366-234-240 Our Vacation!

We had an awesome vacation with our friends from home.  Our families got together and took a cruise to the Western Caribbean.  Yes, we were ahead of the hurricane by one week! Whew! Dodged a bullet there.  Anyway, these are some of our pictures from the week.  The first on the left is of the kids table at dinner.  The second is in front of the big ol' ship and the third is of me and my man....

The next four is of our stop in Jamaica man!  We took an excursion and went zip lining!  So fun!  I have to say the people of Jamaica are so welcoming and nice.  You may notice in the picture of me and my honey, that I was SWEATING!  That is called humidity!  I am so not used to it! SO HOT!!!

Anyway, I have an awesome story... When we went to the zip lining place and before we started I had to use the ladies room.  There was this sweet woman cleaning the bathroom and keeping it in tip top shape.  As I walked in,  she was singing "Blessed Be The Lord God Almighty!"  I said to her, "I hear you worshipping Jesus" and she replies "God's people are everywhere!" And gives me a big ol' hug!  I love that!  God is so amazing and yes, His people are EVERYWHERE!

More to come...

Blessings,
Kim

Happy 13th Birthday Sweet Girl!

Where did the time go???

13 years of a sweet blessing!

My girl is growing up so fast... Thank you Jesus for my sweet girlie girl! I love seeing her grow into a Godly young woman. My girl has a such a sweet personality.  I love her so much!  She cracks me up so much and is so fun to be around.  She is the life of the party!

We had her party at the beach this year.  It was such a fun time.  My friend Denise came all the way out from Nevada to visit and be with my girl on her birthday.  They have a sweet relationship and I love to see it!  Denise calls herself her udda mudda... I would agree ; ) That is the one thing that I miss the most about moving.  I had a circle of friends that I have known for most of my kids life.  I knew that they had my kids back.  That they were in their corner and if we ever needed anything  I could count on to be there in a "New York" minute.  Actually, I know they would still be there.

At some point during the party, I had a chance to look around and notice.  See the beauty of how an awesome God works.  Last year, my girl had a very small birthday.  It happened to be the same time as the big move, so the party was the last thing on our minds.  Plus, we really did not know ANYONE! This year it was a different scene all together.  Not only does my girl have a bunch of new friends but so do I!  God is so good!  That is the body of Christ working together.  You see, when you have Jesus, you are connected to millions of people that you have never even met yet.  And in an instance, you are linked. God is so good!

Blessings,
Kim

366-228-233 My Grandson Visits! Plus 1000 Gifts....

We have had a busy last 3 weeks!  Our grandson came to visit for 13 days at the beginning of August.  We tried to keep him busy because he does best when he is active. One day we took him to the zoo.  My boy decided he would try taking some pictures.  Then it became a competition between girl and boy seeing who could take the best pictures.  Now I have a bunch of pictures that I am not sure who took.  Ugh! Oh well... we got some nice ones...

Also, my girlie girl turned 13!  We had a sweet birthday party for her at the beach.  She is growing up so fast!  What a blessing she is in our lives!

We just got back on Sunday from our vacation.  We had a blast and will soon get some pictures up from our time away.

I am still counting the gifts the Lord has blessed us with.  Actually, while away, I had some time to catch up on some reading.  I am continuing the book "One Thousands Gifts" by Ann Voskamp.  I am only on chapter 8 because I find it a hard read, but I am getting some nuggets out of her book.  One of the quotes that spoke to me was....

"Without trust in the good news of Jesus, without trust in the good news of God's saving work even in this moment, without an active, moment-by-moment trust in the good news of an all-sovereign, all-good God, how can we claim to fully believe?  This is the trust I lack: to know that if disaster strikes, He carries me even there.  Trust in the wholeness of the gospel-including this moment, good news too- and be saved.  Choose stress, worry, anxiety, reject what God has given now, which is good news too-- refuse to trust---and be condemned."

I have stress and worry issues... always have... I know scripture, and  I know what it says about worry and I know it is a sin.  Some days I do better and some days not so much.  The bottom line is... DO I TRUST JESUS?  If I continue on my gut wrenching worries I am in SIN!  I AM REJECTING WHAT HE HAS FOR ME??? Ouch! That hurts...

So with that, today I will choose to TRUST!

Still counting....

411.  Time with my grandson...

412.  Fun times at the zoo..

413.  A nice vacation...

414.  Catching up on my reading..

415.  My girl turning 13! Thanking Jesus for her...

416.  Denise coming to visit and attend my girl's birthday party...

417.  Dusting off school books and starting school... (we had a soft opening yesterday)

418.  Starting my boy's SENIOR year! Not sure how that happened so fast!

419.  Being home...

420.  My sweet friend Cheryl taking us and picking us up at the airport! Thanks! :)

421.  Her sweet daughter watching my animals and house while away...

422.  Trusting Jesus today...

423.  HE LOVES ME!

424.  Not deserving.... but HE DOES!!

Blessings,
Kim

366-217-227

Oh, Summer where have you gone??  Here is a small recap of some of the things we did over the summer.  These pics were taken with my Iphone.

From top to bottom....
Seattle Children's Museum....
My Girl with her Best Friend in Baton Rouge....
Me and my grandbaby girl in Seattle....
Beach...
Museum...
My grandson with a mustache...
My girl reading the second book of the Hunger Games at the airport....
Train tracks...
Homeschool Convention....
Flowers from hubby....
Hubby and grandbaby...

And many other things... but that is all for now.

Blessings,
Kim

366-215 & 216

In the back yard...

Blessings,
Kim

1000 Gifts

Trying to savor the last few weeks of summer... pulling my curriculum together and getting the last few things together for the school year.  I can't believe I have waited this long... honestly, I thought I had all summer. Oh, I did... ooops.. procrastination...yikes!

Anyway, still counting....

401. Safe travels for my hubby...

402. My grandson coming to visit....

403. Busy is better for him, tired for me :)

404. Swimming, swimming, swimming.....everyday...

405. Beautiful flowers my hubby gave me just because...

406. Finishing my craft project....

407. Finally!

408. Enjoying the memories while doing the project...

409. Early morning talks with my hubby....

410. His listening ear when I am frustrated and concerned about
the kidseverything...

1 Chronicles 16:34
Give thanks to Lord for He is good; His love endures forever.

Blessings,
Kim

Christmas in July, I mean August....

So all summer I have been working on this Christmas project.  I first saw it on Clover Lane.  I loved it and thought I should whip that up for Christmas.  Well, it took a lot longer than I expected.  I had to tweak it a couple of times and make it my rendition of her cool looking project.

As I was working on the 23 years of Christmases that I have shared with my hubby my brain was flooded with memories.  We have had so many good times and our family has been blessed.  It has not always been easy, let me shout that out, but in the end, I am so thankful to Jesus for my family.

Some highlights of the Christmases past were of course our first in 1989.... the young dreamy eyed, in love couple that thought all we needed was love.  And boy did we have that.. and that is ALL!!! My walk was so new... I did not realize how much we needed JESUS as the foundation.  Then the 5 years of my empty womb... the last Christmas before my boy was born (1994).  I was so heart broken inside.   Then 1995... the year my boy came and 1999 my girlie girl came .... SO THANKFUL!!!

Our "House" has changed many times over the years but I know it has always been a "Home" full with God and lots of LOVE!! Kids have grown and left the nest and grandkids have come in... Many tears have been shed but many laughs, kisses and love has been as well.

These decorations will adorn my staircase along with garland during the Christmas season....

Psalm 103:17
But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD's love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children's children....

Blessings,
Kim

366-212-214

This is where I want to be...
And I try to get there at least once a week....

My girl loves her new friends!

We are blessed...

Blessings,
Kim