Mexico & Back

Erin and I were gone to Tijuana/San Diego from last week Wednesday until late Sunday night as we took a team of 37 to build a house thru AMOR for a family of 7. I say house but it would be a glorifed garage here in the states at 22' by 22'. What a sweet trip with so many students and leaders, but way too quick too. About the time it felt like we were getting comfortable and hitting our stride, we were already done with the house and it was time to start working our way back.

The hardest part of the trip had to be leaving the girls. We've left them before but never while we've actually left the country and not been able to touch base with grandma to get an update on how things were going. It hit hard on Tuesday when we swapped vehicles and the girls in Missouri Valley with my mom and sister. I figured the initial goodbye would cause a raucous with the girls, but it actually didn't happen until we were each 5 minutes headed back where we came from when we got a call from Auntie Heather and Gracie had realized that mom and dad weren't in the van and weren't going to be around. All ended up well with them at grandma's for the week, but it was hard for the two of us!

Of course it was great picking them up again around 11pm Sunday night and seeing their faces as they woke up and realized that mom and dad were driving the van again. They could have kicked themselves right out of their carseats they were so excited and it was a joy to hear their stories/adventures with grandma and auntie. It was also amazing to see how much they'd changed in just 5 short days.

NW Iowa "Spring"

You know you live in NW IA and it's been a long winter when you bundle up and go to the park to enjoy a 45 degree day even when there is still a few inches of snow on the ground! We've had almost a solid covering of snow this winter since the week right after Thanksgiving and everyone is soooooooo ready for Spring!

A Passion for the Mission

I am totally celebrating today Rob's passion for the mission and call that God has placed on his life. i am gonna expand on this in the next post, but wanted to get these pics up and celebrate this aspect now in case I didn't get to it til later tonight!

Communicator

Sometimes it seems as if we are totally on the same page

Other times it seems like no matter how loud we shout the
other person still has a hard time hearing or reading us ;)

And sometimes we are both thinking totally different
things at totally different times!

I think the second thing that I want to celebrate this week is Rob's increased ability to communicate well. I remember being at Power Connection this summer and having Rob admit to one of the other leaders that he wasn't always the best communicator when it came to relationship. I wholeheartedly agreed at the time...I did feel like in order for me to get what he was feeling it was always a matter of how much I could over communicate in order to extract feelings from him. not always the best source or solution either ;) However in the past few months we have just gone through so many changes and adaptions, and I feel like it is those changes and adaptations coupled with a class he took last month that have just started him on this path of good communication. He just has loved me so well and those ppl we are in relationship with. Truly seeking to be aware of love languages and seek to communicate through those, attempting to identify and understand differences in ppl and thier personalities and how that plays into their communication styles....it is just so fun to watch and has challenged and blessed me in our relationship greatly. Just last night we were having a 'talk'with Grant and Amy and he said "I feel like I am turning into quite the counselor". I knew he meant in really learning to communicate and go through the processes it takes to truly hear and be heard! I love it! So we continue to celebrate birthday week by thanking God for our good COMMUNICATOR!

Amazing Dancer

Well, yesterday started the first official day of "birthday week" around our house. Since Rob actually has a birthday this year it could be argued that birthday week is null and void. He usually declares it b/c of the lack of an unofficial day to celebrate his birthday;) However, there is quite a bit to celebrate this week...one thing completely unrelated to his birthday would have to be that on Saturday he recieved his letter of acceptance to Bethel Seminary and is set to begin on our anniversary! We are so happy for him!!! and definitely in prayer for him and our family as we enter into this new season for our family!

I think then in trying to celebrate Rob this week I am going to try to share seven blessings...seven ways that he blesses my life and the life of the girls, or maybe even the way he blesses those around us. I think however I am going to start the week with the blessing of AMAZING DANCER...

We have kind of established, no Rob has established, an unwritten rule at our house that if you are crabby, stressed, sad, or even happy, excited, or hyper....you dance! He started doing this with the girls and it has carried over to all of us now for many different reasons. I would say that his amazing Dad qualities pour out through this example. He is so able to turn the girls moods around, my mood and even his own mood, through fun activities and uninhibited craziness sometimes. He doesn't worry about things sometimes and just dances! The girls love to 'chase' around the house, to play hide-and-seek, and just to fly with daddy. He has created that playfulness and craziness in our house that allows us to dance....to keep things light and to have fun together no matter what may be going on in our outside worlds! We have needed this especially this winter....it has been pretty long and I don't think I see an immediate end in sight. It is definitely challenging the joyful spirit ;)

So we celebrate Rob today for being an AMAZING DANCER!!!

if you can think of any other blessings throughout the week please feel free to post them or email them to him!

A Princess Affair

The only picture we got with all the princesses

Thanks to G & G for treating the girls!

What two year old doesn't love a chocolate fountain?

This picture wasn't quite happening...

A couple of weekends ago Rob was out of town at Winter Blast, a middle school retreat. During that time the girls and I headed over to my parents house for the weekend so we wouldn't have to brave three long days of freezing cold in the house alone ;) It was a great weekend...I am so blessed to have parents who are so willing to spend time with my girls and love all three of us well when Rob is gone! I must say the highlights of the weekend were rather royal events. On Saturday we went shopping in Sioux Falls to pick out princess attire for the girls. It was so fun to watch the girls, Gracie especially, go through the dress up clothes and decide which one she wanted to pick! Karys just liked waving around all of the magical wands and trying on shoes ;) We ended up picking out a Snow White outfit for Gracie and a Barbie princess dress for Karys.

On Sunday, we then went to MCC to the Princess Brunch. This was totally cute! There were princes and princesses roaming around, special royal food and plates on the buffet, free tiaras and wands, and a craft table to make purses and other fun crafts! It was so funny to watch the girls...Gracie just kept telling everybody that she didn't want her picture taken with any of the princesses, but Karys of course according to Gracie wanted her picture taken with the princesses instead ;) Gracie just liked talking to the Cinderella decal on the windows...less intimidating I guess ;) Anyway, the pictures say it all!!!

Not So Easy

So supposedly the idea behind the blog is to keep friends and family near and far updated on our lives in the Real OC. Of course every time I've looked at the blog I ask Erin how come she hasn't updated it more. Needless to say Erin has since told me to try and keep it updated which I've been less than successful at.

It continues to baffle me how we as a culture supposedly have all this stuff to make our lives easier and faster but how they continue to bog us down and simply add more stress to our lives- cell phones, computers, email, facebook- the list could go on and on!

Just Erin and I were able to get away this past Friday night and part of Saturday for Valentine's with some friends at a cabin in Minnesota on Lake Shetek. We were able to leave the girls at home with a babysitter, and even though it wasn't a full 24 hrs. by the time we'd left and return, it was still a much needed break away for us to hang out with each other and just with friends without the distraction of the girls.

But of course, our lives do revolve around our little ladies and they continue to make us laugh as well as scratch our heads. Gracie continues to grow up way too fast and we're talking about her going to pre-school for 3 yr. olds next fall for 2 mornings a week. Karys is just a crack up with words she is learning and the mannerisms she has. Both of them love to jam out and dance with me in the kitchen with the i-home on. If one is dancing with me then the other one has to as well. Karys will even do her dance while she's sitting at the counter on her barstool- she'll just use her arms, kick her legs, and wiggle her body- I just about fall over laughing!

Crazy to think that February is almost over and March is right around the corner! I am anticipating our HS trip to Tijuana over Easter Break with a team of 37 people, 30 students and 7 leaders! From that trip we are into the last month or so of regular program nights and we're already looking forward to May and summer!

I'm also waiting for word from Bethel Seminary in St. Paul, MN about whether or not I'll be starting in their MDiv program this summer. It is set up as a distance learning program over 5 years and only 4 weeks a year on campus, of course 2 weeks have to happen during the summer!

Erin is enjoying her role as a lab instructor at Dordt 2 afternoons a week. She teaches 3 sections of the same lab- 2 Thursday and 1 Friday. Erin comments that she feels like she is finally using the Biology degree that she worked so hard to get via NWC and APU!

You'll see a couple pics of Gracie- one is holding her favorite neice, baby Leah, and the other is her in front of her new favorite movie- Beauty and the Beast. If she has a choice on a movie, she'll pick B & the B hands down every time and likes to fast forward thru the scary parts and prefers the scenes with Belle in her beautiful dress!