Extremely Thankful for Life and Health

We have been enjoying time together lately with Brad's sister and brother-in-law before they leave for Tennessee. It is a bitter sweet time and I am seeing Evan bond with his cousins more than I thought he would at such a young age. He pitched a fit last night when we were leaving, saying he wanted to stay at "Garrett's house." My heart breaks for him, and for us, as we will lose this closeness we've come to cherish over the last 9 months. Our hope is to make plans for family vacations or trips to visit each other to make the time apart seem not so long.

But in the midst of the sadness, there is gratefulness. Gratefulness that God has brought a new job for Mike that uses his talent in illustration, which he loves. Gratefulness that they have good friends and a good church to go back to in Nashville. Gratefulness that Stephanie and Mike and the boys are all healthy. So much lately I've heard about people suffering, people with cancer who leave their families when they are way too young, even babies. Currently my friend April had her baby 10 weeks early and the baby is only 3 lbs. Please lift her baby girl Anna up in your prayers. She had surgery this morning because a valve in her heart hadn't closed. But she is proving to be strong, is eating well and has gained weight. I know God has his hands on her, and I've praying so hard for this new little life, and for comfort and peace for April and her husband Pete. That is why we need to remember every morning when we wake up that God has given us another day to live, another day of good health and happiness. All of this cannot be taken for granted.

This reminds me of the following verse. Thank you, Lord, for holding me and my family in your hands, finding us worthy and keeping us safe according to your will.

Matthew 10:29-31 (New International Version)
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Less Words Wednesday

There is a trend in the blog and twitter communities for a Wordless Wednesday, where you post a photo or photos for that day and not any words. Hence the name. But I am not really capable of no words, especially since I got my education and work in communications. So I've decided to change it to Less Words Wednesday. Here's my first one. These are photos of Evan from earlier this month that were taken by Brian Carlson, who goes to our church. Evan was not cooperating at all...typical terrible twos, but Brian still captured some great shots we'll treasure forever.

A Look Back at Last Year

Last year I compiled my first (and so far only) mini-album. It held 12 photos from Sept. 2008. See it here. I've carried it around in my purse for the last year and I've enjoyed looking at it as I've come across it, usually while digging through my never ending purse for something! It's amazing to see how much Evan has grown over the last year. Stacy Julian, who instituted the challenge to make the original mini-album, has now challenged us to make a layout using those photos, along with journaling that reflects back over the last year and the images we captured. It was a motivation for me to find the time to do this. I had just started getting back into scrapbooking last year and haven't gotten many layouts done at all, as life has proven to be so busy over the past year. But I was able to take these photos and put together a layout that mirrors the colors of my original mini-album. This will be the first layout to go in the new scrapbook album my husband bought me for my birthday in June. I'm hoping it will spark my creativity and drive to do more.

A Look Back Layout

here and now: original mini-album