God Moves Mountains

It was a crazy, busy weekend here! Erik and I swapped places with my mom on Friday. She arrived to spend the weekend with the boys and we drove to her place in Puyallup to be the moving crew. It was absolutely awesome the way our brothers and sisters in Christ loved and supported us, providing everything including Teriyaki lunch, much needed organizational skills, outstanding spatial awareness, strong arms, strong backs and everything in between. We started work on Saturday at about 10:30am and the truck was finished by 2pm, including the lunch break! Thank you to Brice, Dan, Cathy, and Mark for being servants like Jesus.
Erik and I hit the road and headed south. We arrived home a little after 5pm to MUCH excitement regarding the 16 foot moving truck that Daddy backed into our driveway. We locked it up and let it rest for the evening, enjoying an early bedtime ourselves.
Sunday dawned bright and glorious with Pacific Northwest January beauty: solid cloud cover and steady rain. Our work force for the day was comprised of Chelsea, a former student, and her boyfriend, Eli. Long story about why that was it. But I just gave my concerns to the Lord and knew that He would get the glory. And He did! We all drove to Canby and after about two hours we were 85% done. Yes, it rained a lot, but it felt so good after carrying stuff up the stairs to my mom's new place. We enjoyed a fabulous, homemade lunch courtesy of a fellow BSF leader who lives in Canby. We released the kids to go home and relax. Another worker arrived, a man we had never met and I only know because he is the boyfriend of another BSFer. He and Erik finished the last bits off the truck and from the mini-van. And the moving part of the move was over! The best part was that Erik and I had huge smiles on our faces the entire time. We are so excited to have my mom closer, and her new place is so sweet. I'm beyond thankful to God for providing so beautifully for her and us. It's pretty amazing.
Before the pictures, another shout out to Grandma and Grandpa. We love you!
And a wave to Ellen. She's recovering from surgery and currently has a recliner that is stronger than she is...strength will rise as we wait on the Lord, friend. Be encouraged! :-)
And now...the pics.

Last week the boys decided the vacuum cleaner attachments were excellent firefighter equipment. Check out the pockets.

Luke helped Paul get his gear into his pockets. Paul was delighted!

Sunny Day!

The weather here is simply lovely. Luke skipped nap, after waking up this morning at 5:45 am. I decided our four walls were closing in, and the weather would more than permit us to be reacquainted with our backyard. The boys enjoyed the play structure first. Paul discovered something rather delightful. See picture below. Next came the riding toys, followed closely by the digging toys. I smell baths coming.
Before the pictures, a few shout outs. Greetings to Grandma and Grandpa in Hong Kong. We got your update and the boys think the noodles look good. Extra special greetings to Ellen Sabie, a faithful Bangsund Blog Follower. You are in our prayers. We love you so much and know that Jesus is holding you close.
And now, the pics...

"Bright!" He's a mole, like his daddy.

There's something different about this...

I can reach the top now! Such a big boy.

Yes, I posed this shot. I couldn't resist the cuteness.

Happy Brothers

Happy New Year!

I didn't make any resolutions this year, but I can't help noticing that my blogging has significantly decreased this past year. Perhaps 2010 will see me blogging more and doing less of something else. What should I give up to blog more? How about folding laundry?

We celebrated the coming of the new year with our good friends and their two adorable children. Sadly the only pictures we took are still on my mom's camera, which is no longer here. I can tell you that the children all enjoyed playing together and when the hour came to count down (7:42pm PST), the only one left in the room was the youngest two-year-old. The four year olds wanted NOTHING to do with this particular brand of crazy. My two-year-old had already melted and been put to bed. Oh well. Maybe next year. I think I need to sell it more. "Look kids! Sparkly juice and noise makers! Let's count backward from ten to zero and yell Happy New Year!" Wow. That is a goofy tradition.

Since I don't have pictures of New Years, I'll share more snow pictures. The evening of the last post, Erik, Luke and I were able to get out and really enjoy the snow. It only lasted through the next day, so I was really glad we went out even though it was Luke's bedtime. He slept pretty well once we did get him in and warmed up. The adventure ended when I made a snow angel for Luke, unwittingly dropping my camera from my coat pocket into the snow. I realized my error while removing layers in our entryway. My mom, who had watched the snow angel insanity, gave me the idea that I should go look there. Yep. Buried under about three inches of snow. It still works. I was kinda hoping I broke it because it is an ancient machine, nearing five years of age, that has been dropped, kicked, stepped on and in all other ways abused. Apparently it has a few more drops left in it. If you see my camera in the driveway, LEAVE IT! Something tells me my Volvo can get the job done right. Here are the pics!

Building some snow people!

Luke helps out by throwing snow all around.

Standing with partially finished snow people, holding snow. Very happy boy.

We went for a short walk down the street before going inside. Luke brought this snow along and ate it while we walked. Cute.