Date Pic

The waiter asked us if this was our first anniversary. What a compliment!

13th Anniversary

That's right. Today, only by the grace of God, we are celebrating 13 years of marriage.

We've moved 11 times, spent a year on food stamps and medicaid, birthed 7 children, miscarried 1 child, made the best of friends, loved each other with the greatest of love because of Jesus, and fought ugly fights because of sin. We wouldn't change a bit of it as it's molded who we are now.

We praise the Lord for His abundant mercies to us and humbly look forward to our future together.

Rejoice with us!

Lap Baby

Samuel's beginning to enjoy hanging out in our lap's. He's smiling a lot now and just this week has started babbling. He's still waking up for chow 3-5 times a night.. I really don't mind though. I am so blessed to be a mom again and the late nights are the only time I get with just him.

Don't Miss This!

As Christians we are called, no commanded to be hospitable. Isn't the Lord sweet that He made a command to also be such a pleasing thing? Who doesn't like gathering around the table with friends or family and delighting in fellowship with the enjoyment of a meal involved? Over at GirlTalk they have been discussing Hospitality for a good month now. They've compiled a list of helpful tips and great ideas for use in being Hospitable. Click Here for it, just download and print!

Bit by a Chicken

(This picture is from 3 weeks ago at another families' home from the church)

We had the opportunity to worship at Trinity Covenant Church again today. This is the church where we are pretty certain we will place our membership. After church we were invited to eat with a family from the church. The kids were all jazzed up about it because we were bringing along some yummy treats to eat and the fact that the family had a chicken coop. Upon arrival the kids were ushered to the coop and permitted to gather eggs, which they were delighted with. Silas was thrilled about all the, "birds." Not long after, Libby (you could probably guess where this was going) started whimpering and crying exclaiming how she'd been, "bit by a chicken!" She had decided to lean against the coop fence and a proud chicken or maybe rooster came right up and pecked her on the bridge of her nose, right between her eyes! I have to say that it was a rather humorous event. I mean if you had to put my kids in a line up and guess which one would end up pecked by a chicken wouldn't you guess Libby? She seems to be fine with only a small triangle wound to boast. Though tonight during family reading she announced that she was, "Mrs. Thomas" and pointed to a picture of Jesus and called him, "Pastor Thomas." Either she's missing our friends or we may need to start therapy straight away!

Yes Sir, Big Sur!

So we went camping at Big Sur. The views were spectacular! Jake surfed the waves and the kids had a blast surfing with the foam boards..(Jake tells me there are some who define surfing as riding the face..??) So, maybe not everyone actually "surfed", but everyone had a blast trying. The Pacific is much different than the Atlantic, from water temp to smell. The waves roll in here a lot different than on the Atlantic as well, blah, blah, blah.. Really I don't know what I'm talking about.

Back to camping. We all slept in the same tent and had a fun time of it. The baby and I shared a sleeping bag. He is so snuggly. Jake ended up sharing with Libby and Silas one night. That was a funny sight. Camping is a lot of work. The kids so thoroughly appreciated our efforts and were so thankful that it makes all the pain of it worth it!

Ready, Set, Cicada!

My brothers and I used to love collecting the Locust shells as kids. Here's a clip of a Cicada molting!