I found this in my email in-box this morning…the Psalms mentioned are so encouraging to my often hard and grace-lacking heart. The Chris Rice video is pretty great too!
Be blessed.
Monday, November 26, 2012
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Some Simple Math
We couldn’t be more grateful (and humbled) to finally share our news…
Come this May, Our Neck of the Wood will be a party of 5!!!!
Our hearts are swollen with gratitude this Thanksgiving week.
May your hearts be blessed.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Monday, November 5, 2012
On the Far Side of Poplar Pond
A friend just published this book.
If you’d like to learn more about her heart and how God is working in and through her, please visit her blog.
The illustrations are adorable…and the story, nothing short of beautiful!
If you, or any one you know has a heart for adoption this book may need to find itself in your family’s (or classroom’s) library.
Happy Monday.
Be blessed.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
The Bear Family
In effort to keep the children’s book theme going, this year we decided to dress up as this beloved bear family.
After all, we often feel like we live in a tree house and both nuggets are consistently referred to as ‘bears’!
We’re trying to be humble…but to have to share that we WON our neighborhood costume contest…now the pressures on for next year!
Be blessed!
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Texas!!!
A couple weeks ago, we were blessed to be treated to a trip south by Gigi and Papa!
The trip was two-fold to enjoy time with family and to cheer on our favorite Frogs for homecoming…of which we enjoyed both!
Gigi and Papa surprised our nuggets with a new set of wheels to enjoy while visiting…C was privileged enough to be tasked to assembly!
The wagon was put to good use as we headed out to the Texas State Fair.
Our time at the fair was fun. We explored…ate and explore and ate!
C and I got a kick out of simply ready the variety of fried treats…sugar, snickers, oreos, queso, butter, cupcakes,m frozen margaritas (seriously)….the list went on and on! C’s heart was content once he located the famous Fletcher’s Corndog stand…which the kiddos enjoyed the dairy barn where they got their favorite…milk!
B was quite fascinated by the children’s learning area in the barns…
A even got to touch some lambs wool!
The best aspect of the fair, at least in B’s opinion, was the John Deere ‘parking lot’. He could have ridden, explored, touched and talked about these pieces of machinery the entire afternoon!
And suffice it to say, we could have watched him play the majority of the afternoon!
It wouldn’t be a trip to the State Fair of Texas without photos with Big Tex…sadly, these photos are some of Big Tex’s last.
Before heading home for naps, B enjoyed a quick trip to the children’s Midway…and of course, ate it up!
The next day, we packed up and headed down to Mimi’s where we enjoyed some good old Chick-Fil-A for lunch and a trip to the farm!
‘Farmer D’, a dear family friend of Mimi & Grandy’s, graciously opened his farm (and tractor) up for our little guy to explore.
B got to see a seed truck…
A seeder…
And a tractor!!!
To our surprise and total delight, Farmer D’s son, invited C and B to join him for a ride as he was headed out to seed a field across the road!
C said that B was speechless throughout the entire ride…simply taking it all in. C himself was fascinated by the caliber at which the tractor plotted it’s course and got the job done.
Once the perimeter of the field had been seeded…C and B descended from the cab and watched Farmer D’s son continue his work.
It’s hard to tell who was more delighted by the entire experience, B or Mimi?!
4 generations together on the farm!
Later, the group headed ‘downtown’ for the big homecoming parade! Aunt S was in the parade for her high school reunion, so B was able to see one familiar face…though honestly, he was most impressed by the amount of candy that was thrown to all the parade-goers!
After the parade…we were able to snap a photo of Mimi and her great-grands…such sweet nuggets!
The next day, I wish I had photos of…but I don’t. Gigi and Papa graciously watched the nuggets while C and I headed over to Cowtown to see friends and cheer to frogs on in their brand new stadium! The game was fantastic, though our Frogs weren’t able to pull off a win and it was so great to have breakfast at our favorite bakery, enjoy ice cold sweet team and connect with friends over REAL Mexican food (we’re really missing the all you can eat chips and queso!) While we were away, the nuggets enjoyed a fun-filled day with Gigi and Papa. They explored a pumpkin patch together, rode a tractor train, cheered on the Frogs from the comfort of the living room and had pizza!
The next day, we headed back to Cowtown with the nuggets for church. Oh, what a gift it was to be nestled into our old ‘spots’ in the balcony, to hug friends’ necks and gain a glimpse of how grown up kiddos have become. It was a fast and furious morning, but a gift none-the-less!
Afterwards, we headed back to Gigi and Papa’s for a special family dinner…though not before feeding the birds, something that is quite novel at Gigi and Papa’s!
Great Grandpa J…along with the rest of the group enjoyed the chaos that ensued with these four running and crawling around, what a treat it was to be together!
We were once again able to pack several memories into a short amount of time…memories that we hope our little ones will hold onto as tight as we do!
Thank you Gigi and Papa for providing such sweet time!
Be blessed.
Typical Night in Our Neck of the Wood
Seriously!
Just installing a couple canned lights…it’s what every preschooler dreams of…right?
Be blessed.
A’s Dedication
It is our continued and fervent prayer that both of our nuggets come to know Jesus Christ as their personal Rescuer & Savior.
We know that ultimately, this will be their own personal decision, but pray that we may be able to equip them both to understand the height and depth of God’s love for them.
It was an honor to be surrounded by family and friends as we publically committed to raise our Little A in such a way.
We continue to marvel at the little personalities evolving in both of our nuggets. We can’t help but wonder how God might use their little hands, feet and hearts to bring Himself glory.
Little A’s dedication proved to be another sweet and pretty hysterical example of how God is continuing to knit our her little independent and spunky personality together.
She was quite the little ham before the service started (and yes, in typical A fashion…very very wiggly!)
When we were invited to join our pastor at the front of the church, Little A became quite still.
When the pastor reached over to take A from C’s arms, she looked at him very critically with B’s typical eye brow raise…
And in the interchange, stuck out her arm as is to ‘stiff arm’ the pastor all while providing her continued and unchanged disapproving eye brow look.
The entire congregation erupted in laughter!
Our pastor was gracious and politely encouraged C to hold A while he spoke and prayed a blessing over her…
While he did this, she continued staring at him, as if to remind him of her disapproval!
The laughter that A provided our hearts (and the hearts of many with) was a gift…oh, how great it feels to laugh. Despite the antics of our precious toddler, the entire evening was a gift. Afterwards, we invited everyone over for dinner and dessert. Our house was filled with sweet-chaos as kiddos played and we all simply enjoyed being together.
Be blessed.
Whirl-Wind Weekend!
At the beginning of October, Gigi, Papa and Auntie B flew into to cheer C on as he ran in his first marathon!
In true Our Neck of the Wood fashion, we packed a lot of fun/memories into our time together…though this weekend we may have set a record!
After picking Gigi and Papa up from the airport, we headed to the Mall of America to stretch our legs…it was chilly outside and to be honest, we weren’t really dressed to go to the park!
So we found the fountain that B likes to throw pennies into…
And ate a super special lunch…in a rainforest!!!
Both nuggets were infatuated by the fish!
While at the Mall of America, Gigi stumbled upon a sweet ‘grace gift’ for our transportation enthusiast!
Needless to say, B was thrilled!
The night before the marathon, Auntie B flew in. It was quite a treat to be able to provide this type of cheering support for C as he ran!
God truly blessed us with a pretty seamless marathon morning (spectating-wise), as we got to see C at miles 4, 8, 15, 22 and then a touch after he finished.
The nuggets were troopers as they suited up in their cozy gear and proved to be ‘in it to win it’! C said that at the starting line the announcer mentioned that they were experiencing the third coldest start in the history of the Twin Cities Marathon!
Auntie B was a trooper as she jumped in at mile 15 to run with C and continued on till just before the finish!
C did great! He was all smiles (the times we got to see him)…and said that it was one of the most humbling, fun (and challenging) experiences he’s ever had.
We were thrilled to inaugurate him into the ‘marathon finisher club’ at the end of the race…he was thrilled to be done!
Later that afternoon, we headed to church to have Little A dedicated.
Despite the craziness of the morning, and C’s exhausted legs…we wanted to jump on the opportunity to celebrate such a special milestone surrounded by family! (More on A’s dedication to follow).
I think we’re still exhausted by the weekend and everything that it held, but so grateful to have been able to make the most out of the time we had together!
Gigi, Papa & Auntie B, Thank you for a sweet trip!
Be blessed.
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