Pizza with Chopsticks

I got a cool sushi set for my birthday (a very long time ago) and I attempted to make my first batch of sushi all by myself. All in all it was pretty good, but my family doesn't really like it the way that I do. As I was eating Rylie wanted to have some, so I gave her a few bites. She thinks it is really fun to use the chopsticks (but she gags on most of the sushi). So after she was done she decided that she wanted to eat her pizza with her chopsticks also.

Rylie in Seattle

So Rylie went with my parents and my brother to Seattle for 5 days to visit family. They stayed with my grandparents and hung out with my aunt, uncle and cousins. Some of their adventures included a trip to Eglon on the ferry (the highlight of the trip for Rylie) to see where my grandma grew up, garage sales, and relaxing. I am convinced after looking at all of the pictures that Rylie wore the same outfit the entire trip (her new thing is wearing something over and over again and it has to be a shirt with sleeves so that her armpits don't show). She had a really fun time and now she is a fan of garage sales after picking up a new $3 purse (her very own Burberry). I don't know how to keep up with my oh so stylish 3 year old.

My One and Only

Rylie went on a trip to Seattle with my parents and my brother this week, so Ella and I have been hanging out a lot! It has been fun to see her try new things and talk a little bit more. She has the sweetest, most hilarious little personality, that is finally able to come out, when her talkative, 3 year old sister is gone! Ella tried on Rylie's sunglasses and was posing, oh so lady like for me! I am thankful for this alone time with my sweet Ella girl!

One Word for You- Pictoria!

So, this is not really a blog for advertising, but I did want to share some amazing one year pictures that our good friend Val took of Ella. She has a website: http://www.pictoriaphoto.com/ and she takes amazing pictures, so you should check her out! Ella did a pretty good job, but she fell apart when we tried to put her in the grass. My sweet baby is growing up!

Little Green Book

So, we are a Bible reading family and Rylie has 3 Bibles that she reads from regularly, but her new favorite one is a little green one, that she has been carrying around everywhere. The other day, I wanted to just relax and read for a bit, so she plopped down beside me with her Bible and said, "Mom I just love reading with you." Then she turned and looked at her little Bible. I read for about 3 seconds and then she said, "Hey Mom, I have finger nails." "Hey mom, we hold our books with our thumbs." "Hey mom, you really like to read just like me." "Hey mom, what is your book about." You get the idea. So finally I was thrilled when she wanted to go outside and play. I watched her put her little Bible in the pouch of her sweatshirt and head outside. When I checked on her a few minutes later, this is what I found.




I am so thankful that I have a daughter who already loves the Lord and I pray that she continues to grow closer to Him!

Beth Moore Tour

So my mother gave me and my sister airplane tickets to Portland and tickets to go to a Beth Moore Conference for Christmas. We finally were able to enjoy our present last weekend when we went on a fabulous girl's weekend. Some of our dear friends live in Portland, so we were able to stay with them, go to the conference and play for the rest of the weekend. The weather was beautiful and Beth Moore was the very best I have heard her. She is this crazy, big haired, petite, woman from Texas, with a lot of spunk and some great things to say about God. Her message was about crucifying our ego, so that Christ can be formed in us! We decided after the conference that we are going to travel around the U.S. (a new city each year) and listen to Beth Moore and explore a new place. Sounds silly, but it is a good excuse for a girl's weekend. We stayed with Big Brenda (I was named after her and I always went by little Brenda) and we gave her a plug in Scentsy as a hostess gift. EVERYONE in the Boise area has one or two of them or has heard of Scentsy and it is very rare to explain how it works. I can't describe the look on her face a she examined it and waited for it the bar to melt. Her daughter Meridith kept sniffing the scents and threatening to get one for her stinky brother. Thank you Brenda, Amy and Alberta for a wonderful weekend! I love you Mom and Rebecca and I can't wait for next year.

Rylie was most excited about the fact that I met Hello Kitty!

Terrible Three's Formerly Known as Terrible Two's

Ok, so whoever is responsible for calling it the terrible two's was highly mistaken. Rylie thinks she knows the answer to everything and wants to be in charge of disciplining Ella and the hardest thing is probably her unkind words. If you think about it pray that we will have wisdom and that her heart will be open to what God wants to do (even in her little 3 year old heart). One thing that we have been doing is memorizing scripture and then using it in everyday situations. She is responding pretty well and will often change her attitude when we talk about it from a spiritual perspective. Our verse that we just finished memorizing was I Corinthians 13:4-8. We were practicing it and I thought that she had it down pretty well. Then she got to the end and she said "Love never hails." It made me laugh so hard. In the midst of her attitudes I know that God is working and teaching me patience and unconditional love. Sometimes he gives us little chuckles to remind us why we are parents and how much we really love them. This morning we were having breakfast and Rylie is not feeling very well, so I gave her a cup of red juice (with all the fruit and veggies). She turns to me in all seriousness and says "Mom, is this Jesus' blood (can you tell we read the story of the last supper recently)?" Then she said "This is not Jesus' blood, it is just juice, because I am not one of Jesus' ciples (disciples). His ciples are only boys not girls. My message for you is: that love may hail, but His love never fails even when kids are hard and we are frustrated (Thank you Lord)!