoming and South Dakota. Instead, we were greeted by ever changing landscapes-- from mountains and valleys to plains and plateaus; we saw a lot. In our own little world at home, we only see what is out our window, or the view during our commute. But it was awe inspiring to think that all of this land, all this creation is honoring God every minute-- day and night-- even when we aren't there looking at it. He is.

Psalm 104 (New Living Translation)

1 Let all that I am praise the Lord. O Lord my God, how great you are!
You are robed with honor and majesty.
2 You are dressed in a robe of light.
You stretch out the starry curtain of the heavens;
3 you lay out the rafters of your home in the rain clouds.
You make the clouds your chariot;
you ride upon the wings of the wind.
4 The winds are your messengers;
flames of fire are your servants.
5 You placed the world on its foundation
so it would never be moved.
6 You clothed the earth with floods of water,
water that covered even the mountains.
7 At your command, the water fled;
at the sound of your thunder, it hurried away.
8 Mountains rose and valleys sank
to the levels you decreed.
9 Then you set a firm boundary for the seas,
so they would never again cover the earth.
10 You make springs pour water into the ravines,
so streams gush down from the mountains.
11 They provide water for all the animals,
and the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 The birds nest beside the streams
and sing among the branches of the trees.
13 You send rain on the mountains from your heavenly home,
and you fill the earth with the fruit of your labor.
14 You cause grass to grow for the livestock
and plants for people to use.
You allow them to produce food from the earth—
15 wine to make them glad,
olive oil to soothe their skin,
and bread to give them strength.
16 The trees of the Lord are well cared for—
the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
17 There the birds make their nests,
and the storks make their homes in the cypresses.
18 High in the mountains live the wild goats,
and the rocks form a refuge for the hyraxes.
19 You made the moon to mark the seasons,
and the sun knows when to set.
20 You send the darkness, and it becomes night,
when all the forest animals prowl about.
21 Then the young lions roar for their prey,
stalking the food provided by God.
22 At dawn they slink back
into their dens to rest.
23 Then people go off to their work,
where they labor until evening.
24 O Lord, what a variety of things you have made!
In wisdom you have made them all.
The earth is full of your creatures.
25 Here is the ocean, vast and wide,
teeming with life of every kind,
both large and small.
26 See the ships sailing along,
and Leviathan, which you made to play in the sea.
27 They all depend on you
to give them food as they need it.
28 When you supply it, they gather it.
You open your hand to feed them,
and they are richly satisfied.
29 But if you turn away from them, they panic.
When you take away their breath,
they die and turn again to dust.
30 When you give them your breath, life is created,
and you renew the face of the earth.
31 May the glory of the Lord continue forever!
The Lord takes pleasure in all he has made!
32 The earth trembles at his glance;
the mountains smoke at his touch.
33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live.
I will praise my God to my last breath!
34 May all my thoughts be pleasing to him,
for I rejoice in the Lord.
35 Let all sinners vanish from the face of the earth;
let the wicked disappear forever.

Let all that I am praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord!

Every mile the Lord protected us from car trouble, accidents, and injury. The only "difficult" portion occurred when we found ourselves on a ferry across Lake Michigan for what I predicted would be a fun way for the kids to travel. Instead, there were 20 foot swells and a violently rough ride, and we all (except Aaron) became so sick, all we could do was sit with our heads down and thank God for the puke buckets the ferry provided. We were all very happy (and healthy) to be on dry land again after 4 hours! Considering the miles we passed, we were very fortunte.

The children all did very well; they never resisted getting into the car for another stretch of the journey. Aaron began to crawl 2 days before we left, and had some practice on the trip. Now that we're home, he easily crawls across the whole house and steps from one piece of furniture to the other when standing.

I made a little -- er, big slideshow of our trip. The new blog music are songs that I thought would be fitting with the photos. The slideshow is 327 photos, condensed from the 610 original photos. If you would like a CD of all the photos, or some prints mailed to you, please just let me know by email and I will be happy to send them.

Enjoy, and I pray that God blesses you as he has so richly blessed us. "Forget not all his benefits..." --Psalm 103.1

uh-oh

2010-07-27T15:00:00.003-06:00

Aaron is pulling himself to standing! He did it last night, and I thought it was a fluke, so I set him up again this morning, and he duplicated the action before the camera! 1....2...3...4!

I'm a bit surprised by this, because he just began sitting up about 3 weeks ago. I'm a bit CONCERNED by this, because he lacks the sense to hang on once he's standing! ;)

Here's our family before we hiked the "M" in Missoula a few weeks ago.

Aaron "helping" daddy assemble a fly rod; camping at Georgetown Lake

Dave and the girls enjoying a campfire

The Event At Rebecca Farm

Kalispell, MT

We were in Kalispell with Adrian for work last week, so I was pleased to take the kids to this World Cup horsemanship event! The weekend consisted of Dressage, Cross Country and Show Jumping (an equestrian triathlon). I LOVED IT!!

When I first arrived, I found several "warm up" arenas, and spotted one horse rearing in the background:

The kids at a fountain on the property:

An overview of one side of the cross country course:

Horse & rider crossing water

A paint & rider crossing the course:

This picture shows how close spectators were to the action: notice the horse running up hill just in front of us:

Racing uphill!

The jump was right next to us, too:

Neat, neat! I have a renewed hope that someday we'll have horses ... even if I'm not competing at this level, it will be wonderful to have them around!

Father's Day, 5 month boy, 2 year old girl

2010-07-01T17:32:00.005-06:00

Aaron Rio at 5 months; always ready to smile!

Jaci Claire on her 2nd birthday

A bruised lip and food on the face, but still beautiful at 2:

This photo is titled, "I can't hold him any longer!" (he's 17.5 lbs now)

Jaci with her doggy cake

Father's Day 2010. He would look just as good with another kid on his lap next year, wouldn't he?

Daddy wanted to snap this photo of Aaron's "chub" on our way to the hotel pool!

A picture that captures Tessa's unbridled love for her baby brother. She sometimes actually hurts him with her kisses, unable to hold back *ALL* that feeling! Tessa captured this feeling with words pretty well this week when she told me, "I want to marry Aaron when he grows up!"

mmm, lilacs!

Aaron and a doll friend

The girls at Georgetown Lake on Sunday

I love how you can see from the rocky lake bottom up to the blue sky in this photo! (That's Jaci with Daddy trying out his new float tube for fishing!)

Do you think we're over the weight limit for the float tube?

before & after

2010-06-14T20:02:00.004-06:00

All in a day's work: Mom and I started weeding to put in some annuals, and one thing led to another! We ended up re-landscaping the space surrounding the fountain!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

We managed to have an absolutely wonderful couple of hours with Grandpa & Grandma visiting our little place this evening!! Here they are with 3 out of 4 (Tessa was napping).

We miss you Grandpa Aaron! (Would be 4 generations):

Aaron with the sun hat / Jaci-gave-me-a-kiss-after-eating-frosting-look:

start of summer

2010-06-13T14:15:00.005-06:00

Our 3 beautiful daughters, all ready to go!

Mom is here visiting, so we took advantage of an opportunity to photograph all 6 of us. Can't wait to get some professional shots, hopefully next month! (I need to talk to Elissa about that!) :) So here we are squinting in the sun (not complaining ~ we haven't had much this year) with the brown hills of Anaconda in the background!

Mom with the girls ~

A self portrait, 'cause we're still in love after all these years!

Tessa on her first day of preschool!

A friend in town is hosting a small pre-school for 4 year olds 2 days per week for a few weeks this summer. The location is 1 block from our house, so it is an ideal set-up for us. Tessa gets to do something without being in Ella's shadow, and Ella and I get some good one-on-one time to do higher level schooling! We will be officially done with Ella's kindergarten year June 30.

We're loving the sunshine, and ready to get outside! It's time (finally) to plant some annuals, and get the yard looking colorful! God bless you and keep you ~ a.

Tessa is 4!

2010-06-03T21:27:00.003-06:00

Thank you everyone for happy wishes for Tessa. She is a beautiful child, and we're so thankful to be celebrating 4 years of having her in our hearts and home.

This one's for you, Gramma Mary...

Tessa with birthday cupcakes, served at the party with friends...

A PICTURE WORTHY MOMENT: I had 3 out of 4 kids sleeping at once yesterday!!! Ahhhh, the peaceful feeling......

The Barbie cake ~ it turned out ok, other than the fact that the cake "dress" wasn't tall enough for Barbie's legs, and I learned you can't remove Barbie's legs without breaking them, and this is Tessa's favorite Barbie...

... so the cake was cute at first (when I took these photos)... but after a few hours of sitting in the fridge, she collapsed. We're eating it tonight anyway!

4 months

2010-05-20T20:54:00.002-06:00

Time to post an update of Aaron. He was 4 months old yesterday, so here are a bunch of photos I've taken over the past 2 days. What you can't see is the sound this boy puts out! He's pretty vocal! When in a good mood (pretty much all the time), he goes around squeaking and squealing and making exclamations in high pitches. If he is set down somewhere and wants mommy, he begins to mildly complain, and is very patient, until I pick him up. Then, immediately the leg kicking excited squeals come. I'd compare them to a baby piglet or a baby foal's neigh. Only cuter. Hopefully I'll get that on video to show him later.

A profile shot: lightly reddish tinted fuzzy head, just like Ella & Tessa had.

In my opinion, he still looks the most like Adrian, Adrian's dad, Adrian's Grandpa.
But in this photo, he totally reminds me of my brother Paul when he was a baby. I'll have to see if my parents agree...

The bumbo is new to Aaron this week (thank you Pam!) We all love it!

... a bit sleepy...

...and sporting mommy's favorite jammies. They're just so soft and cuddly, worn by my soft & cuddly baby. Oh, did I mention he's 16 1/2 pounds now? Yeah, not such a small baby anymore, but still extremely cuddly. More so than any of our girls were!

Mother's Day & Only Child

2010-05-18T16:12:00.003-06:00

Here's what Jaci does with QTips when I'm not looking ...

(and a peek at our new kitchen floor!)

My kids and I on Mother's Day. Adrian treated me to crepes for lunch (mmmm... his specialty/all of our favorite!) Mother's Day is funny to me because it's impossible to define and properly honor a good mother. On the other hand, I'm thankful for my beautiful children that have made me a mother, and for their cute gifts on the day the rest of America celebrates. And once again, I'm inspired to live every other day of the year with Christ as #1, so that when my children are older, they will rise and call me blessed (Proverbs 31).

A few weeks ago, I had a really bad day. One of those days when it seemed that everything that could have possibly gone wrong, did. (Except we didn't land in the emergency room, and we were all alive at the end of the day; for that I should be thankful). That day, I wrote a journal entry, ranting about everything that went wrong. And continued to go wrong once I thought the day couldn't get worse. I'll spare you the details, but was urged by my husband to share the last paragraph:

"There were many, many times today when I had the thought, "I wish I only had one child". And I'll be honest. The only one I wanted was Aaron. He was sleeping part of the time, and the part when he was awake, he was smiling at me. He would coo and giggle and had no idea about the hardship I was facing. He was NOT whining, complaining, or making a bigger mess of the house. And every single time I thought it, the Holy Spirit followed with the thought, "I'm glad God never felt that way!" He never did. It would make so much more sense for him just to have one adorable son. These other children of his ~ well, they always cause trouble, get themselves dirty; they are ungrateful and needy and whine even when all their needs are taken care of. He had every right to only stay in perfect relationship with this one Son. The one child who fulfilled all his desires as a Father. But God's whole plan revolves around wanting to be in relationship with us -- though sinful, though dirty, though stupid and frail, He loves us!! I feel soooo loved, and I believe that is the ONLY way I am able to extend love despite all the hardness that has wanted to pound my heart today. There are plenty of people surrounding me (I'm referring to adults, not my children) who are NOT immersed in grace and touched by God's love, and that's why they aren't extending it. But they are miserable people! I want to be full of grace, and full of love. Thank you, Lord, for making this a possibility in my life!"

Today I heard the news of my friend, Jessica Ramey leaving this earth. (Like the bumper sticker says, "Cancer Sucks"). I am saddened and stunned, tearful and torn. It was just the other day I was pleading with God in prayer - Jehovah Rapha -- the God who heals-- to heal her. Now she is gone. This experience is meant to lift all of our eyes to the Creator of heaven and earth. He alone can comfort, and he doesn't withhold any good thing from us. Refreshed perspective: life is a vapor, and I shall put more emphasis on Him than on life!

catchin' up with life

2010-04-25T13:31:00.010-06:00

It's Spring!

Carrying Jaci around in the sling before we got the new Mei Tai and backpack. She especially likes to be close to me when I'm making dinner, so this allows her to be close and my hands to be free. Aaron often falls asleep in the Mei Tai and has the longest nap afterward-- feeling so secure and fetus-like in there! We're looking forward to getting outside and carrying our babies on hikes as the weather gets warmer!

Homeschooling is going well! After Ella expressed her boredom with the math curriculum we were doing, I casually mentioned to a friend in Kalispell that maybe I should begin giving the lessons in Spanish. So I have! It's great fun, adds a bit of a challenge, and accomplishing two subjects at once! Tessa asks for a reading lesson every day, and I'm hoping Jaci will be done potty training at the end of this week. I absolutely love the freedom I have to school my kids at home. Nobody else could love my children like I do!

The kids learn more from what I DO than what I say. That truth inspires me to take care of myself, my relationship with God, and do anything to avoid the hypocracy that so often yields rebellion.

All in a day's work: nursing & giving Tessa a reading lesson.

Like father like son. Adrian bought me a Nintendo set like the one I had when I was a kid. Aaron seems especially interested in the colors flashing on the screen. I love how this picture captures that all have a similar expression on their face as they watch Mario run around! I love, love, love my family.

Keeping the kids in the right sized clothing for the right season is a full time job around here! This is my pile before it went to the basement for storage. We are so thankful for many family & friends who have given us wonderful clothing for all our kids!

After I noticed that Jaci had already grown past some shoes that I had from Ella/Tessa, it was time to take the plastic bags full of little girls' shoes and make them more accessible. I bought a shoe organizer that is designed to hold 10 adult pairs of shoes at WalMart for around $7. Then I divided each compartment by sizes; girls shoes on one side and boys' on the other. Now it will be much easier to find the next size when I need it! Mr Aaron already has a nice collection of cute boy shoes too! Whoops-- my husband doesn't like me to use adjectives like "cute" regarding boy stuff. Can't think of another word though.

Easter Sunday photo shoot.. kind of impromtu... didn't get one that's great of all 4, but I still enjoy capturing my kids just how they are!

Aaron has been pushing himself up with strong little arms. We're amazed by him!

And yesterday when I pondered the thought that we should worship the CREATOR and not the CREATION, I realized that applies to kids too -- I absolutely adore my kids and like to gush about all of their individual stages. I love to watch them grow and learn and develop. That's probably an ok feeling, being a mommy. But when I do, I should always remember that every heartbeat and every way they amaze me is thanks to the God of heaven -- he formed them in my womb, and HIS awesome creation continues as they grow!

****

We had some beautiful warm weather last week, so took advantage of it with lots of bike riding and outdoor play. After a months of preferring her scooter and balance bike (small bicycle with no pedals), Ella just TOOK OFF with riding her bike without training wheels on Thursday. She's just as excited about it as we are!

THREE MONTHS ~ Aaron Rio is:

still super easy going and smiley

still sleeping peacefully through each night

handsome as ever

grabbing toys & mommy's arm during diaper changes

extremely ticklish, with a cute little giggle

fun to play games with
over 15 pounds!

...Don't you just want to pick him up? :)

This week Adrian is in Vancouver and the girls and I are living on plywood floors. By next week, we will have new floors in the kitchen/bathroom, all new plumbing, and a rearranged laundry room. I'll post pictures of that later...

Thinking about 1 Corinthians 13 ~ in my own words ~ even if I do everything "right" and don't have love, it is all worthless! My choices include how I worship, how I parent, how I devote quiet time to the Lord, how I eat, how I exercise, how I run the house and life and manage time ... oh, there's something to consciously choose every day. Of course I make choices based on what I think is best. But LOVE should rank higher than all that. And when I look around, I see many ways that the enemy is 'winning' in relationships among Christians. That wretched lion of a devil is creating division, and causing friendships to dissolve over disagreements. I, too, disagree with many choices of people around me. However, I am called to love despite that. When Christ asked us to love, he knew how difficult it would be for us, and he whispers, "My Grace is sufficient..." Please reconcile any division or unforgiveness you find in your life.

BIG BOY!

2010-04-02T17:39:00.002-06:00

Jaci is now chewing gum! Here's a picture of her with some orange gum between her cute little teeth. She chewed it for nearly an hour and then put it into the garbage, just like her big sisters do! She has wanted to do this for so long, it's exciting to see her be so happy about it!

~ sweet sleeping baby ~
Mr Aaron has been growing very fast, we know -- but I finally took a minute to see how his growth compared to his older sisters. They were all born within a few ounces of 7 pounds.
At 10 weeks:
Ella was 11 pounds
Tessa "chunkbug" was 12 pounds
Jaci was 11 pounds
Aaron is 14 pounds!

Like a lady at church says, "Those aren't cheeks; those are sucking muscles!!"

I often tell little Aaron that I'm glad he's growing so fast after he was born, not before!

I totally love every ounce of him!

Jaci has such a beautiful smile!

8 weeks

2010-03-22T16:37:00.006-06:00

We've been away from home for 2 weeks, but now have a minute to share some pictures! We are loving our girls and baby as much as you can imagine! They have all done awesome with packing up, living in the hotel in Kalispell for 2 weeks, and now we've landed in Portland for another week. We've been battling cold symptoms, but otherwise everybody is happy ~ and we'll be happy to get back home next week too!! It's super hard to pick *just a few* photos to share from the last 2 weeks. So here are many angles of our smiley (and growing very fast!) little boy.

What do YOU do when...?

2010-02-25T14:01:00.004-07:00

What do you do when, after putting your kids to bed at 9 p.m., you go to their room at 10:30 p.m. and find them quietly sitting together on an office chair, each with a pen and paper in hand? I, unfortunately, scolded them and put them back in bed before I saw what they were writing: love notes to mom. And Tessa had even asked Ella how to spell "MOM" and written it in her best 3 year old penmanship. Seeing that drove me to tears and made me vow to be more patient, and less quick to jump to conclusions. Especially when I'm tired.
What do you do when the sun is shining, and everyone could use some fresh air, but it's only 20 degrees outside? Knowing how long it takes to bundle up and un-bundle for just a few minutes of outdoor activity, I usually opt to stay in. Or, like yesterday, let everyone go outside with just a coat on, and come in when they are cold. It's less work that way.

Ella and Tessa have begun spelling words, Scrabble style, with the Leapfrog letters. Maybe soon Ella will provide some Scrabble competition for Daddy and Aunt Sandy!! Tessa completed her 11th reading lesson today and is reading am, ram, sam, sat, mat, see ... Ella is doing Saxon Math. I thought she was enjoying the lessons as I am. But today when I wasn't looking, she wrote, "Schol is Boring" on her worksheet. sigh I guess she needs more "scholing"!

What do you do when your husband, upon seeing his co-workers' hobbies, laments that he doesn't have any hobbies, and it seems as though life aside from work consists of emptying and filling the dishwasher? Sounds like we need a little more balance in our lives! The mundane chores are never-ending with 4 little kids under the roof. Also, we've been improving this little old house for 3.5 years and it's still not all done!! But we want it to be! We're considering hiring out the bathroom/flooring project to save ourselves some time and sanity. And we're quite confident we shall NEVER own an old house again. Maybe after that my husband can have a hobby?

A little pat on the back for us: even though it's winter, Adrian and I got the kids everyone out the door and took a hike every day last week. One day I was first in line up the trail, carrying Aaron in the sling, so I turned around to see the rest of the gang. I burst into hillarious laughter when I saw my family behind me ~ Adrian with the Kelty backpack on his back, pushing our double jogger stroller with Jaci inside, pulling Tessa with a rope on her trike, and Ella scooting her scooter alongside; all of us in winter hats, boots, gloves, coats and scarves. At that point, with the thermometer reading 27 degrees, I thought we were quite ridiculous!! Wish I would have had the camera!

So this is how we warm up feet after we've been outside, even bundled to the hilt!

By the way, the above little one is back to potty training this week! We're homeschooling in the kitchen to make clean up easy. I must have confused her royally yesterday. Fruit snacks were the treat of choice for attempts or successes on the potty chair. One time, in the hustle of teaching Ella & Tessa, I remember Jaci asking for a treat ("MOM! BEAT!!") but I reminded her she could have one if she used the potty chair. Quite a while later, I found a deposit in the potty chair, but have no idea when it was done-- the little sweetie had a completely unrecognized success! We all cheered and had a fruit snack after the fact anyway.

Sweet baby is so content and easy going. I make sure he keeps the warmest of anyone on our outings! He continues to sleep 7-8 hours each night, then feeds, then back to sleep for 3-5 more hours. Here's what he is wearing today... thanks Uncle Dale & Aunt Mary for this adorable outfit!!

Now the girls are playing "mommy" behind me (I just heard, "you have to cut the umbilical cord and check the heartbeat"). and I've typed this entire post one-handed while nursing little dude. It's time to be done! ~A

'nother photo shoot

2010-02-20T16:35:00.003-07:00

Some more photos of the babe, taken this morning. And we finally caught a smile on camera -- he has been smiling and talking to his big sisters lately!

baby mugs

2010-02-20T16:27:00.003-07:00

Here are our 4 babies, each around 1 month of age ... can you guess who is who?

1 month young

2010-02-18T11:40:00.002-07:00

Here's some more photos of the baby -- just a menagerie from the last week or so. He's GROWING!! Now weighing in at 9 1/2 pounds, he looks a lot different than at birth. We are still enjoying his easy-going nature very much!

Ella's Hawaiian dress up outfit from Gramma Mary

Happy Valentines Day!!

"Babe Aaron"

2010-02-09T14:12:00.006-07:00

Assigning nicknames come naturally for Adrian, whose son has become "Babe Aaron". "Is that a combination of Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron?" I asked. By the response, I was assured that not nearly that much thought had been put into it! So we now have a Ella Rosen-thorpus-porpoise- I won't type out the rest; a "Tesla James", a "Jables" and a "Babe Aaron". I prefer to call the baby "little critter" or "baby boy". It is interesting how nicknames surface for no good reason, and change with time. For example, we no longer call Tessa "chunk bug" which was her name during her very chunky baby stage. But perhaps we should-- that name evokes such an adoration in my heart!

Here in Portland, it is so much fun to introduce baby Aaron to everyone who lives here! Here he is with Uncle Mike.

Baby bug is 3 weeks old today!! Along with a weight measurement, I have have to mark on his calendar that he has his first stuffy nose. :( That is such an awful thing when it happens to such a small nose! As a mommy I so desire to protect my baby from every little pain and illness, but of course I cannot. Every time we heal, every time we escape accident, injury or death, I'm convinced it is only the grace and mercy of God's powerful hand holding us all together. We are here to glorify him, no matter how many days we have to do it. The fragility of life I see in my children and in healthy people dying young makes me thankful for TODAY and thankful: "There will be a day with no more tears, no more pain, no more fears" --Jeremy Camp (listen to song #10 below)

Sometimes I see such a cute image
looking over my shoulder
when I pass by a mirror,
I pick up the camera to try and capture it:

2 week photo shoot!

He loves to be swaddled!

TIGGER!

peaceful slumber while he grows!

FEBRUARY 6 -- Ella is 6!!

2010-02-09T13:55:00.003-07:00

We are so thankful to God for our amazing daughter, Ella Rose Pheifer! She has filled six years of our lives with so much delight, humor, and interesting days! As part of her birthday present, she got to go on a shopping trip to pick out some new clothes. So here are some photos of her in her choice of clothing during a "6 year" photo shoot! Isn't she so beautiful?

It was soemthing new to celebrate a birthday in Oregon! Ella was glad to have Gramma Linda make her a "ballet girl" cake. White cake with white 7 minute frosting-- mmm, good choice, Ella! (Don't know why the computer is underlining here & don't have time to figure it out!!)

KALISPELL

2010-02-09T13:33:00.004-07:00

We had a wonderful week in Kalispell last week --with Adrian scheduled to work there all week, the girls and I tagged along so we could spend evenings with him, and stay in a hotel where there were no cooking, dishes, or laundry to worry about!! We had a yummy hot breakfast at the hotel each morning, ate out each night, and got to see our friends who used to live in anaconda ~ 5 year old twins Keller and Emily! And, daddy spoiled the girls every evening with swimming at the hotel pool!!

On Friday morning we left early to make the drive to Portland. On the way, we got to stop in Plains to say hi to Aunt Sandy and introduce her to Aaron!!

The last 7 days have flown!

2010-01-25T15:46:00.003-07:00

I'm hoping NOT to be awake to wish little Aaron a happy 1 week birthday tonight at 2 a.m. ... but if I am, I will feel thankful for what a wonderful week it has been! I feel great, and Aaron is a constant delight. I love the way he makes eye contact already, and turned his head toward my voice at only 3 days. He has also looked at us and smiled many, many times. I know, you think I'm bragging-- and no, I don't have photo evidence. Maybe it's just one of many faces a newborn makes in their awake time. But maybe, just maybe this little boy is a happy camper with a smiley personality. Time will tell!

Self Portrait in the mirror

First ride in car seat Listening to first NFL game with Daddy

3 days old

2010-01-22T16:15:00.005-07:00

Aaron has changed so much in his first 3 days, so here is another update!

Looking small in Daddy's arms

Each of the girls holds Aaron several times a day!

Jaci checks in on him often, too!

Sweet sleep

Cousin Bentley & Aaron are exactly 2 months apart! 11/20 - 1/19

Didn't know there was such a thing as blue tinged roses...until this week!

Aaron gets a bunch of wrinkles on his forehead when he sleeps or fusses. He also has an adorable dimple on each cheek, though we have yet to get a photo of it!

Lookin' a bit like his Gabhart cousins, I think!

He is an excellent eater, a peaceful sleeper, and very quiet (except for diaper changes, but who can blame him for that?). Sweet angel baby -- can you see why we love him sooo much??

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father..." -- James 1.17

Thank you Lord, for another undeserved gift of immeasurable worth!

1 Day Old

2010-01-20T18:47:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos I took of our newest gift from God at 2 a.m. this morning-- when he was 24 hours old! The video is the same as yesterday's post; apparently it quit working today. We are so in love with our son, and enjoying every minute!

Aaron Rio Pheifer

2010-01-19T17:10:00.000-07:00

Born 1/19/10 at 2:00 a.m.
Weight: 7 lb, 0 oz
Length: 19 1/2 inches
Welcomed by thankful parents & proud sisters Ella Rose, Tessa Jane and Jaci Claire!

Thursday and Sunday

2010-01-17T15:45:00.000-07:00

This is a very long post-- in essence, we are thrilled to be giving baby at least 1 more week to arrive on his/her own time!

Thursday was a busy day – with Adrian’s neck out of joint, he asked me to make a chiropractic appointment in Butte at the end of the work day. When there were no spots available, we took a Friday slot and I moved my midwife appt from Thurs to Fri to coincide. Then our midwife from Missoula called and said she wasn’t comfortable attending our birth if it didn’t happen by Friday (the 42 week mark according to the calendar) … and my world caved in. I despaired, I wondered what to do next, of course I hoped <> that baby would just come and it would not be an issue, I changed the Butte midwife appointment back to that same afternoon, I called Adrian at work. When he wasn’t available, I listened to a Jon Courson message about being in the shadow of his wings (Matthew 23, with reference to Psalm 118). “God is the Lord.” (Ps 118.27). Soak that up for a while. I sobbed and sobbed through the entire sermon, fixing my heart on being able to truly say that “God is Lord”—right now, when I can’t control this situation. When I am asking in prayer, I am not lord; God is Lord. “…which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar”. As soon as it was finished, Adrian called back and I relayed what was going on. He was able to come home from work a few hours early to attend the appointment with me and be present if any big decisions needed to be made.

First we monitored baby’s heart (non stress test) for 30 minutes, while the girls tried to keep quiet and still in a very small exam room. Then we got in on a last minute late afternoon appointment at the imaging place to have a Bio-Physical Profile done on the baby. This ultrasound was described as an in-utero APGAR, in which baby is assessed on 8 points that include bone measurements, muscle tone, amniotic fluid volume, umbilical cord health, etc. The baby passed with flying colors, of course, and the machine calculated a gestational age of 38-39 weeks, which is 3 weeks earlier than the calendar predicted! In essence, this medical test proved that my intuition about baby not being ready is right, and the Butte midwife was able to get a statement from her backup OB/GYN that we in fact do not need to induce, but can let baby stay put for at least another week, with another ultrasound Thursday if needed.

On the drive home from Butte, we were cruising on the interstate at 75 mph when another vehicle passed us, probably traveling 85. It was dusk, and that vehicle was only about 1-2 seconds in front of us when 2 deer darted out onto the highway. We watched as the vehicle hit one of the deer, exploding parts of the front of the car and sending the deer flying. Adrian safely maneuvered our van through the wreckage and around the animal, and our kids didn’t see any of it; they only asked why we had slowed down. I felt so surely God’s hand of protection through that incident— we didn’t hit a deer, the other vehicle didn’t go out of control, our vehicle wasn’t damaged by the other vehicle’s parts scattering the highway, and our kids were protected from seeing a fairly gruesome event.

It was after this, still on the way home, that I heard from my Missoula midwife, and then the Butte midwife, confirming that they were now comfortable with letting baby be for a while longer, and we can go on waiting as planned! We had such a wonderful Friday (Adrian’s day off), peacefully content that baby didn’t have to come by that day in order to be born at home.

There are a few disadvantages to anticipating a baby for so long: 2 weeks ago, my house was spit-shined from top to bottom; every corner was dusted (even under the bed!) As time goes on, the dust is falling again and I’m not having such a ready-for-baby feeling. Oh well, he/she will be introduced to dust and fingerprints sometime, if not at birth, right?!

Today it’s Sunday, and I really appreciated the morning worship message which was largely based on Proverbs 3: 5,6: “TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART; AND LEAN NOT UNTO YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING”. That means you are actually trusting; not just thinking that you are, or looking as if you are to other people! So the ALL YOUR HEART part reminded me of a song I have been singing with and learning to sign with the girls in school: “Love the Lord your God with all your HEART, all your SOUL, all your MIND, and all your STRENGTH! (song #17 on the playlist below)

In this experience, am I loving the Lord with everything I have? HEART: Am I guarding my heart from attitudes that arise naturally? Am I choosing to be consumed by concerns or promises? Pressure or peace? Annoyance or compassion? My way or God’s way?
SOUL: Is my soul more influenced by fear or faith? Worry or trust? More consumed with the upcoming birth event, or the glorious return of my Savior?
MIND: As many times as your thoughts go our way, you can imagine that I am consumed many times more by the anticipation of this baby. Every thought, every second, every move, every conversation --- I should be lifting my eyes, even when the anticipation of welcoming baby has gone on so long that it seems as though it may never happen.
STRENGTH: I am sooo thankful for an incredible amount of energy at the end of this pregnancy to serve my family, to make a cozy space to give birth, to get out and walk, to enjoy each moment of time with Jaci as our baby—this is her experience too. I nourish and carry another soul. My body is sometimes aching, sometimes painful, sometimes weary—yet I will love the Lord with all the strength I have. And it will be the strength HE has given me to birth the baby—all glory to HIM!

Our sweet baby, whoever he/she is, is not “stubborn”, not “happier keeping warm inside”, or “definitely a boy” for being on a different time schedule, as I’ve heard some say. Let’s not neglect to give God some credit in this, His creation. None of these days of anticipation as a surprise for him, for He has knit this baby together, and has always known baby’s birth date. This baby’s arrival is just like the return of Christ: no man knows the day or the hour, but we are one day closer than yesterday! “Jesus is coming; people get ready, soon we’ll be going home!” (song #16 below).

Thank you for your interest, your care, and for walking alongside us in this unique experience!

Patiently...

2010-01-13T14:38:00.000-07:00

After lunch today I took a nice long walk, pushing a double stroller up the trail at the Old Works Golf Course. It was wonderful to get out into the fresh air, get my heart pumping and my hips moving! Tessa and Jaci are both peacefully napping, as they were at the end of the ride. Now I’m sitting here writing to whoever will read, sipping a cup of tea flavored with organic egg nog. Mmmm; life doesn’t get much better than this!

The baby is still not here, and I’m writing about what *peace* I have about that!! I’m not terribly uncomfortable, but even the emotional/mental side of preparing for birth has me feeling peaceful that he/she will arrive at the right time. Yesterday, following a conversation with my midwife, I was feeling negatively pressured because she relayed her opinion that there IS a deadline of having baby by this weekend. I was disappointed, knowing there are other midwives who would have a more relaxed outlook about being overdue. So during a wonderful rest/prayer time, I asked God to please just give me a word that would encourage me about this baby coming, and this is what I heard: “…being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion…” I looked up the verse, and it is Philippians 1.6. Perhaps it’s a little out of context for pregnancy, but I’m reassured that God will complete what he began! He’s the one who created my body, the baby’s life, and by his power & amazing creation, the baby will be brought into the world! So I printed out the verse and hung it in a doorway for me to see and read and rejoice in every time I walk by.

Adrian reminded me that several weeks ago, he predicted the baby would arrive mid-January, and I adamantly disagreed with him … but I have to admit now: honey, you were absolutely right!! Why did I ever question a daddy’s intuition?

The belly pic was taken Friday, and I was surprised to see that it's not as big as I feel-- just another indication that this baby needs a little more time. I welcome phone calls if you have thoughts to share…

Due Date

2010-01-01T23:16:00.000-07:00

Well, it’s after 11 p.m. so I think it’s safe to say we aren’t going to have a New Year’s Day baby!! Even though I feel like a walking time bomb, with everyone asking for updates, there has been little sign that baby will be arriving soon. As much as I try to stay busy and keep my mind off of it, it’s pretty impossible. The 9 month pregnant mind is just absorbed with, “When will it be?” We had some friends over tonight and played Pinochle, which was the best distraction I’ve had in a while. I’m very glad to be home and carrying on business as usual, to keep as busy and as normal as possible until baby decides to announce his/her birthday! Every time I feel a little impatient, I remember that I was very impatient when Jaci was 7 days later than I thought she should be … and that when she was born and only 6 lb, 12 ounces I felt GUILTY that I thought things should be sped up—she obviously was not a large or late baby after all! So I’m trusting this one too – to decide when to arrive, to be the healthiest little bug it can be. I trust God for my life and baby’s, for help and mercy during labor, and the outcome of the birth. I just can’t wait to be looking BACK on my fourth birth experience, rather than looking forward to it!

2009-12-29T10:28:00.000-07:00

Hopefully soon, we will be posting pictures of the new baby! So while we're waiting, I decided to share a bunch of recent pictures of our 3 little sweeties.

*SISTER HUGS!*

Ella Rose at her school desk
Ella & cousin Bentley

...and with her new scooter

Tessa Jane dressing up

...ready to smile for the camera...

...hanging out with dad...

...and holding Bentley!

Jaci doing "down dog"

...looking serious...

...and showing what a great big sister she's going to be!! Jaci loves babies!!

...getting to know Uncle Dale, and adoring Bentley!

End of Pregnancy

2009-12-16T09:23:00.000-07:00

The signs of the end of pregnancy are here! I have been in a major organization, de-cluttering, dusting mood lately, which is WONDERFUL!! The house has needed it for many months!! I think the impulse began with Adrian cleaning and organizing our basement, and it just went from there—10+ bags shipped off to the thrift store, mud room made efficient for winter gear, space for baby clothes found in an existing dresser, computer and scrapbooking desks overhauled, tool and art supply bins meticulously organized, lesson planning done, car seats all cleaned and adjusted to make room for baby, truck vacuumed… it all feels so good!!

Other signs of the end of pregnancy:
*my husband has to help me pull on and zip my winter boots
*I’m really tired of maternity clothes and look forward to wearing normal stuff soon
*on Sunday when hungry for lunch, I pulled out the makings for a green salad with a boiled egg. Was hungry so drank a root beer while the eggs were boiling. Root beer filled me up, so put the salad ingredients away. A short time later, made tomato soup and grilled cheese instead! That’s a pregnant lady’s prerogative, right?
*Finally didn’t sleep well last night, which I remember being more typical as the birth approached with the first three… so hoping it is sooner than later. As one person encouraged me, “Babies are always on time—their OWN time!!”
*Even though we have had 3 healthy births, there is some trepidation (and no guarantee) with going through it again—so, my prayers are consumed with God watching over the process, and blessing us again. Soon we’ll all be enjoying this child God intends for our family!

Straight Talk!

2009-12-03T15:37:00.000-07:00

Let’s just get something straight here!! I feel really, really weary today of the constant discussion about whether our baby is a boy or a girl! There are still folks we know who are just now finding out about the pregnancy, so I get to go through the same conversation virtually every time I step foot in public. I really try to be gracious when I tell people that no, we won’t know baby’s gender until the birth! And then the inevitable assumption comes, from nearly every person that we are “hoping for a boy this time”. My teeth clench, my heart pounds, my mind becomes so angered because that is really very far from the truth, and in my opinion, an obtuse remark! And yet, how can I succinctly (or lovingly) explain all of those feelings to the person before me who obviously thinks it must be true? After all, why else would a family have 4 children, right? Is our society so bent on having everything we want, which includes excessive belongings and being able to choose from thousands of items at every coffee shop, restaurant, mega box store …. that the attitude also transfers to the matter of having children?? Believe me, I am NOT enduring childbearing with some great hope that my baby will be one certain gender! We are not basing our family size on what gender our kids are, either! In fact, if you tied me down and twisted my arm to choose whether I’d rather be buried in pink or blue in approximately 4 weeks, I would say I’d rather have a girl! That’s probably mostly rebellion to the nasty assumption. But also, my practical mind says we are all set up for a girl—with loads of clothes stacked in bins in the basement, and more girly toys than you could imagine. I’m also more excited about the girl names that have surfaced during this pregnancy than the boy name we agree on, though it is a solid good name too. Oh, all this suspense the sweet child keeps us in-- I love it! I love the intense moment of a baby’s delivery when you first see their skin, such a little body, you realize the worst is over, you hold them close, and then the awesome experience of getting to know little him/her just as they have arrived: a precious gift from God, no matter what!!

Good Times

2009-11-27T17:44:00.000-07:00

I haven't had the camera out much lately, but we are having good times! I like this picture of my two youngest sweetly sitting on the couch reading together because sometimes there really is a quiet moment like that, and they are such good friends and SUCH good kids!! (For those that do not know, you can click on the picture to see a larger version). What have we been keeping busy with?? In addition to the normal work, homeschool, baby appointments, Bible Study, Kids Club and choir (the latter two ended this week, freeing up our weekly evenings), we have successfully leveled the floors of our house (and are still cleaning up the cracks, misalignments and dust that resulted!). Adrian has taken 1 elk and 1 deer and may go get another deer before hunting season is over. Last weekend we got to see a brand new family member: Bentley in his first hours of life-- what a blessing to be close by! We had a great Thanksgiving dinner with friends yesterday, and have so much to be thankful for every day. I encourage my children to tell God what they are thankful for each evening, 'cause there is never a lack of what we can thank him for. My list of thanks, every day, begins with my wonderful husband and beautiful daughters. These gifts are a few of many that make me understand that everything I am and everything I have is a product of grace, and not my own doing!

2009-11-12T17:30:00.000-07:00

Wow, mid-November already. Sometimes with toddlers underfoot the saying is, “days go slow, years speed past”. However, I feel like each day is speeding fast right now. We are now 7 weeks away from the anticipated birth of our fourth child. Adrian and I will both turn 31 next week. And 2009 only has a few more days left!!

All 5 of us survived the so-called swine flu, and I’ve never felt happier to be healthy than these days following the illness. When you’re sick, you can’t imagine feeling well again. And when you’re well, you can’t fully grip the misery of illness. We lost about 2 weeks of our lives to feeling crummy, cancelling plans, not stepping foot outdoors, and falling miserably behind on house work. But now that we’re better, it’s been wonderful for an excuse to sanitize everything, get into every corner, and enjoy getting out of the house! God was truly good to us, answering our prayers for protection for the unborn baby and healing us all.

For lack of more to say, I’ll post some recent pictures. We love our girls so very much!

Here’s Jaci with her amazing blue eyes.
When we tell the girls to get their jammies on unsupervised, this is what they do. Bottoms on top, tops on bottom, parading around like a couple of monkeys. Creative, cute, and accompanied by endless giggles.

When we cut Adrian’s elk, the girls wanted to help, so they both practiced with knives cutting some ham.

Keepin' Busy

2009-10-20T09:06:00.001-06:00

Here's what's keeping us busy ... homeschool and extracurriculars already! Last week we attended the 4H Fun Day in Deer Lodge. Ella's 3 classes were no bake treats (she's dipping a pretzel in chocolate below),

Rocketry (after decorating her rocket it was propelled by an air compressor)

and a Lewis and Clark demonstration from a guy who actually did the expedition a few years ago. The little sisters tagged along, and we all think 4H is going to be a bunch of fun for years to come!

This week, Jaci continues to potty train while we homeschool in the mornings. She hasn't had any great success to boast about, but her interest level is very high, so we're giving that some attention until the new baby arrives. We are also busy in the evenings, and glad to be healthy to be able to do it all... Monday night: Bible Study; Tuesday Night: Kids Club Wednesday night: Ella's choir. Thursday morning will find us at the Anaconda Fire House for a field trip with several other homeschooling families. And it's already time to line up a November field trip! Keeping busy makes the days go fast while daddy is gone-- he is working in Vancover this week.

Oh and baby #4 (sorry, no photo available) seems to be growing healthily. S/He is active, measuring on time, and keeping us in suspense about WHO it is and whether it will be a 2009 or 2010 baby!

10 years ago...

2009-09-29T09:54:00.001-06:00

This week marks 10 years since my friend Angel went to heaven. I miss him still. And over the last 10 years, God has been so good to me! I have often been able to see the purpose of walking through that sorrow, and the many ways it has changed me, changed my course, changed my heart, helped me let go of this life. The love of God, through a good friend named Angel touched me a decade ago, and still reaches out to more people than I can imagine. Angel and his dad were both good men, the type you'd want to hang out with. They were honest and they loved God and talked very openly about the truth written in scripture. But the only really good one is God himself, who made Angel and Lucho something different than they would have been by nature. Praise Him!

Part of me really wants to see Angel, to hug him one more time, to say the words I never got to say, to respond to every letter he wrote. But ALL of me is glad that Jesus is preparing a place for me and every believer. This old earth isn't a suitable long-term dwelling place for any of us, anyway. "Yo estoy seguro que tu vas a regresar y por eso yo te voy a esperar" "I'm sure that you're going to return, and that's why I'm waiting for you". Jesus is coming, people get ready! When he returns he will be accompanied by the dead in Christ! Wow. I'm glad that soon, around the throne, day and night we'll all be worshipping the Lamb, and our focus will be him -- no more sorrow, no more pain! Thank you God for your awesome promises, for the undeserved gift of salvation, and for believers who are the light of the world for you!

"Fue lindo el corto tiempo que pasamos juntos y te agradesco por hacerme entender que no es lo que uno se piensa si no lo que dios dispone." "It was so nice the short time we were together and I thank you for making me understand that it's not what we think, but whatever God wills."

2009-09-26T14:57:00.000-06:00

We are back at home after being gone for most of August! It is nice to settle into our little house, and our own routine. We began homeschool after Labor Day, and I am having so much fun with it! I know the girls are too! Here’s a picture of them on the first day of school: I get so much done on school days; I guess it’s because we have so much to pack in, I have to be organized! We are having a blast exploring the Bible, geography, math, reading, art, Spanish, cooking, and taking breaks to turn up the music, dance or do a little yoga stretch. We get our morning chores, breakfast, and ready for the day done before 10 a.m., at which time school begins. (We have been a few minutes tardy before, but it’s always because mom’s not ready; not Ella or Tessa!) We homeschool for about an hour before everyone needs a snack. We sit down to learn some more, then break for lunch and naptime.

Other than school and kids, we are also involved in church activities, and hope to begin participation in 4H next month. We also plan a field trip for local homeschoolers once per month until the end of the year. Weekends have been filled with canning peaches, more peaches, applesauce, and apple pie filling. We harvested the apples from our own back yard and put up over 5 gallons of canned goods to enjoy all winter. Here's how we used every square inch of surface area in our little kitchen:

Last week, we demolished the house next door which will be a vacant lot until we save money to build a garage there. On the first day of demolition, we had a bunch of homeschool friends over to watch the process, and then we did worksheets related. Here's one last picture of the house:

It is a busy, busy time in our lives, but with every prayer I am thankful that I couldn’t be happier—I love my family, and I love spending time with them!! MORE photos to be posted at http://www.happyinmontana.myphotoalbum.com/ !

Announcement

2009-07-30T20:01:00.001-06:00

Please excuse Jaci's short appearance and exit-- she is just too busy to stay still!

Our first blog post

2009-07-25T19:35:00.000-06:00

Hey, Anna here. Since we just got the bill for our other photo website, I decided to try something free instead. So here I am on blogger. I won't be uploading as many photos as I did to the other site, just selecting my favorites, to update you on our lives.

Jaci is teething, walking and getting into everything. Tessa cracked her collar bone on Monday, so life is complicated by remembering to never pick her up under her shoulders. Yes, we have already forgotten many times. Ella is thriving in summer weather, but she seems to fit in and jive with whatever the weather, whatever the activitiy. Next week she will be in Vacation Bible School, and I'm curious to see if she learns more than the 2 weeks of swimming lessons that are behind us. It would be really hard to learn less than at swimming. I actually have pictures (not on purpose; in the background) of a lifeguard eating a Cup of Noodles, and the 'teacher' with a sucker in her mouth -- 'nuff said.

I absolutely love to write. As often as I can, I open a Word document and type out something cute the girls have said, or what they measure in at. With 3 kids underfoot, homeschooling and the other demands of life, I'm getting behind on photo and written documentation. I'm pretty sure there's not enough time to live life and write about it too. But if I do ... will somebody take all my postings from blogspot and make them into a book for my kids to read later?

The following picture is my girls today with Coy at the Grant-Kohrs Ranch in Deer Lodge. I love how it shows the hot summer sun on their faces and Jaci's little dimple under her right eye, which I can hardly ever catch on camera. They are 5, 3, and 1; Coy is almost 10 months!

I love this photo of Ella and Tessa intently working on a craft at the kids' booth...

Tessa did NOT want to show the camera her sling, so this is the best I got. As kids heal so quickly, she'll be back to normal in a jiffy.