Building a House

The Year in Pictures...

2011-12-04T20:19:00.000-08:00

...or at least the first 8 months of the year in pictures. I'll admit the pictures aren't the best quality, but the older I get the more I realize to forget the picture and just enjoy the moment.

Here's a snapshot of our life this year. I have no pictures downloaded since August so this is the best I could come up with. :-)

Don't ask what happened the first two months of the year. I can't remember. But in March, we used some airline vouchers to make the big trip back East to visit Doug's grandmother. We hadn't seen her in almost 6 years.

We took advantage of our travel time and stopped in Pennsylvania to see Doug's "little" brother and family (these are his two daughters). Doug's parents made the drive up from North Carolina to visit as well.

Next stop was at Westminster Seminary in Eastern PA where we saw Chris Brown. Okay, not THE Chris Brown, but our friend that served with us in Pucallpa. We shared almost our entire time in Peru, including language school, with him.

Then we made our way to Rhode Island to see Doug's grandmother. While there we stayed with Doug's aunt and uncle and got to meet all their grandchildren. Good times. :)

More Second Cousins

We got back and Doug gave his two weeks notice for his job. Two weeks later he started working at our church full-time. A week after that we got keys to the church parsonage and we started tearing out carpet.

You can see here the padding and a little bit of the carpet on the right. Yes, I know. We were absolutely mad to get rid of that lovely green carpet. :)

Doug worked like a madman...

And I went to cooking classes with our pastor's wife and learned to make stuff like this.

Here's a during photo of the sanding process. I don't think I even have an after photo yet.

We stayed at this fancy hotel room for free the night before we moved out of our condo and into the church parsonage.

And this little gal turned two.

We finally found renters for our condo a few days before we headed to CA.

And then we played like crazy in CA with our family. But this is the only picture I have downloaded of our trip so far. :)

And in case you read this blog and I haven't talked you in the last month or so, we're also having another baby next year! Would I say I'm blessed. Yes. Very much.

What I've Been Up To

2011-01-19T20:07:00.000-08:00

So, I thought that after a few months away, I should actually give an update on my life here in the northwest. Ya know, for the one or two people who might still be checking out this blog.

Top ten things that consume my time currently:

1. Homeschooling a first and a third grader while two little ones destroy the rest of the house. That should be enough said, but I'll throw in a story that is pretty funny to illustrate. Andrew woke up sick today and after lunch took his regular nap. These days his naps only last for about an hour, but that hour is so precious, especially in the afternoon. Anyway, he slept for about 15 minutes today when the UPS guy banged on the door. From the room in the back, it sounded like the door was about to cave in, but alas, Alyssa didn't notice it even though she was only two feet from the door! So, runny-nosed, congested Andrew woke up. I tried all afternoon to get him to go back to sleep. At one point, I actually thought I succeeded in at least getting him to rest on the couch quietly. You would think I was a novice at this parenting thing! Oh no, he wasn't quietly resting. I found him quietly sneaking some food under the table. "What kind of food?" you ask. A big ball of brown sugar. I actually smelled it before I saw it. :)

2. Laundry.

3. Memorizing scripture. I know, I know, you're totally rolling your eyes at this one, but I have been making a concerted effort in this area for the past month.

4. Picking up toys. I don't even do all the work on this one. My kids pick up a lot of toys AND often. I still seem to pick up toys constantly. Did I mention that I think Christmas this year officially sent us over the edge on toys? It's official, we have more toys than we actually have space to store them.

5. Talking. Yep, that's right, I still love to talk, although the competition for output is getting fierce in our home now that we are up to six talkers.

6. Reading. And I still love reading. People always seem to ask me how I find time for reading with my busy schedule. Seriously, I don't think I would still be sane if I didn't read. Reading is a good reminder that there is a great, big world out there and I'm getting my kids ready to face that great, big world.

7. Eating chocolate.

8. Drinking coffee.

And the last two things that keep me busy lately:

9. Homeschooling

10. Laundry

But I think I already mentioned those. ;-) It's a good life. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

And please excuse any mistakes in this post. I don't have time to proofread it. :)

Dying Young

2010-08-19T16:25:00.000-07:00

We just bought a cool book called The Church History ABCs. It contains short, biographical sketches on various people from church history. It has fun drawings and my kids love learning about different people in church history.

Last night, we read about Anne Bradstreet who died at age 62. After hearing the age at which she died, Alyssa exclaimed, "Wow! That's young for her deadness!" which meant that the woman was quite young to die.

Things to Look Forward to...

2010-08-05T13:45:00.000-07:00

Today at lunch, the girls brought up what life would be like in the resurrection. They were describing all the things we have to look forward to and here is the list they came up with:

"No more hospitals because there will be no more sick people."

"No pain."

"No bad people."

"No sadness."

"And Mommy, you'll be able to cook!"

Do Not Become Weary

2010-03-10T20:45:00.001-08:00

In case you haven't noticed, it has been pretty hard for me to make time for blogging. It is always in the back of my mind, but actually doing it gets pushed aside. The choice is usually sleeping or blogging, spending time with the kids or blogging, reading my Bible or blogging, prepping for school the next day or blogging, tackling that to do list from last month or blogging. You get the picture.

These are busy days for us. My days are filled with the regular stuff a mom of four would be doing with homeschooling on top. It has been an adjustment this year and just when I feel like I'm getting into a rhythm of living, something else comes my way or I realize that I have conveniently forgotten, well, all that I've forgotten.

Our plates are full and sometimes I get bogged down by all that I have to do. Sometimes I get plain discouraged, but here are a few verses that set my perspective straight and encourage me to be faithful in the tasks that God has set before me.

I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the LORD; The humble shall hear of it and be glad.

Psalm 34:1-2

Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your justice as the noonday. Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.

Psalm 37:3-7

To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:

Eccliastes 3:1

For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

Galatians 6:8-9

Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.

2 Corinthians 2:14-15

Just So You Know I'm Still Alive

2009-12-07T15:26:00.000-08:00

No time to write, but I finally downloaded some pictures to my computer so here are a few:

Four Children: Busy, Busy, Busy

2009-10-14T19:53:00.000-07:00

One of my first responses about having four children was something like, "It is no different than having two." Four months after Abrielle's birth, I have thought a lot about this and I think it is very much true...and very much not true. ;-) Let's see if I can explain this.

The biggest distinction in my mind between "having four is just like having two" and "having four is more than having two" is the difference between stress and busy-ness. Having four children seems no more stressful to me than having two. When I had only two children, if one thing went wrong then everything seemed to go wrong. That hasn't really changed now that I have four. Everything seems to come crashing down at once (I'm sure it doesn't really, but it does seem that way). I do not feel I am going from crisis to crisis day in and day out, just that the crises seem to pile up in a moment's time. However, having four is definitely more work and makes my life much busier. I have a lot to do. I have more clothes to wash, more food to make, more times in a week to clean the bathroom, etc. But more work is not a bad thing. More work may take more time, it may mean you never get to the end of your to-do list, it may mean that you need to be more creative about housework, it may mean you get less time to hang out with friends, but it is not the end of the world. It is not necessarily more stressful.

All of this brings to mind some important principles. First, we must remember that we are not adequate to do anything of import apart from Christ. I often think of the verse 2 Corinthinas 3:5 in my parenting. It says that we are not adequate or sufficient, but God is. I know the context of this verse is not parenthood, but I think it applies to us in the state of parenthood just as well.

Second, I think we need to embrace the fourth commandment which says to remember the Sabbath day. It is strange to me that we want so much to do away with this commandment when it is such a blessing. I do not think remembering the Sabbath means that we have to put dour looks on our faces and only think of serious things while we sit quietly. Actually, I think it is quite the opposite. I think we get to celebrate it by feasting, worshiping corporately, fellowshipping with other saints, and by resting, which for me means no to-do list and also often translates into a good, old-fashioned Sunday afternoon nap. As my husband puts it, we get a vacation one day a week. This does not mean I have NO work to do on Sundays, but I do not view it as "just another day" to get things done. And since I have been implementing this in my life, I have experienced much refreshment and it seems that I have actually been able to accomplish more. Our ways are definitely not God's ways.

Third, it means not burning the candle at both ends. I recognize that there are seasons in life when our busy-ness is above and beyond anything approaching normal. But I do not think it is a coincidence that the same Psalm that tells us that children are a reward says that it is "vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows; for so He gives His beloved sleep." God not only gives His children weekly rest; He gives daily rest, as well.

Finally, we have to remember that we should not grow weary in doing good and that we are reaping a harvest (Galatians 6:9). Raising children in the training and admonition of the Lord is a good thing. It is not always easy, but it is rewarding.

Four Children: A Blessing

2009-10-04T22:21:00.000-07:00

Since Abrielle has joined our family, I have been asked several times, "How is it having four kids?" Just recently I was asked by someone to write some "words of wisdom" about having four. I don't feel like I'm very wise in this area, but I can share some of my thoughts/experiences/convictions about having kids in general. For anyone keeping track this will be the first installment.

Today I want to focus on the complete blessing it is to have four children. I am not saying it is always easy or that I never get frustrated, but it is turning out to be a wonderful experience and I am enjoying each child immensely. So at this point I am going to do something dreadfully embarrassing and that is to point out that I was the one confidently telling everybody a few years ago that we were done with two! And of course I ate my words and now I have four. And the best explanation I can give about this is that I really started believing that Psalm 127 is true. Children (and more specifically godly children) are truly a blessing from the Lord. I am NOT saying that if others have only two (or less), then they are in the wrong. But as I prayed for and about my family, God showed me that my reasons for only wanting two children were plain old selfish and didn't quite match up to His reasoning.

How are these little ones a blessing? It is a blessing to watch each child as they go through each stage of life. It is a blessing to hear them tell me that I am a wonderful mother (oh, if they only knew!). It is a blessing to see how very different four little personalities can be. It is a blessing to watch them grow in the grace and knowledge of God. It is a blessing to be puzzled at how to raise these immortal souls and to throw myself in humble reliance on God for the grace to do it. It is a blessing to laugh with them. I cannot adequately explain it and I can't seem to convince enough people, but having a houseful is definitely a blessing from the Lord.

Recovering

2009-09-12T10:25:00.000-07:00

I thought I would let everyone know that I had surgery on Thursday to remove my gallbladder. Right before I went into surgery, the doctor asked if I had had any problems since I had last seen him. I hadn't and as I told him this I realized that he seemed to think my stones weren't too bad. No big deal; I was confident in my decision and he and I had discussed how once you get gallstones, the gallbladder continues to make them.

Going under was much better this time than the last time I had surgery. As they were prepping me in the OR they couldn't get a reading on my heartbeat. The guy checking me and I were joking that I was dead. I love that God always seems to surround me with people who can laugh with me when I really need it. I fell asleep just as they got a reading on my heart. The dreaded part was waking up. I realized just after coming to that I had woken up yelling, "I'm in pain! It hurts! It hurts!" So I asked one of the men in there, "Was I just yelling?" Now if that isn't embarrassing enough, I also then realized that I was soaked and it wasn't from sweat.

Well, the doctor was quite surprised. He said my gallbladder was packed full of marble-sized gallstones leaving absolutely no room for the gallbladder to do its job. As a result, he had to make a larger incision than he planned to get it all out.

I have had wonderful help here at home from many friends at church: meals, taking care of my kids, house stuff, etc. I realize that I am totally blessed.

Where Did the Summer Go?

2009-08-19T09:23:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I have barely written since having Abrielle. I think you'll understand. In between taking care of four kids, rearranging and organizing our home in preparation for homeschool, getting a grasp of the subjects for homeschool, preparing Doug for his continuing ministerial training in the fall, and all the other day-to-day things like cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, etc. I have barely had time to even think about my poor, neglected blog. We have had a great summer and I had the time of my life in California camping, seeing my family, and visiting with some of you. Maybe, just maybe, one of these days I will actually be able to carve out a focused amount of time to actually post pictures and write about this very full summer.

In Other Parts of the House...

2009-06-24T14:08:00.001-07:00

I meant to post about this before Abrielle arrived, but false labor signs kind of got in the way. The Friday before Annalisa finished first grade, she had an awards assembly at school. This was the morning after the kids had stayed at our friends' home because we really thought labor was going to kick in during the night (and it didn't). I suspected that Annalisa would be getting an award at school, so Doug picked up the kids and took Annalisa to the assembly while I waited at home thinking that labor was imminent.

Annalisa was honored with receiving the Principal's Award. She received this certificate and a little pin. She was so excited to get an award, but I don't think she understood how significant it was. It was a special way for her to end the year.

This was Annalisa's last year at the Oaks. We made the decision many months ago that we will homeschool the girls in the fall. We never dreamed that Annalisa would ever be able to attend a classical Christian school and we have been blessed by her time there. Although we will miss the school greatly, we felt this was the best time to transition to homeschooling. Annalisa is excited about staying home with Mommy, although Alyssa was more than a little disappointed to not have Annalisa's kindergarten teacher next year. If you knew this lady, you would be disappointed, too!

Pictures! Lots!

2009-06-16T16:18:00.000-07:00

This post has taken soooo long to finish. This has been a work in progress over the course of a few days. And just to warn you the first picture I would consider a little less than decent, but I just had to include it. So as you look at these pictures remember that I write on this blog with my friends and family of the female persuasion in mind! ;-)

To start with I'll write a short little blurb about the labor and delivery. The labor was really great. Honestly, I think it was the best labor I've experienced yet. We could tell the baby was in a good position, so the pain was relatively low. Active labor didn't seem like much to me and I spent most of my time in the water. I can say I was able to completely relax and my midwife said I looked like a frog.

It started being not so fun once transition came, but I was able to find a good position and with counter-pressure on my lower back, the pain was relieved quite a bit. But the delivery was eventful. Abrielle had the cord around her neck and under her shoulder which prevented her from descending in a normal manner. Then when she finally made her appearance, she did not just slip out. My midwife helped Abrielle by sommersaulting her out - something better explained in person. I felt it all, Doug saw it all, and he relayed to me how it worked exactly.

Now, on to pictures:

I really did not want to include the above picture, but I just have to show you what I really look like after labor with messy hair, funky skin from pregnancy (that dot on my nose showed up during my last pregnancy and made its reappearance during this one), typical dark circles around my eyes, no make up, but a huge smile of relief and joy. I am no beauty queen, especially after labor no matter how long or short it is.

My sweet husband with his new daughter! Who needs to hire a doula when you have Doug around? My midwife came into the room at one point and said, "Well, obviously you have a great doula and don't need me right now. If you do need anything just ask, but it looks like Doug is doing a great job with you."

Abrielle getting checked out thoroughly while I enjoyed a hot shower. She is about two hours old here.

The rest of the team - Margaret, my midwife, is dressed in the dark colors. Sharon was her assistant for the day. My good friend, Terri, is usually Margaret's assistant, but she left for a visit to CA in the morning just as my real labor was starting. It was a bummer that Terri missed it, but if I was going to choose a replacement for her, it would have been Sharon, so I was thankful when she walked in the door. This was Sharon's first time to assist Margaret solo. I also promised these ladies I would not post this picture all over facebook, but I said nothing about my blog! You also have to know that these ladies kept me laughing during labor and even right up to delivery! I am not kidding, I was even laughing during contractions. Doug says, "Only Margaret could get away with that." But the jokes and laughter were a wonderful distraction. I have some funny memories stored away from this day.

This is the next morning before Doug picked up the other kids from our friends' house. We sent this picture out to family in e-mail and I'm afraid this is what people think I look like right after givig birth. Ha!

Meeting siblings!

Doug calls Abrielle a little porcupine because her hair sticks up straight.

In this next picture she is two days old.

Welcome, Abrielle

2009-06-08T20:20:00.000-07:00

Abrielle Faith Matangelo was welcomed into our home yesterday, June 7, at 2:59 pm. She weighed 8 pounds, 4 ounces and was 20 inches long. We thank God for a safe delivery and are happy to report that both mom and daughter are doing great! Pictures to come soon...

O LORD, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot.

The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Yes, I have a good inheritance.

Psalm 16:5,6

No News Is No News

2009-06-05T21:20:00.000-07:00

We are still waiting for this baby to show its face to the world. Wednesday I found out I was somewhere between 5 and 6 cm dilated - not bad. Then yesterday the excitement started. There seemed to be some signs that my body was starting to take this labor thing a little more seriously. We even sent the kids off to our friends' house for the night in hopes to free my mind to just let it happen - and nothing did. I did manage to wake up in the middle of the night and wait 2 1/2 hours or so to get tired enough to fall asleep again. I walked in circles for almost 40 minutes, I got on the computer, I tried to read a little bit, and I just laid there. For a while my contractions seemed to even be picking up a bit, but it all faded away. Thankfully, I was able to catch up on the sleep I missed with a long morning nap and I got to spend some extra time with the girls this afternoon which was nice. After dinner, we took a nice, long family walk to the park. I have to admit that apart from not knowing when exactly the baby will come, it has been nice this past week to just savor some special moments in rest and have some extra time with the kids and with Doug when he's not studying. So, the waiting continues...

The Big Four-O

2009-05-31T19:52:00.000-07:00

I have made it to 40 weeks and what a week it has been. I cleaned the house like a maniac last Saturday followed by two wonderful days of rest. Then it was back to the grind of another week with an allergy attack near the end of it. So that's my excuse for extremely dark circles under the eyes in the photo below. I didn't feel like re-doing my makeup at the end of the day just for one picture. So, here I am - the stick with a basketball in front, and red eyes, too:

Alyssa has been waiting all day for the baby to come since she's been telling me all week that it is coming on Sunday! I wouldn't mind if she is right.

Home Birth Preparations

2009-05-26T21:13:00.000-07:00

For any who are interested, I thought I would do a short post on doing a home birth. If all goes well, this will be my third home birth, although only the second that I have actually planned.

I know that the idea of a home birth is such a weird concept for most people. I personally like it for a few reasons: I prefer to birth "naturally" (bottom line for me: no drugs, and no needles in my back), I don't have to worry about decisions being made because of a doctor's or nurse's schedule, I really like never having to leave the house and wondering when is the best time to get to the hospital (too soon and your on the clock, too late and you get an Alyssa birth), and I prefer to recover in my own space - nobody poking or prodding me right when I've finally fallen asleep, nobody trying to take the baby away at 1 am for a test, and being in my own bed - so much more comfy than a hospital bed.

There are lots of things to have on hand when getting ready for a birth such as "Chux" pads, sterilized gloves, umbilical cord clamps, and so on. This time around I had some things left over from the last birth, so getting my supplies together didn't entail much. Here they are ready to go:

This time, I decided I would really like a birth tub. I do not plan to give birth in the water (explaining that would have to be an additional post), but bathing is so relaxing and soothing during labor especially when you have the right kind of tub. So the tub is all set up in my room (it belongs to my midwife) and I tested it out. I almost fell asleep in it.

Lastly, but really most importantly in my mind, you must have a good midwife. I have to say I am especially blessed in this area. Not only do I have a midwife who is highly skilled and caring, she loves the Lord, too, and seeks to minister to women through her work. It has been such a blessing to pray with her during visits and to rely on the Lord together when difficult decisions need to be made. I have to admit that I went for an "appointment" with her two weeks ago. The routine checks were done in about 20 minutes, but I ended up staying at her house for 2 1/2 hours visiting.

39 Weeks and Hanging Out at 4

2009-05-24T20:11:00.000-07:00

I am now 39 weeks today!

Here are some recent pictures:

Mother's Day

37 weeks

38 weeks

39 weeks

And I found out Friday that I am hanging out at around 4 cm dilation. The biggest questions are what does that mean and how far and how quickly do I progress. It is going to be interesting to see when this baby arrives. My midwife's bag is packed and my house is ready...

And just for fun:

Don't Get Excited

2009-05-18T22:40:00.000-07:00

I just showed Doug my last post and he freaked out by the baby picture. He told me that it looks like I had the baby. Well, I didn't and so don't be mistaken by Alyssa's baby picture in the post about her birthday.

Alyssa Turns 5

2009-05-14T21:42:00.000-07:00

Five years ago this little girl popped out in the living room caught by her daddy:

We celebrated Alyssa's fifth birthday at the end of April. It was a fun day. We decided to take her to Chuck E. Cheese. It was her first time to go and she loved it.

We came home after our little excursion and had cake and ice cream and opened presents. Since I couldn't eat the chocolate cake or ice cream I had my own little cakes - rice cakes, that is. Yum!

Annalisa joined in on opening gifts by reading Alyssa's cards to her.

And this is a picture of our gift to Alyssa. She loves puppets and I told Doug a few months ago we should make her a little puppet theater. Thankfully, something better came along. Our church has a clothes closet where we can donate things we can't use or we can take anything we can use. One Sunday, Doug asked if I had seen what was in the clothes closet. Well, seeing that I have to climb about 20 stairs to get there, I don't go up very often lately. Doug told me about the puppet theater - just what I pictured making with some puppets included and a white board, too. So there you have it - now you know exactly how cheap we are; we gave our daughter a free, reused gift. Actually, I bought her a brand new set of white board markers and an eraser to go with it. Just as I thought, she loved it - can't you just see it written all over her face?

It's Official

2009-04-29T09:50:00.001-07:00

After going back and forth for a while now, Doug and I have finally decided on baby names. "Names?" you might ask. "Isn't it a girl?" Well, that's what I was told, but I have to admit I haven't felt sure about it and I was pretty surprised when the ultrasound tech told me so confidently that she knew what it was since the baby hadn't been extremely active during the sonogram and the tech had had some difficulties viewing other parts of the body. Whatever we get, we will be content, but just in case, we have chosen a girl's name and a boy's name. Sorry, I'm not sharing (well, okay, Tina you know, but I haven't told anybody else). I'll just let the rest of you know that both names do start with an "A" since we couldn't stand to break the tradition.

More Easter

2009-04-28T10:07:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple more pictures from Easter. I really do not like posting pictures of myself, but I decided to include one anyway since it shows off my pregnant belly and a shirt totally unlike something I would usually wear.

This year, we again invited our friends, the Alexanders, and again I failed to get a picture of their family. It was a great time since we consider them to be our family here in Spokane. Right now we have seven kids between us, soon to be nine. Jana prepared cornish game hens and she and her husband, Ben, brought over little eggs stuffed with candy and coins. It was raining again this year, so we held the hunt in our condo. Here is a picture of the four oldest of our children.

Easter, 2009

2009-04-26T22:10:00.000-07:00

Just two weeks late, here are pictures from Easter. And if you're Eastern Orthodox, I'm only a week late, so that's not too bad. WARNING: Lots of pictures here; I couldn't resist.

Our tradition used to be to get together with my brother and family to dye eggs a day or two before Easter. Now we just do it on our own, so here are the highlights.

The girls really wanted to curl their hair for Easter (though Alyssa has a little curl to her hair still), so I did it. Here is before:

And after... and the girls picked out their own dresses and accessories this year:

And my little cutie, who is really, really vain. Wonder where he gets that from? (Hint: not from his father)

The two men in my life who bring lots of smiles to my face:

And the whole family. Really this is a miracle shot, especially since Andrew is particular about getting his picture taken alone!

I've been meaning to get a picture with just the two of us for a few months now.

No Joke

2009-04-14T15:17:00.001-07:00

I will post about Easter soon, but in the meantime I just had to show what we woke up to this morning...

About six inches fell early Tuesday morning. And this is what it looked like this afternoon...

Stones

2009-03-30T16:05:00.000-07:00

I seem to have a knack for coming up with out-of-the-ordinary circumstances to surround my pregnancies. With Annalisa it was emergency surgery (and as my dad called it a very expensive pregnancy test) and excess vomiting followed by dramatic weightloss. Alyssa was delivered by her father on the living room carpet with most of my immediate family present. Andrew was showing symptoms of twins for a while and left me completely exhausted, then gave me a doozy of a labor thanks to his choice of position. And then this pregnancy comes along like a sparkling trophy. I had relatively less "morning" sickness with bursts of feeling quite fine before the 13-week mark. I have had unbelievable energy that I have never experienced during pregnancy. Even sciatica and heartburn seem to be much better than other pregnancies. And then this weekend came.

It started on Friday while I drove Annalisa home from school. I was having some high abdominal pain (above baby) and strain in the back. I thought maybe I had pulled a muscle in my back and it was causing the pain in my abdomen. I had a tough time driving home, but once there I rested for a bit and went on like normal for the rest of the night.

The same pain returned last night just as I was about to get up and eat dinner. But this time it hurt to lay down, it hurt to walk, it hurt to sit. And the pain did not go away. I finally thought we better call my midwife who asked Doug after hearing my symptoms, "Does she have a family history of gallbladder problems?" Well, only both my parents have had theirs removed. A half hour later I was on my way to the ER and wondering how this might affect baby.

While Doug parked the car, I rode in a wheel chair up to the maternity ward. The attendant pushing the wheel chair really had his hands full. I was absolutley bawling (seriously, this pain has to be about 10 times worse than labor) and he was running through the hospital while trying to comfort me. Tests, IVs, monitoring, and an ultrasound were on the agenda. And did I mention the drugs? Morphine and whatever else they gave me did some weird things to me. But I did get relief from the pain. And another attendant I found out was from Mexico, so I managed to get a little Spanish practice into the whole mix of events.

All to say, I am fine now and at home. I have gallstones, but thankfully no infection, so surgery can be put off until after baby comes as long as a controlled diet prevents any more attacks or any infection. And what do I have to give up eating? Everything I love: butter, mayonnaise, chocolate, fried foods (they don't know my love for Peruvian french fries!), basically anything fun. But for the sake of getting through this pregnancy without having to have surgery, I'll definitely obey.

Catching Up

2009-03-07T13:28:00.000-08:00

I've been pretty delinquent in posting on my blog. The farther along I get with my pregnancy, the more tired I become and I have really been trying to focus on just getting everyday tasks done - unsuccessfully I might add.

So, intsead of cleaning the kitchen or catching up on laundry or even taking a nap (because I am really tired at the moment) I decided to post some pics from the past few months so you can see some of the not-so-day-to-day stuff we've been up to.

As I've written before, it snowed in December - record breaking snow for three weeks. I really enjoyed it and then it stopped. Personally, if it's going to be cold I would much rather it be snowing, but ever since December, we've had nothing impressive in the area of snow fall. Here's a picture outside of our condo:

And a picture of our street which was not plowed for a couple weeks, but everytime we called the city, we were informed that it had been plowed twice already. I did see a plow truck on our road once during this time, but that was while he was turning around to plow a small side street connected to our street. After breaking a couple sets of chains trying to get out of our driveway, Doug called a few city workers and got hung up on. A bunch of neighbors also rallied together and called a local news station. Finally a plow truck came. It was a glorious day to be able to get out of our street without Dukes of Hazard moves. I'm not kidding; I watched Doug leave for work lots of times full-speed ahead making the car come off the ground in hopes of getting enough momentum to get through our street to the plowed street mentioned above.

At the beginning of January we decided to paint our kitchen. Sorry, we only have during shots, no before or after - don't ask why. The kitchen is now a cheery yellow color which really helps on the dreary days.

Doug's parents and sister came to visit in January. The girls got to go ice skating for the first time and loved it.

We watched Mary Poppins together as a family one Friday evening. I know it doesn't sound terribly exciting, but it was my first time to watch it and Alyssa dressed up like Mary Poppins for weeks afterwards. She is such a fashionista...

We celebrated Annalisa's seventh birthday in February. Since she had a big party last year, we just had a simple family dinner together which really helped the pregnant mother out. I know moms need to be careful of bragging, but I must say I am so pleased to watch her growing into a lovely, godly, and caring young lady.

And then there's Andrew. He keeps me on my toes and keeps me laughing and thanking God for the blessing of children.

It's So Good to Be Loved!

2009-01-29T09:01:00.000-08:00

Yesterday while we were waiting in the car for Annalisa to get out of school, Alyssa said, "Mommy, I like you a little bit, but I like Daddy a lot!" And she made sure to drag out "lot" for emphasis. I was a little shocked, but I admit I started laughing because I was completely taken by surprise. No worries, Alyssa added on, "Oh, but you're very pretty!"

When I relayed this conversation to Doug he said, "Well, she is your daughter - very honest."

First Picture of Our Baby Girl!

2009-01-19T09:44:00.000-08:00

Below Freezing

2009-01-14T10:08:00.000-08:00

I have to admit that I have an obsession with the weather and I don't know why. I just love to watch or read the weather forecast, but it is almost always wrong. This morning we were slip-sliding on the walkway outside of our condo thanks to the ice. I went inside to check the temperature on the weather page of a local TV station's website. It was laughable. The current temperature was displayed as 29 degrees and right under it was the day's forecast: Low of 33, High of 37. Hmmm, somebody's not paying attention. It reminded me of something my brother told me about recently, so here it is -a quote from The Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce:

WEATHER, n. The climate of the hour. A permanent topic of conversation among persons whom it does not interest, but who have inherited the tendency to chatter about it from naked arboreal ancestors whom it keenly concerned. The setting up official weather bureaus and their maintenance in mendacity prove that even governments are accessible to suasion by the rude forefathers of the jungle.

Once I dipt into the future far as human eye could see, And I saw the Chief Forecaster, dead as any one can be — Dead and damned and shut in Hades as a liar from his birth, With a record of unreason seldom paralleled on earth. While I looked he reared him solemnly, that incandescent youth, From the coals that he'd preferred to the advantages of truth. He cast his eyes about him and above him; then he wrote On a slab of thin asbestos what I venture here to quote — For I read it in the rose-light of the everlasting glow: "Cloudy; variable winds, with local showers; cooler; snow."
—Halcyon Jones

Making the Most of the Snow

2009-01-10T17:47:00.000-08:00

I took these pictures the day after the first major snow storm.

Note the orange mittens. One of the moms in our church gave these to us last winter - they were her son's. They are seriously Alyssa's favorite accessory. She even tries to wear them to church with her pretty green dress and black dress coat; I won't let her.

This girl would play in the snow all day if we let her. I made her come in after a few hours of playtime when Alyssa started complaining that her toes hurt!

He made it in the snow for probably a whopping ten minutes. He was not impressed. Check out his coat I found at a consignment shop for 7 bucks!

Snow!

2009-01-09T16:27:00.000-08:00

I thought I would post some pics of what we've been experiencing the past three weeks. The week before Christmas we had a little snow on the ground. Then, over a 24 hour period, we got about two feet. Sometime during this 24 hour period, I watched the news and was told by the trusty weatherman (please note sarcasm) that we would probably get about 2 inches more overnight. And while I was getting Annalisa ready for school the next morning I had the brilliant idea of actually looking outside and I told Doug, "That has to be at least another foot!" So Annalisa had two snow days before Christmas break.

This is actually a picture of the condo across from ours. They look almost exactly the same. This picture was taken less than 24 hours after the first snow storm hit.

After we realized that school was shut down, we decided we better start trying to get Doug's car shoveled out so he could go to work:

But we had no luck. After an hour-and-a-half of shoveling and after breaking a set of chains and only getting Doug's car backed out about 10 feet, we decided that Doug probably wasn't going to make it to work. And the snow continued for the next 3 weeks almost non-stop. Over 6 feet of snow fell during the month of December shattering any record in the written weather history of Spokane. Oh, and we had a lot of fun!

One Year Ago Today...

2008-12-30T19:57:00.000-08:00

This sweet guy was born:

I have had three very different birthing experiences. This was a planned home birth and was by far the most difficult labor for me, but the most relaxing recovery. There is something that I love about never leaving the house during the whole labor and birth, and God graciously allowed it all to work out even though there were some moments it seemed we were destined to be in the hospital.

As you'll notice there are no pictures of me. Let's just say I was completely uninhibited in my own home to the point that all the pictures of me from that first day are not for public viewing. It's a real bummer because I wish you could see the "serious conage" that Andrew's head came out with (those were Doug's exact words). These pictures were taken when Andrew was about an hour old.

I was blessed with a wonderful, Christian midwife and my good friend who is her assistant was there, also. Of course, Doug was with me through it all, but since Andrew had to be pulled out, Doug didn't get to catch this one.

Long Update, No Pictures

2008-12-17T09:08:00.000-08:00

Okay, I am alive and actually quite well. This is going to be a totally random get-it-done-as-fast-as-I-can and write-about-as-much-as-possible post.

First, as far as pregnancy goes, I feel great. I have energy again and the nauseousness is nearly gone - so much earlier than any of my other pregnancies. I don't know what the difference is this time around, but I am just thankful. So is Doug as he comes home to me having actually done something during the day like preparing meals and cleaning. There's a lot of catch up to do, but I feel energized to do it.

Also, just a heads up - I have no idea how much I am going to be able to post and when I'll be able to include pictures since we are on dial-up again. Ugh! Even while in Peru we only were on dial up for a total of about two months, so this is a painful transition. Long story short, outside of those Cricket/Verizon options our only option for high speed is Comcast (we are in a peculiar hub in town) and they wouldn't give us any more deals, so we had to cancel. We just couldn't justify the expense since Doug is no longer using the internet for school or looking for work. Pray that Qwest would get their act together and get our hub connected!

And last week was about the craziest week. Annalisa woke up Sunday night throwing up, Doug was in bed all day Monday, Tuesday night as we were getting ready to go to Annalisa's school Christmas program Andrew started throwing up, and I got on board at 1 am on Wednesday morning. The only reason Alyssa didn't get it was becuase she had had it the week before. Our house was a complete disaster, I'm still trying to get stains out of the carpet, and we finally caught up on dishes over the weekend.

I have one more story to tell about taking Christmas pictures, but I think it needs to be saved for its own post so I can have pictures to go with it. Don't hold your breath; I'll probably get to it once the baby is born.

Blessed Along the Way

2008-11-12T19:58:00.001-08:00

Well, true to form my usual "morning" sickness has kicked in meaning I feel pretty terrible from the time I wake up until the time I fall asleep. I have to admit that this pregnancy seems to be better than most. The best way to describe it is that during my last three pregnancies I felt so nauseous I thought I was going to die. My first pregnancy was marked by throwing up just about anything and everything that went into my body for a few months. The next two pregnancies were much better - I could at least keep some food down. This pregnancy is by far the best. I have been able to keep most of my food down and I have these chunks of time where I feel nauseous, but it is quite bearable - this is completely foreign to me (Doug tells me that considering the subject "chunks" was a poor choice of words here -sorry). So it seems that my blogging is going to get quite sporadic.

Also true to form, my home fell into disaster. I guess having a pretty bad time with allergies and caring for sick children while pregnant didn't help. But I hate it when my home is this way and I start to get VERY overwhelmed. But I have been blessed immensely this past week by a number of people in our church. First of all, our pastor told Doug that we need to be provided a meal per week by the church family, so he put us on the list. Wow! Next, I had three offers this week by women to pick up items for me while they were at the grocery store. Yesterday, a woman from church and two of her daughters used their day off from homeschooling to come clean house for me. They did everything - bathrooms, bedrooms, kitchen, laundry, dusting, vacuuming, and even cleaned out my fridge which was a fright since that is the last thing that helps my stomach these days. On top of it, they brought us a bunch of frozen meals, baby food, disposable plates, cups, and cutlery along with a pack of peppermint gum and a magazine! As much as this blessed me, I think it blessed Doug even more since he didn't have to spend his evening doing my responsibilities on top of his. And lastly, a single male friend of ours came over tonight to go to a meeting at church with Doug and brought an incredible pork roast with potatoes.

Building a Bigger House

2008-10-29T12:52:00.001-07:00

The name of my blog is "Building a House" and obviously I am not building any type of physical house. But I am building a house every day in all kinds of different ways - cooking meals, changing diapers, nursing, doing laundry (or at least trying to do it), driving to and from Annalisa's school, greeting my husband with a smile, reading to the kids, teaching them about God, submitting to my husband, laughing with my family, teaching Alyssa her sounds and counting, and the list goes on and on. It's not always easy to keep track of it all, but this is God's call on my life and I love it.

So, for anybody who hasn't heard yet, the word is out that I am building my house in yet another way - God is forming another baby for our family due to arrive sometime late May/early June. We are very excited and eager to receive this blessing from God.

Psalm 127

A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.
Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it;
Unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.
It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows;
For so He gives His beloved sleep.
Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,
The fruit of the womb is a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one's youth.
Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them;
They shall not be ashamed, But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.

Precious Life

2008-10-21T19:32:00.000-07:00

I saw this video today on one of my favorite blogs: The Bayly Blog. I have to warn you that it is only about 6 minutes long, but you might need a box of kleenex. To have such joy under such circumstances can only be God at work.

Facebook Funnies

2008-10-17T08:46:00.000-07:00

It's been a couple or so months since I joined facebook. There are some really good things about it. For example, I've been able to see some current pictures of friends and their families that I wouldn't have seen otherwise. Also, I always seem to have the scoop on certain people that Doug doesn't have. I know, that sounds so lame and wrong, but I have to admit it is true. Doug refuses to join facebook so I always laugh when I say to him, "Did you know so-and-so did...?" and he immediately jumps on the facebook login page and says, "What's your username and password?" So I am finding that if for nothing else, facebook can be good for an easy laugh.

Another funny about facebook - my number of friends. I finally broke 60 this week and made it to 62 meanwhile I can't compare to those who have 200+ or even 300+ friends. But then again, I don't think I really care.

The worst part about facebook is the huge temptation to waste time and knowing where to draw the line on it. I mean is it really important for me to see photos of people that I haven't talked to in over a decade? Or to look at pictures of those I only saw two days ago? Okay, I'm totally rambling now, so I'll just stop.

Rude Songs

2008-10-16T12:29:00.001-07:00

I think every family needs somebody like Alyssa. She always has something funny to say which brings a smile to my face. The past month brought these two little funnies our way which I realize might not be very funny if you have never heard the songs that I am going to write about.

One day we were in the car listening to a Jamie Soles song about Cain. Alyssa said, "Mommy, I LOVE this song! Do you know why I love this song? Because we can yell it!" There really is no yelling in the song, but I think if you heard the song you would understand.

A couple Sundays ago, Alyssa was sick with croup and I stayed home from church with her. That afternoon I was looking at the bulletin to see which songs were sung during the service. I decided to play a few on the piano. One of them was from Psalm 119 and about halfway through the song, each part comes in one at a time starting with the basses. Alyssa and Doug were in the other room while Annalisa and I sang the song. Alyssa said to Doug, "Daddy, what are they singing? Oh, I know. It's the interrupting song."

The Right Guy

2008-10-14T07:51:00.000-07:00

Alyssa announced on Sunday on our way to church that she is going to get married when she is twenty. I told her that was fine, but that she needed to find the right guy first and couldn't just marry anybody.

As we were getting out of the car in the church parking lot, she looked at me with her most serious look and said, "Mommy, I am so glad that when you got married you found the right guy!"

A Good Man

2008-10-13T08:52:00.000-07:00

This morning I woke up late (6:30 am) much to my dismay, but I realized from Doug's reaction that he had let me sleep that long. I stayed in bed to nurse Andrew, so technically I didn't get up until 7 am. I came out and Annalisa was dressed for school, Doug had made breakfast and got his lunch and Annalisa's lunch ready. And the dishwasher was running which I had forgotten to finish loading last night. On top of it all I was greeted by my husband's cheery face. I am so thankful for Doug. I had a rough week last week with allergies that started last Tuesday and kept me from a good night's sleep for five nights in a row. I finally had a solid night of sleep last night and Doug thought I should take advantage of it. What a great start for a new week!

First Steps

2008-10-02T19:16:00.000-07:00

My 9-month-old decided to take his first steps alone today. Hmmm, things are going to get very interesting around here very quickly.

Spanish!

2008-09-25T19:45:00.001-07:00

My tongue is floundering, my brain gets all jumbled, but I still started a new journey today teaching Spanish. No, I'm not teaching it in a class, but to my dear friend, Jana. She is my first victim (aside from my constant commentary on my husband's Spanish) and I am looking forward to it. It will be fun to hang out with her and a good way to brush up on my own Spanish. She is making dinner for my family in exchange for my teaching which, I have to admit, I think is a much bigger payment than is necessary. What she doesn't know is that it is all part of our plan to get her family down to Peru if/when we return there.

As Tina Says, "Oregon or Bust"

2008-09-17T20:21:00.000-07:00

A few nights before family camp, my sister-in-law called and said they would be going to Oregon that weekend to visit my aunt and to look through my grandmother's things. In a sense, it was a chance to say goodbye to Grandma since she hadn't had a service of any kind. By the following day, Doug and I had it all squared away that we would meet up with them. That left two-and-a-half days to pack for family camp and for an unexpected road trip to Port Orford, Oregon.

We left early Saturday morning before family camp finished hoping to make it to my grandma's house at dinner time or shortly after. We made lots of stops for the sake of the kids and also so I could nurse Andrew. We had a great time traveling and realized that it had been a while since we had taken a road trip.

After 13+ hours of travel, we made it in time for a late dinner. My Aunt Marie prepared enchiladas and Tina made Spanish rice. Here were some of the happy faces that greeted us:

Andrew meets his Uncle Dave

A happy reunion for the cousins -
Paul and the girls stayed up until about 1 am talking!

One thing we are really thankful for is how the kids always seem to pick up right where they left off and have a great time together. And it was fun to see an Arequipa shirt on Sammy.

My uncle is a fisherman by trade and always takes the boys and men on fun adventures when we visit. This time crab season was already over as far as professional licensing goes, but he was able to take the bigger boys crabbing just for fun. Doug and our kids headed to the dock to watch the boys catch crabs. Alyssa scared everybody by climbing up on the wall overlooking the ocean and Philip got pinched by a crab. I was told by the girls that he was very brave about it.

Of course, the time to say goodbye to my brother and his family came. We took lots of pictures, but I won't bore you with all of them:

All the kids with my aunt and uncle

After Dave and Tina and the boys left, we stayed a few more days to go through my grandma's belongings, to visit with my aunt and uncle, and also to spend some time vacationing. Seeing my aunt and uncle and vacationing were an unexpected delight for the summer.

One day we headed to the walk-in-safari just north of Port Orford. Annalisa wasn't quite as brave as the last time we were there, but Alyssa got comfortable enough to pet quite a few of the animals.

There were lots of tears for me as we left, but I am glad that I was able to mourn over Grandma. We said goodbye to her house and all the belongings that represented her life and we headed out with a rental truck packed with some of her possessions. We took two days to make the trip home and we also stopped off at Multnomah Falls which was beautiful.

The Best Bible Songs Ever

2008-09-16T20:21:00.000-07:00

As I said in my family camp post, we were excited to meet/see one of our favorite musicians, Jamie Soles. Doug had the opportunity to meet him last year, but the rest of us had missed out. The kids were very excited to meet him (a total understatement) and asked all month before camp, "Is Jamie Soles going to be at family camp? Is his family coming?"

And as promised, he was there. Here is a picture of his family, but the youngest is missing:

Who is Jamie Soles? Well, I think he is the best Bible songs musician ever, if that makes any sense. And he and his family are fun, godly people. I couldn't classify his musical style for you, but all his lyrics are rooted in God's word. We were introduced to his children's music last year by a good friend and were impressed by the catchiness of the songs and the cleverness of his lyrics and music. We now have a number of his albums, but I think our favorite has to be The Way My Story Goes. He writes songs about any Bible story you could ever think of and then some. He definitely does not shy away from any theme in the Bible, so my kids know about David's sin with Bathsheba, how the men of Benjamin captured their wives, what a jerk Nabal was, Micaiah's prophecy of Ahab's death, and that Sisera's head got nailed to the ground with a tent peg by Jael. Through his music you can learn all the books of the Bible, all the kings of Israel, the lineage of Jesus, the names of the patriarchs, and the amounts of the grain, sin, and peace offerings and still have fun! Plus, I don't think I know any other music that gets words and names in like Ahaserus, Zerubbabel, circumsion, and propitiation. If you want your kids (or yourself) to learn and love Bible stories deep down in their bones I highly recommend that you get his music.

First Grade is Here

2008-09-15T20:06:00.000-07:00

Annalisa started first grade today. She was so excited. Yesterday she kept saying in a dreamy voice, "Tomorrow." It was quite entertaining. Her "tomorrow" came and went and she loved every minute of it.

I could barely get her to stand still for this picture
she was so busy trying to look for familiar faces.

Her teacher tried to get her to make a funny face for the picture,
but Annalsia didn't dare - she takes school very seriously.

Family Camp

2008-09-12T20:20:00.000-07:00

Our church, along with two sister churches, hosted a family camp for a few days in August, and we had decided that the camp would be our vacation for the year. We were excited to be able to spend some extended time with other families from the church, relax and have fun, hear a good speaker, and see one of our favorite musicians.

First, some pictures from before and after our canoe ride:

We also went on a hike:

Andrew in my Moby Wrap from my friend Terri.

The group that went on the hike including some good friends and some new friends.

Sorry, this picture is blurry, but I had to show Doug carrying all three of our kids.
And of course Alyssa is being silly.

Andrew did not enjoy his first experience in a lake.

Fun with Drew

2008-09-10T18:20:00.000-07:00

Just 'cause I can't resist, I thought I would post a few pictures of Andrew from this summer:

Andrew had fun discovering his shadow

Fun at the park

He is a sweetie, but it's not all roses.

Giggling with Daddy this past Sunday

Summer Cooking with the Girls

2008-09-09T18:44:00.000-07:00

The girls and I had fun cooking together this summer. Here we are preparing one of our favorite meals: fajitas.

Poor girl hates this job, but she's a good sport.

The blender that our neighbor gave us last year bit the dust, so Doug got this one for me to replace it. He apologized that we didn't have the funds to buy the $125 model! Uh, yeah I think I would be afraid of breaking it - bring on the cheepo model.

Grating cheese takes serious concentration

Summer Ball

2008-09-08T18:41:00.000-07:00

If you have checked out my facebook profile at all you may have noticed that my status not too long ago was about being sore from dancing the night away. Here is the story you have all been waiting for...okay, I'm just kidding, but not about the dancing. I think Tina is the only one I know who actually checks up on me on both this blog and facebook, so Tina this is FYI.

To start off, this is the only picture from the evening:

Annalisa, Anna (not a typo), and Alyssa

I accidentally left my camera in Andrew's diaper bag which went with him to our friend's house at the start of the ball.

At the end of the music camp week, our church hosted its Summer Ball. So a ball involves dancing, which Doug and I just don't do. We attended another dance a few weeks before and got to see what these balls are all about which was a good introduction for us. The Thursday evening before the ball we spent two hours in our church's basement practicing the dances that would be called out. We learned the Spanish Waltz (although the waltz part was quite lacking for us), Posties Jig, Virginia Reel, and others. I was worn out after the second dance and I realized that I am in great need of exercise. Anyway, the ball was held out of doors at a park. It was fun dancing on the grass surrounded by trees. The live band was good and everybody pitched in to provide treats. Annalisa even danced three of the dances - one with Doug, one with a boy from church, and our sweet friend Kelly (a guy, actually a single man, I should say) asked to dance with one of the girls which ended up being Annalisa. Alyssa spent most of the evening with all the little boys playing on a rock, but managed to get in a dance with her daddy. Doug and I had a blast and woke up with sore legs the next morning.

One particular highlight from the evening was watching our friends who brought their baby (just a couple months old) and put him in a front carrier that reminded me of a pouch while enjoying quite a few of the dances.

Unfortunately, the dance ended earlier than planned since a thunderstorm was coming in. I was pretty freaked out by it and was trying to stay calm for the girls. It was funny - we were dancing and the lightning started. Annalisa was scared and Doug and I were just laughing and telling her, "Oh, you don't need to worry about it unless you hear thunder," as thunder starts crashing.

So, in case you're wondering why our church would put on a ball, the point is that they are trying to recapture a Christian view of dancing, so obviously this was a far cry from any skanky dancing you might see at a public school prom. There are guidelines we try to follow, like singles can only dance with another single of the opposite sex for two dances unless they are engaged to be married. Also, guys have to take responsibility to make sure the ladies have dance partners. And girls can say no to anybody without any explanation and the guy cannot press the girl for a reason if she declines his request for a dance.

Of course whenever I think of balls, I always think of the conversation between Sir William Lucas and Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice:

...Sir William thus began, "What a charming amusement for young people this is, Mr. Darcy! There is nothing like dancing after all. I consider it as one of the first refinements of polished societies."

"Certainly, sir; and it has the advantage also of being in vogue amongst the less polished societies of the world. Every savage can dance."

Yeah, I was definitely one of the savages on the dance floor that night.

Music Camp

2008-09-06T18:35:00.000-07:00

Our church hosted its first music camp this year for students in the fourth through twelfth grades. It was an opportunity for kids to come and learn all kinds of stuff having to do with music in the church. They covered a lot of territory (including reading music, latin, choral singing, theology of music, psalms, and lots more). I had the opportunity to play for the primary grades. I actually only ended up mostly playing the soprano line which was a bummer and a relief all at once. I still haven't played much since returning to the U.S. and although I would have loved to play more for the camp, I don't think my muscles were up for it. I had a blast playing and it reminded me how much I absolutely love playing the piano and doing choir music - I've had an extended break from it all, in case you didn't know. And it reminded me that I need to start practicing again.

So what does this have to do with guests? Well, we had the privilege of hosting two sisters from a church in Idaho. They stayed in our home for the first few days of the camp. They were a blessing to have around. They loved helping in the kitchen or with the kids, were well-mannered, and just plain fun. They come from a large family and had lots of fun stories.

My girls had a blast...

And they learned to take silly pictures.

So I Lied...

2008-09-04T20:27:00.000-07:00

But maybe you weren't paying attention. The last post says that I am supposed to be writing about our guests from last month in this post, but that is going to have to wait. Today Andrew stood up on his own. This third-child-growing-thing is happening way too fast. I barely have time to look forward to what he'll be doing next because he does it before I think of it - so different from the first two. It was a struggle, but I did manage to get a picture of him standing even if it does look a little blurry. He was trying to attack me and use me as his prop to get in the proper position before letting go. I'm sure it looks like he is leaning on the couch in the picture, but I promise he is not. And it is so funny because his sisters and mother always get so excited when he does a new skill and he loves the attention so he does it again and again just to see how we react.

And here's a bonus, just 'cause I love him so much:

A Fun Surprise

2008-09-04T20:18:00.000-07:00

I decided to make a Peruvian dish for some guests last month (see next post) and for some reason Doug stopped off at the Mexican grocery store on the way home - most likely for some hot sauce to go with the dish. Surprise of surprises he found Inca Kola! I was literally jumping up and down when he walked in the door and showed it to me. It made the meal so complete. This is actually made in New Jersey unlike the type you buy in Peru which really is made there. And since it is marketed in the U.S. it says it is "The Golden Kola" but it is actually "La Bebida del Peru" (the drink of Peru). In case you're wondering it tastes like bubble gum and is really good.

Fourth of July

2008-09-03T20:00:00.000-07:00

We headed to Deer Park just north of us to enjoy the fireworks show. We found a little side street right near the field where they would be letting off the fireworks and parked there for the night. We took out one bench from our mini-van and turned the other one around and opened up the back. We played games and downed chips, cookies, and soda, and waited for night to come. The fireworks started around 10 pm and they were super loud! All the girls hated it (including myself) and the boys couldn't care less (including Andrew). So Doug closed the door on us (he stayed outside) and Andrew laid peacefully in my arms just staring at the lights. I was really thankful that door was closed. At one point a firework shot out instead of up and went right into a tree less than a hundred feet away from us. Nobody was hurt, but that certainly didn't settle any nerves inside the car.

How can I resist this face?

To allay some of the nerves I had the girls clap after each firework.

Cat Tales

2008-09-02T20:41:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I'm being lame again because this time I stole these photos from my friend Jana's blog (Sorry, Jana and thanks, too!). I've noticed that the older I get the less photogenic I am and the worse of a photographer I am. After looking at my own pictures of this little excursion, I decided Jana's were way better. And I have to confess the only reason I took the one's I did was because I saw her taking pictures and it reminded me to take some.

We had a summer play group every Tuesday with moms and kids from church. I think I made it just once which would be this outing. Spokane doesn't have a zoo, but they do have a little park called Cat Tales. They basically rescue or take in unwanted exotic (and not-so-exotic) animals. Here are a few (stolen) pictures of our time:

This is the MGM lion who roars at the beginning of movies. He's in retirement since he no longer roars on command.

Summer Kick-off

2008-09-02T20:15:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I know how lame I am. Here we are with fall weather kicking in and I am just now blogging about our great summer. It's not as bad as sending out Christmas cards 3 months late like I did this past year. Anyway, I finally carved out a few minutes to show readers of my blog what I've been up to the past few months. These are going to be spread out over the next few posts.

We kicked off the summer at my friend Jana's. She held a little summer kick-off party for the neighborhood kids at her house which is our church parsonage. I'm not technically in her neighborhood, but I'm close enough, especially considering the mileage that Spokane covers.

The two babies present:

Jana's youngest

Andrew

The kids loved the hot dogs, chips, soda, and ice cream.

Playing some games

Opportunity

2008-08-18T14:41:00.000-07:00

I read this quote in my family organizer notebook and thought it was very good... and true:

Opportunity is missed by most because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.

- Thomas Alva Edison

A Little Experiment

2008-08-10T20:08:00.000-07:00

Oh, man. I finally did it and I'm not so sure it was a good idea. I finally joined Facebook after resisting for so long. But I blame it all on my sister-in-law for inviting me since she is one of probably a handful of people from which I would have actually accepted the invitation. I have only invited one person to be my friend (she's from Peru) and I have decided that I will just see how many "friends" will invite me without my seeking anybody out. So, if you're on there and I haven't invited you, 1) I may not even know you are there (let's just say very little of my time is available to spend looking up various people) and 2) It's all just a part of my experiment.

Huge Bummer

2008-08-09T14:29:00.000-07:00

I have to admit that I absolutely LOVE the Summer Olympics. I think it is just because I have grown up watching them every time they come around. In recent years, though, I haven't had cable (or even a TV at times) and so for the 2000 and 2004 games, my mom recorded them on VHS and I was able to watch them at my leisure.

Really, I could do without most of the games, but I have a huge affection for gymnastics, and I heard my neighbor announce to her niece that the primetime showing for gymnastics starts tonight. We do happen to have a TV, but no cable or antenna, so I decided to turn it on and see if there might be a chance of getting a decent picture - nope. Then I realized that I won't be home tonight anyway and that maybe I could ask one of the neighbors to record them and then I could watch the competition. But then I remembered that I don't have a VHS player and I highly doubt that my elderly neighbors will have a DVD recorder. So, I am now wondering if there is a chance of seeing them online. It looks like NBC will not be broadcasting them online since the entire world seems to have TV access. But maybe the competitions will make there way to YouTube and I can see the gymnastics routines there. I normally mourn no loss over not being a TV viewer, but today I think I am actually regretting my choice.

Goodbye, Grandma

2008-08-02T20:59:00.000-07:00

Mary Ellen Taylor

November 4, 1919 - August 2, 2008

My dear Grandma passed away this morning around 11:15 am. She was a great woman with such a fighting spirit. I could tell many stories to demonstrate this, but I will list just a few highlights. She graduated from college in her fifties. She was the craftiest woman I've ever known with sewing, crocheting, cooking, baking, cake decorating, porcelain doll making, fishing - just to name a few. She was a good, faithful wife who really appreciated a true friendship with her husband in spite of difficulties along the way. After my grandfather died, while she was in her eighties, she did exactly what she always planned to do: she moved away from San Diego (she had lived in that county her entire life) and made an entirely new life in Port Orford, Oregon. As far as I know she did it with no regrets, no looking back. I only saw her about once a year throughout my life, but she was very special to me all the same. The last conversation we had before I went to Peru she said, "Well, I probably won't see you again since I will probably die while you are gone." She was always quite frank. She was right; if I had been in Peru for as long as we had planned I wouldn't have seen her again. But in God's grace, I saw her twice last year. One of our last conversations was about her growing faith in Christ and how she was learning to forgive. She was truly enjoying a full life in Him. The last time I saw her, she had slowed down a lot. And then the news came just last week that she had liver cancer. She did not suffer long and my aunt was by her side these past few days faithfully telling her of the love that each family member had for her. Now my grandma is with her Lord, at peace, but still not complete. I look forward to that day when we are both resurrected and will have many conversations to come.
Love you, Grandma!

A Big Day for Us

2008-08-01T07:07:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's right - we have actually lived in one place for a whole year! Today marks the completion of our first year in Spokane, WA and this is the longest we have been anywhere for a while. Since 2005, our record had been nine-and-a-half months of living in Arequipa and eight of those months were in one residence. The funny thing is although we have been here a year, I am still not completely settled. My home is not quite fully, actually, it is not even half-way decorated and there are still a few boxes that could stand to be sorted through and dealt with. But considering that Doug and I practically started from scratch last summer in terms of possessions, I think we are doing pretty well. And here's a fun (or who cares) fact: This is the 13th residence we have called home during our 9+ years of marriage and we have moved 13 times. That means on average we have moved about once out of every 8 1/2 months of marriage. No wonder why I'm tired! Seriously, although this may not be ideal, each move has been pretty sweet and I wouldn't trade them for anything. Okay, I take that back. I probably could have lived without the first house in Pucallpa which we shared with bats, cockroaches, tarantulas, wolf spiders, and a half-dozen different types of ants. But even that one made me appreciate our other house in Pucallpa for the short time we lived there.

Any bets on how many more times we will move in the next 9 years?

Sad Days

2008-07-30T13:10:00.000-07:00

I found out two things over the past few days that are breaking my heart:

On Saturday, my mom called to let me know that my Grandma, who has been sick for a few weeks, was diagnosed with liver cancer. My Grandma is a fun, feisty woman and so this was sad, sad news for all of us. She is the kind of lady that I seriously thought would live to be a hundred. My aunt who lives near her has been taking care of her and making sure her needs are being met.

On Monday, I found out about the death of a young man who used to attend my former church in California. While rollerblading he was struck by a car. Please pray for the Gonzalez family - his parents and brother. They are no relation to me, but people at church used to comment that his father and I could be siblings so we got to joking around and calling each other brother and sister and he used to call my parents Mom and Dad. I don't know them nearly as well as my parents do, but I have been so burdened by this and the pain this family must be experiencing.

Please pray with me for these dear ones.

The End of the Road

2008-07-20T23:58:00.000-07:00

Well, this weekend marks the end of the road for Doug's schooling at Moody Bible Institute. It has been a long road with some bumps and potholes along the way, not to mention engine and transmission overhauls, and of course, the regular filling of the gas tank and oil changes. And it appears that I have been married to a mechanic for way too long when his lingo starts to seep into my metaphors. Anyway, Doug successfully finished his final paper with a whopping 18 pages and will drop it off at his professor's office tomorrow morning. It is quite surreal right now. I keep telling him good job, I'm proud of you, yay! you're finally done, etc., but somehow it just doesn't seem like he is actually done. Poor guy - he had bad dreams all last night of incomplete work and failing grades. I have been pretty amazed this past year as I have watched him tackle this goal while still being faithful in our family, in our church, and at work.

These last few weeks have been especially grueling as we have been going on very little sleep. The first priority over the next few days will be going to bed at a decent hour!

A Good Read

2008-07-18T21:35:00.000-07:00

My brother tried for years to get me to read The Hobbit. Why I didn't I'll never know, but after I saw the first Lord of the Rings movie, I knew I had to read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings since I was sure the book would be even better than the movie. I was not disappointed and so for the past few years I have read them all every year. My time had come again and so I have just finished The Hobbit and am just into The Fellowship of the Ring. Doug bought me a very nice boxed paperback set about six years ago for Christmas and they made it to Peru and back looking as lovely as ever. For me, there are fewer things as comforting as a well-loved, well-written book. And it is a good exercise in self-control since I have some serious issues when it comes to trying to put these books down.

Growing Again

2008-07-17T22:38:00.000-07:00

Here is Andrew getting ready to crawl. He is really trying, but hasn't quite figured it out yet.

And one of my favorites

A little time with Daddy

My blue-eyed boy

Lomo Saltado

2008-07-16T21:23:00.000-07:00

One of the first dishes that Doug and I ate and could pronounce and totally loved when we were in Peru was Lomo Saltado. That means Jumped Loin. Mmmmm, sounds lovely, I'm sure. It consists of marinated loin fried along with onion and tomato and served on top of rice and french fries (homemade, of course). Nothing finishes it off better than Salsa de Rocoto and we just happened to have some of that on hand. While our friend Analú was visiting in May she made this dish for us and taught me how to prepare it. I cooked it for the first time tonight and it was so good. Doug was elated and even Alyssa, who hates tomatoes, ate it all up.

Things Are Getting a Little Crazy

2008-07-14T09:46:00.001-07:00

I haven't been posting much lately although I keep thinking about all the things I want to write about and show you via pictures. We are in the midst of a very busy time, but the fruit of it all is very pleasing. I have been trying to keep the home going along as smoothly as possible so Doug can make the most of the time he spends here with us. He leaves for work around 7:15 am and gets home usually between 5 and 5:30 pm. We have dinner and he gets some time with the kids and then hits the books usually getting into bed around midnight if he can keep his eyes open that long. Last week we had a couple nights where he fell asleep on the couch just after dinner in spite of all his efforts. He is now on his last class which is fantastic and nerve-wracking all at the same time. It is fantastic because it means that all his hard work this past year has paid off and the end is in sight. It is nerve-wracking because he has one 15-20 page paper to write for his last class which is his entire grade! Can you say pressure? He has just this week left to finish it so that his professor can turn the grade in on time. We would greatly appreciate your prayers this week for him.

27 Days

2008-07-01T20:35:00.000-07:00

My husband has 27 days until all his work must be completed for school! He is plugging away and studying like a mad man on top of working full-time. If you think of him, please pray for him to finish strong and to be able to complete all the reading and research necessary, especially that which pertains to his Western Culture paper.

The Lord's Day

2008-06-30T12:37:00.000-07:00

We have been quite busy now that summer has arrived, so hopefully I will be able to post some pictures soon of the fun things we have been doing. In the meantime, I just had to relay a conversation that took place today.

Annalisa asked me, "Is Sunday the Lord's day and our day?" I said no that it wasn't that it was just the Lord's Day and I knew what was coming next: "So that means that Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturdays are our days, right?" I told her that no, all the days belong to God, but that Sunday's special name is the Lord's Day.

The Blessing of Meals

2008-06-21T09:48:00.000-07:00

One of the ways in which we have been greatly blessed this past year has been through the provision of meals.

While I was pregnant with Andrew, I received a meal a month provided by various ladies in our church. For those of you acquainted with my pregnant ways, you know that I am pretty much a disaster about meal preparation during my pregnancies. With this last pregnancy, it was such a blessing to have that meal a month which often times ended up providing enough food for two dinners and a lunch besides. Those were the weeks I was able to keep up better on housework.

After having Andrew, our church provided meals four times a week for the first four weeks. Thanks to the leftovers from these meals, I didn't prepare a dinner meal until Andrew was four weeks old. The key here was a coordinator. I did no work except opening the door and inviting in those bringing the meals. On top of this, one of the single men from our church came one day during this initial four week period and made us a meal at our home. It was fun. He and Doug got to visit, he brought all the ingredients and his own cooking utensils(!), and then left all the leftovers for us to enjoy. In addition, the mother of one of Annalisa's classmates sent home a meal. Since we were well taken care of with meals by our church family, I was able to pop this one in the freezer, and the first week back to cooking, I was able to have a couple days of relief thanks to this one meal.

Now it is my turn to start blessing others in our church with meals. I have to admit, I am not so confident about this, but it is a good way to be stretched and I look forward to blessing others in this way.

1421

2008-06-18T22:50:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading the book 1421. It was a pretty interesting book making a case for how the Chinese explored the entire world except for Europe from 1421-1423. I heard about this book during my first month in Peru and to my delight discovered that a couple in our church here in Spokane owns it. They let me borrow it and I really enjoyed the read. Some of the nautical explanations got a little dry, but the rest was pretty fascinating. What should I read next? I think it might have to be Austen - again!

Losing Her First Tooth

2008-06-17T22:11:00.000-07:00

Whew, a lot of growing up has happened in our home this week. Annalisa came into my bedroom a week ago Monday with a bloody mouth. Surprisingly she wasn't crying and I looked down to see a piece of scotch tape in her hand. So, her two front bottom teeth have been slightly loose for about a month or so and she sped up the process for one of them by trying to cut a piece of tape with her teeth (ah, she has learned my habits so well). Anyway, the next few nights were spent with Doug very patiently trying to take out her tooth. He got about as far as getting her to open her mouth, but he was not aloud to touch it. We were really trying to figure out how to deal with this very delicate situation. I mean we have 19 teeth more to go, so we didn't want to freak her out too much. She is a pretty sensitive little gal, so we were trying to be gentle about the whole process.

Saturday night we were at a dinner at church and we came home and I asked Annalisa to wiggle her tooth so I could see how it looked. It was practically falling out so she and Doug went off to take it out. All of the sudden I hear screaming. I thought, "Finally, it's out." Doug came out, and no, nothing had happened. "Can you help?" he asked. Hmmm, I'm just not usually very helpful in these types of situations. Anyway, after a harrowing ten minutes, she finally decided to pull it out herself while Doug cheered her on and I looked the other away. She was quite surprised when it popped out with no pain.

Father's Day 2008

2008-06-16T21:13:00.000-07:00

This Cup Filled Up So Quickly

2008-06-16T13:35:00.000-07:00

I have so much to write about, but too many good things are happening at once and I don't have time to write about them all. So, I'll just share some of the beautiful sounds filling my home these days:

1. Andrew laughing and trying his best to talk. Things like "ga ga" and sometimes things that sound more intelligible, but I won't write them here lest you think I've lost my mind.

2. A new CD. I'll have to write more about this one in another post, but one of the young men from our church who just graduated from high school made a CD of five songs he wrote, played, sung and recorded along with his sister. We all love it, so it has been played a lot. The girls keep asking, "Can we listen to the Joel songs?"

3. The girls playing together. It is so fun to have Annalisa home again and to hear her and Alyssa playing make-believe.

4. Annalisa reading. I'm pretty amazed at how well she's doing and I love to hear her reading to her sister and brother.

5. The piano. Formal lessons haven't started yet, but the girls enjoy tinkering away and singing along with my instrument.

The First Six Years

2008-06-13T22:07:00.000-07:00

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9

Annalisa when she was about six months old. Andrew looks so much like her!

At Doug's cousin's wedding in 2003

Her first time bowling

Helping Mommy make Christmas cookies in Arequipa

Getting used to the heat of Pucallpa

Just before she started Kindergarten last year

Last month

Promotion Day

2008-06-12T22:13:00.000-07:00

Today was Kindergarten Promotion Day for Annalisa at The Oaks. We had the opportunity to go to her school to watch her perform along with her classmates. This post is probably going to get quite long, but I thought I would use the opportunity to talk about Annalisa's school, why she is attending there, and how it has gone.

Annalisa on the first day of school. The picture above is outside our home and the one below is her doing her first task at school. Her sweet teacher is the blond.

A few years ago, this wasn't exactly how I envisioned her Kindergarten year ending. Many of you know that I planned on homeschooling my kids. As I started to seriously plan this, I found out about a method of education called Classical Christian. The method is based on the Trivium (I will do my best to describe that) and I use the term Christian to mean Christ-centered.

The concept of the Trivium is simple: you teach children going with the grain. So the early years (up through about junior high age) you pack facts into the brain. This is done through song, chant, catechizing, and imitation. Remember all those silly little rhymes you did at recess as a kid? Well, think that, but with Bible, math, spelling, science, and music rules and facts and there you have the first few years of education for your child. The next stage of the Trivium is as one lady put it the "pert" stage. Think teen. Teens like to challenge the world around them, they like to argue, they aren't satisfied with the facts. So the idea is to go with the grain and teach the student how to analyze and think critically about the facts they have been given. The final stage of the trivium has been referred to as the "poetic" stage or rhetoric. This would be about that time in the teen years when a person is really concerned with expressing himself or herself. So the focus is to take all the facts and critical thinking and turn them into something beautiful and meaningful. For example, the seniors at Annalisa's school had an independent study they had to complete this year. One student wrote and recorded songs in a studio. Another student (my midwife's son) got to explore the world of filmmaking. Another student wrote and directed choral music and we got the chance to hear it performed by the high school choir. The final products are really cool, but in the process, not only are the students putting together a world of knowledge, they have had to work hard, too. (That's the best explanation I can give of the Trivium; obviously I could work on my rhetoric:).)

After learning about this whole process, it made sense to us to educate our children in this manner and I was planning on homeschooling the girls according to this method. Let's just say the task seemed daunting. When Doug and I knew we would be moving to Spokane, we decided to look for a classical Christian school. I knew that I could probably do a decent job teaching Annalisa basic reading and math, but I also thought that I would love to give her a little more and felt the best way for her to get that would be through the setting of a day school. We found one classical Christian school in Spokane and one in Idaho about 45 minutes away. The one we really wanted Annalisa to attend was in Spokane and they said that they probably wouldn't have space for her, but agreed to meet with us anyway. The other one didn't really appeal to me (all via the internet), but we decided to check it out and as it turned out we visited there first.

The school in Idaho seemed very academic. And, yes, classical education is a very academic way of learning, but Doug and I felt something about the Christ-centeredness of that school was missing. Don't get me wrong - there was plenty of talk about God, etc. with the principal of the school, but we felt something was lacking. The students seemed like any other students, just smarter. Doug and I left that meeting agreed that if we were going to invest time and money into this type of education and this school was our only option, we would rather go at it on our own through homeschooling.

The next day we met with the assistant principal of The Oaks. It was a great meeting and the entire atmosphere of the school was so different from the other school. The students greeted us in the halls, held doors open for us, and we could literally see Christ's love spilling over in the school. The principal found out we would be visiting his church that Sunday and invited us over for Sunday dinner (that is a whole other story!). We left the school very disappointed only because it was exactly what we were looking for in a school, but it seemed very unlikely that we could get Annalisa a spot in the Kindergarten class. We still filled out the paper work and sent it in and God worked it out that she was to be a student there.

So, how has it been? I can honestly say it is better than I ever imagined. Prior to this, I hadn't had the best taste in my mouth for Christian schools and thanks to my public school teaching experience, I knew long before I had children that I would choose something else for them. What I never expected was how well a school could be run and how The Oaks teachers really do what they say they mean to do. When the handbook and internet say they are Christ-centered, they really are. For example, I've noticed a genuine "putting of other's interests before your own" attitude by the students. Doug and I have gone to school performances and had students hold the door open for us while we were still half-way across the parking lot and the student didn't even know us. Other examples can be seen by some of the students who also attend our church. One girl noticed that I was trying to nurse Andrew and get the girls situated while Doug helps set up sound in between Sunday School and church time. Without asking, she has taken it upon herself to take the girls to the bathroom and get them settled in their seats so that I can tend to Andrew in the Mother's Room. The amazing thing is that this attitude isn't unique to our church or even to a "type" of family in the school, but is a serving spirit that is fostered throughout the school. The older students are taught that they are models to the younger students and they rise to the expectation. The result is that the relationships between students, teachers, and parents resemble those of a family more than a learning institution. Is the school perfect? Of course not, but the strength lies in that the staff recognizes this and they strive to grow.

I could write story after story of what I've seen and learned from The Oaks. Suffice it to say that Doug and I are very pleased that Annalisa is there. It has been a gift from God and a breath of fresh air to our weary souls. I don't know how long she will get to be there, but we are thankful for whatever time she has in that environment. Someday, I'll have to write about this year's graduation ceremony. I was inspired, but I will have to save that for another day.

Winter Weather

2008-06-10T20:30:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's right, it is June 10th and we have winter weather. Doug saw traces of snow falling this morning on his way to work and by the time I fired up the computer this morning to check out the forecast the thermometer was showing a mere 36 degrees outside. Sorry, the picture isn't really from today and the trace amount of snow had no chance of sticking, but I thought it would be fun to include this pic anyway.

What'll It Be Next?

2008-06-09T22:31:00.000-07:00

I have been looking on Craig's List to find a used table and chair set for the girls. I decided to look around again tonight and so I entered table into the search under the baby and kids section and this is what came up:

That's right for just $10 you can own this used bumper bonnet to protect your child from bonking their head while they learn to crawl or walk. I just laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed. The way our country's legislative system is going, I'll bet someday there will be a law that we have to use these to "protect" our children.

Way Cool

2008-06-05T20:36:00.000-07:00

This picture was taken last year just days before we returned to the U.S. In the picture you see Lars and Elisabeth Gren. You might know Mrs. Gren better as Elisabeth Elliott. Anyway, she is one of my all time favorite authors and I was floored to meet her. Among my favorites that she has written are The Shaping of a Christian Family, Let Me Be a Woman, and A Path Through Suffering. If you have never read any of her books, I would highly recommend her writing to you. She is definitely a no-nonsense writer which can make for a lot of convicting, but highly edifying reading.

Prayer Lists

2008-06-02T20:49:00.000-07:00

Before I share another scripture to use in praying for others, I thought I would talk a little about something that has greatly helped me in my prayer life. Ever since about my junior year in high school, I have kept some sort of prayer list. Being the perfectionist that I am, my prayer lists used to be quite extensive, and as a result, not very effective in helping me to pray. Then I tried the Puritan method of writing out my prayers. And while I don't want to bash this method which can be wonderful for a variety of reasons, it really didn't help me in being consistent in my prayer life which has been my aim for these past 15 years (I know - I'm a slow learner).

It was in 2007 that I started using a very simple method that has really helped me. I keep my list in a journal and I use two bookmarks for it. My first bookmark goes to a list of long-term requests. These are requests that I am fairly sure won't be answered overnight, but I know are extremely important to uphold to the Lord. I have called this list my Bold, Audacious Prayers list. For example, I have one of my major sins on that list and my prayer is that God would give me victory over that sin. I also have Peru on that list and under Peru I have listed specific requests for that country and the Church there. My second bookmark goes to a monthly request list. Each month I write a list of requests out. If I tell somebody I am going to be praying for them, they go on that list. If I have a specific need that needs to be answered right away or if I am worrying about something, it goes on that list. When a prayer is answered, I (try to) mark it with a check mark, write the date, and the answer to the prayer if appropriate. At the beginning of the next month, I rewrite my list and keep requests on there that need to stay and drop off those that are no longer relevant or have been answered. I don't include everything on there. I pray for my husband and children everyday, so their names are not on there. But if I am really struggling with how to discipline one of the kids about something, that item goes on the list. The whole process doesn't take much time, it helps me remember what to pray for, and it is a great way to keep track of how God has answered prayer and worked in my life.

Here's another helpful verse in praying for others:

Ephesians 1:15-20
Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.

A Fun Week

2008-05-29T22:22:00.000-07:00

Our friend Analú from Arequipa, Peru was here to visit for the past week. She has been in Wheaton, Illinois for the past two years working on her master's and is now done. She came to visit last year and since the pictures that I have downloaded from her camera have none of her (I haven't downloaded our own pictures yet), I will just have to include a picture from last year when she visited us in CA.

I had a great time with her. I loved speaking Spanish again, she taught me to make a bunch of my favorite Peruvian dishes, and we got to hear about happenings at the church in Arequipa. She has had an amazing two years full of good and bad times and it was neat to hear how God has been faithful to her during this time. For those of you who don't realize, her family is like family to us, so being with her was a taste of being with them all again.

She heads back to Peru on July 10 and doesn't have any concrete idea of what is next. Her heart lies in serving the church there in Arequipa through ministering to abused women and children. She also greatly desires to see leadership training in the church although she has no idea how she might play a role in that. Please pray for her as jobs can be scarce in her city and as she would like to work in such a way that she would have adequate time to serve in the church. Please also pray as she says goodbye to good friends and mentors she has made during her time in the U.S. and as she deals with reverse culture shock in returning home.

May God Count You Worthy

2008-05-26T14:04:00.000-07:00

II Thessalonians 1:11-12
Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power, that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

All Dressed Up and No Where to Go

2008-05-20T19:45:00.001-07:00

Appreciated Prayers

2008-05-19T15:41:00.001-07:00

Just want to ask for some prayer on behalf of two people:

First, for my husband. He's out of town for the next few days for his job. I can't really remember all that it entails, but I do know that he took a bunch of school work that he would like to accomplish in his down time, so please pray that his down time would be prosperous.

Secondly, for a family here in Spokane that I don't even know. They are a Christian family and one of their sons has a brain tumor. Another of their children who is 1 month old is in ICU with failing organs. I heard about them through our church's e-mail today and thought I would mention them since I was posting a request for prayer anyway.

Thanks.

May You Increase

2008-05-19T14:00:00.000-07:00

Intercessory prayer for this week from I Thessalonians 3:12,13:

And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.

Finally...

2008-05-15T09:22:00.000-07:00

We hit a high of 69 degrees yesterday here in Spokane and I was sweating. This weekend we are supposed to get into the 80s. If I am sweating at 69 what will happen when we hit 85? I guess I've officially acclimated.

Grieving with Others

2008-05-13T09:09:00.000-07:00

I found this excellent link today while reading one of my favorite blogs (not the one linked here). I thought I would put it here for your reference. Check it out even if it isn't something that you need right now. You will need it someday.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

Praying for Others

2008-05-12T13:37:00.000-07:00

One of the areas in my life where I am trying to make changes is in my prayer life. Prayer is one of those necessary things for the Christian that is so simple, yet so hard, and I have to admit that through the years my commitment to prayer has gone up and down. One thing that helps, especially when praying for others, is to use prayers that we find in scripture. I am going to try to post a passage a week for the next few weeks, so I'll start with the one passage that I have used more than any other for the past few years.

Colossians 1:9-12
For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.

Latest Baby Talk

2008-05-10T20:13:00.001-07:00

I thought I would write about some of the funny conversations that we have had with the girls about babies. Actually, as I am thinking about this, I think they are all things that Annalisa has said.

Spitting Up:
I was holding Andrew one day when he spit up on me as he does quite often. "And that's why I don't want to have babies!" Annalisa announced. I laughed and then we had a little discussion about the joy of children with or without the spit up and whatever else they come with.

Pain:
Annalisa announced quite a while ago that she does not want to get married. The first reason was because she couldn't marry Daddy. Then it was because then she would have to have babies and that that would hurt. Well, I guess I have put the idea of pain medication for deliveries so far out of my mind that I never even thought to tell her about it. And it doesn't seem to matter that two of my three kids have been born at home; the girls still equate babies being born with hospitals (which is fine with me). Anyway, the last time Annalisa announced that she didn't want to get married because of the physical pain of having babies, it suddenly dawned on me that I should let her know that she can have medication to take away the pain. She didn't seem very convinced that the medication would really work.

Silver and Gold

2008-05-02T19:33:00.000-07:00

Today is my friend Lydia's birthday. I met Lydia in junior high, but we really became friends in high school while attending Hay Town together. I keep up with her every so often, but not very regularly.

There is a song:

Make new friends,
But keep the old:
One is silver
And the other gold.

I have to admit that Lydia is a silver and a gold friend. Our lives have drifted apart because of time and location, but I at least always think of her on this day and so I think I'll do a little reminiscing.

Like I said, Lydia and I became friends in high school, but I remember our Senior year most. Every Monday night we would switch off staying over the other's house and would head off to Tuesday morning high school prayer which started at 6:30. Those Monday nights were a lot of fun. I don't think we usually got to bed before 1 or 2 am because we were so busy chatting. And I will never forget the night that we stayed up late waiting for her parents to go to bed so we could secretly "Glintz" our hair. That was our version of being really rebellious! Then of course, we made valentine's cookies for all our friends and our big project was putting together our senior page for our school's yearbook. Those were really good times.

Lydia and I LOVED Toad the Wet Sprocket and would talk about which songs reminded us of various people that we knew. I have to admit that I cannot listen to a Toad the Wet Sprocket song now without thinking about Lydia.

And of course Lydia was (and is) gold - really. She had a kind heart and never spoke poorly of other people. Lydia drove herself to school and so she gave me lots of rides home, too. I really admired her kindness and her neatness. My room was always a disaster, hers was always clean. I wondered how she did it. And she respected and honored her parents.

Although our friendship changed during the college years, I still remember good times then, also. She went away to UC Davis and I stayed in Hayward to go to CSUH. She lived in dorms and apartments and then finallly a house and I had a lot of fun living vicariously through her. And again, she continued to amaze me. She cooked and cleaned and still got good grades and was always a joy to be around.

The last time I saw Lydia was almost a year ago. We were back from Peru and she was visiting her parents who still live close to mine. She was the same pleasant girl I remember and I thank God for her. I learned a lot from her and I count it a privilege to know her.

Downhill Stretch

2008-05-01T16:54:00.000-07:00

Woo hoo! Doug took his Spanish CLEP today for college credit (and did well on it thanks to our great teachers and friends from Arequipa) which means he only has 3 classes left before he has his Bachelor's Degree. It is really hard to believe that he is almost done since he has talked about finishing this for the past 10 years. I am really proud of him as he has gone to school and received good grades, worked (first part-time and now full-time), stayed faithful and involved at church, helped me through all those tiring months of pregnancy, and made time for loving, guiding, disciplining, and instructing our children. But I am going to post this before he sees it because I know he will be embarrassed by my praise.

Sanctification

2008-04-28T11:30:00.001-07:00

Our pastor is preaching his way through the book of Ephesians. After months of preaching on the indicatives, he is now in the part of the book where Paul's writing is full of imperatives. Yesterday he preached on Ephesians 4:20-24 and he summed up putting off sin like this:

1. Stop it! (He referenced a video by this title - very funny and maybe I'll include it on my blog sometime). Of course this isn't enough, but it is the start.

2. Renew your mind - learn all you can about what the Bible has to say about this particular sin, what God thinks about it, how others throughout the Bible dealt with it, how it affected people in the Bible, etc. This should be an ongoing study/search in your daily Bible reading as you continue to stop sinning in this area and strive for victory.

3. Replace your sinful actions with godly actions. For example, if you struggle with envy then make it a point to thank God for what you have.

Victory may not come overnight, but over the course of time you should see victory over your particular sin(s). My pastor didn't quote this, but the process of sanctification always makes me think about 2 Corinthians 2:14: But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.

I certainly cannot do his sermon justice, so forgive my attempt at summarizing it, but I hope you can be encouraged as I was.

Forecast for the Weekend:

2008-04-19T20:08:00.000-07:00

Snow.
Again.
Enough said.

Going, Going...

2008-04-14T15:12:00.001-07:00

I think winter is finally gone here in the Northwest and I am so happy! Having grown up in the San Francisco Bay Area, I realize now that we never got much variety in weather. When Doug and I were first married, he would always reminisce about the change of seasons and, I have to admit, I just didn't get it. But now I do. So, I have a few confessions to make. I, who vowed to NEVER live in the snow, actually enjoyed it this year. I, who used to balk at my husband's love for the seasons, now share it. It felt good to tear the plastic off the windows and open them up (we do have double pane, but it helped all the more to have an extra shield this winter). And I was actually sweating yesterday while walking in the sunshine at a mere 70 degrees.

Baking Bread

2008-04-07T21:05:00.000-07:00

One of my projects two weeks ago:

The girls helped and we had a great time. They loved using their mini loaf pans, I loved using my anniversary gift (new mixer) and Doug loved the taste. The girls call it Honey Bread since the directions call for honey.

Two Years Ago...

2008-04-01T21:49:00.000-07:00

We were in Arequipa, Peru studying Spanish and this is what the girls looked like:

Bulldog

2008-03-28T22:33:00.000-07:00

I'm sure most people think we are a little off our rockers because of our kids names, but without even planning it, all three of our children have nicknames that start with B. And here's a recent picture of our little Bulldog:

My Latest Favorite Psalm

2008-03-26T22:14:00.000-07:00

One of the things that we really enjoy about our church here in Spokane is that we sing Psalms. They are usually more of a paraphrase than a true translation mostly to fit it in with musical meter. Last month we learned Psalm 133 and the music is really gorgeous. Here are the words taken directly from the New King James translation:

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brethren to dwell together in unity!
It is like the precious oil upon the head,
Running down on the beard,
The beard of Aaron,
Running down on the edge of his garments.
It is like the dew of Hermon,
Descending upon the mountains of Zion;
For there the LORD commanded the blessing -
Life forevermore.

I have to admit that there is a lot about this Psalm that I do not get, but the more I learn about worship in the Old Testament, the more sense this Psalm makes. And thanks to singing this in church, I now have another portion of scripture hidden in my heart.

Easter, 2008

2008-03-24T21:24:00.000-07:00

We had a full weekend celebrating Easter. Annalisa didn't have class on Friday, so we took some time to dye eggs. Friday evening we attended our church's Good Friday service.

Saturday we tried to get ahead on Sunday preparations and that evening we headed to my midwife's home for an Easter celebration. There were 26 of us and we had some awesome lamb - the best I have ever tasted - and read scriptures about Christ's suffering, death, resurrection, and appearance to his disciples. My midwife's parents started doing this about 30 years ago and she and her family have carried on the tradition. She always invites Christians and non-Christians. She was quite disappointed because this was the first celebration she can remember that no non-Christians were present. The non-Christian family she invited backed out at the last minute.

The girls in their pretty new dresses from Grandma.

Annalisa was so excited to hold her brother for this picture.

Sunday morning we celebrated Christ's resurrection by worshiping at church. The funny thing is that Alyssa told my parents today that we went to church on Friday night because we didn't have time to go on Sunday! What a nut! I prepared a feast for our Easter dinner and we invited some new friends over from church. I am just bummed I didn't get a picture of their family.

Welcome, Spring?!

2008-03-21T09:54:00.000-07:00

Ah, the second day of spring here in Spokane and we woke up to snow! We were just getting used to the warmer weather (by warm, I mean hitting 50 degrees). Here's what it looked like around 10:30am:

And believe it or not, most of it was gone by late afternoon.

Nine Years

2008-03-20T22:39:00.000-07:00

Today I am starting my blog and today just so happens to be our ninth anniversary. It has been nine wonderful years and I look forward to many more years with my husband.