27 June 1969

40 years ago today, my mom and dad made a lifelong commitment to love each other for the rest of their lives.

Mom and Dad, I feel privileged to be your daughter and to have witnessed your devotion to each other and to the Lord through all of the ups and downs that the past 40 years have brought you. Thank you for being an example to us and for being commited to each other. I love you both and hope that today is a special day for you.

This is the only photo I have of their wedding day because I'm still in Colorado. I love this picture though:

The Little Engine That Could

Jason and I, and especially Jason, have always hoped that our children will enjoy reading books. It's something we even pray about! Up until recently, Jackson has never shown a big interest in books. We've read to him every night, but a lot of times he would do something else while we were reading - jump, talk to his teddy, etc. I have never forced him to sit still and listen because I don't want reading to seem like a chore and I don't want him to resent it. Plus, I don't really believe in forcing things on a child (learning things) before they are interested and ready. Often times, I have wondered if I was doing something wrong. After all, why did he seem so disinterested?

Around the middle of May, we were home on one rare afternoon for lunch and a nap. I had made smoothies and I asked him if he wanted to read books while we drank our smoothies. He nodded with joyful approval and proceeded to get every book off of the shelf. We sat and read for a long time and he paid attention and was interested in every book. The next day, he asked me to make another smoothie for lunch. (This must have been the week when they were painting the kitchen cabinets at our new house and I couldn't be over there during the day.) I made our smoothies and then he asked if we could read books while we drank them. Absolutely!

Without knowing it, my offer to read books on that first afternoon was a catalyst that opened the door to a huge love for reading. Since those first two days, any time I make smoothies, he wants to read books while we drink them. We read books, SEVERAL books, every day before his nap and every night before he goes to bed. It's fun for our whole family and Jason and I are so thrilled that he's so interested.

Before our trip to Utah back in March, I bought him The Little Engine That Could. He loves trains and I adored that book when I was younger. In fact, even into adolescence and adulthood, I have often said to myself, "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can" when presented with an intimidating task. I thought he would love the book too. Sure enough, he did. When the requests for reading books started in May, this was the book he always picked. And to my delight, this was the first book that he read back to me!! It happened one afternoon while I was reading to him. Before I could start reading the next page, he was reading it for me. I will never forget the first time he blurted out, "Hey guys! Look! A little blue engine is coming!"

Jackson has a Bible full of 100 Bible stories. This is the book that we've always read before bedtime...even when he was still nursing. He has favorite stories and they're either the ones with cats in the pictures or the ones that allow Jason to be really animated while reading them. Towards the back of the book, there is a story about Peter, James and John. After Jesus' resurrection, they went fishing. They fished all night but didn't catch anything. The next morning, a Man called from the shore asking if they'd caught any fish. When they said that they hadn't, He told them to throw their net on the right side of the boat. Suddenly, their net was full of fish and Peter knew that the man on the shore was Jesus.

Jackson loves to read this story. We love to hear him read it. It's amazing! Here's how he tells it:

"Peter, James and John went fishing. They fished all night.

"Did you catch any fish?"

"No! We've been here all night. We haven't caught one fish."

"Well, throw your net on the right side of the boat!"

"Uh, Okay!"

So they threw their net on the right side of the boat. Suddenly, their net was full of fish.

"It's Jesus!""

I have tried so hard to capture this on video, but it hasn't worked yet!

My mom got him a bunch of books from a discount bookstore. There are two that he really enjoys, Manners Matter with Morton the Moose and Bedtime Basics with Betsy the Beaver. We've read Manners Matter several times, but not so often that I would think he could have memorized it. Last week, we were reading books before bedtime and he chose Manners Matter. He opened the book and started reading it word for word! The book is short and easy to read, but there are some pretty big words in there. Here is one page that he read to us:

"After dinner, Morton's plate fell with a clatter. He said, "I'm sorry." For he had learned that manners matter."

I had tears in my eyes after he finished the book. I couldn't believe it. It's so exciting to see your child do something so well and to be proud of himself over the accomplishment.

Once we got our household goods back, I found three Dr. Seus books that my cousin gave him at our baby shower. He loves One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish and Green Eggs and Ham. He's now reciting stories from One Fish, Two Fish. It's hilarious. One of the stories is about an animal that can't hear because he fears he has something in his ear. Jackson always finishes the story with: "Say! Look! A bird was in your ear. But have no fear. Again your dear can hear you!" (It really says, "Again your ear can hear my dear.)

We are having so much fun with him. I love reading books and I'm so glad that he's enjoying them now. Library days sure are going to be lots of fun! I hope I never forget these early days of reading. I want to sear them in my memory forever.

Great Wolf Lodge

On Tuesday, 9 June, Jackson and I drove to Grapevine, Texas for the day to see my sister Melissa's family and my sister Meredith and her daughter Madalyn. Melissa's family was vacationing at Great Wolf Lodge. I haven't seen them since Meredith's baby shower in February. Since Grapevine isn't too far, I decided to make a day of it. We'd been so busy with house stuff, and I felt that Jackson needed a day to do something fun. He loves his cousins and I hate that he doesn't see them very often. Plus, when we go to Houston, our time is so short that he doesn't get much play time with them. This was a perfect opportunity for him to play with them all day long and to enjoy the water - something he loves very much.

I mentioned to Meredith that I was thinking about going. I didn't think she would want to make the trip from Arkansas because the drive was supposed to take her almost 5 hours and Madalyn was only 7 weeks at the time. I asked her to think about it but not to pressure herself at all. We thought it would be awesome for all of us to get together. Melissa's family hadn't met Madalyn yet and I was dying to see her and Meredith.

Meredith and I were both on the fence as to whether or not we would go. I wondered if I was being crazy by adding one more thing to do, especially when my house was so filthy and the movers were arriving that Friday with our things. My dad made it pretty clear to me that there will always be something to do in the house, and I kept thinking about the opportunity to see them and how sad it would be for me to miss out on it. I am often heartsick for my sisters, so this was going to be a treat for me as much as it was going to be for Jackson.

By Sunday, Meredith and I had both decided that we were going to go. Then, on Monday night, I found out that the wood installer wanted to be at our house on Tuesday. (We had a leak in an outside faucet that is just outside our master bedroom. Apparently, the previous owners let the pipe burst. When the tile setters were at our house, they were using the hose to mix the thinset. One day, I found standing water in our bedroom...right on top of our newly laid wood floors. We had to rip out a big section of our floor.) There was no way for Jason to be there during the day, which meant I needed to either stay home or leave a key. After a lot of consideration, we decided to leave a key and Jackson and I made our way to Texas the next morning.

I am SO glad that we went. We had a fantastic time and it was wonderful seeing my sisters, my brother in law, and my neice and nephews. Here are some photos from the day. It was hard taking pictures. I didn't want to spend the day behind a camera. I wanted to spend it playing!

Dawson is 7 and he and Jackson get along so well. They played together the entire day.

Precious, easy-going Colin. He and Jackson are 5 weeks apart.

I love the expression on his face:

Despite the face in the previous picture, he loved that slide and he always wanted someone at the bottom to "catch" him. This was Aunt Melissa's turn.

Jackson wanted me to slide down with him. He wanted to ride on my lap, but we couldn't do that so we just held hands. I didn't find out until I reached the bottom that adults aren't allowed to go on the slides at all. Oops!

Colin is very brave in the water. He has no fear. I love this series of photos of him going down the slide. He started out on his bottom but ended up on his belly.

And being dunked under the water didn't bother him at all.

Landon fell asleep sitting on Jonathan's lap:

Once Meredith got there, Dawson couldn't wait for her to ride down the exciting slides. Mer did not know what she was getting into, but she loved it. All three of us girls love a thrill and we love the water...very unlike our mother who doesn't really like to put her head under water and faints on ferris wheels!

Madalyn's first time in the water! She liked it.

Melissa and Dawson braved the big slide.

Jackson waited so patiently for them to get to the bottom. The lifeguard was sweet and let us put him on the raft for a photo:

Jackson absolutely LOVES Madalyn! He couldn't wait to hold her. Meredith, Melissa and Dawson wanted to go down the big slides, so Jackson and I took Madalyn. He was so happy to be holding her. He checked her hands and feet for all of her fingers and toes. Then, he stroked her hair while she slept on him. He held her for a full 30 minutes! He even asked me to feed him a snack because he didn't want to put her down:)

After fun in the water, we all got dressed for dinner. We got this photo of the cousins just before we left. From left to right: Colin (2), Landon (1), Madalyn (7 weeks), Dawson (7) and Jackson (2):

Jackson was one exhausted boy after we left the restaurant. We woke early that morning, he didn't sleep the entire way there, and he didn't take a nap. He was asleep 2 minutes after we drove off. I took this photo while driving. It was my third attempt.

I was so proud of Jackson. He loves the water but hasn't had many opportunities to swim. He LOVED the wave pool. After one or two rounds, he was comfortable enough to jump each wave by himself. He also got the hang of his life jacket and was floating on his back and belly. He is a very cautious kid, and it was a privilege to watch him get more comfortable throughout the course of the day.

We had a great time and I am so thankful for the opportunity to see my sisters, my brother-in-law, and my neice and nephews. I have missed them so much and getting away from all of the house stuff was a nice change. Jonathan and Melissa, thanks for letting us impose on your family vacation. Meredith, thank you for making the LONG drive with a newborn. I am so happy that we got to see you. Thank you all for making sacrifices to spend time with us. It means so much!!!

The Day I Got My Bed Back

For the past 7 months, when I sit to type a post, I want to start nearly every one with "Things have been so crazy..." I am beginning to wonder if our life will ever be normal again! I feel confident that things will soon slow down and we'll settle into a routine - even though we'll be welcoming a baby girl into our home in about 4 more weeks.

We spent our last weekend in May packing up the things in our apartment, moving them over to our new house (new to us but not a new construction), and then cleaning the apartment. We were supposed to spend our first night in our house on Sunday night, the 31st, but we ended up staying in our apartment because the remodeling wasn't complete. The remodeling process is a post in itself! I should have recorded all that we've been through so that we could look back on it and tell ourselves how crazy we were! More importantly, we could see the hand of God through every step of the process.

This is how Jackson spent a lot of his time at the house while the remodeling was going on. You should see him drive this car. It boggles my mind. He knows how to drive forward and in reverse and it is amazing to watch him steer. He needs no help whatsoever. Someone asked me how he learned to drive. I didn't really have an answer. Honestly, it was just instinctive. We've given him a few pointers, but he just figured it out during all of the times I let him drive around the apartment complex.

We are pleased with the improvements they've made to our home, but we weren't so happy with their pace. Our contractors knew that we had to be in our home on the 31st and we gave them more than enough time to finish everything. Unfortunately, and in our opinion, they kept putting things off, which other people warned us about, and didn't get things done on time. We wouldn't have been so upset if it wasn't for the fact that we felt like they took advantage of our kindness. Plus, there were several times when they were not working after they had said they were going to be. We've been without our belongings since 5 November. I was 3 weeks pregnant at the time and now I'm in my 8th month. That is a long time to be unsettled and without a bed, which has no doubt been a hardship on us and contributed to our frustration.

Having a few incomplete projects was not what made it hard to move into our house. It was the fact that everything was SO dirty. We had our entire floors redone, which required removing quite a bit of tile. If you've ever removed tile, then you know it creates more dust than you've ever seen in your life! There was dust covering EVERYTHING, which made it hard to move things inside...especially into a closet. I didn't expect to move into filth and I have to be honest and say that I was not happy about it. I was tired. Tired of being unsettled. Tired of not having a normal routine. Tired of sleeping on an air mattress. Tired of constantly having people in my home. The Lord is gracious, however, and He gently reminded me of how blessed I am and straightened out my attitude. Let me say that it isn't that I don't love and appreciate the people who have been remodeling our home. I do! I was just overwhelmed and a little disappointed. The house-buying and remodeling process took so much longer than I had anticipated, and I was honestly worrying about all of the unpacking that I would have to do at the end of my 8th and beginning of my 9th months of pregnancy. For a long time, I've been hoping that we'd have at least a month (if not two) of normalcy to enjoy our last days with Jackson as a family of three.

1 June was our first night in our home (and Jason's mom's birthday). We crammed everything into Jackson's bedroom because it was the one place that was away from all of the incomplete work. Jackson and I slept on the air mattress and Jason slept in the recliner. We did this for several nights until we were finally able to put an air mattress in our bedroom. I spent every day cleaning the house. I had no idea how long it would take (and there are still some things undone).

Our household goods left Virginia on 2 June. They had to arrive in Oklahoma by the 12th. My prayer was that they would arrive earlier than the 12th so that we could receive them on the 12th. I did ask the Lord to please allow us to have our things delivered on the 12th since it was a Friday and would allow us the weekend to work together at unpacking boxes; but, I have to say that I didn't pray that prayer with a lot of belief. You can bet that my heart fell prostrate before the Lord when I found out that our stuff was in Oklahoma on Monday the 8th and could be delivered on Friday, the 12th! It was too good to be true and I couldn't believe that we were finally going to get our beds and couches.

On Tuesday, the 9th, Jackson and I drove to Grapevine to spend the day at Great Wolf Lodge. Melissa's family was vacationing there. I hadn't seen my nephews since February and Jackson hasn't gotten to do anything fun for the past month. I talked to Meredith and asked her to entertain the idea of making the drive from Arkansas with Madalyn. I didn't expect her to do it since she's got a newborn, but SHE DID!!! So the sisters got to see each and all of the cousins got to be together. It was a wonderful day that I will absolutely post about soon.

My dad drove to Oklahoma on Wednesday to help us with our move. We were so blessed by him and would not be where we are if it wasn't for his help. We asked him to come help with Jackson so that we could focus more time on unpacking. Jackson is so content to be outside, but if I'm outside with him, then I can't be inside unpacking boxes. We needed someone to watch him and play with him, and my dad pulled through big time. He not only watched Jackson, but he helped us clean and unpack. His height came in handy many times:)!

Friday was the big day. Initially, Jason was not going to be able to be home because he was in the middle of his annual tour for the Reserves. Fortunately, and I mean VERY fortunately, he was able to work his time so that he could be home to help with the delivery of our stuff. Let me say that there is NO WAY we could have done it without him. It would have been MISERABLE!! I know that my dad and I were thankful all day long that he was there.

Here is a photo of our family taken right after the moving truck arrived:

My dad was such a huge help to us on moving day. When the movers pack your things, they put numbers on everything. You keep this inventory until delivery day. When they deliver your stuff, you check off each number as they bring it off of the truck. My dad was the official number checker. It was great because it freed us to do other things. My dad was in Germany when they packed our stuff and he was in Oklahoma when they delivered it!

Jackson was so excited to see all of his old toys. Every time they brought out something that interested him, he would play with it in the driveway - his shopping cart, his basket of balls, his truck, Jason's lawnmower... He even made use of the mover's ramp. He drove his PUKY car down that ramp tons of times.

When they brought my bed inside, I could not wait to lie on it. It was more comfortable than I remembered. I crawled on my bare mattress, lay down, and thanked the Lord for bringing my bed. For 31 weeks of this pregnancy, I have been without my bed. We have nice air mattresses, but it wasn't until I laid myself on my bed that I realized the toll they had taken on my body. And apparently on Jackson's body. He napped for 4 hours that day!!!

The movers were gone by 1700 and we started unpacking. We unpacked all weekend except Sunday morning when we went to church. We were very fortunate with this move. Nothing was damaged! (The Germans know how to pack well!) There were several things that either the movers brought inside or that we pulled out of a box that we'd forgotten we had. That tells me two things: it's been a long time since we've seen our stuff OR we have too much stuff. I think both are true! Besides my bed, here are some things that I was thrilled to see: my cookbooks!, my maternity clothes (although hardly any of the summer stuff fit), our framed paintings and photos, my shoes, our towels (we've been living with only three), Jackson's jogger and big stroller (he couldn't wait for me to take him on a ride), our travel books, our couches, our grill (Jason is the best at the grill), and...

I am so grateful to finally be getting settled. We left for Utah last Saturday for a week. (I'm actually typing this from my hotel room in Utah.) When we left, the kitchen, dining room and living room were done. Our clothes were unpacked and our closet was organized. All of the beds were set-up except for the baby's crib. (I still haven't washed her bedding. I haven't done anything in her room. I'm saving it for when we return.) My priorities when we return (not in order): organize Jackson's room and closet, unpack the books and put them in the bookcase, clean the powder bath, set-up the baby's room, clean the laundry room cabinets, organize the garage, and pull weeds from the backyard. Hopefully, I can get that done and have meals made before our sweet girl arrives. We are so excited to meet her!