Some Real Thoughts

I absolutely love this time of year, with the holidays just around the corner and the beautiful colors and sights all around. And yet, honestly, this year is different. Yes, I am still excited about time with my side of our family this Thanksgiving and going to England to be with Nick's side of our family for Christmas. However, I am just experiencing some deep sadness during this season.

We have a few friends that are really going through hard times and this has just filled us with some deep sadness. No matter how beautiful and magical this time of year is, it is nothing compared to heaven. I grieve for the sin and sadness here. There is a deep longing in my heart for Jesus and for heaven.

The other day when I was noticing the beautiful fall leaves, an interesting concept came to me. You know, the leaves are the most beautiful when they are just about to fall from the tree and die. It made me think about the fact that in the pain and sorrow and death, there is beauty still, when we let Jesus shine through. My dear friends, as we go through those hard times, may we let the beauty of Jesus shine through us!

May you all have a bless Thanksgiving!

Choo! Choo! Choo! Logan is 2!

It is hard to believe that our baby is now 2 years old! He is not a baby any more! Sigh!

We had a fun Thomas the Tank Engine Birthday Party for him! Logan just loves Thomas trains, even more than his brother, which I didn't think was possible! We played a few games, had cake and opened presents - the normal birthday agenda, but oh was it fun! One of the things I absolutely love about being a mom is making my children smile and laugh!

Thanks to everyone who added to the fun, by coming to his party, giving him gifts and sending him cards!

Ashe Bash and other fun stuff!

This year was the first year that we carved pumpkins and it was so much fun!!!! Yeah!!! We have this cute, little book called The Pumpkin Gospel. It glows in the dark and is darling in the way that it compares carving a pumpkin to the way that God cleans out our sin and puts His light within our hearts. Oh, that my sweet boys will learn early to let Him clean out their yucky sin!! May the light of Christ always shine within their hearts!!!

Anyways, Landen was so excited as we carved our 3 pumpkins! And Logan kept running in too to see what was going on! Landen helped me to design them and then Nick did most of the hard work! Aren't they adorable?!



For Halloween this year, we went to our churches Ashe Bash. Well done LBC for all your hard work to make this carnival such a success! May the seeds that were sown into the community reap a righteous harvest!!!


Landen dressed as a soilder (Prince Caspian to be exact!) and Logan was a monkey. You can see how cute they are!

Since we are doing the Armor of God this year for our family devotions, we thought that we could get good use out of Landen's costume. (Isn't it crazy how expensive these costumes are?!)









A few days before Halloween, we had cousin Elianna over to play, so our little monkey got to snuggle up with Winnie the Pooh! Ellie is 9 months old now and so very adorable! She alternated between being a princess and Winnie this year. (The Winnie costume was more comfortable, but how can one resist dressing their little girl as a princess?) She is crawling and pulling herself up and just on the go! Look out David and Esther! The fun has just begun!

Well, it is crazy how I do some of my best blogging and journalling when I wake up in the middle of the night and can't sleep because of pain or anxiety. I guess that is just another example of how God can use my small suffering for good. I think I'll try to go back to sleep now and get a little more rest before my boys wake up and need me. Thanks for reading my thoughts and for loving our family! Blessings on each of you!!!