Gone Camping

I am gone camping with the kids for 2 weeks. Yesterday we went out to the lake shore to see the 12-18 foot waves. I have never seen the lake like this before, it was awesome!! I took lots of pictures and can't wait to share them with you when we get back!

Kid Quotes

This blog is a place that I can record our lives. What happens from day to day. I am going to start writing the fun things the kids say just to have them recorded somewhere. Here is my first installment of "Kid Quotes".

Tyler- "Surrender or die dog" -this was said as Tyler was pointing his homemade gun at Romeo's head.

Tyler- "I knocked my circuits out" -Tyler had just bumped his head and he came up to me laughing telling me this.

Micah & Tyler- Tyler.."Daddy are you the Boss?" Micah.." Only when Mommy's not home!"

Blessings!!

Sand and S'mores

There isn't many things that top having a fire on the beach at sunset. Except when you add S'mores.

Thanks Andy for being a good sport, and letting us take some pictures of you enjoying your gooey s'more!
I included the next picture because some day my children will look back at all the pictures and wonder where Mom was....always behind the lens! While Carey and I were making all the s'mores the kids were trying to dig their way to China!

The last time I sat next to a fire on the beach was 13.5 yrs ago when Kevin asked me to be his wife. Hard to beat a special night like that, but this night with the cousins, came as close as I think is possible!

Blessings!!

Sunset

Have you ever wondered what God was thinking when he created the sunset? I have. I remember one night in particular....



I went for a run, it was a cool evening, I started out a little later than I had liked, but knew that I would get back to the cottage before the last rays of the sun silenced the evening sky. I was thinking about all the things of the day, and how I needed to quickly run the 3 miles and get back to help put the kids into bed. My mind was going a mile a minute, as is usual for me as I run. Then my thoughts started to turn Heavenward.



Psalm 103 was on my lips.... "Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's." I felt blessed to be running along the lake shore, to have a husband that allows me some time away for myself, and a body that is strong enough to carry me the distance.



Still running I turned the corner to begin the loop back to the cottage, I started to run past the entrance for the fisherman's pier and made a quick decision to run to the end of the pier before running back to the cottage.



I do not believe in luck, I don't believe in coincidences, I don't believe in karma, I believe in God's amazing plan, His timing, divine appointments. Well this night was a divine appointment that God set up just for me. As I ran to the end of the pier the sun was just a sliver in the sky, my favorite time of the day. I stopped to watch it slip away and as it did the sky turned all shades of orange, red, yellow, purple, blue.



I started to recite Psalm 19...."The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands."

Back to my first question, Have you ever wondered what God was thinking when he created the sunset? That night I started to ask God what he was thinking. Why did he create the sunset?



"Lyn, I created the sunset to show you how awesome I am, to show you how completely I love you, to give you a glimpse of my majesty and power. It is one of my many masterpieces. Lyn, you are another one of my masterpieces, I created you in MY image, the sunset is nothing compared to you." "OK God, the sunset is perfect beauty, it has colors and hues that radiate you! How can I compare to THAT!" "Lyn, you are my daughter, my princess, your beauty surpasses a sunset, I created you to shine for me. Do you not know that my power is made perfect in your weakness?" At this point I am so thankful that I am alone out on the pier. I had tears streaming down my face, I could barely breath because the presence of God was so close it felt like I was suffocating. All I could mutter was "yes Lord." "Give up the control Lyn, and see how strong I Am."



So the very next words out of my mouth were "OK God, lets see what you can do, because now I have been standing out here crying like a baby having a hard time breathing, it is almost dark and I have to run 2 miles back to the cottage."



I flew home, my feet felt like I was running on air, it was an amazing time. My face is always very red after I run, so no one could tell that I had been crying. No one knew that I just had an encounter with my Abba Father. I held this experience very close to my heart, not sharing it with anyone.



It is times like this that keep me out there running. Not just for the health benefits, but because God shows up to run with me. I think it is because even though my feet are running, it is the quietest time of my day. I am most open to hear his voice. You hear people talk about their prayer closets, I have my prayer runs out there on the pavement. It works, because if it didn't, God wouldn't be showing up to tell me it does!

Blessings!!

Swimming

After we had gotten back from the park, the kids decided that they wanted to go swimming.

I know the pictures make it look cold, but the water was actually much warmer than the air. The water temp was in the low 70's when the air was in the low 60's, and the water was very calm, which is great for the kids. All that really mattered though, was that the kids had a great time swimming....which they did!

Blessings!!

Lunch is Served

The day we went to the park we had partaken in an unusually late breakfast. So we served up a absolutely delicious lunch of red licorice. Kids were thrilled, clean-up was a breeze, and all were happy. Blessings!!

Swingin' In Again...

What keeps 7 kids busy for a couple hours on an overcast yucky day?? A tire swing! The kids loved it, we would have other kids lined up waiting for a turn....we kind of monopolized it while we were there...haha

Seriously, the kids had a riot on it, which was so much fun for us (the parents) to watch. This was the first full day that the cousins were with us...so it was kind of the "ice breaker" getting all the kids playing together having a good time. Well, the kids didn't really need any help having fun together, it was like they play together everyday.

Andy was helping the boys get a little more "hang time".I loved how protective Drew was with Jillian on the swing. He kept his arm around her the whole time....and Jason was all into pushing all four kids on the swing.....muscle man..And of course......there has to be a picture of the girls....they remind me so much of Carey and I at that age.Blessings!!

Just Swingin' In

We just got back from a wonderful time camping. LOVE the beautiful weather we are having. warm during the day, cool at night, perfect for some last of the year camping (the weather is actually warmer in Sept, than it was in July). I will be sharing pictures of our time camping, but first I have to finish up our vacation at the cottage.

So here are three pictures of Andy to hold you over until tomorrow!

Blessings!!

Thursday Morning

My cousin Carey's family arrived late Wednesday night. My children had already gone to bed so they didn't get to see them arrive. I had stayed up way too late talking and didn't make it out of bed the next morning until **cough** almost 10am. I have no idea which one of the kids got up first or how the first introductions went, but I do know that by the time I made it down the stairs, all of them were well on their way to becoming "special cousins".


"Special cousins" is my way of saying more than just family, they are friends. I had a few "special cousins" growing up, one of them was my cousin Carey, so it is very special to watch our children follow in our footsteps to hopefully a life long friendship.
This is what I came down the stairs to....Micah and Jason playing Chess. Doesn't get much better than that!



Blessings!!