T-Ball, Spring, and Curly Girls

T-ball started on Saturday for Karley and Paige. Karley was excited, Paige not so much...but she got talked into it. They set out an extra Tee and Scott was ALL OVER THAT!! I think we have a future ball player on our hands .... and a left-handed one at that!!

Saturday night I put the girls hair in foam rollers. Since their hair is so much shorter since they got haircuts I was worried the curlers wouldn't stay in. They both looked so adorable in curls, I'll have to do it more often.

This is the outfit Paige put on to go to Grandma's. The fur cape definitely completes the LOOK!

Kris' tree looked so beautiful on Sunday.

Welcome SPRING!

Paige's toothless grin.

Karley, cool as a cucumber.

This is the house we'll be in FOREVER...

...We promised each other.


Young and starry eyed.


Needing not much else in life than each other, our hand-me-down furniture, and our tiny girls.


Our very first home. Our very own home.


We hadn't planned on ever leaving that home.


One more tiny girl later and with a baby boy on the way, we felt like we were busting at the seams.


We left that home.


We bought a new home... a slightly larger home.


A home with a beautiful garden in the back and everything we thought we needed.


We began to fix up our new home.


BUT... our very first home... the one we'd promised to be in forever... hadn't sold!


Potential buyers came in droves. Every weekend and even most weekdays our little home had plenty of traffic. Business cards were left. Offers were made and accepted. Lenders made promises they couldn't keep. Offers slipped away...one after another...five in all.


Heartache followed.


Tears were shed. Many, many tears. And then some more tears.


Prayers and pleading.



Guilt...heavy, heavy, burdensome guilt...


Relationships were tested.





We were being humbled.

I overheard a woman saying (about someone else's misfortune), "I guess it just wasn't meant to be" I started to HATE THAT PHRASE. I LOATH THOSE WORDS. I couldn't concentrate on what she was saying after that. My mind kept thinking about those words over and over. "Meant to be", "Meant to be" What is meant to be??? She said it as though this family was being punished for making a wrong choice...a bad decision.

Was it wrong to move? Did we make the wrong choice? Are we now being punished? Are the people who's houses sell quickly more highly favored??

Even during the most difficult times I never felt that we had made the "wrong" choice.

Couldn't everything have just worked out??? I guess only if it was "meant to be??"

I know this woman was just offering one of those blanket sympathy phrases. The kind of thing you say when you have nothing else to say like "it is what it is"... When you just want to throw your hands in the air because you just can't figure it all out.

It made me think though... perhaps "it IS what it is" or "it just WASN'T meant to be" or maybe it's simply put like this...everything happens for a reason....

Maybe what is "meant to be" is that we experience difficulties throughout our lives. Everyone has trials. But without this trial we wouldn't have learned:

About ourselves, our relationships, our strengths and weaknesses, compassion, the difference between joy and sorrow, who LOVES us and what REALLY matters.

Our family has been lovingly "pruned" so we can grow a little taller, a little stronger. I can see that now. I know that.

We still have two homes that we can't afford. We have tough decisions to make...And a bed we're willing to lie in.

January in Review

January 1st we celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. It's hard to believe that it's already been TEN years!

Me(serious) and Dustin(laughing) YEP!

Pretty much!Dancing with our parents.

The bride with the "best girl" Madison.

The groom with the "best girl"

We got in the car to leave the reception and Dustin had the music turned up so LOUD it scared us.
We LOVE this picture...The beginning of a beautiful relationship...

On our anniversary we went to the lake and spent the morning canoeing.

After the lake we ditched the kids who spent the rest of the day with my Mom. We saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, ate at Claim Jumper, and ended our evening with some delicious pomegranate yogurt from Red Mango.

We got a new camera for our anniversary. I LOVE it!

Dustin made this quarter pipe for Karley for Christmas and she's spent many afternoons skating. She was a little timid at first but by the second day she was dropping in like a champ.

Madison turned 12 at the end of December...

and graduated from Primary to Young Women's.

To say that she simply loves it would be an understatement.

She's really loving this "growing up" thing. And it's fun for us to see her so excited and enjoying life!!

Madison performed in her first middle school concert. It was postponed because of our "snow day!" I'm so glad they could perform, she did a great job!

Madison with her BFF, Emma, who came to watch Madison perform.

In December our cat gave birth to twin babies. They were adorable but it was time for them to leave their mama and our home! We got 14 messages in one hour and they went to new homes very quickly. Thank goodness for that!