Peek-a-boo - I see you!

Our very talented Daddy whipped up these fun peek-a-boo's
for the Fall Party at Church out of some leftover paint & a roll of brown paper!

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Arrrggghh! Captain Hook keeps laughing!

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What a cute Scarecrow!

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Howdy Partner!

Ada's special request ... Cinderella!

We had a lot of fun with all of them!

Thanks Daddy!

Year 2: "The Nightmare"

Since we will be out of town over the weekend, I decided to go ahead and post this week's anniversary post reflecting on our second year of marriage.

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Don't let the title frighten you ... but David & I affectionately refer to our

second year of marriage as, "The Nightmare" because it was ... well ... in a word ...

horrible.

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The year started off just fine. We celebrated our first anniversary by spending a couple of nights in a really cozy cabin in the mountains of Tennessee. We went out for a fancy dinner & enjoyed a relaxing weekend.

Just a few short months after this, we moved overseas & everything fell apart.

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Everything came crashing in on us: culture shock, terrible job, miserable living situation, incredible financial stress, broken relationships, pregnancy health issues, etc. We felt completely isolated & abandoned. Of course, we weren't abandoned. God was with us. But, honestly, it did not feel like it at the time.

Ready to get to the good part? Well, when I look back on "The Nightmare" now ... I feel really grateful that we never turned against each other. We were in it together no matter how bad it got. It felt like everywhere we turned we were attacked by something ... but we could always count on each other. We held on to each other, & we made it through that year. And, you know what? More importantly, God was holding on to us. I'm really glad we went through it all ... if we hadn't had such a difficult year, we would not have the marriage that we have today.

If we can come out of that year & still be in love ... I'm pretty sure we can handle anything!

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Tune in next week for ... Year 3: Overjoyed!

Tricks & Treats Wk 6/ FFN

We painted pumpkins!

It was really fun!

Benjamin took it very seriously!

I was going through a green period.

Benjamin was in a purple phase.

Then he decided to taste the paint.

Open your mouth ... it makes you paint better!

I was determined to paint my pumpkin

to look like an "apple" ... :-)

Benjamin decided to immerse himself in his work.

We also had a pumpkin-themed breakfast-for-dinner!

We had pumpkin waffles served with

hot fudge and salted caramel sauce.

We also had cheesy scrambled eggs & breakfast sausage.

Daddy was initially skeptical,

but he became a pumpkin waffle fan!

I also helped Mommy make these oatmeal pumpkin mini muffins

with a brown sugar glaze.

They were fun to make & yummy!

Bo Peep & the Sheep

Tonight we did a little early "trick or treating" at Grammie & Gramps house.

We also brought a dessert to share with them!

They had a few treats for each of us!

We dressed as Little Bo Peep & her Lost Sheep!

Special thanks to Aunt Allene for sewing my apron & bonnet!

In case you can't see it, they have ladybugs on them (one of my favorite things)!

Also, special thanks to the M family for the sheep costume!

Mommy made a pumpkin cake.

It melted a little before we got a picture of it,

but it was very cute & yummy!

All the excitement made Benjamin kind of tired!

Good thing Ompak was there to give a sleepy little sheep a hug!

Birthday Card

Ada recently received her birthday card from Grandma and Super Papak.
She went to work right away making them a card to send in reply.

This says, "I love you very, very much in my heart."

This is Ada reaching out to give Grandma and Super Papak a big hug!

How can this be?

Can this be my little boy who

insists on running around pant-less,

eats dog food,

climbs on the furniture,

loves to wear hats & shoes,

dances with only his shoulders,

smiles at everyone,

says new words every day,

makes me laugh constantly,

& is absolutely determined to help me unload the dishwasher ...

Didn't I just bring my little boy home from the hospital ...

Wasn't that just yesterday?

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Oh, Benjamin,

how we love you! :-)

We're so glad that you are ours ...

and every day is such an adventure!

Year 1: Honeymoon Memories (Week 1)

Our honeymoon is definitely our most memorable experience from our first year of marriage. Of course, I don't mean to imply that it was all downhill from there. Although our first year had some ups & downs, it was mostly ups by far. It's just that it is hard for ordinary life to compete with two weeks of the best vacation imaginable. We just had such an amazing time & felt so completely and absolutely relaxed!

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So, without further delay, here is our honeymoon...

We spent the first week at a lovely place called The Rose Hill Manor in Mt. Index, WA.

To this day, when we are stressed about something, we remind each other of the feeling of being there. It was absolutely amazing!

We sat in the hot tub with a lovely view of the mountains &

snow falling all around us ... it was magical.

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We went for walks along the local trails ...

and enjoyed the glorious views!

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We went skiing in Stevens Pass!

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After a day on the slopes, we enjoyed sitting in the ski lodge sipping hot chocolate.

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We stayed in the Honeymoon Cottage which was really charming and cozy.

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Every morning a mouth-watering breakfast tray was left on our front step.

There were several breakfast options to choose from and they were all delicious,

but the thing we always talk about is the waffles!

I don't know what the hostess put in her waffles ...

(she said it was a secret family recipe)

they were heaven - light-fluffy-moist-buttery-amazing!

We have never found waffles that compare ...

they were just that good!

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I wish I had more pictures of the cottage itself ...

it was really perfect.

Here are a few from their website of the garden:

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The bedroom was lovely & had an amazing view of the mountains from the window!

After seven days there, we packed up and headed down the Oregon coast.

David kept telling me how beautiful it was,

but I really had no idea until I saw it for myself!

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The Oregon Coast is absolutely breath-taking!

We also made friends with some sea gulls along the way ...

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Publish Post

Well, the second week will have to be another post ...

this one is getting too long!

See Below: the Oregon Coast, the Lighthouse, & San Fransisco!

Year 1: Honeymoon Memories (Week 2)

We had an amazing time on the second week of our honeymoon.

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It was so much fun to wander down the Oregon Coast

with no schedule or plan ...

just enjoying the beauty around us!

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We loved the rocky cliffs!

We pulled up to one lighthouse just 5 minutes before

the last tour of the season...

serendipitously!

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The views from the lighthouses were so awe-inspiring!

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We crossed into California & drove through the Redwoods ...

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and then Napa Valley ...

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We enjoyed all the scenery along the way ...

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And then we came to San Fransisco!

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We both love cities ... and this became one of our favorites!

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We loved the beautiful parks downtown ...

especially the botanical gardens!

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The famous Japanese pagodas were so beautiful!

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We enjoyed all the tourist destinations

& the local food (particularly in Little Italy)!

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It was an amazing trip that definitely surpassed our expectations in every way!

It was absolutely perfect, and I wouldn't change anything about it!

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Many people say your first year of marriage is the hardest.

That was definitely not true for us.

Our first year of marriage was actually mostly wonderful.

Sure, there were some bumps in the road,

but overall it was a really great year for us.

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We lived in MS for six months and started seminary with

no real plans except to take some classes while we had the chance ...

we soon discovered that we both LOVED it!

We also loved having our first little apartment which was tiny & old,

but also cozy & perfect for us at the time!

We studied together, cooked together, played games, & laughed a lot!

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Then we spent six months in Philly at the sending base.

That was a difficult time for me in many ways,

but we got through it together & learned to take care of each other.

Also, this time gave us the blessing of being able to spend a lot of time

with David's brother & sister-in-law which was wonderful!

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All in all, it was a very good year!