the story of the stomach bug and the boy with no clothes

So off we went to an Open House at Ben and Melissa's... we were just pulling into our parking spot when Justus threw up all over his clothes - really all over his clothes - no choice but to take them off. So in we went... Justy sporting his diaper, socks, and sneakers.

...but soon after whatever had hit him moved to the other end and his diaper was quite soiled....no problem, though, of course we have a back-up.

Yet soon after the back-up diaper was terribly unusable as well.... which left justus with no diaper and no wearable clothes! what to do for the way home?

Create a plastic bag/duct tape/ napkin "diaper-all" of course!

it did the trick, and boy did he look good.....

just a taste of our awesome trip in pictures....

its finally time to go!!!

i've got nothing to say....

mr. independent doesn't like this hiking situation....

Simeon's favorite part of each hike was the snack....

Telluride. amazing.

wow

"I'm the king of the rock!"

me and baby climbed a mountain!!

i wish i could say it was easy....

but oh so worth it=)



"I'm not a cowboy", he says.

"I'm just a basketball player riding a horse."

the ends of good things are bittersweet for me.

i felt such thankfulness knowing that i was coming back

home with the 3 that are my world...

we still get to be together.

those mountains.....wow.

thank you my God for Colorado!

mountains here I come!!

we're leaving in two days for vacation in Colorado.
i have been daydreaming about being in the mountains for months, and it's almost here.
i love mountains - so much so that they are really my comparison for all euphoric experiences in my life...anything that just really feels beyond explaining... the way that it makes me feel deep down - i compare it to being in the presence of, or even better yet, on the top of a great mountain. and soon i will be surrounded by them for 9 days. thank you God.
i've learned that having expectations is never good for me - the best that can happen is that they will be fulfilled, which isn't really that amazing if that's what I had already planned out and hoped for. it's so much freer to leave room for God to surprise me.
so I do my best to live life expectation free. This isn't always easy, yet I like it.
I am going into this vacation without many expectations - except for the mountains of course.
They will surely not disappoint me.
my boys are in their room pretending to take a bath in their pretend chimney. other than the occasional injury, which sounds tragic yet can be fixed with a mommy kiss, they play together great these days. the chimney game is a favorite right now - i think it stemmed from the big bad wolf story, yet it's taken on a life of its own.
I love to just listen to them talk and laugh and imagine.
we're hoping to move soon, and just these past few days I have had a few drastic emotional ups and downs - finding houses that I loved and briefly and happily imagined our family in (which of course was perfect in my mind) - only to shortly thereafter find out that it won't work.
I think to myself "why do I have to go for it 100% in my mind - can't i hold back a little bit and then the disappointment won't be so strong?"
but i think that's just life, and that's just me. as long as these ups and downs don't really shake me. I do have faith. I trust that God knows the big picture, and He's taking care of us.
If our finances, and Tom's job, and our house was all easy and figured out, then we wouldn't so easily feel the need for our faith the way we desperately do. I don't think I would trade that. No, I wouldn't. What would life be without active faith in our God? Faith that deepens....
Justus' vocabulary has exploded this summer, he tells us everything on his mind and it's precious. My favorite right now is "I wove woo Mom, I wove woo", (strong emphasis on the word "woo"), said while pointing straight at me.
=)
We are excited for airplanes, for mountains, for new places, for seeing old friends.... cooler weather, good quality time with family, hikes, lots of cribbage, fun music in our rental car....
we're so excited.
Colorado or bust!!

a song

Fool with a Fancy Guitar - Andrew Peterson

It's so easy to cash in these chips on my shoulder
So easy to loose this old tongue like a tiger
It's easy to let all this bitterness smolder
Just to hide it away like a cigarette lighter

It's easy to curse and to hurt and to hinder
It's easy to not have the heart to remember
That I am a priest and a prince in the Kingdom of God

I've got voices that scream in my head like a siren
Fears that I feel in the night when I sleep
Stupid choices I made when I played in the mire
Like a kid in the mud on some dirty blind street

I've got sorrow to spare, I've got loneliness too
I've got blood on these hands that hold on to the truth
That I am a priest and a prince in the Kingdom of God

Well I swore on the Bible to not tell a lie
But I've lied and lied
And I've crossed my heart and I hoped to die
And I've died and died

But if it's true that You've gathered my sin in your hand
And you cast it as far as the east from the west
If it's true that you put on the flesh of a man
And you walked in my shoes through the shadow of death

If its true that you dwell in the halls of my heart
Then I'm not just a fool with a fancy guitar
No, I am a priest and a prince in the Kingdom of God

In seasons of life like this one I'm in, what's really in my heart seems to most easily be identified and expressed through songs. Right now, this is the song for me.
Right now my thoughts are often confused, paradoxical, shifting, aching, yet deep down my heart has a death grip on God's truth.
These lyrics, for me right now, describe life as a follower of God and I love them and listen to them daily.
please read these, soak them in.
oh, we are not without hope.
it's beautiful, it's true, and it's really all we've got.