Memorial Day

We had a very low key Memorial day. We didn't really have plans and as always we were pretty tired as Monday our recover from the weekend day. My parents drove up and brought food and we bbq'd and had a relaxing day. The weather was beautiful, the food was delicious, and the company was great. What more could you ask for?

Grace is so beyond adorable. She played in the pool while Gunnar and my dad ran the grill. When the linguisa came off, she enjoyed her's in the pool. It was the perfect pairing of her Hanson and Hilton blood. I know her love of grilled sausage and steak would warm my grandparents hearts, and of course Gunnar was proud of her love of the water.
After lunch, Grace was excited to play church. She had already held services with Gunnar and I in the morning. She reads out of one of her Bible story books, prays, sings some songs and passes out communion. It pretty much was the cutest thing I have ever seen.
She used her babies cradle on it's side as a podium, and a lid for a box with her tea set on it for communion. Way to be innovative.

After church we played Uno, Candyland, and Memory. All that excitment made her thirsty, so she and Grandma had a tea party. Life really doesn't get much better.

Crazy Cat

We looked out the window the other morning and this is what we saw.
Crazy cat.

Just because....

How adorable is my kid? I don't remember when or why I took this picture, but it was so cute I thought I would share.

Meeting family

Last week, Grace finally had a chance to meet her Aunt Michelle, one of Gunnar's older sisters. Michelle and her son Nick joined us for dinner. Grace has met Nick a couple times before and always enjoys seeing him again. We had bbq steak, which is Grace's favorite. That girl can put down some steak! I didn't take too many pictures, but I did manage to take one before they left.

27 Belly Pictures

Saturday after the parade, I took advantage of Maria's presence to take some more recent pictures of my belly. I have been feeling quite large, and after seeing the pictures, I think it could be because I actually am huge! I have a little under three months until my due date, and so I am sure I will be getting a lot larger as time goes by.

As far as the pregnancy goes, everything has been going well. I am finally to the last trimester, so there is an end in sight. I am starting to get excited about the baby actually being here, although I am also remembering that I have to go through that whole labor thing again.....yikes.
To continue the series from last time, there I am with the garage door in the background. The rest of the pictures were taken in a field by my house. I like how the pictures reflect Valley Center, there is no question that I live in the country.


I like this last one, mostly because it brings back the funny day. I think I got something in my shoe and was trying to get it out. But all in all, watching a pregnant woman waddle through the weeds is pretty funny. At least Maria and I thought so.
There is my beautiful photographer. Good job, Maria!

Western Days

For Western Day's this year our church entered a float in the parade. Gunnar and Grace rode the parade, while I hung out on the side lines with my dear sister Maria and our friends Aprill, Becky and their daughters. In the picture is Grace's buddy Ezequiel who also rode the parade. How cute are they heading out in their western outfits?
Maria has come up the last two years to the parade with us. It is always a fun time.
Aprill and I are due about two weeks apart. We were six weeks apart with our first, and it is fun to be going through another pregnancy together.We were so excited, our church float came in first place among the 70 something entries. I am so proud of the men at church who put it together. They did a great job.
Grace looked like such a cutie in her cow girl outfit so of course we had to take lot's of pictures.

Grace and her papa

Grace and Tia

Cutie cowgirl

Mother's Day

Do you even remember Mother's day? It seems like such a long time ago already that I am unsure if posting about it now is totally lame or not. I have finally figured out how to get the pictures from my camera to my blog via the new computer though, so hopefully I will be able to stay more on top of keeping this updated. I just have to remember to take pictures, which I must say, I have not been doing so great at lately.

Anyways, back to Mother's day. We had a nice LONG day on Mother's day as after church we headed down for a double mother's day marathon. As I look through the pictures I realize that although we saw both our mother's, I didn't actually take a picture that included either mother. Opps.

Our first stop was to see Gunnar's mom, Carol. She had prepared a ton of food (which means a lot to me these days as I am really into eating) and it was a beautiful day to sit outside on the patio and eat and chat. We had a great visit as always, and of course before we left Grace made sure to go upstairs for a trip to Grandma Carol's beauty parlor. After getting to try on some of Carol's lipstick and what not, she made her way to the earing modeling. Carol has an amazing selection of earings (all clip ons, so Grace can wear them all) and Grace looks like a little kid in a candy shop trying them all on.

After hanging out for a while, we headed on to Mother's day celebration #2, at my brother and sister-in-law's house (more commonly known these days as Elena's parents). I was really tired at this point, so I mostly spent my time on the couch stairing into space. My aunt was in town and so it was nice to see her and my mom, of course. Grace enjoyed visiting with her adorable cousin. Here they both are with Grandpa Pa. I think Elena is trying to kiss Grace. Either that or slobber on her. Or maybe both.
Although I didn't manage to get a picture with either mom, we did manage to get a family picture before Grace changed into her pajama's to head home. You might be able to tell that she was a little tired at this point. :)
I spent the entire next day trying to recover from all that partying. I must not be as young as I used to be. :)

This was my 4th mother's day since becoming a mother, and I must say that I love being a mom so much. There is nothing more rewarding or challenging and sometimes exhausting. I am so blessed to have Grace as my daughter and for the opportunity to have another child to mother. I think in the mother department I have been more than abundantly blessed. I have a great mom and I get to be a mom to a great daughter. In the last couple years I also have been blessed to get to know Carol, who by choice took on the job of mothering Gunnar.

So to all the mother's out there, Happy Belated Mother's day. Thanks for making the world a better place!

Walk For Life 2009

Gunnar, Grace and I will be taking part in the Walk for Life through Alternatives Women's Center. We are helping raise money and awareness for this great organization that helps save the lives of unborn children every day.

I am reposting my post from last year in hopes that causes you to think and pray about how you can be involved in the fight for life of the unborn.

If you are interesting in supporting us, you can do that online here. And to find out more about Alternatives Womens Center, click here.

On a side note, Gunnar is now on the board of Alternatives, as this is something we both feel very strongly about. I am so proud of him for putting his time and energy into helping out this ministry. And it cracks me up that he is on the board of a "Womens Center."


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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. :)

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.

Ecclesiastes

Gunnar has been preaching through the book of Ecclesiastes over the last couple months at church. Ecclesiastes is not one of my favorite books, but it has been an intersting study and I have enjoyed it a lot more than I expected.

During a lot of his sermons Gunnar has either quoted songs or I have been reminded of a song I know. It seems like I can't turn on the radio any more without being reminded of something from Ecclesiastes. So I compiled the songs and verses that I pulled them from. If you have any other ideas for any of these chapters or verses, please let me know.

Enjoy!

Ecclesiastes 1
Vanity of Vanities says the Preacher,
Vanity of Vanities! All is Vanity. (1:2)
I can't get no Satisfaction


Ecclesiastes 2
For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool! (2:16)
Gone



Ecclesiastes 3
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven. (3:1)
Turn Turn Turn (Who didn't see that one coming?)



Ecclesiastes 4
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! (4:9-10)
Lean on Me (Kirk Franklin)


Lean on Me (Michael Bolton)



Ecclesiastes 5
Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is on heaven, and you are on earth. Therefore, let your words be few. (5:2)
Let my words be few:


Ecclesiastes 6
Better what the eye sees,
than the roving of the appetite (6:9)
Side By Side


Ecclesiastes 7
When times are good, be happy
but when times are bad, consider:
God has made the one as well as the other (7:14)
Blessed be Your Name



Ecclesiastes 8
And I commend joy, for man has no good thing under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, (8:15)
How You Live



Fried Chicken *


*I don't actually endorse drinking beer.

Ecclesiastes 9
Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, (9:9)
I Will Be Here


Walking Her Home (I apologize for the odd video, there was only so much to choose from on YouTube-if you haven't heard this song before, I recommend closing your eyes and listening)



Ecclesiastes 10
As dead flies give perfume a bad smell,
so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor. (10:1)
Slow Fade



Ecclesiastes 11
Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun. (11:7)
What a wonderful world


Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. (v. 9)
This Is The Day The Lord Has Made



Ecclesiastes 12
The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. (v. 13)

Gunnar spoke about how walking with God is in many ways like the line from "Walk the Line." We don't walk with him to try to earn our salvation, but like the sons says "because you're mine, I walk the line". We choose to follow Christ out of our love and reverence and fear for him, not out of compulsion.

I Walk The Line

Goodness Grace-ous

Well, I haven't been taking too many pictures lately. Plus, I switched computers and haven't really figured out what I am doing. So I thought I would leave you with some funny Grace lines from around our house recently.

Grace: "I am a big buddy to great Grandpa Hilton"

While folding laundry: "These are mommy's panties, they are size big"

Elena and Ann came up for a visit. Grace got to feed her Elena her bottle and she was so excited about it. She said "It is exciting for a child to be a mother."

Grace: "Daddy, can we have steak for dinner?"
Gunnar: "Why, do you like steak?"
Grace: "I'm a big steak fan."

Grace came up and showed me a bunch of random letters she had written on her magna doodle. She pointed to the "L".
"Here is an L, did I write 'love?"

We have family devotions together every night together before we put Grace to bed. Sunday night we were at my parents until late, so we had devotions with them before we headed home. Their devotion book was a little diffrent from ours, with a "Key Lesson" at the end. We were giving our best guess (like "practice obedience", "obey always" ect) when Grace piped up with her guess "Put the bread in the toaster"

I asked Grace to clean her room. A few minutes later she was back in my room.
"Did you clean your room?" I asked
"No, I don't want to" She said "I just want to glorify God."

She was drawing/practicing her letters on her easel "I just wrote disobedience" she said.