Date Night

Love, love, love them!!  Date nights.  A time to get away with my man.  No worries about school, home, or food.  Simply being and enjoying each other.  Yes, even dressing up all pretty!  This night was extra special because it was spent with our good friends.  

The night began with a wild race from the soccer field to the Stark's home, to quickly change, drop off the babes, a few snapped photos, and we were off.  We drove to Indian Summer where we entered into a beautifully decorated room for what appeared to be a wedding.  The night's theme, "Till Murder do us part."  We were embarking on a night of sleuthing, detective work, and careful observation.

After Act 1 the questions were swirling, "Who dunnit? What was the murder weapon?  Was it the brooch or the drink? and Weren't those appetizers delightful?"

Act 2 brought with it more questions, a few answers, a yummy salad, soft roll, and a few stolen kisses from my man.

Act 3 completely confused some, threw out many pre-conceived ideas, and then the guesses began.  I felt it was the mother-of-the-groom, but couldn't remember a key element.  Katy gave me the information, and with her info, my sleuthing sheet was complete.  Dinner was served, London Broil, red potatoes, and vegetables. Yum.

Act 4 began.  Quickly, the murderer was exposed.  The true love was revealed.  And all lived happily ever after.  The prizes were called out and my sheet was chosen!  Katy and I had solved the case!  Our prize, a gift certificate to Mercato's, a delightful, Italian Restaurant, in beautiful, downtown Olympia.

What huge diamonds!  Party favors are the best.

A few more kisses, party favors collected (for the babes) and our night came to a close.  It was a beautiful, girly, all-dressed up, sort of evening.  Me and my man, and our friends.

Donuts and other Special Treats

"Mommy, I want to buy donuts for the family with money out of my piggy bank," Adalie shared joyously one cool, Fall day.  "I want to bless our family."  And bless us she did!  We drove to Heavenly Donuts, pink, piggy bank in hand, and we were all able to choose the most amazing donut we could find.  We then took them home and ate them, while we cuddled on the couch, and watched a movie.

I am confident this is God's heart for us.  He desires to bless us.  He desires to treat us.  Donuts are definitely not a necessity, but every once in a while they can be a special treat that puts a smile on our face. :) God wants to do that for us as well.  He wants to put a smile on our face.

This week I had to find sitters for three separate evenings.  This is something that I don't particularly enjoy doing and find it difficult to say the least.  God knew this about my week and He desired to bless me.  So, Monday I received a call from one of our Anthem students asking if she could watch our kids for small group on Friday.  Wow!  Of course!  Big Smile!  Tuesday, a friend called and asked if she could watch our kids for the class Seth and I are taking on Thursday.  This time tears came to my eyes, along with a smile.  Wednesday, we had other friends offer to watch the girls on Saturday for our Murder Mystery Dinner Theater we were attending.

God knew what was needed this week, and instead of saying, "Figure it out," He said, "I want to bless you.  Your sitters are taken care of."

We serve an amazing God who gives special treats to His children, and this week they came in the form of three beautiful people offering a beautiful gift.

Friendship

We have been blessed with some amazing friends!  Do you know the verse in the Bible that states, "We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses."?  That is what I think of when I think of the friends the Lord has brought into our life.  "We are surrounded by a great cloud of amazing people."

In friendship is the ability to grow and be stretched, the opportunity to laugh and vulnerability to cry, unity as we are all listening to the voice of God and trying to walk boldly in His ways.  Friendship is important.  Heb. 10:24-25 states, "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-and all the more as you see the Day approaching."  

So many of you, without even knowing, have encouraged me greatly.  I have had so many warm, fuzzy feelings toward you all, it's ridiculous.  I have stood back and marveled at the goodness of the Lord to place such wonderful people in my life.

So, to you my friends, I say thank you.  Thank you for pouring out your life for me.  For sharing your life with me.  For loving me.  I am truly blessed.  

It's Back!

About three months ago, my computer died, and with it my ability to blog on a regular basis.  I was ready to throw it away, but before I decided where I should throw it, I gave it to my girls as a toy.  A couple weeks ago however, a friend of ours confiscated my computer with hopes of fixing it.  In my mind, my computer was toast, and with little knowledge of the tech world, I didn't know exactly how he would fix it.

Well, last night my computer was returned to me running bigger and better than ever! That's right!  Somehow, it is now faster, can hold more information, and is basically better than I could have imagined. And that makes me happy.

While writing this I realize that a lot of times the way I felt about my computer is how I feel about different circumstances in my life.  "Hope is lost."  "I can't believe for that, because it doesn't make any sense."  "This or that is too hard to fix, so why try."  But just like with my computer, I realize that nothing is too difficult for the Lord.  He can take any circumstance, relationship, or desire, and even if it seems all is lost, or something has died, He can raise it from the pit and bring it back, Bigger and Better than ever.

We serve an Awesome God, and that makes me Really happy.

PS-Do you see what is sitting on top of my computer?  That's right!, my camera that was lost last Easter!  It was found by another friend during a meeting we were having at our home.  So, in one week my camera and my computer were restored.  Yippee!!