Maria's Magic

If you know me at all, you know one of my favorite people in the whole entire world is my dear little sister. Actually, I think pretty much everyone who knows Maria is a huge fan. Not only is fun and sweet and helpful, but she is incredibly gifted as an artist. I have wanted to do something fun in Grace's room since we moved in, so she came up to help. We started last week, and painted one wall and the dresser. This weekend she came back up and she finished the room.
There she is with the finished masterpieces. She drew it all free hand. I had shown her a picture of a painted tree that I liked, but she did it all on her own. She did the bird for Grace and Grace LOVES it.

Here are the before and after pictures, so you can get a feel for the new look. The before pictures are from when we moved-in in January.

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

The Cats are back

I feel rather ridiculous writing more about the cat situation at our house. As it is, I think this is at least my third post on the subject. Hopefully this will be my last, as I don't foresee any big new developments. I think what worries me, is that if I don't stay on top of posting about cats (or chickens) I will end up being a crazy cat lady (or chicken lady), or one of those people who think their pets are actually people. Both of those thoughts frighten me.

But I digress, enough about my deepest fears. The kittens have staying with a foster cat mom, who took them on and nursed them after their mother was killed by a coyote. The owner of the cat, asked for two of the kittens in return for taking care of them. We only really wanted two, as six kittens would be a bit much. So she offered to sell the remaining two, which we agreed to. She called Monday and said our two were available for pick up.

They are quite a bit bigger than they were a couple weeks ago when we dropped them off, although they are still tiny and fluffy. They are a lot more mobile and active and very friendly. We are keeping them in the garage for now, as we would like to keep them from getting eaten if at all possible. Our plan is to move them to the laundry shed once they are a bit bigger.

Many people have been asking what or if we have named them yet. My parents always taught me "Once you name it you get attached to it" so I am quite hesitant in naming them as from all accounts, cats have a short life out in coyote land. So we will see. I wouldn't put it past Gunnar to name them, and Grace already said she wanted to name on "Tacky" so we will see.

Anyways, here are the cute little critters. And a picture of Grace at the end because she is so incredibly adorable (what? of course I am not biased).

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

Today is my parents 31st wedding anniversary. I am so thankful for their godly example throughout the years. Not only have they lived out Christ in front of their children, but they provided a wonderful, safe, loving home for us kids to grow up in. There has never been any question of their immense love for each other, the Lord and for us. They made having a happy, God centered home look easy. Thanks mom and dad!

Western Days

We spent most of memorial day weekend at the Western Days celebrations here in Valley Center. My darling sister Maria came up for the weekend and it was wonderful having her around. Saturday morning we watched the Western Day parade in the morning, and then spent the rest of the day at our church booth. We passed out free water and invited people to the church and Vacations Bible School this summer. Even though it was surprisingly cold, we all were exhausted and sunburned by the time we got home. At a booth near ours there were goats, chickens and rabbits. Grace and Maria both really enjoyed seeing the animals, especially the baby goats. For those who have been urging me to get a goat, I was even less sold on the idea after seeing them. Just so you know.
Grace was in heaven having her "Tia" here for three days. It was cute to see her so excited. :) Poor Maria had to share a room with Grace, who was overjoyed to be able to wake up and have someone to talk to in the morning. :) Maria is coming back this weekend for a few days to finish up our project in Grace's room, and to walk at the Walk For Life with Alternatives Womens Center on Saturday. Maria is so helpful and thoughtful it is such a joy to have her around. I am so glad I have such a sweet sister that she would come hang out with her family on her time off. :) She truly is a blessing.

My girl

Just "hanging out" at churchGrace said "My goldfish are kissing"

I have been working on my photographic skills. I figure I should learn to make the most of my camera. Sometimes the light and settings come together, unfortunately getting a smile at the same time seems to be a bit too much to ask. :)

Do Something!

One of the biggest issues that I feel hopeless about is the whole abortion industry. I have thought a lot about this issue and it is something I feel very strongly about. I blogged about it earlier this year so click here to read more on about that.

I think that it is so hard because I feel a couple extremes about the whole thing. One being angry. It makes me so incredibly angry that the lawmakers allow it to be legal, there are doctors willing to carry it out, and there are mothers who allow someone to kill their babies. It makes me angry that there is so much misinformation and that people are uninformed. I also struggle with a profound sense of sadness. It is so tragic that literally millions of babies have never seen the light of day. They never will grow up to be people who can make a difference in the world. They never will be able to make any choices, because someone "chose" to kill them. They didn't do anything wrong, they never even got a chance. I also think it is so sad that there are so many women and men who have to live the rest of their lives with the physical and emotional ramifications of their actions. It isn't better for the mother, it isn't better for the baby. Abortion hurts every single person involved.

So for a long time I have chosen not to think about it, not so much because I didn't know what I thought but because my thoughts were too hard to deal with. I don't enjoy being sad or angry, so I choose not to think about. But over the last few years God has been working in my heart and I don't feel as if I can stay quite or passive. Staying self-involved and ignoring what is going on helps no one. Nothing is going to change if people don't do something.

So what am I going to do? At a conference in February I met a man who is on the board of Alternatives Women Center in Escondido (about a 25 min drive from my house). I ended up crying in the hallway as I talked to him, which of course is a great way to make a first impression. :) He arranged for Gunnar and I to go down and take a tour of the facility.

The women that work there were so kind and gracious. The kind of women that I would want to talk to if I were in trouble and scared. They have an ultrasound machine, which is a great resource as women who actually see their unborn baby are less likely to have an abortion. I was so encouraged to talk to these people who are actually doing something! They have such a heart for hurting women and for the babies they are carrying (or have carried, they do post-abortion counseling as well).

It also was so nice to talk to them and to actually have a way to do something. I can channel that energy into making a difference. By supporting them, I help them help girls make the right choices. Because of them, and people like them, women are changing their minds, and allowing their babies to live. It really is a life or death descition. A lot of babies will be put up for adoption and children will grow up with parents who love them and have wanted a baby for years. (Don't even get me started on how wonderful I think adoption is).

They have an annual walk for life to raise money for what they do. They don't charge anything for their services and donations are the only way they are able to do what they do.

The walk is May 31st and Gunnar and I have decided to take part. My sisters are also coming up to walk with us as well. We need sponsors, so if it is something you are interested in supporting please let me know. If you haven't already noticed, it is something I believe in very strongly and I am always willing to talk about. If you need more facts or are not sure what you think about this issue, I would love to talk to you about it more.

If you are interested in sponsoring, you can do that online, (please put my name in the box at the bottom as the person you are sponsoring) . You can also use any traditional methods of such as the good old fashion mail or handing me a check next time you see me. :) As I mentioned, my sisters (Maria and my sister-in-law Ann) are also walking, so if you see them more often than you see me, you can give sponsor them as it goes to the same place. :)

Most importantly, pray. That girls would go to places like Alternatives instead of Planned Parenthood. Most of all that they would find Christ and make the right choices.

comparison

As I was writing the post about Mother's day, it occurred to me that we took a lot of the same pictures as last year. So I thought I would post them together to see how much everyone has changed. I think Grace has changed the most, of course. :) But there have been some other changes along the way, especially for Ann with the upcoming arrival of Baby girl.

so much to blog, so little time.....

I feel like I am finally almost caught up with my blogging. What have I been up to? Pretty much same as always, random busyness and spending way too much time in the car. Let's see...

Oh yeah, my brother graduated from college, we went down for the Chapel's 4th anniversary picnic (you can see pictures from that here), there was mothers day, and the whole orphaned cat dilemma.

Our good friends come spend the day on Monday's at our house. Grace always enjoys the time she spends with Isabel and Lilah. They are pretty good at finding creative ways to amuse themselves.
Monday night we went to a Pastor's appreciation dinner with my parents. Maria did my hair (because I am pretty clueless in that regard) and stayed with Grace. It was so nice to have a dinner where all I had to worry about was feeding myself. I had two pieces of dessert to celebrate, I was so excited! :)

Tuesday Gunnar, Grace and I went to the Wild Animal Park, grocery shopping and to Bible study.

Wednesday we spend the entire day in San Diego. So much fun! Gunnar had a meeting all day, so Grace and I hung out with my parents. Grace got to walk the dogs with Grandpa, we went to the park with our Chapel friends, we ate at Panera, we got to see the puppies at the pet store and I bought new sunglasses. All in all, lots of fun.

Thursday we went to Legoland with some friends. Will is one of the cutest little boys ever, and Grace loves hanging out with him.
We took a picture with the New York skyline in honor of my brothers who are actually in New York this weekend. :)

Now that I think about it, I guess I have been busy!

If you were wondering about the orphaned kitties, they are at a new home with a lactating cat that took them in as her own. I think we will be getting a couple back in a few weeks when they are old enough to wean.

Quiet time.....

Give me kiss, dad