6

Let's see how many posts I can title with a number. Ha. Just kidding. This is the last one. Speaking of numbers, I wonder if we can get up to 20,000 hits on our website by the time we come home?! We would have to average a little under 100 hits a week. Maybe if I post a bunch!?!?

At the beginning of June, Britton and I got to celebrate our 6th Anniversary twice...once without kids and once with kids. It was a great week and very special for all of us.

We went out just the 2 of us several days before our actual Anniversary because no one could watch the boys. So, we headed to our new favorite mall (as of right now) to see the new X-men movie (pretty good). Later we headed to our favorite hotel restaurant connected to the mall and had a great view of the city (sorry, my panorama shot isn't very good; it also cut off some of the moving cars, ha).

We think it has the best burger in our city. Unfortunately, we both ordered cokes then found out they were $5 for just 1 can! What?!

We decided to splurge and get the crunchy praline dessert that nearly cost what the burger does. It was pretty good but we got good laughs out of how small it was and the fact that Britton sawed the 'crunchy' bottom part with a steak knife and could barely cut it. It was really easy to eat, just super hard to cut. Ha.

After our movie, we walked around a little bit discussing what we would get each other as gifts. We go by the traditional calender, and this year was iron or candy. So random. Ha. I knew something I wanted and headed to a place I knew we could it. It wasn't iron or candy, but both boys think it's candy every time I wear it...that counts right?! We picked out all the beads, and the red ones have specific characters on them all the way around the bracelet. The characters are our names in the local language here and what all of our friends call us. Such a special gift. For Britton, I got him a watch online that is called an iron samurai watch. It has no face. It just looks like a chain around the whole watch and it lights up in between the links revealing the time (sorry, I guess a photo would help!). Pretty cool, and fits with the iron theme. Here's my bracelet.

This is right outside the place I got my bracelet made and a center spot in our city.

On our actual Anniversary we had the boys with us, so we tried to do something fun for all of us. We went nowhere else than the 'arcave!' We really did have a lot of fun. I always enjoy whooping Britton in bball. I think Caden takes after me because he kept sinking them!

Here's several videos at the arcade. Count how many baskets Caden makes! Caden also desperately wanted to try out DDR but was a little shy. The last one is of Caden and Grady enjoying the drumming game.

I really wanted a brownie Sundae, and Baskin Robbins was the only place we knew that might have one. It was pretty good. We all ate it rather fast.

For dinner, we all went to Pizza Hut and tried an assortment of food. Caden played with his sticker book the whole time. He is obsessed with putting all the stickers on his arms then moving them to another page. Little did we know this would start a huge fetish for Grady too. Oh yeah, and Grady threw up all over the table. Man, our kids throw up at the drop of a hat. Both of their second years of life are rough in the throw up department. I blame it all on teeth!

After that, we let the kids play in our complex for a little bit. The weather was so awesome, so we wanted to stay out as long as we could.

Love my crazy man.

This looks like a little too much info, but once the boys went to bed, we watched a movie and kept with the  theme of candy having fruit dipped in chocolate. The notebook in the photo is our "Anniversary" notebook where we reflect on the last year. It's so great doing that every year. We talked about a lot of the questions at dinner then finished them that night.

Great time together to get away from every day life. So grateful for 6 years with Britton. Sounds so short, but we've experienced SO much in just 6 years. Can't wait to see what the Lord has for the next 6...or maybe I can!

28

2 months behind. Pathetic. I will catch you up quickly! The last post was in real time, but I don't want to leave anything out :o) In May, I celebrated my 28th birthday. It was a low-key but fun day. I know most would say oh that's so young, but it sounds a lot older to me. I really don't feel 28. I guess I don't know what I feel like. Who cares? I enjoyed celebrating my bday!

Since my bday was on Sunday, we celebrated with our Sunday group. My friend made me yummy cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Grady lapped them up.

I love when we can keep celebrating. Britton's family sent gifts with the team that came to see us before my bday then my mom sent 2 packages that came after my bday. I always love seeing these boxes.

All these things just bring a smile to my face.

LOVE

LOVE even more. Story of my life. Needed.

It's smells amazing and looks so pretty too in this beautiful holder.

Britton's family and mine also gave me money to go on my first 'shopping spree' here. My friend went with me and it was so much fun not to have many limits! I also got some jewelry and shoes I ordered online. Britton was really sweet and got me a spa day with my mom at a super nice spa in GA. Unfortunately, I have to wait but I have a feeling it will be worth it!

The rest of this post is unrelated to my bday, but I wanted to include it. We had the boys' buddy over for some fun. I love that Grady was loving on her, but she was afraid he wanted to take her popcorn. So funny. He did actually take some at one point. Ha.

So Grady has been terrible at going to bed. He went through a period where he made himself throw up at bed time. Some people don't believe us when we say that, but he literally starts hacking to make himself stay up longer while we clean up his throw up. So, we started sitting him in the corner when he did that. Well, that didn't really work either because he'd sit in the corner for an hour. So, Britton decided that every time Grady threw up that he would spank him, leave him in the bathtub (not full) while the mess got cleaned up. He immediately had to go back to bed. That only lasted twice, and Grady started going right to sleep. No telling what crazy thing will happen next. He sure was cute in the corner though.

He started getting tired after being there for about 30 minutes. Don't know why I gave him his blankie and dog. That doesn't seem like much of a punishment!

Oh, then I took it away. Ha. That face will melt your heart. It did mine at least.

Here's 2 videos. The first one is of Grady pouting in the corner. The second is of Grady trying a sour patch kid for the first time. Sweet and sour :o)

June 1st was Children's Day here. There's so many holidays here. The new Burger King mall was having a fun day with a soccer competition. All our kids participated and got the top 3 places. Haha. Grady got 4th in his age group because there were some crazy moms who dragged their kids along the floor  in order to win but made them cry. Crazy! 

The 3 kiddos

The crazy competition

Waiting patiently for their turn. Everyone got 2 minutes to kick as many goals as they could. There were so many kids there though that by the time it was Caden's turn he only got 1 minute. Oh well. He still placed :o)

We had to go to BK afterward. They were giving balloons to all the kids.

Since Grady got 4th place, he got a box of squishy balls. He was pretty much in heaven.

Entirely unrelated from my birthday and Children's Day are these awesome Hawaiian outfits that Britton's grandmother sent for the boys. It hadn't been warm enough for them to wear, so when it finally was we took a photo opp. So cute.

There is a reason

It's raining. It's been raining all.day.long. It hasn't stopped. It rained yesterday all.day.long. I've mentioned before, but the name of our city is literally translated 'expensive sunlight.' When it rains here, no one goes out. We have lots of hills, and as you saw in the previous post our city is nasty dirty. So when you go out, you get soaked. Umbrellas are useless. And even if you get out, nobody else is. The other awesome part (*note sarcasm*) of it raining non-stop is that they turn the water off. Everywhere. The rain is not clean because of the pollution in a big city. We went to Starbucks yesterday (yes, Starbucks in our city! more on that later!), and they couldn't make cold drinks since there was no water. Fortunately, yesterday our water was still on while our friends didn't have water. So, what better thing to do than have a spend the night party! We crammed 6 adults and 6 kids in our apartment, ate pizza, played games, watched movies, and didn't sleep much! It definitely made the rain seem not so horrible. I liken it to Caden's current favorite book, The Cat in the Hat. "The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house all that cold, cold, wet day." But the Cat in the Hat came and made things interesting, and so did we :o)

Life has been hard lately. I have moments like yesterday when I forget about all the cares in the world, then there's other days. Whether it be sickness or something we've struggled with that we've had to do to stay here, we have really had to fight through some feelings. Since Grady's seizure in January, life has been a challenge of worry, fear, idolatry, and bitterness. I've been worried about my kids' health. I've been worried about our future here or in America. I've been afraid of what could happen to us. Because of all this worry and fear, I began to try and escape those feelings by watching tons of TV shows. Any show I was interested in I began to watch. It was my 'escape' into a different life, a 'better' life, yet it wasn't better in any way. I felt jaded by requirements asked of me and upset with the Lord that he kept allowing our family to struggle. This began bitterness in my heart. It's amazing how sin is a domino effect.

So, what happened? How did I get from experiencing all those things to being able to process them? It wasn't easy. It was nothing I did. The Lord is always faithful to bring me through a valley stronger than when I entered. And for good reasons. Someone told me something in this 'processing' time that I will never forget. I kept saying, "I hate seeing my kids go through all this sickness." She told me that I was seeing sickness as bad for them when it really can be for their good in ways that we don't see right now. We all struggle and don't want to. Trials are painful and sorrowful. None of us likes to experience them, but they are ultimately for our good. The Lord doesn't like sickness or seeing us hurt either, but He allows us to go through it. He is the Giver of breath and life. I always hate hearing people say it's just a season, but it's true. Praise the Lord for seasons changing. Our winters here are long, but it always inevitably ends up getting hot, and the sun does eventually shine. Just like it raining here non-stop, I know that it will in fact eventually stop. The struggles we go through are for our good and His glory.

It's a lot harder to see that when you form bitterness in your heart against the struggles. You end up with blinders on your heart and can't see the good the Lord is trying to do. Once I took a hard look at that bitterness against our situation and against other people, He helped me see the rest of the sin in my heart and allowed me to see the good He is was trying to do. He has stretched my faith. He has given me grace to give to others. He has helped me to trust in Him for my future and fight the worry and fear that rises in my heart.

Our circumstances haven't changed. There's not this huge happy ending to the things we are experiencing. We are still struggling with sickness constantly. We are still unsure of our future and where we will end up in the world. Our circumstances haven't changed, but we have. Our attitudes toward these situations have changed and that is worth more than having an 'easy' life. There is a reason for all that we go through. It makes us more like Him. He is more glorified when we are humbly submitting to what He is taking us through.

I'm so grateful that just through a cup of coffee, a yummy sandwich and soup along with wise words from others and through His Words, I can retreat and be satisfied with my difficult life.

There are 3 ways (usually) that the Lord really speaks to me and transforms my heart: His Word, prayers of other saints, and songs. One particular passage that has encouraged me through all this is Lamentation 3:19-24:

¹⁹ I remember my affliction and my wandering,
    the bitterness and the gall.
²⁰ I well remember them,
    and my soul is downcast within me.
²¹ Yet this I call to mind
    and therefore I have hope:

²² Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
    for his compassions never fail.
²³ They are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.
²⁴ I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
    therefore I will wait for him.”

I especially love "The Valley of Vision" and this particular prayer by the Puritans. This prayer is called "Service and Equipment":

Thou God of my end,
Thou hast given me a fixed disposition
to go forth and spend my life for thee;
If it be thy will let me proceed in it;
if not, then revoke my intentions.
All I want in life is such circumstances
as may best enable me to serve thee in the world;
To this end I leave all my concerns in thy hand,
but let me not be discouraged,
for this hinders my spiritual fervency;
Enable me to undertake some task for thee,
for this refreshes and animates my soul,
so that I could endure all hardships and labours,
and willingly suffer for thy name.
But, O what a death it is to strive and labour,
to be always in a hurry and yet do nothing!
Alas, time flies and I am of little use.
O that I could be a flame of fire in thy service,
always burning out in one continual blaze.
Fit me for singular usefulness in this world.
Fit me to exult in distresses of every kind
if they but promote the advancement
of thy kingdom.
Fit me to quit all hopes of the world’s friendship,
and give me a deeper sense of my sinfulness.
Fit me to accept as just desert from thee
any trial that may befall me.
Fit me to be totally resigned to the denial
of pleasures I desire,
and to be content to spend my time with thee.
Fit me to pray with a sense of the joy
of divine communion,
to find all times happy seasons to my soul,
to see my own nothingness,
and wonder that I am allowed to serve thee.
Fit me to enter the blessed world
where no unclean thing is,

and to know thee with me always.

This song has always been a comfort to me and has especially been so in recent times. We were going to name Caden after the band Caedmon's Call because we love their songs so much. Even though we went with a different name, we still love their songs. This song by them is appropriately called, "There is a Reason."

Late at night I wonder why, sometimes I wonder why
Sometimes I'm so tired, I don't even try
Seems everything around me fails
But I hold on to the promise that there is a reason

Late at night darkness makes it hard to see
The history of the saints who've gone in front of me
Through famine, plague and disbelief
His hand was still upon them 'cause there is a reason, there is a reason

He makes all things good, He makes all things good
There's a time to live, a time to die
A time for wonder and to wonder why
'Cause there is a reason, there is a reason, there is a reason

I believe in a God who sent His only Son
To walk upon this world and give His life for us
With blood and tears on a long dark night
We know that He believed that there is a reason, there is a reason

He makes all things good, He makes all things good
There's a time to live, a time to die
A time for wonder and to wonder why
'Cause there is a reason, there is a reason, there is a reason

For the lonely nights and broken hearts
The widow's mite in the rich man's hand
And the continent whose blood becomes a traitor

For the child afraid to close their eyes
The prayers that seem unanswered

There is a reason, there is a reason

He makes all things good, He makes all things good
There's a time to live, a time to die
A time for wonder and to wonder why
'Cause there is a reason, there is a reason

If you're still reading, the rain stopped while I was writing :o)

Two Little Boys

Life has truly been insane the last few weeks. The one thing that has remained the same is our Lord. He is still good. We still praise Him. And He is still faithful. Trials come. Things keep happening. But He keeps proving Himself good through it all. All that to say, life keeps going on, and doing these blog posts gives me snapshots of our two sweet little boys who keep me smiling...frustrated most of the time but still smiling :o)

Grady has had a haircut since this picture and already needs another one. His hair is so shaggy! And yes, I am behind on posts, but it only recently (in just the last few weeks) has been warm enough to wear shorts and short sleeves, hence the long sleeves in these photos. I'm not that behind! It doesn't really get hot until July. This kid loves him some popcorn, especially on movie night, which also happens to be the only time we fix popcorn. Ha!

Grady is officially not the baby anymore! We've recently had 2 babies born among our friends, and Grady has enjoyed loving on the babies and pointing our that they are in fact a 'baby.'

He looks so old here, especially with these house shoes on. He really has the biggest shoe fetish of any 1 year old little boy I know!

Just a cute face on the way home from Burger King one night.

Here's a story. Floating Tiles. Ever heard of them? If you ever come to our city, you will know what I'm talking about. There are certain spots in our city where the tiles (don't even know why we have those and not concrete!) are loose. Our city is just dirty. I love seeing people literally mop the sidewalks here. I just want to tell them it does no good. It's just spreading the dirt around! So, when it rains (which is pretty much all the time) the dirt under the tiles loosens causing the tiles to be wobbly and the dirt liquidy. You've probably already looked at the below picture and can guess what happens next. Once you step on a perfectly looking stable tile, the tile will sink down and spray mud up, thus creating this effect on you :o) At least I was wearing shorts this day. So gross.

And this is why we have floating tiles. Awesome engineering.

I think it's appropriate to switch to bath time after that nastiness. The boys have been extra sweet lately to each other. All they really need is a little attention, and they are happier than any other time.

Bath time is especially fun when mommy 'scares' them.

And then there's sweet friends. Grady was running around somewhere and didn't make the picture. Gotta love fun play places.

Caden's buddy finally got back from being gone for 2 months! They were both so happy. They wouldn't stay still long enough for the picture not to be blurry.

They snuggled together the whole night.

Here are 3 short videos. The first one is Caden discovering what he can do with his arms. The second one is Grady learning how to make a 'pucker' sound when he kisses. And the third is of Grady reaching under Caden's door as Caden is 'supposed' to be in timeout. They are inseparable.