Thanksgiving (kinda late)

Austin and his little smirk

Logan enjoying bubbles

The boys eating breakfast and watching Toy Story 3

Me actually getting some hot coffee for once (and TS3)

Austin talking to Daddy on Thanksgiving...no my belly isn't actually that big, just a bad angle

Logan showing Dad his new gun

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and I just realized that I took no pictures of food, or of us eating, or anything like that! Yikes! What was I thinking? I did get plenty of pictures of this adorable little girl, Daisy.

Had fun editing...Daisy and her Daddy

Daisy and her mommy

Daisy Baby!!!

Casey, me and our kiddos! Nice job Casey picking up Logan! What a strong momma you are! And yes, I look frazzled as always. no excuses.

We went down to NC to visit some friends, or family, which ever you want to call them...they are the same to us. Traditionally we have spent the past several Thanksgivings together. Gratefully, they let me and the boys join them yet another year despite the life of the party (my husband...haha!) not being there. I know next year when we are all together with 4 children total (who knows maybe more right Casey?) it will be total chaos. It was a low-key yet delicious meal, made all in about 2 hours or less. Some of their family joined us for the day and the boys ate up the attention...literally. They just hovered and hounded their family for attention! Guess I need to work on giving them more huh?

It was a much needed break for me as I got to have lots of good conversation about being a mom, photography, husbands, food, the Lord, etc. I could have stayed up all night talking, but our lives just don't allow for that any more. Seriously Casey, those conversations filled my cup and made it overflow! Thank you!

The boys got some man time and wrestled a bit with Joe (Casey's husband). However, we do now know that Logan does not like it when you play dragon. The bubbles were a hit as well as a little nerf gun...thanks so much!!!

There is so much to be Thankful for this year, yet I am still working on that attitude...thankfulness. I don't really let things, or I try not to let this get me down. I try and see the good side of situations because I know that every time something goes wrong, there is a lesson in it from the Lord. I pray that God showers all of you with Blessings this week as we prepare and are excited for the next Holiday Season. Thank you for my friends who love and care for me despite me not being the best of friend. Thank you family, for putting up with me during deployments, and well, the rest of the time:-) Thank you dear husband, for loving me beyond all imaginable, for being my best friend, for holding me accountable, and giving the best kisses. Thank you wonderful sons, for keeping a smile on my face and keeping me on my toes.

Musical Monday

So this post is for two reasons, I found a Christmas CD that I am so in love with! I dream like a little girl dreaming, of dancing with her true love. Wishing and hoping. I think after Mike gets back in March I may still play this song just to enjoy it with him in person. Not much to say about this Musical Monday...all you out there with your hubby's snuggle in front of a fire (real or fake) for me and enjoy an evening just you two. I know I will be in a little over 3 months!

I don't really care for the video (sorry...) but the singer Dave Barnes isn't that popular so there weren't many songs/videos out there. I promise next week won't be another Christmas song!

Hey Hubs...write in the comments your favorite Christmas season memory of us! Love to know what you are thinking!

WONDERFUL COUNSELOR

Our church does the Advent thing during this season and this year the pastor is preaching on different names for Jesus. Yesterday was on Wonderful Counselor. He gave many wonderful verses and I thought it was so appropiate to receive these verses and just be in awe of how great and wonderful God is. One thing he said that was so true is that, it isn't just a "nice" thing that we have Jesus as a Counselor for our lives, but that we NEED Him to be our Counselor. There is no way we could do this life without Him guiding us. Check out these great verses to inspire you and put you in awe and gratefulness for our Savior that was given to us.

Exodus 15: 11-13

11 “Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?
Who is like you, majestic in holiness,
awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?
12 You stretched out your right hand;
the earth swallowed them.

13 “You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed;
you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode.

Jeremiah 32:17-19

17 ‘Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.18 You show steadfast love to thousands, but you repay the guilt of fathers to their children after them, O great and mighty God, whose name is the Lord of hosts, 19 great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the children of man, rewarding each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds.

Romans 11: 33-36

33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?”
35 “Or who has given a gift to him
that he might be repaid?”

36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Proverbs 2:6-11

6 For the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
7 he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
8 guarding the paths of justice
and watching over the way of his saints.
9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice
and equity, every good path;
10 for wisdom will come into your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
11 discretion will watch over you,
understanding will guard you,

James 1:5-8 (the obvious verse about wisdom from God!)

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Like I said our church does Advent and my church growing up did Advent too. Advent refers to the coming of Christ as told by the prophets, it literally means "coming". Many of us do the Advent Calendar starting Dec 1st till the 25th, well this Advent starts the 4th Sunday before Christmas and candles are lit every Sunday with a passage read, and then again on Christmas Eve. It is a great reminder to us what was given to us this Christmas Season...a Savior.

Musical Monday

Late again...in fact I barely even remembered it was Monday! I was up before dawn and had done more by noon than most people in a whole day! The boys took a short nap today so I decided we would decorate our tree tonight! It was a blast to get out decorations, each with it's own special memory. The tree at our house is a hodge-podge tree. Decorations from my childhood and Mike's, from our live's together and now our boys! It is a messy and FULL tree, but I love it! I try to do some matching and good looking decorating, but this year we are going simple! Anyways, decorating the tree this year definitely makes me miss my hubs. We have been blessed to have the past 5 Christmas's together out of our now 7 together. We have made many fun and wonderful memories. One of the songs I grew up with was "I'll Be Home For Christmas". I always heard this song and thought of a soldier/sailor, and now I am living that life! I will be wishing and hoping that my hubby would be home this year. To spend those cozy nights in front of the fireplace, decorating the house with the boys, and cooking Christmas foods. There is also the fond memories of driving across country during an ice storm, cold wintery nights in MN, snow fights and shivering in our warming up cars! I remember one Christmastime, way back when, Mike was driving us back to his parents house in his Mom's van and parked it in the garage. I was walking into their house and Mike stopped me beside the van. He told me the words that I could only dream about, and he wooed me as he always did. Then he got down on his knee and slipped the most beautiful ring on my finger. I so desperately wish I could remember those sweet words and how many times I kissed him and I wish I could go back and just re-play that moment over and over. So...Christmas season definitely has it's specialness to me as we were also married shortly after the holiday (not the same year:-). Thank you my dear husband for keeping every winter a wonderland for me!

I am looking forward to many more Christmas seasons as a family and will remember this one as a special one with "just" the boys.

Just for a fun side note...the boys get to celebrate Christmas with us (mom and dad) early in a few weeks! Hopefully skype will hold up and we will get to have internet that day. I started wrapping the gifts and am so stoked. I pulled out their toy Nativity Scene with the Christmas tree and they have a blast playing with them Can't get enough of "Away in a Manger"! Advent season starts this Sunday and I am excited to see how Logan reacts and enjoys our devotions and lighting of the candles. Traditions we are able to carry on every year. I hope that as we all enjoy the festivities of the season that we remember the reason for the season. What great news we have to proclaim to all the world!

Nice Day

It was quite the nice day today. My thoughts were constantly about my husband though and just really missing him. I am glad that it was a joyful day despite the heart tugs. I tried to get up early but Logan woke up shortly there-after. I did get to drink my decaffeinated coffee hot for once. Trying to be nice to this baby and switch to decaf! We read the bible together and did a little boy devotion...love those quiet mornings. Then I got to see my hubby and we talked about Christmas Presents for the boys. I had a BLAST during Logan's school day buying all sorts of toys. I really had to hold back as I saw truck after truck that I knew they would have fun with! So it is a "small" Christmas this year because as usual I know the extended family will spoil them. I then had just as much fun showing them off to Mike. We are going to celebrate our own family's Christmas before we head to MN. So the boys will get some early presents.

I then had a wonderful and needed conversation with a good friend about being a SAHM and wife, and woman in general. Definitely was the motivation I needed to push a little harder and be more joyful. The day to day grind of being at home may seem easy at times, but can be just as tough as an outside job.

Then the boys and I put up a cheapo tree I bought at Big Lots (so I wouldn't have to get down our huge one) a little early. We usually don't do it until next week, or the night of Thanksgiving, but with us not being here for very long in December, I thought we would enjoy the tree a little longer. It was fun watching the boys' reaction and see how excited they got. We then read all the Christmas books we had. It is always so interesting to see Logan hear the stories over again and be in awe of the true meaning of Christmas. So wish I had someone here to share that with! Soon enough I know:-)

Oh...I also got Austin's haircut today...if you want to call it that! It was more like 3 cuts and a little shake. The back of his hair was getting quite long so I had him get it trimmed. I was too nervous to do it myself, but I don't think after seeing what they did today I will be paying for another haircut. His hair is so fine and thin; so different than Logan's, and we are going for a long layered look. Anyways, it was fun and I could see some excitment in his little smirk of his in the big chair. Enjoy the pics!

BEFORE

AFTER

HE just got out of the bath and the back of his hair looks much better...less sharp and more layered. Hair is still growing I guess!

Favorite Things (look closely...you will find our boy name!)

My girlfriend Casey did this on her blog, and I thought it would be neat to copy her and share something upbeat about me and our family! Thanks Casey for the idea!

FAVORITES:

Flowers: Even though I had deep red roses at my wedding, I absolutely LOVE tulips! There is something so refreshing and spring-like about them. They look beautiful in a bunch and also when by themselves. All the bright colors and thick stems...I just need to try and plant them in my garden!

Favorite Color Combination: This is a tough one! I don't feel that I am very color cordinated, but I have two favorite rooms in my house. My purple bathroom...painted walls and ceiling. And our bedroom...a light blue/gray color. I love the laid back, non-modern house...which is funny, because my house may come off opposite of that! I think that is all I can afford though...aren't the cottagey looking houses more expensive or harder to find those items? What do you think?



Favorite Celebrity Couple: Celebrities? What are those? I am sooo bad with actors and actresses...I don't even know the names of actors in my favorite movie...probably because all I watch are cartoons right now. I would have to say my favorite celebrity couple are my parents! They have been married for...35ish years (sorry mom...can't remember right now), and have been the biggest influence on my life! That has celebrity all over it right?

Favorite Theme Song: Oh boy...that definitely depends on what day it is and what mood I am in! When I am with my hubby and we are in a goofy, flirty mood...it is definitely "Forever" by Chris Brown. Basically...that was all we listened to before our Antigua honeymoon this past year to pump us up! I rarely listen to non-Christian Music, as I just daily need that encouragement and reminder of how great and holy the Lord is, and all that goes along with it. I did however recently buy the new Taylor Swift CD and haven't been able to listen to it fully, but am enjoying it! I will leave you with one of my fun favorite bible songs...I know this may be weird for some people, but listen to the lyrics...so cool! Also...with this being live or whatever, you can see how crazy it is to have such amazing voices come from these guys!

Here is the catch...the group's name is Shane and Shane, and Mike and I decided to name our baby, if it's a boy: Everett Michael. (One of the Shanes' last name is Everett)

Favorite Magazine: I think this has to be every woman's favorite! Better Home's and Garden! I also LOVE the Do-It-Yourself Magazines. I have found soooo many fun projects and ideas in these magazines! They are cheap, but bring lots of fun to my life! Thanks to my Mother in Law I have a subscription!

Favorite Things about Fall: The new beginning right? I do have to admit that I haven't seen a more beautiful Fall "display" of colors, than I have in MN. The weather there is PERFECT during the fall...even more so than in the spring. I love wearing sweaters without coats, love changing into pants instead of shorts that make me look awful:-) and boots instead of flip-flops...however, those are hard to give up! I also love the fall this year because it means that the winter is approaching and then getting close to spring when this baby is coming and the hubs is returning! YEAH!

Other favorite things of mine:

Activities with the boys: bath time, play-dough time, and shopping! Well, shopping most of the time...when they are distracted.

Favorite things about being a mom: nursing a baby to full satisfaction and such a deep sleep that nothing will wake them, teaching kids new things and seeing their reaction about seeing something new for the first time. LEarning more about God through parenting and seeing the world through their eyes.

About being a wife: having the man of my dreams as well as the person who understands me the most. I love to feel like a queen and he is sooo good at that! Being able to serve without desiring anything back (most of the time) because of the love we share.

About blogging!: meeting new people! Seeing other's likes and dislikes...not feeling ALONE in certain situations. Getting new ideas from you all creative people, and I LOVE all the new photos you guys take! Spilling my guts and pretending that someone might care!! HAHA!

Musical Monday

Better late than never right? Both my husband and I didn't realize it was another Monday until I figured it out late today. Glad that it seems as though the time is flying by! We ARE about 2.5 months done! YEAH! With the Holiday's coming, we will fly through the next 2 months and then should only have about 1.5 more to go after that!

Well, today's song brings us back to good times. We both fell in love with our church in CA...especially the youth group. We were previlleged to help out as youth leaders for a very rapidly growing high school group. It wasn't easy getting involved as I think we were more nervous than our first day of our high school career! It soon turned into our extended family as we had girls nights, went to events, planned events, and had Halo party's at our house. One of the MANY things that blessed us more than we ever knew was the wonderful worship that we would get to participate in on Sundays and Thursday nights. All of the worship teams were very talented and we loved them all. There were a few special people whose voices we won't forget. This song was one of the many that were so beautifully played. "Holy is the Lord"

So here is to those worship experiences where the Holy Spirit filled the room and every person there was lifted up. Here is to those times when Mike and I grew closer to the Lord because we were stretched and pulled out of our comfort zone. Here is to those young people we were able to be blessed by. However, they are not young any more as several of them are now getting married! What great memories we have, and how we long to have those times again. We are thankful that the Lord could use us in that way:-)

Here are some good photos for memories darling!