Rest

Yesterday after school, my youngest son, Tyler and I went to the nearest large (to us) town to do some shopping. I let him pick what he wanted to eat, but then we stopped by to get Panda Express for the next oldest son, Jacob, who had been at football practice for a few hours after school.  My husband is out of town, so didn't have to worry about his supper.

We didn't take the Panda Express order until 6:15, so got home about 7:15.  Surprisingly, when I hollered at Jacob, he didn't respond.  I hollered again. Still nothing. I went into the living room and he was laying (or lying...sorry if that's not proper :) ) and he was asleep! I couldn't believe it because he NEVER takes a nap!  I went over to him and poked him a little, saying his name.  Still nothing!  Finally I figured if he was that sound asleep, I should just put the food on warm in the oven.

A few hours passed and Jacob stayed asleep.  Tyler and I both went to bed, still surprised Jacob was snoozing!  I woke up during the night and remembered Jacob being on the couch.  I went to check and he was still there!

I set my alarm a little early, just to be sure to wake Jacob up when he likes to be up.  When I woke up, he was awake.  He said he'd gotten up a little bit before then, but was surprised, himself, that he slept on the couch all night long.  He figures that he got 12 hours of sleep!  I honestly am not sure he's ever done that before - in his WHOLE LIFE!  It was crazy!  But, obviously he needed it.  The funny thing is that he said he dreamed about Panda Express! He'll have it for lunch today.

Rest is important. We must have rest.  Sometimes we don't rest well because we don't allow ourselves to do so.  Rarely is Jacob home alone, but he never just lays down on the couch like that at that time of the day.  He had done school homework, college homework, unloaded the dishwasher for me, then laid down to watch Monday Night Football, which hadn't started.  Something about that couch just made him relaxed and he fell asleep. (I tell my family all of the time that it's the best place for sleeping!  That's why I never allow myself to sit there during the day! If I have to sit, I sit at the dining or kitchen table.  Otherwise I would fall asleep!)

Jesus came to earth as a human.  He rested. EVEN THE SON OF GOD NEEDED REST!  Why do we think we don't need rest when He did?

Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. Matthew 6:31-32

Jesus knew He had to have rest so that He could do what God sent Him to do.  He could only fulfill His mission on earth if He got proper rest.  It's the same way with us.  We can only do what God needs us to do if we get proper rest.  And I'm speaking to myself as much as anyone else! It's hard for me to rest sometimes.  I get too busy.  But then I crash.  That's not good!

How about you? Do you need rest?  Maybe you need a 12 hour sleep like Jacob had!  Or maybe you just need an hour.  Either way, take the time to rest today.  Meditate on God's Word.  Get alone for awhile.  I've noticed that I can be "alone" without being alone...you know?  I have to deliberately be quiet and find a quiet place to really be alone - without distractions.  Find a place to rest.  You'll be refreshed and ready to serve again.

1st Day of School!

It's "back to school" for our two youngest children.  They were actually excited, but not necessarily for school.  Jacob is excited because he's a Senior this year, and Tyler is excited about football and FFA.  Neither are excited about the academic/learning part! Ha ha!  I suppose that's typical of most teens.  Actually it's probably true of many/most adults, too.  I know in our small town football is highly anticipated this time of year!

Because we had two extra weeks of summer this year due to our school ending in early May for budget cuts, it actually seemed like a long summer.  Those two extra weeks were great! I wouldn't mind us doing that all of the time.

It is also nice that the two college kids are still home.  It makes it not so quiet and lonely on this first day of school.  They'll be leaving soon, then I will have to get into my regular "school time" routine.  I usually get there after Labor Day.

I pray that these two boys have a great school year.  More importantly, I pray that they let their lights shine brightly for Jesus.  I pray that they are kind and compassionate to others.  I pray that they look out for those who may be sad or lonely.  I pray that they stay on the straight and narrow path.  And I pray that they always know that I am praying for them each and every day.

Happy 18th Birthday, Jacob!

For the first time in many, many, many years, we celebrated Jacob's birthday on his actual birthdate!  I remember doing so on his 3rd birthday, which may have been the only other time.  Each year whenever we would plan his party, there were ballgames and other activities in the way, plus many of his young friends couldn't be there in the summer.  We eventually moved his parties to mid-May and continued them that way for a long time.

He really is 18, but he, himself, put the candles in and made it 81!  Ha ha! Here he is posed with his girlfriend :).  

My mom made the cakes - two strawberry ones at Jacob's request.  Yum!

Since we are remodeling our kitchen, we actually had the island cleaned off and were able to put wood across to make it usable!  

Serving and eating in the new part showed us how it will really be very soon!

Grilled hamburgers, chips, dip, and baked beans were on the menu.

Jacob has begun riding his bicycle a lot, so one of his aunts gave him a bicycle horn. He'll have fun with that and the silly string she gave him! 

He also got a much-needed clean, fresh, non-stinky golf hat. His girlfriend gave him that. I think she's sending him a BIG HINT! Ha ha!

Jacob,

I say it every year, but I mean it. I really can't believe how fast you have grown up!  It's been a joy to raise you!  You have a spirit within you that brings fun and laughter to our lives.  Thank you for that!

When you were younger, you learned that things affect you in different ways.  I'll always admire the way you can see those needs within yourself and how you work on them and allow God to work them out in you.  In 3rd grade, when you realized sugar bothered you, you stopped it.  Not many children would be able to recognize it, but not many at all would actually do anything about it even if they did notice it.

You also learned to have self-control, but more importantly to have God-control.  When you struggle with any emotions now, you know what you should do.  We have great memories from those years, huh?  And though you'll fail at times as we all will, I know that you will rely on God to grow your life in those fruits of His Spirit.  

I'm thankful that God allowed me the opportunity to be your Mom.  From the young years of you sleeping right by me, to the older years when you and I sang and danced around the kitchen to "I Wanna Be Like You", to our self-control/God-control talks, to our fun times together on mini-trips and your Junior-year-WDW-vacation, we've made lots of great memories together.

You used to say you were going to live right by us and you would say you were going to live with us until you were 35.  I think you have probably changed your mind about that :).  I know you'll not be here with me forever.  I would like to do it all over again.  But that's not possible, either.

So, Jacob.....I want this last year - your Senior year - to go by slow.  I want to enjoy it all with you.  You'll want it to rush by and it will....I know it will.

I love you very much, Jacob!  I can't wait to see what God has in store for your life in the future.  You have grown into a mature young man with many great qualities. I know that He will use you to further His Kingdom.  I pray that you always allow Him to direct your steps.  (Proverbs 3:5-6).  When you do that, you'll be just fine.

I love you to the moon and back!

MOM

Family Fun Day

Sunday we had Thanksgiving lunch after morning class and worship, followed by an afternoon worship.  These days give families a block of time to do things on Sunday afternoon that are different from the regular "evening worship" schedules with the hours broken up into afternoon and evening.  For our family, we've been using those afternoons to rest and get caught up.

This time we decided to go somewhere.  We headed to the Wildlife Refuge and later ate at Meers. (Which, in our opinion, isn't the same as it used to be.  The cobbler and ice cream made up for it in my husband and older son's opinion!).

It was a cool, overcast day with a lot of wind, but it was still pretty being out in nature at the Refuge.

The flash on the camera actually provided a mock "sunlight" that caused the pretty colors of the trees and bushes to stand out. 

We toured the Refuge Visitor's Center, checking out the buffalo and other exhibits.

We went to the Holy City, which our youngest had never been to and the next oldest didn't remember because he was really young when he was there before.

Just being at the place where Christ's death, burial and resurrection is reenacted each year is inspirational.  It was good to look at the places they have and see how the Bible story moves along the City's landscape. I am sure it is wonderfully done each year (It's done every Easter.).

We drove up to the top of Mt. Scott to look around.  It was extremely windy and very cold! Jacob was the only brave one who looked for a little while! The rest of us headed to the care quickly!

It was a fun day, with just the four of us.  That's so different than being "the six of us" or even "the five of us"!  It was special, though, and good for the boys, especially the youngest.  So many of the things we "used to do" happened when he was not yet born or when he was young enough that he doesn't remember. He's done special things - maybe even "bigger" things - but I want him to experience the little things.  Special days where we just spend time together....not much money....just time.  Making memories.

Jacob's "Junior Year Trip With a Parent"

Our third child and I just returned home from the second happiest place on earth - Walt Disney World! (The one in FLORIDA.  DisneyLAND is in California!) It's usually called the "Happiest Place on Earth", but most of the time my home is the happiest place.  Sometimes, it's not!! Ha ha!

So this was the year it was Jacob's turn to go on a trip with a parent. I went with the oldest, my husband went with the next oldest, I went this time, and for the youngest, my husband will go.  It began as a surprise gift for me from my husband, but we decided to make it a special "Junior Year" thing with the kids.

The main reason it is so special is that with two people, we can do what we can not do with six people.  With six people, we always rent a house because it's way cheaper than staying at a Disney Resort. But by staying on property in a Disney Resort, you get a lot of the perks and experiences that we can't get when staying in a house off property.

The pictures above are from "Be Our Guest" restaurant.  It's inside the Beast's Castle. The "Beauty and the Beast" beast.  He's with us in the top picture.  It was a DELICIOUS meal! Jacob says it's the very best steak he's ever eaten! And the picture above here is the "Grey Stuff"...just like in the movie!  It's delicious!  Jacob really liked it!

Christmas at WDW is just beautiful, but I loved the fall decorations! If they had been selling one of these wreaths, I might have brought one home!  (Not really because I'm sure it would have cost a small fortune and it absolutely wouldn't have fit in the suitcase!).

The fireworks and shows during "Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party" were especially fun. I'm not a huge fan of Halloween, so I wasn't sure I would like the party, but it was really fun! There were people dressed up - both old and young and in-between - and lots of stops to trick or treat.  There were special shows and parades just for that party, so it was pretty neat and not so scary.  :)

One highlight of our trip was on the safari. There are two baby giraffes on the safari now and one of them came up really close to our bus! I think he/she wanted to play!  Sooooooo cute!

One of Jacob's nicknames is "Donald". His siblings call him that or Duck or Duckling, so we had to get a picture of him with his namesake!  Donald Duck is his favorite Disney character! He was always my favorite, too!

The second best place we ate was O'hana.  That's another perk of only having two people...we could eat at all of the nice places every day. That's too expensive to do with six people!

Jacob really, really, really liked O'hana!  This was towards the end when we still had lots of food left and he was stuffed!

A special part of the trip was getting pictures with Jacob.  He didn't mind a bit and even suggested that we stop for pictures occasionally!  I laugh because with our daughter's and my trip, we do have some pictures, with my husband and next oldest, they sent me two picture, and Jacob and I have several hundreds of pictures!!  I'm thinking #4 and his dad will send two.  Ha ha!

As soon as most people get home from WDW, they miss it.  We've missed it all week, though walking 10-15 miles a day wore us out!!  My feet needed a rest (I only got 3 blisters this time compared to 14 last Christmas! YAY! Ha ha!).  But within a day, we both wanted to go back...and that made the rest of the family want to go back.

(Bathroom fast pass from Whispering Canyon restaurant.  Such a fun place to eat!)

This year has been odd for me. I've been to Florida four times.  That won't happen again unless one of our children decides to live there, then we'll be there often.  (I want them to be close, but if they do choose to live away, Florida is top on the list! :) ) 

Our housekeeper made this elephant and decorated it with the wand and sward they gave us when we checked in a Caribbean Beach Resort.  I didn't know it, but Jacob had written her a sweet note thanking her for all she was doing. That was very sweet of him! He wrote her another one after this.

I had to post one of these, even though it's really unflattering of me!  This is how I look in all of the scary ride pictures.  My children "pose" for the cameras!  This is on "Rock n Roll Roller Coaster" in which the "limo" goes from 0 to 60 in 2 seconds!  My heart beats fast just typing that!!!  But I'd get on right now if I could!

Sunday morning, we could have gotten a taxi and ridden to worship at the Main Gate congregation we enjoy every time we are at WDW, but we had worship together - just the two of us.  That's what we did with the older two, and really, it made it an intimate time with just the two of us at each trip.  Jacob wrote his own "sermon" and led us in song and prayer. I remembered the grape juice for communion, so didn't have to spend $16 for it like I did when Lauren and I went!  His lesson was GREAT. I'll share it next week.  

Special memories were made last week.  Jacob was so appreciative of this special trip just for him.  It was pretty neat seeing how much he enjoyed it.  He was even proud of these pictures where they had us hug :).  He likes hugs.  I'm thankful he does.

Yesterday I printed off one of our hugging pictures, put it in a Mickey frame I had gotten him without him knowing, and set it on his dresser. He was so proud of it and asked how I did it so quickly and how I got the frame.  He'll always remember this special one-on-one trip.  And so will I.

Summer Vacation 2015

Every time I think, "This may be the last time."  And this time was no different, except this one really probably was the last time. The last time we will go on a "big" family vacation with just the six of us. Most likely next summer, at least one of the six won't be going.  Change is coming.  And though I may not like it, I know it will be okay.

So for this summer vacation, we went to Florissant, Colorado, which is just west of Colorado Springs.  We stayed up a mountain in this beautiful home found on vrbo.com.

When we look for a house to rent, price matters, but since we booked later than usual, we didn't have as many options.  This one cost a little more than we usually pay, but had everything else we/I wanted. I like a nice kitchen. It's fun to cook in and clean up a beautiful kitchen, for me, anyway!

It was especially helpful to have a nice, well organized kitchen because we are getting ready to remodel our own, and it gave me some ideas.

We also want plenty of comfy seating.  One house we rented was skimpy on the comfy furniture.  This one had tons of space and comfy places to sit!  This basement room was our favorite.  It was a basement, but also opened out in the front part to look like the lower level of the three stories!  It was a "rec" room, they call it.  We enjoyed it, immensely!

Another requirement is a place to eat outside.  We ate some evening meals out on the patio.  So nice!

We like outdoor things to do, but being on a mountain limits the things to do.  The homeowners did have a horseshoe place that Joe and the boys really enjoyed.  If it was our own house, we would put in a basketball goal!  But, for little ones, there was a baby swing and tire swing hanging from a tree, plus they had a few other outdoor games to play.  Our family enjoyed running and walking the roads and exploring the mountain a little.

The only thing we did as an activity was go up Pike's Peak on the Cog Railway.  This little marmot is the only animal that lives that high on the mountain.  They remind me of prairie dogs.

There was quite a bit of snow/ice on the road near the top at at the Summit this year.  And it was windy!!  Fifty-five mile per hour winds and 27 degree wind chill.

But we made it! And had their delicious donuts and hot chocolate!

On the way down the mountain, I was alone. The rest of my family hiked back down.  The youngest vows to NEVER, EVER do that again!!!  We thought he would decide to ride down, but he didn't.  Now he wishes he had, but some day (hopefully), he will look back and be proud of that HUGE accomplishment!  They were SORE for a few days!!  They didn't even want to look at the mountain the next day when we drove into town to eat! Ha ha!

This wasn't our cog. Ours was double, but I like this picture. It reminds me of "Mr. Roger's Neighborhood". :)

This was the morning we left Florissant.  We were ready to get home, ready to not climb stairs, and the boys were ready to hit golf balls out in our wide open field (can't do that on a mountain unless you want to spend a lot of money on golf balls!), but wow! What a great vacation home!  There were five bedrooms, two living areas, an office, four bathrooms, and much more.  The last night we played the hide and seek game, "Sardines".  It was so much fun and there were lots of places to hide!!!

My kids doing the obligatory picture.  They were okay with it :).

We hiked this long (not showing the whole thing) road and Joe and the boys ran it a lot.  It was 2.5 miles just down the mountain to the main road!  I can't imagine this in the winter, but would love to be there to see it some day!

Joe and the boys played golf here one day. It was a beautiful course!

Colorado sunset....
One of my favorite things about vacation was that Wednesday night Joe had each of the boys come up with a short Bible lesson.  He did one, too.  We sang, we listened to each of their lessons, we read the Bible, and then talked about what they each chose.  Interestingly, they all went together.  I think that's because the Bible is meant to go together. It DOES go together.  That evening, plus the other devotional times we shared, singing in the car on the way....those are some of my favorite memories.

The hiking group!  The two oldest boys made it down the mountain in 2 hours and 51 minutes!  They RAN because they wanted it to be over!! :)  Joe and the other two made it in a little less than six hours.  They ran a little, but mostly walked.  They were all tired, very thirsty and hungry when they came down!  I'm so proud of them!  And guess what? My husband runs the Pike's Peak Ascent and Marathon this weekend!  He's CRAZY! Ha ha!!