Gratitude

 

Have you ever had a moment of conviction? One of those moments when you stop and say. Oh my. Jesus you are here. You are right. I have been feeling that the last 2 weeks since my bible study started a new book study.

 

One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp

Y'all I have been told. That is the moment I had. Jesus has given me so much more than 1,000 gifts. I have spent too much time saying, "poor me" I was discussing this with a good friend earlier today. And she and I both were chatting about how easy it is to find yourself there...there in that place of "poor me" and I had definitely had some of those moments recently. The "can't want to" homesick, I want to vacation on the beach and move home to Kansas right now moments...and then I started this study.

 

 

 After slapping me in the face with the assignment to start a gratitude journal the Lord moved forward in softening my heart and opening my eyes. Suddenly my rut of Debbie downer moments turned into "I am so blessed" I have so much to be thankful for...there is no poor me.   

 Where this study has taken me so far... How did I get so lucky!? Why me!? Thank you. I am so thankful.

I strongly suggest starting a gratitude journal. Really...go get on that now. It is an eye opening thing...I am so thankful for this study and the women in the study with me.



 

 I am here at this time for a reason. Every season has a reason. I like that saying... I am happy. And it is okay to be happy. I think sometimes I carry guilt about being happy...like I should only be homesick. I love so much that my husband wants us to be here with him. So many of his co-workers don't make the choice to bring their families and Scott can't bear to leave us behind. I love that and I love him.

  I love our crazy wonderful life. It is crazy and it is a wild ride but it is a blessed ride and I am loving every minute of it. Especially this week...because all my babies are home!! Breaks are my VERY favorite!!! :)

 

Scott's job that he is here with his company working on is way behind...totally out of there control as to the delays but never the less way behind. We got somewhat "official" word that he will not be done here anytime soon....probably not until next summer at the earliest.  Hearing that kind of news usually gets me in a serious rut...a "I want my mom, NOW!" kind of rut.... but I feel like my heart is in a new place...a place of gratitude.

 



So, maybe our family adventure in Canada may be a little longer than we first anticipated...but I am going to enjoy the ride. I am going to embrace the moments we have while our kids are all under our roof. I make it my job to teach my kids to always find the joy in everything. To have fun with our travels...they rarely see the struggles I sometimes have with it. I think that what I am teaching my children my heavenly father is trying to teach me. Enjoy where you are, Sarah. See my blessings. Choose joy and share joy.

 



As I look through all these picture phone moments from the last few months...my heart swells. We have so much love in our home. So much joy. CHAOS and so much fun. I am blessed.

 



There is snow in the forecast every single day for the next week. I am savoring the sun that comes through the window and warms our faces as the cold yet beautiful snow falls outside. I am looking forward to our summer trip home. I am looking forward to time with family and friends pool side and of course making s'mores but for now I am loving the snow. Loving the cold. Loving the ride.

 



P.S. This guy was just shy of 20 pounds at his check up yesterday!! He is pure joy!!!!! :)

Romans 15:13

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Mallory,

Happy 9th Birthday my Precious first born! Where have the last 9 years gone!? I can't believe how fast the time has gone. But, I want to say this...every moment of every day of the last 9 years I have been thankful. Thankful for you. I am blessed to call you daughter. With every stage so far I have found my self saying, "I love this age!" and I know that will continue to be true during your 9th year! 

I had so much fun bringing treats to your class on Friday! You requested lollipop cookies aka cookies on a stick! :) You wanted all different rainbow colors....so I did my best!

We went out to dinner to celebrate your day! You picked a local chain that we enjoy having breakfast at. Their dinner was pretty tasty and the family time celebrating you was great! Such fun memories!

We had a fun evening giving you your birthday presents and enjoying some cake! We immediately had to play Pictionary after you opened it and it is now our favorite family game! :) Aside from board games you LOVE Legos...you totally get that from your daddy. You had the whole Olivia house built in one sitting! :)

There are so many things about you at this age that I want to remember. I love how reading is your FAVORITE! :) You totally get that from me! You also love trying new hobbies...you are really into learning knitting right now. It is kind of like living with a little old lady...I find this scene laying around all. the. time.

and this is how I find you if you are ever quiet :) You didn't even notice me snapping this picture! I love your heart for reading!!! I hope it continues forever and we can read together as grown ups just as we do now! You have introduced me to some wonderful stories that I had never read! I am loving all the Roald Dahl you have been reading me lately!

It makes my heart so happy! You of course love to Rainbow Loom. You are obsessed with all the Just Dance games. At the moment What Does the Fox Say is your favorite "jam" :) You are so good with your brothers. You and your sister are best friends and enemies all within the hour. You remind me so much of Aunt Amy and I which is a good thing because I know your hearts are bonded for life and you will be best friends forever. You are a talker....really I mean an all the time talker. You totally get that from me to. We went to a movie last night and you talked through the whole thing. What is funny is sometimes you don't even realize you are doing it. You are just so excited and curious about everything and have some much to ask and so much to share. You have so much imagination and so much creativity. You are doing so great in school. Academically and socially your are excelling and I am so proud of you and how well you have handled the transition to living in Canada. You are such a beautiful soul. And old and young soul all wrapped up into my precious Mal Pal. I love who you are and I love watching as you grow and I already know I will love who you become. I love you always. I love you forever. I will always be your number one fan.

Happy Birthday my darling Mal!!!

Hugs and Kisses,

Mama

 My dad came to town!! If you take time to stop by and see what we are up to you know that I am a big fan of my dad! :) I am one of those daughters who is lucky enough to have a dad to look up to and admire. He is amazing...and hilarious! :) I have talked a lot about my family. Y'all know I love them fiercely and miss them like crazy. Having a visit from just my dad was extra special because it isn't very often when we get so much chat and hang out time without some of the rest of our amazing crazy crew! This picture is going up for sure! :)

So my dad got to experience Canada in the way I wish all of our visitors could...sadly my mom, sister and mother n'law were here in a time of emergency and when Scott's parents were here this summer they obviously didn't see the beauty of the winter. This "spring" weather is absolutely perfect to get out and explore the beauty of the mountains...we had a blast going out to lunch in Banff and then exploring Lake Louise....breathtaking....

It was really amazing to see Lake Louise in the winter after seeing it in the summer...this summer it was a blue lake with kayaks and canoes on it (I honestly wasn't too impressed....) and then walking up and seeing it covered in tons and tons of snow....it was so breathtaking...it was amazing....truly God's beauty on earth. The lake was frozen over and covered in snow...part of it had been turned into an ice skating rink with a huge ice castle (with Maple leafs on top of course) the kids skated some and played on it in their boots some (which was Bentley's favorite because he could just pretend to skate) the temperature was perfect and it actually started snowing! There was a bonfire and hardly any crowd. It was so awesome. I am really glad we decided to make this day trip...

I snapped this picture for m mom....this little dauchsand was out their with his jacket and boots...he was so cute and then when we talked to his owner he told us the boots were just balloons!! How creative!! :)

We went and spent the morning at the Farmer's Market and then checked out Ikea...of course the kiddos had an Ikea ice cream cone ;) Dad is pretty confident y'all are going to be happy in October my Kansas City friends!! :) I would agree! ;)

I snapped this picture at the Old Spaghetti Factory in Banff...it cracked me up that Brody grabbed the paper and started tearing it up...he is changing every day. The other thing is I have such fond memories of the Spaghetti Factory in Kansas City...we used to go there with my Grandma and Pawie. I was telling Dad how I could actually see the big velvet purple chairs and envision all of us there. Great memories. Man I wish my kids would have known Pawie...so thankful they get to know and love their Papi so much!!

Saturday night we went to a hockey game. The Flames weren't in town but the Calgary Hitmen were (I believe they are called Juniors? They are the guys right below the NHL) anyway...it was my first hockey game and I really enjoyed it. Dad and I both agree the dropping the gloves and fighting is a bit silly but it is clearly a way of life here (Hockey that is) and they seem to like the fighting so...there you go. We really enjoyed the game and the Hitmen won! Off to the playoffs they go...

As for Bentley...he has been to a Flames game with Scott and he talks about it daily...he was over the moon about this game...he wouldn't even look at me for a picture because he was just mesmerized with everything on the rink...then he got a shirt! The people sitting next to us won it and it was a kids size so they gave it to him...pretty sure he will be wearing it....always ;) Ha! The girls enjoyed it as well and they were surprised they did! Ha! I have to say I am right there with them...pleasantly surprised I liked it so much!!

Yesterday we went and checked out the Canada Winter Olympic area and the Canada sports Hall of Fame. I was impressed and really enjoyed it. Seeing the indoor luge, skeleton and bobsleigh training area was awesome! It's the only indoor refrigerated training in the world! It was all really cool and I love imagining what it was all like during the 1988 Olympics...

We had a really great visit with Papi. I am so thankful he came and I really enjoyed some dad time. More than dad time I love so much that my kids had Papi time...I wish y'all could have seen them sitting in the back seat singing and doing a little swaying dance move....man the kids were sad this morning when he was gone. B keeps asking when he can come back and the girls the whole drive to school were just talking about all the fun they had. The were laughing out loud remembering silly things. Thank you for coming dad! We love you and miss you already!!

Here are a few more shots of the kids with Papi :)