Owen is 5

Owens quote about himself today, "I'n a lover"

Birthday Q&A with Owen

Favorite toy: Cars 2 Jet

Favorite Store: Walmart

Favorite Movie: Cars 2

Favorite Book: Cars 2

Favorite Cartoon- channel 9

Favorite Food- PBJ sandwiches

Favorite song- beat boxed his own tune

Favorite animal- giraffe

Favorite thing about God-He loves me so much even when I do bad things

Favorite number- 95 (lightning McQueens #)

Favorite game- Go Fish

Favorite word- I love you mommy

Favorite Color- Pink and Purple

Favorite treat- lollipop

Favorite drink- Apple Juice

Favorite Sport- Basketball

Favorite thing about Caeden, Daddy, and Mommy= They love me

1)If you could live anywhere in the world where would you live?.......Gavin's house (our neighbor's son who is also 5 and apparently has really cool toys)

2) If you could drive, what car would you choose?.....Finn McMissile

3)What makes you laugh?......being tickled

4) What do you want to be when you grow up?.....A police, so I can save you guys

5) What do you want to tell the world?.....Believe in God

Owen really is a lover, he continues to tell us several times a day how much he loves us. He also loves, hot wheels, Cars 2, riding his scooter, playing with his big brother, playing with toys, apples & pears peeled and sliced "with the skin off", playing with toys, fruit snacks, using his imagination to play with toys, and singing.

I can't imagine our family without his sweet spirit.

Owen, we love you all the way to heaven and around the world and through every countless star a bazillion times and back,

Mommy and Daddy

Gratitude Journal, Day 30

Gratefully overwhelmed by Grace

Tis the end of 30 days of giving thanks. To be honest, as I drove around today, the air felt fresher, the leaves looked brighter, the mountains appeared more majestic. Is it possible that after 30 days of giving thanks, my vision has improved? Perhaps it is less about beholding the beauty in the world and more about recognizing the giver of all this beauty. To be truly grateful, of every little thing in my life, is to understand that (as Ann Voskamp explains) "All is Grace." To see grace in the sparkle and grime of life, this is what my November journal has taught me.

Gratitude Journal, Day 29

"Since love grows within you, so beauty grows. For love is the beauty of the soul."

St Augustine

Completely grateful for LOVE

For the man I love told me, " I crave the pursuit of God, not just for myself but so i can share God with others."

He is truly an amazing person and I am blessed!

Gratitude Journal, Day 28

My job has been a big blessing this year, but what I am most grateful for is returning home from work to:

1) find remnants in the front lawn of a great baseball game,

2) hear dance music from Christian hip-hop artist, Lacrae pumping loud through the windows of our home, and

3) find my two boys having a blast with their incredible dad on the trampoline.

Here's to counting your blessings

Gratitude Journal, Day 27

Grateful for all that is to come this Christmas season!

Here's to counting your blessings

Gratitude Journal, Day 26

Grateful for the perfect, distraction-free (Facebook-free) day!

Here's to counting your blessings

Gratitude Journal, Days 24 & 25

Happy Thanksgiving

Gratitude Journal, Day 23

Today I am thankful for:

Bible study (BSF)

and

Baking (with my son)

and for my husband, who came to my aid when the smoke billowed out of the oven and Caeden said, "Mom, i think we need a chimney." No permanent damage done, thank God.

Here's to counting your blessings

Gratitude Journal, Day 22

Extremely thankful for mi familia

Here's to counting your blessings

Gratitude Journal, Day 21

Grateful for Books.

Specifically, my new book which came in the mail today.

Here's to counting your blessings

Gratitude Journal, Day 20

Grateful for some genuine gal pals.

(even though we all look like zombies from my iphone photo)

Here's to counting your blessings

Gratitude Journal, Day 19

Thankful for Tri Tip Dinner

Here's to counting your blessings

Gratitude Journal, Day 18

Thankful for the boy's school!!

Here's to counting your blessings

Gratitude Journal, Day 17

swim

bike

run

I am thankful for Exercise

Here's to counting your blessings

Gratitude Journal, Day 16

Thankful for colorful, crunchy, fallen leaves, and friends who love playing in them.

Here's to counting your blessings

Gratitude Journal, Day 15

Today I am thankful for laughter

Here's to counting your blessings

Gratitude Journal, Day 14

Movie Night with my Hubby

Here's to counting your blessings

Gratitude Journal, Day 13

Thankful for the boys and one of my favorite childhood pastimes............

building a Fort in the living room.

Here's to counting your blessings

Gratitude Journal, Day 12

Laughter came from every brick

A poem from Theresa of Avila

"Just these two words he spoke

changed my life,

"Enjoy me."

What a burden I thought I was to carry-

a crucifix, as did He.

Love once said to me, "I know a song,

would you like to hear it?"

And laughter came from every brick in the street

and from every pore

in the sky,

After a night of prayer, He

changed my life when

He sang,

"Enjoy me."

Taken from the book One Thousand Gifts, By Ann Voskamp

Today, I am thankful for WORDS

Here's to counting your blessings

Gratitude Journal, Day 11

A night out with my love

Gratitude Journal, Day 10

Barnes and Noble class field trips

Here's to counting your blessings

Gratitude Journal, Day 9

A focused School boy

Here's to counting your blessings

Gratitude Journal Day 8

my favorite shoes

Here's to counting your blessings

Gratitude Journal, Day 7

A gorgeous Sunset

Gratitude Journal, Day 6

Avacado Tortilla Soup made completely in the Vitamix.

Here's to counting your blessings

Gratitude Journal,Day 5

Boys day with daddy

Here's to counting your blessings

Gratitude Journal, Day 4

New Do

Here's to counting your blessings!

Gratitude Journal, Day 3

The beauty of Fall

Here's to counting your blessings

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Gratitude Journal, Days 1&2

One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp is a wonderful book.

So wonderful in fact, that it got me blogging again.

For the month of November, I am keeping a daily Gratitude Journal. When I remember something to be thankful for, I write it down on the pages of the journal left open on my kitchen counter. Ann says in her book "Giving thanks (Eucharisteo) always precedes the miracle." Who doesn't need a miracle, right? I have been challenged to give thanks, as opposed to rolling my eyes in annoyance, escaping to avoid frustration, worrying about trifle issues, complaining when life gets rough, etc. and etc.

God deserves our thanks and our praise. In fact, God inhabits the praise of His people (Psalm 22:3). I long for God to dwell near. Amazing to comprehend that He would even stoop so low to dwell near a sinner such as I.

Rather than post a million and one things I am thankful for each day, I am going to try to post a picture a day of something that makes me thankful. Below are pictures to sum up the last two days.

Here's to counting your blessings!

One Year

It has officially been one year since we uprooted our family from our hometown in Fl., embarked on an adventurous journey across the country, and settled in this rural Nor. Cal. town. Any pre- glamorization of our journey was quickly pummeled when reality hit during our cross country trek. 6 people + a dog in a motorhome for 2 weeks having to make 2 stops at Urgent Care for ear infections, vomiting, and antibiotics was anything but glamorous. However I wouldn't trade a second of that crazy trip. I feel the same way about this past year, living out of our comfort zone; glamorous, no...... do it all over again, yes. If there is one word that I would choose to describe our family in this past year it is,

TEACHABLE

Lessons always come with a price. There have been tears, discouragement, stress, fear, loneliness, and more tears. And the thing about learning is, you never get to know it all; it's an ongoing process. So i can't say, that the tears are over, but through these tears we have received God's comfort, peace, blessings, and faithfulness. We know this season in life is where we are supposed to be right now, and that's enough because God is here.

Lately, it has been exciting for me to grow in my faith by learning more deeply about God's character. What I want to challenge myself with for the second year is to get more involved in serving others. One day in our kitchen, I heard God gently say that my purpose in life is to be a faithful servant. My spiritual gifts are Faith and Service, so this revelation was specific to my soul. For me there is much more purpose than generalization in one day hearing God say, "Well done thou good and faithful servant." The words faithful servant are ever before me as I begin to roll my eyes at the whining kids in front of me, or when my husband disappoints, or when friends are few and far between. When I am gone from this earth, I hope that I have earned the words faithful servant to be engraved on my epitaph. I use "earning" loosely, because what good have I ever done apart from God's extravagant grace? "In the presence of God, one will always lose their footing." Tim Keller. Thankfully Eph. 6:11 tells us, "So put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand..."

Lord, I pray that as a family, we will continue to obey, to be teachable and to let the love, and redemption of Jesus wash over us and compel us to stand firm. AMEN.

"Best day ever"

Today was the "Best day ever," according to Caeden. We spent the afternoon on Lake Shasta, with friends, on their boat. It was a relaxing time and a beautiful day. The water was a little chilly, but the kids loved it. They have spent the last two weeks in swim lessons and have improved so much, it was a joy to watch them. Lake Shasta is enormous and crystal clear, so we found our own cove to swim and tube in. One of the coves we swam in was 80 feet deep. The lake is really full and there is hardly any shoreline, but we found a little spot that the boys could swim to and walk around on. They pretended it was Pirate Island. So glad we went and I hope there will be many more days like this during the summer.