Just Like Her Mama

If you've ever been to our blog before now, you've surely read my praises about hand-me-downs, consignment sales, and Goodwill for clothing our kiddos. I truly praise God for His provision through these ways. This dress was a hand-me-down from the V-clan, and I love these little platform shoes I found at Goodwill. This morning I got Aila dressed for church and just had to smile, because from the dress to the shoes, it was something I would wear!

Not to mention that ol' family resemblance. :)

Dirt!

The weather's been awesome lately. And my "all-boy" little 4-year old is loving being outside. The kids take a LOT of baths these days!

Resurrection Sunday

Sunday morning at North Star, a nap for Aila in her toddler bed (a first!), and then we spent our afternoon with the Grahams. A wonderful day celebrating our RISEN Jesus!

Couldn't Want Anything More For You

When I think about what I want for the kids, I want Jesus. I want them to know Him and love Him and follow Him and trust Him. This week there have been some really sweet moments where I'm seeing that, even though they're young, they love Him. I had to run and get my camera to capture this moment because during breakfast, Trevor started talking to Aila about how to ask Jesus to be her savior, and here he said, "I am going to pray for you, Aila." And then he went on to pray that she will want Jesus to live in her heart someday, too.

More prayer. Let prayer be the mark of Trevor's life.

Aila was singing and worshipping while we were in carline to pick Trevor up. I smiled as I saw her in the rear view mirror. I had my camera with me and was happy to catch the moment.

Give them Jesus...give them Jesus. You can have all this world,

but give them Jesus.

Wow. What an Attractive Family.

We got some gummy bunny teeth and had some fun. Guess we know now what we'd look like without orthodontic intervention! :)

After All These Years

Do you know the first day you ever spent time with your best friend? Oddly enough, I do! It was March 23, 1989. Kelly and I were 7th graders at Turlock Junior High School, and we became the best of friends right away. So every year we celebrate our "Best Friend Anniversary." This year marks 21 years!

So a million laughs, hundreds of notes passed, one house-egging, a few break-ups with lame boyfriends, twenty viewings of the movie "Beaches," several prom dresses, one car accident, two weddings and four children later, we are still the best of friends!

Celebrating Salvation

On March 22, 2009 Trevor and I were reading a book about Easter and he asked if Jesus could come and live in his heart. And today we celebrated Trevor's very first Christian birthday!

Beauty for Ashes

March 20, 2010

Beauty for ashes * The oil of gladness instead of mourning

...redemption.

Handsome

The wonderful Wilson family gave us some clothes for Trevor, and he was so excited that he wore some of his new duds to preschool today...tie and all!

I couldn't get over how handsome and grown-up he looked.

I love my Trevor so much. And it's going SO FAST.

St. Patty's Day

I just love St. Patrick's Day! We have lots of Leprechaun fun around here. Here are the kids leaving out some green M & M's for the little green guys.

I fed my children an unhealthy amount of green food coloring, but they had so much fun with the green eggs, green milk, and green applesauce.

Trevor was NOT, however, happy that I snuck some authentically green stuff into his green eggs, i.e. spinach. That kid can pick a veggie out of anything!

I didn't have anything green for Aila to wear, so this "dress" she's wearing is actually my green tank top. Hey, whatever works! :)

We made a sign to welcome the Leprechauns...

....then we waited.

...and when we ran an errand to the bank, the little green guys snuck in and left something special...

....little green footprints leading to a pot of gold!
HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

Soaked, But Smiling! :)

It's been raining a lot the last few days. So after day after day of rushing from car to house trying to stay dry, we decided to play in the pouring rain. It was so. much. fun. I'll never forget the laughter, the joy, and the puddle-splashing until we were soaked from head to toe! :)

"I LOVE YOU, JESUS!!!"

A few weeks ago we were having family prayers before bedtime. Usually Justin or I will pray, and sometimes Trevor, but this one night we let Aila do it.

She bowed her head, closed her eyes, and began praying in whispers. Finally I said, "Aila, can you pray just a little louder, please?" And she took a deep breath and said (quite loudly, I might add)...

"I LOVE YOU, JESUS!!!!"

She says it a lot now. And needless to say, it has caught on. :)

Our Beach

We love Acworth Beach. It's always packed in the summer, but on the off-season we often find ourselves with the whole beach to ourselves. :)

Helloooo, Essie Bessie!

Ali (aka "Essie"--short for Bestemor, the Norwegian word for Grandmother) flew down from Boston last week--we loved having her here! Pop sent his love from the wintery north.
The kids were so excited to go into the airport to pick her up.

My little bag lady insisted on carrying a purse.

We love Essie!

Angel with a Blue Dress On

My cousin Muffy sent some clothes for Aila that her daughter used to wear. We love us some hand-me-downs around here! Aila happened to have a headband the exact shade of one of the dresses, so we dolled her up and took some pics. :)

I'm thinking I have a nail-biter on my hands. Serves me right after it took me two decades to kick the habit myself!