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!
