Wow! Hello December!

Man alive, I have gotten terrible at keeping up with the blog and I blame Facebook!  I apologize for those of you who actually may enjoy reading this and I have not posted recently!

Our family is doing great, all is pretty much healthy besides the normal cold here and there!  Titus and I both have that right now but that is minor compared to dealing with health issues on a daily basis.  Tom's work at Allegiance is going well, he just changed shifts again from 7-4 to now 6-3pm!  He is still adjusting to this change, his lunch is now at 10am and I don't think he feels like he is actually hungry at that time for a 'lunch'.  And usually Titus is napping at that time so he can no longer come home for lunch otherwise 99% of the time it wakes Titus up early from his much needed nap. 

Titus just reached the 18 month mark and will have a well baby check on Monday!  I am actually in the process of weaning him right now!  Since about a year of age I would say, he has only been nursing first thing in morning and then naps and bedtime (4 times a day) but since this last Saturday I have only nursed him twice a day and yesterday I tried to get away with no nursing at all but he was very upset at his nap time in the morning with this and therefore no nap occurred!  Today so far a success, no nursing and nap is being enjoyed right now!  We will see!  I am excited at the possibility of being free of that but sad too because that means he is growing up that much more and needs his mommy for one less thing.  But I think emotionally for him is it better now than to wait from things I have heard from other moms who have continued past 18 months.

Titus is getting two more teeth in, making it 14 teeth now!  He looks more and more everyday like a little boy and no longer a baby.  And he has an arm on him and loves to 'play catch' the best an 18 month old knows how!  He loves gadgets and electronics and the toilet right now.  Thankfully he has yet to flush anything down it but he loves watching the swirl of the flush!  He continues to love his bath time and splashing mommy or daddy as much as possible!  And he loves climbing anywhere he can get!

Our Thanksgiving was eventful!  We were expecting to spend it alone or with maybe some college students  who had no where to go since Tom's parents already planned with us to come for Christmas!  But what was going to be their trip to WA to spend with their other son and his family turned into all coming to Missoula for a better part of their trip to spend with us and my sister-in-laws family who lives in Lolo and Bozeman!  It all worked out and was much fun for Titus with his cousins, aunt, uncle, grandparents and others and we will get to see the grandparents for Christmas again!  It would be nice to see my parents for Christmas and the invitation is there but I don't think they will make it considering the long drive on possibly very scary roads!  I have to admit that I felt very upset when I found out that one side of the family was getting us for both major holidays and felt that no one had thought about how I would feel about that.  But the Lord calmed those angry feelings one day and although I wasn't really looking forward to Thanksgiving it went a lot better than I expected and all the things that I get very anxious about when it comes to in-laws never really transpired.  Which I keep finding that 90% of the time that is the case, all my anxiety is for nothing!  Praise God for that!

Anyway I think that is all for now!  Hope you enjoy some of the new pics and music I changed out on the blog!  We have a snow covering here in Montana, how is the weather where you are?  

A Kindling of the Heart...

Yesterday I made it to my weekly women's book study called Koinonia where we are studying through the Beth Moore study on Daniel.  It was a miracle that I even made it because I was up til 3 am that morning working on a 'project'!  I am one of those people who when I start a project I have to finish it 99% of the time before I stop, and this wasn't even a fun project!  We still get the paper version of our monthly bank statements and so I try to keep up on making sure our account is balanced each month with that and that all our $ is accounted for, call me old fashioned but that is what I do.  Well last month I had started it, which is normally about a 2 hour job and didn't finish and then we just got the one for this month so I sat down to finish the old one and do the new one to catch up, which was not till like after 9 pm Wednesday night to begin with!  Crazy, I know. 

Anyway I was so thankful that I made it to the study despite my lack of sleep and lack of coffee before I left!  I don't know if you have ever done a Beth Moore study but this is my first and let me tell you she is an amazing speaker/teacher.  This particular study of hers is dvd session driven, so you watch & listen to her teach then go home and do your lesson and come back the next week to discuss your lesson together and then watch the next session with her.  She was teaching on the section that all of us know if we know anything about the book of Daniel, where Shadrach, Meshach & Abednego are thrown into the fiery furnace by King Nebuchadnezzar because they would not bow down and worship the gold statue that he made of himself for everyone to worship!  They believed and knew that 1) it is wrong to worship anyone or anything aside from God and 2) that God would deliver them in the fire for taking their stand for Him even if it meant deliverance directly into His arms as their bodies burned in the furnace.

She camped out on 3 different scenarios we face as people of God when we go through fiery trials and I just loved all of them but especially the last one. 1)  God can choose to deliver us from the fire where our faith is built in that scenario. 2) God can choose to deliver us through the fire where our faith is refined. 3) or God can choose that we be delivered by the fire into His arms where our faith is perfected.  And as she talked about this last one which would be death, sometimes we are not healed through our sicknesses like cancer and what not the way we think we should be healed, she gave this picture of it that just made my eyes water because it was a new way to look at facing death.  As all of us will someday die, we are doomed by it, and I don't think I've ever wanted to avoid death or been super afraid of it since I am assured of my destination but it was just a fresh way to look at it.  She said passing into death is just like shedding a coat and you keep walking.  I got this picture of a person walking and as their physical body passes away they just take off this coat as they walk, like it falls to the ground but the person just keeps walking and there is just this bright light in front of them that they are headed towards because heaven is ahead and the Word says that no sun is even needed in heaven because the glory of the Son fills all heaven with light (see Revelation 21:23)!  Like I said as she described facing death in this way I just got teary eyed because it makes sense and sounds inviting to me when described that way.  Our spirits don't die, just our physical bodies, just our tents that our spirit lives in, and we get new bodies when we reach our destination, ones that are perfect and that I will never feel frumpy in again because my body could use a good working out right now!  I've known this but just putting it into that picture, I don't know, just made it desirable for the first time in my Christian walk.

I just wanted to share that beautiful picture with you today.  And for those of you who don't know how that story ends of those 3 brave, courageous souls, they were delivered through the fire with Christ (or some believe to be an Angel) standing with and protecting them in the furnace, they came out not even smelling like smoke! (Read Daniel 3 for full story!)

So Thankful!

I'm so thankful....

that Tom and I have finally joined a Life Group in our church body.  What is a Life Group you ask?  Well  it is like an in home bible study that is held at some one's house who is willing to open up their home to other believers in the church.  We study the bible together, in our churches case, our Life Groups study over the passage that the Pastor is going to or has just preached on the following or past week.  It gives us a chance to explore with others what we are all learning together on Sunday.  There are about 6 other couples in our Life Group that we get a chance to get to know and grow spiritually together.  Plus our kids all get to play together while being watched by a sweet babysitter!  We also get to enjoy dinner together that evening and there are even chances for us to go out into the community and serve together and be God's hands and feet to our community!  This is exciting because our church is so big and can be overwhelming to try to get to know others plus we are connecting with others who are in the same stage of life as us, young parents!

I'm also thankful that I had joined a mom's book study this summer, not only was the book very enjoyable that we read: One Heartbeat Away, Your Journey Into Eternity by Mark Cahill, but I met many other mom's my age and now am part of their group book study at our church on Thursday mornings called Koinonia where we are studying through Beth Moore's study on Daniel: Lives of Integrity, Words of Prophecy.

I'm very thankful for our son, he just continues to grow and progress in his development.  He just had his 15 month check up at the beginning of this month and he was 33 1/4 in. long making him taller than 95% of the kids his age and weighed in at 22 lbs. 10 oz. making him weigh more than only 25% of the kids his age.  He continues to be just like his dad, tall and skinny!  And he is a continuous joy and blessing to our lives, of course making us want more kids but we are not pregnant as of yet!

I'm also thankful for my husband, I started a jewelry business in April of this year and he has been very supportive all the way.  I make custom made birthstone bracelets and earrings for moms, grandmothers etc. and when I started I was using silver plated pieces and components not really realizing the quality difference it is to Sterling Silver.  Both can tarnish but only Sterling Silver can be polished back to the shiny silver color you want it to be and therefore lasting for years to come over silver plated pieces.  So this last month in August he supported me to make a big investment in Sterling Silver to be able to offer my customers the best quality of product I can.  You can find my business on Facebook under "Adorned With Your Little Blessings", go here, or I have a business blog by the same name listed below to the right under 'Blogs and Sites We Follow'.  Soon I will be posting new pictures of the upgraded product to both sites and will be also selling it on Etsy.com, where you can find a variety of handmade things.

WOW! Where Have I Been?

Well, since I last blogged, forgive my slackness, I don't feel like we have had a busy summer but I guess we have had lots of fun!  My sweet cousin, Lauren Cross, married the man of her dreams at the end of July, which brought lots of family to Montana from IL!  My dad has 6 siblings including his sister Mary here, and basically 3 siblings and their families came out for the wedding plus my grandma!  That was a ball and all my family came except my dear brother-in-law, next year we are going to get his butt out here!  Pardon my typing!  My family and my cousin Laura were blessed to spend time up at Flathead Lake at the Cross' cabin.  Tom, Titus and I camped one night in the yard there!  We all went to Glacier Nat. Park from there and did an amazing hike at Avalanche Lake there!  I was so excited to show my family the beauty of Montana and to make sure they had a good time.  We came back to Missoula for the wedding and before they all left we did some bike riding and we took my nieces to a sweet park and the Carousel while my parents and sisters went rafting down the Alberton Gorge!  My nieces are 8 yrs. and almost 2 yrs. and both of their first times here and Titus had a great time with them.  Gracie was a great helper with the two younger ones and Bella said Titus' name with the cutest ring to it, I miss hearing her say his name!

We also went for about a 20 mile bike ride on the path along Hwy 93 from Lolo to Florence and back!  When we pulled up to Subway in Florence to eat, this is what Titus was doing in the bike trailer!  So cute!  I thought I was going to die that day and I WASN'T pulling the trailer, Tom was!

We have been enjoying all kinds of food and smiles this summer!

Including trout on the grill and zucchini!  Mmmmmm!  Go hubs!

We went for a hike along Cache Creek Trail down off Hwy 12!  Titus loved the water and loves throwing rocks in the water (or down the neighbors stairs).

We made our first homemade ice cream with the ice cream attachment for the Kitchen Aid (we have had it since we got married in 2009).  Mmmmm!  Homemade Flathead Cherry Ice Cream!  Go hubs!

Labor Day weekend we traveled over to WA and visited some dear friends, the O'Dells, in Spokane.  Titus is missing due to the fact that he had not woken up for the day yet and this was at about 9 am their time!  Yes these 5 adorable kids are all theirs!  (L to R: Acacia, Naomi, Adelyn, John, Justus, Joyalise & Beth)

Once Titus woke up that morning, we headed on to Richland where Tom's brother and family now live.  We enjoyed our time with them as well and the girls definitely enjoyed showing us their ballerina moves, thank you Zowee and Noelle for always being ready to entertain us :)

We got one night of real camping in, which was interesting, Titus woke up and it felt like he was awake for about 2 hours before I could get him back to sleep!  Like our Jumbo Marshmallows?  The smores that night were terrific to say the least!

Our campsite out at Trout Creek off I-90, yes we have a little 2 man tent, which we love and stay warm that way on the cool Montana nights!

Our little camper and his poking stick that he loved walking around with!

Baked Ice Cream

Ok, I hope I never stop bragging about my husband, because not only is he a great hubby and father, but an awesome cook and when he wants to try something new he just goes looking on the Internet for a recipe!

Doesn't it look so yummy?  It is and I wanted to share the recipe with you!

4 slices* (1 oz. each) angel food cake

2 Tbsp. peach** jam

4 scoops (1/2 c. ea) light vanilla ice cream

2 extra-large egg whites

3 Tbsp extra-fine sugar

-Preheat oven to 400

-On cookie sheet, arrange cake slices in single layer, leaving some space between each slice; spread each slice with 1 1/2 tsp. jam.  Top each slice with a scoop of ice cream; freeze at least 5 minutes***

-Meanwhile, prepare meringue.  In clean, grease-free bowl, using electric mixer at medium speed, beat egg whites just until stiff peaks form.  Continue to beat, gradually add sugar; beat until glossy

-Remove cookie sheet from freezer.  Immediately spread meringue over ice cream, working quickly to cover entire scoop AND being sure meringue touches edges of cake slices on all sides to SEAL.  Bake until meringue is lightly brown, about 5 minutes; serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings, 220 calories, 0g fat, 0g fiber

*-slices should be flat, don't cut them at a wedge angle otherwise ice cream slides off!

**- we have not actually tried the peach jam, but apricot, and that has been delicious!

***- Tom has found the longer it is in the freezer the better it works, even up to 20 minutes!

Enjoy!  It is so delicious, warm on the outside and then the scoop of ice cream is still formed and cold in the middle!

The Anniversary Evening and Other Things...

Well we ended up going out for dinner at the Mustard Seed Restaurant here in town, it is Asian style.  Very good food and great company!  I am very grateful for Tom's job at Allegiance, not only does it provide good enough for our family that I can stay home with Titus but it provides great benefits for us including a gift card on his birthday for a nice place to eat like that!  Titus seemed to love his babysitter once again!  To end our night we watched our wedding video with him and then after he went to bed, we enjoyed a game of cribbage, which Tom beat me at!  (He also beat me on my birthday!)

This was the dessert we shared, Chocolate Cloud Cake, a flour less cake dessert, mmmm so yummy!

We went camping back in mid June and I never shared our experience.  We had been planning to camp up on one of the lakes near Seeley, MT, there are many different lakes up there with campsites.  We were planning this little outing with my friend Daisy and her four children but one of them came down with a cough and so we moved out camping expedition to her backyard here in Missoula!  She has one of those off the ground fire pits and so we were still able to cook hot dogs on the fire and have smores later, but since we were at her house we also got to enjoy a rhubarb strawberry pie that I made there!  Mmmm so yummy!  Her and her two oldest kids slept outside in their huge tent, the twins were just not going to to sleep so they got sent inside to sleep.  And Tom and Titus and I slept in our two man tent.  I was worried about Titus getting cold so I put him in this "layette" thing that makes him look like a fluffy teddy bear complete with his pj's and wool socks!  He slept well and stayed warm but he could not move around in this thing if he wanted!  So about 3 am rolls around and he is starting to try to move and I am trying to help him without waking him up but that did not work!  He was wide awake for about an hour, "talking" to us and slapping our faces and laughing and then I finally got him back to sleep.  But I took him out of that thing and he actually slept out from under our sleeping bags for the most part up by our heads and he stayed perfectly warm!  I was surprised but I think it helps for sure to have a smaller tent for the heat rather than a big one for space.

Here is the little teddy bear fast asleep in the tent by himself, while we are enjoying the smores!

Our Anniversary So Far....

Today is our 2 year Wedding Anniversary!  I am so thankful for the husband that God has crafted and grown just for me!  Tom is the most amazing man I could ever ask for and never ever dreamed of having!  He is such a blessing to me everyday and TODAY is one of those extra special days!  He never forgets to make me feel special on those special occasions throughout the year!  He has to be to work at 7 am and must have woke up extra early to make blueberry muffins for me to enjoy whenever I decided to wake up (or my son wakes me up).  He always gives me a kiss before he leaves for work and he left the door open to our room and I could smell some yummy goodness coming from something!  So I got up before Titus woke up which is very unusual for me but I needed to find out what that smell was!  I went out to the kitchen to find a dozen red roses and a dozen blueberry muffins cooling on the cooling rack!  Mmmm, needless to say Titus and I had a very yummy breakfast!

And I know there is more to come because he lined up a babysitter for tonight!  He tried to keep that a secret but she returned his call while we were driving to some friends' house last night!  I have no idea where we are going but I can't wait to find out!

Thank you God for Your gift of marriage and Your gift of Tom to me!  I couldn't have asked for anyone better!

Hiking Adventures!

Fourth of July weekend we did a hike down in the Bitterroots just past Hamilton called the Sawtooth Trail.  It was very pretty, Tom says it was about 6 miles round trip, and a lot of it was along a creek which was so beautiful and when our trail would go along the creek it would be cool temperatures from like our knees down and felt so good in the hot warm sun.  Lots of the trail was shaded but still warm.  Our intention was to hike into a pond so that Tom could fish and catch us some trout for a late lunch.  Well you have to cross the creek towards the end, about 1/2 mile, from the pond and the crossing log had been washed away!  So Tom tried fishing the creek in that area where we were supposed to cross and had caught one small one but otherwise no luck.  He thought about keeping it just to show Titus but he didn't want to waste a fish.

Titus did ok on this hike, it was a little bit long I think and we also had to drive about 1 hr and a half just to get there!  So overall I would say he did good for his first long hike!

In the lot before we left, Titus' first exploration of sand and gravel!  He was so cute playing in the "dirt".

Titus and Daddy with his fly rod!

Some of the raging creek, so nice and beautiful.  Titus had fallen asleep on the way in and I think this is where he got disturbed from the raging of the water, he was not a happy hiker then!

Titus loves clapping, he had just discovered it that weekend!  We were in a little 'camping' site here eating some snacks that thankfully were packed while we were waiting for our fisherman to catch us good one!  Better fishing next time!

This last weekend we went up the Morrell Falls up in Seeley Lake, MT.  Titus did really well for this hike and was even playing with, ok pulling, Mommy's hair on our way back out!  He did not complain at all unless he was hungry.  This hike is 5 miles round trip and has a beautiful waterfall at the end of it!  This hike is very easy, only about a 250 ft. elevation gain on it, if you have not been there, you need to go!  The waterfall cascades and is 200 ft. total but you only see about 90 ft. of it because of the cascading.  Still so beautiful and it was very cool in there from the mist of the falls!  Little Titus' lips and hands were purple but he didn't care!

We could not get Titus to look at the camera, the falls were just to exciting for him!

We also took my cousin Nate basically on the spur of the moment with us, he hadn't been there since he was in a backpack himself and I bribed him by telling him the falls were 900 ft.!  Whoops!  Before we left I got out my day hike book and found out that I was mistaken!

Mommy and Titus on the creek crossing bridge, clapping!

My Birthday!

It was a great day full of nice things!  I love all my days with my son, they are so precious to me!  I had made some great banana bread on Tuesday night to enjoy for breakfast yesterday!  I love banana bread, I save old over ripe bananas just for it to make the moistest bread possible.  Then my aunt Mary wanted to get together for lunch, she picked up some pizza from one of the best places in town for pizza, MacKenzie River Pizza, a small franchise with locations in Montana and Idaho.  We enjoyed that at her house with Nathan & Josie too, a couple of my cousins! 

Last night we lined up babysitters for Titus so we could go on a childless date for my birthday.  I did feel selfish not taking my own son on my birthday date but I was nervous about his night despite that he is a year old now.  This was the first babysitter we have had for him at our house, usually it has been at a friends house with 3 or 4 kids around him to play.  But we enjoyed a full 2 hour date without any interruptions!  When we got home we did not hear any crying coming from the windows that were open in our apartment and when we opened the door Titus was right there surprised to find us!  The report was that he cried for like 2 seconds after we left and then he was fine.  The girls (Morgan & Meagan McKee) even gave him a bath for us!  We had said they could, it was his bath night after all and we thought it could be a good distraction for him if he was fussing cuz he loves his baths.  And when they left he followed them to the door and cried!  Ha!  I love it, God always surprises me with the answers to our prayers!

Our date pic, thanks mom and dad for the gift for our birthdays to go out & get a babysitter!

Our scrumptious Mascarpone Bread Pudding dessert we shared!

My gift from Tom's parents, now I am most prepared for making my jewelry so place an order!  I have a facebook page found under "Adorned With Your Little Blessings" or use the link to my business blog found under "Blogs and Sites We Follow" below!

My gifts from my wonderful husband, lovin this new CD and he got me a gift certificate for Arbonne, I love their facial cleanser & moisturizer among other things when I have the $!

My best friend Daisy has the best taste for mugs!  I love this, it is not only pottery which I love but is huge (over 16 oz.) and has a handle built into it!  Sweet huh?

Top 10 Reasons I am Thankful for Our Apartment!

10.) Most affordable 2 bedroom apartments I have found around Missoula @ $630/month!

9.) Rent includes cable, water and garbage utilities!

8.) The heat bill in winter never gets higher than about $75/month!

7.) They are spacious 2 bedroom apartments @ 1,000 sq. ft., including about a 7x7 ft. storage "closet"!

6.) We don't have to go to a laundry mat to do our laundry as long as you have a washer and dryer for the hookups!

5.) The maintenance guy is very quick to fix anything you need done & he mows the lawn, NOT us!

4.) It is a rather quiet apartment complex even though there are several buildings here in it!

3.) They are far enough up out of town that you feel like you are out in the country, nice for a farm raised girl like me, BUT we are walking distance from at least five nice parks in our neighborhood!

2.) We have an awesome view out of our living room window with a gully right below it and mountains out on the horizon!

1.) We often see many deer out our window in the gully, including recently a doe with her baby fawn!

These big bucks were crossing the street on Sunday morning on our way out the complex to church!

Even though I would love for us to own a house or even find a bigger place to rent, right now the Lord has us here and I need to be thankful for His provision in that!

A Family Picnic Date & Rest of Weekend!

It has been so nice to have Tom back home from his trip to Wilsall, MT with the high school youth group.  Which by the way, they had a very good trip there and God did some great things through them.  The students led VBS there all week at the Wilsall Community Church, teaching the story of Daniel with storyboard form.  I think the all time high attendance for the kids was around 30, quit a difference from ours here but Wilsall is a much smaller town.  In the evenings they did different community service things and they even got to go work on a ranch there and their entertainment at the ranch after the work was all done was shooting gophers!  How about that for a missions trip adventure?!  Love it!

But I survived 5 nights without my love and so did Titus, although we missed him very much and at one point when Tom called, he was good and called everyday, Titus I think cried most of the phone call cuz I would have it on speaker so that he too could "talk" to daddy.  We are glad he is back indeed!  This weekend we just relaxed and went to our annual church picnic on Saturday and I took a hot out of the oven Strawberry/Rhubarb pie with even a homemade crust!  I am loving making those lately, it is so easy and quick to do.  Then yesterday we went on a picnic up on Mt. Jumbo, Tom made us some turkey, bacon & avocado sandwiches to enjoy and we packed some snacks for Titus too and even some toys for him to enjoy.  I think he loved it, he has really loved the backpack experience so far!  I think we will be trying it at the Saturday markets with him, he loves his jogging stroller but not there for some reason, I think there is too many people around or something and he wants to see them all and not be down in a stroller?

Our little picnic area on the Mt. Jumbo saddle.

Also yesterday, Titus and I got to go meet one of my old MVC co-workers new baby!  She is so sweet and tiny and beautiful, what a treat!  Titus was having a hoot with her 3 cats and really busy trying to get into everything!  He also got jealous while mommy was holding the baby and threw his first fit on the floor when mommy had passed baby Jaylin to her mommy and then I picked him up before I realized that I wanted a picture of her and her baby.  Well I set him down and the next thing I know he is laying on the floor crying!  Wow!  So it begins, teaching him the right reaction and behavior, God give us wisdom on this!

Jaylin Joan Watson 7lbs. 14oz., 20 in. long, June 21st @ 9:39 pm.

She is so cute and precious and tiny and 5 days old here!  Makes me want a second one!

This was the kitty Titus wanted to chase around, it has it's summer do on!  Got shaved most likely for the hot summer so his tail looked like a fluffy cotton tail at the end of it!

This poor kitty had to flee for it's life, Titus seriously cracked up when he found it here, it was so funny!

Beautiful new momma Janiece and baby Jaylin!  Her name is combo of Janiece and her mom, grandma Linda, isn't that precious!  Her onsie says "Mommy adores me", um who wouldn't? 

Summer Adventure Week!

What a blessing to be part of SAW this last week with Titus!  This was the first year that I had the privilege to help out with this huge event that our church holds every summer!  SAW is also better known as Vacation Bible School (VBS) and I am not quit sure why they decided to change the name but they did, so you go with it!  Our congregation is huge (our sanctuary seats 700, and between our 2 services I am not exact on attendance but I am sure it is around 900!) so this event is huge in every way!  The upcoming kindergartners-6th graders come Monday-Friday for a week from 9-11:30 am everyday and they are split up into 5 different age groups and each age group has two groups to it because the attendance is so large!  The kids earn points for their attendance, if they bring a friend and if they memorize a verse, which there were 6 different verses selected to go with this years story for them to memorize!  I was so happy to be a part of this because that meant I got to memorize God's Word and hide it in my heart too!  Every morning we would ALL be together for music then our groups would leave the sanctuary from there and get to enjoy a different drama, activity & snack and a craft or experiment every day!  VERY ORGANIZED and it's FREE! 

This year they did the story of Esther from the book of Esther in the Old Testament!  Esther was chosen by God and the King of that time to be Queen and God used her to save her people, the Jews, when the 2nd man in command, the bad Haman, plotted to kill the Jews with the King's permission when the Jew, Mordecai, Esther's cousin, would not bow to him because he served God and only bowed to God!  The King did not know that Esther was also a Jew, so Esther went to the King, unsummoned, knowing that she could lose her life unless the King extended his golden scepter to her to spare her life!  She knew even then that 1) Salvation is found only by trusting Jesus and that 2) God has a plan for every one's life & that she needed to 3) Follow God even when it's hard!  "And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?" Esther 4:14

It was so amazing, I mean can you imagine all the little kids as they watched this played out with live people dressed like bible times!  By Friday we had 449 kids in attendance, the largest ever!  It was so cool, and very glad there was 200 volunteers around to put this on!  I just got to be a "guide" meaning I was with half (about 40) of the 3rd & 4th graders as they moved from drama to activity to craft/experiment places and helped them along and kept them paying attention.  They do provide nursery for the volunteers kids and even have groups for the pre-school age kids of volunteers but Titus was not up for the nursery.  We tried Monday and Tuesday morning to go early and mommy tried to lay him down because that is usually his nap time and he just screamed.  I think it is just too many kids, I am not sure?  He did well in my backpack going to everything tho and then we would come home and eat something quick and he would just nap all afternoon!  So that worked and the kids in my group loved him anyway and a few other moms did that too.

The kids also had a chance everyday to hear the gospel and make a decision for Christ!  Many did, Praise God, many of these kids don't even attend church on a regular basis!  And they also had a chance to give an offering everyday that went to a local need, the Carole Graham Home, a place for single moms and their children to live while they get back on their feet.  The total offering given by the kids was $1,059!  And on Sunday, yesterday, was SAW Sunday, so the kids are encouraged to come and bring their families to church and they get to redeem their points that they have earned all week for different toys and such!  And the congregation gets to hear all the awesome songs that the kids have been learning and they get to see a part of the drama that the kids have seen earlier in the week!  They actually did 2 of them yesterday!  Can't wait for next year, they are doing the story of Moses!

These are some the girls that just loved Titus!

Peytyn & Katy with Titus!  Peytyn kept asking me all about Titus and if we are coming back next year and she kissed his hand on Friday before she left!  So sweet!

What a sweet smile!

Titus' face is so funny here!

Grandpa & Grandma's Visit!

It was so good to see Rich and Carol the 3rd -12th of June here.  They made it just in time for Titus' 1st birthday party and spoiled him rotten the rest of the time too!  Tom had to work a couple of days while they were here, so one day Grandpa & Grandma took Titus and I out for breakfast at one of mommy's favorite places, Paul's Pancake Parlor!  We actually all got pancakes, usually I do not!  I tried their strawberry Swedish crepes, Carol tried their German pancake and Rich got some other pancake that looked more normal than ours but I forget the flavor!  Titus' liked my Swedish ones!  Tom and Rich went fishing a few days that they were here, the first two tries though they got a little wet from the rain but the last day on Saturday that they went, they got to go on a boat with a friend of ours up to Browns Lake near Seeley and they brought home 3 trout to eat!  Mmmm so yummy!  Meanwhile during the boy's fishing Grandma got to play a lot with Titus and she had also brought some of her art supplies with her and she made a beautiful watercolor picture while she was here of a nature scene!  I wished she had grabbed a local Independent paper to see what all was happening around town on those days that the boys were gone.  Grandma, Titus and I could have got out a little and enjoyed some stuff around Missoula!  Next time I will remember!  We did make a trip to Costco hoping to get Grandma some chips but that was unsuccessful, she needs the real salty ones for when she gets low on sodium.  On Saturday before the boys left for fishing we did all go to the market which was fun.  I had wanted to show a couple of neat vendors to Carol while there but we didn't find them!  But we got some fresh rhubarb and I made a pie that night for us to enjoy after the boys finally returned around 10pm!

This was just the neatest little "garden" I thought, this vendor uses mortar in the bottom to hold the rocks together and then she plants plants in them.  This one she called a "fairy garden" with the little fence and there is a clothes line!  So cute, she said she would be there all summer, but she wasn't when we took Rich & Carol!  And she had really reasonable prices!

I thought this coffee table was super cool!  Did not see this vendor there again but I had not asked them if they would be there all summer!

I loved these lamps, but this vendor was from WA and just passing through the weekend we saw him at the market!

We did take Grandpa & Grandma to some our favorite places to eat, like Vietnam Noodle & Fiesta En Jalisco for some good Mexican on Sunday before they pulled out of town to head home! Thanks Rich and Carol for coming to visit! Titus really loved playing with grandma and it was so enjoyable to watch!

P.S. They stayed out at those Jellystone Cabins which were really nice for anyone that may have family coming to visit sometime but the bed was not comfortable for them so they used our air mattress with the mattress on the bed and that worked well for them. 

The First Birthday Celebration & Our Big Boy!

Titus turned 1 on Sunday and we had a great barbecue birthday party for him on Saturday at an awesome park in town.  The park was complete with a huge wood castle basically for playground equipment, a splash deck to cool off from the hot summer sun and our charcoal grill equipped with dad for some perfectly tender & juicy barbecue chicken and some juicy hot dogs for the kids.

Titus also had his 1 year check up today with the Doctor!  She had nothing but good to say about him, his development is coming along just great and his weight today was 20 lbs. 5 oz. and he is 31 3/4 in. long, putting him in the 10% for his weight and the 95% for his height!  Which she said would be expected for him with two tall and slender parents, thanks for that compliment Dr. Rogers, I will take it! :)

Titus thoroughly enjoyed his cupcake, neck first, then cupcake and then the head of the horse!

These are the cupcakes I made, vanilla & chocolate cupcakes with both flavors of frosting, vanilla & chocolate creme wafers for the neck, chocolate covered pretzels for the tails, white chocolate dipped circus peanuts for the head and chocolate frosting for the mane!  From a book called, Hello, Cupcake!

Titus opened his presents the following day after his party, look at my little sweetie!

Look at the way he is sitting on daddy's leg, so cute, he did this while they opened a couple of presents.

He got a Radio Flyer soft rock and bounce pony that also makes sound by touch from Grandpa and Grandma Johnson!

And his Auntie Daisy made him an "Aunties Purse", whenever she holds him in church, she has to get things out of her purse to entertain him, so she made him his own without making it embarrassing for him with the label!  So cute, and she filled it with random things for him and it came complete with a key chain picture of Mia on it, so sweet!

Our first bicycle ride!

We did our first family bicycle ride on Saturday!  REI is having their anniversary sale this week and we got the cycling kit on sale for our Child Transport System just in time for summer and to practice up for when my family visits in July!  We want to do the Route of the Hiawatha then with my parents, sisters, and nieces!  That trail is 15 miles long but very easy as it is an old railroad route, so it has many tunnels and trestles along the way!

We just did a 8 mile loop from our place around the Miller Creek area!  Tom thought this was only like a 4 mile loop, but we checked it yesterday in the car and it was 8!  My guess was at least 5 miles but I was wrong too.  Titus did pretty good, he got crabby a little over halfway through I would say, but he wasn't too bad.

Daddy did the harder job!  Although he said it was pretty easy.

Who is that little man, eatin his snacks?

This was along the road, I thought it would be cool to get a pic!