Love is Patient, Love is Kind, Love Never Fails

We spent a Sunday a few weeks ago, celebrating two of my favorite people in the whole wide world.  Jesse's Grandparents celebrated their 60th Wedding Anniversary in August.  And after 60 years, they still hold hands.  I don't know what it is about holding hands that gets me... but I hope that after 60 years, Jesse and I are still holding hands. They're amazing.



There was a Mass to celebrate their anniversary.  Here's Jacob with a few of the other great-grandsons carrying up the gifts for communion.

Emma & Kaylee passed out programs.  Such beautiful girls!

Anden was so proud of himself after Mass.  He got to 'hold' some of the flowers.  

Here's Grandpa & Grandma (along with a few of their great-grandkids) outside of the church just after Mass.  Grandpa looks so proud here as he looks out at all the people who love them.  And in my opinion, Grandma's face has JOY written all over it!

Here they are with ALL 17 of their grandchildren.  The grandkids all went together and had 2 photo books made.  One included pictures from their wedding and their children; the other included pictures of all the grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  Even Grandpa teared up a bit.

And here they are with ALL 21 of their Great-Grandchilren.  They range in age from less than one month all the way up to 11 years old. 

Those kids are the luckiest kids out there to have Great-Grandparents as wonderful as these two.



I hope and pray we have many more years to come with them.  They're amazing!

Ten Points of Joyful Parenting ~ By: Ann Voskamp

1. Today, I will make our home a house of prayer. I will pray at set times. And I will invite our children to come move into an interior space that lives with God.

2. Today, I will transfigure all things into beauty, and I will refuse to see anything else.

3. Today, I will not have any emergencies. There are no emergencies! Only amateurs hurry.

4. Today, when stress mounts, I pray to dismount it with gratitude. My stress management plan will be intervention with verbal thanks. I can only feel one feeling at a time, and I choose to give thanks at all times. Fight feeling with feeling!

5. Today, I will pray to speak words that are only STRONG words, words that make these children feel strong. Grace words. Grace is the only non-toxic air. All other words I breathe are death words.

6. Today, I will pray to be consistently consistent. I will create safe rhythms that our children can find security in. I will create daily ceremonies because everyday we are CELEBRATING the gift of now!

7. Today, the moment when I am most repelled by a child's behavior, that is my sign to draw the very closest to that child.

8. Today, I will hug each of my children as many times as I serve them meals -- because children's hearts feed on touch. I'll look for as many opportunities to touch my children today as possible --- the taller they are, the more so.

9. Today, my priorities will be all Things Unseen.

10. Today, I will laugh! And I will let the little children laugh! I will create a culture of JOY!

Copyright 2010, Ann Voskamp @ www.aholyexperience.com All rights reserved.

New Years 2010

My Top Ten (maybe more) for 2010

~ Love God more this year than last
~ Love my family and friends whole-heartedly
~ Read my Daily Devotional (keyword DAILY), in case you're wondering, I'm doing Beth Moore's- Breaking Free Day by Day
~ Celebrate turning 30 (31 in May)
~ Get my aging body in peak physical condition through nutrition and exercise
~ Have some great conversations with my kids about God, love, life, etc...
~ Play more... whether its dolls, tractors, baseball, reading books, telling stories, etc...
~ Clean my office
~ Find a way to organize my pictures
~ Finish the bonus room
~ Paint my bedroom
~ Write more snail mail
~ Mail out birthday cards on time
~ Take my vitamins daily
~ Help Jake learn his letters
~ Listen
~ Simplify, simplify, simplify
~ Watch sunrises
~ Watch sunsets

The Dash

A few weeks ago, we attended St. Anthony's mass because we weren't going to be able to make it to mass at our church. Father Bill (who married us) was filling in for their priest and he delivered a beautiful message that was inspired by this poem. I hope you enjoy!

The Dash

by Linda Ellis

I read of a man who stood to speak

At the funeral of a friend.

He referred to the dates on her tombstone

From the beginning to the end.

He noted that first came the date of her birth

And spoke of the following date with tears,

But he said what mattered most of all

Was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time

That she spent alive on earth

And now only those who loved her

Know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own,

The cars, the house, the cash,

What matters is how we live and love

And how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard;

Are there things you'd like to change?

For you never know how much time is left

That can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough

To consider what's true and real

And always try to understand

The way other people feel.

And be less qauck to anger

And show appreciation more

And love the people in our lives

Like we've never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect

And more often wear a smile,

Remembering that this special dash

Might only last a little while.

So when your eulogy is being read

With your life's actions to rehash

Would you be proud of the things they say

About how you spent your dash?

A Little Past Due for a Few Updates

So... I'm a little past due for this update. A LOT has happened in the last few weeks since our most recent update.

We celebrated Jake's Birthday over the weekend. He turned 4 on Friday and we had his party on Saturday with a few family and friends. The highlight of the party was the hayride. The kids loved it. His favorite gift was the truck and horse trailer that was given to him by his Nana and Pa. He hasn't let it out of his sight! He also says that now that he is four he will stop sucking on his fingers. I sure hope so!

Unfortunately, I have some heartbreaking news to share as well. We had to have our dear dog Bosco put to sleep on Oct. 29th. He woke up that

morning and didn't act right at all. When I checked on him he collapsed into his water bowl. I took him into the vet and they did a couple x-rays of his abdomen and chest cavity which revealed several masses. The vet said it would be very unlikely that he would be able to remove them. We were given 3 options- exploratory surgery that would likely end with unfornate findings, taking him home and letting nature take it's course, or having him put to sleep. As difficult as it was, we opted for option #3. I held his head as he went to sleep and then brought him home. We buried him at the edge of the field behind the house where the trails split off into the woods. The kids asked a lot of questions and their biggest concern is whether or not Bailey (our other lab) is lonely. We have plans to possibly get another lab next spring. We will miss him dearly.

Finally, you may notice the '7X7' Button on the sidebar of my blog. This link will take you to a blog that is written by a gal named Angie Smith. She had an entry recently that was titled "Seven Prayers a Day." She came up with 7 events during the day in which she would pray for her children and then shared verses for each event. I've followed her blog for quite some time. I can't do it justice to even try to explain her story but if you're up for a motivatingly good read, I'd recommend you check it out. Pull up a chair and grab a kleenex.

Well, I think that pretty well sums everything up for now. Hope everyone has a good work week!

P.S. Oh, we're expecting!!!!! Here's a little sneak peek at our newest addition that we're looking forward to welcoming into our family at the end of May.