It's Not Easy Being Green

Yesterday I painted the kitchen...twice. One thing I have learned in life is that those little cards of color samples are extremely deceptive. When we painted Olivia's room we wanted a certain shade of green. We browsed our color palette and found what we thought was the right color. Wrong. It turned out to be some weird shade of neon green that you would use for a background when doing special effects.

We learned our lesson right? When choosing the green color for our kitchen we were determined not to be fooled again. We compared the color from the palette to Olivia's room and decided it wasn't "special effects" green and went with it.

Well...apparently there are two shades of "special effects" green. I was optimistic though. "It will dry darker" I thought to myself. Well, it did dry darker, a darker shade of neon! How frustrating! I painted until Ab came home thinking it was just me and maybe she'd like it. Wrong. We agreed that we were not going to live with two neon green rooms in the house. So I picked a green color about three shades darker just to be sure. Another trip to Sherwin Williams and 14 1/2 hours later...the kitchen is done!!

(If anybody needs about 3/4 gallon of "Parakeet" green...it's all yours! Seriously...someone take it.)





The Greens:

Yummy!

For some reason I can't help but take pictures of the girls eating!! Here's a picture of Sylvia really getting into her yogurt:



Olivia ate her first corn on the cob. She did a great job!

LeMars...via Battle Creek & Odebolt

Saturday morning we headed out to Battle Creek to meet up with Lola, Seth, Jenney, and Grandma Dorothy. We were able to spend some time together and catch up with everything that's been going on in our lives before we had to drive to Odebolt to attend Abbey's cousin Jason's wedding.


The girls enjoyed getting "piggy-back" rides from Uncle Seth and "Riding the Pony" with Gramma Lola!



Olivia even had time to help Uncle Seth take a nap.





The girls loved wearing their dresses and playing with Gramma-Great's pretty flowers!!





The girls had fun at the wedding for the most part. Sylvia had a few melt-downs, but she survived (and so did we!)



It was nice to see family that we haven't had a chance to see in quite a while.


Say cheese Great-Grandma Dorothy!


Sylvia was NOT happy to be taking a picture with me!


What a cute couple!
After the reception we were on the road again, destination: LeMars.



While in LeMars we enjoyed some relaxation time...


...and a visit to the Blue Bunny Ice Cream Parlor for some delicious Well's ice cream! Yum!


Jenney also had the opportunity to become a true "LeMartian" by eating her first "Bob's hotdog!" She was even brave enough to have a tavern too! (That's a loosemeat for all of you non-northwest Iowa folks!)


Here the girls pose in their moose shirts that Gramma Lola brought back from her trip to Alaska!


Congratulations again to Jason and Jill on your wedding. We wish you many blessings as you begin your new life together with Christ.

"Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their work:

If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up!

Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?

Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken"
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Tiny Dancer

Olivia finished her dance class this week. Here are some pictures and video from her last day at dance.


The video had to be shot from behind glass, so there wasn't any useful audio. Don't try to adjust your computer! There is no sound!

Whoa...

Has anyone else's computer screen gone clear before??



How can this happen???



Hee Hee! Have a good day! Leave a commment if you figured it out!!

Dinner with the Smidts!

Tonight we were joined for supper by our friends Eric and Karen! We cooked up what we referred to as the "All American Meal." We grilled up some baby back ribs with sweet corn (we grilled the sweet corn too!) It was a new thing for us since I had neither grilled ribs nor sweet corn before. It turned out great and we enjoyed a nice meal with friends. To top it off Karen was nice enough to bring dessert. It was an ice cream sandwich cake!! WOW! Was it ever tasty! Thanks for joining us guys! Here's a few pics from the evening:

Me? A Vegetarian??

For those of you that know my attitude toward vegetables you may find the following a bit strange. Abbey is always trying new recipes out and we are her official taste-testers. So tonight she makes a vegetarian pasta-type-thing. Two of my favorite things! Pasta AND veggies! (I hope you can sense the sarcasm there). It even had spinach in it...yikes. Well, since I was starving I was more than willing to give it a try and to my surprise it was actually edible! The veggies were grilled so it addded a nice flavor to it :) Will I eat it again? Probably. Will I become a vegetarian any time soon? Well, let me just say this...where's the beef!!

Here is a picture of the veggie-dish in question, and a picture from the recipe...not too bad eh? If you are interested in this recipe leave a comment and we'll email it along to you.

'Lil Helper

Sylvia wanted to help mommy vacuum the carpet! Olivia loved doing the same thing when she was that age!

As Far as the East is from the West

I have added the song East to West by the group Casting Crowns to our blog playlist because it has a real personal meaning to me and it is an awesome message. Click on the song and check out the lyrics below:

Here I am, Lord, and I'm drowning in your sea of forgetfulness
The chains of yesterday surround me
I yearn for peace and rest
I don't want to end up where You found me
And it echoes in my mind, keeps me awake tonight
I know You've cast my sin as far as the east is from the west
And I stand before You now as though I've never sinned
But today I feel like I'm just one mistake away from You leaving me this way

Jesus, can You show me just how far the east is from the west
'cause I can't bear to see the man I've been come rising up in me again
In the arms of Your mercy I find rest
'cause You know just how far the east is from the west
From one scarred hand to the other

I start the day, the war begins, endless reminding of my sin
Time and time again Your truth is drowned out by the storm I'm in
Today I feel like I'm just one mistake away from You leaving me this way

I know You've washed me white, turned my darkness into light
I need Your peace to get me through, to get me through this night
I can't live by what I feel, but by the truth Your word reveals
I'm not holding on to You, but You're holding on to me
You're holding on to me

Jesus, You know just how far the east is from the west
I don't have to see the man I've been come rising up in me again
In the arms of Your mercy I find rest
'cause You know just how far the east is from the west
From one scarred hand to the other
One scarred hand to the other
From one scarred hand to the other

"For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;

as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us."
-Psalm 103:11-12

Happy Birthday Gramma Lola!

From O________ & S__________ aka "the girls"

Story Time

We caught the girls settling in for a little story time! Sylvia really loves the little Tinkerbell chair!

Time to Cool Off

Yesterday the girls beat the heat by "helping" mommy water her plants! Check it out:

Sisters

Do I need to say more?

Pedal Pushin' Princess

Olivia has been working on her biking skills. Check it out! (Note the method she uses for stopping...screaming frantically!)

The Good-O-Meter

I ran across this video on a friend's blog a few days ago and it was really inspiring to me. It's a quirky (but succinct)way of demonstrating the awesomeness of God's grace. (You will need to pause the music to hear it!)



There is nothing we can do to earn God's favor. I think this is summed up in Ephesians 2:4-10

...But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works...

That is an awesome verse. How great is God's grace!

Fairy Fun

Here are a few pictures of the girls posing in their fairy/butterfly wings. They really love to put them on and prance around!

Eight is Great!

Today Abbey and I celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary! Woo Hoo! We celebrated by going to Des Moines for the evening and catching an I-Cubs baseball game. They won 8-2! Go Cubs! Abbey and I made it onto the jumbo-tron too! It was a good game and we had a blast. Also, the experience wouldn't have been complete without nachos and funnelcake! We definately need to go back for more games.

North! To Alaska

Today Lola (Abbey's mom), her sister, her brother, their spouses, and their mother began their trip to Alaska. They departed for Omaha tonight and will spend the night there. Tomorrow they fly to Denver then to Vancouver. On the 4th they will depart from Vancouver and begin their cruise to Alaska. They will arive in Seward, Alaska on the 11th. From there they will take a coach to Anchorage. They will also travel to Denali. How exciting!! Please add them to your prayers that they have safe travel.