Pray for Tara and give...

Please join me in praying for Tara as she runs The Twin Cities Marathon this weekend for the starving children in Haiti. Read all about it in this Star Tribune article. And please consider supporting her selfless act by adding a donation for the children of Haiti.

I never cease to be amazed and inspired by this wonderful family!

What on Earth!?!?

OK, so what happened to me and my blog!?!? I don't really have a good explanation. I didn't want to just keep asking you to pray for my house to sell. I wanted to have some fun exciting updates, but they just weren't coming. So I think I was waiting for something great to share with you...

Today I decided it is time for me to write again! I don't have any exciting news to share on the house front. The sign is still out in the yard. It is an emotional roller coaster. My heart so desires for our home to sell only because of what is in store for our children's future. But we know that God is Sovereign and we wait on Him. I try to draw strength from Him with each day that passes. Some days I feel incredibly weary. But I must press on with life. Even though I feel like we are in the midst of transition, I look forward to the day that I can tell you all that God has answered our prayers and we have a buyer...but until that day comes I have some other news to share with you.

While I do not take delight in someone losing their job...I am incredibly grateful that the Lord heard our heart cries. The lady that was in charge of our adoption from Haiti finally had to step down. I have no idea what the details are on the earthly realm, but I know that God did it. It was a direct answer to so many people praying. When someone in a position of authority and leadership is profusely lying, it can not continue to go on. The time finally came for the truth of the situation to be realized and something done. We had asked the board to have her step down when we lost the boys over two years ago. It was disheartening to see that no change was being made even after numbers of families were losing the children they loved and dreamed into their families. But what were we to do!?! We couldn't make anything happen, but we knew there was ONE that could. And we prayed and trusted Him!

I share this with you because I know there are others that pray for something so earnestly. Days pass, weeks pass, years pass with seemingly no answers. But know that God never stops hearing our prayers, He never stops caring for our aching hearts, He hears and He works in ways that we won't understand this side of heaven. So please keep petitioning the Lord with the cries of your heart and KNOW that He is working!

I LOVE these guys!!!!!

Anyone that knows me, knows how much I adore old barns. So when we went for a picnic in the park and my eye caught this barn I asked Matt to drive back to it. It was off the beaten path, but oh so worth it! The kids filed out of the van like they are used to doing as I grab my camera. Hudson was in his glory, running anywhere and everywhere. Matt chased him all over the place. The last ditch effort was Matt leaping over my head to get Hudson to look and smile! IT WORKED!!!! Even though Matt was out of breath, it was totally worth the effort!

I should really post some of the out takes, otherwise this looks too easy and you might not believe me. :)

Memories, Memories, Memories...

Well, well...we're home from our annual extended family camping trip! And what an experience it was. We have lucked out for 7 years with good weather for these excursions...so I guess it was about time to get dumped on. Rain, rain, and more RAIN was precisely what happened to us this time around. We managed to come home with 5 soggy and crabby kids, 2 dirty dogs, 2 bug infested tents, 10 soaking sleeping bags, 2 suitcases full of drenched clothing, and memories that will last a lifetime! :D

Just when we were about to leave the fun to come home early the sun managed to come out. We dried out our bedding as best we could and crawled back into our tents for one more night. The final day of any camping trip ends up being the best weather and that held true. The sun shone bright above as we packed up all of our belongings.

We always have a blast with Matt's side of the family on these annual rendezvous...and this year was no different. I laughed until my side hurt and ate until I wanted to go to sleep for a week. We enjoyed a huge family game of kickball followed by a huge water fight in the lake...where I think I may have beat Matt for the first time ever.

Look at the mischief on that adorable face!

Due to the kennels being full for the holiday weekend it was our *ahem* "pleasure" to bring our two dogs along. The first night we were up most of the night not due to the children but due to our dogs! They decided 2am was a fun time to wrestle...then they got out of their kennel...and Mocha wanted to sleep with the kids in their tent. It was some good times!

Mocha was thrilled to be camping in the rain!

On of the most exciting memories from the weekend was that our little girl learned to ride a bike without training wheels. We couldn't manage to get her bike packed with everything else. I felt so bad for her as she watched all the kids ride their bikes around in circles. This girl can be found outside my window on her bike almost everyday we are home...so I knew how much she wished she had it there with her. I asked her if she wanted to try riding her sister's bike...and she excitedly hopped on! It took about two times around the circle and she had it!!! I made Matt take her out again so I could get some pics. :) As I type she is riding past my window back and forth. She is so proud of her new accomplishment...and so am I!

I adore the way Hudson is admiring his big sis here!

No trip is complete without us finding some sort of creature. Abigail informed me today that she is quite certain these creatures are now dead. We are very sorry! But thank you for the photo opportunities that you presented me and the hands on learning that we are able to have for that afternoon, Wee Little Mr. Toad and your feathered friend Miss Baby Birdie.

She was in love with this toad!

Yes, look closely and you can see it's wee little head peaking out while being poked by the kids!

Next year it is our turn to be in charge of the planning...

We are feeling very drawn to book a hotel with a water park...

adoption is hard...

Adoption is hard. It is a continually changing journey that you can't predict. The end result is wonderfully beautiful, don't get me wrong. The Lord changes you through the process. He reveals Himself in unexpected ways. But along the way there can be great pain. It is complicated and intense. Things can happen that you can not understand and they shatter your heart into pieces. I ask you to please pray for our dear friends Brian and Courtney. They are dealing with the devastation of losing two of their kids right now. A little recap--a couple months ago they adopted two children through a disruption--something has now happened and they must return to the previous family. I ask you to cover N and M in your prayers as this is so beyond complicated. And please pray for the entire family and the circumstances surrounding them. I am praying for the Lord to reveal Himself in miraculous ways, and to bring intense peace and comfort.

The only way to get through the pain associated with adoption is to cling to God's Sovereignty!

I LOVE our girl!!!!

Here's our teenager! Gah...that just sounds weird even saying it! Awe man do I love her!

And on a completely unrelated note---Biology camp is now over. Soccer is in full swing. The pool is about ready for us to plunge into. The grill is fired up. I have the makings for smores. A few pitchers of lemonade have been consumed. All I need is a good watermelon and we can officially say summer is here! My youngest dd informed me today that it is now summer so NOW I can buy the popsicles. Shucks...my excuse of "it's not summer yet" no longer will buy me time. Guess the last thing to innogerate summer is to break down and buy the box of freezepops!

We have a teenager!!! Whoa!

Today is our girl's big birthday...she is now a teenager!!!! Over night she matured! She's such a lovely girl and it has been fun to celebrate with her today. We went out and did a shoot with her today...I'll get some pics of her up soon.

I'm in awe of the fact that she is thirteen years old! She loves World War History and Bible trivia. She puts Matt and I to shame with what she knows. We have been incredibly blessed by the Lord with her life.

My *big gig* goes downhill...

One week ago exactly I was on a plane dreaming of the possibilities that were ahead of me for the weekend. I definitely had a memorable experience...just not the one that I was dreaming of!

You will never believe how my weekend went. I got their Friday night...we went out for dinner. In the middle of the night I woke up and started throwing up. I got food poisoning! I was sooooo sick the whole weekend. I pushed through the wedding, sitting down many times because I was spinning so bad. During the dance I was locked in the bathroom laying in there I was so sick. It was absolutely awful! Scarlett was gracious in understanding my situation. The bride was super sweet thanking me for being there even though I was sick. They were such an adorable couple!

I was sooo grateful to come home to my family and be hugged by Matt. I crashed into bed. :) I spent a lot of time on the planes with me and God trying to sort out what I was to learn from it all. Scarlett and I knew right away it was a spiritual battle, but I also know God is Sovereign and there is something for me to learn. This week was a tough one of feeling very defeated, but God is so good! He has renewed me and encouraged me. I came home ready to sell off all my gear and never take pics again. :) I don't want my love of photography to crowd out where the Lord has first called me and that is to my family.

It was such a disappointment that I was sick for the weekend, but inspite of it all I am grateful that I was able to learn some things through it all. One friend told me that I needed to get back on the horse and ride. It was a perfect analogy of what I was feeling.

So I went through and edited some of the pics and they can be seen over on my photography blog.

the life of an adoptive family...

A conversation took place in our home today that sounded like this--

8 yo dd asks, "Mom, when are you going to FL?"

me, "In a few days."

5 yo dd says to 8 yo dd very matter of factly, "She's going to get a baby."

She completely thought that if I was leaving to go to FL there was only one reason. We explained what I was going for, but it took some convincing. She wanted me to come home with a baby girl this time. ;)

God never ceases to AMAZE me!!!!!

I'm sorry I have neglected to post anything new here! I have been overwhelmed with something the Lord has done to bless me and to be honest I just had to let it soak in. :) You ready for this!?!?!?!?

I started following the amazing Scarlett Lillian's photography blog this past winter. I quickly learned that she loved the Lord and was going through a deep valley in life. Her father was battling cancer. Soon after we started exchanging emails the Lord called him home. My heart ached and still does ache for her in the thought of her losing her dad. I rejoice with them that he is well now, yet have cried for their aching hearts. Through all of it the Holy Spirit laid her family so heavily on my heart. I was prompted day and night to pray things over them that were coming directly from the Holy Spirit. I felt so bonded to a complete stranger...but it was coming from the Lord as He was uniting our hearts to each others. We exchanged numerous emails and it was always my honor to keep her covered in prayer. I dreamed of one day making enough money with my photography that I could attend one of her workshops and get to hug her in person. Well, the Lord moved in ways that completely blew me away!

A couple weeks ago I received an email from her asking if I wanted to come second shoot a wedding with her. I was certain that the email was sent to me on accident, until I read something in there about being busy with moving, etc. I thought, "is this for reals?" I called Matt and talked a mile a minute telling him what I just read. My heart was racing and I couldn't believe it. He said very calmly that it was pretty cool and he'd look into getting the time off work so I could go. As the day went on I further convinced myself it was a mistake. She had launched her new website that day and her email crashed...so I was sure it came to me as an accident. I sent Scarlett a message on Face Book explaining how I completely understood she was having email glitches that day and I received an email asking to second shoot for her. I wanted to "reassure" her that I knew it must have come by mistake and that I didn't want it to be awkward for her to have to tell me she wasn't really asking me to come. Well once again, much to my shock...she wrote back "you silly! yes, Laura, i want YOU to come!"

I have been completely overwhelmed and humbled with how God works in ways we could never ask or imagine. I am so incredibly grateful for this opportunity that I can hardly stand it! I'm a mom, people! This stuff just doesn't happen to me. I'm used to staying home and being with the kids...which I LOVE! I teach them, I love them, I guide them, We clean, We cook, We laugh, We dance...but I don't ever get on a plane to fly somewhere by myself. Know what I mean!?!? We aren't the traveling by plane sort of family...well except for the time we got to fly to FL to get our baby boy!!! We go camping. We once in awhile do a get-a-way to a hotel. I've never had a pedicure...no wait, I did have one once at the beauty school, but the girl kept telling me about how her boyfriend beat her up. strange. We live off Matt's income in order for me be to be home with our kids...so those things go to the back burner. And I'm completely fine with that. I'm a dreamer and dream of stuff like this...but I want to be here where God has called me.



I guess that is why I'm so humbled that He is blessing me with this amazing opportunity. You can imagine how excited I am! I've had some intense moments of being flooded with fear and doubt. I know I am not qualified to shoot with such a talented photographer. But I also know that this entire thing is coming from the Lord. I am going in His strength and my confidence is in Him...not myself!

So yea...in a week, I'm letting down the ol' pony tail and getting on that plane to go do this thang!


(photos used with Scarlett Lillian's permission)

Goodbye 7...Hello 8!!!

HapPy BiRthDay to the world's greatest 8 year old!!! I love being your mommy! You bring me so much joy! :D

Mocha, Mocha, Mocha!!!!!!!!!!! (newest member of the fam)

It doesn't make any sense, yet it makes perfect sense...ever felt that way!?!? Our golden retriever would love a buddy, but our house is on the market. It doesn't make perfect sense to add a dog to your family while you are trying to sell your house, I know. But then again, it could take forever for our house to sell.

Last night our friends brought their beautiful Basset Hound, Mocha, over for a visit. We fell in love and she stayed the night! I think we’ll keep her forever. Moses, our Golden Retriever, needs a buddy anyway! (actually they needed to find a new home for her because of their upcoming move…so we didn’t just steal her.) :)


Here she is in all her soulful glory! I introduce you to the newest member of the fam…Mocha!

Can you feel the love????!?!?!?

Aaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!

I DID IT!!! For months I have been working behind the scenes creating new branding, new website and new blog for my photography business. Today I'm nervous and giddy to introduce to you the new and improved Laura Lu Photography site and blog!

I am so grateful for all that the Lord is doing in our lives. I look forward to seeing how He uses me and my photography for His glory!

American Idol

Our five year old informed us at the dinner table last night that our van is from American Idol. "She saw the sign!" We sat there for a moment trying to figure it out and then it clicked. We own a Ford! Gotta love the affect marketing has on kids! :D

So you might want to be jealous of us, cuz yeah...our van is from American Idol!!!!!!

HALLELUJAH

HE IS RISEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The sign is up.

The day has finally come. The realtor just placed the official sign in our yard. I feel totally sad looking through the window at that For Sale sign. I'm so sentimental! I love this house and how the Lord has changed our lives while we've lived here. Please pray that His will will be done in selling it...quickly. Ok, quickly is my will, I know. :)

Introducing my sweet nephew...

Since my sister and her family are displaced from their home and staying with my parents, we had the perfect opportunity to do a shoot with my new nephew Samuel. I hope you enjoy his cuteness!

Flood rescue prayers needed!

My brother in law and his brother had stayed back at their place to man the pumps. However the water came up last night and their house is taking on water. The sandbag dike circling it just can't hold back all this water. They are now waiting to be rescued by boat.

My sister and her children are safe at my parents place. Please pray that my brother in law (Greg) and his brother (Kurt) can get out safely. Pray that the Lord's glory will be manifested through this devastation. Please pray for their family. They fought hard! They did everything they could!!

the run down...

My sister's father in law has pancreatic cancer. They went to do surgery to remove the tumor, but it can't be removed. Now he is trying to recover from an intense surgery knowing that it wasn't removed. Please pray for comfort for him. Please pray for my sister's sweet family as they go through this.

My other sister is getting hit with flooding. They will continue sandbagging their house. It's not looking good. The National Guard has blocked off access to them. Please pray they get plenty of volunteers today and get their wall built and all their belongings moved up.

I spent the night in the ER with Hudson. All of a sudden yesterday he started coughing with a croup cough. He was struggling to breathe last night...so after all of my attempts at helping him breathe here, I took him in. We stayed for most of the night. He wasn't improving after a breathing treatment. They gave him a shot of prednisone. They couldn't decide whether to admit him last night. We decided that I go home with oral prednisone and watch him closely. Please pray that he improves today. It's terrible seeing him struggle. Our town is also getting hit with flooding. So far, our pumps are keeping up.

So there you have it...we've got a little bit of stuff going on around us. The house will wait for now, this stuff takes priority. Please pray!

My house...

has NEVER looked this good! We still have a full weekend of work ahead of us, doing all of the final details before it hits the market...but at least there is light at the end of the tunnel. Please be careful when stopping by...I'm quite certain you will get sent home with something. My mom was priveledged to take home some expired chocolates...which my dad has been enjoying. :)

Our realtor came and looked at the house...we will get his market analysis back soon. I'm sort of nervous about it. I know God's got this all under control...so I'll just keep trusting Him with all of this! Please pray that I can keep my house this clean...that in itself will be a small miracle. :)

Vent Session!

My vaccum is now shooting dirt out rather than sucking it up...I am thoroughly irritated. Right after that happened I pulled my ham out of the oven and some of the juices spilled out. I thought, "I might as well turn the oven to self-clean since the realtor is coming Thurs. morning". I did that and we sat down to eat. All of a sudden there were huge flames in my oven and black smoke billowing out. I froze! Dh ran and grabbed an extingusher. He yelled to me to turn the oven off...which I did. The oven was locked so we couldn't open it to put out the flames. So we sat there and watched them go down after I turned it off. For a good long time after that, the smoke just kept spilling out. We sent the kids outside, opened every window and watched to make sure it didn't flame up again. I've been burning really strong candles to try to absorb the burn smell. I will be scrubbing the wall as best I can before I head out to buy yet another can/color of paint.

Anyway...I am now at the point where I just want to break down and cry. I feel so overwhelmed and I only have a day left before he comes and lists it. I have no clue how I am going to get everything done.

Most Precious Boy Ever...

Keep your Calgon...

I can't use it anyway.

You know how there's that one faucet in your house that drips. You let it go and keep thinking...hmmm, we should fix that. You watch the commercial on tv that adds up all the drops of money that it costs on your water bill and think...hmmm, we should fix that. Your husband gets a job in a different town and you work insanely hard to get the house up to par and think...hmmm, we should fix that leaky faucet.

Yea...so today was the lucky day to fix that stupid leak.

It went from bad, to bad"der", to worse...to we give up! The faucet was so corroded on the pipe that the entire pipe and faucet came off together. nice. i know. We've had the water main off all day. I drove the kids around town to use the toilet. :)

Finally we had a plumber come over tonight and he put a cap on that waterline. He will be back tomorrow to fix the entire thing...please pray that it goes better than today's effort. It is now a huge job of replacing pipe in the wall.

So yea...keep your Calgon...just send me to a spa?!?!

Moral of the story--Let Your Drippy Faucet DRIP!

Who knew...

So here we are in the middle of trying to get everything ready for our realtor to list our house and Matt totally wrecked his ankle this morning during b-ball. Who knew all of the injuries that can occur during men's morning ball? Maybe it is because they play so early that none of them are actually all the way awake. Now there's a thought.

I was feeling so good because we got a lot done over the weekend. My friend came over and helped me paint all day Saturday while my other friend watched the kids all day. They're the best! Thanks, girls! However, we still have a list a mile long on everything else that needs to be done. I'm not sure how I'm going to move furniture out by myself. We wanted to remove some pieces of furniture from some of the rooms in order to get everything looking just right. Guess I'll be moving stuff with my kids help. ugh! I still have another room to paint, caulking hat needs to be done, closets that need to be organized. Blah, blah, blah!

Poor Matt...his ankle looks like a softball sticking out the side. He is in a lot of pain. I took him to the dr., because we were concerned that this time it might be broken. We're glad the x-rays came back normal. He'll just hobble his way around and I'll continue laughing at the way he uses crutches. Don't worry...I'll be serving him up good doses of Advil. :)

Does anybody have any Calgon they want to send me?!?!!?

Desperate Need for Prayers

Please pray for my brother in law's Dad. He is in dire need of a major operation for a tumor that is growing inside of him. There is only one specialist doctor that can perform this surgery. This doctor is so busy that Nick can not get scheduled for this surgery. He has been in the hospital for weeks in severe pain. We need the Lord to move mountains right now to get him the medical attention he is in desperate need of. Please join me in storming the gates of heaven on Nick's behalf. Please also pray for the family as understandably they are having a very difficult time seeing their dad/husband in such awful pain. While we can not understand why all of this is happening we beg you to join us in prayer!

New Auntie

I want to announce to you that I am a new auntie! The Lord has blessed my sister and her husband with a precious baby boy. He was born last week and they are down in the south with him now. He was 9 lbs. 5 oz. and I'm not sure how long. :)



If you feel led to donate to their adoption expenses please make a donation to


Kabekona Community Church
23778 420th St.
Laporte MN 56461



Just include a note who it's for. Then let them know through email to expect it (ndsunavs@yahoo.com).

We haven't seen any pictures yet...so I will post one once we get it. :)

an absence of blogging = stuff goin' on

an absence of blogging usually means something is going on in the blogger's life. so yes, you were right! as many of you have wondered...this here blogger has had some "stuff" going on.

the Lord in His marvelous ways worked in our family again. matt was presented an opportunity to transfer to a different city for his job. through much prayer, weighing the pros and cons, seeking the Lord's perfect will for our family...we made the decision for him to accept the offer. he will begin sometime in march and commute until our house sells. very true to our nature, this all happened in a matter of days. :) it has been intense, but good to have the decision made.

we are excited at the possibilities this new chapter will hold for our family, yet sad about the change. we have been very content here. we love our home, our family, our friends, our church. the driving force behind this decision was what would be best for our kids. this new town we will move to has a large adoption movement. there are many families that have adopted and have the beauty of mixed cultures within them. we visited a church over there before making our final decision and it is the "norm" to have white and black children in the same family. this will be a very positive environment for Hudson and our girls to grow up in. this state has more favorable homeschooling laws which is a huge benefit for our family. there are more opportunities for our girls to be involved in activities there as well. however, my parents live here in the same town as us...so what we are leaving is HUGE. my mom is a retired teacher and helps me with our homeschooling. it is hard to even imagine how i will do it without her help. she is good. real. good. when it comes to teaching kids...she just knows what she is doing and how to relate it in way they completely grasp. i can't really allow myself to think about it or i'll get too sad. :)

we would appreciate your prayers as we get our house ready to sell. i call our home very "lived in". i am here with five kids everyday. one of my kids loves to pull everything and anything that he can out and leave it throughout the house. we are still in the midst of our schooling so our books, projects, papers, etc. are all still out. to be honest, the thought of getting the house ready to sell completely and utterly overwhelms me. i know it will be a good thing. i am so grateful the Lord has blessed me with a husband who is good at organizing these kinds of tasks, because i am not! i get overwhelmed, freeze up and don't know what to do. :)

i had been busy getting things ready to launch with my photography business, but i am putting a hold on that until we get a better grasp of what lies before us.

i'll keep you all posted! and appreciate your prayers very much! we are excited to follow the Lord as He leads our family!

Tournament Time

our tournament is quickly approaching. it's so exciting! will you guys please pray for all of the details to come together...good weather...and a blessed time for our teams? and of course, that the Lord would use this to open people's heart for adoption and orphan care.

vent session

i need to vent about this for a minute. when we had our little getaway i treated myself to a cute little green scarf from the Gap. i wasn't going to buy it, but then i decided that i just loved it and went back and bought it. it was $12.99, so not the end of the world...but still it was something a little frivolous that i treated myself too.

so a couple of nights ago i went out for dinner with a friend after a meeting. i took the scarf off so i wouldn't get it dirty. it slid off the booth and i forgot it there. this restaurant is in another town, so i called over there to tell her that i forgot my scarf and i would come to get it. the lady tells me, "they had like four scarfs there and she threw them away". i told her i was having a hard time believing her...but she insisted that she threw it in the garbage. i told her i only left it there a couple of nights ago...why would she throw it away right away? she kept changing her story. when you know you are being lied to, it is really maddening. not only was i being lied to but i knew she knew which scarf i was talking. i am assuming someone there took it home.

it is still the middle of winter here. places don't throw winter stuff away in the middle of winter! now if i had left it there for a few months...yes, i could understand it.

i will now end my vent session with this---there is a little Mexican restaurant in the town over from us that stole my scarf and lied to me about it...i won't be eating there again!

(i realize this is completely ridiculous, but thanks for letting me vent about it anyway.) :)

Lemons!!!!

Here are the pics I promised you over on project 365. I love these girls...they make me smile! I had no idea how much they loved lemons. weird.

my question(s) for you...

do you guys check my project {365} blog too? i never know if i should be posting pics in both places...not the random ones, but the kid ones. or are you sick of pics? would prefer to read my random ramblings? or are you all bored outta your gourds and no longer read this here little bloggity-blog?

get-away

since we were feeling so cooped up, we took off last weekend for a "get-away". it was so refreshing to go have some fun together. we hit a hotel with a waterpark...the kids had an absolute BLAST! hudson walked around the place like he owned it. i'm nervous what next summer will bring with him and the pool...he would run to the water. by summer he will have picked up more speed and no fear!

we did some shopping and found amazing deals! had a couple lattes. took some pics. jumped on the bed. it was all good!!!!!

the results of the drive...i love these kids!!!!

here are the results of the day. i have some different visions in my head but we'll try to get those on another day. overall we had a great time and it felt good to get out. notice my youngest dd...she has a standard pose. i love these guys so much!!!! as we drove home the sun was setting it and was just gorgeous. i posted a couple pics on project {365} of the sunset. i changed my mind and decided to add them here too. :)

feeling squirrely

We are feeling a little squirrely (remember since it's my blog i can make up words) today. I need to get out...so we've decided to head out on a photo adventure drive. The girls are all picking out outfits and getting ready. We will drive until we see somewhere along the road that would be a fun pic. I have creative visions swirling in my head...so I'm hoping this could be a lot of fun and break up the mundane feeling of being stuck inside. The sun is shinning bright, the snow is glistening...it's a good day to get out!

feeling sick...

I'm having the kids watch the inauguration because of it's impact on the history of our country, but I feel sick. literally sick. I respect that Obama is the ruler that has been placed before me by the Sovereignty of God according to Romans. However, I feel sadness for the sake of the morality of our country, for the future of my children, and the sanctity of human life. I am in constant state of prayer for our country today...please join me!

Fabulous Blog Award

I just received this award from Laura. I can't believe it! I am so honored!!!! I would like to take a moment to thank everyone that reads my blog (most of you never comment, but I know you're there). I'd like to thank my agents...for getting me to this point of success in blogland!! I'd like to thank my dog Moses, he is such a good dog (oh wait, the girls just told me he threw up...nevermind.)!! I want to thank my family for giving me the inspiration behind my ridiculous posts!!! I want to thank God for giving me this "outlet" for fun!!! And lastly, I want to thank the world wide web for making this whole thing entirely possible...because without it, I would not be in your lives, I wouldn't have homeschool curriculum, I wouldn't have those shoes that I bought off ebay, I wouldn't have those books that I ordered from Amazon, I wouldn't have my camera or my cute new custom camera strap that Matt bought off Etsy for me, I wouldn't know what I know about photography, and last but not least...I couldn't google the right answers to my kids questions...I owe a debt of gratitude to the world wide web and from the bottom of my heart I thank you!

I love and appreciate you, my fans, the most!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Without further ado, I must award this to five other Fabulous Blogs----

Heather at The Chronicles of Motherhood (I hoping this will inspire you to post more)

Heather at From Under the Laundry Pile (I love that we can stay in touch this way)

K-Mums at Tacheny Adventure (you introduced me to KJ-52...I owe forever)

Stef at ...and they lived happily ever after (without your blog we wouldn't have become IRL friends)

Betsy at Tengesdal 4 (this has reconnected us and I love that when you write about the past I can go there with you in an instant...it's great to still have friends from birth)

Sledding!!!!

Exhibit A-my grown husband who will forever be a fun-loving boy inside (precisely why I love him so much)--

Exhibit A with innocent, precious daughter screaming "No!" as he heads them straight for the jump (notice how much he is loving this)--


Evidence that Exhibit A with precious daughter now should be seen by a chiropractor--

And then there were these two...They are the best of friends and cousins. Never have I seen two little girls go up and down a hill as much as they did. And never have I seen such wipeouts taken with pure glee. Over and over again...they took off from atop the hill screaming full of delight, wiped out with snow going everywhere, got up giggling at how big they wiped out, turned around and headed straight back up the hill to do it again!

Please check out the additional photos over on my project {365}.