The Heefner Family

My little ballerina

2011-12-14T11:54:00.000-08:00

I love this tenderhearted little sweetie. This picture is from Halloween, the one time of the year she gets to wear makeup:) Someday I will get around to posting the months of October and November. My goal is to be caught up by Christmas, haha, we'll see about that.

Botanical Garden

2011-11-27T18:26:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favorite places ever. So much lovliness at every turn and an awesome reminder of God's endless beauty and creativity. Here are some pictures with us in them, but I will post a few of my favorites of God's creation alone, as well.

Red fountain in honor of the Cardinals

I was stuck up on this rock (after accepting a dare from my boys), so Nile began documenting my plight.

Seth giving me his advice:)

Jos hanging out with me while I was still thinking...

It really is much higher than this pic shows, really truly. Plus, my back was hurting so badly that I could barely bend, let alone jump down gracefully. Maybe our 14 year old bed needs replaced, lol?

Seconds after I finally got down, Josie jumped down from the very top by herself. It was humiliating for me:)

Boys' Birthdays

2011-11-27T17:53:00.000-08:00

The boys were very excited that Nana and Papa could come celebrate their birthdays, you know, back in September:) I'm hopelessly behind, but will keep plugging away. We had a fun weekend with them. Seth got an ipod (new to him, it was Nile's old one) and was in heaven. Gabe was excited about his Legos, and they both loved their beyblades. I did a rotten job of taking pictures, but managed to get a few of them each. I can't believe they are 10 and 8 now! I love these guys to death and wouldn't trade them for the world. They are so very different in many ways, but I am thankful for the bond and the love they share. I pray it would only strengthen over the years.

Thanks, Jer and Leah, for a new family favorite! Love it!

Josie's gift to Gabe, one of his favorite kinds that I almost never buy, so it was a huge deal to him!

Seth wanted a cookie cake, and he wanted to decorate it himself.

Gabe wanted angel food cake, always my health nut.

Snapshots of Life

2011-11-06T19:44:00.000-08:00

Six Flags/Switchfoot Concert

2011-11-04T13:13:00.000-07:00

We were blessed to get to go to Six Flags and a Switchfoot concert in September. There is no way we could've gone if it weren't for the group rate we got by going with Nile and the Journey Youth Group. It was a super wet, super fun day! The heavy downpours kept us wet and cold, but also kept the crowds away. Many times, there was no line at all. I am fine with looking like a drowned rat if it means not waiting in line! Josie LOVED hanging out with the big girls, and they were so kind to include her. Fun times.

Getting ready to have some fun...before the rain:)

Some of the group

These crazies loved the heavy downpour, though they were cold the rest of the day. Natural consequence for not taking your mother's advice, right? Always looking for times to let them make their own decisions:)

Very excited about Switchfoot!

Wet, cold, and exhausted at the end of the day. But what a great day!!

Forest Park

2011-10-25T08:19:00.000-07:00

This semester we have had to be more intentional about our family time. We have been bummed that the boys are happy as ever just playing with their friends on campus, while we are really wanting to have some time with them. It is a blessing living on campus and there are many, many pros to it...but with 80 some kids on campus, there is never a shortage of kids to start up a game that could last a while, and we have had to pull the boys (sometimes grudgingly on their part) away lately. We literally have kids knocking on our door up to twenty times a day! Nile actually typed up a message to put on our door that says, "We are having family time, so we can't play. See you tomorrow!" , haha. All that to say, we have started getting away from campus more, finding fun things to do together. I think we are making progress and learning how to better protect our family time, yet let the boys have some time with their friends, as well. St. Louis is never lacking in fun things to do/explore and we have had a blast together. On this day, we went to Forest Park and rented a paddle boat. The boys really wanted to do all the paddling, which was perfect for their length of legs:) It hurt Nile's and my knees, so we were happy to oblige.

I love how she is looking at her daddy!

And then they enjoyed some Fitz's rootbeer:)

And I wish I would've noticed when I took this picture how Josie places her whole mouth around the rootbeer. I would not have taken a drink of hers:)

No, we didn't give him 2, he was just collecting the cool bottles:)

The Talk

2011-09-24T14:05:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning to document this, before I forget all the funny and sweet details! Nile and I had "the talk" with the kids:) Yes, the husband and wife becoming one flesh talk, just to clarify. Nile did a great job of researching which books we may want to use to introduce them to this, and it was also very helpful to read portions of Genesis 1-4 to them. We tried to really focus on what a gift to married people sex is, how God has blessed us with this awesome gift to share with our spouse. The kids' reactions were so different, and hilarious. More on that in a minute. Nile started by saying we were going to have our family worship time, so we all sat on the floor together and snuggled up, with snacks ready for the end of our worship time.

I don't know why, but I have been dreading this talk! I think I was fine with them hearing how everything works, so to speak, but super nervous about when they realized that Nile and I actually do this, haha. So Nile starts reading the Bible and then reads a NavPress book called 'The Story of Me'...so far so good, besides Josie giggling every time the correct names for private parts are used (which are the only words we have ever used for them, so not sure why it was so funny to her:)) Then he reads the next book in the series, called 'Before I Was Born' and I am just beside myself waiting (maybe dreading) for him to get to THE page, the one where it explains the details:) We got past the page, and no one said anything, so I thankfully exhaled. Then, all of a sudden, Gabe says, "Wait, seriously?!" I almost died laughing. And so the questions began:) Gabe had SO many questions, and I just sat there thanking God that all of this was brand new to him, he had no idea before our talk, and that we were the ones blessed to be able to answer all of his innocent and curious questions. What a special time. It was also hysterical, though, as he worked through things in his mind, making connections as he went. My favorite from him: "Wait, you and dad have done that 3 times?! Wait, you've done that 6 times?!" (He was figuring in the 3 miscarriages I've had) "Wait, you still do this?! Are you going to do it tonight?!" (And that's where we drew the only line as far as him asking us questions...we aren't going to announce when we do it, lol!)
After about a half hour (seriously) of Gabe asking questions, Seth said, "Can we stop talking about this stuff now? This stuff scares kids"...smiling while he said it. He kind of took it all in in his calm, low key style...course he couldn't really get a word in with all of Gabe's questions. We finished our discussion, telling them they could ask us questions anytime, that we'd never laugh at them, and that they never need to be embarrassed about asking us things. I would rather answer their questions than have them hear about it from kids at school! We also made sure to let them know they were not allowed to talk to other kids about it, because each family gets to make their own decision on when to talk about these things. Then we held hands and prayed for them, their purity, for this special gift for married people, etc. We needed to go to a church event, so we had to cut Gabe off and tell him he could ask more later. Nile has another book, the 3rd book in the series, for Gabe alone, which we will do sometime this year.

I was so thankful for how Nile led all of this, how God was glorified and esteemed through it all, and how successful he was at making this talk not something to be embarrassed about but instead, something to be thankful to God for. I am, however, very glad this talk (or at least the first of many talks on this) is over. :)

First Day of School (August 16th)

2011-09-07T18:47:00.000-07:00

The boys weren't very excited for school to begin this year, UNTIL they saw the class lists posted a few days before the first day of school. They were both thrilled to find out they would be with some of their best friends again. Josie was super excited for her first day...I wasn't at all;) She wanted to ride the bus, so Nile and I met them at their school as they were getting off the bus. I have had a harder time this year with them being gone all day, even the boys. I am already looking forward to next summer and having them with me all the time! Gabe was so happy to find out that his teacher is a Christian. He loves that during certain times of the day, they listen to Christian music in the classroom. And he said he also doesn't love it, because it's really hard for him not to sing along:)

Walking to the bus stop (at the library on campus)

Love how Kevin snuck in here:)

Josie and all the boys, typical. A 13 year old, an 11 year old, two nearly ten year olds, and Josie.

Yep

The Covenant Seminary kids who attend Mason Ridge

Josie in her classroom!

Josie and her teacher, Mrs. Nienhaus

Visit to Iowa

2011-09-02T12:49:00.000-07:00

We were able to spend some time in Iowa in early August, so we packed as much as we could into that time. It was a wonderful time of reconnecting with friends and family. The first pictures are from Norwalk, when we were visiting my mom and step-dad.

Notice Josie's beautiful braid, done by my second cousin, Marty.

Gabe loved trying to catch the balls people hit in the water traps:)

Trying to get Josie's ball out, and instead gets...

a tiny frog, lol.

Josie and the frog

Now this was epic. My mom was pretending (just to get a laugh from the kids) to fall into this water trap, which was about thigh deep, as she discovered later:) Unfortunately, she accidentally stumbled a bit and landed with one leg in the water up to her thigh, and couldn't get out. She said, "Help!" and I grabbed the camera instead of helping right away. I knew she wasn't hurt (at this point) and we were all laughing hysterically, so I thought it'd be good to document the moment.

So, precious Gabe tries to help her, and pulls a little too hard:) She did get a big bruise from this one. I am about to pee my pants at this point, and she is, too.

She begins climbing the rest of the way out here

Poor grandma! I do love how she is such a good sport and how much fun we always have with her. I don't think the kids will ever forget this moment:) Love you, mom.

Josie, cracking up at grammies:)

We hit Pella to see my brother and his family. Jer and Cayla came to the Fun Factory with us. I love this picture, one of my very favorites!

Jerod and their new little girl, Eliana Lynn

We also hit Grandpa Pat's and Grandma Nancy's for some fun. This is my dad and my niece, Avery.

Grandma made the kids some yummy sno cones!

My beautiful nieces, Avery and Sophia

And we made s'mores at Nana and Papa's house while visiting Iowa City

The Lary Family's Visit, Day Two

2011-09-02T09:01:00.000-07:00

Day two was also super fun, as we hit City Garden in downtown STL for some more splash pad fun. This splash pad has 103 shooting fountains and also some wading pools. I took an obscene amount of pictures, but narrowed it down for you:) Thank you SO much for coming, guys! We had the best time with you...we think it should be a yearly thing:) Love you all!

I just love these guys like crazy!!

So cute!!

A little game J and G were playing, where he pretends to drown and she rescues him. It always amazes me how nice he is to play her little made up games.

I can't believe how much they look alike! Both so handsome (Nile will not like me saying that about him in public, but it's true!)

LOVE their expressions in this one!

The Lary Family's Visit, Day One

2011-09-02T08:43:00.000-07:00

We were SO excited to have our friends, Andrew and Makenna and their son Beck, visit last month! The three of them shared Josie's room, which resulted in not much sleep for them, but allowed us to have some great adult time after all the kids were in bed:) We went to the zoo and to a small splash pad on the first day...it was stinkin' HOT. I put tons of pictures on Facebook, so chose a lesser amount for here.

Makenna and Josie petting the stingrays

Andrew and Beck

Makenna and Beck

Josie and Beck at the zoo...I think Beck was checking out her snack, lol!

Resting and trying to escape the heat

The adorable Lary family!

Josie and I on the train, in all our sweaty glory:) Thanks, Andrew, for the train ride!

Beck really liked Nile...I may have been slightly jealous, but happy for Nile:)

Wedding Fun...Stephen and Britteny!

2011-09-02T08:33:00.000-07:00

Our good friends, Stephen and Britteny, got married in July! Woohoo! I was so relieved when Stephen asked her to marry him, because I was tired of getting after my kids for asking them if they were going to get married, lol:) And because we love them and they are wonderful together! Just a few pictures of their wedding reception:

These dance pictures were all crazy looking with the lights, but still capture the fun we had. Seth "didn't really want to show people his moves", so instead he sat at our table and took literally thirty or so pics of various things and many self-portraits. We found them all later after we loaded the pics onto the computer.

Our kids and the beautiful bride!

One of the ten self-portraits

Nana and Papa's Visit

2011-08-27T10:52:00.000-07:00

July was such a fun month, as we were blessed to have lots of visitors! Nile's parents came and stayed with us and the kids' highlight was taking Nana and Papa to Grant's Farm. It was HOT (of course), but a super fun day. Gabe did much better this year with the goats (his time with them last year may rank as one of my all-time funniest moments!) and he also was chosen to be an elephant helper (shown in the video at the bottom of the post), much to his dismay, lol. None of my kids EVER want to be chosen in these situations, just like me on that front, but the lady approached him as we were walking in and he couldn't say no (sadly, this is also just like me). He was such a good sport:) Thanks for coming to see us. We had a great time!

Thankful for the handwashing stations, and it is rare that she lets me try a braid:)

Papa cleaning off the goat droppings...that is above and beyond, in my book! What a great grandpa!

Papa Jim and Seth at Grant's Farm

Nana with Gabe and Josie. Next time no blue slushies before pics:)

Fun with friends, Part 1

2011-08-27T10:15:00.000-07:00

My dear friend, Lora, and her daughter Naomi came to St. Louis to have a little vacation (it is a great place to do that, so come see us!) in July. We had so much fun with them! We all went to the zoo together and then Josie and I went to City Museum with them, as well. Since I posted more of these on FB, I only chose some favorites for here. Thanks for visiting us, guys! We miss you!

Josie and Naomi climbing through the wiry tunnels

If you look closely, you can see Jos and Naomi underneath the walking people

City Museum is a great place to get some exercise and work up a sweat! And have a blast while doing so.

LOVE their expressions in this one!

Our family at the zoo

Fourth of July Fun

2011-07-31T18:03:00.000-07:00

We hung out with some great friends on the fourth and saw some cool fireworks in Kirkwood. It was hot, but not miserably so, especially compared to lately! I was glad to make some more fun memories of our time in STL.

My dear friend, Sarah, with Josie and Maddie

Me and Sarah

Josie sat on Gabe's lap for some of the fireworks display and he loved every second

And Seth was just chillin' in a chair

Papa and Grammies Visit

2011-07-31T17:51:00.000-07:00

Mom and Tim came to visit us, and we had a great time with them. It was super hot, though, so it kind of limited what we could do...we just made our own fun instead:) We were so thankful to have them here! As usual, I forgot to take pictures until it was almost too late, but we got a few.

Grandpa and Seth playing around with glasses

Zoo Date with Josie

2011-07-31T17:43:00.000-07:00

The hippos are Josie's very favorite, and this time they were kissing or wrestling (I wasn't sure if they were preparing to mate or just playing around, but didn't really want to wait to find out) for 10 minutes!

Fun with the Hejleks!

2011-07-31T09:22:00.000-07:00

We had so much fun boating, tubing, swimming, riding the four wheeler/golf cart, and just hanging out with the Hejlek family. I took care of Tim and Lindsey's kids, Reese and Colin, this past year. They are sweeties and I have missed them! Our kids had an absolute blast! Tim's parents live on Goose Creek Lake, which is where we went for all the fun. Thank you guys for inviting us and for your wonderful hospitality! We had the best time ever.

Colin and Josie in the boat

Gabe and Seth tubing

Reese and Josie

Tim showing Nile how to run the four wheeler, with Gabe on the back

Colin and Jos...I think she misses him, too:)

Gabe, Seth, Josie, Reese, and Colin on the spillway

Gabe and Josie

A few more of Josie's B'day

2011-07-31T09:02:00.000-07:00

We had a little party at home, after her party at the Log Cabin with her friends. I forgot to include a few statistics of my five year old! Josie is 45 inches tall (90th percentile) and 44 pounds. I was very thankful she had regained the 6 pounds she lost while in the hospital. She was a rock star getting all her shots (she had to have 3) again this year, and I always thankful for that.

Josie's Birthday! (June 10th)

2011-07-27T12:04:00.000-07:00

Josie is 5 years old! I can't believe how fast the time has gone, and that she will be going to kindergarten this fall. I am not at all excited about that, but I'm pretending I am for her sake:) We had a party for her at the Log Cabin on campus, and it was such a fun time. I love her little friends, they are all so sweet! Some things I think of when I think of Josie at this age are: she is so incredibly affectionate (many times a day she tells me she loves me, that I'm so pretty, that her cup overflows, ect. She also loves to hug and kiss us all and especially loves to have Nile and I hold her at the same time and hug and kiss altogether); she is hysterical, really hysterical...those that are blessed to see this side of her laugh a lot. In the past year or so, the funny/performance side of her has really emerged and our whole family has been laughing ever since; she runs like the wind and will try almost anything, never wanting to be outdone by her brothers. She was my first to ride a bike with no training wheels, my first to do the fire pole by herself (at 2!), and was racing 8 year old boys on campus with her scooter when she was barely four. She cracks me up, this girl; she loves people well, from family (maybe minus Seth on certain days, tho they have become best buddies this summer...lol) to all of our extended family, too; she loves to play dollhouse and Barbies and will spends hours by herself doing so; she loves to play UNO and I think we have played hundreds of games of it this summer alone; and I would be remiss to not mention her challenging areas, as well (I really don't want to make this sound all rosy and perfect, because who can relate to that, after all? And it would be an unfair picture, anyway!)...she is stubborn as a goat, has buns of steel that often need more than one set of spankings because the stubbornness remains as does an unremorseful heart, and she has gotten more emotional this past year, so we are working a lot on being self-controlled with our voice and with our actions. I say all of this in love, because I love this girl to the ends of the earth. Just things I want to remember about her at five;) We are SO blessed to have you, Josie Elisabeth! You bring uncomparable joy to all of our lives!

I made my first banner and tissue paper pom pom, but couldn't get a good picture:(

I just loved seeing the names of her friends together!

Busy at work on their craft, which was decorating the letter that their name begins with

Seth was a great helper! He wanted to demonstrate the games and such, and did it with much gusto, as usual!

Digging for the hidden butterflies in the flowerpots...it was a relay race to get a butterfly put in the butterfly net and get back to the next person on your team. We only had one minor crash:)

Getting wrapped up like cocoons

My precious husband frosted this cake for me!

Are they not the cutest things ever?!

And of course a silly one, too!

Visiting the Garlands & new baby Eliana

2011-07-22T10:08:00.000-07:00

We took a whirlwind trip to Iowa to see my brother and sis-in-law and their family, literally a day after getting back from Texas...didn't even fully unpack our suitcases. I don't know that any of us were eager to be back in our little shoebox just yet. And yes, there have been times recently I have been battling discontentment over living in a small apartment. And yes, God is dealing with my unthankful heart on that matter when it creeps up:) Anyway, we loved getting to stay with the Garlands! We had been missing them so much (Seth told me, "Mom, it feels like it's been years since I've gotten to hold Cayla."). We got to meet their other beautiful girl for the first time, too, Eliana Lynn. We discovered that Seth is the resident baby hog (maybe only challenged in that category by Grandpa Tim...lol). He once sat holding her for twenty minutes without making a single sound. I asked him why he was so quiet, and he said, "I didn't want anyone to notice me so I could have a really long turn." We had so much fun playing with Cayla, as well. She is at such a fun age, just love her! She kept bringing Josie books to "read" to her and sat and listened for a long time. Gabe is always such a good help on trips, carrying way more than his load and helping in so many little ways. I am so thankful for his servant heart. Let me just say, it is hard being away from family, especially when there are little ones I could be playing with! :) Thanks for letting us crash your house, guys! We love you!

I always joke that our kids would follow Jerod anywhere, because there's always fun in store;) This was a fun game he made up, can't even remember what it was.

Leah was so sweet to make a cake for Josie and have a birthday celebration for her. And Grandpa Tim was so sweet to make a trip to Pella to see us, so thank you both! Mom was in Alabama, so we were bummed to miss her!

Texas Trip

2011-07-21T05:48:00.000-07:00

We had a super fun time in Texas visiting Dan and Liz and the boys! So many fun memories were made, and my kids are still talking about our trip. I posted tons of pictures on facebook, so on here, I tried to narrow it down a bit;) The kids did fabulous together and had a blast. Dan and Liz did such a great job of providing hospitality to us and making it a very relaxing time...even with eleven people at each meal, it never felt stressed at all, I just loved listening to all the happy chatter. One of our favorite things that happened while there was Dan's team making it to the NCAA tournament. It was so fun to get to witness a small part of that! Once we got back to STL, we faithfully watched all the games by hooking our computer up to our TV-it was awesome! Seth got so worked up and nervous that he literally had to leave the room at times to regroup. Gabe wouldn't move from the TV, he didn't want to miss a thing. What a great season. Thanks for having us, guys! We love you all.

Turtle watching...at one point there were 11 or 12 coming over to us

Love them all!

Children's Museum

Texas Rangers game

So thankful Dan got us tickets in the shade!

Poor Liz! It has HOT, and Josie was attached to her for a lot of the game:)

Dan's baseball practice. The boys were thrilled to go on the field

The DBU players were so kind to the boys

On the campus of Dallas Baptist University

I wish I would've tracked how many hours they spent jumping! Yes, all seven of them at times and no injuries occurred. I didn't notice Titus in the life jacket until Aunt Sarah pointed it out! Hilarious.

They had so much fun jumping. One morning, Nile even did a devo out on the trampoline with them.

Mason Ridge School Carnival

2011-07-08T14:58:00.000-07:00

Again we were struck with what an amazing carnival this is every year. A DJ, a few carnival rides, a petting zoo, a guy walking around with a baby crocodile and a boa constrictor asking if kids wanted to hold them, tons of games, inflatables, etc. Lots of fun!

Gabe and his buddies

I couldn't resist showing Seth in the background on this one:)

Blurry, but this is Seth's signature flip:)

I wanted to show how skinny Jos looked, as this was a few days after she came home from the hospital

Gabe won numerous basketballs for making shots

Gabe was very sweet to Josie, taking her on rides and letting her follow him around

Nile & I looked up and saw Seth just sitting at the top of the slide wearing the hat Gabe won

Josie's Hospital Stay

2011-05-17T19:18:00.000-07:00

It has been a bit crazy around here, with Nile studying/taking finals this week and having a lot of things due last week, and with Josie getting so ill. Just to document, for my own sake, how things went down with Jos...she started not feeling well Saturday morning. By noon, she was throwing up and feeling awful. She threw up and had bad stomach cramps most of the day and most of the night. I slept in her bed (I layed in her bed, I should say:) Not much sleep took place at all) with her, because she was vomiting so much. She couldn't even keep down sips of water. Sunday was slightly better as far as the throwing up, but she then started feeling feverish and got up to 103.5 by early afternoon. My main concern, however, was the fact that she was very lethargic and could not stay awake. I mean even for 5 minutes at a time. I would read her a book, and she could barely stay awake for it. She literally slept almost all day. I started getting really worried because as the day progressed, she was not even talking or answering my questions. She would nod or not answer at all. I called a nurse hotline, and they recommended calling my on-call doctor (I was trying to avoid that because it was 11pm on a Sunday night) and they said to bring her to the ER. So, at midnight Jos and I went to the ER. They did an x-ray just to make sure it wasn't appendicitis, which it wasn't. They did blood work, which told them she was pretty dehydrated. Then the fun began...putting in the IV. They unfortunately missed, so there was a lot of blood everywhere. But Jos was too sick to do anything other than whimper pitifully. I sat in THE most uncomfortable plastic chair in the ER from midnight until nine the next morning...did not sleep for one minute, it was horrible. She was not perking up as fast as they'd hoped, in fact, she was not perking up at all, even after nine hours of IV fluids, so they wanted to keep us there. Thankfully, they moved us to an awesome room in the meantime...I was SO thankful for that. Josie was still barely talking and was having diarrhea, but no more vomiting. The boys and Nile came to visit her before they went to school, but I don't even know if she noticed. They were very sweet to her, worried, I could tell. Jos started on her second IV bag, and still no real improvement. They decided they wanted to keep us the rest of the day and night due to this. The doctor came in and said they were still concerned that she wasn't perking up at this point, though some children just take longer than others to recover. At least we had a great hospital room in the Children's Hospital section. A recliner, a couch, a fridge, our own bathroom, etc. Finally, at 8 o'clock that night, Gabe was able to get the first little smile we had seen in three days. Yay! I slept in the hospital bed with Josie, and got the most sleep I'd had in two nights (a whopping 4 hours, because she was wide awake from 3am to 5am, and we got woken up a few times for vitals checks:) I was just happy that she was actually talking to me and responding!). They removed the IV fluids (she went through very close to three full bags) and wanted to keep us a few more hours to make sure she would continue to do okay, and she did. We were able to go home late that afternoon. Incidentally, Josie lost 6 pounds:( She was down to 38 lbs.at her follow up visit. Seth really loved the hospital room, and pretty much only said hi to Jos upon arriving and asked if she was contagious...lol. He enjoyed the free drinks and snacks that were offered. I seriously had to kick him out of the room to go home to bed, he wanted to stay the night with Josie and me. Classic Seth. Gabe was just precious with her, laying in bed with her for a long time, trying to get her to laugh/respond. I just love that boy.He paid for that dearly by coming down with the stomach flu a few days later:( He bounced back super fast, though...and go figure, Seth never did get sick. We were SO blessed by all the emails, texts, meals, offers of meals, prayers, etc. of our friends and families. Thank you all so much. That's the crazy story. Josie and I both needed a few days to recover from that! The pictures uploaded somewhat out of order, and I don't know how to fix it, so sorry!

Our first day back at home, I came in Josie's room to see why it was so quiet, and found her like this.

See what I mean?! He's having a little too much fun:)

Campus Easter Egg Hunt

2011-05-14T10:12:00.000-07:00

There are somewhere between 70-80 kids living on campus, and here are some of them:) They were all so precious.

The Spill

2011-05-14T10:04:00.000-07:00

I've been horrible about posting just random things that have happened, so I am going to try to do better with that, starting with poor Gabe and his fall. Gabe has had 60 dollars since Christmas, and has not been able to part with it the many times he's asked to go look at toy stores. This is actually major progress for him! He is our boy who, in the past, has been all about getting money and spending it right away. We had concerns that he was too materialistic, not finding contentment in the things he already had, etc. You get the picture:) Anyway, for him to keep that money for 5 months because he didn't really see anything he loved and he was happy with what he already had is literally an answer to prayer. A few weeks back, he finally spent the money on a ripstick (kind of like a skateboard, but with only two wheels and there is a lot more balancing involved). He was pretty slow at first, so I wasn't too concerned about a helmet on our flat blacktop on campus. However, he quickly got better...good enough to take a nasty fall, which resulted in him slamming the back of his head against the blacktop, without a helmet. He came in, really calmly and quietly, and said, "I fell off my ripstick. I might be bleeding." I think he was pretty shaken up. I looked and found a lot of blood on the back of his head. I asked him if anything else hurt, and he said his back and elbow kind of hurt, too. I lifted up his shirt and found all kinds of bruises and bad abrasions up and down his back and buns, and a pretty banged up elbow. I said, "Wow, you're pretty tough. Why aren't you crying? I would be." He said, "I don't know" and his eyes got just a little teary. He hopped in the shower to rinse off the blood (it was hard for me to see how bad the head injury was with all the matted down bloody hair). He got out and said he felt like he was going to throw up and that his body felt like he needed to sit down. He never did throw up and we made him take a break for a few days to recover. Now he is the only kid out there who ever wears a helmet when ripsticking...lesson learned the hard way, for both of us. Someday he can read these old blog entries and make his children wear helmets:)

A little ballerina party

2011-05-14T09:35:00.000-07:00

Josie was invited to her friend Maddie's b'day party recently. There were 16 little girls dressed as ballerinas..SO cute!

Josie loves Mr. Gammage. He is pretty tall, which makes for great underdogs on the playground:) Here he was saying, "Are you sure you're ready to pin the bow on Angelina?" Or something similar...lol.

Lazy days :)

2011-05-14T09:27:00.000-07:00

Josie and Reese (the little girl I take care of) were so sweet just laying in the sunshine together while Colin took his nap. What's better than popsicles and sunshine?! These were on two different days...I think it is so cute how they love to just lay around and chat and giggle. Love them.

Seth's Bug Celebration

2011-05-11T15:28:00.000-07:00

Seth was not at all happy about the bug song they had to sing for his bug celebration..."My teacher said we have to honor bugs. Why would we ever want to honor bugs, that just seems ridiculous. Plus, we have to sing a lullaby to bugs. Such a babyish song. I think I'm going to skip school that day, since I've never skipped school ever before. One day won't hurt."...We listened to these comments for weeks leading up to this thing, and he was not budging in his attitude. Enter Mrs. Fink, his former preschool teacher at Parkview who he just loves. She was so kind to email him back and forth (and Facebook, as well, since Seth somehow figured out how to get on my FB account and typed her name in and had a little message started before I noticed....lol. Good thing we have a filter on our computer, but I had to put restrictions on that boy). Anyway, she was such a blessing to him and to us. She was very kind and understanding, but also had some really good advice for him and shared how she gets through things that are hard for her. I can't even put into words what that meant to us. We all love her. The day came, and he did awesome! Sang his song with smile and the actions, and said his lines perfectly, as well. Glad to be done with that. And he didn't even tell me they had to wear wings and antennae, too. I'm surprised that didn't put him over the edge.

Kite flying, 2011

2011-05-11T15:09:00.000-07:00

A beautiful, windy day made for some great kite flying a few weeks back.

Gabe's Violin Concert

2011-04-16T08:50:00.000-07:00

Gabe had his violin/recorder/xylophone concert yesterday, and it was so cute! Every third grader at his school gets violin lessons (free!), so he has been working hard. I was really impressed, because I was expecting a painfully squeaky performance and instead, there was actual music:) I was also impressed when I noticed, on song 9 out of 10, that they were doing all of the songs (and rotating between three different instruments) by memory, not looking at music. He was all business, very serious and focused...lol.

Josie's Crazy Video

2011-03-28T15:41:00.000-07:00

Josie decided she wanted to make a few home videos...I'll spare you all of them and just show this one. She is talking complete nonsense (purposely) a lot of the time, so don't worry about trying to understand what she is saying. I almost didn't post this, due to my brief and undesired appearance in the video. Glasses, no makeup, pajamas...please don't judge:) Oh well, the scooter wipeout makes it all worth it in the end.

Baking, Playing, Visiting...What We've Been Up To

2011-03-01T07:50:00.000-08:00

The kids have been huge helpers in the kitchen lately. They love making homemade granola bars, soft pretzels, and any type of dessert, such as Valentine's Day cupcakes. We've also been doing lots of sledding, wrestling (Seth wouldn't let me post any of those pics, as they were all in their undies:) ), reading, playing games, drawing, having playdates, and anything else we can think of to keep winter boredom away! Last weekend, we went to Iowa to watch my brother coach the Pella High School Girls basketball team. They won by almost 20 points that night, so thanks for not making me sweat it out, Jer:) They lost their next game (probably b/c we weren't able to be there...that's what the kids think anyway...ha) that would have put them at the state tourney. And my mom planned an early b'day party for me, so I was able to see some of my extended family while visiting. Thanks, mom!

Starting to roll out the dough for pretzels...pardon my messy kitchen in the background...we'd already made granola bars and just kept going:)

They tasted way better than this pic shows...I could never have a food blog:)

Seth and his teacher, Ms. Phelan, at his Writer's Workshop Sharing Day (the kids had earned pajama day, which is why her pants look a bit funky...of course, Seth thinks PJ day is babyish, which is why he's in plain clothes:))

Me, Josie and my dad

My SIL Leah and niece Cayla

My mom and step-dad

Take two

My aunt Cindy and cousin Sonny

My grandparents

Cayla and Josie...Josie was in her undies because she was sweating after playing a jumping game with the boys...she definitely takes after Gabe in this regard.

Things were going well until some hair pulling took place:) I love how Josie is heartbroken and Cayla is chill...they quickly made up, tho!

City Museum

2011-02-26T15:24:00.000-08:00

Jim and Shirley came to visit a few weeks ago, and took us to the City Museum. It was amazing, and I don't think we even got to a lot of things it had to offer. The kids loved it, especially the outdoor part that was made up of all kinds of things to climb. And WAY up high! You can tell Josie has two big brothers, she was game for almost everything the boys tried, except the very highest wire tunnel that was 8 or 9 stories high. Thanks, Jim and Shirley, for taking us! I have more pics on my FB album, so these are just some of the favorites...didn't want to bore you, but still probably did:)

Outside at City Museum

Seth climbing 7 or 8 stories up high

I was looking straight up at Gabe for this one

See both boys in this one? They had so much fun!

Nile and Josie climbing down to the airplane

The awesome slide

Union Station

2011-02-26T07:06:00.000-08:00

Seth and Nile doing some shoveling first:)

They have become quite the Cards fans! You're welcome, dad:)

Seth's Hundred Day Celebration

2011-02-26T06:47:00.000-08:00

Seth had a hundred day celebration, and were also celebrating reading 100 books in 100 days, quite the big deal at Mason Ridge! They had an hour long presentation where they sang songs about 100 and recited poems, etc. And Seth did it all! I am still getting used to that:) Nana and Papa happened to be visiting that weekend, so that worked out great. Here are a few pictures of the day.

Christmas in Iowa

2011-02-15T12:15:00.000-08:00

I have so few pictures of our time in Iowa over Christmas:( Our camera somehow deleted ALL of our pictures...bummer. That's Nile's claim, anyway:) And I choose to believe that it wasn't a wrong button he pushed when he was trying to figure out how to better use our camera...lol. I still love him;) Here are just a few pictures of Christmas.

Uncle Jerod and Gabe surrounded by lots of white

Gabe playing in the snow while Grandpa Pat (my dad) snowblows

Gabe and Grammies (my mom) at Christmas

Josie and Grammies

Grammies with our kids at Christmas time

Gabe's Presentation (John Adams)

2011-02-13T12:52:00.000-08:00

Gabe had to dress up as John Adams and give a presentation in front of his class and all the parents of his classmates. The kids had to memorize their whole speech, and weren't allowed to use any notecards at all, which made for some funny times when a few of the kids completely lost their places. I always feel so bad when that happens. Gabe typically gets so nervous that he feels physically ill the night before something like this (they had to memorize lots of poems last year and do presentations for those), but this time he was much better about it. I, on the other hand, was a wreck on his behalf:) The video clarity is poor, but you can at least hear him. The cute blond kiddos in the pictures below are my daycare kids. Gabe got lots of love when he was done:)

Colin and Josie

Gabe with Reese, Colin, and Josie

Gabe & Josie with me, notice that I got 6 inches cut off my hair?!!

Josie Riding a Bike

2011-02-13T12:25:00.000-08:00

Josie decided to try to ride Seth's old bike a few months ago, because she wanted one with no training wheels. Nile said she hopped right on and took off like a pro. She can't quite get the whole process started by herself, so Nile had to push her, like, 50 times:) He's a great daddy that way...me, I would have been sick of it after twenty. She was so proud. I love how she rides right into the boys' football game at the end.

Family Pictures, 2010

2011-02-10T09:31:00.000-08:00

This past October, a friend on campus took family pictures for us. We have never had a family picture together, besides snapshots, so it was really fun. She did a fantastic job, and the kids had a blast playing and climbing trees. Thanks, Kacey!

October 2010

2011-02-08T09:44:00.000-08:00

I am so far behind:( It's hard to even want to try to catch up, but I really want us all to be able to look back on our time at seminary and remember what life was like while we were here. A little disclaimer...I removed my blog address from my FB page, mainly because I don't have (never have had, actually) a strong desire for lots of people to read my blog...that's just not me:) I am fine with just my friends and family reading this, plus I want it to be more of a journal/scrapbook of our time here, and I want the freedom to be a little more real and authentic without feeling like I have to justify it or worry what others may think of me...haha...now that's a life lesson God continues to challenge me with on a very regular basis. :) Anyone else ever struggle with seeking the approval of man sometimes over the approval of God?!! So, if you want a more surfacy (did I make that word up?) overview, go to my Facebook page instead of here;) A look back... starting way back in October...

Totally out of order, but I am too lazy to fix it...sorry. This is the end of the night:0)

Exhausted after walking through a huge neighborhood in fabric ballerina slippers...I win the rotten mom award for that-didn't know we would be leaving campus to trick-or-treat...oops.

The 2nd annual seminary Halloween parade...love it.

Gabe

Seth

A little dancing for good measure.

Gabe's 3rd grade class

Gabe, ready for his party...he felt a little silly, since the school wouldn't allow any masks. It was so fun to see him with his class & just watch him interact. I always say Gabe totally helped me train S & J to have such good manners...he is so polite & courteous, and it's good for me to see that in action, because I have a tendency to sometimes be too hard on him & expect too much of him. Something for me to work on. Though there are times he needs to work on his attitude at home, as well:) Love my first born.

Josie wasn't afraid to jump right in & join Seth's class for the afternoon:) They were very gracious.

Seth loves this little girl in his class named Lily (in the pink). He tells everyone "Lily is very nice and she is a Christian. She has troubles with the connectors in her brain hemispheres, so I help her." My favorite thing his teacher told me at parent-teacher conferences was that Lily loves Seth because he is so kind to her.

Recent Words from the Kids

2010-11-15T05:16:00.000-08:00

I've done an awful job of writing down stuff the kids have said lately, so I am trying to document these things again.
Josie loves to make up stories, and she makes up these grand names (sometimes so grand that she can't even remember the names halfway through the story) for her characters. The other night, she told this wonderful story about a princess named Labia...yes. I could barely control myself. And because it was a little simpler name than she usually chooses, she remembered it until the very end of the story. Of course.
Josie was with me the other day when I got my eyebrows waxed-she has never witnessed this before because I've only done it one other time in my life. Anyway, a few days later, we were playing hair salon, and she said, "Okay. Now you need your eyebrows whacked off so you'll look pretty for the ball". She meant waxed off:)

Seth has been talking like a little old man lately, with these big words and funny way of saying things (a lot of that he has learned from Gabe, who has always been that way). Yesterday, I asked him how Sunday School was. This was our conversation:
Me: How was it, buddy?
S: It was good. I even raised my hand and spoke. When I was called upon, all the girls were looking at me.
Me: Why do you think they were looking at you?
S: I think they were thinking that I was charming.

And Gabe has been so funny and thoughtful lately. He is the first to notice if I seem out of sorts, tired, etc. and give me a hug. The other day, he came up to me and said, "How's your day going, mom? You just seem like maybe it isn't your best day. Are you doing okay?" And then gave me a hug. He has always been very perceptive and aware of other people's feelings. And very thankful for the smallest things, too, from me doing extra cleaning (he always notices my projects or extra work) to us taking them somewhere, etc. Some funny phrases from him lately...
..."she said this, and I highly agree..."
"Don't be too impressed, mom, he learned if from Word Girl a while back" (in response to Seth telling Josie that cumbersome means difficult, hard to carry).
"I didn't make any new friends at running club today. I kind of like to keep to myself and do my own thing when I'm running."
I hadn't bought Cheddar Chex Mix in probably a year, which is his very favorite...mostly cuz when you are on a very tight budget, you want to spend your money on healthy stuff. Anyway, I surprised him & bought some, and he was thrilled. I kid you not, the next day, we were playing outside and he said, "Thanks for buying my favorite Chex Mix, mom. It really means a lot to me." Oh, my heart.

Nana & Papa & Campus Pictures

2010-11-13T07:46:00.000-08:00

Still updating...a few pictures of our pretty campus this fall, and also of Nile's parents and the kids at the Botanical Garden. I unfortunately forgot my memory card that day, and was so sad to only get a few pictures, as everything was so beautiful. Bummer.

A few pictures of the Botanical Garden...

Nana and Papa and the kids

And an oldie but goodie that I just found...Josie (age 2) and her beloved Cooper James:)

Chicago Trip

2010-11-04T11:52:00.000-07:00

A month ago, Nile and I got to be a part of our friends, Rich and Meredith's wedding, so we went to Chicago. Sadly, I don't have a picture of the gorgeous bride & groom:( How awful is that?! The kids were so amazing that weekend...we are so thankful to Makenna and Andrew and Alissa and Rob for letting our kids sit with them during the ceremony! We got there, and wondered what on earth we had thought the kids were going to do while Nile did the wedding and I was up front to sing three songs?! We had backpacks full of activities prepared for during the rehearsal, the dinner, etc., but no plans for the wedding ceremony:) Thankful for friends, for sure! The first bunch of pix are from the beautiful hotel we stayed at (a huge thank you to Meredith's parents!)-the same place the reception took place. Oh, and also SO thankful that no one stole my purse, which was sitting by a chair in the hotel lobby unattended for well over an hour! Gracious.

Loved the bunny ears we hadn't noticed at the time:)

Makenna and Gabe dancing it up

Alissa and Josie, both looking so pretty!

Beck...such a doll! And Andrew in the background:)

Gabe was doing some dance moves and whipping his tie around at the hotel

The only picture I have of the three of them dressed up...I know the lighting is horrible, but I loved Seth's pose (no, I did not tell him to do that).

This is how they passed the time while Nile was getting gas...having contests to see who could hold this position the longest. I couldn't believe it when Seth won...Gabe is very competitive, and Seth is SO not competitive and, well, he has more meat on his bones to hold up. I was happy for him, though, because athletic things seem to come very easily to Gabe & Seth has gotten used to Gabe winning a lot. Gabe was fine with it, though surprised:)

Grant's Farm

2010-10-30T06:08:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, we went to Grant's Farm, finally! We had been hearing about it forever, and just never gotten there. It was really fun...long tram ride through most of the land, which was decorated for Halloween, petting zoo, elephants, camels, donkeys, lots of other stuff, too, and free beer for Nile (and not just a little cup, either! They give you a big aluminum bottle of it plus 2 free glasses). The Clydesdales were beautiful, though I only got one picture. And there was a charming little area to eat, as well. My favorite part was watching the kids pet/feed the little goats...more to come on that:) My other favorite part was that admission is free, except for parking.

Sorry, mom, the horse put his head down right when I took the picture:(

Cool Halloween decorations!

Daddy and Josie on the tram ride

Blurry picture, but I love my little guy's face while he was daydreaming.

We took a picture of Big Fred for our Texas cousins:)

The goats...getting acquainted.

This is out of order, but after about 15 minutes with the goats (there were literally about 40 of them in this huge pen), I realized Gabe was the only one who hadn't had any interaction with the goats:) He was so funny about it ("No, I'm not scared of them. I just don't really want to pet them")...finally, he found one he thought would be safe to pet. It was asleep. That's why he chose it. Hilarious. So, as he crouches down beside it, I get ready to take a picture. Unbeknownst to him, a different little goat is coming up behind him, and I start laughing so hard I can't take the picture, but Gabe has no idea why I'm laughing. This other little goat puts his head right up under Gabe's arm, just butts right in and scares Gabe half to death. It was the funniest thing I have seen in a long time. I am so mad that I couldn't stop laughing and get the picture taken. I was doubled over-we were all cracking up. Anyway, this is Gabe and his sleeping goat:)

Josie did really well feeding the goats at first, but then the aggressive ones started jumping up on her, and almost knocked her over. Their hooves came up to her shoulders, of course, and they were face to face. She then said, "I think I'd like to go out of here, now, mommy". So cute. One started nibbling on my leg and jumped up on me, too. I may have let out a startled little scream that made some passersby laugh at me. I didn't really love them, either.

Seth looks like he is enjoying this, but informed me later that he didn't really like the goats:) What can I say, we are dog people. And we like to LOOK at other animals.

This is the little village area...

I don't like beer (much to Nile's dismay), but he wanted me to hold it for the sake of the picture:)

And some pics of Josie and my childcare kiddos painting our pumpkins...

Eckert's Apple Orchard

2010-10-01T13:40:00.000-07:00

We had a fun time at the apple orchard last weekend. This one had pig races, camel/pony rides (which we did not do b/c they cost extra), a small petting zoo, pumpkin launching, a fort to play in, rides, lots of food stands, and hay rides. Probably more stuff that I am not remembering, as well. It was 74 and beautiful!

Seth took this shot of the pig races;)

I was smiling, but not for long. Somehow Nile disappeared when it was time for this ride, and I had to go with them. I dislike spinning things, but the kids were laughing so hard and having such a blast that it was worth it.

Watching the Jack-O-Lobber launch pumpkins half a mile...pretty cool.

Beautiful view of STL in the background

Back for more petting at the end of our visit, but tragically, this little fellow bit Josie's finger and broke her heart. She cried, which this tough girl does not often do...her feelings were hurt so badly. I tried to explain that we keep our hands flat when feeding them for good reason;)

Josie

2010-09-24T20:52:00.000-07:00

The first picture is after she rode her razor (scooter) for two miles, which included lots of hilly areas. I told her I didn't think it was a good idea, because I wouldn't be able to help her if she got tired because I was pushing Colin in the stroller and Reese was walking beside us. She insisted she could do it, and do it she did.I'm pretty sure she could have ridden 2 more miles. She fell alseep on the couch that afternoon, though;)

Josie uses any money she gets to buy dogs...and most of them (except the black one someone gave us) look just like our old dog Cooper.

Boys Birthday Party w/ Friends

2010-09-16T12:08:00.001-07:00

So, we had a party for the boys and a few of their friends at Millenium Park this past weekend. I felt guilty, because I put lots less thought/time into their party than I did for Josie's...mostly out of pure exhaustion from the week and lack of time. I am glad boys can do most anything to have fun together...we played baseball, football, ran in the splash pad, and played on the park equipment. And of course ate:) The funniest part of the day: I hadn't reserved the gazebo because it costs $30 to rent out (I'm a total cheapskate), and I was hoping like crazy that it would be available. Well, not only was it not available, there was a HUGE b'day party in it. They were gracious enough to let us borrow one table, but we had to put it out in the blazing sun, which was making my cupcakes start to literally melt. We set them on blankets on the ground under the table, hoping to shade them. Well, a little dog (who was off leash, for the record) very nearly ate them before I chased him away. Twice. My goodness, that would have been bad. There was no back up plan for that. It was a fun day, but I must say I am glad there are no birthdays for a while. Oh, check out Nile's shirt in the first picture! Who knew there was a St. Louis I Club group. Nile joined, and wore this shirt to root on the Hawks as they played Iowa State...did I mention we could've kicked ourselves for scheduling the party at the same time the Hawks played?! We had no idea until it was too late. The things you do for your kids:)

Having a blast in the splash pad

Josie and Caite, her little friend (my friend Rachel's daughter)

Seth and his buddies.

Well, my energy simply fell short and I didn't attempt some of the cool cake ideas I was planning to-it was a horribly crazy and tiring week. Thankfully, the boys didn't care one bit (love them) and simple was fine. This is supposed to be a lightsaber, btw:)

My sweet friend Rachel, helping me put on the finishing touches

Seth and his buddies at the party-Seth, of course, being the one whose face is covered by an arm:(

Nile and Josie getting back from a bike ride...just threw in this random photo.

Josie's cards for the boys...I couldn't believe how long and hard she worked on these (45 min. straight). Then she told me exactly what to write to each of them. I didn't have the heart to tell her that her J was backwards, though she has been doing great at remembering most of the time. And now she does what she calls "fancy letters", with swirls in her name...she just puts them wherever she wants, even if it's in the middle of her previously written name! It kills me, but it was her card, after all, so I didn't say a word:)

Seth Patrick, a little flashback:) Around 18-20 months old.

Gabriel Lee...around 14 months old.

Everything!

2010-09-13T11:19:00.000-07:00

I have a real need to be caught up on my blog, so I am lumping lots of things in this post to achieve that. Sorry, but I've been behind for so long! The only thing left are the pictures from this past Saturday's birthday party with all the boys friends...I think we will become pretty boring after this:) At least I hope! August into September has been crazy for us. I started doing childcare Tuesdays, most Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 7:30 to 5-it is really kicking my rear end! But I am thankful to be making money to help support us, even if it's just a little. Josie and I have started doing homeschool preschool stuff, and she loves it! I am sad that she will be my only kid to not experience Parkview Preschool, but I'll get over it...sniff, sniff. Gabe is doing great at school, and Seth is doing better:) He has stopped telling me, "I don't think I'll go to school today. It's too long of a day being at school the whole time", so that is good. Josie and I took him lunch 2 weeks ago, and ate with him in the cafeteria and had recess with him-he thought that was so cool! They only get ONE 10-12 min. recess a day. One, that is it! Makes me so mad. That's a conversation for another day, though. For some reason, Gabe doesn't want me to come have lunch with him:) Nine, and already embarrassed of his mother!

Since my mom and step-dad came to visit (woo-hoo!), Josie got to sleep with Gabe. You can see how this went, poor guy. I would move her leg off of him, and she would move it right back onto him in her sleep.

Soldiers

Such a cheesy grin-he was very, very excited!

The Lego sticker book was a huge hit! Thanks Jerod, Leah, and Cayla! Can't remember why Gabe was fake crying here...

The boys roped Papa Tim into helping:)

Nile and Gabe putting together Legos

Seth's battlefield

Josie and Grammies (my mom)

Seth always wants to decorate his own cake.

My lovely lopsided cake:) I didn't want to go to much trouble, because I knew I'd be making a cooler cake for their party with their friends...bad mom.

Mom, did you just catch me literally licking the ice cream off my plate?!

First day of school, 2010

Gabriel Lee, age almost 9

Not really cooperating with me here...

Not sure....

Nile & I on our 14 year anniversary date!

This is what my mornings (3 days a week) look like...the kids I babysit come by 7:30 am, and my boys don't go to meet the bus until 8:40...a bit crazy:)

Steamboat Springs with Nile's Family

2010-09-08T12:06:00.000-07:00

So, I am finally caught up on the last pictures from Colorado! We had so much fun seeing everyone, and are so thankful to Jim and Shirley for allowing this trip to happen! We stayed in Steamboat Springs, and had a blast hiking, swimming at the hot springs pool, playing lots of tennis, tubing down the river, and hitting the kids' first ever rodeo!

My carsick boys:( Seth literally had this bowl up to his chin (not on his lap, mind you) for 45 minutes. Gabe did throw up in his bowl, so I was glad we had it handy! Seth never did, but wasn't taking any chances. We were happy to be done with the curvy roads and altitude changes!

Daddy & Jos taking in the rodeo

Sarah and Joe at the rodeo

Josie wanted to document her injury:)

Nana with the kids

Gabe and Uncle Joe

Tubing down the river day...so much fun & so cold! Love the boys' expressions in these pictures! My boys had so much fun with the Heefner boys from Texas!

Seth will forever be my little dreamer, I think.

Dan, Liz, Luke, David, Zachariah, and Titus-cutest boys in the world! Thanks for the fun times!

Sapphire Point

2010-09-03T20:03:00.000-07:00

We were thrilled to get to hang out with the Mejia's while in Colorado! They are awesome and we have missed them! We spent the night with them, made smores, and let the kids have a blast together. They took us to Sapphire Point and I don't really know where else:)...but it was super fun. The kids sat for literally over an hour just feeding the chipmunks. The Aunan fam was also visiting CO, so we got to hang out with them, too. Josie loved their girls, so do I, for that matter! I'm so thankful we were able to have this time with them, and some great memories were made. Thanks so much, guys! We love you.

Josie, Katie, Kalylee, Jill & Deb waiting for chipmunks

Gabe with the daddy of them all!

Not a great picture of everyone, but those are hard to come by.

Gabe and Tyler

Lake Dillon

Josie and Katie Aunan...Josie loved Katie!

Deb & Seth hanging out:) She was his first preschool teacher & he adores her!

Deb & I at Sapphire Point

The Aunan girls, our kids, and the Mejia kids

My boys with the Mejia boys

The Mejia family

Denver Childrens Museum

2010-08-29T16:52:00.000-07:00

One of our days in Colorado, we hit the Denver Childrens Museum (free because we have the reciprocal pass from the STL one). The kids had a lot of fun, but I didn't realize how blessed we were to have our museum here. It puts the Denver one to shame, not to be rude or anything:)

Seth inside a giant bubble

Gabe climbing on the fire truck

Josie found this huge dog & carried it with her everywhere in the firetruck room! I only included three pictures, but I have none of her without the dog. My sweet dog lover!

And the dog, again:)

Daddy & Gabe planning what to build

Seth is at his happiest when he is creating!

Seth catching a water vapor bubble in another bubble

My silly boys

Colorado, Garden of the Gods

2010-08-21T10:57:00.000-07:00

We headed out for Colorado, & one of our first stops upon arriving was Garden of the Gods. The kids loved it, and the boys had fun mining, as Seth called it. They were looking for crystals & other precious stones. Beautiful place!

We missed the storm by mere seconds!

I swear I didn 't tell her to pose like this! So funny.

Gabe

Mining for crystals/minerals:)

Seth explaining something to Josie

Sweet Big Brother

2010-07-30T13:14:00.000-07:00

Gabe and Josie had no idea I was on the deck looking down on them, but Gabe was being so sweet to her that I couldn't resist trying to capture them together. Gabe really is a great big brother...this particular day, they were apparently looking for rabbits or squirrels to see. I needed to post these today, after kind of having a rough day, to remind myself how precious these times with little ones really are. On a not so good note, poor Josie...like I said, it has been a not so great day. Lots on my mind, seemingly overwhelming things to think about/accomplish, and (sinfully) worry about-just one of those days you want to climb in bed and not come out for a few hours. Ha! That's funny to even think about:) Anyway, I was doing stuff around the house, and couldn't keep myself from crying for the life of me. I was trying so hard not to give in, because the kids were playing nearby. Josie happened to look up and see me, so I quickly turned away in the hope that she would just keep playing. Instead, she runs over to get a closer look, and as soon as she sees me crying she bursts into tears, and sobs while holding my face in her hands and repeatedly saying, "Mommy, mommy". It was so pitiful, and I felt like a rotten mom. I tried to explain that sometimes just having a good cry makes you feel better, and that it is okay to cry and that God doesn't mind us being honest with Him and sharing our sad feelings with Him...don't know if she bought it, but she finally calmed down. Oh, my. And it was only lunchtime! Thankfully, my perspective is slowly becoming more aligned with God's and things seem much better already. Ah, the peace that only He can bring!

And then there's Seth, who just asked me if I wanted to see a magic trick from 1866 and then proceeded to ask "what exactly would Satan look like if we could see him right this minute? Would he be really hideous or look kind of normal?" Keeps me hoppin'!

Love the hands on the hips on this one!

We Love Visitors, Part 2!

2010-07-27T06:40:00.000-07:00

Jerod (my brother), Leah, and Cayla came to St. Louis to stay with us for a few days recently, and we had a super fun time with them. We hit the zoo, the Magic House, downtown St.Louis at a huge splash pad, played a lot, etc. The kids loved having Cayla around, so much so that I had to tell them numerous times to go find something to play with & give Cayla some time alone-they adore her. It was precious. Thank you guys for coming to see us! We love you all so much.

Love this one of Leah & Cayla

Cayla LOVED the water

Seth finding a place to rest at the zoo (this is so him!)

Two beautiful girls, Aunt Leah & Josie, at the Magic House

This is the splash pad/wading pool area downtown. The kids
had an absolute blast!

Josie wanted to show how she can swim all the way under
the water. She also will now jump in the deep end (over & over!)by herself

& tread water briefly before one of us grabs her. She has never

worn water wings, so this is a big show of bravery for her:) She loves to

wear her goggles so that she can swim underwater and see things.

I just love her pure delight!

Watching themselves on the huge screen in downtown STL

We Love Visitors, Part 1!

2010-07-19T14:13:00.001-07:00

My dad, step-mom, and little brother came to visit us recently. We had a great time with them! We hit the Botanical Garden, the zoo, went up in the Arch, and even got to see part of an air show right by the arch. The kids really loved getting to see them, though poor Griffin is almost too loved by our kids:) Thanks for being such a great uncle, Griff! We are so thankful you all came to visit us-we love you and miss you!

Nile's birthday!

2010-07-17T13:13:00.000-07:00

Trying to catch up, since I have been horrible about updating! We had a great time celebrating Nile's birthday...took him out to lunch (love gift cards! Thanks!)and had plenty of desserts, as the kids thought there MUST be cake on someone's birthday, even when the birthday guy wanted apple pie instead:) So, I made both to keep the troops happy. Nile always hates it when I get mushy & say too many nice things about him (publicly), so I will just mention this one lesson the kids and I have learned from him this past year:
We have seen perseverance lived out by Nile, and it has made an impact on us all. Seminary (mainly Greek)has been very challenging for Nile, and there have been many times he has just wanted to give up. We have seen him cling to God in these times, trusting in God's call for us to be here. It is far from easy, in fact, it seems as if it would be much easier to just quit...but he has not, instead, he keeps at it, one day at a time, trusting God to either see him through or reveal a different plan. I am so thankful our kids get to witness this! We love you and are so inspired & challenged by you! (Okay, that last part might get me in trouble).

Josie's Birthday, Part 2 (Our family)

2010-06-19T12:58:00.000-07:00

We came home (exhausted) from Josie's girly party, picked up the boys from summer school, and had party #2 with them. They didn't mind eating the extra cupcakes from her previous party, thankfully. They had made her precious cards and were very sweet to her, making her feel special. Then we hit the pool & had movie night...a long, fun day.

Loving her balloons

Reading his card to her..."I love you as a sister and a friend"...etc.

I just liked how she had her arm around Gabe in this one:)

Dogs for her dollhouse:)

The boys were seriously SO excited for her...probably because she was always borrowing their scooters:)

The Scooter Gang

Notice in the last four pictures that her hair is now up...it was horribly hot & humid, but she of course wanted to try out her new scooter...they lasted about 3 or 4 minutes, and came in all sweaty!

After blowing out the candles the first time, she said, "Mom, I didn't even

make my wish". So, we did it again & I could read her lips as she made
her wish..."I wish I could get a real dog again". Heartbreaking.

Laughing at her brothers