Desert Camp

We went up to McDowell Regional Park last weekend for one last camping trip in the desert. (At least for a while.) Everett signed up for a Dawn to Dusk mountain bike race on Saturday so we all went along to keep him company. How is it possible that it could rain on us, two consecutive races, in the AZ desert. We haven't had rain here in months, but it decided to rain pretty much the entire weekend. Everett did great and rode about 50 miles that day, despite being cold and wet. The rest of us were a little luckier- we got to hide out in the tent while it was raining. Then, when it got too much for us to handle, we took refuge in the local starbucks for some hot drinks and snacks. Best of all, we had a serendipity! Everett's brother and family are in the process of moving cross-country and stopped in to visit us in Phoenix. They stayed at a hotel (smart people), but they did come out to hang at our campsite and roast some marshmallows. Fiona and her cousin, Violet, had fun getting to know each other. They are about a year apart in age, and will have a great time together really soon! We were so glad to get to see them and have some company while Everett was racing. As always, the boys are up for any adventure. As long as Daddy keeps the fire going and the hot chocolate coming, they're ready to handle anything.

Christmas Card Bloopers

We've been pretty busy recently. Last weekend, I suddenly realized how quickly time was slipping by and decided I needed to start working on a Christmas card. You might remember that last years card turned out to be a New Year's Card. I vowed to do better this year. So I got everyone dressed, we drove out to our location and set out to make a beautiful picture. Somehow, not everyone got the memo. Fiona was unhappy about her staging and thought the lighting was all wrong. Finally, when conditions became impossible to bear, she decided it was time to walk off the set. I don't know why I thought it would be easy with two parents standing there to entertain her. Everett said we should have had a video of me. We did finally coax her back and were able to complete the project on time and on budget. After we got home, though, I got to thinking about next year. I think know it is only going to be more challenging interesting next year with four little ones to corral. Yes, I said FOUR! We are expecting our fourth blessing to arrive in May next year! Plenty of time to get wiggly for Christmas pictures! We are all so excited and hope that you will rejoice with us. Oh, and of course, you'll have to wait for your card to see the good picture! We don't want to ruin that surprise!

O-N-E

This is turning into birthday season for our family! Two birthdays within a couple of weeks should keep us pretty busy with the celebrating. I honestly can't believe that my baby girl has turned one! It doesn't seem like it's been a whole year since she was born, but I can hardly remember what life was like without her here. I picked out some of her favorite foods for dinner and made an Angel Food Cake for my little angel. She loved the menu and the party blowers! We forgot to practice blowing out the candle, so she wasn't quite sure what to do with it. But she loved all the singing! She looked like she was going to dig right into her piece of cake, but I think she filled up on too much birthday dinner because she had trouble finishing her piece. She thoroughly enjoyed the leftovers the next day, though! I thought for sure that Fiona the Destructive would be perfect at unwrapping presents. Go figure- that night she wasn't very interested in ripping paper. She loved what was hiding inside all that pretty paper! We're so thankful to have Fiona in our lives and in our family! She is a joy and a treasure!

E-I-G-H-T

Hallllllooooooo out there!! Is anyone out there still checking my sad, lonely little blog?? You can't imagine all the things that have been vying for my time and attention these last few months. I know, it's a poor excuse for not throwing a few pictures up every once in a while. But you know, sometimes something has to give. I have so much I want to share about what we've been doing. I think I will start with our latest celebration. I can't believe it, but my biggest little one just turned eight! It seems impossible. Trevor got to have two parties- the second one on Halloween with knights and fairies as guests. And for desert: pumpkin pie! Don't you just love how we smash a whole bunch of holidays into one day?! Trevor is such a patient, loving big brother (most of the time)! These pictures show how much he has matured over the past year, as he let his brother and sister help with his gifts. He's also a great helper around the house with chores and watching out for his younger siblings! I am amazed to watch him grow and change. It is hard to remember when he wasn't so big and mature, and yet it feels like yesterday that he was just a little toddler. Happy Birthday to my little man!

Family Fun

I swear I don't know what happened to all the pictures that I thought I was taking. I guess I just got so caught up playing, I forgot to take pictures. It was a crazy, chaotic, noisy week. Just what vacation should be when there are 20+ people sharing a house! The cousins had a great time playing together and the adults got to catch up. Despite some disappointments (who closes main attractions in August???) we did all sorts of fun things in Branson. Here are some of the highlights: The fish hatchery at Table Rock Dam- fun for all ages!

Marshmallow roasting amongst the poison ivy- fortunately we didn't seem to have any cases of that.
Celebrating Nana's birthday- complete with balloons, elk heads, peach cream pie and singing! Oh, and don't forget the 20 loved ones surrounding her!

And totally random fun-ness!
I will try to get the rest of the pictures from vacation up on my shutterfly site this week, so look there for more!

Slow Down

We had a wonderful time visiting Ev's parents. It was really nice to have a week where we were on country time. The weather was gorgeous- we even got some rain. Yeah, for us that's good news! In fact, it was Fiona's first time in the rain. The boys were so excited they ran around like little maniacs just soaking it up!







We did some good, old fashioned yard work. Ev ran the chainsaw while the boys and I picked up sticks and branches. Even Fiona got in on the work. It was great to be outside! I think we were outside from morning until night with only mealtimes inside.




We worked hard, but we played hard too. Trevor & Braden climbed trees, ran in the corn, caught small animals and generally wore themselves out while getting thoroughly dirty from head to toe.






Of course we left time for those things we never get to do like seeing family, riding 4-wheelers and tractors and looking at cows. Fiona met lots of people for the first time!

Vaca

We're back and we're trying to get into some kind of rhythm. For some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to come home from a long vacation on Saturday and start the new school year on Monday. School is going great, but picture editing is going S-L-O-W! Yes, I know this is the second week! I am trying my best to make some progress, though, and here are just a couple to whet your appetite or in case you didn't know where we've been!

rejoicing

Several months ago, Braden started asking about being a Christian. He talked about it to his teacher in Sunday School, he mentioned it to me at home. When Everett sat down with him to talk about it some more, he didn't seem to understand what it was really about. So we set the topic aside for a while. Every so often the subject would come up again, in passing, and we could tell it was on his mind. A few weeks ago, he told us that he wanted to be a Christian. So Everett talked with him again.

They talked about how we cannot live up to God's standard of perfection. Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

He explained the Bible's plan for saving us from the penalty of sin, which is eternal death and separation from God. Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

What can we do to deserve earn or deserve this gift? Nothing! Titus 3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us

How did he save us? John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit

So now what? Romans 10:9 If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Braden said that he understood and that he believed, so he prayed and he did! Amen and praise the Lord! We're so thankful to God for this blessing. We have prayed for each of our children, from birth, that he (or she) would put their trust in Jesus Christ at a young age. We prayed that his faith would grow, just as he grows, and that he would be used by God to do great and mighty things for the kingdom of God. Praise God, we know that God is already working in Braden's heart and can already see evidence of his growth in God as he has become more sensitive to his sins and more teachable when he is corrected. As the Bible says in Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

We know there is rejoicing in heaven when even one sinner repents, and we are rejoicing here too!

Leaps and Bounds

Just in case you were wondering what the baby girl is up to...



...she's pretty pleased with herself, don't you think?

Rosebuds

I knitted this hat for a dear little girl who just turned five and has an affinity for hats. It won't see much cold weather until they move next year, but I have it on good authority that it coordinated well with her sundress this morning.

Frills

I will admit it. It is so fun to sew for a little girl. Sometimes people say the "devil is in the details", but I think that's where all the fun is! I wore some of these little rompers when I was a toddler, and I think they are so adorable. I whipped out five of them, assembly line style, in just a couple of days. The pattern is so simple (you hardly need one) so that leaves lots of time for making each one a little different and special. Maybe the best part is that they cost me next to nothing.



I know, she can't believe it either! Almost nothing for these cute dresses? This pink flowered one was up-cycled from a dress that I wasn't wearing anymore. Almost everything else was found in my fabric stash. I admit, I did buy all new buttons for them, but even they were on sale at the fabric store!







I did buy the striped pink fabric because I didn't have any pink in my stash (big surprise). And I thought she needed just a touch more pink in her life. And maybe the next best part is that I didn't have to bother with any matching bloomers. Hooray for cloth diaper covers that already look sweet and cute!





This little bonnet was sewn while I had the sewing machine out. You saw the bonnet's blue twin sister in our camping pictures. I fell in love with these fabrics and bought them on a whim. They were supposed to be quick and easy. Yeah, not so much. I found the pattern here, and thought it was adorable. It should be simple, but I just had a difficult time. I tried to follow the instructions for this pink one, but ended up completely doing my own thing for the blue one. At least they look cute. But they are sure to be the only two of their kind!

Camping with Five

We had a great Independence Day weekend. We escaped the desert heat and headed up to the mountains a couple hours west of here. It was Fiona's first camping trip and I think she had a great time. She helped set up the tent, supervised the cooking and just generally looked cute.






We went for a nice hike through the mountain meadows. The weather was perfect and the scenery was gorgeous.



Apparently the wildlife agreed because we found a rattlesnake who had come out to play. He's the squiggly black thing in the picture. Ev lifted the boys up to view it from a "safe" distance. I think he and I have slightly differing definitions for that, but that's probably because I would have preferred to be about a mile away.



Ev and Trevor went mountain biking later that afternoon while the other two and I relaxed in the campsite. We read books around the campfire, talked about animal footprints and all sorts of other fun things. The campground was very quiet, so we had a peaceful, relaxing holiday. I think we'll have to go camping again soon!