Flashback Friday

After posting a couple of Hannah's baby pictures in honor of her second birthday I couldn't resist posting a few more. :-)

Isn't her dark hair and cute little lips adorable??

Flashback Friday

Today I decided to flashback to the first day we got our dog, Samson. Brock and I always knew we wanted to get a dog someday. Once we bought the theatre and moved into the apartment above we could finally get one! We have been known for impulse buying and unfortunately Samson was no exception! We were walking through the mall and saw him in the pet store!! I have always wanted a great dane and Brock has always leaned towards a boxer. When we saw Samson we fell in love with him and he was a boxer/great dane! We didn't listen to the voice inside us that said - this isn't the time for a puppy, you are 3 months pregnant why don't you wait, you don't even have a yard better not get a dog etc etc. Our impulses took over and we came home with him. He sure is cute isn't he????

Needless to say, although we fell in love with Samson it didn't take us long to realize it was a mistake to get him. I was still not feeling well with pregnancy and dealing with a puppy added to it all. We had to take him out on a walk all the time to get exercise and burn off energy and also just to go to the bathroom. We lived right on main street with no yard for him to run in. I spent so much time walking him and picking up after him that I thought I would go crazy. Not to mention all mishaps that took place inside the apartment. One time he got down into the theate and ate some chocolate. He got really sick and lost control of his bowels on a regular basis. I was beside myself as I chased after him trying to get him outside as he peed all over the floor :-) It is funny to think about now but at the time - not funny!

Despite the problems (all brought on by our impulive nature not him because he was just being a typical puppy) Samson was turning into a great dog. He loved to snuggle with us and was great with Madison. He did well with his potty training and he loved laying around (the Great Dane in him was definately more prominant). He used to drag his blanket around the living room and place it wherever the sun was shining through - it was so cute!

Here are Brock and Madison on a walk with him. Thankfully, he only had 6 months without his own yard.

Samson is now 85 lbs and just under 3 feet talk (top of his head). He is such a nice mellow dog who still loves to play with us, yet loves to lay in the sun :-) He is amazing with the kids - plays so perfect with them and is very protective. We remember the rocky start we had with him and know that God used Samson as yet another way to bring to light our impulsive natures and help deal with it. We are glad that at the end of this lesson we get to enjoy our hyper yet mellow, spazzy yet lazy, protective yet friendly, cute as can be Samson!!

Just in case no one believes that people can actually stroll around the mall and leave with a new puppy here is another example of how bad we have been. In college we were getting our oil changed and to kill time we walked over to the furniture store. A short time later we left with a new couch and love seat! If you read yesterday's post you can see why God has continued to work on us in our spending/money department - He had a lot to work on :-) I am thankful to say that once we started the Dave Ramsey plan (about 5 1/2 years ago) God was able to deal with much of this behavior right off the bat. After the initial "ahah" stuff we were left with lesson after lesson from God to get rid of the deeper hidden problems :-) I am so thankful that God cares about every aspect of our life! He must so that all we do whether with money, our physical health, our relationship with others, our home our belongings etc glorifies Him. I agree completely with John Piper who said - People DO NOT see God in our STUFF!!

As God weeds out the non-essentials in our lives may people see HIM in us!

Flashback Friday

Our little cowboy and cowgirl in November 2006 visiting Grandpa and Grandma in MT. Madison had just turned 6 and Isaac just turned 2. Madison is wearing grandma's stuff and Isaac is wearing grandpa's. Yes, even the boots are grandpa's (or I should say were). Cute huh!!

Madison has always been very comfortable as a cowgirl!

In addition to always being a cowgirl, Madison has also been little miss photogenic

This one cracks me up. How quickly Madison's facial expressions change from when she is in charge, rope in hand to when she is captured because Isaac is in charge, rope in hand :-)

Flashback Friday

June 2006 in ND visiting my parents. Madison was able to go to VBS with her cousins and had a great time.

Liam, Lily, Madison and Abby after a night at VBS

The kids loved the music during VBS, especially the motions! They did a performance for us one night. The cast from left to right includes Lily (4), Madison, Abby and Liam (all 5).

When we all get together it is A LOT of kids. I have 5 sisters and 3 brothers and all but 2 of us are married and having kids :-) As of right now, there are 23 grandchildren (25 by June). At the time that this picture was taken there were 16 total. Wow, that means exactly 3 years later our family added 9 children. :-)

Left to right: Isaac, Madison, Lily, Liam, Abby, Kiaran, Ruby, Maggie and Chloe

(For those of you who know our family and can't keep the kids straight I color coded it for you -

Bekah's, Laura's, Nicole's, Levi's and mine)

Flashback Friday

July 2007 - Hannah was 6 weeks and Isaac was 2 1/2 and Madison 6 1/2. We are so excited to go to Bluewater Bible Camp in MN this July so I wanted to post these pictures from Bluewater two years ago.

Our smiley little lady. She was our first baby with such dark hair. It was so cute, she also had such dark eyes to go with her dark hair.

Hannah was an awesome baby and did great hanging out in the shade with me and my book :-) She was just getting to the smiley stage so it was fun for me to sit there and admire her!

Flashback Friday

April 2005 visiting Hayes Lake in MN. How evident it is that we were in way northern MN - it is April 23rd and we are all bundled up, even a snowsuit for Isaac :-)

Madison was 4, Isaac 6 months and Samson had just turned 1 :-)

Flashback Friday

March 2005 - 4 years ago to the month. Wow, how things change huh? The differences between Madison and Isaac is crazy for me to see. It is a mixture of happiness to see what they are becoming and yet sadness to see what I will never experience again. I am so thankful that each day is filled with new excitements, milestone, joys, looks, laughs, voices, words etc or I am afraid I would always miss what was. I love looking back but always want to make sure that I am enjoying them NOW and anticipating with excitement what is to come.

How very cute are they!?!

Flashback Friday

November 2004 - Isaac was 1 month old and Madison had recently turned 4. How fun it was to have a little baby in the house again. Isaac was a sweet little baby who fussed only a little and smiled a lot.

Yes, our kids do have super powers! At one month old Isaac was already able to soar through the air. Madison could easily hold both Brock and I on her shoulders (but I had to take the picture so Brock would have to do). You should see what they can do now :-)

Flashback Friday

Nearly 2 years ago (May 2007) Brock and I took a last minute trip to Ecuador. Greta, our very very dear friend was graduating from Covenant Bible College. We really wanted to go but once we knew we were having another baby in May we dismissed the idea as impossible. As the day drew nearer we still longed to go but continued to think, "oh well maybe another time". Two weeks before departure we decided to see if we could get it to work. Knowing that there were SEVERAL steps that needed to fall perfectly in place. First of all the only reason we even considered going with me being 37 weeks pregnant was because my doctor and his wife were going also. It would be the four of us and Greta's parents who we also love hanging out with. We felt like it was a chance of a lifetime - a trip to another country with 4 close friends! We had four big hurdles to jump: 1. family member to stay with the kids (the only way we would feel comfortable leaving them for the 1st time ever), 2. getting on the same flight as my doctor (they already had their tickets and I would have been WAY too nervous not to be with him), 3. getting an airline that didn't have restrictions on pregnant (very pregnant) people flying and 4. getting our passports in time. Brock's mom quickly agreed to fly over and watch the kids (Madison was 6 and Isaac 2). Also, the airline our friends had tickets on just happened to be the only airline without restrictions on pregnant passengers and their were seats on the exact flight both coming and going! Last, we expedited our passports and got them 2 days before leaving! It was a stressful wait but we felt like God had allowed the other steps to fall into place and this one would be no different. We had an AMAZING time. It was great to see Greta, so fun to hang out with Bob, Barb, Val and Sheldon and most of all awesome to be with Brock alone (well alone except for the moving, kicking baby inside) for an entire week! I think we really needed that time to grow stronger in our marriage before venturing into the next year and a half which was filled with a lot of change (new baby, selling business, new job, moving and most of all tons of spiritual lessons and growth)

Outside our hotel with Val and SheldonThe whole gang: Bob, Barb, Ingrid (Greta's sister that flew from CA), Val, Greta, Sheldon, me and BrockBob and Barb and Brock and I went on many walks (when the others were busy with graduation festivities) The elevation (nearly 10,000 feet) was a bit of an adjustment but overall not too bad. We loved the landscape, scenery and the simplicity that surrounded us. We were not in a tourist area but not in real poverty either. We loved it and long to go back some day!Wow, look at that BELLY!!!

Enjoying delicious shakes!!

Lounging at our awesome hotel. The grounds were amazing, flowers, trees, paths, rock fireplace and hot tub etc. It was only $10 per night plus $3 each for breakfast. Can you imagine spending $16 a night in the US!! They use US dollars there so that was easy. The trip as a whole was very inexpensive (even the flights)

For more pictures of our Ecuador trip click here

Flashback Friday

I have seen several blogs do this theme so I decided to take part. I went back as far as my digital camera goes - November 2003 :-)
Brock, Madison and I went to Florida for Thanksgiving. We spent a couple days at Disney World (one just the two of us and one with Madison and the rest of the Brock's family) We had so much fun. Madison LOVED everything about Disney
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