lady in red

just got her first big-girl chair. she is ridiculously proud of herself!

trials

my dear friend dana sent me a set of books that i have not been able to put down. ever read a book and feel like it came right from heaven? seriously, that is how i feel about these books. full of fresh words straight from the Father. just finished reading; "green leaf in drought." highly recommend that one. here are some thoughts from it on trials:

andrew murray's formula for trial

1.) say, He brought me here. it is by His will i am in this straight place and in that fact i will rest.
2.) He will keep me here in His love and give me grace to behave as His child.
3.) then He will make the trial a blessing, teaching me the lessons He intends for me to learn.
4.) in His good time He can bring me out again -how and when He knows. so let me say, i am 1.) here by God's appointment; 2.) in His keeping ;3.) under His training; 4.) for His time.

something to ponder... meanwhile we have had a trying couple of weeks around here. colds, ear infections, upper respiratory issues, blah! we are getting ready to head to the mountains next week. spending a week with some good friends of ours. adelynn's 1st trip to the mountains. looking forward to it. lots to do still!

enjoyed "fun family friday" last weekend. was a sweet end to a pretty blahs-ay week. weston is quite competitive these days. he smoked us both at "t-rex" cards.

so big

can't believe our little peanut is 6 months already!

panda love

i'll finish up the pa and ma posts with our trip to see the pandas. we went the last day they were here. it was the 4th time we went to see these fluffy black and white critters and they did not disappoint.

such a sweet day. such a sweet week. we are so thankful.

christmas day

we were entirely spoiled on christmas day. cannot say enough how special it was to be with my mom and dad. it was a wonderful low-key day. woke up. ate cinnamon rolls. drank loads of coffee. opened gifts. took a nap. listened to w play with his new animals for hours. ate chicken parmesan (i know- so traditional!). had birthday cake for Jesus. watched toy story 3 (santa dropped it by for w). laughed lots, ate lots, and savored every minute!

who do you think was more excited about he davy crockett stuff; dad or weston?

addy's new hat from uncle darren and auntie kristin

adds loved the paper more than anything

w drew a picture of skookum (their cat) for nana and papa

gingerbread house

my mom totally spoiled us and brought lots of fun sweets to decorate a ginger-bread house this year. i actually branched out and made one from scratch. the whole project took a few days, but it was so worth it. i think we have a new tradition now! mom brought so much candy that i had enough left over to make gingerbread guys with 7 of our little local friends after they left!

dad had a lot of advice about how the house should go together

but ultimately, we were the master craftsman (and women)

ancient aqua ducts

we packed SO much in to the week my mom and dad visited. they were such troopers! on busses, taxis, subways, trains. meeting lots of new people. being bombarded with culture. through it all they could not have been more generous and sweet with us and the kiddos. we had an amazing week with them!

too many pictures to post, but will pick out a few sweet memories. will start with wednesdays trip to a 5000 year old irrigation system. we took the new speed train (very nice) and then an old bus (not so nice) to the beautiful park it is located in.

boys on the bus

nana snuggles

having a rest

checkin' out the local scene

papa snuggles