Happy Birthday to Desi, Micah and Jason!

Here is a pic taken at 11:20pm of Micah and Desi studying up Tuesday night before their 2 day motorcycle class. They had one afternoon to answer over 100 questions in this "booklet" before class at 7am the next morning. They had a great time, are totally wiped out and both passed with flying colors. They had to take a written test yesterday and a driving test today. They are now liscensed to RIDE!

In honor of their birthdays (Micah -May 30, Desi and Jason -May 31) the kids and I made this really rich cake and decorated it in a motorcycle theme.




We enjoyed a nice dinner, yummie cake and good conversation after the kiddos went to bed. I love the above pics. Check out Emma's face in the middle shot and Levi in the bottom one!
~Rose
P.S. Desi, you are an amazing man. I thank God daily for your love, encouragment and guidance. You are such an involved father and that makes you so attractive! You make me want to be a better woman and I cannot imagine life with out you. God has truly blessed me with a man who "dwells with me with understanding"! I pray your 32nd year on this planet is the best yet. I am so enjoying this journey we are on together! I love you! ~Rose

Where's A Man When You Need Him?

So this morning I put Levi to bed and went to the bathroom behind our kitchen to do my hair. I noticed the leaky sink and thought, "This is such a waste of water. The kids can wash at the kitchen sink. I'll just turn the water off to this sink till we get it fixed." I began to turn the valve and pop, I broke some rusty part and it started spraying and dripping and water was all over the floor in an instant. Well, I grabbed a kitchen towel to wrap it up and a bucket to catch the water. I called everyone I could think of. I figured I had to turn off the water to the whole house. I found it out front...this deep dark hole covered by a big metal top (like a mini man hole). I had to pray and get brave to try to turn the valve. Well, I was not strong enough and with no one around to help I had to call a plummer. I sat in the bathroom dumping bucketfulls of water into the toilet. Thank GOD the plummer arrived within 20 minutes and was able to fix it (and the leaky faucet) pretty quickly. So, $172.50 later, we're all fixed up! All's well that end's well I guess. Here are the before and after pics of the rusty part.


I have to give a shout out to my daughter Hope. She was a real trooper. She held the bucket under the sink while I tried to turn the water off and called the plummer. After, she offered to make lunch for herself and Owen and Emma. She even asked me if I wanted a sandwhich or something to drink. So sweet. She has the gift of hospitality for sure! Thank you God for answering my prayers and helping me be brave to stick my arm down that hole!

I just had to laugh about the whole thing. Tuesday we had a big rain and hail storm. I had gone to Costco to pick up a few things and was dressed in flip flops and shorts. As I left it was raining pretty hard, but Micah was borrowing our van and the other one was loaned out, so I had to get home so he could get to work. I decided to just make a run for it. I zipped up my sweatshirt and as soon as I stepped out into the parking lot it started hailing so hard. I ran with my cart to the van and a fast as I could unloaded. By the time I got to my door I was SOAKED. It was pretty funny. I've never been caught in weather like that before. WOW, it doesn't take long to get really wet. Here are a few pics that Desi took while I was gone.


~Rose

Once again, God shows Himself to be sufficient for all my needs!

More Kylander Fun

It's become a regular thing for us to cruise on up to Thornton every Friday to BBQ with the Kylanders. Last week the men made a fire pit and we roasted marshmallows to make smores. YUM! These fashionable gals are my girl Hope and her forever friend Abby. I fondly remember the days of dress-up. My grandma had tons of costume jewlery that she let me play with. I love the big hats on these girls!

I love this picture. I may order this shot as a post card for stationary.

The trampoline is the BEST thing! Our kids get so worn out and have a blast on it.


My how the time flies. I remember moving into our first apartment in Murrieta. Josh & Lori were our neighbors and little Abby wasn't even walking yet. I saw her take some of her first steps :) She'll be 8 on June 5th. Our little broods have grown and it's such a blessing!

~Rose

BUGS!

Two Mondays ago we went to the Denver Botanic Gardens on one of their Free Days. I love getting in to places for free! They have a Big Bug Exhibit there till the end of June and I really wanted to see them for myself. They are all made out of natural materials and the 10 various bugs were scattered around the gardens. We had a blast finding them all.

The Columbine (our state flower).




My budding (excuse the pun) photographer. I let Hope use our little digital to take pics. She filled that 1 gig up very quickly. I still need to look through those pics and see if there are any worthy of the blog (most were blurry). I gotta get her to hold it still!


Just after I snapped the above shot of Owen, this man (below) and his wife walked past us. I noticed the big black backpack and upon closer inspection saw the CAT! I had to get a pic, so I followed him for a bit and was so happy to get a good pic (a nice zoom helps). So, all you cat lovers out there...do you have one of these yet to take kitty out on a stroll in the gardens?



~Rose

Black & White

I have not been doing enough in black and white lately. I know I posted this one of Owen already, but I had to include him with the other kiddos :) Micah took the pics of the girls. Just beautiful!




~Rose

Man Camping

Well, here are the camping pics as promised. Micah got these pics to me last night and I just LOVE them! The boyz had a great time. They hiked into an amazing spot right near a stream. Owen ate nothing but chips, marshmallows and chocolate. He fell asleep pretty early and was the last one awake. He told me following the stream to where it came out of the ground was his favorite part. He also told me who did #2's and who didn't. They all came home dirty and tired and ready to do it again. I am so glad Owen had a good time and did well- I think all boys need to spend quality time with their daddies. Owen did call me when he got home (I was at the store) and said, "Mommy, I missed you." Yeah, way to melt my heart buddy!

The men: Micah, Jason (my bro), Josh & Luke, Desi & Owen

The first of many dad/son camping trips!



~Rose

Motorcycle Gang

This pic was in the card that Micah made for Desi.

Micah and I went in together to get Desi motorcycle lessons for his birthday. Micah's bday is tomorrow and Desi's is Thursday. They will both be in motorcycle school all day the next two days. Once we re-do our kitchen floor, I'd like to take motorcylce lessons...Desi's not going to have all that fun without me!!!!
~Rose

The Sword

I was at Target last week with Owen and Emma. I saw this sword for $1.99 and just had to get it for him. It has a sheath that attaches to his belt. He's worn it all week and it's just so dang cute! As I type, Owen and his daddy-o are camping with my brother Jason, Micah, Josh and his son Luke. I pray that the little guys do well (I think the'll have the time of their lives) without their mama's :) It's a total guy camping trip. They had no reservations, so they went to a free and open area where they have to be like 100 yards from any roads or other campers. No running water, no plumbing, ect... I call this real man camping. I'd prefer running water and a covered toilet! Micah took his camera so hopefully we'll get some good shots to share with you soon!
~Rose

We're Done!

Hope and I just finished her 1st grade work this Friday! With all this warm weather, it's been hard somedays to come inside and get it done. I ordered her 2nd grade materials and Owen's Kindergarten curriculum last week and it arrived Thursday. Opening the box was like Christmas! The Kindergarten curriculum is so extensive. I am totally impressed with it and look forward to starting with Owen. I'm thinking at this point we'll take 2 years to go through it (it has 166 lessons). Owen is really excited. Hope will be starting Adventures in My Father's World in which we'll explore US history from a Christian perspective. She'll make a timeline, history notebook, and a nature notebook. She'll also do Bible, US History, Geography, Science, Art, Music, Math and Language Arts. Now I have all summer to prepare and look through my teacher's manuals.
I am so blessed that God led us to My Father's World and I am able to teach my own kiddos. I love being a teacher (well, most days I do!)

Our package was full of goodies including a new Bible just for Hope, a butterfly cage, ant farm, soda bottle bird feeder, magnet set, alphabet puzzle, map, music cd's, and a bunch of fun looking books.

The box and paper padding proved to be quite entertaining for our kiddos! I'm making a mental note to find a refridgerater box this summer so they can make a playhouse!

~Rose

My Kiddos Are Total Goofballs Sometimes

Owen's Strong Face

City Fishing

Our new favorite craft!

Emmaline after a long day of outdoor play!

~Rose

Denver Zoo

I met my friend Amanda (she nannys for two year old twins) at the zoo recently. Bad time of year to go, as every school in Colorado was there on an end of the year field trip! We stayed for about an hour and a half. It was great to get out and see the animals though and the kids always enjoy themselves there. Here are a few of my favorite pics from the trip. Thanks again Amanda!
~Rose

A.G.O.

Last Monday we went up to Boulder to see my brother's frat house. He lives on the main floor of Alpha Gamma Omega, a Christian Fraternity just across the street from CU Boulder. Jason will start in the fall and pledge then. The house is massive and totally a man pad. The living room is FULL of couches (with some in the back on cinder blocks for stadium seating) and they have a big screen tv with video games. It is a three story house with about 12 bedrooms. Jason has the room with the bay window in the pic below.




We ate dinner at Half Fast Subs- an amazing sub shop within walking distance where you could order two new subs a week for a year. As we drove up Baseline Rd to look out over Boulder it started raining. We dropped Jason off and barely made it home before it dumped like crazy. We even had flash flooding in Denver which resulted in 2 people losing their lives by accidently getting swept away in the waterways. We truly do not know what tomorrow or the next few hours may bring! How important to seize every opportunity to show and tell the people in our lives what they mean to us!
~Rose

Thy Kingdom Come on Earth as it is in Heaven!

Our friends Richard and Thomas were out to visit Mother’s Day weekend. We had a wonderful time with them and were blessed by their message of the Kingdom. I’ll attempt to share a bit of what they shared with us. They started off asking how many times church vs kingdom is mentioned in the Gospels. Church is mentioned 2 times and Kingdom over 70. Often church is telling people how to get to God’s Kingdom of Heaven, but we want to bring that Kingdom of Heaven here to the church on earth. If you think about it, we are the King’s ambassadors and He has a calling for us here on earth. I doubt He wants us to “just make it through” and finally get to heaven, but rather be active in bringing His Kingdom to earth. People should get a glimpse (or even more) of the King and what He’s all about by looking at us, His ambassadors. Our home should be like an embassy which represents God’s Kingdom. I think one of the best ways of bringing His Kingdom here is to seek God and ask Him what spiritual gifts He has given us and then to use them! We are all part of the body of Christ and He has gifted us in different ways for His Own glory.

God’s Kingdom came at Jesus’ first coming, but it only came in part. The full measure of the Kingdom will come at Jesus’ second coming. We are living in two ages simultaneously. The old age did not end at Jesus’ first coming, but continues as well as the new age that began at Jesus’ resurrection. It has been compared to D-Day in WW2 vs V-Day. D-Day was the decisive battle that turned the war around and assured victory over the Nazi’s, but V-Day, when the Nazi’s would surrender and sign a peace treaty was still months away. So, Jesus’ death and resurrection was our D-Day against the war of sin and death and ushered in His Kingdom, but our V-Day will not arrive until Jesus’ second return to earth. So, now we are living in this tension of both ages where some moments of living in His Kingdom are filled with joy unspeakable and other times we struggle with our own sins and the evil in this world. I think it comes down to loving God and loving others which are greatest commandments according to Jesus. I have not attained this perfectly, but strive toward that end. We are all on a journey and I pray that we can focus on God and His will for us, use our talents to draw others to Him and to enjoy the journey! Micah is reading a book in which I got some of this info from called Kingdom Come (isbn:0830823638). I plan on borrowing it and reading it in full and will fill you in as I learn new things!




~Rose