Nurturing our Family, Closing the Zoo

Five years ago Steve accepted a new position and we joined a fast-paced race called Youth Ministry. ;o) From the very beginning we felt called to this life and, although it has sometimes been wearing or stressful, we have always agreed that we couldn't imagine life outside of full time ministry.


When Seth was born a year later, we didn't hesitate to include him in the youth events we led. Some looked at us strangely or thought we were off our rockers when we brought him with on his first missions trip to inner-city Denver at the ripe old age of four months (he was great).


Two summers ago Haddie was born, and, although things had to be rearranged a bit more (sometimes I didn't have enough arms for an adventurous toddler and a very attached baby!), I was still proud of the flexibility of our children and the ability of our family to take in stride the demands of the job.


Now Seth is four and Haddie is two, and we are still pleased to be in this life God has called us to. We are part of a wonderful and generous church that takes great care of us. We love the flexibility of Steve's job and especially the chance to see firsthand the way many lives are radically changed by God's grace. As our children get a bit older, however, we also see the need to make deliberate efforts to slow down our life every once in a while. We once heard it described as "closing the zoo", and we think that's an appropriate term.


Last week I was standing in the kitchen and realized that I hadn't prepared more than a handful of meals for us to eat at home in several weeks... we had just been gone that much. We could see it in the interactions between Seth and Haddie too. Everyone was feeling tired and cranky. We knew that we needed to reign in the horses and take a break, for everyone's sake. So, we closed down the zoo and took several days to nurture our family (well, we always want to do that, but we decided to dedicate four days to completely focus on that task.)

It was a wonderful four days. Steve had Sunday afternoon and Monday off as he always does, and then he took Tuesday and Wednesday off as well. Steve didn't go in to the office and I didn't do more than the necessary meal preparing and dish washing - we just focused on spending time with each other.

We also realized that Seth and Haddie could use some time apart, so one day Steve took Seth to a near by state park. They had a great time hiking, picnicking, and climbing a huge fire tower. That day Haddie and I had some "girl time". I took her to The Farm where she was delighted to spend time looking at the baby kittens and brushing my horse Kick-A-Poo. She even happily agreed to sit on him with me while my mom led us around for a little while (a big deal because she used to be very timid around the horses.) The following day Steve took Haddie on a date to Perkins and Seth and I had a dinner date as well. It was so fun to spend one on one time with them during our little vacation! Another goal of our mini-vacation was to encourage our children and nurture them spiritually. We decided that on each of our dates, when we were with one of the children alone we would tell them the story about how, when Jesus was baptized in the river, his Father, God, spoke from heaven and said,"This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." We had been noticing that in our busyness and travels we were tending to react to our kids in frustration and with shorter patience, so we wanted to take time to work on that, as well as remind our kiddos that we are pleased with them, and that we love them very much.

One other goal we had for our mini-vacation was to nurture our physical bodies. We consciously cut down/eliminated junky and sugary food that we so easily turn to when we are on the road a lot. Steve and I set our alarm early each morning so we would have time to read our Bibles down stairs before the kids awoke. We also asked the neighbor girl to come over each morning for a half an hour so we could go running. I have to admit I was quite intimidated to start that again - I honestly don't think I have set off to exercise by running since I was in college! It ended up going far better than I could have imagined though, and by the fourth morning we both actually woke before our alarm with anticipation of running! Hehe! (Those are some disciplines we hope to continue!)

So, I think I will wrap it up for now. I see that I have rambled a bit, but I did want to fill in our friends out there who might have been wondering where we were this past week.... we were just taking some time out to nurture our family and close down the zoo. ;o)

More of the Celebration

Just thought I'd throw in a few more pics of before and after the wedding...

Here's my sister Jess, the beautiful bride, at the church before the wedding.

(I was disappointed this morning to find out that I didn't have any pictures of just Jess and her new husband Jason! I'll have to get copies from someone.)

The girls.

My sister Stephanie, me, my mom in the blue dress,

sister-in-law Tammy, and Jess!

Despite protests by Jess, the men picked her up for the photographers. :o)

Chillin' with my cousin Dustin and brother Shaun.

The little kids had a blast at the dance.

Dancing with the bride.

Haddie is in a white flower girl dress right next to Jess (almost hidden),

and Seth had changed by then and was dancing in the

blue and green striped shirt with khaki's.

We had a great time celebrating with Jess and Jason and we're so happy for them!

Go Carts are Funny

Right before Haddie's nap today we decided to watch the video of Jess and some friends Go-Carting at her bachelorette party on our blog. The kids thought it was so funny, I just had to record their laughter. (Sorry it's dark - it looks like we're trying to hide Haddie's idenity! Hehe.) ;o)

6/21/03

Six years ago today we became "Mr. and Mrs."!

(Here's us at my sister's wedding yesterday.)

It's been a great six years!

You're the best, babe. I love our life together. Thank you for being my husband!


(more pics of the wedding coming soon!)

Got Spinach?

Yep, that's right. Spinach. Or kale will work too! :o)

Recently our family has been enjoying green smoothies! I have heard of the "hiding veggies" trick and we have tried it successfully for many types of meals... but I admit I was a bit surprised to find recipes that used spinach or kale as the main ingredient for smoothies!

I think these pictures will give you a good idea how we liked them!

Here's Seth showing off his green smoothie mustache (it was such a nice day we decided to bring the smoothies outside.)

The first time we made green smoothies, I actually put more blueberries in than necessary because I wasn't sure if my kids would balk at the idea of seeing green.
You can see here, however, that they have no problem with the color! ;o) (I guess the fact that my kids are quite young and still have very formitable minds works in my favor!)

Seth loves a good smoothie!

Haddie does too!

We're experimenting with lots of fruits, but we often use this recipe...

Beginner Blueberry Kale/Spinach Smoothie

1 large ripe banana, peeled
2-4 kale leaves (or sometimes we use a couple cups of baby spinach instead)
1 cup blueberries, frozen
1 cup pure water
Pour the water and toss the banana and kale into the blender. Blend. Then add the blueberries. Blend again until smooth. Enjoy! 1-2 servings

We found all of this and more on a great website of a neat gal we know. Do check it out here!!

"Here and There and Everywhere"

Whew! Our family has been on the road a LOT lately! I thought I'd bring you up to speed by sharing some pictures - which works out nicely because my mind is mush and I can tell that narration of scenes is about all I can come up with tonight! ;o)

"Here"

Steve, Seth, and Haddie at home in between trips.

Haddie turned two! Here she is with Grandma Sheila at the farm.

Haddie and Aunt Tammy

"There"

We made a trip to attend a graduation party for Steve's cousin. There we enjoyed visiting with many of Steve's relatives we don't get to see often! (Here we are with his Grandpa, Boyd)

Steve and his cousin Jordan.

To celebrate Jordan's birthday, Steve and I, as well as Jordan and his girlfriend Ashley, went to Outback Steakhouse. Mmmmm. That was good.

.... I think I'm hungry.... ;o)

The middle boy is Steve's cousin.

Seth took a liking to him - and a fascination with his game!

Celebrating Haddie's birthday with Steve's side.

Steve's sisters had their boys at the hotel. Two of his cousins, an aunt, and also an uncle brought their children as well! That was ten kids for this picture!

Here's another angle to help you see the gang.

Just wanted to throw this one in because we drove to "The Farm" several times in the past few weeks, and we love how these flowering crab trees look in full blossom as they line the horse pasture.

Steve and Haddie planted beans with Uncle Shaun for a while one morning.

Seth planted with Grandpa Dewey.

"And Everywhere"
Seth, Haddie, cousin Daniel and cousin Caleb, posing at a National Park we visited together.

Seth and I at the same park (he's doing "the wink" for you).

Taking a walk down to the river to throw "plunkers" - one of our kiddos' favorite pastimes.

The kids around the table at the Bunkhouse. This was our first experience with a separate "kid's table". The kids thought it was awesome! (And it went surprisingly well!)

Steve and Seth throwing plunkers (sorry, the pics got out of order...)

The Angus Ranch we were guests at.

The last night we were at the Bunkhouse someone special was hung in the Room of Death. ;o) It was an enormous buffalo. The picture doesn't do his size justice.

I love the expressions and movement caught in this photo.

Some crazies we found at the park. ;o)

(No, just kidding. Some of our favorite people to hang out with.)

Caleb

Daniel

He he... here's my first try at putting a video on the blog.... ;o)

(It was supposed to be higher up in this slide show... but I'm tired so I'm going to leave it where it is!) Anyway, I drove a couple hours to go to my lovely sister's bachelorette party recently - where we went go carting. :o)

OK. That's a wrap!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Aahhhh.

My heart is happy.

For so long I've been praying that Seth and Haddie would start to play together more, and also just enjoy being around each other. When Haddie was only a couple months old Seth figured out that he could easily push her buttons to the point of tears, and from that moment on, it has been one of his most common pastimes. A dainty, sensitive girly-girl and a strong-willed, active, rambunctious older brother have been a difficult combination for quite some time (OK, difficult is an understatement!) Anyway, in the past month a change has taken place and it makes me feel like a 50 pound weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Maybe it is being out in the sun more, maybe it is our efforts to try to parent better, maybe it is Seth and Haddie both maturing a little more... I'm thinking probably some of all of these, plus a huge dose of God's grace and answered prayer.

At any rate, when I looked outside the window this morning and saw Seth and Haddie playing happily together in the sand box with Meshach laying nearby, my heart swelled and I thanked God. It's finally happening! Not just once in a great while. It is becoming the norm. I know there will still be lots of squabbling ahead, for many years to come, but I do believe we have turned a corner! Ahhhhh. :o)