Saturday, December 31, 2011

Happy New Year 2012

So long 2011....you've been good .

Highlights

Isaiah: Turned 11 in Sept. His favorite subject is English and least favorite is Math. He continued to take guitar lessons and is getting pretty good. Isaiah started going to Jr.High youth group at church and has enjoyed making this big step. Isaiah was baptized on Father's day this year...he is growing not only in stature (he's catching up quick to mom) but also spiritually. There is that struggle between doing the things which he wants to do and doing the things he knows he ought not to do. There have been some good lessons, all pointing to that there is a realness to his faith. It's his own walk, his own battle and it's awesome!

Elijah: He's about to turn 8 but is still "pocket sized" to mom. He is super motivated to do school and is always first to get his books out and pencil in hand. He loves to learn and his has a hunger for knowledge. Elijah so faithful to request "Devotions" with dad. It's his favorite part of the day. He's been caught having his own time reading his bible. He has deep questions and a love for the word.

Hannah: She talks and talks and talks and talks. We have no idea where she gets that from =) Hannah knows what she likes and what she doesn't and now that she has the words to back it up, she is not bashful in telling you how it is. She still is in love with her little stuffed dalmatian puppy. She carries him everywhere,but most importantly she must take him to bed. She loves her family. She loves to dance. She finally loves going to church! She loves being Hannah!

Peter: I will brag about him since he so isn't into that =) He's been hard at work at BP, it will be coming on 3 years now! He's also stepped out in faith and doing some teachings at church focusing on prophecy. There is a new one coming up on January 26. He's also been teaching a great group on young boys on Wednesday nights. He's right at home teaching the Word, but maybe not so much at home doing in front of big groups. But it's pretty amazing to see God use him.

Bethany-As for me, my call is the same, to be a wife and a mom. We've had a good year so far in school and I am excited to get back after Christmas break. God has given me awesome ways to serve Him more, and to love people more. I am excited that He's not done with me yet, that there are so many ways that I have yet to be conformed to who He is, but the process is awesome.

Our family has been so blessed. He has been so faithful to us. We have only praise to give for the past year and excitement for what He has in store for us next year.

Someone gave us a name of the Lord that they will be praying over us this year...the name "Jehovah Jireh" the LORD will provide. At first I thought "this name doesn't fit us so well, He has already provided so much, what else could we need" Oh but then I realized how much in need we are of more of Him....day by day, breath by breath. So I'll take it! He will provide, for our deepest need, more of Him in our lives.

This is the last picture I took in 2011...it's our little snow bear. She loves the snow. And I thought what better picture to end 2011 with. =)

Monday, December 26, 2011

Christmas 2011

Another Christmas...I realized after uploading some pictures that I am way too busy to take pictures. I only took a handful. I was too busy enjoying the morning sit behind the camera. But I did get a few just to capture the memories.

I wanted to share just a little about what the Lord has shown me the past month especially during the holiday season. It's very hard to be 3000 miles away from family and friends in Maine during this time of the year. I'll be honest, it's not easy. My heart gets very heavy. BUT unlike the last two Christmases here in Washington God was not going to allow me to wallow in self pity. This year I think was the hardest on me personally because it all seemed very natural to be here, not there, and I didn't like that.

The message of Christmas remains the same where ever you are. And when you take away the lights, the tree, the gifts, the food, and even family the message of Jesus is,simply Jesus. The Creator of the Universe coming to earth as a baby, born to live a perfect life, to die for my (your sins) and to rise again to give us the promise of eternal life and the hope that He will return again!

God has not brought our family to Washington to be homesick, but rather to bring us all into a closer relationship with Him and to use us, despite us. He has filled our lives with amazing people who love us and whom we love. I am thankful for our family and friends in Maine who despite the 3000 miles and the years that now separate us, still invite us into their lives. I personally am humbled by it all.

The Lord has taught me that it's OK to have a homesick heart, it's OK to miss family and friends, it's even OK to cry about it....but through it all to choose JOY! Through it all I can rejoice because "Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given and His name shall be called Emmanuel," He is certainly with us. It's not always easy to choose joy, but it's a lesson and a discipline that I desire in my life, because in Jesus there is more reason for JOY, than any state of the heart. This doesn't mean I run away with a huge smile and jolly laugh all the time, but it does mean that in the quiet and in the stillness I can choose joy and I am content with that.


I love the way the tree looks right before Peter and I turn in for the night on Christmas Eve. All the lights, the pretty packages. It's just lovely.
Peter is so high tech...he never uses a paper Bible any more. He's reading the Christmas story to the kids on his phone.
Another year about the puppies for Hannah. She LOVES her dalmatian she got last year , this year she got a BIG one. Her favorite show right now is Kipper...she got her very own Kipper. (on top of the big puppy)
They are not messing around opening their gifts.
The boys BIG gift this year ...Android Tablets. They were so excited.
Another one of Hannah's favorite gifts this year was a recordable version of Hannah's favorite book "Good Night Moon" read by Grammie
"Oh the moon" she said
We had to read it right away
We headed to church...Elijah sang with the kids about the 12 days of Christmas "Jesus Style"

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Can't let the kids have ALL the fun

For our last homefellowship night we decided to do a "white elephant" gift exchange. These were a HOOT!
Peter got a great Lynden Welkom apron. Blue is his color
Mike who was MIA got some pez very fitting I might add
By far the hit of the night an Obama Chia Pet head.Melinda loves it.
Amy got a very nice and very useful wedding day frame.
Ryan got his very own etch a sketch,very useful for making a fire exit plan.
Kristy got a perfume light thingy. I still don't know what it does, but she was actually very happy with it.
I got a back message with no batteries....I was cheated!

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Lighted Christmas Parade 2011

I love the lighted Christmas parade! I love living in a town that has a lighted Christmas parade. This year was super fun because Hannah loved it. It was fun to see her eyes light up like each "float" that came by. We met up with some friends and then headed back to our place for hot cocoa and Christmas cookies."No hands" she said. She wore that hat but she did not want any part of the little gloves I got her.
I think the fire trucks are awesome! They are my favorite!
This picture is kind of ....horrible. But oh well Elijah is in the blue jacket and Isaiah is in the black with the red hat.
Next to a lit up fire truck, I think a tractor wrapped in lights is a close second.
She's so cute! Hannah with her favorites, mommy and puppy (ok daddy is favorite too but he's not in the picture)
She finally sat down in this little chair and watched the parade with her BFF
Cookie Time
Should I add more sprinkles? The answer is always YES
I love this little guy.
House full of kids consuming sugar...what could be better?
Look at these girls....So adorable
Elijah is a pro

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Oh CHRISTmas tree Oh CHRISTmas tree

Time to bring out the tree....I say this with part sigh and part joy. I love Christmas, I love all the decorating, the lights, the cookies, and the tree. But nothing beats a BIG MAINE tree. Since moving to Washington we've had this fake one...that's the sigh part. I miss having a real tree. I know they probably have some really nice Washington State trees, after all it is the Evergreen State, but we will not be having one. Peter hates real, he says they just make a big mess, and two the fake one is just fine (or so I am telling myself THIS year) Maybe next year when it will be our 4th Christmas we were succumb to a WA tree!
The best part of decorating the tree is listening to the kids go on and on about each ornament. "I was this old when I got this one" " I remember picking that one out"
The ornaments with pictures are a BIG hit. The kids love seeing how they have changed. I do not! Stop getting so BIG
Hannah loves putting the ornaments on and then taking them off, on and off, on and off.
3 kids in front of the tree....HA funny, I took 7 pics and this was the only one that was even half decent. Silly kids, but you know what? It's so REAL! We are an imperfect little family trying to fulfill the high calling of Jesus Christ.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

From the Desks of Isaiah, Elijah and Hannah Cells part 3

First up HANNAH! She is just changing so much. Talking, it seems like she says everything, or at least tries to. She is so FUNNY! I love that about her. I appreciate her mischievous sense of humor. I pulled out the finger paints for the first time with Hannah. I can't believe she's over 2 and this is the first time she's finger painted. I knew it would be interesting because she HATES having her hands messing. But she did good. I had to have a box of wipes right next to her so she could was her fingers off at will. But it was super cute.
"Red and Blue" she knows all her colors.
"Look Mommy Mess"
Elijah has been studying knights and castles....I DO not enjoy this time period and will be very happy to move on but I thought we could have some fun while we're here. Elijah made his shield with his own personalized coat of arms.
My plan was just the shield. But Elijah had other plans...helmet and sword. He had a blast. And I did too!


Time to watch how carrots absorb water...sort of like the celery experiment with the celery.
Two carrots, one in blue colored water the other in just plain water to compare. Let them sit overnight.
Carrot experiment 2...take two pieces of carrots, tie string super tight on each one.
One carrot will go into a glass of salt water the other will go in a plain glass of water. Very much like the potato and bean experiment we did. Let them sit over night.
The next day they took out their carrots and compared. The water carrot was much firmer than the salt carrot. And the string on the water carrot was still super tight, and the the string on the salt carrot slid right off.
To see how the water traveled up the carrot they slices in sideways in half.
3 dishes....one dog drool sample (thanks Axle) And two boy drool samples, Isaiah and Elijah. Who has the cleaner mouth dog or human? We let our specimens grow for about 3 days....
The results? Axle had by far less bacteria, than Isaiah and Elijah. Now some bacteria is good, the boys concluded Axle had the cleaner mouth.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

From the Desks of Isaiah, Elijah CELLS part 2

Bring on the science fun!!It's a race! Well sort of...we wanted to watch some celery tissue carry water up the stalk to the leaves. We cut the celery up the middle, placed one half in a blue water and the other half in red water. And we waited.....
This experiment allows you to see the process of osmosis in action.
I only added the above picture because Elijah looked SOOO cute in it. We sliced a potato,placed one slice in regular water and the other in salt water and WAITED.
The potato slice in the fresh water became a little stiffer, while the potato in salt water became rather flimsy. The water outside the cell is saltier than the water inside, water will move from the inside of the cell to the outside. As the water left the cell it was like letting the air out of a balloon. As more and more of the cells lost water, the slice of potato became soft and flexible. If the water inside was saltier, the opposite happens, and some water goes into the cells, stiffening them up.
We also did it with beans

Checking out the results of the celery race. the blue and the red seem to be neck and neck.
We weren't seeing the leaves of our celery change color as quickly as we wanted to see decided to get white carnations....the result?
How many cotton balls can you fit in a full glass of water without spilling any of the water? Isaiah 4 Elijah 5.
The cell wall organelle supports and protects the cell. Cell walls have small holes, called pores, in them. This lets water, nutrients, and other substances into the cell.
Keep going...
Final count...Isaiah 27 Elijah 34....that's a lot of cotton balls.
In this experiment, you were able to get the cotton balls in the water because cotton balls are mostly air. Even the strands of cotton are mostly air, because the strand is just the cell wall from the cotton plant.
Here are our flowers. We're going to let them hang out for the week and see them change more.
Super cool!