Photo Roundup

After taking such a long break from blogging, it's hard to get back into it, so I'm going to start with posting my favorite pictures from the last month or two.

 The house at Christmastime.  It was a snug fit with adding 6 extra people for the holiday.  It's a good thing we all love each other!

 Baking in Alaska.  When there isn't room in the refrigerator, there's always the outdoor freezer. 

(I've heard rumors of moose eating fudge when cooling outdoors, so I just prayed they would survive intact)

 Snow on the peanut butter balls

The cousins all together for Christmas

Lydia showing everyone her "smells"...she's slightly obsessed with Scentsy

New Christmas Rocking Horse

The littlest boys all together

Snow Day

The "babies" with my sister.  These two kiddos, likely the end of our childbearing, are a week apart

My new "stag" decor.  I love it.

"Robot" Baby

Last, but not least, the joy of watching our beloved Seahawks win the Superbowl.  Everyone in the house is still on a high from the amazement that OUR team won the Lombardi Trophy.  It's been fun.

Moments of Clarity

Every once in a while, there are moments that give your life clarity.  

I'm no different than anyone else when it comes to doubts about my decisions regarding parenting and lifestyle choices.  We live unconventionally here in our home, and while I love it, sometimes glimpses of others' more mainstream methods make me question myself.

Isaac turned 8 on Saturday.  We had a great time at our local Children's Museum playing with friends and then we came home and had pizza for dinner.

Late that night I heard a sobbing sound as Isaac made his way into my room to tell me that he's sad his birthday is over.  He was heartbroken...uncharacteristically so.

Lydia (2 1/2) was in bed with me and she sat up with concern.  "It's okay, Isaac".  But that wasn't good enough for her.  She got out of bed and went around to the other side where he was.  She hugged his leg "Oh, Isaac crying?" "It's okay, Isaac, it's okay" while patting him.  Over and over.  Her love and concern for him was apparent as she took on the nurturing role of an older sibling. 

My heart swelled with joy.

It was just one of those MOMENTS OF CLARITY.  

We're doing something right.  Lydia knows how to comfort because she sees it modeled.  Her siblings' emotions take precedence over hers because that's what she experiences herself.  

I'm sure we'll get plenty of things wrong as we're raising our kids, but if they come out of this process practicing compassion, love and selflessness, we've succeeded.  

Life is about RELATIONSHIPS.  Relationship with God, family and those around you...that is truly living.  That is how you change the world around you; by touching other people hearts and lives, which in turn nurtures your own soul.

Moments when I see their sweet faces look like this. 

They are why I'm here in this moment and time.  Joy is mine.

A beach in Oregon

We've been having some cooler weather around here, which I find refreshing after the heat in Washington and even here when we got back from our vacation.

However the mosquitoes are crazy bad this year!  I guess all the standing water from the slow melt this spring caused an itchy nightmare for us humans.

Anyway, whenever the outdoors here is a little painful, it makes me think of our little trip to Washington.  We had such a nice time being outside without the constant assault of mosquitoes.  

We ate a lot of our meals outdoors while the kids played either inside or out.

 

 We spent an awesome weekend with Dave's brother and his family in Tillamook, Oregon.

I just love these two guys ♥ 

This is the blissful view we got to look upon while eating.  It feels like peace itself to see it.

We got to attend the Tillamook June Dairy Parade, which was fun

The parade got started with a showing from the cheese factory.  We adore Tillamook Cheese and Ice Cream, so everyone was excited to see their display.

After the parade, we got some lunch and then they took us to the beach.  We haven't been to see the ocean for a couple of years and so we were all looking forward to it.  They took us to a beautifully secluded beach.  It was quite a walk to get there, but it was more than worth it.

 

So beautiful!

I adore this huge piece of driftwood.  Amazing.

It was a great landing space for all of our gear that was lovingly and masterfully packed by my sister-in-law.  I was completely inept at getting any good photos of her the whole weekend!  I will remedy that on our next trip.

Lydia slept the whole walk and most of the time at the beach (thank heavens I threw my wrap in the car...my arms couldn't have done it)

I was so excited for her to get to experience the water and sand, but she wouldn't get out of the wrap.  37lbs of pure sweetness was riding on me that day. 

 

The kids played like crazy in the water.  It was surprisingly warm for NW ocean water. 

 

The guys played some football

 

 

We had a really cool experience when a WWII era plane flew over us while we were out there.  The kids and Daddy's were waving at him.  

It was an F4F Wildcat.  This is the same type of airplane that was on the carrier the guys' grandfather worked on in WWII.  The USS Saratoga was one of the ships that happened to not be docked at Pearl Harbor that fateful day.

The next thing we know, we see this!

SO RAD!!

I'm nearly done with posts from our trip, but the reminiscing is too fun to give up just yet.  More to come.