Goals and Spring

I tried to think of something to sum up this post....

It has been quiet here on my blog as we have been about the business of spring....packing away winter and all that goes with it....

Spring activities bursting onto the scene....Ben, Eli and Devon learned to ride bikes in about 3 days after pulling them out for the season.  They have banged up elbows and knees to show it too!

Still plugging away at our school work....celebrating as we finish books for the year!

The daily business that makes up our lives and keeps us hopping each day!  We've been working hard at preparing our garden for the summer and were immensely blessed by several loads of wood chips to help our new Back to Eden Gardening.

The kids have had their first horseback riding lessons for the season....our newest ducks and chickens are getting big!

And...

Last summer as one of our summer goals we planned to hike the NH Firetower Challenge.  We didn't do any fire towers during the summer but started in the fall.  We restarted when Ben and Eli came home and are very happy to report we finally got all of our kiddos to do at least 5 towers and finished our last one this past Saturday.  Despite the notorious black fly season....

we managed to hike to the summit and then went to celebrate at Kimbell farm for ice cream and their beautiful petting zoo.  The kids loved the sand pile....what kid doesn't?

Earlier in the day we had a family dinner thanks to the gift cards we were given at Christmas....it was good to be together.  We are treasuring  these times!

It is Spring!

Spring arrived here a few weeks ago but we were given a winter gift this past weekend...

Isn't it beautiful?

It was a bit of magical fairy land right outside our door....

Hoping it was our last winter gift for the season....our flowers are poking their heads up out of our already raked beds....can't wait for their showy display!

Kintsukurio

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.  He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things, the things that are not, to nullify the things that are.  --1 Cornthians 1:27-28

We keep running across this pottery....it is surprisingly beautiful which prompted us to look further into how it is designed.  Upon our research, it gives us a new perspective on so many things in our lives and what we do as a family....

We have been challenged of late by people in our lives asking some hard questions....people who don't understand all that our family is about, offering some odd solutions to what we are walking through, saying they don't "get it"....or saying....I could or would never do what you do.

Believe me....adoption can be hard.  Kids who have come from hard places need time to heal and don't always understand what family is all about....but 

we know that HEALING can happen and that starts with HOPE because we know LOVE always HOPES!

So...getting back to the pottery....a process that comes about because of a simple broken pot.  The artist puts it back together with gold.....and the stunning part to me is that it is more beautiful than it was before.  Broken pieces being put back together....just like the broken pieces in our lives....

Doesn't the Lord ask us to come broken?  The song we use to sing in worship at our previous church....Brokeness, Brokeness is what I long for?

Brokenness.....so that the Master artist.....can knit our pieces back together....so he can makes us more beautiful than we were before.

This is such an amazing picture of the Savior's work in our lives and the lives of our children.

Real Gold....a treasure!

This visual has helped us walk through our difficult spots in the last weeks....bringing Brokeness in our lives....waiting for the Lord to make us into His Masterpiece.

The more we have studied this....it is amazing. It is not only for our children but a message for ourselves.

Are you ready for all He has for you?

Jesus rarely comes where we expect Him; He appears where we least expect Him, and always in the most illogical connections.  The only way a worker can keep true to God is by being ready for the Lord's surprise visits.--Oswald Chambers

Angels Rejoicing

The Bible says that the Angels in Heaven Rejoice when one sinner repents...

Well...

Today at our house....it was x2!

Ben and Eli have pelted us with questions about who Jesus is for weeks. This weekend it intensified...late into the night and this morning they asked us to pray with them.

Dad was at work...so we called him so he could pray too....the reason for the phone in our picture as they prayed!

Rejoicing with the Angels today!

A Bit of the Sillies at Our House

We can be loud...no, let me rephrase it...we are loud.  But we like to have fun too.

Here a few pictures from the last month or so....

We've had a busy month and half or so....5 birthday celebrations meant lots of cake, ice cream and family get togethers....

It's winter and long days inside mean that sometimes the sillies take over.  We played one day indoors all the games I played at birthday parties as I was growing up.

Here we were catchingup on some sensory play and it kind of freaked Becca out.  We laughed at her reaction to it.

There always oodles of noodles but Bran seemed to take a bit further...notice the chop sticks on the plates ...all the kids who try are getting pretty good using them.

Happy Silly Day!

Sugar Season here in NH

We were excited today to be a part of a Sugaring class right here in Raymond.  We were greeted by Waldo the turkey.

The boys were able to help collect the sap from the buckets in the woods.

Here, Ben and Eli are filtering the sap to keep out bugs and other debris.

Jason listening to the instructor give many details about trees, gallons it takes to make a single gallon on syrup (40!), and other sugaring facts.

Mike and Brandon listening eagerly.

Brandon in the sugaring room.

The boys listening to the instructor.  Check out the cool beaver pond in the back.  The owners ice skate on it in the winter.  

Joe loved Waldo.  He was a big helper too.

The best part....we got to try syrup straight from the boil....yum!  They also treated us to sugar snow....maple syrup poured in snow --the instructors saved. It from the last snow since we don't have any on the ground....what a wonderful sweet time!

Now that they know the basics....they can't wait to boil it at our house....they have been collecting.  We haven't sugared since it was just our two oldest girls.  Everyone is excited to give it a go!

Camp Maranatha Father Son Retreat

This is short overnight retreat that is jam packed with activity and teachings.  It was our boy's second year and they had a blast. The warm temperatures and lack of snow made them change it up a bit but they still had lots of outdoor time and lots of smiles.

They ate lunch on the ice....here is sweet Devon.  What sweet memories....

Everyone working on setting up lunch and getting their fill.

Check out the plates on the ice.

A bit of archery....

Hi Ben:)

Guaranteed they came home and dropped into bed for a very quiet night!