The Beautiful Journey: August 2008

Weekend!
We got to babysit three wonderful kiddos this weekend while their parents who are wedding photographers were out doing their thing :) These kids are far from ordinary. They are articulate, smart, well-behaved, and so funny. Gabriel is the best big brother, taking care of his siblings and he's so sweet, he didn't even try to take advantage of the fact we didn't know anything :) He was so helpful all day! Noah cracked us up all day saying things like, "that plane is SUPER fast", and when Nate dove off the diving board, we were informed that it was "SO huge". Ha ha. Little Lilliana is all girl and needed a couple hugs and kisses throughout the day to get over her "grumpy" mood. When she was pouty, I would ask her to tell me what was wrong and to use her words. If she wouldn't say, then I'd ask her, "do you just need a hug?" and she'd say, "yes" and so there we were, hugging. That seemed to fix everything :) Gabriel, who I remember holding YEARS ago (well, six to be exact) in Colorado shortly after his birth. I love him even more now and feel SO, SUPER blessed that this awesome family lives so close now! I'm including lots of pics for mom and dad below :)

We ate our mac and cheese, grapes, and red peppers. Yeah, these kids like red peppers. Very healthy :)

Then we put the kids down for naps, well, Lilly napped, Gabriel sat quitly downstairs reading, and Noah explored in his room :) I don't think he likes to slow down...

We got the kids ready, put sunscreen on their faces, buckled them into their car seats, and off we went for our "surprise" adventure! The suprise was a missions aviation fest and when we pulled into the airport, a parachute landed just near us! What a fun start! Then we went and looked at the planes, went through the tent, got balloons, watched planes and helicopters take off and land, and watched some demos of how misson planes drop supplies into remote areas (ie Jungles and stuff). Then we were off to collect our balloons :) orange ones for the boys and a blue one for Lilly :) Then we went to the little ride where Noah, looking dapper in his sunglasses, rode for a bit I don't know what this ride is called. It was HOT outside, and the kids did great, barely fussing at all about the heat...

Lilliana, Jenny, Noah, Gabriel and cool plane :)

So we took them to the Creamery in Strasburg, where they politely sat eating their vanilla, chocolate, and fudge swirl ice creams. Seriously, these kids are so well behaved...

Then we went home and swam for a bit in the pool, then ate dinner of pizza, apples, and more red bell peppers. Noah, who can't really sit still, was standing, sort of shuffle-dancing, looking up at the sky, and suddenly said, "look, Gabriel, a rainbow". And sure enough, there in the middle of a cloud was a rainbow. So cool. Then Noah said, "how does that happen?" so we explained the way the sun hits the moisture in the clouds, etc... and he said, "cool, a sunny day rainbow!". Then they swam some more and let me tell you, they can swim so well and jump off the pool and do flips. Crazy kids. They LOVE Nate and took to calling him uncle Nate, which is so cute.

After such a busy day, we went inside and read three books and played with the "I SPY" book for a bit. That was hard!!! Then we said brushed teeth, said our prayers (Kim: Gabriel prayed for you and John :) and he actually prayed!). Then we made up a story about the three kids riding on a parachute (you're right, it's hard to make up stories and mine was definitely not two minutes :)).

DAY!

Today marks three months of being married to this handsome, wonderful man! Thank you so much, Nate, for showing me so much of God's heart. You are more than I could have dreamed of... I have had so much fun with you, and time has flown by! You are, after my relationship with God, the best thing that's ever happened to me... You're such an awesome friend, leader, provider, and husband. I couldn't ask for anything more!

Today also marks one year from the time we got home from our trip to Mississippi re-building houses from the hurricane and Nate telling me he would like to talk to me about "us". So, today is the day before one year of being officially a couple :) What a wonderful year and wonderful life I've had with you!!! I look forward to growing more and more with you!

My husband returns today from his first out of town work trip since we got married. We survived :) I'm excited to see him. He sent me a little cheer yesterday to my office. It was so sweet to receive flowers. Gerbera daisies are one of my all-time favorite flowers. They just seem so bright and cheerful! I know, I'm spoiled... I like it, though.

I went to the doctor yesterday, to find out, that I'm in fact... Stressed. He gave me an assignment to journal and try to figure out better balance and to allow myself to decompress. So I will. He said other stuff, too. But that's the main part. That through praying and journaling, and allowing myself to process instead of "survive" I should be able to help my body not take the brunt of the stress. I'm sure going to try it. Beats taking medicine! He also told me I need to learn to relax, turn my brain off a bit... Easier said than done sometimes.

Thank you for continuing to pray for me. There are so many changes and big things happening in my life with marriage, ministry, etc. that if I don't rely completely on God, I'm going to be in trouble. I'm on such a learning curve. Trying to remember my identity is in God alone...

Love you,

Jenny