Liam Moments

Today Liam and I went on a date to our favorite spot in Parker, Twigs and Treasures. He had a smoothie with sprinkles on top. We talked about what kind of food we should eat at his party. This was his list:

Sprinkles 

Mac cheese

Grapes

Pineapples 

Chicken

Cupcakes 

And prayer time, oh my goodness. Every night I want to record his precious prayers. It is always so sweet to hear his concerns and things he is thankful for. Last night though, Daddy and I had to try our hardest to not laugh though. Life with a puppy and toddler is definitely obvious in his prayers. Last nights gems include praying for "Chief bites my pants, Chief bites toilet paper". 

Invitations

Liam has been asking for a Paw Patrol party for his birthday this year. So Wednesday I helped him make his own invitations. He worked so hard picking out sticker and putting them in just the right spots. 

I'm still trying to figure out how we are already planning a 3rd birthday. So thankful for 3 years of being this guys mama!

Valentine's Day

We had a wonderful Valentine's Day. Liam found a small pack of Valentines and asked if he could give them to his cousins and Aunts/Uncles. He picked pirates for the girls, princesses for his Uncles, a "teacher" valentine for Gabe, and saved his favorite Mickey one to give to himself. Ha! 

Liam asked to watch Ninja Turtles months ago and after tuning in for a few minutes we realized it wasn't like the turtles from our childhood. Maybe it's good, I didn't watch enough to know. But it was too dark for our little dude right now and he was SO bummed. So we found some old school turtles on DVD and that was his Valentine from us. He was in heaven. And Daddy and Uncle Kyle seemed to enjoy watching them too.

The boys were so excited to open their Valentines from Grandma & Papa.

Aren't they cute!

Liam was also proud of his Valentine to his daddy, or maybe just excited to help him eat them. 

Kyle and Tara had us all over for a yummy Valentines dinner. My poor hubby had a terrible headache and spent most of the evening sleeping. 

The boys, the pups, and the rest of us all had a wonderful evening though. We ate, sat by the fire, and played ping pong. Family is such a blessing. 

I hope that Valentines Day leaves you feeling loved, no matter where you are in life. Because no matter who you are or what you have done, you are loved deeply and perfectly by the God who created you and adores you. And who sent his Son to die for you, so that you could live with him forever! There isn't a more amazing love story than that, and it belongs to every one of us!

Safe Families

We have been in the process of becoming a Safe Family over the last couple months and around 10:30 this morning we heard that we had officially become one. Ever since we had heard about Safe Families, God had put a calling on our hearts. One neither of us could ignore. The ache our hearts felt for children in need all the time was leading us here. We couldn't believe the statistics we were hearing on how many families were going through a crisis and needing someone to help with their children. And to just shower them with some love. And it broke our hearts to know how great the need was.

And today only hours after becoming a Safe Family we already got our first call. Since we don't live in Sioux Falls, we chose to only take children under school age (during the school year) because it wasn't feasible to get them back and forth and make everything else work. But having to turn down two school age children today was so hard. It broke my heart, even though I knew we couldn't do it. I had to trust God, that he knows what is best. And trust that he has a plan to take care of the kids we can't. But it also made me want shout from the rooftops to those feeling God tug on their hearts. Be brave! Believe me, I know how scary it is. I'm so scared for the ways God will wreck our hearts through Safe Families. But I'm also so excited for how he will change us and these children in the process. 

We can't say enough how amazing we think this organization is. This is what the church is meant to be. Families and churches taking care of those in our communities, who need us the most. Please go to http://www.safe-families.org to learn more! There are so many different ways to help! And if you want to pray for us, we would love and appreciate that too! 

Super Bowl

We love our Seahawks. And we are still feeling the pain of that loss. But we still love our boys and are proud that they made it to the Super Bowl two years in a row! (I grew up a Vikings fan so I know all about supporting a team through lots of losing seasons and disappointment.) 

Max and I moved to Newport, OR in 2004, right after we were married. And the Seahawks became "our team". It has been so fun loving a team as a couple. And now sharing that love with Liam. 

I just adore hearing him yell, "Go big blue, Go Hawks" with a little lisp at the end. :)

We had a bunch of winter weather and our usual small group party was cancelled. So those of us close enough ( and who only got 6 inches rather than a foot of snow) still got together for the game.

Liam played hard just like our Hawks.

And we had a blast, right up to the very end. Here's to next year Seahawks! We are proud to be a 12 family! 

Library

We love the library. It makes our hearts SO happy to see Liam's love of books. We have been reading to this guy since the day we brought him home. And I hope his love of reading never fades. 

We spent some time this morning reading and doing puzzles at the library. And we brought 4 books and a puzzle home. We love the library anytime of year, but it is especially wonderful on these cold winter days!