2011

Another year has come and gone so quickly, I swear time is speeding up! Although I didn't spend much time blogging (at least the second half of the year) I wanted to recap some highlights from each month and share them with you. 2011 was a really good year, not a lot of big things happened but really it's the little things that make up our lives. Milestones are great markers but if we can enjoy the day to day, we really will relish our time here on earth. So here are a few of my photos taken, marking a few bigger events but mostly just capturing a bit of the joy we shared throughout our year...

January

My little brother's first baby, a sweet girl named Emily, was born! It made me feel a little old when he became a dad, but I've gotten over it :). 

 February

This month started out rough for us, David, Isaiah and I all got strep throat, while Josh got infantigo. By the time we were all recovered our family had been "out of commission" for 2 weeks! Here are my boys after they were starting to feel (not look haha) better. They were playing ninja worms :).

The month ended better with a sleepover with cousins and SLEDDING!

 March

Isaiah turned 5 in style with a big bash at a local bounce house. We are so blessed by the friends and family who came from near (& far, Kenya & Co:) to celebrate with us!

April

This was a fantastic month, with half of it spent in Oregon visiting friends and family. Here we are with our best friends the Eastburns during a weekend spent on the coast.

We also got to visit with David's Grandpa, who came up from Texas, here are three generation of Petty men (& Petty ears!:).

It is always fun to hang out with David's brother James,  Jodie, Sophia and Bethany. 

I took the boys by my alma mater, I think they were more interested in the candy we got at the store than seeing any of mommies college campus :).

Again, we are so blessed by our friends! Here we are in front of Mom and Dad P's house with our best friends the Pattees.

 May

Our baby turned 3 and celebrated with friends and the giant cookie he wanted instead of cake :)

FISHING! We had no luck catching (or even finding) fish but it was a great day nonetheless. 

 June

Family camp!!! It was our first year attending and we very much enjoyed it. Here are my nieces getting ready to run the "Amazing Race".

As we do every year, we went on our "Girls Camping Trip" this year re-dubbed the "Mom & kids" camping trip by Isaiah cause "he's not a girl" :). Here my boy's and I are on the banks of Montana Creek.

Here's a small group of the kiddos we took on the walking bridge over the river- too cute!

July

My nephews and I hiked a mountain in Hatcher's Pass. Made me feel pretty good to beat the 14 year old up the mountain! I did not,  however, feel good the next week day!

The end of the month we made a trip south to Soldotna to visit friends. Here are Isaiah and Koen (aren't they cute?!) at the Founders Day (I think:S) Parade. It is pretty neat to see my son and my old high school bestie's (still a bestie:) son be such good buddies themselves. 

While the guys decided to avoid the CHAOS that was dip-netting on the Peninsula this year,  they did do some bank fishing and brought home some reds. 

We did a lot of walking around the property this spring/summer/fall. Here is my favorite picture, taken the end of July, of Isaiah, Josh and their cousins, Zion, Levi and Hadassah.

 August

We tried our hand at picking wild Alaskan blueberries in Hatcher's Pass this year. The boys did a little more wrestling than picking haha.

My hubby surprised me with a visit from my best friend! It was a total shock, but SO GREAT!

David and I celebrated 11 years, I didn't have a good recent picture of the two of us so I just used this one I took of him that I love. I am so in love with this man, I adore him and am so thankful for the 11 years I have been lucky to call him mine :).

My baby started school this year! It was pretty tough on mommy but thank the Lord he LOVES it!

Trip to the fair,  it was a fun day AND I got a great pic of all the kids LOOKING.

September

My boys and I went to a fall festival at a local u-pick farm (you can read more about it here). It was WAY too crowded but we did enjoy the hayride :)

October

In October I was SO blessed to get the chance to travel to Oregon to help my best friend Julia after the birth of her daughter. I got to see Karey again too while I was there too! This is us, with Julia's newest little one. I am so blessed by these women, my close friends for over a decade now.

Me and Uriah, Julia's oldest. He's my buddy :)

 November

Thanksgiving was it's usual fun insanity with our annual large gathering held at our church. Here are Isaiah, Zion, Joshua and Joseph paused in the middle of destroying playing in the nursery.

Me and my lovely (growing so fast!) niece Emily on Thanksgiving.

December

My boys with our traditional gingerbread house. I love these kids!

Christmas day, in the midst of all their loot. As always, watching them open gifts is hilarious. 

December 31st marks my dad's 60th year. In December we also learned his liver is severely damaged by cirrhosis. The doctors are in the process of trying to determine just how damaged and what it will mean for his future years. The news, while shocking and alarming at first, has settled in a little. Whatever the future holds, he is in God's hands. We are praying for full healing, we would love you to join us in that.  He is a good man, my daddy, one of integrity, honor, pride, love, he is hardworking, fun, intelligent, and my hero in many many ways. Happy birthday dad, may God bless you (& us!) with many more years!  

Finally, I will end my photographic trip down memory lane with this beautiful one taken just the other day on our road. 

So there you have it, 2011 in a nutshell ("look at me, I'm in a nutshell":). It seems funny to catalog the year in this way, because there are so many things between the lines (or pictures:) that cannot be fully expressed in a blog. Guess those things will have to remain tucked away in my heart. Looking ahead to what 2012 may hold, expecting great things and truly thankful for what I have. May your next year be blessed!

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." ~Jeremiah 29:11

Life in the Sticks: A Day in the Dark

Ok, so I keep intending to return to blogging more frequently, blog ideas float around in my head often, and still somehow I do not post them.  That being said, I do enjoy blogging so here is one that I've been thinking about since last weekend....

Living out of town has it's advantages, plenty of room to run, no need for shades to keep your neighbors from peeking in your windows (accidentally or on purpose), wildlife viewing, lots of quiet...I love it. Up until now I have mostly blogged about the positives, it does, however, also has it's disadvantages. Take last weekend as an example, we went without power for a solid 16 hours. Maybe not such a big deal to many of you, but less than a week away from solstice in Alaska meant we *literally* spent most of the day in the dark. The lack of water, use of a refrigerator, cooler temperatures, cold food I can handle, even the toilets being un-flushable (while gross) doesn't send me over the edge, but a day spent in near darkness is tough to handle. You would think we were prepared for such an occurrence, knowing we live in an area prone to outages (although up to this point we have had only one other outage lasting this long) but, as it turns out, we are not. One lantern, a few candles and a flashlight was all we had to keep myself and four kids (I was plus two) from tripping all over and illuminate some kind of entertainment for us all (my poor husband spent several hours working by headlamp on our new heating system in our shop).
The kids were pretty good and we held up ok, even had some laughs together. We spent hours coloring, playing board games, the kids played in their tent with the lantern, sat together playing a new iPad game all about words and imagination, had dinner by candlelight....all in all not a bad day. I confess though, when the lights came back on (right after David enjoyed a "yummy" freeze dried dinner haha) I danced around the house in excitement. Despite being a decent day, perpetual darkness can really start to weigh you down, I hadn't even fully realized how much until the lights lit up my dark home.

There really is something about light over darkness that brings life to your heart. I suppose that is why Jesus used light when talking about himself. We wander in the darkness of this world, thinking we are living well, making due with what we have but when the light shines into our life suddenly our hearts are lighter and we see what we have truly been missing. 

"Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, 'I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.' "-John 8:12 (NLT)

Cards by lantern light

Coloring by candle light

Joshy being silly with the candle, looks kinda freaky haha 

Abby & Isaiah, cousins & buddies since birth

And there always has to be a "silly one"

Cutie Lila Mae

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things...

I have been pretty quiet on the blog front. I've had plenty of ideas to blog about, just haven't taken the time to do it. I love to write, but I'm slow, that in combination with my desire to spend less time on the computer has resulted in few blogs in recent months. I'd like to do more but we'll see if I can get quicker at putting my words on "paper", so a post doesn't take me an hour :).


Anyway, lately I have been overwhelmed with thankfulness. The past 18 months has brought so many wonderful changes in my life, not outwardly, but inwardly and the result has been a joyous journey. I just wanted to share a little of that thankfulness in the form of a list of little things that pour an extra measure of joy into my heart...

• When Jesus hears me speak something out loud or in my heart, things that weren't a prayer just little desires and answers...for example, I have been in a bit of a romantic tizzy of late. My husband, whom I love dearly, is not the romantic type (I think most men aren't) but I have been daydreaming of some beautiful love letter from his heart to me. The other day in my bible reading I read (in the Message) Song of Solomon 2:17- "Oh dear friend, my fair and beautiful lover- come to me! Come, my shy and modest dove- leave your seclusion, come out in the open. Let me see your face, let me hear your voice. For your voice is soothing and your face is ravishing". Wow. What a love letter! I truly believe God spoke these words straight to my heart this morning, because I needed it. I have lived much of my life in seclusion, not on purpose really, just shying away from a lot of things. Part of the journey I've been on is walking out of that place of seclusion and into the fullness of joy God has for me, the fullness of love, the fullness of purpose. What a treat from a loving God!
• The look in David's eye when I say something rather silly and he wants to tease me but is debating the wisdom of it. 
• My boys encouraging one another, even if it means they just lost the game they were playing. 
• Isaiah, after solving a puzzle on a Wii game we play together, informing us he is a "genius". Or when he tells his dad, who is trying to give advice on said puzzle, that he "knows what he is doing". 
• Joshua repeating himself when telling me something exciting until my level of excitement is equal or greater than his own. 
• That my little wiener dog following me around, sitting at my feet, never leaving my side, when men he is not familiar with are in our home. I love he thinks he can protect me and I know he would sure try if he needed to :)
•  David's hands being so large, that my (also rather large) hands feel tiny and petite in his
• That after years of poor sleeping (that is an entire blog unto itself:), Isaiah often asks for "five more minutes" of sleep before getting up for school in the morning. 
• Turning on the radio and finding a song playing that is exactly what you need to hear
• Hearing my kids talk to themselves...like mother, like sons 
• Asking my kids "who loves you?" and their first response being "JESUS!"
• Hugging my hubby and sons
• Getting the giggles cause I'm way beyond tired
• The night sky here in the winter- WOW
• The wonderful insane excitement of my children when we set up the tree each year!
• This one is going to sound weird, but I don't care :). The smell of David's mustache, weird right? But it has smelled the same since the first time I ever kissed him, it's not a smelly smell (duh) nor is it like roses, it's just him and I love it. 
• Christmas trees, Christmas lights, Christmas music, Christmas movies...I love this time of year!
• Getting together with old friends and laughing like no time (or kids, or stressful jobs, etc...) has passed between us. 
• Dancing with my kids the way my daddy used to dance with me.
• Hanging out with my family all together, taking a moment to chuckle at how crazy it gets and to remember old times as well
• A house full of kids, cousin's, friend's kids, etc...I want my house to always be the place they love to come (even when they are teens and pretend they don't or think it's "boring":)

So there you have it, just a few of my favorite things. There are many, many, more I could list. I probably already did too many...how many folks are still with me here at the end? :) All of that to say this, remember to be thankful. A heart full of thanks doesn't have room for anger, bitterness, resentment, self-pitty, etc...It's a lesson I am still learning but I am thankful God has helped me a long the way. He is good, ALL the time and the thing I am the MOST thankful for! Happy Holidays everyone!

"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever... Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures forever." Psalms 136:1, 26

Alaska night sky

Expectations, Reality & Learning to be Thankful

I have a vivid imagination, I've had it my whole life. It makes for great entertainment as a child but when you become an adult imagination has a bad habit of raising expectations to unrealistic heights, making reality a bit of a let down. This habit, which ultimately causes me to take for granted what I have, is one I have really been working on eliminating since I became aware of it's ugly presence. I am not sorry I have an imagination, nor do I want to squelch it but I want to be appreciative of what I have, the memories I make, rather than be disappointed it wasn’t all I imagined it would be. Saturday was a great opportunity to "put my money where my mouth is" in my new efforts to change my thought patterns.....

     I love fall, love love love it. This year I became aware of a local u-pick farm's intent to put on a festival, the flier boasted "hay rides, wagon rides, children's games, zip line, petting zoo, live music and more" and promised a "wholesome family fun on the farm!" . Needless to say I was EX-CI-TED! Immediately my imagination ran wild with storybook pictures of a lovely fall day, hay and leaves strewn about, hot apple cider, picking vegetables with smiling children, etc.. etc.. you can imagine (or maybe you can't, I'm a bit over the top most of the time lol) all the picturesque things I had in mind. I marked the date, weeks in advance, and looked forward to our perfect fall day. 

     When the day arrived, I excitedly packed snacks, enough clothes to keep us warm in any fall weather and loaded my husband and kids into the car. We made our way out to Palmer, about 45 mins by the time we arrived, and found the farm tucked up against the mountains. Already my picturesque ideas were faltering...the line of people waiting to enter was LONG, David gave me with a "you know I am not a fan of loads of people crammed into small spaces" look but (thankfully) pulled into park and get in line with the rest of them. I'll be honest, just seeing the line made me want to turn around, but our kids were WAY too excited (they *might* take after their momma) and we were going, lines or no lines. 

     Without making this blog a novel, I'll sum up the situation for you. At least a thousand people, milling about a small area, lines miles long and no petting zoo anywhere to be seen. We didn't even attempt to pick any vegetables for fear of spending another hour in line (we waited nearly that long for our hayride). Old me would have lost it, disappointment ruining whatever the day may have held in it's not so perfect form, thankfully God has patiently been showing me that the old phrase "attitude is everything" really isn't bunk. I was determined to have a good time, and a good time we had, my husband too worked hard on having fun despite being inundated with people. I danced with the boys while waiting in line, took deep breaths of crisp fall air when annoyance tried to creep in and, despite spending much of the time standing around, had a joyful heart. I was thankful to have the day with my boys, thankful for the beauty I get to live in everyday, thankful for the sunshine, thankful that my shattered expectations were not going to get me down like they have so often in the past. It may not have been the perfect day I had imagined, not even close, but I cherished every minute anyway. It was a great lesson in how how thankful & joyful hearts make our reality worth every minute, even the tough stuff. As I tell my boys "a happy heart makes all the difference". 

 Here are a few snapshots from our day....

How could I not be thankful for these scrubby handsome guys?

Or this incredible beauty?

My Dreams

     I (very) recently watched Danny Silk (if you don't know who he is click here) speak about dreams and how important they are to living an abundant life. He talked about how "God made an investment in you (me), giving us talents and desires, and then invited you (me) into his strength". He told the story of the bags of gold (Matthew 25:14-30), if you are not familiar with the story I'll give you a quick synopsis. A master gives to three servants three separate sums of money before leaving on a trip, to the first he gives five bags of gold, to the second, two bags and to a third, one bag. When he returns, he calls his servants to him to see what they have done with the money he entrusted to them. The first and second servants invested their money and doubled what they were given. The third, in fear, buried his in the ground, returning to his master the one talent he was given. The master becomes angry with the servant and gives his bag of gold to the one made ten bags and throws him out. The point was that the servant who made double his master's investment dreamed big, whereas the one who made nothing had no dreams, fear caused him to hide his gift away, his only plan for his life was that of survival.

     When Danny first started speaking I (inside my head, thankfully:) began to panic, thinking that I didn't have any dreams. Was I living a life less abundant? Was I playing it safe? Were my plans for this life simply to survive? The truth is, prior to a year ago that is exactly where I have been. Life has a way of getting us down if we are not on the watch and I had allowed circumstances to cloud my vision, hide my dreams from me and kick my life a little into "safe & survival" mode.  As Danny said, "dreams require courage". Courage is something the third servant lacked, courage is something I have struggled with much of my life. 

    Thankfully, I serve a God who is bigger than my fears. A God, who with his endless patience and love, has begun to drive out those fears (1 John 4:17-18). Courage has begun to well up within me and I, every so slowly it feels at times, have begun to step out more.  After my moment of panic, many dreams came flooding back into my memory. God  has given me desires, passions and talents make me uniquely suited to live the life he has for me, a life of abundance and joy. Here are a few of the dreams that came to mind, I thought I would share them with you.

1. To learn to play piano

2. To sing again, in some capacity for the Lord

3. To go on the mission field

          *with my husband

          *with my family

4. To teach about creation and evolution (a biologist's view of why the theory isn't so hard packed & how many who believe have misconceptions of God that they feel "support" their ideas) to young people

5. To write, a book...something

6. To go to Ireland and Africa (I would actually love to travel to many places but these are the two I have dreamed of since I was a girl)

7. To climb a mountain

8. To see Alaska radically transformed by supernatural grace

9. To climb a mountain

10. To float (in a boat of course) among a pod of whales and watch them leap out of the water

11. To pray for someone and see them healed

12. To travel all up and down the east coast of the US with my family

These are a few that came to mind immediately, some are God-related, some are not so much. All are desires of my heart, I intend to spend time in prayer and searching my heart for more, then to write them down. Sometimes, as a stay at home mom with young kids, it is easy to lost sight of those dreams we held as young women. It's ok, and I am perfectly content, that these are not all dreams that will happen right away. This season of my life is nearly entirely focused on my family and I love that I am able to do that. I simply want to remember my dreams, because I know that the next phase of life may see some come true, and maybe a few more in the phase after that. I intend to position myself in life to be ready, whatever God's timing, to see them come true, because he wants to see my dreams come true. He loves us that much, he's a good father :).

What are some dreams you have?

While I Haven't Been Blogging...

I need to start this blog with a big, heart felt, apology to my readers. I have not been good...at all, about blogging the past few months, not only because I had stuff going on but because I was struggling with feeling like no one read it much anyway, so why bother? There, I said it, I am determined to be honest with the people in my life which means saying even the "not so flattering" things that enter my mind. Somewhere along my blogging journey I got the notion that my blog would gain popularity and I would become one of "those" bloggers, you know, the ones with lots of followers, people gushing praise for various posts, etc...etc...blah blah blah. I am aware that I am probably not the first person who has though this but I am aware that, for me, I'd just assume not operate under delusions of grandeur. After much soul searching and examination of my own heart I realized that it really didn't matter to me if one or one hundred people read my blog. If anything I have to say in my ramblings can impact one heart, isn't it enough? If I can share a little piece of me, what God has done in my life, the sweet things I love about my boys, and make one person smile, reflect on their own life, evaluate their heart; isn't that a big deal? So, my friends, please accept my sincerest apologies for giving up on you because you weren't "enough", believe me, it was my issue not yours :). I hope you can forgive me. 

NOW, what have I been doing these past few months? Here are a few highlights from my past few months...

I went to Family Camp for the first time and LOVED it. God never ceases to amaze me, touch my heart & bless me with awesome family and friends..

The girls before the "Amazing Race"

Sweet boys playing super heros...

I went on our annual Girls Camping Trip with great family/friends. This year Isaiah re-dubbed it the "Momma & Kids Camping Trip", since he & his brother are not girls :)...

Goofy kids walking to the river over the bridge...

Me and my boys on Montana Creek...

I attended a big family BBQ & birthday celebration for a little guy who was a big answer to prayer....

The birthday boy, Josiah David

Isaiah, Zion & Reece playing together outside. Cousins are the best!

The boys and I went went to Anchorage and spent the night with my friend and her boys for a "Momma & Son" trip. We visited the "Imaginarium" while we were there....

All of us in front of the body heat reader...

I said goodbye to a much loved uncle. I love you Uncle Mick, miss you much and will see you again someday!....

Me and my Uncle at my cousin's wedding in '04.

Mick out hunting, his favorite thing...

I took my nephews to climb a mountain! It was tough but so worth the view and time together...

On top of the mountain!

I went to Soldotna to visit old friends and we saw a parade, caught fish and had a wonderful time visiting together!...

Isaiah and Koen, good buddies!

The guys and their catch of the night!

I had people over to play in our new sandbox and sit around the fire pit visiting...

Josh loves to hang out around the fire!

FIRE!

I took some walks with some pretty terrific kids...

Sweet kids!

I was TOTALLY surprised by one of my bestest besties who cam to visit. My husband had arranged for it all as an anniversary gift, we had a GREAT week! AND we got to go flying, so cool!

I celebrated 11 years of marriage to my best friend. I love him more now than I did 11 years ago!

I sent my sweet baby boy to kindergarten, it was tough to walk away but he was SO ready and SO excited to be there! I trust the Lord with my guy while he's out of my reach and will cherish the time I get to spend with Joshua one on one.

So, there you have it. What I've been up to when I haven't been here, in a nutshell...or rather a photo collage. I am excited to begin blogging again, for all the right reasons, the reasons I started blogging in the first place. To share a little of my heart, my life, my kids with others and to keep some record of it all myself.