God is Good

I thought I would post a couple of pictures of God's beautiful creation here in "paradise". These grow right out our back door (plumeria and papayas) and I know I take it for granted.

A friend of mine gave me a book called A Mother's Touch which I have read parts of. I came across the chapter "Devotional Living".
Elise Arndt says that "devotional living is the process of conveying spiritual truths throughout our daily experiences...so our senses become sharpened as we begin to recognize opportunities for talking about the message of salvation when we sit, walk, lie down, or rise up". (Deut. 6:7) This chapter challenged me on how much I talk about God to my children throughout the day. She wrote about praising God for his beautiful creation while going on a walk...or listening to the birds singing and talking to our children about Matthew 6:26...or just to tell them that Jesus loves them...or to watch the ants go by and talk about being diligent like the ants-Proverbs 6:6, etc.

I want to recognize God in my dailyness so that praise for God will be heard more than my frustrations or complaints.
So I want to start by praising God for
the way he has provided for our family,
the friends he's given us here,
the beautiful rainbows that we see here so often,
a great church that we are so encouraged and challenged by,
a wonderful and loving husband and two great little boys,
a roof over our heads and food to eat,
beautiful creation for us to enjoy,
and putting us exactly where we need to be.

bright eyes

Jude has been at that fun age of learning new and exciting things. My friend and I were just laughing at how when they make their first smile it's such the biggest deal...as if no other baby has ever done it before. Then you feel like you have to show everyone that walks by because it is the cutest thing.

Other things he has been doing lately is yelling and squealing to hear his own voice, grabbing toys and stuffing them in his mouth, rolling over (frontward and backward), starting to giggle, finding his thumb to sooth himself to sleep and sleeping consistently through the night.

I must say that seeing his cute little grin and personality makes the frustrations and sleepless nights all worth it. He is a little blessing!

boys and trains

Everyday Ethan asks us to set up his Thomas the Train set and he will sit there for quite a while watching it go "round and round". He has learned that when it slows down and eventually stops that it needs a new battery. Anything that is broken now, whether it has a battery or not, he thinks can be fixed by a new battery. On this particular day I was holding Jude who was also mesmerized by the train, and Ethan asked to "hold you baby". So I set him in Ethan's lap and they watched the trains go "round and round" together. Quite the cute moment.
I pray that they will grow up to be good buds. Ethan already seems to look out and care for his little brother.

"all by self"

As Ethan would say "all by self". He has become such an independent little boy in the past few months. He loves telling us when he can do things without our help. Now we just have to work on the potty training thing...
These pictures are of Ethan putting on his pajamas all by himself without any help. Almost right except...

he got it all backwards. Cute stuff!

little personalities

These pictures are a few months old. But it made me laugh. Our little boy, Ethan, has this contageous laugh, that even looking at these pictures makes me smile. Some people think he has quite the bit of energy but I call it an excitement for life. He can definitely run circles around us but we're just glad he's a healthy, fun-loving little boy...who has become quite the chatter box. Our other little cutie pie has a personality all his own. He loves to watch people and soak everything in. He's a bit more cautious and will give you a scowl before he studies your eyes and then flashes his great little smile. But I think he is also in a hurry to get around because he already scoots all over the floor on his back and flips over in his crib...and then cries and waits for us to come flip him back over....yes he's a tummy sleeper. :o)

visit from Ryan

We had the joy of having a great friend come and visit us. Ethan loved having "Rynen" here and I loved having the company and help with the kiddo's. We had a great time and did quite a bit while she was here. We went snorkeling a couple of times, watched movies, ate great food, drove around and went sight-seeing, and caught up on our lives over the past year. What a great time we had with our friend.

my precious boys!

I love the idea of journaling during these early years of my kids lives. It's great for family and friends to read and also to look back and see all that we've done and how much they've grown. (digital cameras have been a great invention since we are so far from our loved ones) So I will

start this post off with pictures of my boys - Jason (hubby), Ethan and Jude. I love them all and thank God for them.