Over Due....

This summer has been much busier than I had anticipated and when I get busy things like blogging fall to the way side. So here is Gwendolyn's belated 2nd birthday post.


The pretty birthday girl...

big brother who was just as excited

siblings!

Time to open some presents...

and then try them on of course! (she's my little shoe baby)

OH! The excitement!!! funny part? she picked this out for herself the night before. Sad part? It didn't survive a month, Gabriel dumped a bottle of hair de-tangling spray on it and it no long plays music like it should.

But on to the feasting! They were waiting so patiently I had to capture it. :)

She didn't blow, just dove right in and started licking, don't worry I wished something nice for her :)

Brother was careful not to get anything on his "pink strap", his name for this particular tie.

mmmmmm....it's too yummy not to eat with your hands! who has time for a fork?

We used some small tea cups my mom gave us for the milk, I look forward to the tea parties we shall have in the future.

The sweet girl even offered to clear her dishes!

After getting cleaned up it was time to play

And so passed the day when my baby turned 2.


As for all the other things keeping us busy...
We threw a beautiful bridal shower for my dear friend Jessica, you can read about it here on my sister Emily's blog. we spent 4th of July with family, I turned 24. Jessica and Brandon's wedding weekend went wonderfully, if you want to see pictures click here and here. She was stunning and the photographers were awesome! you really should go look.
We spent the week with my Brother Nole and his family then had a bridal shower for my little sister Erin. I don't have any pictures of that because it was Emily who was taking pictures. But I'm sure I'll share them on here eventually, along with her wedding photos, as the wedding is next weekend! And I believe that is a sufficiently long catching up post! :D

....

Matthew 5:4
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.


I have not blogged about this till now, mainly because I just wasn't ready. I've tried to write a post about it several times and always end up deleting it. But I think today's the day...
On March 23 I was at my parents home with all my siblings, we had just finished a weekend of many emotions, tears, hugs and general family bonding due to things I won't go into at the moment. We woke up to the news that my cousin Michael Haynes had been in a car crash and was in the hospital. the other driver was killed on the scene. as hours and then days passed we learned that he had been hit by a drunk driver going well over 100 MPH who was driving on the wrong side of the road. Michael was in a coma but fighting for life and things were starting to feel hopeful. On March 27 he passed away suddenly. He leaves behind his dear wife Tawny and their two precious children, Taryn (3) and Elias (17 months); parents, siblings, in-laws, nieces and nephews, aunts and uncles, cousins and countless friends and co-workers as well who are deeply touched by his passing and share in the grief with his family.
Through this, my biggest comfort has been knowing he is in heaven with our Lord Jesus Christ, and witnessing the strength God has blessed Tawny with. In the weeks following her husband's passing she has not been idle, she is making a stand against drunk driving and all involved in the choices made when such things happen.
Here is a recent radio interview she did to make her voice heard...
It's a beautiful life
I hope you'll take a minute and listen, I personally bawled through the first half, but tears are no stranger to me the past couple months.
Michael, we miss you.
Tawny, I love you, you and your children are in my prayers daily. I am so proud of you and amazed at your strength. You are truly glorifying the Lord in these difficult circumstances and I know He will bless your faithfulness and efforts to affect a change.


Psalm 55:22
Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you;he will never let the righteous fall.

Gabrie's birthday part 1

Yesterday was my little man's 4th birthday. He was pretty excited to open all his gifts from the grandparents but had to wait till daddy came home so we started him off in the morning with our gift, a superman cape!



And of course he had to run about and give it a testing. I chose not to put and S on it so that if in the future he'd like to pretend it's something else he can. and at this point the sheer fact that it's red seems to be enough for him. :)




Then once daddy came home we had dinner and birthday brownies! Gabriel loves being sang to, I think it's possibly his favorite part. He gets so excited, it's darling :)

And then he got to wish and blow, it took a few tries but he got it eventually.

Another favorite is licking the candles...

All this time Gwen had been favorably eying the brownies in hopes of a taste of the sugary confection.

Which she did get to have...

Then the gift opening commenced.

All in all it was a pleasant birthday. short and sweet.

However if you happened to notice, this post is labeled part 1. The reason is that his friend Ellie had her birthday today and we are all getting together on Sat for a joint celebration. So, stay tuned...

...He is faithful

I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations. Psalm 89:1


I don't have a lot to say today, only because my mind is full and I haven't been able to think on it all long enough for it to come out yet.
However, I am overwhelmed by the peace Christ gives us in all situations, so long as we ask for it. I'm just feeling thankful today for God's love and faithfulness to those he loves. For all that he has blessed my life with through family and friends.
And right now especially, for my dear beloved husband.

Oh come, let us sing to the LORD;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
For the LORD is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
Psalm 95:1-3

just a couple more

A couple more pictures. and sorry i'm not talking much, still getting my house back in order after being away. i'm also finally working on some fall projects and decorating the house. will post pics of all that when it's done.
enjoy! :)

It's a long one....

Well, it's been some time since I have posted so i have a bit of catching up on life to do.

To start, my husband is still away and I miss him a lot!
(isn't he cute! this pic. is old but I love it!)

Shortly after he left we headed up to our beloved Hume Lake.
The day we arrived it began to snow and dropped quite a lot, I should have taken a picture of it then , however, it was rather cold outside and i chose to stay by the fire in the comfort of my home. :) But Gabriel and his papa braved the elements in order to keep the porch free enough to walk on. We could hardly bring him inside despite the Blue lips. :) Perhaps kids don't get cold like we do. lol! As you can see, it was quite a bit of snow.
While there we celebrated Gabriel's 3rd birthday with the family, cousins etc...He loved having everyone sing to him! We hadn't done anything big party wise yet.

Here they are, the elder of the cousins,
Avery Bay the oldest by about a month, Isaac who's only 10 days older than Gabe, and Gabriel.
After the party we went sledding!
What else happened while we were gone? well, my little sister Erin turned 18! She is on the left, on the right is my other sister Emily, aren't they both beautiful! :)
ok, maybe a little goofy too but they make life fun!
We took pictures with great grandpa! This is only half of his brood of great grand babies!
Here is Gwendolyn with her great grandpa and cousin Zachariah

She figured out how to get up on her knees!

And had her first taste of baby food... hmmm, maybe not so great?
Gabriel practiced his piano...
or at least enjoyed banging away:)

And we discovered he has a gift for imitations....lol!
Now we are home and have been busy with daily life.
but hey, Gwen decided that baby food wasn't so bad after all!