Our new house came with a great swingset the kids have been enjoying!
Here’s Jimmy trying to get his bike to swing: 
My youngest and oldest:
Cutie Susie:
Becky flying high:
Hanging out:
And the whole gang!
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Want to know how to make a certain little girl very happy? Tip #1 – Take a road trip to get out of the house Tip #2 – Let her be just like her big sister Tip #3 – Give her access to music in her ear Conclusion: Susie’s ear buds make Tazie very happy!
I remember when Danny was young enough to sit in the front of my shopping cart on grocery trips, the best way to keep him happy was to hit the produce section and select a bunch of kale and let him chew on it while I was shopping. I probably should have washed it first, but hey, my kid was quiet and eating a leafy green vegetable – I wasn’t going to stop him! I don’t buy kale very often, so I had forgotten how much he likes it. We recently received an amazing Edible Arrangement from my parents for my birthday, and while everyone else was busy helping themselves to the fruit, Danny was thrilled with the greenery at the bottom of the pot! Here he is munching away on a handful in the family room. Such a funny kid!
In our church assembly’s weekly Bible Study, we are currently looking at Mark 4. Reading the second half of the chapter, I was struck by the similarity to our current world situation: “37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” The world outside our windows is turbulent and sloshing into our safe havens. We are overwhelmed with our lack of control and shocked that our efforts are insufficient. We cry out to God and wonder why he has not stopped the storm. Maybe you feel like you are perishing, or at least drowning economically, socially, spiritually. Unmoored from all that is familiar. Rowing your hardest, but not going anywhere. You’re tired and scared and frustrated. I often say to Tazie, “Never fear, God is near.” God’s power and providence and sovereignty and omnipotence mean that my boat, no matter how full of water it may be, is held by the one who holds the seas. God lets in the waves, he lets in the sickness, he lets in the failures, but he does not let go of me. For those of you who know Christ as your Savior, take heart. Here’s Charles Spurgeon: “My dear brothers and sisters, do you know that sometimes God works a greater wonder when He sustains His people in trouble than He would if He brought them out of it? For Him to let the bush burn on and yet not to be consumed is a grander thing than for Him to quench the flame and so save the bush. God is being glorified in your troubles, and if you realize this you will be ready to say, “Lord, heap on the loads if it is for Your glory. Give me but strength equal to my day, and then pile on the burdens. I shall not be crushed beneath them, but I shall be made to illustrate Your power. My weakness shall glorify Your might.” Lastly, for those who wonder why Mark 4 depicts a sleeping Savior, consider Spurgeon’s words again: “He slept not merely because of His fatigue as a man, but because He felt safe in His Father’s hands. When the Master put His foot on board that vessel, He knew there would be a storm. The tossing did not take Him by surprise, and yet He went to sleep because He knew that all was right. No one could have slept with such foreknowledge but one whose heart was full of confidence in God. The Lord would have His people restful and not fretful, “So He gives His beloved sleep.” We have never read of our Lord’s sleeping except on this occasion, this majestic occasion, when He was asleep in a storm-tossed boat, with His head on a pillow, because His heart was on the bosom of God.” Do you know rest like that? Real, abiding rest? Peace that passes all understanding? Turn to the One who endured the storm for you. “The tempest’s awful voice was heard, Every evening I intend to sit down at my computer and compose a blog post once my chores are done…but then when I look at the clock, it’s nearly midnight and my brain is mush. I clearly have not yet figured out how to manage my time during a quarantine in a new house (we moved about a month ago, right when all the craziness started). And I have so many pictures to share because one of the awesome benefits of the kids being home all day every day is that I SEE them and can photograph them! Whereas before, I feel like I barely got to kiss them goodbye in the morning and shovel dinner into them in the evening that there was no time to pull out the camera and snap a picture or two. But now! I love having them home, in our new home. It’s all good! (Well, I would love our grocery stores to be fully stocked, our library open and the world to be healthy spiritually, medically and economically, but you know what I mean!). Today I took Tazie to the doctor for her 4-year-old well-check appointment (yes! She’s FOUR now!). I was surprised the office was still doing physicals, but they explained it’s important to keep up with vaccinations to do their part to keep any other pandemics at bay. So I took her in and she was such a pro. Especially after the doctor reassured her that she didn’t have to get any shots today, she was all smiles. She clocked in at 80% for height and 80% for weight (almost 40 lbs). No wonder she’s getting too heavy for me to carry around! I’m so, so proud of my big girl. Can’t wait to see what this next year brings – hopefully no more need for face masks!
The next day after we attended church, we headed over to Jim’s cousin’s house and spent a wonderful afternoon catching up with his beautiful family! The kids all love their rope swing:
And their “mule” ATV: And their always-delicious food: And games:
And instant hockey teams (definitely a bonus of having a big family!): And horses:
And zipline:
And family!
Here’s some pictures from after our airboat ride. We liked getting up close and personal with the wildlife!
Then we headed back for some shuffleboard: And finished off the evening with a stroll around the Disney Boardwalk resort. Beautiful! The cousins finally arrived the day after we did, and then the fun REALLY began! The boys were quick to hit the basketball court:
And then we all piled in the rental cars to travel about an hour away to go on an airboat tour. We saw SO many alligators, it was amazing! Over President’s Day weekend, we jetted off to Orlando for a week-long trip to see family and see the sun! As always, the kids were nearly as excited about the prospect of taking an airplane flight as they were the destination. Here they are at JFK:
And getting ready to take off:
You can tell the enthusiasm for travel has worn off in this next picture as we were waiting to get our rental car well after midnight: But after a good night’s sleep, we were all ready to take full advantage of Florida’s offerings! Here we are trying our hand at mini golf: And the train around my in-laws’ timeshare resort: And, of course, go swimming in the pools! And just for fun, I had to take a picture of Danny’s list of things he planned to do on vacation (including “pooping”). That kid cracks me up!
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