Blessings

I received the following email from a friend (Thanks, Lori!) and it was just at the right time last week. I was "crying over spilled milk" in many situations that week. This was a great reminder to focus on the innumerable blessings in my life and the different shapes and forms in which they come and to never forget God is always with me....

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The man whispered, "God, speak to me" and a meadowlark sang.

But, the man did not hear.

So the man yelled, "God, speak to me" and the thunder rolled across the sky.
But, the man did not listen.

The man looked around and said, "God let me see you." And a star shined brightly.
But the man did not see.

And, the man shouted, "God show me a miracle." And a life was born.
But, the man did not notice.

So, the man cried out in despair, "Touch me God, and let me know you are here."

Where upon, God reached down and touched the man.
But, the man brushed the butterfly away, and walked on.

I found this to be a great reminder that God is always around us in the little and simple things that we take for granted ... Even in our electronic age. So I would like to add one more:

The man cried, "God, I need your help!" And an e-mail arrived reaching out with good news and encouragement.But, the man deleted it and continued crying.

Don't miss out on a blessing because it isn't packaged the way that you expect.

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So whether it's a beautiful sunrise on a cold Minnesota morning or ...

a beautiful sunset in balmy Jamaica,

Either way it's packaged, I'm going to work at praising God for all the wonderful blessings He's provided and forgetting about the milk that's spilled... actually, I'll be thankful that I have milk to spill!

10 years ago...

On a Friday evening, 10 years ago tonight (July 18, 1997) Steve and I met in person for the very first time.... only God knew the "rest of the story"!... On Lake Webster in northern Indiana....brother Jim, the Perkins and Webb families there for moral support... which Steve probably needs more now after ten years than he did that day!!! And did you really know what you were getting us into, Cyn and Becky? :) Thanks for your persistence and thanks to God for His guiding hand.

And what made tonight even more special...Steve was the one to "remember" :) and I probably let him down for not ! What a loser I was today... so here's my attempt to "make up" for my lack of sentiment!

I love you, Steve!! Here's to many more decades together!

No worries, "mon"!

but no pictures either... I give up. I've tried for a week to post some pics from our trip the first week of July. Fabulous time just being together and relaxing! And as much as we love our little Ry-guy, it was good to just have some "peaceful" time alone :) Thanks McCarty's for giving Ryan a fun week... he didn't miss us at all he says!

So... here's what I did get to upload! Exciting, huh?

The view from our balcony in the morning...gorgeous and sooo peaceful.

Some wonderfully displayed food and a handsome guy that can't keep his eyes open with a flash :)!

I'll keep trying to post some others?

summer fun

Just a few random shots from the past month....June has been more structured with swimming lessons, theatre class, soccer camp, and t-ball. But we still had time for fun times at home with family and friends.....

and some good corn on the cob.

This was a first for Ryan to eat it right off the cob!

A good pose for Father's Day.....

The soccer "First Kicks"crew....

And "Goal"!!!!

Go team Go.... the coaches were from Oxford, England doing "British Soccer Camps" around the US this summer. Ryan's was just one week.

This is his "just scored" pose.....

Fun in the sun and water with buddy, Lukas, from preschool...

Hope you are enjoying the warm weather!

happy dad's day!

To all the special men in our life! Have a fun day!

Thanks for your silliness, love and support!

Dad/PaPaw Putty and Grandpa Floyd

(Anne's side)
Dad/PaPaw Choo Choo :)

(Steve's side)

You know these guys....

Dad/Daddy and Ryan/Ry-guy

(just us and our side!)

celebrating today

9 wonderful years of marriage to a fabulous man of God

AND

a beautiful 4 yr old little man who asked Jesus into his heart today!

What a day! It started with Ryan lying on the floor this morning. When asked what he was doing, he said "Praying... I want to ask Jesus into my heart." I, of course, said, "well let's do it then. " He even referenced his last night of Vacation Bible School and the lesson about leprosy and said that Jesus will wash away all our sins just like the spots on the man with leprosy... "That's why I want to ask Jesus in my heart... and I want to go to heaven someday. Grandma is there and I can see her, too! "

WOW!!! How much better does it get than that? He was so excited he wanted to call and tell Daddy at work and when we met friends for lunch, it was the first thing he told them too! We will pray his love and faith will grow with each passing day.

Later in the day as we were getting ready for the sitter.... Ryan says to me, "I hope you and Daddy have fun getting married again tonight!" :) We did have a great time celebrating our 9 years of marriage. We have much to be thankful for and we look forward to the years ahead. Have I told you lately how great my husband is? He is known for many of his own personal stereotypes(I'll stay away from those:)!!)... but his heart is huge and the love and grace he pours out on Ryan and me is amazing!

So here's to my two boys today! Love you guys!

Thank you God for the gift of each of them!

happy birthday to you!

Yippee!! Our Hubby and Daddy is 33 !

We love you and thank God for you!

And we started celebrating at 5:45 AM...

Ryan was more excited than Christmas morning, we think, to begin the big day!

Fun in the South

Well, some say in Minnesota, that Indiana is in "the South".... I'm obviously almost a month behind on these pics, but we've been a little distracted :)! Ryan and I (Anne) headed to IN the week of my mom's spring break... this has become a tradition since our move to Minnesota. This was the 3rd year in a row. Ryan and I were actually only home for 2 days from March 27 through April 15th, given our trip to Indiana and then to Michigan! It has been a whirlwind month. It has been great to be back and sleeping in our own beds and having somewhat of a "normal" routine.

We had lots of fun in IN seeing almost all of my "huge" family :)! We played in the park... saw beautiful green grass and flowers ( which we are just now starting to see in MN!), played with Roxie, went to the Children's Museum and just enjoyed being with family! And I snuck out one night to have a girls' night with college buddies, Dawn and Missi! Ryan was very excited for me to leave and let him stay at PaPaw Putty and Mama Marg's all by himself!

Checkers with Grandma at Cracker Barrel after a long morning of flying and posing with Roxie as soon as we arrived at their house!

And then I think the camera was hidden the rest of the trip except for some great times at the Indianapolis Children's Musuem. If we lived there, a membership would be a must!

Fireworks of Glass is the largest permanent sculpture of blown glass by renowned artist Dale Chihuly. The 43-foot-tall tower rises above a glass ceiling. For interesting facts or better pictures check out this site... it was very impressive!www.childrensmuseum.org/themuseum/fireworks_ofglass/index.htm

This "tower" of glass weighs 18,000 pounds and this other pic is of a "glass ceiling" below the tower, that you view looking up in the basement level of the museum.

Posing with Grandma and Grandpa by more glass in the "garden of glass"

Our little preacher behind the pulpit in a walk-thru story book town. Who knows what God

has in store, huh? :)

Playing in the water with Aunt Erin and driving the big boy toy in "Playscape", the Preschool Gallery of the museum.

Becoming a dinosaur and of course, driving an Indy car...can't forget that!

We thought going into the museum our ratio was a little high... 4 adults: 1 child. By the end, we were 9:1 when some of the rest of our "huge" family was nice enough to meet up with us for a late lunch.

Thanks to the Indiana clan for a great visit to "the South" !

"Tell God what you are thinking"....

those, along with "I love you", happened to be Ryan's last words to his Grandma Donna late last night. How did he know she'd soon be able to talk to God face to face? ... She met Jesus this morning! I know a blog is not the place to share this news, necessarily, but it is our life today. We've shared lots of good times here; this is a very sad day, yet a day of rejoicing as she is pain free and with her God and Savior for eternity now.

We've shared bits and pieces here on this site of her journey the past 7 months since being diagnosed with the liver disease and want to thank all of you for your prayers on her behalf and for our family. The reality has not quite sunk in yet. And we have a 4-year-old that will keep us thinking with his questions for a long time!

Thank you, God, for this amazing and wonderful Mom, Mom-in-law, and Grandma! May she be running, singing, and dancing with you today!

Born to Ski

Or at least Dad says he was. Steve decided, after his wife :) failed to love skiing, that at least his kids would love it. Ryan hit the slopes, or should we say hills, of Michigan for his first try a few weeks ago. So far... Daddy's mission accomplished! He did great...loved it... and had a pro to keep him off the ground!



The 3 Amigos... Steve, Jim and Ryan bundle up.







A ride on the "magic carpet"... beats a tow rope any day, huh?











On the bunny hill.... skiing to Daddy. He started off pulling him, Steve skiing backwards, then moved to having Ryan between his legs, then to Ryan skiing to him. He was so much braver than his mom :)! Good thing he started early!
Whoooooaaa.... here he comes, and there was a smile under that coat too! He even turned to miss hitting someone. Mommy is impressed!!! And Daddy super pleased! I had to leave to get Steve's parents... Steve and Jim promised they'd be on the bunny hill the whole time.... Hmmm... how did Ryan get to ride in a chairlift then? :) Guess he did great on the green hills too! Skiing buddies! Look at the smile on Steve's face! After just a few hours, he's convinced that Ryan is hooked for life! We'll see!

On the Ice

Where else could you be when it's below zero? At least this rink is indoors! Steve had a new idea... why not try ice skating? After all, there is not enough snow here to get Ryan on skis on the hill in our yard! So this will suffice for now. He heard about Sunday night open skate and off we went. Steve claims he's never been on skates before and I hadn't been since probably high school. Steve was brave enough to put on skates and try to teach himself and Ryan at the same time! I skated on the ice with my tennis shoes for my refresher! Helping Ryan was my lame excuse :)! And of course it was easier to take pictures that way. These shots are all from the first night. We were having fun at times and crying from frustration at times~ just Ryan :)! Check out that "skating-walker"!! We are in hockey country up here. We could have him in the 4-yr-old hockey "league". I think we'll stick to the skating for now!

He didn't want us to let go of him or the walker for a long time and that was a good "crutch" for us, too! However, after seeing a buddy who's a year older and as more time on the ice behind him, Ryan had to try to keep up... "let go Dad!"

The second Sunday night (no pics) he was giving Steve a good race and wanting to let go and go without the walker, racing with the "bigger" boys, and screaming, "I am Speed".... :)

We're settling in for the sub-zero highs and negative 35 wind chills the next few days... Ah, yes, life in Minnesota... where only a barbed wire fence separates us from the North Pole.... yes, they actually said that on the news tonight! Crazy!

Happy Birthday to our "LarryBoy"!!

Well, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and now Happy Birthday! We celebrated Ryan's 4th birthday yesterday, remembering moments from 4 years ago, and chasing after the big boy he is today! We are thankful for the gift of his life and pray he continues to be a boy, teen, and man who loves his God with all his heart!

Given the long travels and different kind of "busy-ness" the holidays brought this year, we were planning just a day for the 3 of us. However, one little member of the family kept insisting on having friends there! My, how early in life the parents just aren't "good enough" :)!! So, we gave in and Friday brought some last minute planning and phone calls and we had a great time Saturday evening! Even the local Christian book store owner was a blessing to us! ~ See the life-size Larry Boy! This made Ryan's day... Thanks, Roger! :)
With the "LarryBoy" theme in hand, we headed to the bowling alley with a couple other families and their kids. We had 5 boys under 5 and 2 older girls, as well as some competitive Moms and Dads hitting the lanes! This was Ryan's first bowling experience and a great time was had by all! We also stuffed our faces with pizza, cake and ice cream there!
After the excitement on the lanes, the 3 of us headed home and this blessed, or should we say spoiled, little guy got to open lots of presents sent back with us after Christmas or that arrived in the mail this week! Thank you to all those gracious gift givers!

Brief Update on Donna.... we haven't officially posted here, but Donna did come home on Christmas Day and is quite the miracle lady, given her condition the week before! We praise God for her recovery, especially being able to enjoy this Christmas at home, and pray she can continue to be comfortable and pain free. She even designed and decorated a LarryBoy cake before we left Michigan! What a great memory to have!