O Christmas Tree

We went to the Christmas tree farm again this year! We went with our friends, the Johnsons, and had a GREAT time! The older the kiddos get, the easier and more fun it seems to be. (God uses these times to confirm that we are done having kids:-) The boys were so excited to have saws in their hands....all three of them! Scary as that sounds, they did great obeying the rules. ex: No sword fighting, don't use as light sabers, and keep the cover on! Ava loved the freedom to run around and grab the trees. The boys found the perfect tree for their playroom in record time! We enjoyed a "private" hayride, hot chocolate, candy canes and a nice fire!

Surprise!

NYC

3 Weeks ago, Dustin and I went on my surprise 30th birthday trip! He had my friend CC pack my bags since I was not to know where we were going! When we finally dropped off all the kids and got to the airport, Dustin handed me my ticket saying...New York City! I was so excited, I have never been and really really wanted to go! I was so giddy with excitement as we sat and waited for the time to board. Of course our flight was a bit delayed....we finally board and I am texting to make sure the kiddos are ok when up walks CC and Ashley! THEY were going to NYC with us!! I was really speechless as I had NO idea that anyone was coming along. I barely was able to speak again when Gregg walked onto the plane! I was again in utter shock!! I was so giddy the entire flight! Once we arrived to the NYC airport I was ready to get to the city! Never mind that it was already 9:30! We are just standing around waiting for our bags when Dustin says I think some of our bags are here. I turn to look only to find Chris riding the baggage claim holding a box of chocolates! I nearly screamed! I smiled so much that night, my face hurt!
We stayed in a friends place 2 blocks from central park and minutes from Times Square! We were in heaven! We walked so much the next three days. It truly is a city that never sleeps. We went to China town, Little Italy, Central park, ground zero......really everything a first time New York visitor does. (Minus a show)
It truly was the 2nd best trip of my life. (second only to my honeymoon) I felt incredibly loved, celebrated, and treasured! Here a some pictures in random order. Enjoy! (ps I turn 30 12/19!)

GO BUCKS!

We had our annual OSU vs Michigan football party on Saturday! There was great energy on both sides coming into the game. The clan of Michigan fans came storming in banging on drums and playing their march song, while the OSU fight song was blaring in our house. Poor Ava had no idea what to think as she was eating lunch and overwhelmed. The boys LOVED every minute of it and could not understand even for a minute why they would root for "The Michigans." We had a great time hanging with friends and loved that the BUCKS WON!

Join me in the challenge!

A fun way you can give gifts and help in the water and/or food crisis:

compassioninternational.com.com You can go on here and buy T-shirts where proceeds go directly to clean water or food campaigns!

"If you could do anything.....

.....and you knew you could not fail and money was not of importance.....What would you do?"

We were asked that question last weekend in CLF. It didn't take me long to know that I am doing exactly what I want to be doing. Being a Mommy, a wife, and in full time ministry. BUT, if I had to pick something other than that, I would be a Midwife and/or work in an orphanage. Dustin: a professional golfer or do exactly what he is doing!

How about YOU?! What would you do if you could pick your dream job, no chance of failing, and no matter how much money you made.

My little Diva!

Ava LOVES earrings and was thrilled when she discovered the boys pirate earrings! She also loves having her hair done and today she could not decide what to wear in her hair, so we went for a little of everything! (She also had to have her socks on over her footed pjs)

Happy Halloween!

Fabulous Fall Fun

We have had lots of fun these past few weeks! Ava Joy is potty training and doing amazingly well! We took a trip as a family to the corn maze and to the pumkin patch. It was fun! The boys loved racing through the maze looking for clues while Ava was content checking out the corn stalks. The boys are dressing up as pirates for halloween and they are so excited to show off their costumes!

I want s'mores!

Family Fun Day

Today we tried to go apple picking, we were all so excited! We got there ready to go only to find out that apple picking season is over! AHHHHHHHHHH NOOOOOOOOOO!! Ok, so on to plan B. Went found a park that had a nature museum with snakes, turtles, and a great lesson on insects. Ava girl enjoyed watching the turtle swim around and loved snuggling a skunk puppet. The boys were enthralled by the snake and learning all about insects. We ventured onto the walking paths where the boys found a creek. They also got to race their scooters around the path. It was a fun day. We made it home in time for a cook out and to roast some marshmellows to have yummy s'mores . The boys and Daddy are camping out tonight in the tree house. What a fun family day!

Catching bugs in your polos!!??

Look at our bug Mommy!
Boys and snails
Catching bugs in their polos!
So charming.

I finished!

Chicago was a blast! We had a great time touring around, taking cabs, riding the train, and eating yummy food! Ava was a champ, she was a doll traveling and she was a great cheerleader! The weather was unbelievably hot! The Windy City?? Yeah right! The morning of the race Katie and I jumped on the train for a 45 minute ride into the city and started our walk to the World Vision tent! It was wild seeing all the runners coming together. It took us 18 minutes to finally get to the start line and begin to to "run". The whole run was shoulder to shoulder as 40,000 runners crammed the streets of Chicago. It was incredibly HOT! 85 degrees in October!? Unreal! The seven of us all finished the run for World Vision. It truly helped running for the children of Africa. It gave us all great motivation to finish the race strong. I finished in 4hrs and 37 mins. Ah it was long and did I mention HOT!? Again, thank you all for your prayers and financial support.

26.2 for Africa

I am running 26.2 for World Vision on Sunday. Here is a little bit about who I am running for.

"Our vision for every child, life in all its fullness; Our prayer for every heart, the will to make it so. World Vision is a Christian relief, development and advocacy organization dedicated to working with children, families and communities to overcome poverty and injustice.Inspired by our Christian values, we are dedicated to working with the world’s most vulnerable people. We serve all people regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, or gender.

World Vision is an international partnership of Christians whose mission is to follow our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in working with the poor and oppressed to promote human transformation, seek justice, and bear witness to the good news of the Kingdom of God."


Some stats to chew on:

Every 7 seconds a child dies of hunger
Two billion people live on less than $2.00 a day
Every 46 minutes 1,836 die from a lack of clean water

Please pray for me as I run. For endurance to finish the race, not for me, but for the mission I have set before me. To run for these precious children that have nothing. As I hit mile 20/22 and I start to ache, pray my heart aches for these little ones, pray that ache pushes me on to the finish line. Thank you for all your financial support and all your prayers. My God be glorified through World Vision and their efforts.

Quotes of the week

I know it seems a bit early to already how the quotes of the week, but I wanted to get these ones down before I forgot them!

In school we are learning about Indians and all that fun stuff. The boys are LOVING it! I was putting away laundry the other day while the boys were playing soccer in the bonus room. Ty suddenly comes flying into the room saying, "Mom, I heard someone down stairs, I think it is Indians!." With a smile on my face I tell him to go down and say hi and see if they want to be friends. "No way, what if they want to arrow me!!??"

Saturday night I went out with Katie, while Ben and Dustin put the kiddos to bed! After going back up the 3rd time to put Dylan back in bed, Dylan says to Dustin," Daddy you just don't understand me. I told you to sit on the green couch!" Yes he just turned three:-)

This morning I took all the kids on my morning run! Dylan and Ava in the jogger and Ty and Bryce running next to me. They were amazingly fast! After about a mile and a half Bryce says; "Oh no, my heart just went under my food. It is ok though because I can still feel my heart beating!" Laughing out loud, Ty says, "Bryce that is called a cramp."

lunch times prayers

MOTHS! I HATE them! Two weeks ago I had to clean out my pantry because of some very yucky moths. It was so disheartening to watch all the food go into the trash especially after coming home from bible study where we talked about children dying of starvation! So I clean it all out, wait a few days and start to slowly restock. Last week we discovered MORE moths! So my sister once again emptied the pantry. The next day at lunch the boys were praying and here are their prayers.

Ty: "Dear God, I pray for the moths to get out of our pantry. God just kill them. I want the food back into the pantry and not out here because our house stinks!."

Bryce: " God, I pray for the moths, please don't let them die, help them get out safely, but stay out."

LOL, really took all I had not to open my eyes and just start laughing. Oh, yes, these were serious prayers!