More pics from our trip

The cool thing about taking Eli to the Bay Aquarium was that a lot of the sea creatures we saw, he recognized as characters from his favorite move, Finding Nemo. It was cute seeing Eli so interested!

Pier 39 Nemo & Marlin
Dory

Look at all those fish!

The Jellyfish!

Mr. Ray That would be Bruce, the shark, swimming over us. Noah had a good time, too. This is Becky, and employee of PG&E. I thought she was a very interesting specimen. I've never seen a two-headed frog lady. :)

He's surprising me

Noah is not as shy or timid as I thought he would be. A couple of weeks ago, while sitting in the waiting room of the doctor's office, I was totally surprised to see him crawl across the room from me, and reach up toward an older woman he'd never seen before. A few times if strangers have paid attention to him, he'll reach for them-- even while I am holding him. Eli- extrovert Eli- never did this. Are we going to have another friendly, outgoing boy? I was kinda hoping for a shy one that only wanted Mommy. :) No, I know- there are so many good things that come with an un-shy (is that a word?) kid. It definitely makes dropping them off in the nursery easy! But still- maybe the next one could be a little more attached....

Trip to San Fransisco

The boys and I just got back from our trip to San Fransisco (well, actually Walnut Creek) to visit their Aunt Becky. We had such a fun time! I haven't been down to California since 2003, when Jonny proposed to me. We didn't go as south into California-- to where I grew up, but it was still wonderful. I love California! It is beautiful! I love the rolling trees and giant oak trees. My birthday present this year is a trip down to Santa Barbara at the end of June, and I can't wait!

Anyway, we took a ton of pictures, but here are some of the best ones from our fun trip. I left my camera in my mom's car, so 'll have to post the pictures from my camera later. (The ones of Eli with the sharks at the Bay Aquarium!)

Yeah, and the whole snake thing.... oh my gosh, I can't believe I let Eli get that close to a snake! She was an enormous Albino Python snake-- 20 ft. long & 75lbs! The guy assured us (after we took the picture!) that she is safe because she is well fed and that she is a constrictor, so even if she did bite, it wouldn't be fatal. Umm, who cares!? She's a huge, freaky snake! What kind of a mother lets her 2 1/2 year old touch a giant snake!? Anyone who knows me just a little bit knows I HATE snakes. Hate them. I'm terrified of them. Why on earth did I let Eli get so close to this snake!? He wanted to touch it so, I thought that was okay because the snake's head was in the opposite direction. Then the guy turned around and offered to get a picture. I started trembling, and my mom snapped the picture. It all happened so fast! I'm a terrible mother! What was I thinking!!! Looking at this picture gives me the heebie-jeebies. I think I'm going to have nightmares tonight! :(

The cat is out of the bag

Who came up with that saying anyway!? But really, it feels so good to be able to talk freely about this now. Maybe I should clarify, just in case. We might be moving to Casper Wyoming! Ahhh!

Our really good friends, Rory, Lindsey, Russell & Baby are moving there in July. They just announced it at church yesterday. Rory has a calling on his life to be a paster & teach God's Word. For the last two years Rory has felt like it was getting time to move on & paster his own church. People have spoke into his life confirming the same thing.

Around fall time of 2007 Rory & Lindsey told us about this & the place they were thinking of. Jonny, pretty quickly, felt like we should pray about going with them. About a year later, just this last fall, Rory & Lindsey took a trip out to Pullman, WA to check out the area for a possible home & planting a Calvary Chapel. To put it simply, they sensed a closed door there. Then Rory started looking on the 'Calvary map'... yes there is such a thing on the official Calvary Chapel website to see where in the US there are & are not any Calvary's. Rory found this place called Casper, Wy. Casper is a nice town about the size of Corvallis, but out in the middle of nowhere. It is similar to Klamath Fall's high desert climate. The winters there..... the wind.... oh don't get me started.... brutal! Jonny & Rory both got excited about this place right off the bat because of its similarity to Klamath Falls.

During the week of our church's corporate fast this was something we were all praying about. The first work-day into the fast Jonny had a big meeting at work where he found out his school district was going to be making big job cuts- about 15 people, & the first to go was probationary teachers. Okay, so we were thinking- that seals our fate because we're going to be unemployed! Jonny's Superintendent specifically said, "Look for jobs out of state, because you won't find a job in Oregon." Jonny called the school district in Casper that day & found out they weren't being hit by the recession at all & were going to have several science openings. Okay....

Right before Spring Break Jonny found out that another science teacher at his school was leaving to teach over-seas, so he may not lose his job. Okay... During Spring Break Jonny mailed out his resume` & letter of interest to Natrona County School District in Casper Wy. (By the way, who wouldn't hire my fab husband!? He's got an excellent resume`!) Then, the week after Spring Break Jonny's principal tells Jonny that he won't be cutting Jonny's job. Okay..... Today the jobs in Casper are officially open to apply for, so Jonny's going to 'apply' & see what happens.

So that's it. That's what's been going on. That's why I've been so stressed out, scared & basically feeling every emotion in the rainbow. It's been a real hard four months. I know that fear can't co-exist with faith & trust can't co-exist with worry, so yeah... I'm just a mess. :)

Bribery at it's best.... or not...

Eli's first memory verse!

(Even though I had to give him an M&M to hear it!)

a family to be praying for...

Being part of the email prayer chain at church is pretty hard sometimes. There are just awful, horrible things that happen to people. I got an email yesterday that just pierced my heart. I wanted to share it, so you all could be praying for this family, too.

"Please pray for Aly, the two year-old daughter of a coworker of mine, who was just diagnosed with cancer in both of her kidneys. One of her kidneys is much more involved than the other. Please pray for the chemo that they will be starting to be effective and that not only her life would be spared, but at least one of her kidneys as well. Her parents, Mike and Jenny, are also preparing to deliver twins that are due to join their older sister anytime."

Latest Accomplishments...

Yay for Eli! He can finally peddle his trike! He rides it to check the mail with me, and he can even go all the way around the block- twice!

Noah knows how to clap! He also started climbing on the couch by himself and he's up to taking four steps on his own. :)

I love my boys!!!

Happy Resurrection Sunday!

I love this song!

Too much poop!

Nobody warned Jonny & I about all the poop that comes with parenting! Noah pooped in the bath for the second night in a row. Total, this is like his 7th incident. He's been quite the pooper since the day he was born. While in the hospital, one of the things the doctors & nurses tell you to watch for is the baby's first poop, called meconium. It's a thick, sticky, black, tarry like stuff & it should come in the first few days. Our boys, of course, passed theirs only hours after they were born. I was a little too excited to catch all of Eli's firsts, so when he had his first poop I made Jonny wake up & change it while I took pictures. :) (Hey I was a very excited first-time Mommy!)- Noah's was quite a story, too. The nurse changed him while Jonny & I laid in our beds. This is what I remember hearing the nurse say, "Wow! He passed his meconium! Oh, here's a little more. Oh... oh, my! Here's some more."... pause as she wipes..."Oh, and some more! Oh my gosh, it just keeps coming." By this time we were all laughing. The nurse said she'd never seen an infant have so much meconium!

Is it just our boys or do other babes have strange excrement issues, too? I think both of our boys have very active bowls. (Does that sentence make sense?) It seems like it's been one poop incident after another with these two. We've experienced infant blow outs, squirmy, wiggly legs getting defiled, inquiring little fingers reaching for a soiled diaper, pooping in the middle of a diaper change, diarrhea explosions, a curious toddler putting his hand down his diaper, eating poop, (yes I did just say eating poop!) pooping in the undies, pooping on the floor, pooping in the tub.... I think we've witnessed every poop scenario. (Okay, some of those situations only happened once or twice, but still! Yuck!)

About five minutes after Noah's incident, Jonny said he wants to have another. No joke. He was serious. My response- my hands have been defiled enough, thank you very much. But I must say, now that those precious little poop machines are soundly asleep, I'm reminded how wonderful they are- no matter what poop tricks they have up their sleeves. I guess we can have another & endure some more stinky baby bon-bons.... some day.

Remembering The Fall on Good Friday

After writing about our adoption in Christ, I decided to go a little further in why we are so, so desperately in need of His adoption. I think the single most important thing we can ever recognize is our need for a savior. One of the many things Jonny & I love about the teaching at our church (from all the pastors on staff) is the emphasis on sin. If this HUGE problem of sin wasn't acknowledged how are people to cling to the cross?

Okay, so we all know how the story of Adam & Eve goes. Because of their disobedience against God, Adam & Eve were driven from the garden-- they lost their close fellowship with God. This story, told in Gen. 3, is known as the fall. It is the pivot point of the bible- of all humanity, really. Because of Adam & Eve's sin, also known as the fall of man, all humanity has been infected with this thing called sin. "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—" Romans 5:12. I know I sound like a broken record, but it is so important that we remember that the results, or consequences, of our sin is death. Romans 6:23 puts it very clearly, "the wages of sin is death." Devastating!

As a result of sin infecting all of humanity, our world is currently under the sway of the evil one. God, in His holiness, cannot have close fellowship with evil- it would taint His holiness, so he had to remove himself from his fallen creation. Consequently, Satan is the God of this world. (Well, only until Jesus comes back!) We belong to a fallen world that is in rebellion to God. There is pain & suffering because of sin. Our bodies are fallen & subject to disease & decay. It is not what God originally intended. Devastating!

This is pretty horrible stuff, right? Is there any hope? Yes!

What I LOVE about this story is that as soon as Adam & Eve fall into sin, you see God making provision for them. They are ashamed & hiding their nakedness from God with fig leaves. (Fig leaves would be so uncomfortable & itchy!) God, however, does not accept their fig leaves as appropriate clothing & he gives to them tunics of skin. "Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them." -Gen. 3:21 I love this because it is such a picture of man trying to work in his own righteousness, but the work of man's hands is not acceptable. There is nothing we can ever do to cover or clothe ourselves in sight of God. Instead, God does the work for us. You know what I'm going to say next, right? How this speaks of a greater 'covering' work that God has done for all of humanity. How we are helpless sinners who cannot clothe ourselves by our own righteousness. BUT GOD! But by His grace, God sends his own son to be a sin offering for us, & then clothes us in the blood of Christ. Glorious!

" Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous. Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." -Romans 5:18-21

Religion is by man's efforts, in an attempt to please God. Christianity is God's work & provision through the person, the man, Jesus Christ. Through His grace & mercy He reaches down to us & gives us what we couldn't do & didn't deserve! It's FAITH in Him alone that clothes us in His righteousness. It is all His work, not ours. By grace! We're incapable, but with God all things are possible. Jesus' work on the cross paid our debt.

"I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.” -Gal. 2:21

"Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." -Acts 4:12

God loves us so much & wants close fellowship with us. He made Jesus the mediator between God & man in order to restore that lost fellowship. Through the death of the innocent the guilty are clothed. The Lamb of God takes away the sin of the world. The clothes God gave Adam & Eve were totally free, just like salvation. This weekend we are celebrating, rejoicing & standing in the victory of what was done at Calvary- that Through Christ, we are made right with God. We were once dead in our sins & trespasses but through Jesus' death on the cross we have fellowship with God & are alive in Him.

Oh, yeah!

I totally forgot to include this... Noah took two steps yesterday!! The day he turned ten months! Also, he started clapping & climbing! He's so sweet. The sunshine just does wonderful things to us! :)

What a gorgeous day!

We took advantage of our beautiful day today & spent some time playing outside. Here are some pictures for you Eli & Noah fans. :)

We played ball.

Some of us were very serious about throwing the ball.

We crawled through tunnels,

and played peek-a-boo.

Some of us ran, & some just watched the running.

We were also very cute.

Okay, we were really, really, super-duper cute!

Yes, and we were still being cute when we went inside.

Adoption

Yesterday the boys & I drove up to Beaverton to visit my sisters & their kids. My sister in-law, Lacey, & her two boys were down visiting from Washington, too. The boys had a fun time; it's always amusing to see a house full of little kids & all their different personalities.

As I was driving home, I was thinking about my little niece, Ruby. I've mentioned her on my blog before-- how my sister adopted her from Liberia two years ago. All of my nieces & nephews are incredible, but in Ruby's first four years years of life, God has really done some awesome things. I was thinking of how amazing her story is & how all believers share a similar life-saving story of adoption.

A reminder of Ruby's story-- at the ripe old age of three, living in Liberia, Ruby swallowed some lye. Lye is a cleaning solution which would be comparable to swallowing Draino. The whole inside of Ruby's esophagus was severely burned & damaged. She couldn't eat or drink anything. Her medical care in Liberia was limited. Not only was their technology not up-to-date & modernly efficient, but also, Ruby's mother couldn't afford to pay for any care. She was left as a dying orphan in desperate need of a miracle.

My sister, Amy, felt called to adopt years before she was even married. The Lord sovereignly & divinely had her planing to adopt the year of Ruby's incident. Originally, Amy wanted a healthy brand new baby, but God had other plans. When Amy learned of Ruby's situation her heart melted. After much prayer & months of preparing for the adoption, Amy & Donnie flew to Liberia to get Ruby & bring her to America. Had Amy & Donnie been a few weeks later, Ruby might not have survived. She was starving to death. I don't remember her exact weight, but I think it was something around 14lbs. She was about to have her fourth birthday & she weighed less than our nine month old baby. She was literally starving to death. When I think about adoption, like in Ruby's case, my mind always wanders to salvation. Her story is such a picture of salvation.

The word "adoption" (huiothesias) means the placement of a son to one to whom it does not naturally belong. By law an adopted person has the same privileges, benefits, position, responsibilities and obligations as a natural born son. That is so HUGE when you think of it in context of being adopted in Christ. God's Word says that when we believein Jesus Christ we become God's adopted sons.

Ruby's dilemma began when she drank a toxic chemical. Our dilemma began from conception. Our toxic chemical is sin. "For I was born a sinner- yes, from the moment my mother conceived me." -Ps.51:5 (NLT) The consequence of little Ruby's dilemma was fatal. The same is true for us in a much greater way. Before knowing Christ, before being saved by Him, we are spiritually dying- just like Ruby was physically dying. Just like that picture of her starving, our souls are spiritually starving. Left to our own strength & righteousness, we cannont do enough good to get us to heaven. Which means, we will be separated from God for eternity. Romans 3:23 says, "For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God." We have all sinned. We have all done things that are displeasing to God. There is no one who is innocent. Romans 6:23 teaches us about the consequences of sin - "For the wages of sin is death...." The punishment that we have earned for our sins is death. Not just physical death, but eternal death!

BUT there is good news! Just like Amy adopted Ruby & gave her this new life where she is now healthy & thriving, so to, in Christ we are given new life. The second part of Romans 6:23 says, "but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." And Romans 5:8 declares, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Jesus Christ died for us! Jesus' death paid for the price of our sins. Jesus' resurrection proves that God accepted Jesus' death as the payment for our sins. Our only hope is in Christ. In Him we live!

Okay, not to take this analogy too far, but the paperwork so-to-say of the adoption process is quite easy. (Okay maybe this part of the analogy does fall apart because Amy would probably testify that Ruby's adoption paperwork was pretty tedious & difficult.) The next step (paperwork?) in salvation is explained in Romans 10:9-"that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." Because of Jesus' death on our behalf, all we have to do is believe in Him, trusting His death as the payment for our sins - and we will be saved! Romans 10:13 explains it further, "for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sins and rescue us from eternal death. Salvation, the forgiveness of sins, is available to anyone who will trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

The results of Ruby's adoption is that she is now a thriving healthy little girl! We too, have abundant life in Christ. In Him we are spiritually healthy & thriving- being declared right before the Father. Romans 5:1 reveals, "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Moreover, Romans 8:1 informs us, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Because God sent His son as a sacrifice, to make atonement for our sins, we will never be condemned for our sins. Finally, Romans 8:38-39 tells us of this precious truth "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

What hope! We thrive when we're clothed by His righteousness! If being saved from an eternal death wasn't enough, we receive every good gift from God as his adopted sons. "All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure." - Ephesians 1:3-5 (NLT)