tanner turns 2 {easter day}

My baby turned TWO today.

How did that happen?

We celebrated Easter and his birthday with family.

It was a gorgeous day.

More to come...

But for now, a recap of his past two years in pictures.

What tremendous JOY he has brought us.

God knew exactly what we needed when He gave us Tanner.

world water day!!! {seriously...don't miss it!}

Today is an incredible day. A day each of us can come together and be a part of something bigger than...well..us!

You can be a super hero of sorts...

Yes...YOU!

My friend, Mandy, is doing a fun raffle on her blog and each bid gets us one step closer to training another well mechanic and gets you one step closer to getting a fantastic prize! 

Tragically, 1/3 of all wells drilled in the last 20 years are now broken. Often there's no tools, spare parts, or trained mechanics to fix them.

So we’re proud to partner with Water for People, to help expand and accelerate their well mechanics program across rural India. This is the most effective way to ensure people have sustainable access to clean water.

OUR HUGE GOAL: empower 186 people to become well mechanics in India. Every $550 we raise helps one mechanic receive:

*Training classes

*Tools and spare parts

*A one-year stipend to help an entrepreneur launch their business.

And here's a really cool part: One well mechanic will care for 50 wells which will ensure clean water for 5,000 people!

Be Awesome.  DO IT!!

The best part is you don't even have to be local to win some of the awesome prizes.  I'm donating photo shoots for the locals but some of my other favorites are these great TravelBaby Print Flashcards by Kojo Designs (which you are guaranteed to win if you just bid on them!)

There are great prizes at every price range.  But seriously, in the end, it's not really about the prizes. It's about changing lives.

So go on...make a difference.  Every dollar counts... in fact, TODAY, we need THIS THERMOMETER to get to $33,000 to receive a $25,000 match!!  We can do it!!

Shoot those little webs of hope by donating here or go to Mandy's blog to donate for the raffle.  

Empower.

Give hope...

 and CLEAN WATER to thousands.

snow days

I feel like we have had quite a bit of snow lately.  I love it.  I've always loved Colorado snow and it is one of the things I missed most while living in North Carolina.  Colorado snow is the best because it lasts a day or two and then the sun is shining again.

These pictures were from one of our first snows in December.  

We have one little boy who loves it...

    

and one little boy who isn't really a big fan.

One little boy who is awfully timid with the white stuff...

and one that can't seem to get enough of it.

The boys attempted a snowman...

but those first snowmen are full of the leaves that weren't raked up in time...and a certain participant who wasn't exactly thrilled to be helping.

Hopefully Tanner will enjoy the snow a little more next year.

I know his big brother will want a buddy to play with.  

Until then,  I'm glad we've had one little boy who loves it...

it's just too bad his mommy doesn't love to get everyone dressed and ready to play in it!

It's almost always worth the effort though.

And on a side note (sort of) ...

I can't believe how much older Hunter is looking in these pictures!  He has grown so much this year.  His personality and stature seem to grow by the minute.

I am desperately trying to burn all these sweet memories into my mind...I know they will pass all too soon.

Just like the seasons.

thoughts on january

January was...emotional, stressful, and exhausting.

No one really enjoyed it at our house.

To make a really loooooong story short...

At the beginning of January, Michael came down with a crazy virus. 

It was attacking the muscles in his arms and legs.  There were days where he could not grip a gallon of milk, walk, or use his fingers.  

It was weird.  

It was scary.

Doctors seemed a bit baffled and took his blood and checked for lots of crazy things. 

In the end they decided it had to have been a virus.  It was about a 2 week long ordeal.  

I remember clearly the day he went outside and walked around with the boys and threw a ball to them.  

It was a huge sigh of relief.  

"He is going to be okay." "He will be able to play with his kids again." "He will be able to work."

He struggled to get down on his knee for this photo...

That next Monday he was finally ready to get back to work.  He got out of his car and something happened to his back.  He was in so much pain he could hardly walk.  

Two days later, he missed his step and fell down our entire flight of stairs.  

Xray, MRI, herniated discs, chiropractor, physical therapy, exhaustion.  

I know this all sounds a bit dramatic but it was a very scary season that felt like an eternity.

It was literally one thing after another.

He is doing much better now and we have finally found things that seem to be helping/working.

I've discovered a lot about myself over the last month and a half.  

How I handle stress, how selfish and unloving I can be, how I want my life to always be easy.  

Ugh.  That was not fun to write.

But, the truth is, although this has not been a great experience for any of us I am thankful for the areas that God is working in each of our lives.  

So that's what we have been up to.  Part of the reason why I have been so quiet on this blog.

But we are moving on, Michael is making progress, and we are hoping that we have learned something valuable through it all.  

That was January.

valentines day {2012}

 Valentines Day was a lot like any other day for us this year.  

But we managed to do a few fun things. 

A quick little heart banner craft and some quick pics...

The kids weren't really in the mood but a few forced smiles later and we were ready to continue on with our day.

We learned a long time ago that going out on Valentines Day resulted in total chaos and loooooong waits everywhere. 

We started a tradition a few years ago of getting a heart-shaped pizza from Papa Murphys (take and bake). 

Tonight, I put a blanket on the floor and we enjoyed our heart pizza "picnic" style. We watched  "Dolphin Tale" with the kids and enjoyed our time together. No pics of that.  I was too busy keeping pizza hands on the blanket and not every other surface in the family room. 

We didn't make it through the entire movie.  All the sugar that had been consumed earlier made it difficult for the munchkins to sit still and focus..especially since the movie wasn't really geared for a toddler and 4 year old.  Michael and I finished it after we got the kids to bed and I do highly recommend it.

Overall, a great day...

but very bummed that Hunter woke up about a half hour after going to bed with what seems to be a lovely head cold. 

sigh.

Hoping to get caught up on a few posts and back to regular blogging soon. 

We have been processing a lot lately and feeling like we've been surviving life instead of living it.

Keeping our heads above water has proved to be a little difficult but i think we are finally swimming upstream and seeing a little ray of sunshine.   

Thankful for this Valentines Day and the reminder of how much love we have.

"We love because He first loved us."
1 John 4:19

merry christmas

Lots of catching up to do on this little ol' blog.

But for now...

wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas.

superheroes {halloween}

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The superheroes came, the superheroes saved the day, and the superheroes ate a lot of candy.  

That's how it went down.

We started out the evening with a quick visit to see Great Annie.

Tanner Superman led the way...

Once inside, the boys filled their buckets with yummy candy and Tanner tried to eat every piece he was given.  He didn't quite understand the "fill your basket up and eat it later" deal.

After a quick visit we headed over to my sister's house to trick-or-treat with the cousins.

It was pretty chilly out and Tanner still wasn't really understanding how it all worked.  He would get a piece of candy and throw a fit if we wouldn't let him sit down and eat it.  After a few houses we put him in the wagon and he was perfectly content sucking on his lollipop while the rest of the gang continued without him.

Hunter was a little afraid of one boy that was by us and decided he was done after a few blocks.

Trick-or-treating was very short lived this year...

and that was ok by me :)

It was still such a fun night with family.

I think Hunter enjoyed the whole "Spiderman thing" quite a bit...

The next night he prayed,

"Dear  Lord, thanks for my mom and dad and Tanner.  And thank you for Spiderman.  And thank you that I am Spiderman.  And that I am a superhero.  And that I saved the day...  In your praisewee {how he says precious} name. Amen."

ha ha ha.

And that, folks, was our Halloween 2011.