So much more than a whisper...

My prayer lately has been, that I be open to what God has to say to me. That I would be still, quiet my soul, let go, and let God. After praying this prayer many times lately, I must be honest and say that this is a conscious effort and I have had to remind myself on many occasions to do so. It is very easy to get distracted with so many things going on, especially with my list of 'to-do's' to be too busy to be still and let my ears and heart be 100% available to the Lord. With a busy household consisting of my husband, two children, and our family dog, it sometimes can be quite the challenge to find a quiet place. This is why many times when I take a shower, this is also where I pray, quite a bit actually. Whenever I am tired, upset, overwhelmed, or just in need of a refresher, the shower has always cleared my mind and calmed me down. I think because it is as much a metaphorical cleanser as it is literal. Standing under the constant stream of water, it feels as if it is washing all the worry, stress, and anxiety away. I was having a bit of a stressful night, because in my head I was replaying some things that had been said that day or small occurrences that frustrated me and the more that I thought about it, the more overwhelmed I seemed to get. I have a tendency to do this to myself. I can be my own worst enemy at times.

I am just like my mom in the sense that I am a people pleaser. I am not trying to play the victim, nor do I expect sympathy. I am just naturally a passive person that never likes to upset others or have anyone mad at me. I believe this was a learned behavior that started when I was all of 2 years old. My biological dad was a very aggressive, intimidating man, whom most of the time I told what he wanted to hear, because I was afraid of what he might do. This is not a topic I want to go in depth about, nor am I ready to openly share, however, I do believe this had a big impact on how I dealt with conflict growing up. Since then, my biological dad and I have reconnected, and things have been moving slowly, in a positive direction. I believe his priorities have changed and he sincerely cares about me and my older brother, however, I do still struggle with feelings of fear and insecurity when I am around him. I'm hoping as time goes on these feelings will fade and there will be a sense of closure.

I seem to have quite a few dominant people in my life and knowing how to have relationships with these people is honestly puzzling to me. I have had people say to me before, "just speak your mind, or just stand up for yourself." This is much easier said then done and to put it into perspective for you, it would be just like telling a individual that always speaks there mind, to keep their mouth shut. I must say though, that in baby steps I am getting better each day at expressing myself and trying to let others know if I am upset about something. But you see, I have tried to speak my mind in the past, I have tried to express honestly and openly what is on my heart and I would say 99% of the time, I have been made to feel guilty about my feelings and in the end it only resulted in people being mad at me. Again, I am not playing the victim, I am just stating my personal experiences with conflict, and what the result has been in my situation. However, I do not think bottling everything up inside is healthy or constructive for relationships either. But as of right now, I am still in transition mode as to when and how I express what I am thinking and feeling, which leads me to the reason I wrote this post.

A few nights ago I was in the shower and like I said, that is where I do alot of my praying and I must admit I was having a bit of a pity party. I was praying to God asking how I would handle these relationships the rest of my life and not get worn out? How I would put a smile on my face and pretend everything was ok inside, when in actuality I was fuming? At the end, I remember saying, "if they always get to speak their mind, and they always get to be heard, God, when do I get to be heard?" After I said that, I felt guilty as if I was throwing a tantrum, as if I was a little kid on floor kicking my feet and pounding my fists against the ground, screaming, "when do I get my way!?" Right after I thought those words, I heard God whisper to me, "I hear you. You can tell me your hurts, you can tell me your frustrations. I am always here and will always be here for you. You can always come to me." And in that moment, those words touched my heart like nothing else ever has. I have such a BIG God that can move mountains, that can change water into wine, and yet He wants to take the time to listen to me! His wisper of a few sentences spoke a book of pages filled with love, encouragement and comfort. In essence He told me I was worthy, that I was significant. I was so encouraged by this message that I had to share it with a dear friend of mine that speaks words of love and encouragement to me quite often. And that is why I am sharing it with you! The world is an unfair place. We don't always get our way, nor are we treated right, but our God is bigger than any of this and He is ALWAYS there. If you quiet your soul and listen, He is whispering words of love to you.

Christmas with 2!

Sophia wanted to leave celery for the reindeer too;)

After setting out a glass of milk for Santa, Sophia decided she wanted a glass, herself. This is her sitting on the counter drinking her glass of milk before bed. I just couldn't miss capturing these cute little toes dangling over the counter;)

Christmas was a little different this year. Katie and Kevin headed off to Vegas to spend Christmas with his family, Buddy and Tracie and Noah were on their way to Seattle and my parents and siblings spent Christmas with my grandparents and extended family up in Washington. So Christmas eve and Christmas morning consisted of me, Jeff, Sophia, Peyton, Barbara, and Nelson. This was the first year, that we spent Christmas with just our little family of four, and Jeff's parents, and we quite enjoyed it! It was more quiet than usual, but oh-so relaxing and low key. Christmas eve was spent baking cookies to leave out for Santa, visiting the beautiful Peacock Lane and taking a stroll down the creative and scenery filled PIR. Thanks to my sleepy-headed little girls, we were blessed with sleeping in, and actually had to wake Sophia up at 8:45 to come see what Santa had left for her under the tree. This was also our first year with two beautiful girls to celebrate Christmas with and boy, was it everything we could have hoped for and more!

Peyton enjoying a mum-mum on Daddy's lap!

Sophia modeling her new scarf and head warmer

Grandpa Lou sharing kisses with Sophia

Best gift under the tree;)

While Sophia explored her new toys and gifts, Peyton crawled right over to her sports interactive toy and began putting the basketball in the hoop. She played and entertained herself for quiet a while, until she began to yawn and was ready to go back down for her nap. Jeff's dad then made a yummy breakfast and we visited and relaxed, while Sophia played. It was such a nice Christmas morning! Though we missed all of our family members that could not be with us, this Christmas was one of our favorites because the focus wasn't so much the gifts given, but the blessed time spent with each other!

Santa's Little Helper...

When Sophia was little, on her first Christmas, I took some pictures in our bed, of her wearing a Santa hat. So...I decided to do the same with Peyton, only in her crib. Peyton didn't seem to like the Santa hat all that much and kept trying to take it off of her head before I could snap the picture, lol. She seems to be much busier than Sophia was at this age, resulting in it being quite the challenge to get her to hold still for me to snap a couple photos. Here is the product of me sweating and being contorted in all sorts of different positions to try to capture some half decent pics of this little rascal, lol. Enjoy!

My Little Helper...

I can't believe it, even as I type it, but in two months, my first baby girl will be 3! I can't believe how fast she has grown and changed right before my eyes. She is a busy little girl, who loves to quote Dora, "vamanos amigos" and "lo hicimos". And I realized later, she actually knows what these two sayings mean. One morning as Jeff and I were laying in bed, Sophia came running through the door and said, "get up mom and dad! vamanos amigos!" And then another time when we were switching over the washed clothes to the dryer, she was helping me and when we were finished, she said, "yay! lo hicimos! we did it!" It seems to me, some cartoons are quite educational;)

Sophia has really wanted to be a part of every chore and activity lately, from helping pick out our Christmas tree, to feeding Peyton, to helping me make juice and even do dishes! My mom has a picture of me when I was little standing on a chair in front of the sink, doing the dishes. I loved helping my mom! Sophia seems to be the same way, and though chores such as laundry and sweeping take a little longer when she helps, I'm thrilled she 'wants' to help and that she is learning responsibility. The most recent project she wanted to help me on, was making chocolate chip cookies. I pulled a chair up to the counter next to me, and as I scooped the dough I would hand it to her and she would roll it in a little ball and place it on the cookie sheet. She had a blast being such an active participant in making a yummy treat and had even more fun enjoying the fruits of her labor when they came out, warm and fresh from the oven!





Sophia is also a big help with her little sister, Peyton. She helps me feed her, change her, and will get her a binky or blanket if Peyton needs it. She is little miss mom, and if she sees Peyton going towards the stairs or Hurley's water bowl, she lets me know. Every morning when she hears Peyton wake up, she says, "lets go get Peyton Mom." Then we go upstairs together and Sophia opens the door and says,"good morning Peyton. Peyton woke up Mommy!" She still has her little jealous moments every once in a while, but for the most part, she adores her little sister! If we are going to grandma's or the grocery store and I put Sophia in the car first, Sophia will say, "don't forget Peyton!"



When I first looked at my little angel on the morning of Febraury 11th, 2008 , I never imagined she would be this full of life and have so much character and personality! She is a ball of wonder and curiosity wherever she goes and knows just what to say to melt me to pieces. She is my daughter, my little girl, but mostly my heart.

On the Hunt...

Sunday we set out to find that perfect "Boss" Christmas tree! The adventure kind of reminded me of "Christmas Vacation" and we were the Griswolds, lol. We go searching with specifics in mind, and when I say specifics I mean, size, shape, and branch strength. The end result usually being a full noble. This year, we dropped off Peyton at Grandma's and took Sophia along to help. She was beyond thrilled to be included in this adult adventure and kept up with us at every farm quite well! She pointed at many trees and gave her input. The third Christmas tree farm we went to, Sophia got to see Santa and chat with him for a bit. He even gave her a candy cane and told her to leave chocolate chip cookies out for him on Christmas eve. She was glowing with excitement, from getting to see Santa, especially when we were surprised ourselves that he was there, lol. And though it was freezing and windy, she rarely complained and was usually running around and jumping amongst the huge Christmas trees. I, however, was freezing my buns off! After five Christmas tree farms, and in the dark mind you, we finally found "the one", the Boss family Christmas tree (with the help of Katie and Kevin of course). At the farm, the tree always looks like such a great size for our living room, and yet when we got it home, it seems the tree magically grew, lol! Standing about 9 feet all, I think this is our biggest tree to date. After a bit of trimming, Jeff and I stood side by side looking at our tree, with our arms around each other and big grins on our faces, we were quite pleased with ourselves. We are so excited this year because Sophia is old enough to understand what having a Christmas tree is all about and can help decorate the tree! The neatest thing is pulling out all of the Christmas ornaments and reminiscing over special "first Christmas" baby ornaments or picture ornaments of Sophia. We usually don't have a theme to our tree, instead it seems to be a display of who our family is as a whole. On it, you will find wedding ornaments of me and Jeff's first Christmas together, moving ornaments that we inherited from Jeff's parents after we got married, and of course ornaments representing our girls. It's a bit of an eclectic assortment of colors, sizes and shapes, but I love every single one and some have wonderful memories and stories behind them. We recently just got a family ornament made with everyone's name on it, including Peyton. Now our Christmas tree is complete! I may be partial, but I think this is our most beautiful Christmas tree yet!

Thankful for dirty dishes?

The title of this post may have you wondering, "why would I be thankful for dirty dishes?" Doing the laundry and dishes, scrubbing toilets and vacuuming are probably the farthest things from fun, right? Well, I'll admit I don't necessarily look forward to doing these things, however, I heard God speak a word of truth to me as I was throwing a "grown-up tantrum" a few days ago.

Life has been pretty hectic and emotional lately and by the end of this last weekend I was ready to hit the floor. Early Monday morning, both girls were awake, Hurley (our pug was under my ever step), and the house was a disaster. As I looked at my sink full of dishes, I quickly retreated to the laundry room. As I stood there looking at a huge pile of laundry, I found myself negatively saying in my head, "I'm so tired. I don't feel like doing laundry. I don't want to do the dishes. I wish I had a magic wand and it would all go away." Then I heard the Lord speak one word of truth to me, "thankful" and that's all it took for me to begin to see all of these chores as blessings, yes, blessings! I saw my heaping pile of dirty laundry, as clothes that have kept my family warm and the sink full of dishes, as yummy meals that had satisfied our hunger. These dirty clothes and dirty dishes were the result of provision and blessings that many go without! It made me see things in a whole new perspective. At that moment I was not only ashamed at my attitude, but humbled as well.

I am so thankful that I have a God that gently knocks on my heart, and reminds me what's important and what truly matters. I wouldn't have seen these blessings on my own and knowing He is always there to open my eyes to His truth is so comforting. I am truly and sincerely thankful this year for all that God has blessed me with and the truth He has revealed to me.

The Storms of Life...

~My Uncle Todd (my Dad's brother) and my Dad~

The following are lyrics for a song by 'Casting Crowns'. I have found this song running through my head throughout this whole journey with my Uncle Todd's health.

I was sure by now,God, that You would have reached down
and wiped our tears away,
stepped in and saved the day.
But once again, I say amen
and it's still raining
as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain,
"I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away.

Chorus:
And I'll praise you in this storm
and I will lift my hands
for You are who You are
no matter where I am
and every tear I've cried
You hold in your hand
You never left my side
and though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember when I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry to You
and raised me up again
my strength is almost gone how can I carry on
if I can't find You
and as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away

Chorus

I lift my eyes onto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth
I lift my eyes onto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth

Chorus

It always seems easier to say, "Lord I will praise you even in the tough times", when the tough times have not yet arrived. But to truly praise Him when your world is upside down, is having complete faith in His provision and plan. Though I do not understand why my uncle was diagnosed with an extremely rare form of cancer and why after only a few weeks, the doctors have given him 24 hrs, but I do know God is cradling my uncles tired and weak body in His strong and loving arms.
When I went to visit him Sunday in the hospital as I held his hand, I prayed and begged for him to wake up, just so I could look into his eyes one last time and tell him I loved him one last time. I didn't know if he could hear me, but whispered in his ear anyways, "I love you Uncle Todd, I love you so much! You are such an amazing person and Uncle to me. I love you."
I know God is there and He is taking my Uncle home to be with him to give him a new body free of cancer. The hardest part is letting go...but I can picture God holding out his hand, saying, "come home with me Todd."
Just because the Lord does not answer our prayers with the result that we want, does not mean that He doesn't hear us. This chorus comforts my soul at this time and reminds me that the Lord remains the same no matter where I am in my life:

And I'll praise you in this storm
and I will lift my hands
for You are who You are
no matter where I am
and every tear I've cried
You hold in your hand
You never left my side
and though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

Please pray for my Dad and his family. Todd is his younger brother and as a big brother, my Dad feels like he should be able to protect him. This has been extremely hard on him, especially living 5 hours away and only being able to see him every few days. Thank you so much!!!

Portland Rescue Mission Donation Drop Off...

Please click on the link "Stories of Hope" to see what the Portland Rescue Mission is doing to help the people of Portland! Thank you!

Stories of Hope

Portland Rescue Mission Donation Drop Off

When: Friday, November 12th anytime between 10:00am - 1:00pm

Where: Barbara Boss's House
14646 S.E. Megan Way
Clackamas, OR 97015

For: The People and Families of Portland

You can make a difference! As the weather gets colder, The Portland Rescue Mission is in desperate need of items such as blankets and food! Did you do any Spring cleaning and have extra coats, blankets or hats that you were going to get rid of? Bring them to The Boss's House and drop your items off while enjoying some pumpkin bread and hot apple cider! If you do not have any items to donate from home, The Dollar Tree and Grocery Outlet are great places to purchase inexpensive items such as canned foods and hats, scarves and gloves. The following is a list of items needed by the Portland Rescue Mission~

-BLANKETS!
-Coats, scarves, hats, and gloves
-tooth brushes, tooth paste, shampoo and bar soap, deodorant
-Canned Foods, boxed non perishable foods
-Frozen Turkey

If you have any questions please feel free to message me on face book or email me @ linzbphoto@yahoo.com. Thank you and every little bit helps! We are hoping to get these items to the people of Portland before Thanksgiving!

With love and thanks,
Lindsi Boss

Where Is the Love?

This is a issue that has been weighing on my heart for a few weeks now and I felt pressed to share my thoughts on this topic.

Everywhere I look lately I have seen ones I love and care about, with heavy hearts and burdens that seem too much for them to bear. I feel like we are in a spiritual war, and those we are fighting for don't even know it! Their hearts are chained by the devil's temptations and though they continually search, the void is always there, and their souls always feel empty. It pains me and makes my heart ache for these people, these children of God. I feel they have been blinded by what the world values so much that they can not see their true value. They are beautiful, amazing individuals that can't see how truly amazing they are! It's almost as if this battle is a game of tug-a-war. My question to myself lately, "If so many people are hurting, how do we lift each other up?" If we are fighting our own battles, how do we have the emotional and physical energy to encourage and give others strength and support? For me personally, it always comes back to prayer. I feel there is nothing stronger than talking personally with God. I have felt very encouraged after praying and knowing that God hears my cry for these special people, comforts and brings me peace.

Has life always been this hard, or is it the time that we are living in? I feel like everyone is just doing what makes them happy because that is what both our society and schools teach. That right and wrong are relative and what may be right to one person may not be right to some one else. What happened to absolute truth!? If we are all going by our own book, then how are we supposed to be on the same page or working towards the same goals with our children and our families? It’s frustrating and sometimes I feel like I’m in a heard of cattle trying to get out alive. It kills me to see people I know and love falling victim to drug addiction and self destruction.

Another question I’ve had is, “where is everyone’s joy?” My dad has taught me two very valuable lessons in my life that I will take with me and try to practice as I continue to get older and raise my children. The first, “to be content at where you are and who you’re with, don’t always go searching for the next big thing.” In other words, “be present in the moment.” And the second valuable lesson, “you can’t change how others feel about a conflict or situation, but you can change how you feel.” In other words, take responsibility for your part and don’t whine or pout. Try to see the positive in the circumstance and learn from it! I feel like a big part of the reason as to why we as Americans go searching for happiness is because we have not yet found happiness and joy within ourselves. We always think, “if I have this or that, then I’ll be happy.” But it goes back to the children’s book “The Giving Tree”. We take and take and put our wants and needs first and are never satisfied.

My last big questions, “What if we as individuals put others needs, others feelings, and other people before our own? If we were all working to help each other, lift each other up, put others first, can you imagine how joyful, positive and uplifting our world would be!? In other words, if we served like Christ, gave our lives for others and looked at every single person like a child of God, what a place of love we would live in?

Food for thought: My challenge for myself, to live as God would live, and to love as God would love. I’m not perfect, nor do I claim to be, but I am tired of just existing and being frustrated by the sadness and devastation going on around me. Every single person can create change. You are never too small and never too late! I think it’s perfectly said in a quote from Gandhi, “be the change you wish to see in the world.”

Pumpkin gunk and giggles...

Because of our trip to Hawaii, we just now got to the task of carving our pumpkins last night. I must say, it was fun to see Sophia so focused on cleaning out every single seed from her pumpkin! She has also become quite the little helper and when I began carving out mine, she said, "Mom, let me help you." So she held onto my hand that held the carving knife and we carved some of my pumpkin together. With her 3 year birthday coming up the beginning of February, there's nothing this little girl can't do! She even wanted to attempt the carving on her pumpkin, but we were a little afraid she might hurt herself, even with the safe carving tools. So I drew a quick, goofy design, and Jeff helped her cut it out. She wanted a Dora pumpkin (no surprise;), to which I was more than willing to attempt, but her pumpkin was too small, so I did a little goofy face instead. She was more than happy with it and still says it's her Dora pumpkin, lol. Peyton had already been down to bed for over a hour when we started carving pumpkins, but I guess she wanted to join in the fun, because she woke up and did not seem like she wanted to go back to bed. So I brought her down, put her in her high chair and from there she sat observing with a big grin on her face! I can't wait for next year, when we can take both our girls to go pick out a pumpkin! By next year Peyton will be walking and able to help clean out her pumpkin, just like Sophia! After all the carving was done, we did a quick clean up, put tea light candles inside of them, and put them on the porch to see the final result. If you can't tell, mine is a tribute to my jewelry business, Glass Cocoon, which is why it has a "GC" and a tree with a butterfly. Jeff's pumpkin's looks scared, with the hands on either side of the open mouth. And Sophia's is the cute little one with the buck-teeth (kind of a rabbit-looking pumpkin). It was supposed to be a pumpkin sticking out it's tongue, but when Jeff ended up carving it, it kind of morphed into it's own face and became two teeth instead of a tongue, lol. It's cute either way! Playing in the background while we carved out pumpkins was "Charlie Brown and The Great Pumpkin." This used to be Jeff's favorite when he was little, so last year and this year we watched it as we carved. It was really neat to see Sophia so involved this year and wanted to be so hands on! She becomes more and more self sufficient every year! It's cute to see her mind working and see her contemplating her next step. She loved feeling the pumpkin gunk squish between her fingers, lol. But I have to say all in all, she stayed pretty clean! What a fun evening with our little family! These moments of creating and spending time together is what life is all about!!!

Pickin' out a pumpkin with our two little punkins'

Before we knew it, it was already half way through October and we hadn't taken the girls to pick out a pumpkin at the pumpkin patch. Sunday was going to be a beautiful day, so we decided to make a family trip of it with my parents and brothers and sister. I woke up to a pumpkin spice latte on the counter (courtesy of my wonderful hubby) and the sun gleaming through the blinds. What a perfect Fall day to go to the pumpkin patch! After the girl's afternoon nap, we all packed into the car and off we went to go find that "perfect pumpkin" to carve. We met my family there, and hand in hand we all trudged into the dirt and vines chattering away as we went. Sophia had her eye on every other pumpkin and couldn't decide which one she wanted. The next pumpkin always looked better, lol. After she finally found a keeper, she proceeded to pick one out for me too! Out of the corner of her eye, she saw two giant white horses pulling a trailer of people behind them and pointed and said to me, "Mommy, I want to go on that!" I had to agree with her. It looked pretty fun and the horses were magnificent! We hopped on and road the hay ride back to our cars. All that walking around the fields wore everyone out and Sophia and Peyton fell asleep on the way out to my parents. We enjoyed dinner and visiting with my family, before heading back home to climb into our warm, cozy beds and pass out from a busy but VERY fun day!

A Quick Trip...

Last weekend we made a quick trip up to Washington to see my uncle Todd (my dad's younger brother), because he has been very sick. We left Thursday around 6:00pm and ended up arriving around 11:30. We were all pretty tired and ready to get out and stretch our legs. Sophia fell asleep in the car, so I carried her in and put her straight to bed. After, we sat and talked for a while with my uncle who had been propped sitting up on the couch due to the fluid in his lungs. He had been having pain for around 6 weeks and had gone into the doctor and they had thought it was just a torn muscle. Well after many, many tests and visits back to the doctor, they discovered a large mass growing on his liver. Not knowing then, that the mass would be much larger than we had all anticipated! My uncle Todd is usually a very happy, talkative, and fiesty guy. But as I sat there next to him holding his hand, he was void of any of these traits. He coughed often and looked like he was in excruciating pain. The color was gone from his face and you could see that something inside of him was making him extremely sick! It made feel so helpless to see him in SO much pain and not be able to do anything to help him. But, then I remembered that I could pray! Never underestimate the power of prayer! I had also asked many of my friends to pray for my uncle. Receiving texts back telling me that everyone was praying for my uncle, even never having met him, they were lifting him up in prayer to God. It was the most incredible feeling knowing God was hearing their prayers and was watching over my uncle through every breath and gasp of pain. And even though I still worried (I am human), it helped to ease the sense of helplessness. Because I knew that he wasn't in my care, nor in the doctors care, but he was ultimately in his Heavenly Father's care, the best care of all!

Just yesterday he underwent a 7 hour surgery where they removed his gallbladder, part of his sternum and a football-sized tumor from his liver! He is now in critical condition and will be in a semi-induced coma for four days as his body begins to recover. The family has really pulled together and has been by my uncles side holding his hand, giving him hugs, and praying with him. The Lord revealed His presence to my Dad in many ways throughout this process showing him his brother was in His care and surrounded by angels. Seeing people so open and emotionally available is quite rare these days and stripping away the barriers has really made me see the strength and love of this family!

Though these past three weeks have been some of the most stressful and energy-stealing weeks, not only due to my uncles health, I have also learned so much in this particular season of my life:

~Love those around you with every ounce of energy! We take for granted that they will always be there and one day they won't.

~Negativity breeds negativity and positivity breeds positivity. If it isn't encouraging, loving, or caring, then it probably doesn't need to be said.

~Everyone is human and makes mistakes, but it is how one handles themselves through the struggles is what displays true character.

~You can never hug, kiss, or say "I love you" to your loved ones too much!

~Spend more time thinking about other's needs rather than your own and it truly doesn't take a huge display of affection to show someone you care. You would be surprised at how excited people get by a card in the mail or a phone call to ask them how they've been.

I'm not trying to sound like I'm preaching, but I guess bottom line is...slow down, enjoy the moments you have with those you love. This world is so busy and we are constantly rushing onto the next thing! Rest in the word, rest in God and He will give you rest.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While I was up there, I had the pleasure of spending the day with my cousin, Kelsey, who showed me around Fair Haven and downtown Bellingham. I've decided this is one place I would love to retire to or have a vacation home. This town is so relaxed, quiet and family oriented. They had an amazing farmers market we happened to stumble across with local organic produce, cheeses, and bread. We had a blast walking around tasting all of the samples and browsing the handmade goods. Below are a few pictures of the market and some of the yummy food they had there!

The farmer's market building

This mom and her little girl were sitting enjoying the moment
together and I just had to capture it!

I couldn't get over the color of this cauliflower! I had never seen purple before!

I wish I could have bought all of this handmade bread and taken it home to enjoy!

We enjoyed one of the cheese sticks and one of the chocolate bread sticks
(they were amazing!!!)

Long Lost Friends...

Saturday my cousins came into town from Mt.Vernon, Washington. If any of you have ever been there it is about a 4 1/2 hour drive, which is why I maybe get to see them 2 or 3 times a year. Not enough time together in my opinion! I was thrilled when I got to spend the entire day with them Sunday! I drove out to my parents and dropped off the girls, had a yummy breakfast with everyone, then we headed to downtown. Me and my brother were on a mission to show them a little bit of Portland and a few of our favorite spots. We started at NW 23rd and took them to Urban Outfitters, Portland Bagel Company for lunch, then a few boutiques and finally to a tea house for some delicious Chai Tea! We then headed over to Hawthorne, where we shopped a vintage house and Red Light, then lastly a small jewelry boutique I just had to check out! After a fun day of shopping and catching up with my cousins, we headed back to Sandy, where my parents live, for some dinner and home made pumpkin pie! It was such an incredibly fun day and I'm so glad I was able to spend so much time with my two cousins! They are a blast and such awesome girls! Here's a few photos of our day:)

Our cousins: Kelsey and Kara

Shawn, Kara and Kelsey outside Urban Outfitters

The jewelry boutique I fell in love with on Hawthorne

Playdate at the Park...

I'm thrilled to announce Tuesday play group has started up again and some new mommas have joined! This Tuesday because of the unusually warm September weather, we decided to meet at the park. Despite the humidity, the kids had a blast playing on the swings, slides and the bridge and us mom's had a nice time visiting with each other. Though it was busy and kids were going in every direction, I wanted to try to capture a few photos of our playgroup. I enjoy the playgroup and the moms in it so much and can't wait for the many more to come!

A Creative Whim...

As most of you know I love to create! I am the type of person that if I don't create I feel like I'm going to explode! Since Sophia has her name in letters hanging in her bedroom, I only thought it appropriate to make something that spelled out "Peyton" in Peyton's room. So I found a canvas I have had in my closet for probably two years and decided to use that to paint a sign. After a little thought and planning, this is the sign I came up with. I was going for a "shabby-chic" type of look. The "P" and the bumble bee are wood and then I painted the rest of her name in white on chocolate brown that I had already painted. I'm also going to add some cute ribbon to the top to hang it from. Free art-gotta love it:)

Our Little Squealer...

Peyton has discovered her voice and loves to listen to herself squeal and make lots of different sounds. She will sit upright on the floor and squeal and talk to herself for a half an hour at a time. I'll often hear her singing or cooing in her bed in the morning and that's how I know it's time to get her out of her crib. She is very vocal and expressive and always moving her hands when she's trying to talk (takes after me I guess, I'm constantly talking with my hands, lol). Below is a video of her loud squeal. Prepare yourself, it's quite high pitched! (don't forget to pause the music at the bottom of the page.)

New Flavors...

Peyton has acquired quite the appetite and we have had so much fun trying new foods with her. We have discovered she is not a fan of peaches, but loves vegetables with risotto. Below are some funny expressions Peyton made while experiencing pears for the first time:

Sunday: Family Day

This morning we woke up to two very happy girls and a dry day, so Jeff and I decided to take the girls to go feed the ducks at a nearby park. After a yummy breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast and coffee, we got the girls all dressed, grabbed a loaf of bread at the store and headed to the park. Though we were greeted by dark clouds, the rain held off and we were able to enjoy some wonderful family time! Jeff helped Sophia break up the bread into small pieces and feed it to the small little ducks, while I distracted the geese by throwing whole pieces of bread in the opposite direction, along with snapping photos every chance I got. Peyton slept soundly in her stroller during the duck feeding, and woke up to enjoy the swings. Sophia and Peyton both love to swing and all Sophia would say is, "higher, Daddy, higher!" She has no fear! After playing at the park we mosied over to the water, where they were having a small sailboat race. Sophia was enthrawled by the boats and kept pointing to them with excitement. That girl loves anything in motion! After a fun day at the park, we headed home, put Sophia down for a nap and relaxed a little ourselves. We had such a relaxing, fun day together with our little girls and are looking forward to Fall when we can take them to go pick out pumpkins and play in the leaves!

Jeff helping Sophia feed the ducks

Sophia being a goofball

Sophia looking at all the ducks

Peyton having a blast swinging

Sophia LOVES to swing and always wants to be pushed higher!

My sweet girls, Sophia and Peyton

Surprise!

Peyton has been drooling like crazy and chewing on everything in sight. Last week I noticed a light white line, naturally thinking she was about to get a tooth. Well to my surprise she will soon have two teeth! On Wednesday the bottom front part of her gum was puffy and pink. When she woke up from her nap, her tooth had decided to pop through and I could actually feel the sharp edge with my finger. Now the other side is puffy and ready to pop out another one! She has been quite the trooper with these first two teeth and has only been a little fussy and uncomfortable since yesterday. As long as she has her binky to chew on, she seems quite happy! I've gotten so used to seeing her toothless that it will be interesting to see what she looks like with two little teeth on the bottom. My little pumpkin is growing up so fast!