A Blessing in Trashy Disguise

On Monday I was heading out to take the trash can on wheels to the curb. It was to be whisked away by the kind men on the big truck which my kids love to watch as it pays it's weekly visit to our neighborhood. I hit the garage door button and stepped down into the garage towards the rising double-car door, when suddenly it stopped rising before it should have. I checked the sensor and did all the normal troubleshooting but this door wasn't going to work. Something was wrong. It became clear that the trash just wasn't going to be able to go out that day/week. I had to leave because a friend was waiting on me and I couldn't fight with the garage door any further. Thankfully, I was finally able to get it to close all the way. Later that evening, Cal and I realized it was in fact broken and we needed to replace a part.
Rewind now about 3 days... DJ somehow got my set of van keys and was pushing the lock button so she could hear the honking of the van outside. I asked her to stop and explained that the neighbors probably didn't appreciate having to hear our van horn disrupting their day. She stopped and a few minutes later I went to get the van keys where she left them but they were no longer there. I searched and searched that entire day. No keys to be found. This was very frustrating for me because if there's one thing I am fairly consistent about, it's keeping my keys put away. I continued over the next few days to keep an eye out for the keys that were missing but never found them.
The night of the broken garage door I laid in bed and I began to think that it was very possible Elle threw the keys away. We have caught her several times putting spoons, toys and other things in the trash. So I decided I probably needed to go digging in the trash for our second set of van keys, which would cost about $250 to replace because of the keyless entry option.
Today I got out the heavy duty yellow rubber gloves and opened up that huge trash can on wheels. The stench of a week and a half worth of trash, in July, in the South is more than I care to explain. But I dug in between breaths of fresh air. After the first bag I began to question if it was even worth it since I didn't know for sure that the keys were in there. So I prayed and asked God to help me find these keys if they were in fact in this pile of maggot-infested rubbish.
I became very focused on the next bag because I calculated in my head that this one was probably in the right order to have been put out on the day the key went missing. I got a fresh new trash bag and emptied one item at a time as to be sure I wouldn't miss anything. I saw one of my favorite coffee mugs that my mom had bought me with pictures of the Grand Canyon on it. First I though, "I didn't know this got broken. Caleb must have thrown it away." Then I realized it wasn't broken and Elle must have thrown it away. Next I found one of Bry's favorite little Lego guys, also not broken and Elle probably struck again. Finally, I saw an icthus key chain attached to my key!!!! Yes! I found it! I was totally worth digging through the trash heap for!
So am I happy that our garage door is broken? No. However, I am very thankful that I didn't get to take the trash out that day. I'm also thankful that I realized Elle had probably thrown them away and that I had the crazy ambition to search through the trash for them. In some really odd way, God showed me today that He provides. I am thankful for that. He is still on His throne even when I'm in a trash heap.

Quote to ponder...

“Genuine faith puts it's letter in the mailbox and lets go. Distrust, however, holds on to a corner of the envelope and then wonders why the answer never arrives.”

found in Streams in the Desert by L.B. Cowman

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANNY!

Mom, Cathie, Granny,
Happy Birthday! Thank you for loving us like you do. Thank you for all the effort you put into being a fun and wonderful grandmother for our children. Thank you for doing such memorable things with our children like taking them to the playground, jumping on the trampoline with them, hiking with them and building priceless memories. Thank you for all the great meals you have cooked us over the years, for clearing your schedule to be with us when we come to town and for making us feel very special to you. Thank you for the many special holidays and the many times you and Pops have made it possible for us to fly home to MI. We know you value us because it shows in everything you do. Thank for the countless dollars you have saved our family in buying clothing, shoes and many things for our children. (truly, you have bought more clothes & shoes for our kids than we have) Thank you for making the kids a priority and for the many, many care packages you have mailed with so much love over the years. Thank you also for not getting frustrated with us for being terrible gift givers, even though you're so incredible at it. You're a good example to us of a generous giver. We can only hope to give to our children and grandchildren in such an openhanded fashion as you. Thank you for always cheering us on and believing in us. Thanks for being one of the funnest Grannys in history!
We love you and you are so special to us.
Happy Birthday to you today and may this be your best year yet!
Coo, Jaim, Bry, DJ & Elle

The kids got all dressed up in some of their costumes that Granny had bought them to wish her a happy birthday. Elle decided she wasn't going to sit with the other two so we did a video of her with Daddy. She was tired and grumpy, but still a little sweet:




Next, we got these two clowns together to wish Granny a happy birthday. This was take 3 because of their silliness. Enjoy:

Trampoline Time

I was in my kitchen groovin' to Amber Hunter's music while I was doing the dishes and I could see the rest of my family wrestling on the trampoline out my kitchen window. It reminded me of the old silent films because I couldn't hear them and I had music going on. Too funny. I grabbed my camera to video and here's a little bit of what I saw:



So then I went outside to join them and hopefully get a nice little video for our blog. Welcome to my chaos! This is my (failed) attempt to get my children to sit together and talk about why they're excited to go to AZ. Why do I even try? Also, why did I think this was going to happen on the trampoline, while they were being recorded no less? Silly, silly mom!



This was my 2nd attempt. When will I ever learn?...

YAY!

I just got a call that MY CAMERA IS IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can't tell you how happy I am about this! I have a very important photo shoot tomorrow for a family with 4 (grown) children. Tomorrow is the ONLY day in the entire year that all 4 kids will be in the same location because they live all over the globe and are involved in missions, college, etc. I was SO hoping my digital SLR would be ready so I wouldn't have to shoot film. AND IT IS READY!
Now I need to pray for good weather.

I can't wait to get my hands on that piece of equipment that I've had a serious love affair with for the past year! (As you know, this is completely okay with my great husband and he supports my love of photography whole-heartedly)

I get to pick it up tomorrow. I'm so happy it's ready!
YAY!

9 on the 9th

I'm so proud because I remembered "9 on the 9th" for a second month! I'm on a streak here! Since this is my dear friend's idea and since she is moving at the end of this month, I'm doing this meme in honor of her.

9 Reasons I Will Miss Having "Mrs. N" Close By:

1. I will miss seeing her at MOPS next year. (if I'm still here at that point?)
2. I will miss hearing her funny DJ stories.
3. I will miss those long voicemail messages that she leaves on my answering machine. Before her, I had never met anyone who left as long of messages as I do.
4. I will miss her occasional phone calls and e-mails that are just out of the blue to check on me and say "Hi, you doing good today? You were on my mind." (I know she may still do this from time to time but I also realize she needs to free up her time to invest in new friendships and her new location)
5. I will miss her wisdom when I just need to bounce something off her and get her take on a situation.
6. I will miss play dates with her and her kids.
7. I will miss her hilarious sense of humor. She is funny to me because she usually isn't trying to be, but just is. That to me is way more hilarious than someone who works at it.
8. I will miss her fabulous party planning talents. She has a knack for planning fun and creative events. I'm bummed that I won't get to be a part of that anymore.
9. I'll miss her enthusiasm and willingness to jump in with both feet, even when it's with a crowd of strangers.

Mrs. N,
I'm so excited for this next endeavor but I will miss you. I'm so thankful our paths crossed for a season. Thank you for your friendship and for sharing your wisdom with me. Blessings on you and your family. You are a heart sister and always will be.
Love,
J

Inspiration From Another Blog

Just wanted to draw a little attention to a story on a blog that I frequent. My relationship with Susan is kind of funny because we share the same position to a wonderful family in Michigan. We are both married to the nephews of a certain aunt and uncle in Caleb's family. The thing is, Caleb is from the wife's side of the family and Kevin is from the husband's. Does that make sense?

None of that is really important, accept to say that Susan and I were pregnant with our first child at the same time, we both have 3 children now (who are loved by the same big cousins) and she's my kind of people. Even though we're not related, we keep up with each other and have common family. I love her blog because she is the kind of mom I want to be: fun, hilarious, real, humble and so good at it. It seems to come natural for her. I have to work hard at it and spy on blogs like her's to get good mom ideas and then copy them with my own children, like they were my idea to begin with.

If someone would have told me Bryant was old enough for a mission trip to another country I wouldn't have believed them, until I checked out this post. See for yourself:

Sooze News: Kevin & Gabe's Mission Trip