UTAH!

In January, Eric and I took a special trip to Park City, Utah to chill with our friends David and Beth Anderson. We were gone for 6 days with no kids! It was a hard decision to go since we hadn't really envisioned spending money this way and because it was a long time away from the kids. I'm so glad we went though! There is more to tell about this trip than I have time for blogging, so I'm just going to throw out a few happy pictures.

We skied, quite a lot. Two days of downhill skiing and one day of cross country. As you can see, Beth is mega preggers, so she was not allowed on downhill skis. David and Beth humbly (and patiently) invited me to teach them the basics of cross country skiing, and they caught on quickly! Cross country is a great workout for a gestating mama!
Basically, it was 5 degrees in Minneapolis, and 35 degrees in Utah the whole time. It was paradise. The sun on my fair skin felt as good as a Triple Chocolate Coconut Raspberry Entirely Decadent dessert on my tongue. (I have a good imagination for things like dessert, and I really love sunshine). David (certified ski instructor) very generously spent most of two days teaching Eric to downhill ski. Although he is still struggling a bit, David dun good! Eric can remain in control at all times and actually wants to continue learning the skills. While they taught and learned and skied a bit together, and while Beth ran all our errands and cooked our food (thanks Mom!), I explored the resort solo. It was fun and exhilarating and challenging and refreshing!Then we met up and did a few runs together. David and I also got to (recklessly) ski together a bit, allowing me to ski some new runs with a companion. David also evaluated my skiing a bit and helped me to start unlearning some bad habits and catch on to some new tricks. I can't wait to hit the slopes again and practice!
When we weren't skiing, we were settling Catan, talking politics, eating delicious food, talking economics, watching Sundance films, talking A Capella, sleeping in, talking parenting, hot tubbing, talking science, looking for Eric's lost _______ (fill in the blank), talking religion, cooking, talking Jesus, gleaning Sundance freebies, talking major life decisions, and talking some more. It was a sweet time!

Thanks D & B for convincing us to make the trip, and of course taking great care of us!

Blizzard Adendum

Well, we got a lot of snow over the weekend (around 20 inches at our house). As I mentioned, we stayed the weekend with our friends in nearby Minneapolis, only blocks from our friend Hannah. Dear Hannah had a humdinger of a weekend! While she was struggling against the weather, Aaron, Bethany, and I decided to walk 6 blocks to Walgreen's. Our walk was anything but ordinary, trudging through snow that was at times as high as our hips. Though the temperatures were frigid, all the hard work of walking kept us dripping with sweat! Anyway, as we walked, we repeatedly encountered people in sketchy situations trying to drive somewhere or just park their cars. On every block we had the opportunity to help dig out or push some body's vehicle. It was madness and chaos! So, I won't write out the whole long tale of our walk, but if you check out Hannah's story you'll get an idea what an afternoon stroll in blizzardy Minneapolis looks like. Thankfully, we had headed out "just for the fun of it" and weren't actually fighting with the storm or it's inconvenience!

Almost Wordless Wednesday: All a little out of focus, which only reinforces the generally chaotic vibe

If I were to give captions to these photos it would be something like:

"Yeah! Let's go hiking!" "I'm tiiiired" "No eating rocks." "Let's climb those stairs!" "Will you hold me?" "Hazel, you can't catch me!" "I want to ride in the stroller." "Ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!" "My stomach hurts." "What is for dinner?" "I DON'T want to _______" "C',mon Hopie!" "My stomach hurts." "She won't hold my hand." "I'm tiiiiired."

Wordless Wednesday - BWCA 2010

Eva's Birthday - Friend Party

Geez! I'm only four months behind on posting for Eva's birthday. What can I say, I've been spending my time on more important endeavors than the Internet.


So, May 4th marked Eva's 5th birthday, and as it turned out, we celebrated hard core for a good two weeks. She has two friends at church who have birthdays very close to hers. When the girls were born, our families were together in the same small group. Since that time, we haven't seen as much of these families as we'd like, but of course we stay in touch. One of the moms had the brilliant idea to do a combined birthday party since the girls would all be inviting a lot of the same guests from church. We loved the idea of combining our time, energy, and money to make a fun party! We ended up having 16 girls total. The theme was "princess" or "crowns" or something similar. It was a blast! Here are a few pictures-

(Eva, Taylor, Gracie)

The girls made "magic" wands consisting of shiny wrapping paper, bamboo skewers, tag board, glitter, markers, curling ribbon, sequins, and more. They were really snazzy! And really messy :).

(Ashley, Emmi, Eva, Briana, Elayna)

Jenna made cupcakes for each girl with a crown and their name on it. They were really cute!

You can also see Jenna's handiwork on the girls' faces below. Cake decorator and face painter extraordinaire! The birthday girls blew out their candles.
It was a beautiful April morning, so all the girls spread out on the deck for their princess lunch.

Jess and Jenna were the royal servants, catering crown-shaped PBJ sandwiches, cheese, strawberries, "princess punch", cupcakes, and ice cream. Apparently I just loitered around snapping pictures ;).After everybody went home, we posed a few pictures of the birthday girls together. The composition of this shot matches a Wal Mart portrait (don't scoff now!) we had taken of the girls when Eva was a mere 5 weeks old. I tried to scan it into the computer, but alas it is lost in the disorganized bowels of my hard drive.

***goofy girls***
***happy birthday girls***

test.

Wordless Wednesday: Car Wash

Aruba, Crisis, and 3 Babies

My father in law just returned from his annual one month trip to Aruba. He spent yesterday unpacking, repacking, gifting, and talking about what God taught him while he was away. A lot of talking. One word kept coming up over and over again: Crisis. He listened to a preacher talk about how sometimes our lives are just one crisis after another. I'm sure the preacher expounded on God taking care of us during crisis as well, but my ears were full after awhile ;). Our small family is not currently in the midst of a crisis (unless you count the serious sleep deprivation we've been experiencing lately), but this week I've watched several tornadoes storm through the lives of those close to us.

*****

1. Last Monday Eric's brother's wife gave birth to their second son, Solomon Leo Patenaude. His arrival was early, so they are now in the midst of a crisis with their 7 week premature baby. We are so thankful for modern medical technology that has kept little Solomon alive and will continue to sustain him until he is able to nurse and breath well on his own. Their family is banking their hope on Jesus to sustain them through this trying time. Ryan (dad), was in the midst of student teaching and has had to quit, Stephanie (mom) had to go home and experience the joys of postpartum life without her sweet baby by her side, and Thor (big brother-16 mos. old) is making some adjustments too, I'm sure.

2. Our close friends and partners in sanctification, Luke and Jennifer, found out on Tuesday that they will be moving to Iowa in a couple of months. This was a HUGE surprise and not a welcome one. They are struggling to believe that God has a good plan for them and that He will provide all the things they long for. Little Malachi (2 yrs) and Baby Nerea (2 months) are along for the ride...

3. My sister and her Baby Levi (6 mos.) were in a serious car accident on Thursday. They were hit by another driver then taken by ambulance to the ER. Thankfully they each only sustained minor injuries, but the car they were driving is fatally wounded. My sister is in the midst of a difficult first semester of Nursing School, but will need to rest some before returning to full speed mode.

*****

I felt a certain adrenaline rush as I watched from the sidelines of each of these situations. We know how stressful crisis is for a family, though thankfully ours have always been brief. As God brings these three babies and their families to mind, please pray for them. Pray that the "peace of God would guard their hearts and minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7).

Peace to each of you.

Valentine's Celebration

We hosted a Valentine's Day party for Eva's friends again this year, and it was a blast! The girls are all one year older and a whole lot easier to keep up with.

Eva's friend Ella was the first to arrive, so we took a couple pictures of her with Eva and Hope.

After all the girls were there we took a few more pictures- before anyone had purple frosting staining their teeth and fingernails :). (L-R: Ella, Madalyn, Hope, Kara, Moriah, Eva) Everyone looked adorably dressed for the occasion.
Our first matter of business was to bead some candy necklaces. The girls sat very quietly and diligently beaded their necklaces. Although some of the little ladies had impressive and artistic patterns in mind, Eva's main goal was to beat everyone and have her necklace done first. After noting this, I commented, "Wow, you're really cruisin' Eva!" The other girls looked a little confused and asked me what "cruisin'" meant. I tried to explain it, then they continued stringing their sugary masterpieces. I noticed some of them accelerating the project, and a few minutes later Madalyn looked up at me and announced, "I'm really...(pause of concentration)... screwin'!" I looked blankly at her, then realized, "Do you mean CRUISIN'?" I asked. "Yeah, cruisin'!" That little dialogue gave something to smile about for the rest of the day...
After making their jewelery, the girls played together for a few minutes while I set up their heart themed snack. Heart cupcakes, cheese slices, jello, and berries were on the menu. To the girls credit, they all wanted seconds of the berries and they hardly finished their cupcakes. Good taste, girls!
I'm learning a few tricks for large living in small spaces. One of them is what we call "living room picnics". We often have adults squeeze around our tiny kitchen table and spread the kids out on the floor with a vinyl tablecloth to define their space. It works for us!

During snack time, I read the girls a clever story called Pinkalicious. In the story, a headstrong little girl turns her whole body red by eating too many pink cupcakes. The girls enjoyed the tale, and had some very interesting discussion about consequences, confessing sin, and obeying your parents. I found their conversation to be insightful, motivating, and all together entertaining!
Moriah and Kara.
Madalyn and Hope.
Up next we made a little craft. I found a little craft kit at Joann Fabrics with a bunch of ladybug magnets, enough to make 16 for less than $3.00. That was an easy, affordable, and cute plan, I thought. I wasn't really thinking then about the glue gun that I would have to use, but thankfully the girls were all very obedient and helpful and no one was scorched by the hot glue! Ella shows off her ladybug here.
As is often the case, Esther enjoyed the festivities from the safety of her Bumbo seat and while getting some Z's in our quiet bedroom. Of course, the girls wouldn't let her off the hook completely! After all the "big" girls applied their heart tattoos, Esther got one of her own. There has to be a first time for everything, and this was it for baby-tattoo-wearing. I thought it looked pretty cute next to her fat, little feet though! As you can see, she was completely nonpulsed by the whole event.

Thanks to all of Eva's friends for coming and sharing a fun morning with us. Lord willing, we'll do it again next year!