The Kind of Love

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.  The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.  Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.  And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
1 John 3:1-3


I am a sinner.  Though Christ lives in me, I mess up everyday.  This week has been particularly a more difficult week.  I have not loved Owen & Eden as I should; in fact, I have been impatient & harsh at times.  I have cried most of the days this week.  One day, I felt like the best thing for me to do for my family would be to run away.

Then something amazing happened.


Jon cancelled some plans yesterday and allowed me to go find a quiet place in the house to pray.  So I went our bathroom (the only place in the house where you can't hear anyone) and talked with God about it awhile.   God has refreshed me with His love for me.  Yesterday, he reminded me through Psalm 61:2 that He can "Lead me to the rock that is higher than I."  And all day long, when my amount of love had ended he reminded that through His grace I could love more.  When my patience ended, He could bring me more patience.  When I thought I wasn't going to make it, He could carry me.

Then this morning I read the passage in 1 John 3:1-3.  And, oh my goodness, I am so thankful for His love for me.  Because of Jesus' death on the cross, I can stand before God as "holy & perfect".  However, while we are still on earth we still have our natural body and don't live out the perfection that Jesus has given us.  Which bring us back to what I was saying at the beginning of how depraved I am and how much I need Jesus daily.  This verse gave me such hope in remembering that He is not done transforming me.  The woman I was this week doesn't have to be the woman I'm going to be next week, next year or next decade.  I am His masterpiece and He is still working out my character to look more like Him.  What I may be has not yet appeared but when I see Him one day I will be like Him and oh what a glorious day that will be!

Here are some pictures of Owen & Eden just because I know you love them. :)

Already november!?!?

As I was sitting down to update the blog, I started thinking, "Wow!  I can't believe it's already November!"  And its actually now almost December, almost Christmas, almost Faithwalkers and almost the New Year!  It feels like just a few weeks ago since we last went to the splash park before summer ended.  Time is such an interesting thing.  Eden is 3 1/2 months now.  It feels like she has been in our life for much longer than that, yet the summer feels like it was just here which meant Eden wasn't.  She is already almost 4 months, when she can technically start baby food, but she still feels so little compared to how old I felt Owen was at the same age.  Anyway, this post is just a big collage of our fall and the fun we've been up to.

This Halloween we took Owen & Eden to a few neighbors houses for trick or treating.  Owen was kind of unsure about it, but loved the candy!  Here is my handsome Tiger & pretty pony:

Our neighbors dog got dressed up as a mailman!

Later that week, Grandma Tickles & Great-grandma Farmer came to visit.  We played at the house a lot & went to the fall party at the church.  We loved having them in town!

Below is a picture of Owen & his beloved friend Kaisa at the harvest party.  Its so fun now to see Owen & his friends interact really well together.  I love watching them learn & grow up.  Now whenever we come to one of the church parking lots Owen yells "Kais!" (usually without a reminder from me that we are going to see her!)  Such a smart boy.  I also put some other pictures of Owen & Kaisa from the fall.

Another visitor we had this fall was Aunt Mandy!  Mandy is in the process of switching jobs & just moved back to Kansas City so she came and visited for most of a week.  We loved having some laid back time with her.  The kids just adored her!

Owen & Eden continue to mostly coexist but more & more we are watching Owen's interest in her grow!  He now calls her "E - E" and is concerned when she cries after a nap, says "shh" when she's sleeping and laughs when we talk to her at breakfast.  Here are some photos of the two of them.

The other day it snowed & Owen was in love!  The cold did not deter him from wanting to play in the snow.  He ate it, of course.  He made snow balls.  He just loved every minute of it.  Here is our Minnesota blooded son in his winter get-up!

On Tuesday, Jon surprised with my Christmas present early.  When we woke up he told me he made dinner reservations at 5:30 and that I needed to look nice.  I asked how nice and he told me I needed to wear a dress.  Needless to say, I was giddy all day!  I was so excited & even borrowed a friends dress just to have more fun and feel like I was wearing something "new."  He brought me to dinner at a friends house where some of the Grand View students served us dinner in a romantic setting.  Then he presented me with tickets to Wicked!  I was so so so excited to get to see it.  I loved my christmas present!  Thanks Jon!

To finish this long post, here is a picture of how Owen now begins the morning carrying his stuffed animals from his crib to the breakfast table.  I love him so much!

Vacation to Idaho!

In October, we took a vacation to visit Matt, Melanie, Katherine & Wesley in Idaho (Jon's brother's family  ).  We had such a good time, especially since Scott (Jon's dad) & Anne, Pat & Ben (Jon's sister's family) went with us!  We loved watching all of the kids play together.  It's pretty amazing how spending four days with older cousins helped Owen develop & grow a lot.  As soon as we got back he's been saying TONS of new words & interacting really well with other kids.

Here are all the cousins!  Here is a little glimpse of what we love about our cousins/niece/nephews!

Katherine - She is the oldest & finally not the only girl!  She is a perfect oldest cousin.  She has a lot of compassion for people.  She is a "dearheart" to all of the younger cousins, showing them around, teaching them, playing with them & cuddling with them.  She is a great dancer & will teach Eden a lot about princesses, horses & headbands!

Wesley - Wesley is a awesome combination of total wildboy & tenderhearted.  We love his total "boyness" in riding the 4-wheeler, liking spiderman & roughhousing it with the boys.  Also, he kept coming up to Eden and wanting to hold her & love on her.  Owen just adored Wesley & we can't wait to see their friendship grow as they get older.

Ben - Ben quite possibly could be the sweetest baby boy we know.  He is all smiles & just soaks everything all in.  It's been so fun this year to watch him grow up.  As he gets older, I can't wait to see how he joins in on the fun.  Owen & Eden are lucky he is in between them.  He's going to be so fun to run around with!

So the craziest part of the trip is that Jon tore his hamstring 13 cm the night before we left.  He then traveled 4 hours to Minneapolis, flew to Denver, flew to Spokane & then drove to Bonners Ferry, Idaho.  Here is a picture of his leg.  Be prepared its nasty!

It was also wonderful to spend time with all of the adults.  We played games, ate delicious foods, & had great conversations.  We were so thankful for such a great trip.

the leaves have fallen!

We have been having so much fun this fall!  Owen enjoyed the fact that we had to rake the leaves every few days to keep up with them falling.  We also took advantage of the beautiful fall weather by going to play putt-putt.  Owen did well for the two holes that he played!  He scored a 3 and a 4!  We also went to the apple orchard this past weekend with our Bible study.  They had so many great activities for toddlers... and adults!  Anyway, here's the handsome man and beautiful little lady!

A few days last week Owen had a high fever, I felt so bad for him - but we all loved the cuddly time with Owen.  Here is a picture with "Aunt" Carol and another one of how he looks when I put him to bed. 

Visitors!

This past weekend our kiddos had three lovely visitors from Minnesota - Grandma Deb, Great-Grandma Bernie & Great-Aunt Linda.  Owen & Eden truly enjoyed the love, cuddles and laughs from the ladies.  Jon & I loved hanging out with them & doing what they do best - shopping & card-playing!  Thank you for your visit, we love you!