Thursday, June 25, 2009

A beautiful tribute

Our friend Patti Ramos posted a letter from us and some beautiful photos of Kristen on her blog: "Preparing for the journey ... not just the destination"

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Happy 6th Anniversary!

Hard to believe it's already been 6 years since our wedding! We watched our wedding video last night and were amazed how young we looked! :) But then also realized how much has happened in those short 6 years: getting a new puppy, having two babies but losing one, three different houses, 4 new jobs, a new church, and so much life in between!

Thank you Kevin for such an amazing adventure - I look forward to what lies ahead and am so glad I have you to enjoy it with!


(You can click on the photos to see them bigger.)
Last night we went to dinner at the Pacific Grill in Tacoma, went to see Up in 3D, then went to Baskin Robbins to share a sundae. Thanks Nama and Papa for taking Katelynn for the weekend!

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Into the Deep

At Kristen's life celebration service the "guest book" was a daily devotional book. Some days I read it, some weeks I don't. There has been one that has really stuck out to me that I have kept bookmarked.

"Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch." Luke 5:4
A lot of us have limited vision. We base most of our activities and plans on what we've learned from experience and the interests, talents, and abilities we know we have. We are reluctant to get in over our heads because of the discomfort we feel in such situations. We don't like having demands placed on us that are beyond our resources.

When Jesus calls us to follow Him, He always pushes us beyond our experience and beyond our abilities. Peter had been fishing all night with no results when Jesus' instruction came to put out into deep water. All of Peter's intuition told him that the exercise would be fruitless. But Jesus doesn't call us to do the same things we've always done in the same ways we've always done them. He call us to launch out further and deeper, to places where we cannot depend on our own experience and abilities. He puts us in places where we must depend entirely on Him.

Next time you feel helpless in a situation and know you're in over your head, remember the sovereign Lord who placed you there. He has intimate knowledge of the deep. He is master over all the elements of His creation. He knows what awaits us there. He is Lord of the wind and the waves, the harvest, the loneliness, or whatever else might face us "in the deep."

The deep water can be a scary place to be. For Peter, it seemed like a pointless place to be. We are helpless there. But we cannot avoid it and be obedient to Jesus at the same time. This is the way to bear fruit in His kingdom. This is where the catch is. They way of discipleship will eventually lead us there. Jesus knows what it takes to bear fruit - and it always involves going beyond our own experience, our limited vision, and our resources. He calls us to launch out into places where we have no choice but to depend on His instructions and His power.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Katelynn - the new family photographer!

Katelynn found a 6+ year old disposable camera that still had all it's photos left so we let her have it. After a few pointers from Grammy on how to hold the camera, how to advance the film, and a couple of practice shots we let her loose in the backyard. Unfortunately only 17 of the 25 came out, but of the ones that did, I was pretty impressed!! Keep in mind this camera was REALLY old and film DOES have an expiration date! The quality of the photos isn't her fault. :)

You can see the whole album here or you can see a slide show below.
Katelynn's First Photography Samples


Monday, June 1, 2009

Our beautiful backyard - up close and personal!

We got a new camera recently and it was fun testing out some of the features - this album highlights the "super macro" setting letting me take really close-up photos. I always knew our backyard was beautiful, but never knew it could look like this! You can click on the slide show to see the photos in the online album.