Pagosa~Part 1

Both the matter and the grace of thankfulness are from God.

~William Cowper

While my Mom was here, we enjoyed an amazing trip to Pagosa Springs, CO. One of the blessings of not having an abundance in the bank is the humbling joy of watching God provide for you through others. Because of my Mom, we enjoyed a vacation that was truly beyond our means and imaginations.

Get this. One of our units was BIGGER THAN OUR HOUSE! I wanted to cry when I walked through those doors and started exploring this gift, this gift from the Lord.   This unit was custom made for a large family. :) It had a large living area, a magnificent kitchen, 4 bedrooms, each with their own incredible bath, a separate laundry room, a HALLWAY (we don't even have a "proper" hallway in our home), a large dining room and table, and of course, balconies with breathtaking views of the water, the birds, and the mountains.

 The balcony--a favorite place to hang out.

 The spectacular snow-covered mountains God gave us.

 One of my favorite views of my Beloved--when he's smiling.

 I beat Ink to it and got the desk. This is where I'd sit each morning, up before everyone else, for a couple of hours, reading and praying and studying and taking in the view outside.

Jedediah, aka Cap'n, in his Batman clothes with handsome Reaches Up. Feeding the birds was an adventure in avoiding goose-poop.

 This was the living area. We played cards here, read, had family worship, and generally ignored the big screen tv that was on the wall.

 My lovely Mama.

 An example of the baths.

 The children loved feeding the ducks and geese.

 Another view from our balcony.

Jake must have learned at least 20 new card tricks while on vacation. :)

Isn't the big table wonderful?

With love,
Trisha

Krispy Kreme Baby

***photo by our dear friend, Nikko

How Many Sisters Does It Take

...to care for baby after his bath?

Notes from Home~12/14/12

 It's been hard to focus on lessons this week, especially when I have more pressing things to do, like figure out how to capture the lights on our Christmas tree. After I tried at least 50 times, my Beloved got it right. I discovered that even with step-by-step tutorials using the same camera I own, I still have to tweak the settings. But, isn't it pretty?

 He's the first. Out of nine precious blessings here on earth, Elijah is the first baby to just fall asleep like this, no rocking or nursing required. I've heard about this phenomenon, but now I've seen it for myself. Perhaps it makes life a bit easier, but easier isn't always better, and I have not one single regret about those many hours I've rocked and nursed my babies to sleep.

 It's official. Sarge is a thumb-sucker. My thoughts on this development? No comment.

 When some of the children and I got home yesterday from errands, this is what greeted us. Cap'n threw quite the fit about going down for a nap, and then later decided he could resist the sandman no longer. What you don't see is how he fell through the chair (it needs repairs), and then, when trying to get up, fell backwards into the cabinet doors and had one of those fall on him (because it needs repairs). Quite the rude awakening in a construction zone. :)

 In happier moments, Cap'n was decked out in snow gear... at night. He couldn't understand we were still "waiting" for the snow. But, it looks like snow play is in the forecast for today.

 I love desert sunsets. Isn't this amazing?

Isn't this wonderful? World Market. 28.00 with coupon. Perfect for the guys' room.

A friend had the great idea of taking a picture of your children on the 12th. We opted for a group shot and were able to take this at 12:12 p.m. :) Yes, Cap'n would have preferred looking for candy canes on the Christmas tree...

Right now, the snow is coming down harder. The older boys and Mountain Man are off to see The Hobbit, and and I hope to tackle projects around here and finish lessons in between the Littles' winter wonderland play sessions.

Have a beautiful weekend!

"Like wines on the lees our gratitude grows stronger and sweeter as we meditate upon divine goodness."
~Spurgeon

With love,
Trisha

The Little Big Man Who's Not So Little

 

Jake. Our resident hit man, taking care of unruly trash cans at every turn. He had a birthday...in June...um, that would be over two months ago.

He does crazy things like taking self-portraits with my camera. Thankfully, he's not the type to lament in his autobiography how lame it was that I took over two months to post his birthday photos. It was a significant birthday, too. The big 15.

The Hunt. Scavenger Hunt that is.

When my Beloved celebrated a milestone of a birthday, I decided to make it special with a scavenger hunt. Ink loved the idea so much he wanted one for his 15th birthday. So now, the family tradition is that on your 15th birthday, we play a guessing game and enjoy riding around in our van together for several hours.:)

God gave Jake lots of "happy genes." He's one of the lighthearted souls of our Clan, always making us laugh. He has the best Batman voice ever. And he likes reading Puritan paperbacks. Gotta love it.

He's Cap'n's favorite guy. He's a kid at heart, and his playfulness is a welcome trait in a house with so many Littles. He's going to make a fantastic Daddy.

He likes the simpler things in life. Like a good hat. A good book. An action-packed movie. And mega bags of Sour Patch Kids candy. I have a feeling he might add cigars to that list of simple things one day. The hat just makes me think so, and his love for Spurgeon.

He never cared for the piano, thwarting my ideal that all of our children would learn piano first. Instead, he's a guitar-man. And we love to hear him play.

He's got a southern man's taste for fried foods, sweet tea, and apple anything. He thinks I know how to cook. And bread? Oh yes. He inherited my bread-loving genes.

He loves the outdoors and throwing knives and tossing footballs. 

He even passed the Dollar Tree test, managing to buy all his siblings a gift within the allotted time on his scavenger hunt.

He has amazing self-control. Here he opens his Justin Bieber birthday card and restrains from puking all over the car. Justin even sang to him and told him how special he is.

Thank you for your patience, my son. I have no excuse for not having done this post in a timely manner. You have often forgiven me for greater offenses, and for that, I am deeply grateful. We thank God for the pleasure and joy you bring to our family. May God Himself always be your greatest joy, and may you love Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength all the days of your life.

We love you.

Love,
Mommy for All

Good Gifts and Childish Hissy Fits

"The fact that we have lived our lives under God's gracious, tender care has not, sadly, multiplied our gratitude but muted it. If you're anything like me, you forget the all-important expression of thanks. How many times do we look back over decades of God's faithfulness to us, centuries of His faithfulness to our families, and gasp in awe? Too often God's good gifts distract us from contemplating His faithful love toward us. Instead of seeing all of this as God's extraordinary grace, we come to expect the comfort and joys that God gives us as the baseline, the measure of what we believe to be our due. When our comfort level drops below our expectations, we are shocked and angered, and even foolishly express our outrage to God Himself. When we throw such childish hissy fits, we too often comfort ourselves by reasoning that God is a big boy, and He can take it. Yes, He can take it. But He is not the big boy we so often imagine. He is instead an infinite God, and He may very well not take it. We need to learn to guard our tongues--and use them to give thanks in all circumstances."

~R.C. Sproul, Jr.

The Call to Wonder

 Ink and Little Big Man (who's not so little) jamming on the guitar and piano

 The Littles having one more morning snuggle in our bed

 Awesome dance moves

 Ink's apprenticeship with a cabinet maker (just one more example of God providing what seems to be the impossible)

The Big Ones who constantly help the Little Ones


I am a much more thankful person now than I was 10 years ago. Of course, that is all grace. Writing down gifts from His hand keeps me mindful of His mercies and does leave me in awe that such a great God would have me in His thoughts and pour out such mercy upon me.

Every night during family worship, we list our praises. Sometimes they seem rote, though, and we have to be reminded to think hard and not just list what comes easily to mind. God gives us so many gifts that we could spend our lives thanking Him for each one and never, never finish.

And then when I have those childish hissy fits, the Holy Spirit brings to mind the ingratitude at the heart of it all. How amazing is His grace, from my salvation to the next breath I take, yet give me the right circumstances, and I'll pour forth murmurings in a heartbeat. It's shameful.

Oh, for more grace to consistently give thanks in all things. How good and great our God is!

With love,
Trisha

Take Me to the River~Part 1

Part 1 of 1000. :)

Not really, but with over 600 pictures to wade through, it's hard to pick just 10! This is where blogging freedom comes in. No pressure to provide controversial and high-stat-getting-content. After all, this is my family blog, even if only 2 family members ever visit here.

Every one of these pictures speaks of God's goodness to our family. Over and over and over. Thank you, LORD!