Easter 2013

We put flowers on the cross at church on Sunday morning.  I love this tradition!





And tried to get family pictures...except that we were running late and no one was left in the breezeway to snap a picture of all of us so Graem and I had to trade off!



If you know my husband, you know he has ZERO patience for being late...one of the main sources of discord in our marriage since I'm forever late...therefore he snapped a picture as quickly as possible, resulting in this:



After church on Sunday we headed over to Graem's Aunt Linda's house for Easter lunch.  All of the ladies in Graem's family are amazing cooks, so we were well-fed to say the least!  Maybe it is because I have been dieting and took a break from my diet for Easter...but I think the food was especially good this year!  The good food must have put me in the mood for picture-taking because I took lots of pictures...for whatever reason I haven't been using my "real" camera much in recent months (possibly because I have become so fond of snapping pictures with my iPhone).  Looking back through these pictures I'm reminded that the iPhone and Nikon are NOT created equally.  :-) 

Again...impossible to get a good picture of all of us!!





Uncle John always has cool "toys" to climb on!



We were glad that my mom could come down to join us, even though my Dad had to tend to the chickens and couldn't get away from the farm!

















What happens when you get chocolate all over your Easter dress?  You hunt eggs in your bloomers!  :-)





Uncle Steve...the "real" Easter bunny!


We had a pre-Easter family get-together with the Ropers on Saturday and sadly I only have a couple of pictures!  Again, great food, diet detour.  :-) 









In case you haven't noticed...there is a common theme of Roper getting his picture made with pretty girls!  The child loves pretty girls!! 

I hope you all had a very happy Easter!  He is Risen!!

A Happy Day with a Tinge of Sadness

Duncan's first birthday was the first time I've felt any sadness on the birthday of one of my children.  Usually I think about how I can't remember what life was like before they were born, and how the day they were born seems SO long ago.

With Duncan I feel different.  The past year has flown by with high highs and low lows. 

I feel sad because Duncan is my last baby and his "baby days" are numbered. He is practically weaned at this point and he doesn't need me in the same way that he has for the past year. 

He started crawling exactly a week before he turned 1.  We have been working on crawling for MONTHS.  As happy as I am that he is finally crawling, it is hard watching him struggle.  I feel sad that he doesn't have more time to catch up. 

Turning one is a reason to celebrate, and we did, with family and friends that we love dearly.  But someone was missing. I feel sad that in a few short months we would have celebrated Wyatt's first birthday.  I feel sad that Rob and Kelli know what it feels like to have a precious boy taken away without any warning whatsoever.

I am thankful for Duncan, this precious gift that God has given us, but I can't help but feel sad that my babies are growing up and life is moving on.  Anyone have any suggestions on how I can make time slow down??

This is what the Lord says:  I have heard your prayer and seen your tears.  I will heal you.  2 Kings 20:5

Duncan's First Birthday

Our sweet Duncan turned one on Sunday.  I tried to keep it from happening.  For weeks I whispered in his ear not to turn one.  But he didn't listen to me.  I'm sure that will never happen again!  :)







This little boy is very LOVED!!

How to Help a Grieving Friend

I have been shocked and saddened to learn that so many people have been through the heartache of losing a child, whether it be an older child, an infant, or a baby still in-utero. 

My cousin passed along a series of very practical blog posts on encouraging a grieving friend, which have been very helpful to me. I thought I would share them here, in hopes that they might help someone else, too.  The posts are a quick and easy read.  These are written by Molly Piper, she is John Piper's daughter-in-law, so you know it will be good.  :-)

Christmas Pajamas

Can't stop now...

2009


2010


2011


2012

Baby Wyatt

My sweet nephew Wyatt passed away in his sleep from SIDS on the night before Christmas Eve.  He was almost five months old.  (Link to obituary) 



He was the fifth grandson in our family and was truly the sweetest, happiest baby. The only time he showed his temper was when he was hungry!  We had so many hopes and dreams for baby Wyatt.  I knew he and Duncan would be best buddies, just like Roper and Robert are.



I have often found myself speechless in the past twelve days.  I can find no words of comfort for Rob and Kelli.  It has been heart-wrenching to watch my sweet brother and sister-in-law go through this.  I feel so helpless.  There are times when I haven't even found the words to pray.  Verses, hymns, and words of songs bounce around in my head, my thoughts are scrambled and my emotions are completely mixed up.





We can't make sense of it now, we just have to move forward in faith and take comfort knowing that he is in a place where sickness, sorrow, pain and death are felt and feared no more.  He is with all the saints that have gone before us and I know there were many waiting to greet him at the gates.


Healing does not seem possible at this point, but I know that God will supply the peace and comfort we all need in time. I am reminded of Brian Habig's sermon last October.  We live in a broken, fallen world.  If it weren't, then we wouldn't need God and wouldn't long for something better.  In the words of my Daddy, "Our God is an awesome God, and our savior Jesus Christ is Lord of Lords and King of Kings.  We are leaning on the everlasting arms."



Romans 8:18-30
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
 

Lights at the Zoo

Last week my cousin Kate suggested that we take the boys to see the lights at the zoo...she is so sweet...how many college students choose to spend a Friday night with their little cousins?  Then she offered to watch them Saturday morning while I got some Christmas shopping done and Graem hunted.  Yeah, she is pretty great.  (Thanks, Kate!)


Two monkeys + a goat:






Happy stinker...






They had a snow machine at the zoo entrance...M&R were pretty fascinated with the snow...


Happiness: