Water Fun!

I forgot I had these pictures on my cell phone:

This boy LOVES water... the other day it was raining HARD and Luke THREW the biggest fit to go "outsi"... I found myself saying "No, Luke... I don't want you to get sick"... I guess at some point, we all sound like our Mothers :)

First 3 word Sentence

(While coloring with chalk on the patio, Luke threw a piece and broke it)

Brent: You broke it.

Luke: I broke it.

Who Hoo!!! Did he seriously change "you" to a personal pronoun?!!! My little genius :)

Happy Father's Day 2010!

What a fun Father's Day! It was fun to celebrate Brent and how wonderfully he has transitioned into Daddy this past year! We are truly lucky to have him in our lives!

Friday, daycare had Donuts with Dad:

We went to dinner at Fudruckers! Benihana was our original plan, but half way there, we realized that is not the stage of life we are in! Ha!

Then, we went over to Bass Pro to check out the Fish... Luke saw this shark across the way and got as stiff as a board... it took him awhile to warm up, but we weren't leaving until he touched it!

Yay!

My boys!

Father's Day kiss

Coloring after nap time:

Building ramps and zooming EVERY car in the house down it before bedtime:

I love my boys!

How to Pray For Your Child- June

Growing up, I took comfort in knowing that my parents were praying to God on my behalf. They still do! My mom sent me an article (from BSF) that breaks apart 12 ways that I can specifically pray for Luke this year.

I am choosing to go out of order this month on my topic of prayer—I feel I haven’t been giving this foundational topic enough time in my heart for Luke… it is:

Know Jesus Christ as Savior early in life. (Psalms 63.1; 71:17; 2 Timothy 3:15)

Heavenly Father,
It is my utmost desire for Luke to know you personally. It is my prayer of all prayers- what makes me well up in tears- when I think of Luke’s eternity in (or out of) your presence. I know I am not alone in this prayer because you too desire Luke to choose you! So, I pray for a receptive heart- that Luke understand your sacrifice for him and that early on he grasps this inclusive relationship (whosoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life- Jn. 3:16, and exclusive relationship “I am THE way THE truth and THE life. NO ONE comes to the Father except through me.”- Jn. 14:6. So that Luke is not condemned. “…but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.” -Jn. 3:18. Help him to understand that there are not multiple ways to be saved as the world would have him believe. Make these verses very clear to Luke. And Lord, once he KNOWS you, please impress on his heart that it is not enough for him to believe in you—even Satan believes in you. Would you give Luke a desire to SERVE you out of thankfulness for your saving grace, and not out of obligation. Give him full understanding of your words “It is by GRACE you have been saved, through FAITH—and this is not from yourself, it is the GIFT of God- not by works, so that no one can boast.” Eph 2:8 And put love in his heart toward you so that he is obedient to your call upon his life. “If you love me you will obey what I command.” -Jn. 14:15. I pray you enjoy a relationship with Luke that makes you well pleased and I pray he experience true joy in your presence. Thank you for not leaving us alone- thank you for being so personal that you go after every lost soul- especially Luke's! –Ezekiel 34:11-16.
In Jesus Name,
Amen.

Jump!

This Aggie is going to give you a crick in your neck :)

Childrens Museum

We went to the Children's Museum with some friends last weekend... Luke had a BALL! They really had everything a little boy could want! I think they had a grocery store with check out lines for the girls, but Luke walked right past that :)

Water!

Digging for T-Rex

Good friends are THE BEST!

Bowling

"Wait"

"Wait"

"Fall Down!"

I am trying to upload a video here, so check back :)

Bounce House Fun!

A few weeks ago, we got to celebrate our sweet friend, Maggie's 3rd birthday! Luke L-O-V-E-D the bounce house-- by the end of the night (9:00!), he was bouncing with the big kids!

He has fun exploring big kid toys too! He loved Mag's barbie car! Once he found the accelerator, he drove it into the ground!

I think this picture is so cute of all of the guys wishing they had a cool car like that when they were kids! Ha!

Happy birthday Maggie! We love you!

Is Luke a Lefty?

Luke seems to be using his left hand more than his right these days....

But just when I think he is a lefty, he switches hands! I guess time will tell!

Luke wanted to drink the milk:)

Left:

Right:

How To Pray For Your Child- May

Growing up, I took comfort in knowing that my parents were praying to God on my behalf. They still do! My mom sent me an article (from BSF) that breaks apart 12 ways that I can specifically pray for Luke this year.


This month: Have an attitude of Christian morality and responsibility in all his interpersonal relationships (Romans 14:21, 1 Cor. 13:4-5, 1 Tim 4:12)


Dear Jesus,

Christian morality and responsibility is such a hard thing for me to pray for-- to me this is an innate concept that is almost woven into character over time through choices made. So I would begin by asking you, Lord, that you give Luke opportunities to exercise responsibility with others. That is hard for me to pray because praying that means difficult times for my boy where hopefully he makes decisions based off of the morals that, with your guidance, Brent and I instill in him. Give Luke a discerning Spirit so that he can divide real relationships from fake ones- truth from lies. I pray that you keep him pure. In a society filled with bad examples of unhealthy relationships would you guard his heart, his mind, and his body placing in him the true understanding of what love is- would you make him patient and kind? Would you allow him to learn patience from his Daddy and kindness from his Mommy? Can you stretch his earthly parents to model for him how to act in relationships to glorify You? If you bless Luke with siblings in the future, I pray you make them the best of friends- that they love each other and look out for one another- that they would understand the depth of "brotherly love". And if you bless Luke with a wife, I pray she love him deeply and that she serves their family in a way that promotes your Name. I pray you put in Luke a desire to lead by moral example in his family, in his work (school or job), and in his life. Most importantly, when Luke is out of sync in his relationship with You, I pray he feels the disconnect and returns to You humbly. Encourage him in his relationship with You that he bear spiritual fruit so that he will know he is in step with his Maker. Remind him when insults are hurled at him, because of the morals he chooses, that the world hated You first- this is not his home. You said the greatest commandment is love, so Lord, I pray that when Luke chooses to honor this command that he be blessed over and above what he can ever ask or imagine. Bless, bless, bless my boy for choosing the high road as it a hard thing to do in this life.
In Your Name I pray,
Amen.

Hawaii

Luau:

After the luau, the dancers came out to take pictures... Brent was in the bathroom and I thought he would miss the photo op or at least not humor me... he walked out and I told him "Hurry! Get in a picture with them before they leave!" He jumped up there so fast it cracked me up... I thought I would have to coerce him, but apparently not :)

Preparing the pig in the Imu for the Luau earlier that morning:

Volcano National Park... it didn't dawn on me that we we standing on an active volcano until I saw these all around us:

Our largest disappointment of the trip was the lava flows at dusk... we drove 2 hours out of the way then walked 2 more miles through this:

We wanted to see lava flowing into the ocean up close and personal... I mean, I wanted a facial off of the smoke is how close I wanted to get... 2 weeks ago, the lava covered the lookout point, so we could not walk down to the beach. This was the lava in the distance:

At the resort:

Self portrait of our tans on our last day:

Contrasted with my day one non-tan! Hawaii smelled incredible... this is a Plumeria flower. I didn't learn until later that "taken" women wear them on the left ear- oopsie!

Sea turtles swam in and out of the resort's lagoon from the ocean-- we counted 10 in one day. Brent touched one when we were snorkeling... he later learned that is illegal :)

We played mini golf- this is real grass, not turf! Super soft.

Farmers Market in Kona:

Eating Malisadas at Tex Bakery:

Akaka Falls near Hilo:

Roots of the trees in the forest:

Natives cliff jumping at the "Boiling Pots" above Akaka Falls. Each pool has a waterfall feeding it from above:

Local beach:

Petroglyphs:

Our favorite thing we did was swim with dolphins in the wild... we opted not to do the 20 minute resort play time and go out on a chartered boat with a marine biologist-- she said we could "Draw them in with our love"... kind of nutty, but we saw hundreds!

Dolphins are most active at night while they hunt- during the day they sleep in "pods"- half of their brain stays active, so they are still swimming and jumping, etc.

Next to the dolphins, our favorite thing was hiking Waipio Valley-- the tallest waterfall in Hawaii is located there along with a black sand beach. It had that authentic Hawaiian feeling, like we were discovering new land for the first time! This is the lookout point where most people come to look out then go home...

Not us... we wanted to stand on the black sand beach! The "road" down was at a 25% incline-- it dropped 800 ft in one mile. We couldn't go in our rental car as it would void our contract, so we walked it.

This is about half way down-- there is a guy in a red kayak in the river if you look carefully and Taro (sort of like purple potatoes) fields in the top left corner.

This was the road at the half way point-- also about the time I looked at Brent with a look like You-Know-We-Have-To-Go-Out-The-Way-We-Came-In-Right? I can give him this look now because after 5 years, I can't fake my "passion" for sports-- I did in the beginning, I will admit... I joined a flag football team to make Brent think I was sporty when we were dating... he even bought me cleats-- I acted like I would wear them out... I knew better :)

We almost turned around because Brent knows my limits :) But, I dug down deep and knew we may never have this opportunity again!

I am glad we kept going because around the bend, we saw this!

Then this:

We walked on the beach, just us-- no one else on the whole beach! It is black from lava breaking down over time and washing ashore.

At the mouth of the river that empties into the ocean, is this is a burial ground of Hawaiian kings from the 1300's. It had a very eerie feeling- it was very, very quiet-- we were in awe of the beauty, for sure.

After soaking in all of the sights, we headed back out... it was brutal! I even thought about picking this wild berry for sustenance! Ha!

I would pick out a land mark and try to get to it... most times, I would get half way and stop... I only snapped at Brent's nudging once, so I consider it successful!

Our favorite dinner on the patio at Merimans-I had a basil mojito that was delicious!:

Palm trees from a hammock:

Hammock feet shot:

How did this get in there :)

The last day, our flight left at 9:30 at night, so we spent most of the day waiting at the Queens Marketplace... as luck would have it, there was entertainment that kept us in the Hawaiian spirit until the last minute!

We returned home refreshed and ready to be the best parents we can be! It was a fun get away to be around my best friend non stop for 7 days with no distractions! Granna kept super busy... all of the laundry was done, the house was clean, the YARD WAS MOWED... she even filled up the kitchen with food so I wouldn't have to go to the store for a week! I was spoiled rotten and loved every minute!