Remembering

This has been such a bittersweet day for me.
Last week, one of the former Pastors of New Life passed away. I had never had the oppertunity to meet Tom, but my husband and his family were impacted by his life and ministry.
Jon is off today at Tom's memorial service. It was hard to let him go alone, but at least I know his parents and Joe should be there with him.


And then, I got on facebook this morning to see a new folder of pictures from Stephanie and Omar.....pictures of dear little Kaiden. I hadn't remembered that today is the anniversary of HIS passing away.


God used Kaiden to impact so many people's lives, in such a short time. He lived less than a year, and it was a long and heartbreaking time of watching him be so sick and fight so hard.
Having to learn the lessons of loss through watching my friends with Kaiden was a really hard lesson for me....especially as we lost our friend Kurt the same year. I had felt in my heart that God would heal both of them, and it was so hard for me to accept the true healing that God brought to both of them. It still isn't easy.....but I guess in the long run, I don't really need to understand God's choices but trust them.


Oh Kaiden....I only met you once, but I followed the story of your life and prayed for you and miss you so much. I trust you are having a blast up in heaven with Jesus!


God, grant us still here on earth the grace to live and trust You, even when we don't understand. Cover Steph and Omar today as they remember their first born. Let there be more joy than sorrow in the remembering. Amen.

Kaiden Ezra Murrilo...July 13th, 2006---May 28th, 2007.

A picture of contentment

I don't normally find myself to be a very content person. There is usually some thought or longing in my mind and heart to make contentment seem very far away or even impossible.
But, I was cutting up veggies to go in the chili I am making for dinner and I was thinking about this fact:

I have four knives.

Most people I know have a bunch. Pairing knives, butcher knives, carving knives, bread knives.....serrated knives and smooth-bladed ones. Not to mention a stash of steak knives.

I have two pairing knives, a carving knife and a serrated one I use for slicing bread. (I don't count butter knives, LOL)
And honestly: I am okay with the four I have.

As I was thinking, I realized....even if I had a whole collection of knives at my disposal, I would probably only use two or three of them. Most would probably sit in their slot or drawer and wear away.

And so, I am grateful for the ones I have today!

On another note: we're trying for a (late) garden! The boys and I planted peas and carrots this morning and I (finally!) planted up the chia-herb garden I had been given for Christmas. As the peas and carrot seeds are from last year, we'll have to see how it goes!

Newest Squares!

I've been working on more squares and thought since I had FIVE to show you, I should get on it and get them posted!!!!

The first is Friends. My friends are so special to me and I am so grateful for each one of them!

Next is my kitty, Sal. He has been a blessing. The entirety of getting him was God-sent. Jon told me I could (finally!) get a cat for my birthday and we went forth on a search for the perfect kitten. We had the idea in our minds....orange and white, male and young. We found several, but through one thing or another, getting them fell through.
So, one day, I looked at Jon and said, "Maybe we are going about this all wrong. Maybe we need to open our minds up to not getting what we think we want."
So, we started looking at adults and Liam stopped at Sal's cage and seemed taken with him. We wanted to check one more place before deciding, and when we left, Liam cried the whole way to the car.
Well, we didn't find anything at the second place, so we went back to get Sal and we've been SO happy with him!

Tea is next. I love tea. Especially black tea with cream and sugar: Yum. I also really like Tazo's Calm. It really does settle me down and relax me. I love tea parties too!!!

Yarn is next. I really like crocheting. My mom taught me how when I was a kid and it has brought me hours of enjoyment!

And my last square is glasses and sight. I am grateful to see, and very grateful for the glasses that make everything clear!

And then I thought you might like to see the work in progress as a whole. I am very well pleased with how it is turning out. Each square is such a joy to figure out and make!

Ultrasound Pictures!

Here's some of the pictures we got last wednesday when we went in for the 20-week ultrasound! This is probably my favorite part of pregnancy...how wonderful it is to have the technology to see the wee ones while they are still inside! Oh, and as has been our usual, we did NOT find out the gender, so it's gonna be a surprise!

it looks like Baby's saying "rock on!" in this one:

And honestly, I think baby feet are always cute, and oh do they made adorable ultrasound pictures:

bikes

We were finally able to bring Liam's bike home....you know, the one he got for his birthday...in February!
A couple days ago, I took the boys and the bikes down to the end of our complex to ride. They sure had fun!

new squares

I have to say, I am loving this project! Not only is it a joy to be thinking of things that are blessings and things I am grateful for, but I have missed needle-work and this has reminded me how much I enjoy it.

I stitched a cell phone, because I am so grateful for the connection with people it gives me. Not only in the every day communications with my husband, but also because it makes me feel closer to the dear people who are far enough away that I do not get to see them as often as I would wish.

Music is my next square. Music is a blessing in so many ways: it's encouraging, uplifting, relaxing....you can dance to it, sing along, cry. There is a type for every mood, and I just love it.

Ice cream! I had a friend once tell me, "There's always room for ice cream! It fills in the cracks!" And it's cold, and sweet and delicious!

And the final square for now, is a double depicting our yearly week spent at a lake with my family. This has been a yearly tradition now for three years (this summer will make the 4th). It is a time I look forward to all year, just like Christmas and my birthday...it is a time of lovely relaxation and a good solid chunk of family time.

weekend with nana and papa

We spent last weekend at my parents house and we had a very nice time...

Liam and Papa, sharing the sun tea Liam made:

Nana and David, coming back from playing in the creek:

Building a small garden:

And these last two are some cool stuff we saw in the sky; fun clouds made by jets, and a "sun dog" rainbow around the sun:

Three New Squares To Share

I've worked a bit on my embroidery this week, and I have three new squares to show off!

This one if for my two boys: Liam and David. They have filled my life with joy, challenge and all things inbetween!

I can't get the silly picture to configure right, so you'll just have to tilt your head if you want to see it the way it's supposed to be! This picture stands for marriage.

Simple, yet to the point. I am so thankful for family.

Counting Blessings Project

So, somehow or another, I missed the beginning of the project and the blog site that goes along with it.
No matter, I had begun on my own---a thing I am now very grateful for as it means I am not behind. Here's what I've done so far:

I found the fabric----it's an old pair of dark-khaki pants---not perfect, but I have to work with what I have this time around. I used a white fabric pencil to draw out the grid:

I decided to stitch the lines using a dark brown I have. It contrasts well with the dark khaki. I went around the border, and thought about stitching up the squares too, but didn't because I am not sure whether or not I might want to make a "double square" at some point and wanted to leave it open for myself.

I filled in my first square with what is the most important thing I am grateful for: Jesus. The cross---a symbol of his sacrifice for us, and the dove, as a symbol of....well, so many things. I added the grass just for some more color.

Follow along with our host, and find links to other participates at Counting My Blessings!

Impressed

So, I wanted to share with you a drawing Liam did. I was so impressed. Up until now, his drawings of people have looked like this (his is the green on on the left):

And now look at this:

That is as good if not better than I can do! Wow!

Butter

For a school project a little while ago, we made butter. I had forgotten how much fun (and how much work!) it is!
And, for the record...it was the sweetest, creamiest, best tasting butter I have had in a long, long time!

Tulips

A few weeks ago, we took a sunday afternoon drive up north to see the tulip fields. They were ten times better this year than last, and we really had fun. Here's some pictures from the day:

counting my blessings---in embroidery

I am thinking of joining in on this project:

let's count our blessings

I had come across it when they were doing their most recent 39 squares project, and while intrigued and interested, wasn't able to get myself in gear fast enough to participate.
And now, they are starting this new round and it has such an amazing theme and I just love it.
I don't know if I will be able to keep pace with them, but I would love to do this project. Hopefully, I will be able to post soon that I have begun.....
I have to find just the right material (I really like the coarse linen-looking stuff the host, Amy, uses for hers. I don't think I have any, but I'll look in my scraps....) and find my threads (actually, I know where they are, I just have to get them out) and get started!

Want to do it with me? It would be so much fun!

Also check out Amy's 39 squares site and the post where she embedded a video of all the people who participated in the last round...such inspiration and creativity!!!