Chicago!

Hubs and I just returned a few days ago from Chicago - and I must say

it was a pretty cool town! I had NO IDEA how HUGE the great lakes

were...

They were big.

I thought they were the ocean for a split second - ok I actually said

out loud "is that the ocean?" And had the Chicagoan next to us smiled

real big and gave me a look like "wow - there's your typical blonde!

She must not have gotten an A in geography...."

I kept my thoughts to myself from then on, to appear much smarter :)

Anyways, it was hubs, I and our baby girl while the boys stayed with

Grandma & Grandpa Haverfield, which was SUCH a blessing!

No one told me how HOT and HUMID Chicago is! Sheesh - I walked

off the plane and into a wall of sweat. Instant armpit and boob sweat

equals one miserable momma... :)

Just in case you're wondering WHY hubs and I would want to go into

the "windy city" we were there for the CHA show showcasing our new

business products - trying to get into the big time stores.

We had a fabulous time - and both really feel like the show was a success!

We took orders from all over the place, and talked with some really big

stores! Fun, fun.

You wouldn't believe how much money some of the larger companies spend

on their booths - and just to be there in general... Thousands of dollars for

sure! We just had a 10x10 booth, and some of the bigger companies had

20x60 booths no problem. Crazy I tel ya! But so cool to walk around and

see all of the artsy-craftsy stuff! Very inspiring.

So now we get to see the fallout from the show - and how it all pencils out

financially. It's kind of like a mountain top experience - followed by the

lows that come after months of preparation. But both Hubs and I feel so

very blessed to have had the opportunity to get to go! What a great

experience for sure.

We were also fortunate to get to spend a day site seeing the big city of

Chicago - and so I've posted a few pics below of some of the fun places we

visited! We even stumbled upon a scene being filmed for Transformers 3!

Chow for now!

The "Bean." It was HUGE!

Scene being filmed for "Transformers 3"

Me and our baby girl!

Hubs in front of one of the many "Great Lakes"

Takin' a breather at the Navy Pier

------------------------------

Pics from the show!

This is a gal from the company "graphics 45"

which is primarily a paper goods company -

anyways, they were all dressed up funky like

this adorned with "steam punk" jewelry

(aka old watch parts, and funky jewelry) So cool!

Our lovely model, and friend Missy! All of our

wonderful photography was done by our other

good friend Debbie with Brown Studios - check

her out, she's fabulous!

Baby girl waiting patiently while we wrap it up

Using my new camera phone, so sorry the pics are kinda blurry...

Hubs working hard!

Our little holiday to Maui & the coast

Beautiful Multnomah falls

on our way to see Grandma & Grandpa Kinney

Our little princess kickin' it island style!

We think our kids are pretty cute :)

Hugs!

Silly boys...

Funny faces! They LOVE the beach! Can you tell?

Anniversary night! Love you babe!

Sooooo........ Hubs and I and our little baby girl were able

to go on a fabulous, last minute trip to Maui! This was only

possible because of hubs parents taking our 2 little monkeys

for 6 DAYS!

Let's just say, I'm ready to go back! It was SOOOO relaxing!

(don't ask me why I just wrote sooooo twice! Seriously?)

Anyways, it really was a good time, and it just happened to

work out that we were in Maui on our anniversary! 8 years

ya'll! We made it this far - I can't wait to see what another

8 years looks like! Here's a brief rundown of what those

wonderful 8 years looked like for hubs and I....

-Year one- I'm still a college kid, & hubs is full on construction

guy building like crazy (the market WAS good back then!)

-Year two- I graduate from college, Hubs is still in construction,

and we feel called to go to Papua New Guinea for our first work

and witness trip together since we met in Venezuela the year

before we married. We return home from Papua New Guinea

and "Surprise!" We're pregnant :)

-Year three- I have "Big Boy" (even though we were on the 5-10

year plan for having kids...) we are living in our first house that

we have ever built together, and I'm in baby bliss....

-Year four- "Surprise!" We're pregnant again! 15 short little

months apart... Let's just say I'm still working off the baby weight!

But we are absolutely blessed by being given another beautiful,

healthy baby boy! Construction is still going great - and has us

living all over the place. We even lived with Hubs parents for awhile

while we were working up in the mountains. Let's just say that

I have an awesome labor story for when "Peanut" decided to come

3 WEEKS EARLY while we were up in said mountains... Hubs got

pulled over twice while racing down the mountain to get me to the

hospital in time to have our little Peanut 10 hours later :)

Good times!

-Year five- Work has slowed down tremendously for Hubs as the

market begins to fall out from underneath us. Our boys are growing

like weeds, and I'm adjusting to having 2 kiddos, both in diapers, and

both being VERY needy at the same time. BUT, God continued to

provide for our every needs daily. It was around this time that I

started experimenting with the idea of starting my own business...

-Year six- One of the TOUGHEST years of our married lives. We

are starting to realize at this point that our mortgage is upside down,

and the work that seemed to be never ending for Hubs company is

suddenly ending... We begin to wonder what God's plan is for us -

and how to stop drowning in debt. We both learned a new level of

trust and dependency on the Lord that will forever be a milestone

in our lives.

-Year seven- Maybe this is why they call them the "golden years?"

We have had our shares of ups and downs, but finally learn that we

will have to short sale our home, if not lose it all together, and

continue to trust that God has something planned for us... Our boys

are now in preschool together, continuing to grown and learn

everyday - and more than ever Hubs and I realize how impressionable

they are at such a young age. And more than ever we realize how

much they are watching us as we go through the trials of life that we

are going through and even more begin to depend on the Lord for

strength.

Oh, and "surprise" we're pregnant again :)

-Year eight- The little business I tinkered around with a few years

ago has suddenly taken on a new shape... The Lord decided that not

only was he going to work some pretty amazing miracles in our lives,

but He was going to shock Hubs and I completely by how He was going

to begin to help us dig out of debt. Through some amazing miracles, he

joined Hubs and I in a way of working together (that only He could do)

that has allowed my dinky little company to become "our" company

(meaning hubs and I and the Lord) And we are no longer in the

building business anymore. Yup - Hubs has taking to crafting! Well,

let's just call him Mr. Salesman!

Oh, and our little princess was born to us in this fine year of marriage!

And, if you've made it this long in my post, let's just say that if God

could maneuver this much fun in 8 whole years of life - goodness

gracious - what lies next?

I can't wait to find out!

Farewell Friends and Fun Projects

Last night I had the privilege to be a part of a going away

party for our dear friend Candee Marchant. Her and her
precious family are moving this weekend, and I will say
with a very sad heart that they will be missed tremendously!

We had a fun little fondue party full of girl talk, food, more
girl talk, and yup - a little more food! I'm a foodie girl, can
you tell? That is something that Hubs and I adore about the
Marchant fam - that they are "foodie" people too :) For those
of you wondering what in the world that means - well - let's
just say we revolve ALOT around eating out and enjoying good
food! Simple as that.

On another note, I've been playing around with some new fun
projects that may or may not end up in my Etsy shop... This
particular project has been very heartfelt in that I have been
pondering the thought of God being my "portion" quite a bit
lately. And what better representation of that than an old
vintage spoon? Curious to know what you think.....

Cheers!

Lovin' my girl!

Just for fun.......

I've recently said, quite a bit lately, that being the mother of a little girl
has definitely made me more "girly..."

I am LOVING being a bit more girly (if you couldn't already tell by the
painted toes picture!)

The Lord has blessed me indeed with 3 beautiful, wonderful kiddos!
To Him I am most grateful!

Birthday Bash!

May 12th was Big Boy's 5th birthday! And all that he wanted
was a "police car cake" and a police car toy...

Little did he know that he has the coolest parents IN THE WORLD
and not only could we provide his little desires, but we were able
to schedule a meeting with an actual POLICE OFFICER & his real
life POLICE CAR!!!!

Let's just say Big Boy was a wee bit excited :)

We had a fab time of having the family over for sweet pork salad
and yummy chocolate cake and ice cream. And it was a beautiful
day - which is never a given in Idaho, so that was a bonus!

Here are some pics of the big event, and even my sweet pork
recipe in case you need a yummy new crock pot fave!!

So Excited!!
The new "ninja" toy! A wee bit scary :)
The Kinneys!
Grandma "Coco" as Big Boy has recently titled her, and cousin Makena!
Big Boy and his turn trying to bring down the pinata
Cousin Sid and the pinata
Peanut and his turn at the pinata
AND.... Watch out! Candy is loose - here's the cleanup crew!
Getting to talk on the radio - so cool! They loved it!
Getting ready to check out the car
Big Boy locked up.... Deja Vu perhaps??
Peanut locked up and looking really worried :)
Hubs and Officer Hoiosin chatting it up
Sweet Pork.......Yum!
All you need:
-Boneless Pork Shoulder
-1 can Dr. Pepper ( I used Diet Cherry DP)
-1 Jar Salsa Verde
-1 Cup Sweet Chili Sauce
-1/2 - 3/4 Cup Brown Sugar (do the 3/4 cup if you like it sweeter)
-1 TBLE Garlic Powder
-1 TEAS Salt

Throw this all in the crock and cook on low 8-10 hrs or on high 5-7 hrs! Easy Cheesy!!
Cook up some rice - cut up some limes - have a bowl of cheese - Sour Cream - Avocados -
Lots of cut up lettuce- and some black beans - chips......... Go Crazy!! This is SOOO yummy!

Mother's Day Weekend

Oh how blessed I am! I would never have thought that at
this point in my life, I'd have 3 kiddos all before the age of
30! And I know that all moms think this, but I truly feel
like my kiddos are so awesome! I have found myself quite
a bit recently just staring - watching their little personalities
bud and bloom. Now I'm starting to sound cheesy....

Anyways, my family did a spectacular job of making me feel
loved, appreciated, and I am humbled at how wonderful it
is to be a mom.

Our pastor on Sunday talked about amazing women in the
Bible, and he brought up one of my favorites: Hannah. It's
always a good gut check for me when I'm feeling overwhelmed
as a mom, to re-read Hannah's story and be reminded of what
a Godly heart she had.

One of the things that truly amazes me about Hannah, is that
she believed in the power of prayer. Her womb was closed -
without any chance of being able to bear children, she prayed
fervently to the Lord to allow her to bear a child; so much so
that the priest thought she was drunk!

And not only would that be hard enough to endure, she had
an even worse thorn in her side that came in the form of her
husband's other wife - who was very fertile - and new that
Hannah could not have children. She would poke and prod
at Hannah's wishes to have children by flaunting her own
abilities. YET HANNAH DID NOT CONDEMN HER. She had
every right to, too. In my opinion.

And the Lord remembered Hannah's prayer, and opened her
womb, and gave her a son. Hannah gave birth to Samuel,
and gave him away to the Lord when he was still really little.
And he became one of the most favorable prophets in the land
and one of the most well known today.

I can't even imagine giving any of my kiddos away! Yet they are
entrusted to us for such a short time. But they are ultimately the
Lord's anyways!

I have had the thought lately that I am responsible for my kids
future. I am responsible to help shape/mold them (by the grace of God)
into little warriors - men & women of God that will one day lead their
generation by their Christ-like lives. Because we are in the midst of
a spiritual battle that rages everyday...

My prayer this Mother's Day is that like Hannah, I will believe
and use the power of prayer to build up my children... And that I will
never lose sight of the fact that God has blessed me immensely with
three little miracles.

Here's a few pics of some of my favorite peeps...

My Neglected Friend

I'm so sorry I've neglected...

You.

That's right you!

Those who I know read these silly, yet amusing posts,
and those who I don't know that have found their way
here...

Let me start by saying, it's been awhile. And my camera
had WAY too many pictures on it - gathering dust, waiting
to be downloaded and shared with...

well,

YOU.

My neglected friend.

I sincerely apologize, and hope that you will sit back,
relax, and let your mind go blank as you look through
the photos our lives for the past month or so. These
moments are what has pre-occupied us so much that
we forgot to tell you about things like what we did for
Easter, and how much bigger our baby girl has gotten
since she was born...

Big Boy at the zoo....This is what a monkey looks like!
Another "monkey" shot!
Easter!

Cousins!
Love!
Daddy and his baby girl :)
Big girl sophia holding our little sweet pea
Playing a little back yard ball