Happy Father’s Day!

Today, people across the country are celebrating what we know of as “Father’s Day.”  And while there are many godly Christian fathers throughout the world, I want to especially thank, and lift up, my dad, Kory.

I feel so incredibly blessed beyond measure to have a dad like mine.  I know I can always count on him.  He has so much priceless wisdom to offer, even though I might not always realize it.  He has taken up the God-given responsibility of raising me as the young woman God has intended for me to be!  Honestly, it is because of him (and God, of course) that I am who I am as a Christian.  Despite all my struggles and shortcomings, Dad is always there, by my side, praying for me.

Not every girl has the dad they need in their life.  I don’t know why God decided to bless me so immensely with a father who loves the Lord and loves me so much, but I sure am thankful!

I love you so much, Dad!

Love,

Lauren “Pickle” 

After opening some gifts, we played a game of Guess That Tool!, followed by some homemade peanut brittle! 🙂  Here are some pics from the day!

Christmas Recital

Katey just performed in her first harp recital since beginning lessons last July.  Her instructor, Alla Yashneva, is from Russia and has proven to be a wonderful instructor for Katey.

After hearing that Lauren was also learning to play the piano, Alla invited her to accompany Katey in a rendition of “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming”.

Christmas Concert

This evening, we joined our neighbors, the Huishs’ and the Fosters, for a piano and orchestra recital.  Katie and her friend Isabel have been practicing selections from The Wizard of Oz and were expertly accompanied by Isabel’s father Karl.

It was a wonderful evening and we enjoyed the fellowship of our good neighbors.

 

Katie’s Christmas Concert

Happy Easter!

This was a beautiful day to remember our resurrected Lord. We were blessed to have cousin Tyler with us this weekend so the children began with a traditional hunt for Easter eggs as soon as they woke. In keeping with a family tradition (started last year), the girls each received a new pair of shoes along with their baskets. I had to laugh as I was reminded by Katie several days before Easter, that this in fact WAS a tradition…

After the egg hunt, we began preparing for our worship service. We have hosted a small house church for the last year and have been blessed to have several others join us each Sunday morning. The teaching today was centered around the significance of Christ’s resurrection and how Christianity is unique to all other world religions. After the service, we hosted friends and neighbors for lunch and fellowship.

Later in the day, we visited with our friends the LeCompte’s in Mesa and looked at a few homes in that area. All in all, it was a great day spent with my family. I am grateful.

A Happy New Year…

Frosty the SnowmanOn the heels of a wonderful Christmas season, we decided to spend the remainder of our holiday in the northern Arizona mountains playing in the snow.

Our friends Rob and Hester offered to let us stay at their cabin, so we headed off to Flagstaff. Upon our arrival, we found a plethora of fresh snow to play in. The girls quickly discovered a path leading to the national forest and not long after, built a little snowman.

Finding a piece of cardboard, we made a make-shift sled and the girls took turns sledding down a small hill. I tried and it didn’t seem to work as well for me…

That evening, New Years Eve, we spent time in the cabin watching the Iron Chef competition on the Food Network, playing board games, and enjoying our Dura Flame fire. I don’t think any of us made it past 10:00.

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We awoke to 2010 with a plan to spend the day skiing at nearby Snow Bowl. The idea was to leave the cabin by 7:30, get our rental gear, and be the first on the mountain at 8:30. It didn’t quite work out that way as it seemed everyone else had the same plan.

After an hour in line to get our gear, we finally made it to the Heart Prairie lifts. This being Katie and Lauren’s first time skiing, I was sure that after a couple of assisted trips down the bunny hill, they would be at least proficient enough snow plowers to make it through the day… I was wrong. Everything went fine until we got to the bottom on the path and were faced with the mountain down. Lauren was first to fall and as I was attending to her, Katie seemed to loose her brakes and plowed right in to her – it wasn’t good.

In any case, Kerry and I spent the next hour coaxing them down. By this time, everyone was hungry for lunch so we decided to head in to the lodge. We never made it back out as the girls were more interested in getting back to Rob’s cabin and their snowman.

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The next morning, we spent some time cleaning up and getting ready to head to Williams, AZ, the home of the Polar Express. Kerry and I had kept this portion of our trip a secret as we wanted to surprise them. In the afternoon, we checked in to the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel. I think the girls caught on to our plan as they saw all the kids in the lobby wearing their pajamas. That evening, we had dinner at the hotel then prepared to catch the train. The anticipation, especially in Lauren, made the whole trip worth it. She was so excited to actually be able to ride on the train, get a golden ticket, and of course, see Santa Clause. It was a great trip and the hot chocolate was the best! We will surely do this trip again.

Christmas 2009

_KRN9969This was a very special Christmas for our family.  In the weeks preceding, we  had a lot of fun and many laughs. We decorated our home with two trees, and the girls had a great time discovering ornaments that had been packed away in boxes all year.  Katie and Lauren’s friends helped us and we all enjoyed fresh baked cookies and hot chocolate.

In the spirit of tradition, we constructed and frosted a gingerbread train which, in the end, looked more like a train wreck.  Christmas eve, Kerry and I visited Grandma Evelyn and then enjoyed dinner and coffee with the rest of the weirdo’s at Village Inn.  Christmas Day began with the girls opening WAY too many presents as we prepared for our annual family dinner.

The following day, we once again gathered to make moche in keeping with our family tradition.  Marty had purchased an automatic moche maker and, in spite of my hesitancy to depart from the past, it was a huge success.

A Memorable Memorial…

_KRN8837-759256We have just returned from one of the best weekends ever! The girls and I joined Kerry and the Traasdahl family in the cool northern Arizona town of Greer over the Memorial Day weekend.
We left early on Friday to try and beat the weekend stampede and arrived at our cabin in the early evening. We were pleasantly surprised to see that it was perfect for all of us… Plenty of room for all nine of us to sleep, eat, and play games. It even had a jacuzzi on the deck!
On the drive up, Lauren began her journal of “things spotted” and by the time our trip was over, she had recorded several hundred things that most people would miss… Saturday morning, we decided to spend some time taking pictures in the meadow out back and watching the fish in the pond. Katie has proven herself to be quite the budding photographer and captured several very nice pictures over the course of our trip. At noon, we all went horseback riding and Lauren was able to ride the same horse (Turkey) that she had last year. The ride was beautiful and aside from Mike’s mule trying to kick the teeth out of my horse, all went well. Saturday night, we all went to Molly Butler’s for a great dinner followed by a game of “Apples to Apples”.
Later that night, we all decided to hit the jacuzzi and what started out as innocent “man talk” about jumping in the freezing cold stream quickly escalated to the point of finding Mike and myself running through the mud to jump in the stream! Near the brink of cardiac arrest, I reasoned that this act of bravery should merit the adoration of my girls. They would surely conclude that Dad is a warrior, capable of conquering things that make most tremble. Well, just as Mike and I were back in the jacuzzi and able to breath again, Katie, Hansen, Lauren, and Curt decided they would also jump in the stream. Hansen even spent a few minutes rolling around in the freezing cold snow melt! I will find other ways to garner heroic status.
Sunday morning, we worshipped together and talked about the peace of God. Katie provided the topic and it proved to be a great discussion. The rest of the day was spent playing soccer, taking pictures, and building forts out in the meadow. On a particular walk with the girls along a small stream, I decided that it would be fun to use the soccer ball to plug a pipe that the stream was running through to “temporarily” create a dam. It was great in theory but when the ball got sucked in to the pipe, the problems began. The upstream began to fill VERY quickly and would have surely tipped the balance of our global ecosystem were it not for some quick thinking!
Thanks to Katie and Hanson finding a nice looooonnnngg stick, and Mike’s help on the other end, we were able to force the ball through the pipe and restore order to the land. It sure sounded like a good idea! Sunday night we all played Pit and Katie taught me how to play Chinese Checkers – I lost miserably!
The drive home today was equally as memorable. We sang all sorts of songs from EFY to Brooks and Dunn and experienced pouring rain, hail, and brilliant sunshine. For me, it wasn’t necessarily the fun things we did or the spectacular creation that we observed that made this trip so special. It was the Spirit filled time we spent together that I will always remember.

He is Risen!

_KRN8489-751863We awoke this Easter morning to a beautiful sunrise!  It had rained the night before and all of our plants still had droplets glistening in the morning sunlight.  Our day began with an Easter egg hunt and unlike in years past, I was not able to hide at least one that the girls couldn’t find.  After breakfast, we prepared for church and talked about why this day is special among all days as we drove.  This afternoon, we had friends and family over for Easter dinner followed by a walk to the park for some softball.  Aside from Pokey pooping on the pitchers mound and Tyler taking a pitch to the face, it was a great time and the weather was perfect.  This day was a very fitting day to remember our Lord and His resurrection from death.