Spring Rain

With the rain of Spring upon us, the gloomy days tempt us to be gloomy ourselves. So this morning we pushed back a little with a lovely Nature Walk. The woods around our home have come alive with birds and bugs, moss and mushrooms, and the trees are starting to awaken from their slumber with tiny buds.We brought back our rugged treasures in cardboard boxes and got busy with our creative work.We each worked on our own arrangements.. a twig here, a rock there, all tucked into a bed of moss.

Each creation had it's own personality, taking on that of it's maker, but beautifully reminding us of the Creator of all.

We were actually quite proud of the finished product, and even took one to a friend as a gift.

I will send you rain in it's season, and the ground will yield it's crops and the trees of the field, their fruit. Lev.26:4

Snow

Winter does not go down without a fight here in Minnesota...

So As I struggled this morning, feeling discouraged with another cold day, I went looking for encouragement in the words of the Bible. Here is what I found.... Job 37:6
For he saith to the snow, Be thou [on] the earth;

likewise to the small rain,

and to the great rain of his strength.

Job 38:22
Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow?
or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail,

Psa 51:7
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean:
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Isa 1:18
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet,

they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

Pro 31:21
She is not afraid of the snow for her household:

for all her household [are] clothed with scarlet.

Isa 55:10
For as the rain cometh down,

and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither,

but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud,

that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:

So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth:

it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please,

and it shall prosper [in the thing] whereto I sent it.

Birthday Girl!

This morning we woke up ready to celebrate the birth of our big girl. She is 9 Years old today.... (half way to 18... YIKES!)

So we started the morning with Grandpa's homemade pancake recipe. YUM!

Then it was off to Chuck E. Cheese for a fun family outing. We got tokens and the kids all played.

Ok, well, the parents had fun too!

Once we got hungry, it was off to our favorite restaurant, Cottage Grill, where there was lunch and some yummy chocolate cake with our name on it.

We are so thankful that God has blessed us with this amazing little girl. It is so fun watching her grow... WE LOVE YOU SARA!!!

The View from my Window

Sitting inside my warm toasty houseAs Husband clears half a foot of snow from our long driveway..He then inspects his work and kicks aside a few clumps of snow that survived the noisy assault of the blower.Meanwhile... daughter finds playmates in cold and they unite their winter joy for hours of fun!Hiding, pretending... barking like lost puppies in the snow... until The Sun sets, painting the sky as he goes.

What a beautiful view I have from my window!

That Time of Year

Yes my Friends... It is that time of year again. And I don't mean Turkey and snow and lights on trees... though we are not opposed to those things... The Times of which I speak is that of the Monroy Household's Annual Holiday Fitness Challenge.

Every year, between Thanksgiving and New Year, David and I have a little friendly competition. It varies from year to year but almost always involves some form of abdominal exercise. ie. sit ups, crunches... you get the idea. This year we are also including push-ups and/or arm weight repetitions. So the rules are as follows:

We have a daily chart and we are required to write our totals at the end of the day and keep a running total day to day. We are not required to tell our competitor (read: Spouse) of our totals for the day until bedtime. (it keeps it a little suspenseful)

So today was the first day of competition for this holiday season. Without knowing it, we both totaled 400!.... and so it begins! The winner gets bragging rights for the whole year. We have spent a few New Years Eves on the floor doing crunches until we both conceded to a tie so we will see where we end up. We just figure that this way, the extra chocolate and whipped cream that comes with the Season might not stick around quite as long.

Feel free to join us in our quest and let us know who wins in your household!

Joel Peter H.

We are celebrating another birth this week. My dear friend Becky gave birth to their 5th child, Joel Peter H., in their home in Honolulu. We are praising God with them for this beautiful new gift of life. We can't wait to meet him.

Special Gift

My Friend Sara dropped by this evening with a special gift for me. Sara's sister is a florist here in the Twin Cities and Sara was helping her with a show today. She found this lovely orchid lei in a display and asked if she could bring it for me. When she walked up to my door with it, I burst into tears.

I do so miss my beautiful Hawaii but for a moment on this lovely Fall evening in Minnesota, the Aloha Spirit is alive and well and I feel so blessed to have such a thoughtful friend. Sara drove about 40 min out of her way home to bring me the lei fresh.I know that the pictures don't do it justice but it had the desired effect. What a special gift from a special friend.

Fall, Food, Fires & Friends

On this beautiful Fall evening, the kids were blessed to have some friends over for a sleepover!We had dinner outside in the crisp evening air.The kids all ran around and played... Daddy Started up a fire to keep us all warm and of course to.....Roast Marshmallows!
Yummy!!!



We love the fall, food, fire & good friends.

Good Night

Sleep Tight!

Samantha & Ellie

While my Husband is in Hawaii, my dear friend Samantha and her daughter Ellie have come to visit from Washington State. We have had a wonderful time of fellowship, interesting and inspirational conversations and catching up on Chick Flicks... (we discovered that for the most part, we weren't missing much)
The kids have had fun getting to know Ellie who was in her mommies tummy during their last visit.....
She is a delightfully sweet baby girl and it makes us all wish we had one! It has been a wonderful visit and we are so sad that it is almost over but so blessed that they came.

Hawaiian Get-A-Way

David flew to Hawaii for the weekend to visit Ashley and meet Kana'i, our beautiful Grand Daughter. He got there on Friday and got to attend the Baptism for Kana'i on Saturday, along with his Mom. He will be flying home tomorrow and I will get more details on the rest of his trip but in the meantime, I wanted to share these pictures that he sent me.....Kana'i MarieAshley, Will & Kana'i David with his Mom, Ashley & Kana'iIsn't she Sweet!!
Great Granny!
We are so happy for Ashley and her Family and the many blessings that lie in store for them.

Fall Harvest Orchard

With the air turning to the crispness of fall, it was time to head out for a day at the Fall Harvest Orchard in Delano, MN. Let me start by saying that "Getting There" was not half the fun. After 2 detours, lots of driving in circles, and getting lost, we arrived at our destination an hour and a half later.It was well worth the effort though. It was a beautiful sunny day and the apples were ripe for picking. It was so fun to watch the kids picking their apples and crunching into them. There were lots of farm animals with their newborns and this was a farm where holding all the animals as much as you can is encouraged.
Sara kept heading back to this adorable baby goat who just loved to be snuggled.

We were there with our homeschool coop and all the kids had so much fun being together and exploring the beauty of Fall.... before Winter steals it from us!

Corn

The other day, my friend Sara gave us some fresh picked corn from her garden. My little Jonah was so excited. After he helped me shuck the corn he carried around an uncooked ear all day waiting till it was time to cook it.
He was so excited when dinner time finally came around. He plowed through two ears and had the time of his life doing it!