Rollerskating Fun with Emma

First of all I love birthdays. I feel like a birthday should be celebrated all week (including both weekends) and I'm all for celebrating a half birthday - just because having cake and a special day for you just once a year isn't enough.

I also love parties, especially birthday parties. I love the planning, the cake decorating, the games and afterward remembering how fun it was. But with five kids and after one year spending an obscene amount of money taking an entire second grade class rollerskating, we had to cut down on the big parties.

Now we have parties for birthdays 1, 5, 10, 13 and 16 and in between those years the kids can choose to do something with one friend and the family. So, for Emma's 6th birthday the family went rollerskating. Here's the evening in pictures.

The birthday girl showing just how fast she can go.

Emma with big sister Azzie

Azzie (I know serious red eye, but she's very into twilight so she thought it looked cool)

Once again it took several tries to get an unblurry picture of Shariah, the speedster.

Ruby's first time skating and is holding onto Uncle Peter and Grandma.

And I'm going to leave you with a couple of quotes from my girl who never fails to keep me laughing.

Me: Emma, do you know that the biggest word in the world is supercalifragilisticexpealidocious?

Emma: No it's not Mom!

Me: Oh then what is?

Emma: Go-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-d!

Later that same day...

Emma: Hey Mom, I was just wondering, does everyone in the world have taste bugs?

So Much To Be Thankful For

It's Thanksgiving morning and before I write what I am planning I have to say that my husband is watching the football game and all of my kids, including Brayden (who is not quite two) are all singing along with the Star Spangled Banner...it's SO cute!

I don't talk about our family much, as in Bill's and my sisters and brothers and moms and dads. But I can count on the Thanksgiving holiday especially to bring all the issues we have right in our faces. We always have the problem of where to have Thanksgiving and the truth is we'd just rather go far far away and celebrate with strangers.

Last year we did skip town and it was wonderful. No stress, no family bickering, no one coming to dinner stoned, you get the point.

One major issue is my sister "B". She's struggled for years with drinking, drugs, eating disorders and relationship problems. I don't think she'd mind me sharing that with the world. She is very open about what she struggles with. Sometimes too open for my personal comfort!

So, on Sunday (I'm sorry if I'm skipping all over the place but as you can imagine there's a lot to this story) I was on my way to church to share that speech. It was the last day of hunting season so my husband had been tromping through the soggy forrest all morning and was meeting me at church. We were supposed to be there early and we were running late and of course I lost my keys, cuz that always happens when I'm already running late for something! I was irritated and yelling at the kids to get in the car, buckle up, etc. They were fighting with each other over who knows what in the back seat. I pulled out onto the road thinking "How am I supposed to go and stand up in front of the church and share when this is how my morning goes???"

I said a prayer that things would change and calmed down myself hoping that it would spread throughout the car. Then I decided to check my messages (I know, I try not to talk on the phone while driving, but listening to messages is different right?) and there was a message from my sister. She called to say that she's going to Teen Challenge and leaving as soon as possible!!!

Teen Challenge is actually for all ages despite the name "teen". It is a year long program which includes drug rehab, discipleship (it's a Christian organization), extensive counseling and eventually outreach. Rather than an 8% success rate like 21 day rehabilitation centers the success rate is much much higher. I'll have to find out what it is find out what it for sure, but from what I've heard, it's more like 80%.

So many seeds have been sown into B and that morning I was so beyond encouraged to see the glimpse of the seeds taking root. I was so filled with thankfulness by the time I arrived at the church.

B has a purpose and she's going to step forward in courage and allow God to lead her and prepare her for that purpose.

Leaves in the wind

So I did it, trembling with a racing heart, I got up in front of the entire church and gave this "speech". I do NOT like speaking in front of people (who does seriously??) but I find myself accepting opportunities and hoping for more. Weird? I never said I wasn't;)

Anyway, a few different people came up to me afterward and said the best thing ever...they said God spoke to their heart through my words...I'm so completely humbled!!!

So, this was edited from the first version.

Just this morning I woke up to a beautiful song. I love music and these lyrics really spoke to my heart. The song is by Among the Thirsty and it’s called “I’d Need a Savior”

How many names can I use to explain the love of my Jesus,the life that he gave and so many times will I raise you today.I lift up my life ‘cause you’re always the sameAnd my offering to you I bring

Last week I was not in the best mood for preparing to say what I’m thankful for. I sat one morning with my cup of coffee and peered out at the blustering day (I do blame the weather). I saw some terrified leaves fall to be swept to a place I couldn’t see from my window, and in a moment of melancholy I realized that I kind felt like one of those leaves being tossed to and fro in the raging wind, only taking detours from my final destination…the ground. I know! Don’t ever let me complain about my girls being overly dramatic!

This year has been tough and last year was tough too. Trials have come one after another and even overlapped each other on several occasions. I’ve become accustomed to moments of brief rest before the testing of my faith begins yet again. I know that testing grows us, but honestly I’ve wondered how much “growing” one person can possibly need…you don’t have to answer that!

There’s been plenty of inspiration on Facebook as so many people are typing out things that they’re thankful for. I also read over my family’s Thanksgiving letters from last year. I usually have everyone write a simple note of what we’re thankful for but I don’t think I’ve ever actually gone back to them until this week. There is something to remembering what we have and counting our blessings. I laughed to see that three out of five children were thankful for candy (probably old from Halloween) last year and the rest were sweet and doing so definitely helped to improve my mood. At the time last year we were struggling with the shock of our situation. Being in the building industry we were hit early by the economic downturn and most of what I wrote in my own letter focused on what we had left. I was thankful that we had our health and our home and family and friends.

As this financial trial has continued, honestly becoming more of a “life” trial, the feeling of defeat and the loss of hope have definitely settled upon me. And that’s where this sorry leaf analogy comes in. I’m definitely in a different place this year and I haven’t decided if it’s better or worse.

Throughout the week I’ve had another song in my head. “I will arise and come to Jesus”. The lyrics that I love are these:

I will arise and go to Jesus,He will embrace me in His rms;In the arms of my dear Savior,O there are ten thousand charms.

Come, ye thirsty, come, and welcome,God’s free bounty glorify;True belief and true repentance,Every grace that brings you nigh.

Come, ye weary, heavy laden,Lost and ruined by the fall;If you tarry till you’re better,You will never come at all.

You see I know what I’m supposed to do. I know what the bible says. The bible says to trust in Him, look to Him, keep my eyes focused on Him, and for the weak and weary there is no shortage of promises, in fact every answer we need is there in God’s Word. But keeping faith and keeping focused are not easy to do when things are pressing at us from every direction. It’s not easy when the possibility of things turning around slips farther and farther away. Honestly there comes a point of giving up on circumstances and lettings things go.

In the middle of my leaf word picture I realized that there is something that I hold onto when everything else is hopeless. I might be heading down to the ground, but God is an expert at raising things from the dead. He takes dead things and breaths life into them, infuses them with His power and His glory and when He resurrects something it is eternally better than how it was before.

Jesus was crucified, but He rose from the grave, He conquered death for all of us and He is living in His glorified body. He saved us by that atoning work and when I think about what He has saved me from, I want nothing more than to serve Him daily!

He saved me at a young age calling my name and for that I am thankful. His grace filled the gaps in my dysfunctional family as He comforted my pain and covered my shame. My despair and unbelief led me to a life of parties and drugs and He saved me from the destruction that I was running towards. I was alone and He restored to me a family with ample room for grace to be lived out daily. I had dreams as a little girl of having a wonderful husband and lots of children and He restored that dream (we have five kids). He took me in my brokenness, in my depression and despair and continues to turn those ashes into beauty.

What I am most thankful for though, is that while I may feel blown around in the wind and while I may lose faith, give up, lose sight of the Truth, screw up, fail, you get the point, God does NOT change. And His power is made perfect through our weaknesses. Not in spite of them, but THROUGH them! That’s grace! The same power that conquered death is in us!

Something that remains on my list from year to year is my thankfulness for my family and our friends; people lift us up when we are lacking faith, speak truth to us when we need it, people who feed us when we are hungry and clothe us when we need it. And people who give us that opportunity to be in their lives so we can do that for them as well.

The last thing that I want to share is that I am thankful for this day, because really this day is all we know that we will have, right? And if we have lost hope and faith for a little while or lived for years running from God one way or another, we have this day. God’s compassions never fail. Lamentations 3:23 says “they are new every morning; great is [His] faithfulness”.

I’m just going to finish with the rest of the lyrics to “I’d Need a Savior”:

How many songs can I sing to proclaim
your wondrous love and beauty so great?
What would I say if you brought down the rain and
everydayI walk through the pain my heart would still
say…

Chorus: Your name is Jesus. Your name is
Jesus.
You’re the Wonderful, Counselor, my Friend.
You’re what I hold on to; I know that you brought me through
All the days of loss, to the cross you knew
I’d need a Savior.

You’re what I hold on to; I know that you brought me through
All the days of loss, to the cross you knew I’d need a
Savior.
I’d need a Savior
I need you, Savior

This Thanksgiving

I have spent the last couple of days preparing to share in church a little something about Thanksgiving, and the timing was interesting because for the last couple of days the weather has been gloomy, rainy and very windy and I have to say that like so many people around here, my mood has gone right along with the weather.

So, I sat with my cup of coffee and peered out with heavy cheeks at the blustering day. There a few terrified leaves fell and were swept to a place I couldn’t see from my window, and in a moment of melancholic tragedy I exclaimed to my pitying self that I felt like one of those leaves being tossed to and fro in the raging wind, only taking detours from my final destination…the ground. I hope I’m not the only one who can be that pathetic!

This year has been tough and last year was tough too. Trials have come one after another and even overlapped each other on several occasions. I’ve become accustomed to moments of brief rest before the testing of my faith begins yet again. I know that testing grows us, but honestly I’ve wondering how much “growing” one person can possibly need…don’t answer that!

For inspiration I read over my family’s Thanksgiving letters from last year. I usually have everyone write a simple note of what we’re thankful for but I don’t think I’ve ever actually gone back to them until this week. There is something to remembering what we have and counting our blessings. I laughed to see that three out of five children were thankful for candy last year and the rest were sweet as well. At the time we were struggling with the shock of our situation. Being in the building industry we were hit early by the economic downturn and most of what I wrote in my own letter focused on what we had left. I was thankful that we had our health and our home and family and friends.

As this financial trial has continued, honestly being more of a “life” trial the feeling of defeat and the loss of hope have definitely settled upon me. And that’s where this sorry leaf analogy comes in. I’m definitely in a different place this year and I haven’t decided if it’s better or worse.

You see I know what I’m supposed to do. I know what the bible says. The bible says to trust in Him, look to Him, keep my eyes focused on Him, and for the weak and weary there is no shortage of promises, in fact I believe every answer we need is there in God’s Word. But keeping faith and keeping focused are not easy to do when things are pressing at us from every direction. It’s not easy when the possibility of things turning around slips farther and farther away. Honestly there comes a point of giving up on circumstances and lettings things go.

In the middle of my leaf word picture I realized that there is something that I hold onto when everything else is hopeless. I might be heading down to the ground, but God is an expert at raising things from the dead. He takes dead things and breaths life into them, infuses them with His power and His glory and when He resurrects something it is eternally better than how it was before.

Jesus was crucified, but He rose from the grave, He conquered death for all of us and He is living in His glorified body. He saved us by that atoning work and when I think about what He has saved me from, I want nothing more than to serve Him daily!

He saved me at a young age, calling my name and I’m thankful I listened. His grace filled the gaps in my dysfunctional family as He comforted my pain and covered my shame. My despair and unbelief led me to a life of parties and drugs and He saved me from the destruction of my own making. I was alone and He restored to me a family with ample room for grace to be lived out daily. He restored to me my little girl dream of having a godly husband and lots of children. He took me in my brokenness, in my depression and despair and turned those ashes into a thing of beauty as I’m able to understand and know firsthand what so many women struggle with today.

What I am most thankful for though, is that while I may feel blown around in the wind and while I may lose faith, give up, lose sight of the Truth, screw up, fail, you get the point, God does NOT change. And His power is made perfect through our weaknesses. Not in spite of them, but THROUGH them! That’s grace! The same power that conquered death is in us, through His Spirit.

Something that remains on my list from year to year is my thankfulness for friends and family; people who fed us when we were hungry and clothed us when we needed it and I’m thankful that we have the opportunity to do that for others.

My challenge this Thanksgiving is to dwell on who He is, remember how He saved you and serve Him daily.

Our Weekend Getaway (Part 1)

We had such a nice weekend together, even if half of it was spent in the car. We set out on Friday morning in the fog and good chance of rain and headed over the "beautiful" North Cascades Highway. Now, I'm sure it is beautiful when the sunlight is gleaming down through the trees, but a better word for it during our trip would be...frustrating. I had to drive really slow through all the windy curves.

The sun did peek through and blue sky was spotted when we got to 8000 feet but it was enough for me. Autumn leaves would have been nice but honestly I was much more interested in the quality driving time with my handsome man:)

We stopped in Winthrop and walked around a little. If you've never been you should go and take your kids and head on into one of their saloons for a sarsaparillas. That's about it.

When we came down into the Metho Valley we did see beautiful leaves and orchards. The valleys in Eastern Washington are always so amazing to me, how things can grow abundantly right along the river, but almost immediately after...I guess where the irrigation system ends, everything is dry dessert land. The rock formations are amazing and made me wish I knew a little more about geology. I didn't get a good picture but so many of them look like God took his hand and smushed it down like dry bread dough.

The other towns we passed were not much to mention and actually a little depressing to drive through even. I mentioned that to my dad when we got back and he said many of those towns are filled with drugs and drug cooking labs/trailers and they have all the other stuff that goes along with that...sad.

Then we got to Colville and I honestly felt like I was home after a long time away. Compared to the other towns we'd gone through (Omak, Republic, Kettle Falls) Colville has much more of an influence from Spokane, which is directly two hours South.

The old Main street looked the same, with the old movie house and other family owned businesses.

We stopped to get a bite to eat at a family Mexican Restaurant and there we got a feel for local life. It reminded me a lot of Stanwood, but maybe a few years behind and an even slower pace.

After eating we drove out of town, further down Highway 20 to the Beaver Lodge Resort. It was dark and we just checked in and headed to our interestingly decorated cabin. I'll just say whoever decorated has a thing for floppy eared dressed up bunnies!

The next morning we headed a few miles down the road to Molanda. It took us awhile to find the place. Last time I was there I was 12 and Bill visited a few years ago with my brother. We finally found it and drove up the old driveway which was heavily overgrown. We found the back door opened and realized right away that our suspicions were too true and grossly understated. Pack rats have taken up residence and the inside was covered with insulation and rat poop. We looked around and took note of how much cleaning we would need to do, got back into the car and headed back to Colville for rat traps and orange vests (it was the height of deer season and I was afraid to get out of the car without one).

In town we drove around and Bill let me be sentimental for awhile. I found my old school "Aster Elementary" and our old house on Summit Ave. I drove by the dirt pit that me and my friends would sneak over to and slide down and reminisced about my childhood and where everyone was now. In our entire marriage I don't think I've ever really done this with my husband. He grew up around Stanwood so we're always driving past places where he learned to ride a bike, played with his childhood friends, etc.

After checking out the Walmart, which wasn't there before, we drove back up to Molanda and in our bright orange vests, explored the property more. I was most excited to see my "Field of Wildflowers" where I'd go as a child and play, pretend and talk to God. As you can see in the picture below there are no flowers there now, but I'm betting they grow there in the spring. We'll have to go back and see for sure.


I felt such peace being there again. The woods are overgrown but I still had that feeling that this was how it should be, that this was how woods should be and this was how I should feel. Completely content with life.

Later went back to where we were staying and discovered Lake Gillette right next to the resort. Beautiful pristine waters with a backdrop of firs and tamaracks (those are the yellow conifer trees).

Overall our trip was such a time of rest, fun being together and beautiful. And we didn't realize how much we needed that!