Black and White Wednesday-Vacation or Adventure!!

This picture was too funny not to post. Clara Beth's face seems to be saying, "Mom, are you serious, are we really going in there!" We did, but it was only because this is a sign we passed on the way to play putt putt while we were at the beach. I hope to post more pictures from our little get away soon.

Sometimes in life we are headed down a path we are not sure of, thankfully if we follow His word we won't find ourselves swimming with the alligators!

Until next time...
"Which is the way to what is good? Then take it and find rest for yourselves."
Jeremiah 6:16

Robin

Sneak Peek!

A few weeks ago I won a design kit from Erica Le Blanc. She has a fabulous site with beautiful ideas for decorating. I felt like I was on an episode of an HGTV show when my kit arrived. I tore into the package and LOVED what I saw! If you would like to take a peek hop over to her blog and see my new and much improved bedroom!!! I hope to get busy on it as soon as school is out!

I ask her to turn our bedroom into a restful retreat and she did exactly that with out breaking my budget!

Until Next time...

We know where our true rest comes from!

I am at rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him.

Psalm 62:1

Robin

Black and White Wednesday-Guess Where We Are Going...

Only two more days and we are off to dip our toes in the sand and surf! We can't wait to celebrate family time! The whole gang's going. Fun times ahead!!!

I hope to have lots of great pictures from our trip to post.

Until next time...

Psalm 69:34
Let heaven and earth praise Him, the seas and all that move in them.



Robin

Sunday Snapshot-Our Sunday Drives

You've heard of a Sunday afternoon drive. Well here's how our family takes them... First there's a race to see just who will be the driver.
Looks like Emanuiel may have beaten Clara Beth but by the look on her face I don't think she minds.
Can you tell by his face that he didn't actually like it when we told him he couldn't really drive! Clara Beth seems to find it hysterically funny though!
No, I'm not the one who chauffeurs us around the neighborhood either.
It happens to be this big guy that takes the driver's seat and whisks us around past all of our neighbors. I know that walking through the neighborhood would be much healthier but not nearly as much fun!!! By the way Land does accompany us sometimes but he finds all the giggling and waving to neighbors very embarrassing. I can't imagine why!

Until next time...

Our big guy may guide us through the neighborhood but He is the one that guides our path.

I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way

which thy shalt go:

I will guide thee with mine eye.

Psalm 32:8

Robin

Black and White Wednesday-Swept Away!

What can I say, even after 26 years this man still sweeps me off my feet! Today is our anniversary and I consider it such a blessing to be married to my sweetheart.
The Bible states very clearly what a marriage should be like: that a husband's love for his wife should be sacrificial as exemplified by Christ's love for the church and for us.



Ephesians 5:31 -33 states:

For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.



This mystery is profound, but I am talking about Christ and the church. To sum up, each one of you is to love his wife as himself, and the wife is to respect her husband.

In this crazy, selfish world we live in I am comforted to know that this is how my husband loves me. All moments are not perfect but I know that he puts me first. What an honor for me this is. I love him to pieces and respect him more than words can say.

Happy Anniversary my sweet!

Until next time...

Robin

Sunday Snapshot-How Does Your Garden Grow?

Come into our garden...

See how it will grow...
Look at all our vegetables planted in a row.

It's where we can share secrets and play in the sun...



Checking on our vegetables to see if they are done.



Come into our garden it sure is lots of fun!

Until next time...

John 15:1
The Vine and the Branches ] "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.

Robin

Black and White Wednesday-Special Moments and A Special Day

Today on Black and White Wednesday I want to share some special moments. This was taken while Clara Beth and I enjoyed some cuddle time on our porch. This has become our favorite spot to relax after we have been away from each other all day. Emanuiel was out and about exploring the backyard but every few minutes he would run up on the porch for a little hug and kiss too. Today is also my dear, sweet husband's birthday. I can not tell you how blessed I am to have him as my sweetheart. He is thoughtful, loving and the most wonderful father. His faith is strong and his love for God and family is evident in everything that he does.

He has weekly lunch dates with Anna Kayla much like the father daughter date nights he had with her while she was growing up. I am sure he was the role model for her husband and we are blessed that she also married a man with a passion for the Lord. With out a doubt this big guy remains her hero too.

Watching him with our little ones is amazing. They play and work around the yard together and make quite a team. They have planted a garden and carefully tend to it each day. He is teaching them patience and love by example. For this I am thankful.

My two favorite big guys is how I refer to these two now. Land has grown so much and Paul has always been there for him. This is a man who gave up his Saturday golf game when Land was about four and hasn't played since because he wanted to be able to spend his weekends with his son. He always thinks of us before himself. He fills our home with love and laughter. Our family is truly blessed. We love you to pieces and hope you have a GREAT birthday!

Until next time...

"Our mouths were filled with laughter then, and our tongues with shouts of joy. Then they said among the nations. "The Lord has done great things for them."

Psalm 126:2

Robin

A Breakfast Conversation

I have the pleasure of having breakfast with two delightful little partners each morning. My big guy, Land, enjoys his breakfast in the quiet of his room. I allow this on weekday mornings because it gives him the time he needs to wake up and start his day. He can be a bear sometimes in the morning so we let him stay in his cave until he is ready to emerge. Meanwhile the little ones and I share some lively and insightful moments together. Most mornings are pleasant but hurried. If Emanuiel is not in a particularly good mood he has a way of dealing with it. He simply moves the Ivy plant directly in front of his face so that he doesn't have to look at anyone. Thus his problem is solved and he feels like he has some privacy. This has happened on several occasions and does not please Clara Beth at all. She does not like to be ignored. Some mornings I have to coax them into finishing up their breakfast so that we can be on our way. I often do this by telling them they are my little baby birds and that they must eat to grow. It's amazing how well this works. The other morning Emanuiel had finished and was off to brush his teeth. Clara Beth was still lingering over her oatmeal chatting away about life in general when she looked at me with that sweet little face and said "I'm just growing up so fast". In that moment I looked at her and realized how right she was. My precious little birds are growing so quickly. Each day brings new moments and discoveries into all of their lives and it passes so quickly. All I have to do is look at Anna Kayla to know that. It doesn't seem so long ago that she and I shared conversations over breakfast and now she's all grown up. But this is God's plan. As much as we love our little ones He loves them even more. Thankfully I can trust these precious baby birds of mine to His care knowing that they are being watched over as they grow up even when I am not there.

Until next time...

Rest in the knowledge that:

"He watches over His nest like and eagle and hovers over His young."

Deuteronomy 32:11

Robin

Black and White Wednesday

Family is at the heart of everything we do. This Black and White Wednesday I am celebrating family. I just wish Anna Kayla and Greg were in this picture with us! These are the good things!! Until next time...



He fills my life with good things .

Psalm 103.5:5



Robin

Black and White Wednesday

Here are the little ones taking a few minutes out from playing for a little restoration in the form of a home made juice pop. Now that's what I call "takin it easy"!


Until next time...

May you find your own form of restoration in the middle of a busy week.

Restore us, O Lord God Almighty; make Your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.
Psalm 80:19

Robin

Black and White Wednesday

Here are my two favorite big guys. The one on the right is growing way too fast! What a blessing to see the young man he is becoming. My hope and prayer is that he will become the person that Psalm 15 tells us of.

Listen, my sons to a father's instruction; pay attention and gain understanding.
Proverbs 4:1

Until next time...
Robin

Go here to enjoy more of Black and White Wednesday.

Our First Embrace

A day I will never forget. After a long wait on April 17, 2007 we finally held our sweet Clara Elizabeth De Min for the very first time. In this moment time stood still and my heart was filled with immeasurable joy.

In minutes she was laughing and greeting us like she too had waited for this day.

And now each day is filled with her smiles and laughter. We love her so and she daily brings us immeasurable joy! If you like you can go back and read more about our incredible journey to bring her home here .

Oh how we prayed for this little one to join our family. Once she was in our arms this verse continuously reminded me of God's faithfulness.

I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him.

1 Samuel 1:27

Until next time...

Robin

Black and White Wednesday

Look at how great a love the Father has given us, that we should be called God's children.

1 John 3:1

Until next time...

Robin

Meet Me In The Hammock

Even though Paul was BUSY during spring break painting our kitchen, installing our new counter tops and sink and tons of other things on our long "to do " list he did manage to relax and rest a little, but not without some help! I overheard him say as he walked out the back door "Meet me in the hammock!" As soon as this was out of his mouth little legs started running as fast as they could to the back yard. So my little legs ran as fast as they could to get the camera, because I knew fun times were coming! Here they are piled on for some relaxation.

They climbed in and they climbed out...several times.

Then they decided it was more fun to swing daddy!

And swing they did over and over. I'm not sure how restful this was but I do know it was a lot of FUN!

We have a busy week ahead because all of us are back to work and school. Here's hoping we can find a little rest here and there. In our busyness let us not forget where true rest comes from:

The Lord replied,"My presence will go with you and I will give you rest."

Exodus 33:14

Until next time...

Robin

Easter

Our Easter celebration began with our church egg hunt. The two little ones could hardly wait to fill their baskets. They couldn't get out the door and into the church yard fast enough. Here's Emanuiel pausing for a second to check and see if there was anything inside his eggs.

Clara Beth is carefully choosing just the right ones for her basket, unlike Emanuiel, who ran wild picking up everyone he saw.

She found it much easier to just sit down and pick up the ones all around her.

After our big egg hunt we were off to Land's baseball games. I left the camera in the car so I didn't get any pictures of the game or the little ones having a great time while we watched.
The next few pictures were taken Easter morning before and after church.

Here are the two little ones waiting to go to church. For some reason Emanuiel was not happy with this shirt and told me several times that he did not want to wear it.

Daddy finally talked him into wearing it with the promise that he could take it off after our company left.

This picture was taken after church and Emanuiel was clearly still not happy about his shirt. He said he liked clothes with pictures on them. Clara Beth on the other hand was quite happy with her dress.

This little fellow just makes me laugh, he is so opinionated about things. He is also very loving. When he hugs me, he squeezes my face and says over and over,"I love your face mom"! I love his face too, even if it's not smiling.

Here's dad and the little ones after church. I'll have to say it was a little confusing for these two this year with our Easter celebration. They had a hard time understanding how at Christmas we celebrated baby Jesus and now He was all grown up and we were celebrating His Resurrection. There was a lot of discussion about this and finally Clara Beth said He must have grown so fast because he ate His broccoli! Hmmm... maybe this will help her to eat her broccoli too.

I was able to grab my big guy for an Easter picture. You see I am holding on to him so he won't get away!

Emanuiel finally perked up because the pictures were almost over.

Paul set the timer and we were able to pose for a family shot. Then we hurried into the house because we had twenty guests arriving for Easter lunch and we had to get everything ready! We had a splendid day with family and friends. I hope yours was full of splendor too.

Until next time...

I will mediate about Your glory, splendor, majesty, and miracles.

Psalm 145:5

Robin

The Up Hill Climb

Did you ever have one of those weeks where you felt like you were climbing and climbing and getting nowhere? Welcome to my week. It all began on Monday and just continued from there but thankfully it is Friday and I have a whole week off from school. I am looking forward to our Easter Celebration here on Sunday and then I plan to relax and enjoy my time at home.



Until next time...



Sending Easter Blessings your way.



"I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of"

John 10:10

Robin

The Reason We Celebrate

I love bunnies and Easter eggs but most of all I love the cross and the fact that God loves us because He chooses to. This kind of love changes us forever once we come to know it. This Easter let us remember the reason we celebrate, the fact that Jesus gave His life for us so that we may have everything now and forever.


Look how great a love the Father has given us, that we should be called God's children.
1 John 3:1

Until next time...
Robin

The Day He Has Waited For...

Let me just say that this little fellow went to bed with much anticipation for March 25th. After all, he has been waiting for this day to arrive since December 25th!! Early that morning we woke him up, dressed him appropriately in a "Birthday Boy" shirt and immediately let him open a present. It was something that he and Clara Beth could do together so he was excited but anxious to know what would come next on this glorious day.

So we scooted off to the kitchen for Cinnamon rolls with a candle plucked in the center of his.

Then we were off to school to celebrate with all his "priends" as he calls them.

He got to pass out the cupcakes and had to do a little finger licking in between passes.

After school we headed home for one last hurrah with the family. Any of you who have followed my blog know that the birthday boys or girls at our house get to plan their menus for their birthday dinner. Let me just say that the older ones tend to go all out. You can read about those here and here
Emanuiel made it very easy. He was happy to have hot dogs and then we topped it off with cake and ice cream.

He wanted to help place the candles.

He even got a little shy when we all sang to him.

After the singing was over he licked all the candles nice and clean. Then it was time to dive into the presents.

Emanuiel was so sweet to let Clara Beth help him.

We all had a great time celebrating with this little fellow. He brings so much joy and laughter into our lives. Every day with him turns into a celebration!

Until next time...

Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land.

Proverbs 25:25

We heard wonderful news from far away this week. Our dear friends that traveled with us to China on our first trip are in Kazakhstan. To say they have had a hard time with this adoption would be an understatement. You have to read their story to truly understand the heartache they have gone through. They traveled there to meet a daughter they were to call Faith and when they were finally able to see her they came to realize that it was not meant to be. They continued to pray and felt that they would be coming home without the child that they had prayed and longed for. God however, had a much different plan, one that included them having a son! His name is not Faith, but one day he will know about the faith that sustained his forever family as they journeyed to bring him home. If you have a chance visit their blog, you will be blessed.

Have a wonderful week,

Robin