EASTER JOYS

Did you know that it's still Easter?  Which means that these pictures aren't getting posted late at all! :) I had forgotten how long the Easter season is...  It lasts until Pentecost, which is a full 50 days of celebrating the foundation of our faith---that Christ died for our sins, rose from the dead, and opened the gates of Heaven to all who believe in Him!  Alleluia!

I was pondering the other day how this 50-day-long-celebration is yet another example of just how much God loves us and lavishes graces upon us--especially after we have faithfully endured a period of hardship...  Let me try to explain.  Lent, for example, often seems like an extremely long 40 days.  40 long days of giving up some of the things that we are the most attached to--like coffee, electronics, fast food, soda, sweets, alcohol, etc--all to remind us of what Jesus gave up for us:  His life, in the most painful way possible!  But after we have faithfully fasted from those things for 40 days, the good Lord rewards us with--not 40--but 50 days of celebrating and feasting and focusing on JOY--and the joy seems all the more real and precious after the period of fasting and suffering.  Boy, after giving up coffee for 40 days, I am savoring each sweet cup that I have been having since then!  :)  That seems to be a pervasive theme with the Lord--that after periods of intense suffering, there always comes a sweet reward that makes the suffering so worthwhile.  I can think of many examples of this in my own life:

• the severe nausea, discomfort and labor pains of pregnancy which led to 5 beautiful babies in my arms  
• a deep wound in my marriage that seemed hopeless to repair, but it eventually led to a deeper love and joy that I never imagined possible
• the stress and disappointment of looking for a new house and feeling like the right one was no where to be found (ever), and then being blessed with one that far exceeded our hopes and expectations

Lent and Easter follow that same theme.  They are beautiful reminders for us to persevere and trust in God during the hard (Lenten) times in life because He always comes through and blesses us with an unexpected miracle (Easter), providing just what we need, at just the right time.  He is so full of love and mercy that I am just in awe of Him (this year especially).  I feel like my love for Him and my trust in Him has grown so much---thank you, Lord!  I hope your Easter has been filled with many joys and that the Lord has stretched your heart and increased your love and trust in Him too!

Here are some photos to bring you even more Easter JOY!!!

A very happy Nathanael on our first Easter Egg Hunt around our property

Isaiah loved every minute of the Egg hunt...

each egg was like a new treasure.

How I wish I kept that same childlike wonder with every treasure God gives me each day!

Real men carry Easter baskets 

--and look good doing it :)

We have a special tradition of doing our Easter Egg Hunt with some dear friends who have 6 kids.

This is our son Nathanael hunting for eggs with Margaret and Grace.

Our big boys (Joseph and Michael) hid the eggs all long the trail that surrounds our property.  It was such a joy to watch the little kids hunt for the eggs in such beautiful wilderness.

A rare moment that I am so glad I captured on camera:

this is Nathanael gladly giving away some of his eggs to his friend Grace.

SO SWEET!

I called it "an Easter Miracle!" :)

My friend Lisa walking the trail with her son Martin in her arms.

I am so blessed to have a friend like her.

She has taught me so much about what being a true Catholic, Christian woman is!

May God bless her and her family abundantly for their faith-filled example!

Margaret getting ready to eat the treasures that she found :)

I pray that you know just how much you are treasured by God this Easter!

He died for you.

He loves you.

All He wants is your love and trust in return.

HAPPY EASTER!!!

Springtime in the Rockies!

We awoke this morning to this view out our back door...  So beautiful, and it seems to happen every Springtime.  We will have a couple of week of gorgeous, warm weather, followed by a surprising cold-snap with snow.  Last week I actually got a sun-burn from raking out in the yard, and now today I will have to pull out my snow shovel!    Here are some pictures of the kids having fun in the sun--snow!  :)

I feel so blessed to have this beautiful view at our new house,

and these precious boys to make me smile all day.

God is so good--snow or shine--all the time!

Another TEENAGER!

Wowser!  We now have 2 teenagers in our house!  I don't look old enough to have teenagers--but I'm starting to feel old enough :}  Michael turned thirteen on April 3rd, and he was so excited to invite a few of his best buddies over to our new house to celebrate.  Honestly, I think it was the easiest birthday party I have ever hosted.  The boys just ran around the 7 acres of our property playing "capture the rag," tossing horseshoes, chasing wild turkeys, and completely entertaining themselves :)  Paul grilled some hot dogs for supper, and all I was responsible for was the cake---which I bought from Dairy Queen, so even that was easy.   I feel like every day we see more ways that this new home is such a blessing for our family--even better than we had hoped for.  What a blessing to have this beautiful outdoor space for our boys and their friends to play and get exercise and discover the joys of nature!  I hope the Lord doesn't get tired of us thanking Him.

Here are Michael and his friends after their game of "Capture the Rag."

As you can see by the smile on his face and the rag around his neck, 

Michael's team captured the rag first and won :)

This Detroit Tigers clock was Michael's favorite gift, 

given to him by one of his favorite friends from school--Jared.

"Thank you, Heavenly Father, for this new home and for our newest teenager!  Thank You for all of Michael's gifts that he brings to our family:  his joyful energy, the way he takes care of his younger siblings, his willingness to do chores, and his passion for nature, school, and sports.  Please bless Michael with all the graces he needs to grow closer to You, to discern his true vocation, and to set this world on fire with Your love!"

peep-peep-peep

"Peep-peep-peep" is the sweet sound we've been hearing nearly all day long ever since we purchased our first set of baby chicks right around Easter time.  They are so adorable--the perfect symbol of the new life of Spring and the new life we have in Christ!  

We were introduced to the idea of raising chickens last summer when we rented a house out-of-town whose owner asked us to take care of his chickens.  We liked the fresh eggs so much that we decided to start our own little hen house when we moved to our new home.  We brought 5 Buff Orpington hens with us from the rental property, and then purchased 10 Red Star chicks to expand our chicken family.  Thankfully, the location of our new house is ideal for raising chickens.  We are out-of-town with a secluded 7 acres of land---perfect for chickens to roam (and boys to explore)!  

Paul and the boys did a beautiful job turning a little shed on the property into a cozy coop for our hens.  It was a lot of work digging holes for the posts, putting up the fence, building nest boxes and roosting bars, etc...  Paul's attention to detail was superb!  He created a little hen door that opens and closes by pulling on a string from the outside of the coop, and he also made a hinged door on the nesting boxes on the outside of the coop so that we really don't ever have to go inside the coop at all!  It's great to avoid getting poop on our shoes!  

We are having so much fun learning how to be amateur farmers!  We really have no idea what we are doing, but Google and some good friends are teaching us as we go.  It feels so good to be on the path towards being more self-sufficient, and we think it will be great for the kids to take on some more outdoor responsibilities to make them enjoy nature more than their silly electronics games (we sure hope that will be the case anyway) :)

I hope you enjoy the pictures of the whole process--from coop to chicks--in reverse order :)

Even the deer came to inspect the new coop!

I'm guessing that they were disappointed with how well it was constructed, 

which prevented them from stealing any of the chicken feed :)

latest Medjugorje Message...

Here is the latest message from Our Blessed Mother to the visionary Mirjana in Medjugorje.  These words seemed perfect for Divine Mercy weekend, and also perfect for my heart today.  May they touch your heart deeply, like healing balm, and bring you ever closer to Jesus' merciful heart this weekend.


April 2, 2016 Message to Mirjana

"Dear children, do not have hearts that are hard, closed and filled with fear. Permit my motherly love to illuminate them and fill them with love and hope; so that, as a mother, I may soothe your pains because I know them, I experienced them. Pain elevates and is the greatest prayer. My Son, in a special way, loves those who suffer pains. He sent me to soothe them for you and bring hope. Trust in Him. I know that it is difficult for you because you see more and more darkness around you. My children, it is necessary to break it by prayer and love. The one who prays and loves is not afraid, he has hope and a merciful love, he sees the light and sees my Son. As my apostles, I call you to keep trying to be an example of merciful love and hope. Always pray anew for all the more love because merciful love brings light which breaks every darkness - it brings my Son. Do not be afraid, you are not alone, I am with you. I implore you to pray for your shepherds that at every moment they may have love, that they may work for my Son with love - through Him and in memory of Him. Thank you."

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig!

HOME AGAIN, HOME AGAIN, JIGGITY JIG!!!

We finally have a home again, yes, we actually do feel like dancing a jig!  As most of you know, we had been looking for a home for about 2 years, and the whole process of putting the house on the market 2 summers in a row and then renting while searching for a new home certainly stretched our patience and our faith!  But now we can clearly see that it was worth the wait (and the tears) and that God even surpassed the desires of our hearts.  We moved into our new home on March 5th, and we are so thankful for all our friends from church and Paul's office who helped us!  You know who you are (especially you two ladies who cleaned our toilets!), and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts!!!  My parents came a few days later to help us unpack the boxes and make the house feel like home.  My dad was in his element cutting down dead trees on our property to put in our fireplace, and he even found time to take the boys fishing (imagine that).

My parents also brought with them the best house-warming present of all---my grandparents' cook-stove from the farm!  It still works and it looks lovely in our kitchen!  Thank you, mom and dad, for such a priceless treasure!

Truly, our whole family is overflowing with gratitude at God's goodness in providing us with this home and the 7 acres of wilderness surrounding it.  It is far beyond what we deserve, but we will strive to show our gratitude to God by enjoying every acre of it and using it to serve and glorify Him with the help of His grace.  The boys have already created a mountain-biking/hiking trail around the perimeter of the property---so fun and beautiful!  Nearly every day we see a herd of deer meander across our yard, and occasionally we even spot an elk or a wild turkey or two!  What a blessing to have Montana wilderness for our busy boys to explore right outside our back door!  

I also want to thank all of you who helped pray us into this home!  May God bless you even more abundantly in return!!  And please invite yourselves over anytime---I mean it!!!  We would be thrilled to have you over for a cup of coffee, followed by a hike to burn off a few calories! :)  We would also gladly host visitors from afar who would like to spend some time exploring the beauty of Montana!

May all of you be showered with extra graces this Holy Week and Easter as you reflect on Christ's Passion and the gift of salvation that He bought with His blood out of His great love for us!  May we console His Sacred Heart by striving to love Him and thank Him as much as we can in return.  

Moving day is finally here!

Hi friends, family and faithful readers :)

Could you please say a prayer for our family this week as we prepare to move into our new home?  We sign the closing paperwork on Friday (March 4th), and we start moving in right away.  Please pray for a peaceful, joy-filled transition, and that our family can grow in holiness and glorify God in our new home!  THANK YOU!  We are so grateful for all of you and for all that God has done in our lives.  His love and mercy are endless!

P.S. For those of you who are local, I hope to have you over soon for tea or coffee!  :)