Dear God

Thankyou for our new house. Help the baby to come soon and be safe. Thankyou for my birthday and help it to be here soon too. And Alisia's birthday. And Mommy's. Thankyou for my new friends and my new room and I hope I can get a sports lamp soon.
Amen. (then kisses my tummy)

Someone has alot of thankfulness in his heart!

Father's Day Treasure

Thanks to Alisia, we have pictures from Father's Day! Last week she inherited a camera from Uncle Jarrod and Aunt Stephanie since they are leaving to Korea soon. She's been using it every day since then. It's so nice to have a camera around. And it sure came in handy for Father's Day since my camera is still missing.

We went out for lunch with my parents to wish my dad Happy Father's day and then we just relaxed and spent the afternoon together. Relaxing at our new place really helps make it feel like home! It was a beautiful day.

Alisia and Caleb sent him on a treasure hunt to find his gifts!


This card was great for Papi! It's one of those music cards and on the inside it says "you're the whole enchilada" and sings "hot,hot,hot."


This one was from ME, one of his most recent cravings!

Here's a family pic from yesterday. I'm 39 weeks!

We have been going through Exodus at church, a book that is most often referred to in the rest of the scriptures. God is very clear for his people to pass on His promises and stories of deliverance from generation to generation. He does not want generations to forget His mighty power.

Psalm 78:5-7
"He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our forefathers to teach their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands."

The rest of the book goes on to talk about the specific things that God did in delievering his people over and over again. I'm so thankful that my kids have an example of this through their dad. Angel is an example of sharing God's power with his children. In good times he is quick to praise and thank God and in hard times, he is quick to ask for prayer. He often reminds them of how God was so gracious to take him from his old ways and open his eyes to the truth. And how thankful that he is no longer who he used to be. He does not want our kids to forget about where we were, and just as the Israelites were to remind their children, Angel does that with his kids.

"...we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done."

Psalm 78:4

Labor Pain

When I was pregnant with Alisia, all my labor was in the front. My water broke and then the contractions started regularly and I knew it was time. Everything was by the book. With Caleb, I had a lot of back pain during labor. My water slowly leaked, but the contractions were felt both in back and front. With this one I'm not sure what to expect. The past day or so I have been having back pain if I sit too long. I'm very fidgety and it's just hard to just be comfortable.

I finally pre-registered this week at the hospital. Talk about putting things of until last minute. Maybe I should go ahead and pack a overnight bag for the hospital? I am a week away from my due date which is June 26th per the ultrasound. Tonight we are going to stop thinking about moving and enjoy having some friends over for the first time at our new place!

As I anxiously think about birth pain and how it was previously, I cannot seperate it from the joy from after the birth. I ran across this verse in John and confirms this. The joy that God allows us as parents to experience when we first see our child that we worked so hard to bring into the world. The joy of holding that precious gift from him.

"Whenever a woman gives birth to a child, she remembers the hard work no more, for the joy that a child has been born into the world."
John 16:21

That's what I'm clinging to as I think about this week!

Missing from the Move

Yikes. The one thing I can't live without. My camera. I hope I can find it before this baby decides to come. I knew I didn't want to loose my maternity clothes and my camera. My maternity clothes are hanging up nice and neat in my closet. I thought I put the camera somewhere "safe" so I wouldn't miss place it! I just can't remember where that safe place is. I have some pics to upload and am getting behind, so I hope it shows up!

However, so far, that's the only thing "missing" that I've really noticed. Just curious if anyone have any good stories of missing items from moving? Not that it'll help make me any more thankful the only thing I'm missing is my camera, but it might. OR what's one thing you can't live without?

The LORD is my Banner

Last week, I couldn't even imagine getting through the weekend and our big move! By Thursday I was already wiped out from working, kids out of school, painting, packing, cleaning and getting ready for it all. Honestly, I didn't know if I had anything else left in me to keep going. I didn't know how I was going to make it until Saturday, let alone survive the day at 38 weeks pregnant! Whew! But guess what, in all of my weakness, I turned to God. With nothing left, I fell on my knees before Him.

God Answers Prayer. God hears our cries and knows our every tear. God uses his people.

But it wasn't how I thought he would. I was hoping to be full of energy and just buzz around getting tons accomplished. That didn't quite happen though. But tons got accomplished. God sent his people. Everyday. Friends. Family. The church body. I literally felt like Moses, who was completely tired from lifting his hands in the battle and "Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset." Ex 17:12

God used his people. I'm sure God could have just as easily given Moses the strength needed for the entire battle. But God wanted to provide strength for Moses by sending His people to sustain his weary arms. He wanted his people to win the battle together. The extra help we had was great motivation. Angel had to work a few hours that morning and God gave him strength and extra hands to keep going. I was able to help minimally and not feel bad if things didn't get done perfectly. We were thankful that Sunday is a day of rest, cause we needed it! Thank you to everyone who helped and to those who prayed! Here's a picture of Alisia and Caleb on Palm Sunday in front of OUR HOUSE! (At the time it was still my parents)

We are now mostly moved in! We have our rooms set up and not much furniture left at the other house. We still have to clean out closets, then clean the place up. But I am so thankful that we are starting to feel settled. I'm starting to feel ready to have this baby now that we have a place to bring him home and call home! Good thing too, because my feet are swollen almost all the time and I'm starting to waddle! Doesn't that mean it's close?

"Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my Banner. He said, 'For hands were lifted up to the throne of the LORD."

Exodus 17:15

Strength

What are your reasons for persevering?
Where do you go to fill you up when you are dry?
When all else fails, where do you turn?
How do you keep going when there's nothing left?
Where do you find strength?


"Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice. Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always. " Psalm 105:3-4

"The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace." Psalm 29:11

"I love you, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold." Psalm 18: 1-3

"O LORD, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress." Isaiah 33:2

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13

Cravings

We were watching TV together when someone on a show was eating one of these:

And we had to go to 7-11 to get not 1, but 2!!

OH, but not for me. Nope. They were for Angel!

I didn't know it worked like that! He's also been craving Chineese food, tacos, Carne De Puerco En Chile Verde (Pork with Green Chile), tamales, Mocha Moolatte from Dairy Queen, and much more! Maybe I'll pick up a box of these for him on the way home, cause as soon as he reads this, he'll be wanting one of those ice creams!

Fine with me though, cause I always get my craving while we're out:

I've also been craving squash and zucchini. I'm not sure if it's the season or pregnancy though. I've already made it for supper three times in the past two weeks. Yummy!

Who Washes the Dishes?

Q: How you know your husband washes the dishes more than you do?

A: When you go to the grocery store and he reminds you that we are out of dish liquid. AND he requests the kind that "doesn't dry up your hands."

Honestly, I had no clue we were out. He's definitely been adding his helping hand to our household these past few weeks! Thanks baby your the best!

Our Kidless Weekend

We shipped saw our kids off to Camp Varsity with the after-school program hosted by our church!

Which means, we enjoyed a kidless-weekend!!



This was Alisia's 3rd year going, and Caleb's first. And boy were they excited!

So while they were busy doing this....


We were busy doing this:


Or rather spending lots of time together!!

We heard all about their weekend and the fun they had. Our churh does such a great job celebrating the end of the year with this camp and it has gotten bigger and bigger each year.

They went swimming:


Played Games:


Went Canoeing:


Sang songs:


Praised God:

Pet the wild horses: (not really wild but they are free to roam on the camp ground, very used to people)

made crafts:

Made skits:

Played more games:

Made new friends:

And had a great weekend!! All for the glory of God.

And had perfect weather!

What did we do?

We weren't quite as busy though. We had NO plans and the whole weekend to ourselves (and the baby). The last time we enjoyed a weekend to ourselves, was probably over a year ago. We were able to reflect and see that this year was so different, and God has definately taken me from the place I was last year. I appreciate so much the time I have with my husband, and enjoyed every second of it.

The weekend before was our anniversary, and we were so busy with other stuff, we didn't have time to really "celebrate" and reflect. It also fell on his birthday! We just took it easy and relaxed together. We went to Walmart, Home Depot, and Lowes, and didn't buy anything. But we dreamed of the future. Being together. Moving. The Baby. Family. Life. What a great birthday present!

Preview

Guess what we did that we haven't done in a REALLY LONG TIME!?

Here's your only CLUE:

" For the LORD is the great God,

the great King above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth,

and the mountain peaks belong to him.
The sea is his, for he made it,

and his hands formed the dry land."

Psalm 95:3-5