How does your garden grow?

Abby and Jacob love our garden. In fact, whenever she's out there, Abby heads on over to the onions and pulls off the green part to eat. Recently our strawberries have started to take off, so they provide a wonderful afternoon snack. Jacob is also a big fan of the snap peas and will climb up into the raised planterbeds to pull them off the vine. Who would have thought that having a garden could be so fun!

Happy 6 Months!

Here's a new picture I took of my nephew, Wilson. Doesn't he just get cuter and cuter?

OLIVE you!

I am so grateful for my children.

With my dad's passing came so much emotion, tears, and quite honestly at times a sense of despair. I know that he is with the Lord. I believe this with every fiber of my being--but I still feel alone, hurt, and uncertain.

This is where my kids come in. I know that God has given them to me to raise up according to His purpose. I also know that He gave them to me to give me purpose, too. I used to not want to be defined by my role as a mother. However, we are defined by who we are in Christ, and my children are God's greatest gift to me. So I am proud to be a mom and am honored that God chose me to guide these two precious little ones through life.

And these two have given me so much joy--especially these past two weeks. They have helped me in the grieving process. Jacob asks me why I'm crying, I say, "I miss Papa". He says, "I miss Papa, too, Mommy." Then he asks if I want to go play in the playroom. His ability to continue on and find joy in the little things has helped me so much and I praise God for this wonderful little guy.

So here is one of those moments that helped me through the day. We were at the dinner table and Brad thought it would be fun to put olives on Jacob's fingers. Then Jacob proceeded to eat the olive--which he hated. So we gave it to Abby. That little girl will eat anything. I love this series of pictures--hope you enjoy them, too!

Making Memories

When we found out that Dad's cancer was terminal, our family sat down to make a list of the last few things we'd like to do together while he still had the energy. The first was take a family photo (thank you Sandy!). The second was take a trip up to Cabela's--a huge sportsmans warehouse in Reno. We were able to do that a week and a half before Dad went to be with the Lord and I am so grateful to have shared this outing with him. Cabela's is an amazing place--not just for hunters or fishermen. They have an enormous display called "Preservation Mountain" that Jacob just loved. On the drive up I tried to prepare him saying, "It will be a lot like the zoo--the animals just won't be moving, though." He seemed fine with it and was amazed at the huge elephant in the middle of the store.

It was so great to see Dad so in his element. He spoke at length with the man who worked in the gun library and I loved hearing Dad's excitement in his voice as he pointed out all of the different types of guns to us. We ate a yummy lunch (Abby found a new love of onion rings) and we took another great family photo out in front of the store.

I'm so grateful for this wonderful day and for the memory that I know I will cherish all of my life.

Please pray...

I told myself that I would not post about my dad, but I have come to realize that blogging is an amazing way to get the word out and reach many people. So that's what my hope is for this post. As many of you know, we found out in September that my dad had a rare form of kidney cancer. After nearly six months of chemo, he had his CT scan which revealed that the cancer spread throughout his body and we were told that at the most we would have six more months with him. That was two and a half weeks ago.

Things have progressed extremely quickly and from what we have seen over the past week and from the information that hospice has given us, we are hoping for just a few more days with him. So please pray for us. Brad and I had a conversation not that long ago about when you should stop praying for a miracle. We decided that you should never stop, but you should be content and at peace with whatever God's will is. It has become very clear that God's will is for my dad (Larry) to come be with Him.

Ever since Dad heard the prognosis, he has had an amazing peace, which has been such a huge blessing to all of us. He has gone through this whole, terrifying experience with the most grace, dignity, and calm that I could ever imagine. It doesn't surprise me at all, but it still amazes me and I am so proud of him. Both he and my mom are truly heroes and I have a newfound respect and admiration for them.

Please keep all of us in your prayers. Pray for my mom as she is losing her best friend and husband of 31 years. Pray for my sister and I as we are losing our Daddy and pray for Jacob as he is losing his Papa and best friend. Please also pray for Brad and Will as they are losing the best father in law that anyone could ask for. We are really at peace about the whole thing and I am so grateful that soon Dad will have a perfect, cancer-free body to praise Jesus for all eternity with. But this assurance doesn't take away the hurt, the longing for more time, for one more conversation, for the fishing and hunting trips that will never be.

But we know that we will all be reunited one day worshipping our Heavenly Father. How great is it that Jesus died and conquered the grave so we can join in this heavenly celebration! My Dad is about the embark on the most amazing journey ever and I am so grateful that we all have this wonderful hope given to us in Jesus and His sacrifice.

A Family Portrait

We wanted to have our family portrait done for a while now and had scheduled to have them taken yesterday morning. However, an hour before our shoot our photographer called and canceled. I immediately called upon my good friend, Sandy, and she came to our rescue. It was obviously meant to be because the pictures turned out awesome. She took almost 200 pictures and they all are great! It's going to be hard to narrow them down.

I cannot express how much having this group photo means to me. I know that it will be hanging on our wall years from now and I will always look back and feel blessed to be a part of this wonderful, loving family.

Giggles, curls, ribbons and bows. She's so adorable from head to toe.

I thought this quote fits Abby perfectly. I love that she is reaching the age where she will actually leave a clip in her hair instead of taking it out and trying to eat it! Not only did God give Abby her Daddy's gorgeous blue eyes, but she got his beautiful curls, too! What a lucky little lady!

Abby is turning more and more into a little girl each day and part of me is a little sad, while the other part can't wait to play dolls together, watch the Disney Princess movies, and have tea parties.
I never realized that having a little girl could be so different. Jacob is a rough and tumble boy and that's all I have ever experienced. Abby, on the other hand, already acts like a little mommy and will carry her dollies all over the house and feed them little bottles. I love that God gave me two totally different sets of eyes to see the world through again as a child.