now what??

We had a great time over the past 10 or so days with Mark and my mom. Running here and there, buying this and that and eating WAY TOO MUCH.

It was really cool watching Eli open all of his gifts and helping everyone else open theirs. Christmas morning with my mom and Mark, Nathan and Manda was pretty cool. It all goes so fast and what is it really all for? I would love next year to minimize all of the chaos and really celebrate the birth of Jesus and enjoy our time with family.
We took time to reflect in our own small ways but it just seems so rushed. I am grateful for the generous people in my life and for my family that seems to get closer with each year that passes. Next year lets do no gifts or exchange games but rather just gather and share moments and good food. Now we wait for New Years, eat some more and try to do nothing for a few days.....we'll see how that goes.


And this picture, this is Christmas morning and Eli is eating a sucker. Gaga (grandma Mary) gave it to him and let him eat it for breakfast. I think he ate more sweets this day then he has in his whole life.



Blessings for The new year. May God be present in new and challenging ways in your life. I hope Him to be that in mine.

She's coming home

So my mom is on her way home. The weather is good and they are "tracking on time". This ride from Colorado to Michigan with Mark driving will be a much different experience for her then when we drove out and back this summer. Who would have thought that when we VACATIONED out there this summer that she would be making the trip from there to here at Christmas. Life is good and I am happy that she is there. I do miss her but am thankful for cell phones and Skype. And she still has to meet Wilson. I'm afraid once they meet him Mark will want to take him back with him.

Please as you read this take a minute to reflect on what you are grateful for and thank the Lord for the many blessings and comforts in your life.

An update

Adoption

We meet with Bethany today for the first of many meetings. This is just the beginning of our next journey. Lots of paper work and appointments ahead of us, but every moment is worth it.

Justin

Justin has finished his first 5 weeks at Grace Bible college. So far so good. He received 98 out of 100 points for the class. The two points were really silly mistakes on papers, like a comma in the wrong spot. Good thing my blog isn't graded!!!!

Eli

Eli is great. Need I say more? Well I will. 2 years old now and NO is his favorite word right now. Just a few weeks ago it was YA. I like ya better. For now it's just a word/sound and doesn't mean a whole lot, thank goodness.

Me

I started BSF again last night and I am REALLY glad that I did. The entire lecture was very inspiring/convicting and this is what I need right now. The notebook that I brought with me to take note in is one that I used in 2008 @ BSF. It was the fall that Eli was born. It was really cool to read through my prayers and see the answered ones. Even those that came 2 years later when my mom moved to Colorado. Her moving was NOT my prayer, but rather that she find a job and be HAPPY and I think she is happy. The last prayer for that year of BSF came in May and in that, the last thing I asked for was that my dad be free from his addiction. I got that answer too, just not the way I expected. But God is faithful and brings us through those tough times.

This CHRISTmas I am glad to be excited for the season. I am excited to celebrate the birth of my Savior, who brings peace. I have no one to worry about. As crazy as that seems, it is the way I feel this year.

SO enjoy this season. Take time to play in the snow, be happy and celebrate the good in life.

Merry CHRISTmas!!!!!

Taking the plunge

Taking the plunge
me on the zip line at Cranhill Ranch









I think that's what I need to do right now. If I see something I want to try I should just do it. I have to learn to trust God completely. To give Him complete control over my life. To not be afraid to share who God is in my life, and do it with confidence.

Holy Spirit Reign in me.

Trick or Treat

I couldn't let this Halloween pass without getting pumpkins. So Friday night we went to get some pumpkins. Better late then never I guess. A 2 year old doesn't really understand how to pick a pumpkin. He thought it was a "ball" but it was still fun to see the look on his face as he processed all of those orange "balls".


Then today we carved them!! Again Eli didn't really understand, but he had fun digging in the seeds. We had to keep our eye on him....he was sneaking the seeds and eating them right out of the pumpkin.

I set the pumpkins on the porch and let the dog out and he proceeded to eat the face of of Justin's....between you and I it looks better that way!!!

Then it was time to get dressed up and head out for a few visits. Eli didn't really like to wear the hat in the beginning, but by the end of the night he was leaving it on. I think it had something to do with people putting stuff in his bag. After 3 or 4 houses he had it down pat. He would carry his bag to the door, with the bag wide open, smile, Justin would say the "magic" words and voila there was a treat in his bag. He couldn't get back to the wagon fast enough to move onto the next house. I tried to get him to walk from one house to the next and he insisted, in his own little way, that he ride in the wagon. I think he knew it would get him there faster. It was a ton of fun to watch how he put all of that together. He would "run"/walk really fast to me with his bag wide open. As if to say "MOM LOOK WHAT I GOT". Then to the next house we would go. I loved the look on his face, pure joy. How do they know at 2 this is a cool thing? I will be curious to see what he does in the morning, if he knows where the candy is. It will probably be the first thing he asks for.

Well I hope you had a safe and fun trick or treat adventure........

peace and love, till next time.........

garden dreams

I want summer back.

I have a goal for next summer and this goal will have to sustain me until then. I want to turn my back yard into a farm. Since moving to a farm doesn't seem to be in the plan right now I will make the farm right here. I know I can't have the animals well maybe chickens I will have to check with the township, but I can have the garden; vegetable, flowers and herbs.

I have to remember that it takes time to build a beautiful garden, unless I have thousands of dollars to spend on it at once it will take time. Besides that is half of the enjoyment is to watch it grow. So for now I will long over these pictures and dream of next summer

My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you— I, whom you have redeemed. Psalm 71:23

Fresh Eggs

I have a friend who is raising chickens at home and they have started to lay eggs!!!!! It's almost like they are children. I go to work and ask her how the chickens are doing..."did you get any eggs this weekend". It's really funny to listen to everyone talk about eating the eggs...for some reason when you get the eggs from the store there is almost, well there is a disconnect to just where the eggs came from and how those eggs came to be. I would think eating store bought eggs would be more disturbing then eating eggs from chickens that you know. So for now I will use them for baking and some day I will eat one over easy with a piece of toast.....but until then I will enjoy giving them to Eli for breakfast.

Peace and love,

P.S try a farm fresh egg today

It's been a while

Sorry for the delay. Our computer has crashed and I haven't taken the time to wonder to the basement and use Nathans computer. So much has happened in the last several weeks i'm not sure where to start. A few weekends ago Justin and I took a lovely trip to the Two Hearted River in the Upper Peninsula. This is a place my dad would go in the fall and fish, so last year my brother and I took my dads ashes to the river canoed and then let the ashes go into Lake Superior. So I want to make a tradition of going each year and canoeing the river. It took a little convincing, but Justin finally agreed to go down the river with me. We had great weather and a great time. We ran into the bank a million times and ALMOST tipped the canoe, but managed to stay afloat. He would blame this one me, but for the record I have canoe with Mark several times now and not ONCE have we even come close to getting wet. So it was not my fault, Justin is the one that let us run into the tree!!!!!

Last weekend was Eli's 2nd birthday and a trip to Cedar Point. The birthday was great. I didn't get my mom's cake decorating skills, though I tried my best. I will post some pics soon so you can see my marvelous creation.

Now, last but not least.........we are starting the adoption process again......so Eli will be a big brother. We have to go through the same process from the beginning but I plan on blogging about it along the way.

So when you say your prayers for the day send one up for our new bundel of joy, for the birth mom and that God picks that special one to join our family soon, that they will both be healthy and this will be a decision made of selflessness and not of necessity.

I don't know about you but I can't wait to see what he or she looks like.

Good day!!!

Today was a good day. Up early and took Wilson for a walk. Came back and started laundry. Eli woke up and followed around while drinking his milk. Made pancakes for breakfast. Hung out and read a few books, took a bath, danced to the wiggles, had lunch, took a nap, played some more, had a play date, took another nap, so did I, made dinner, played some more, made a pineapple upside down cake and then Eli to bed for the night.
The BEST part of the day was sitting in Eli's room tonight reading books with dad. As we wind down and get ready for bed, I suggest that we pray as a family tonight. So I started and said a prayer, then Justin put El on his lap and taught him how to intertwine his little fingers and prayed with him. Boy did that ever melt my heart.

Thank you Lord for a man that leads his family in pray and teaches his son the way.


P.S....Hi grandma Great!!!!!!!!we are glad your reading our log!!!!!!

two weeks

So its been two weeks since my mom went to CO......and so far I am doing okay. It really helps that we can talk on the phone, half of the time we forget that we are half of a country away. The other day as we were getting off of the phone I said "okay see ya later"......da no I wont she's in CO not here. I guess it will take some time to adjust..

In other news, Eli has his cast off. That was a little on the traumatic side. He didn't like "cast cutter"at all. But as soon as she turned it off he was fine, well until he had to get an x-ray....he is all to familiar with that room and knew the minute we walked in what was gonna happen. We survived and brought the cast home with us for posterity I guess. It's tucked away in the closet with all of the posterity stuff.We may have a new family member, no sorry not a brother or sister for Eli. Well at least not of the human sort. Wilson is his name and he is a lab/boxer mix. He is black with a white patch on his chest. He does really good with Eli and Eli really loves him. He is only 8 months so he is a little rambunctious, but I think that will change with some extra special attention. We will know by the end of the weekend if will keep him or not....but it looks promising!!!!!

Peace and Love till next time......

Life is really changing

What a crazy last few weeks....

Mom waiting to here from Colorado

Eli breaks his leg

Justin gets chest pain and we spend 2 days in the hospital

Get home from the hospital and my mom gives me the good news that.......she is MOVING to CO

Hip Hip Hooray....

It is truly a bittersweet moment....She will have a great job, get to spend time with Mark and live in Colorado...that is the sweet....the bitter, I won't have my mom with in a minutes drive if I need/want her....Thank the Lord for Skype and Verizon to Verizon unlimited talk.....I guess this means that I will have to visit Co more often, O' shucks.....

Eli is really going to miss his GAGA. It has been great watching them these last few days....Now there relationship will be even sweeter when he will travel to spend a week or more with his GAGA in CO.....what kid wouldn't be ex-tactic about that?

And to top it all of Justin will begin is 18 month journey to earning a Bachelors degree starting in a few weeks.....every week on Tuesday nights......five week classes for 18 straight months.....and when he is done he will have a degree in Leadership and Ministry.....I can't wait to see where God will take us after that.....COLORADO maybe??

Peace and Love for now!!!!!!!!!!!!!

something new...but not.

So I was trying a new recipe and didn't want to get it messy.....so I put it in a ziplock bag and taped it to the cupboard.....now I know this is no new thing, but it changed the way I followed the recipe....I didn't have to be careful to not get anything on it or have it on the otherside of the kitchen and walk back and forth....my mom thinks I should submit it to a contest but I think I will just share with my friends and family for now....so good luck if you use the idea and let me know how it works!!!!

Peace and Love for now......tootles

Broken

So, my poor baby broke his leg on Friday night. He was playing a little to hard with some friends and he fell. He is such a trooper. We brought him to the ER on Saturday morning and they took a bunch of x-rays. He has a fracture on his tibia and a cast that goes to his hip. He sure is cute, watching him sit on the floor and trying to play is sweet. He is SUPER cuddly right now and I love it too. So as you say your prayers tonight say one for Eli, that he has a speedy recovery.

Peace and Love for now!

P.S thanks to all of the staff @ Spectrum downtown/Butterworth, they did great w/ him and us!!!!

SuViVoR

This post is a little late, better late then never. Each year we bring a group of the teens out into the woods and make them "survive". So we did it again. We packed 14 teens into 3 vehicle and made our way north. We had a great time this year at Survivor.........It's a leadership training that we do with the youth group towards the end of the summer. We take the kids to the middle of the woods, give them a few challenges to complete and make them "survive". They have to build their own shelters and cook their food. We spent two days out there, the bugs were horrible and it was really hot. I complained more then the kids did. O ya and I found bear poop, yes I said bear poop.....parents don't freak. The kids are safe. God is doing great things this year and I can't wait to see how He will work.

mi amore

10 years ago today I married my best friend....this is so cliche but so true.. I am very grateful that we have made it this far....I had 2 goals in the beginning two years and eight years....and we made them both.

For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. Ephesians 5:31

Thank you Lord for the blessing you give us each day...continue to help us grow as one, seeking your will ALWAYS.

I love you mi amore!!

A day with great friends

Our ride up we really were hoping that Eli would sleep the whole way. Of course that didn't happen.. At one point we looked back and he had pulled the blanket over his head. I just love watching him sleep...

On Saturday we were hoping to spend the day by the pool but it rained the whole day....so we went to Bay City for a nice steak dinner at a new steak house...yum yum....then after dinner Andrea and I had to have a Tim Horton's....I have discovered coffee and over all of the years that we've been friends she always stops at Tim's when in BC, I had to see for myself what the big deal was....and I must say it was pretty good.

This is Polly...Olivia's horse...Eli just loves animals so he had a blast getting to pet her...Polly was a little fiesty this day so it didn't last very long.

So to our friends...our visit's may be few and far between, but they are great when they happen...So thank you for your friendship, for sharing your family with us while we waited for ours and for loving our boy like he's one of yours own......So when is the next adventure?????

thank You 4 this Word today!

nEEd i sAy mORe~?

Colorado part II

Boy did that trip go fast. Lets see where did I stop? Tuesday we went into Vail to listen to music at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater. But first we went for dinner at Lark Burger. They have great burgers and fries. If I lived in CO it would likely be my Yesterdog, um! Eli loves to people watch. So this was great for him. We sat on the top of the hill so we could see all of the people. And we saw people of all kinds, hippies (one with us) moms, dads, baby's, teens and everything in between.

During the day on Tuesday we went to Sylvan Lake for a picnic. We canoed and kayaked. Eli went for his first float. He had his hand in the water the entire time. It took us a bit to get the hang of it but once we got going......piece of cake. He almost fell asleep, if we would have had bunny with us he would have been out like a light.

For dinner one night we made ELK steak. Yes I said ELK. Mark shot this animal, with a bow I might add, and I had yet to try it. Surprisingly it was really good. He did a great job preparing it.

Thursday Mark had his friend Mike who is a fly fishing guide take us out on the Yampa River. It is a catch and release river that holds MONSTER trout. On the second cast I "hooked" a fish. The "fight" went on for what felt like forever. But in the end this fish won and so did the next 5 that I "hooked". I guess that is why they call it fishing and not catching. Mark has these pics on his camera, so those I'll post later.

Friday, our last day of vacation. We took the boat to Riffle, to a lake there to boat and fish. I am so happy that Eli likes the water. We took a trip around the lake and found the spot that had the least amount of people. Mark jumped in while I put Eli's life jacket on and then put Eli in the water. At first he didn't like it but soon he warmed up to it and was having fun. It didn't last very long but it was fun anyway!

Saturday, we packed the car and headed for Michigan. Nic stayed and is heading to Yosemite National Park for a few months to work and then hopefully back to CO for the ski season.

23.5 hours there and 21 hours back. My mom is superwoman and drove the majority of the way (thanks mom)!!!!! It was a great trip. The mountains with my family. I wish Justin could have been there. Maybe next year.

Peace and love for now...........

Choose your own adventure

So my mom, Nic, Eli and I packed the car last Wednesday morning and took off for Colorado to see Mark. It took us 23.5 hours, about 5 hours more then it should have. When traveling with a toddler it makes for a longer ride. But we made it.

We have been pretty busy so far. Thursday night a trip to Eagle for music.

Friday a gondola trip to the top of Vail where we had burgers and more live music. It seems that every night you can find live music around here. Eli really liked the ride up and down the mountain.





Saturday was Gypsum Days. We went to a co-worker of Marks for a parade and BBQ. Eli had fun collecting all of the candy to share with his uncles.



This looks like a hill because we are on top of the mountain

Sunday Nic went rafting with his new friends. Mark, mom, Eli and I went for a drive up the mountain for a picnic and some fishing. Of course Mark caught the most fish, I guess he has more experience then I do. Someday I'll get him





Monday Mark, Nic and I went to Fulford Caves to do a little exploring. I usually don't like to do this but I am trying to expand my horizons. So we hiked 1875 feet to the caves, put on our head lamps and went in. It was in the 80's on the outside the cave and when we got into the cave it was 49 degrees. I was so cool in there. Nic was the "guinea pig" as he puts it. We let him go ahead and let us know if it was "safe". Of course it was safe, or we wouldn't have let him do it. What kind of roll models would we be?

Well we are half way through our trip. There is plenty more on the itinerary and there will be more pictures to come. Thanks for checking in and following our adventures in Colorado! See you soon.