Marriage

Dave and I attended a Marriage seminar today that was put on by Focus on the Family called Focus on Marriage. People from across the US and Canada were at the web simulcast....over 70,000 people in all!! They had 5 speakers and Jeremy Camp was the worship music. He is amazing.

All of the speakers were so different and we liked all of them. I am just going to share with you one thing that was said because it spoke so deeply to me and I think it will to you too.

The first speaker Gary Thomas was amazing. He said when he realized this "one" thing, it changed the way he looked at marriage and at his wife.

He starts out saying how much he loves his kids and he thanks God for them everyday because they ultimately are God's children. He only wants the best for them and that means a great spouse and marriage (his kids are older).
Then he thought about his wife and how her parents probably wanted the same thing for her. That his wife is also God's child. She came from God and she should be loved like God loves his children. So in essence...God is like our Father-in-law.

Think about that....I know how much I love my husband and my kids, but when I think of it like that....it makes me want to treat my husband and kids so much better. And when you pass away and have to answer to God, how could you ever tell him that you couldn't love his children.

During this Lenten season, I really want to embrace this everyday. I bought one of Gary Thomas' books as well as another speaker that was there. I will let you know how they are when I finish them.

Illness....

has hit our house again...while most of us are getting better...we are still sick. So....no blogging updates..you will just have to settle for some pictures:)

Here are the two of them being babies...they like to have blankies and bears and pretend to cry. Hope loves to do everything her bro does:)

Hope making some silly faces!!

I'll blog soon!

Family Time

Since we moved here we haven't seen a lot of family. We are always doing something here. We have spent a lot of time working on the house, the barn, the warehouse. We have had tons of company and traveled. BUT we really would love to see more family and friends.

Isaiah and Hope had such a great time with Lisa, Derrick, Marissa, and Carson. Isaiah loved Carson and Hope loved Marissa. They played so nice...well the girls did...the boys were a little rough.

We got a few pictures and then....everyone started to get hurt so...no more pictures!

Hopey and Marissa

Isaiah and Carson

OH...and everyday he wants me to take a picture of them. Hey I will as long as they let me:)

A few good ones :)

Our pictures are very limited from our trip to California due to sickness as you already know. But here are some good ones.

Dr. Mackenzie listening to Zach's heart. So cute!

D taking Hope for a walk to get some fresh air and sun...actually to just keep her away from everyone..ha ha!

Isaiah playing with one of his best friends...Presley!! We got to see them on the last day of our trip.
Presley trying to get the little ones to take a picture. Hope just wanted to play with the light up sword after she finally got it away from Isaiah.

On our way home...in the Chicago airport...Hope is listening to her ipod...actually Daddy's Ipod, but she thinks it is hers.

We decided to take the kids at the very last minute to see Disney on Ice. Isaiah did not want to go at all....can you tell by his face?? Ha ha!! He still asks to go all the time. He loved it!

And this one was so adorable...she danced the whole time on her Daddy's lap. I think that is the longest she ever sat still!

Here is the show...their favorite was Nemo (bottom right). They loved it even though they have never seen any of the movies or cartoons! Ha ha!
The kiddos being silly eating cookies. Isaiah would eat them everyday, all day if he could.

Our Superbowl Story

Since our TV was out (as mentioned in my last post) we decided to pack up and head to my parents house. We were going to spend the night....but our dear little Hope had other plans.

We got there, played, had dinner, gave them a bath, and put them down so we could enjoy the game. Isaiah went down great. Hope, however, just stood in the crib for an hour and a half. Just stood there. Occasionally I would hear a "Mama" but that was it. Finally I went down to rock her and put her to bed...but she kept pointing at the door. I just gave up and was on my way upstairs to tell Dave lets just go home...when she puked all over. Poor thing! We definitely decided to go home then. We didn't know if she just didn't feel good or if she was getting sick (Thank God...she just had an upset stomach).

I felt so bad for Isaiah because he was so passed out that he sat forward in his seat and kept shaking because he was freezing. But he went right to bed and didn't even know we left until he woke up the next morning.

So...what was one of the best Superbowl games (so I heard)...we hardly saw any of it:( I am still bummed a little:)

Issues

We have been dealing with some issues here....

1. Hope has not been sleeping. She will not nap unless I drive her around or I rock her and hold her for an hour. I just don't know what to do with Isaiah while she is napping. The past few days my Mom or Dave has had him. She is sleeping better at night the past few nights and I pray that it continues.

2. We have been freezing here. No not just outside but inside as well. I don't know how the people before us did it...well i do...they just paid a ridiculously amount of money on their gas bills. Seriously heat was just going right out the chimneys. BUT we finally are warm tonight!! We invested in some new gas fireplaces, you know the kind where you just press the button (my kind of fire..ha ha!) They are amazing and so cozy!

3. No TV. Which isn't bad most of the time since we don't watch it that often. But as most of you know...this is our TV watching season. We LOVE 24 and American Idol. We have Directv...and it is horrible. It is out all the time. They told us that our service call would be in 2 weeks!! Are they kidding me!! We didn't even have the Superbowl. (That is a whole different story). They told us that weather causes them to be out a lot....really then why didn't you tell us that when we signed up or when you were installing.....This is the first we heard of it...(I sound a little bitter:)
So we are battling with them to try and wave the contract fee for cancelling. Hopefully we will have Time Warner soon. Good thing we can watch 24 on the computer the next day. I am just missing American Idol....I am having my mom DVR it and my sister Kerri record it. I hope it works!!

Yes these are all minor issues but thought that I would share:)