Easter 2013 He is Risen!

I have to admit. Easter snuck up on us this year.  I feel like I didn't prepare my heart during the lenten season like I could have. The celebration of Christ's resurrection is so huge, so deep, so profound, and unfortunately this year, I feel like I missed out.  Sorry to have a sad Easter post, but it's true. 

Our family time was good though! I didn't get a good picture of everyone but here are a few shots.

Just after the Easter-egg hunt.

We book-ended the Easter day with vomiting. Kaila threw up first thing in the morning, and Josiah threw up around 11pm. Because of that, we had a mellow stay-home morning. My favorite part was our little family bible-study together in Josiah's room that Ryan led. 

We taught Josiah and Kaila just enough...

Mommy and Daddy: "Josiah, what happened on Easter?"

Josiah: "Jesus rose from the dead!....Ummmm, Jesus not like the dead?...Winny the poo like the dead?"

Kaila: "weeus  oose eead!!" Translation-"Jesus rose dead!"

Yep, just enough. : )

Josiah hadn't thrown up yet and Kaila didn't really seem sick at all, so we still ventured out to our family gathering. My Granny hosted, like she always does, and provided a beautiful meal.

 Regardless of my state, it remains true that the greatest gift we have ever been given can be summarized by the traditional exclamation;

"He is Risen!" 

        The response,  "He is Risen Indeed" rings in my head and I am so grateful for God's deep love and forgiveness on the cross.
Happy Easter

4 Kids

It's official. We have 4 kids. Josiah, Kaila, Rebah (the black goat) and Dolly (the tanner one). They romp around and are so cute together....more to come...

Happy Valentines Day

While there are so many people we love who deserve a "Happy Valentines Day- We Love You" message, no one is higher on the list than Ryan. We Love you and appreciate all you do. We I can't wait 'till you get home!

xoxoxox

Sushi for Supper

Our good friend Paulo took us to sushi for dinner tonight. We leisurely herded cats fed our kids dinner and engaged in choppy conversation for almost an hour.  We had been sitting there laughing at our kid faces as they ate ginger and fish eggs, when the real fun began.

First, J. spilled water all over the floor, himself, and me. Nothing special.

Then, we looked over and his face was contorted into an odd, yawn-pucker with his tongue hanging out and he was shaking his head. Wasabi. Wanting to head off a scream and tears I quickly gave him some water. He downed it, winced quizzically and began wiping his tongue along the back of his hand and up his arm to cool it off. Just as we were about to assume the catastrophe had been avoided when he yelled...

J: "Peee!!! PEEE!! PEEEEEEEE! NO pee in pants!!!" 

I swooped him up, and felt him clenching his legs together. That wasabi had done a number on him, he was about pee his pants in pain! Can't say I blame him. Sometimes it almost does the same to me.

We made it to the bathroom, he did his business and I pulled him off the potty. As soon as he was standing I noticed that something had happened.  Whether it was round two or residue from bad aim, I'm not sure, but the front of his pants were soaked.

For a second I contemplated getting him home clothed and then I was disgusted so we proceeded to pull his pants off. That left him wearing nothing but his jacket, socks, and converse sneakers. 

Josiah was absolutely elated. 

J: "Yeeeeaaaa! Josiah's NAKED!!!"

I imagined him walking back to Ryan, weaving through tables of once-hungry, now disgusted diners and decided that I had to carry him out. Quickly, I slung him on my hip and grabbed a paper towel. I haphazardy wrapped it around his bum so that people wouldn't get a naked butt in their faces as we walked by.

Josiah was still elated to be half naked. 

I refused to let him off my hip. I was forcing modesty upon him, keeping all the important stuff covered, but he would not be disuaded. We stood at the table and let Ryan and Paulo know that it was definately time for us to leave. That's when Josiah started kicking and shaking in joy, throwing his hands up and happily announcing to the restaurant...

J: "JOSIAH'S NAKED!!! Yeaaaa!! Yipee! JOSIAH'S NAKED! Yipeee!!"  

Paulo, Ryan, and I left the restaurant laughing so hard....

and good night!

Murphy!!

It's true, Aunty L. just got a new puppy. Welcome to the fam, Murphy!

Getaway...

...these days, Ryan and I like to bring the adventure into our relationship in whatever way possible. This time, we have the tiny town of Greyeagle to thank...that, and Sunset magazine who gave Ryan the idea in the first place.

After Christmas, Ryan and I spent two nights in a Lodge up in the snow. Sleeping in, sipping on drinks and reading in the lounge late at night, coming and going as we pleased with no regard for 6am waketime or naptime or snacktime or pooptime or whinetime or bedtime...the list goes on. 

It was awesome. Thank you mom and dad Hayes!!

The beginning of our snowshoe hiking day. Here's a rundown of our opposing thoughts.

Me: "wow, we must be way out here, there are no other paths or footprints and we are basically following nature signs like Bear the Survivor Man to the lake that we can't find. People get lost so easy like this."

Husband: "hmm. We're probably only about a direct mile from the car. It's obvious that this giant creek will run to the lake and we can follow it back out."

Me: "Is that a snowstorm on the horizon? Which way is North? Maybe a forecast of "a chance of flurries" could actually translate into a blizzardy white-out. With all these trees, we could get so disoriented in a snowstorm, dig a snow cave, starve, freeze, lost...and I have babies to think of!!"

Husband: "I know exactly where we are. That's North, the lake is just over there, we're so close I can pretty much see it. The car is that way and the path is back that way. The weather's not bad...Let's keep going!" 

Sadly, we did not make it to the lake. 

Then, we found out that we were (probably) almost there when we turned around.

I would just like to take this opportunity to announce, once again, that I am so thankful for my husband.

I love you babe, Thanks for adventuring with me!        

Headed back to Chico, we were meandering around looking for a spot to eat lunch and happened upon a wildlife refuge. What better way to end our fun weekend than getting to see over 15 big cats, a couple of bears, and all kinds of other wild, rehabilitated creatures... My personal favorite? The Liger. They had two. Before this I wasn't totally sure that they existed anywhere except for on Napolean Dynamite. I learned that they do, and that they don't have a growth inhibitor gene so they can get up to 12,000 (ryan pointed out my error) 1,200 pounds...

THE END

Christmas

Christmas was so much fun! We spent it in Chico, and enjoyed the crisp weather and a lot of fun and family the whole time we were there. Then, on Christmas eve, Ryan's cousins from out of town flew in and the real fun began!

I didn't get too many pictures this year...but of the ones I did get, here a  few of my favorites.

We all hung out the whole time, just enjoying each other's company and the kids. It was a special blessing to get to meet little Ruthie for the first time and for the next generation of cousins to get to know each other! 

What a celebration of love. I feel so blessed that we can spend time together and really celebrate the birth of Christ in love together.