Gems

Ever since I was a young girl, admiring my mother's beautiful Mother's Ring with the sparkling birthstones representing my brothers and me, I dreamed of wearing one of my own. This Christmas, my wonderful husband made that dream come true...

...with 4 precious gems: Sapphire for Joseph, Diamond for Michael, Ruby for Dominic, and Topaz for Nathanael...

...I need to remember not to lose focus on who the real gems in my life are...

These precious boys are my true gems, my true joys! I am so blessed!!!

Two-Front-Teeth-Less Tuesday

Oh how I love this little boy with the big gaping gap. Each permanent tooth that breaks through is bittersweet for this mommy who knows that it is proof that his childhood years are not permanent---they seem to be flying by at the speed of sound.

Respect Life Sunday

Yesterday marked the 38th anniversary of the horrendous Roe vs. Wade decision. Today is Sanctity of Life Sunday and this coming Monday will be the 38th Annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. So what can we do do change our country's culture of death back to a culture that respects life?

First of all, we can pray. Pray at home, pray on the sidewalks of abortion clinics, and add some fasting to our prayers to make them even more powerful.

Secondly, if your city is also going to have a march, join it.

Thirdly, do what you can to educate people about the sanctity of life. Share with them the incredible story of Abby Johnson, a former abortion director who recently had an incredible pro-life conversion. Read her powerful, hope-filled book, "UnPlanned," and pass it on to others. You can read the 1st chapter for free and order the book at the following website:(http://www.ignatius.com/promotions/unplanned/). I just finished the book this week and am so filled with hope and enthusiasm to become more active in the pro-life movement!

Fourthly, you can become involved in the peaceful, prayerful pro-life movement called 40 Days for Life (www.40daysforlife.com). This spring will be the fourth 40 Days for Life campaign that I have helped lead in our town and I can declare 1st hand that God's hand is blessing this beautiful pro-life ministry and saving thousands of babies' lives from death and mother's hearts from a lifetime of regret.

Lastly, you can vote pro-life politicians into office who will re-enact laws to protect those who cannot protect themselves. For more inspiration, watch this YouTube clip of one of America's courageous, pro-life politicians. It is honestly one of the most incredible pro-life speeches I've ever heard. The politician's name is Mr. Lankford, and he spent the last 16 years running Falls Creek Baptist Church Camp in the Arbuckle Mountains of southern Oklahoma (The largest church camp in the nation.) He resigned when he felt called to run for a vacated House seat. With zero political experience, he won in a landslide. Now in D.C., listen to what is probably his first speech on the House floor. Just click below and pray that his words and actions will touch many hearts and help reverse Roe vs. Wade someday:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CdTnKWury0

Sunrise and Moonset

This morning God gave me a glimpse of his love and majesty. I wish I had my camera to capture it, but my feeble words will have to suffice...

To the east, as I was driving the boys to school, the sun was beginning to rise. Vibrant colors began to slowly seep across the sky as if some watercolor paints had been tipped over on a wet canvas and were somehow spilling upwards. The colors---how to describe them----were tropical, for lack of a better word. Mango-orange, pineapple-yellow, and passion fruit-pink, with streaks of brilliant white clouds, lit up from behind from some unseen source. As the sun began to peek above the horizon, the colors slowly faded; "He must increase, we must decrease," said the colors as they bowed before the sun's brilliance and disappeared.

The east no longer demanded my attention, so I focused on the road before me again, driving up the hill towards the school, the boys and I singing along to a John Denver tune (shocking, I know). Fittingly, the song "Welcome to my Morning" was playing...

"Welcome to my morning, welcome to my day. I'm the one responsible, I made it just this way. To make myself some pictures and see what they might bring. I think I made it perfectly, I wouldn't change a thing."

Was God reminding me in the song that He created this watercolor canvas in the sky that I had just witnessed? I smiled at the thought. We arrived at the school and I hugged and kissed the boys and watched them skip off to their classmates.

My Sequoia started it's slow decent back down the hill and I always love taking in the scene of the snow-covered mountains surrounding the valley that I am blessed to call home. From the back seat I hear Dominic say, "Mom, look at that huge sun!" So I look to the east, but the sun is totally obscured by houses. A bit bewildered, I take a quick glance to the west. I look again and have difficulty looking away. Resting upon the mountains is the largest moon I have ever seen---no wonder Dominic thought it was the sun! It was setting, tucking itself under the covers of the mountains until nightfall, and somehow it managed to dwarf the size of the snow capped mountain peak before it. I was in awe. I longed for my camera, as if that could somehow help me prove God's existence to some non-believer somewhere. I recall an atheist boy I knew in college...would this convince him? Probably not. God shows His presence every moment of every day and still so many refuse to see the sacredness that surrounds them, refusing to believe in the One who made it all. But I believed in that moment that God just confirmed not only His existence, His power, but also His intimate love for me. He didn't have to make this world so glorious to prove His glory. He could have made every day dull and grey and saved the majestic moons and mountains and sunrises for paradise alone, but he didn't. He chose to give us these glimpses of His glory now...out of love. Simply to bring us joy. Simply because He loves us and every lover is constantly trying to delight his beloved. Just because. I am so thankful we have such a loving God, a gift-Giver, a creative-Creator. May we strive to give Him glory in these sacred sunrise-moonset moments (and in the not-so-sacred ones too) and help others see His handiwork and His gift of eternal life that He offers unceasingly, as unceasing as each sunrise and moonset.

"This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice in be glad in it!"

Psalm 118:24

Car Conversations

I find that on the way to and from school my boys and I have the most meaningful and enlightening conversations. Just this week Joseph shared this profound thought:

"Hey Mom, it's not fair. Nathanael has everything done for him. He's like our master and we are his slaves."

"Yes, son," I replied, "you have just defined parenting." :) Joseph is wise beyond his years.

On that very same car ride, Dominic pipes up with a random comment, which he is very prone to do (it would certainly be entertaining to be inside his head for a day):

"Mom, did you know that when I go to school all the girls scream when they see me?"

I laugh out loud, wondering if it's truly possible for 4 year old girls to already be having boy-crazy-crushes, and so I dig a little deeper, "Really. Why do you think they scream when they see you?"

He proudly proclaims, " Because I'm a velociraptor and they think I'm going to eat them."

Ahhh. Makes perfect sense.

Earlier in the week Dominic had another epiphany that he shared out loud with us on the way to school:

"Hey! Michael only has ONE EYE!"

All of us bust out laughing and ask what he means.

"Well," he honestly replies, "I have two eyes and Michael only has one...D-O-M-I-N-I-C and M-I-C-H-A-E-L. See?"

Yes, we all finally saw his logic and had a good laugh. What a great way to start the day :)

I'm glad we have these car conversations. It makes motherhood so worthwhile. God must know that mothers need some lighter, sillier moments to keep us joyful and sane :)

Cactus Christmas

We were very blessed this year to celebrate a warm Christmas in Arizona rather than a white Christmas in Montana. All of Paul's siblings and their families made the trip to sunny Arizona where Paul's mom and her husband Dick spend their winters as "snowbirds." We had a great time, although there were certainly moments of stress--like tromping through busy airports with 4 kids (including a tiny newborn) and 6 carry-ons (our boys thought this was a grand adventure while mommy thought she might need her blood pressure checked upon arrival!) Some of the highlights of the trip included: enjoying a heated-outdoor swimming pool almost daily, making adobe luminaries at Grandma's potttery studio, exloring the Sonoran Desert Museum (our boys especially liked the scorpions and tarantulas), marveling at the myriad aircraft at the Pima Air Museum (Paul and his flyboys were in aviator heaven!), celebrating our Savior's birth while receiving our Savior's very Presence in the Eucharist at a lovely Christmas Mass, and witnessing the baptism of our gorgeous little god-daughter Holli. All the cousins loved spending every waking minute playing together---Nerf Dart-tag, Battleship, Shark-tag in the swimming pool, and catch were some of the favorite activities. Many treasured memories were made that I'm sure will last a lifetime. If a picture is worth a thousand words, I guess I should stop there and simply capture the trip's highlights via these photos for you to enjoy...

The desert mountains have a beauty all their own...although personally, I prefer a few less cacti in my foreground...Montana is more my style :}

This just does NOT look comfortable...cactus wrens must have very tough feet!

Nathanael's 1st Christmas was certainly unique!

Paul and Nathanael loved taking cat-naps amidst the cacti :)

Paul and his flyboys loved every nook and cranny at the air museum! The boys could identify nearly every plane and were thrilled seeing all their die-cast models that they play with at home in LIFE-SIZE form!

Mommy with her future aviators :)

All the cousins on Christmas morning...no wonder they are all smiles! :)

Jean and Dick...twitterpated by the "Christmas tree" (a.k.a. yucca plant) :)

Michael, Joseph and Dominic posing by the presents and the unique yucca Christmas tree :)


Dominic and Michael guessing what treasures lie inside their Christmas stockings that Grandma knitted for each of us

Dann and Rachel's cute, candy-cane Christmas pose :)

Jeff and Steph's family filled with Christmas joy!

Paul and Maria's family on Christmas morn...Nathanael slept through most of the excitement :)

Paul enjoyed bonding with his brothers Dann, Tom, and Jeff during our Christmas vacation (can anyone tell they are related?) :)

All the cousins eager to learn some pottery from Grandma Jean at the clay studio.

The cousins in the midst of creating their messy masterpieces! :)

The cousins all learning about the prehistoric creatures that once lived in Arizona.

Proud godparents holding newly baptized Holli Rae...we will pray for her every day!

Mousey's 2 Month Update

I apologize for my lapse in blogging this past month! We spent our Christmas in Arizona (pictures coming soon, I promise!), and ever since coming home I feel like I've been playing catch-up, learning to live on little amounts of sleep, and re-establishing every one's routine. I'm still at bit sleep-deprived, but at least I'm feeling somewhat caught up on things, so hopefully my blogging routine should resume once again :)

I can't believe Nathanael, our Natey-Baby, our sweet Mousey-Mouse, is 2 months old already! He continues to be as cute as a mouse, but his "squeaks" have certainly gotten louder when he is hungry or tired :) All of us are enjoying the fact that he has started smiling and having cooing conversations with us. I had forgotten how sweet it is to hold a baby... the softness of his peach-fuzz hair, the gentle suckling sounds of nursing, the rhythm of his breathing as he falls asleep...it is new all over again with each child, and equally as sweet. What a gift.

I took Nathanael in for his 2 month check up this week, and Paul and I made the decision not to vaccinate quite yet. After having two close friends recently learn that they have children with autism, and after researching the possible link between autism and vaccinations, we have decided to take a different approach this time with Nathanael. We still plan to vaccinate, but with a different schedule than is traditionally used. So far, we are leaning towards the "Dr. Sear's approach," which is to start vaccinations at 4 months and spread out the shots so that our child never gets more than 2 shots at a time. That way Nathanael's little body is not over-loaded with things like mercury, aluminum, or live-viruses--things which his tiny body might not be able to handle and might lead to side-effects that we don't want. Perhaps I'm wrong. Perhaps there is no link. But I'd rather error on the side of caution. We are also very disturbed by recently learning that shots like the MMR and Chickenpox are derived from aborted fetal tissue (A company called "Children of God for Life" has put together a very infomative brochure if you're interested in reading more about this topic: http://www.cogforlife.org/vaxbrochure1109.pdf). We wish we could refuse those vaccinations altogether or find un-tainted sources (which apparently do not exist yet in the US)...but as of yet, we have not decided what we will do about the MMR or chickenpox vaccinations. I'd be all ears for any thoughts on the issue. Anyway, for now our plan is simply to spread out the vaccinations that Nathanael needs and continue to pray that if we do our best, God will do the rest!

Anyway, enough serious talk...instead, check out these SERIOUSLY cute 2-month photos of Nathanael! :)

Serious...

Less Serious...

Seriously Happy!

We SERIOUSLY LOVE YOU little man!!!