Summer Vacation 2012

Our family vacation started with VBS Sunday. Our little man performed in his first church service and was beyond adorable! Ashley brought Oaklen over for a visit that afternoon and we had so much fun having him to ourselves for a sleepover and fun at Wacky Bounce the next day!

Wacky Bounce was fun, but we made for an even more memorable evening at the Drive-In with Grandpa when Bronson puked promptly 10 minutes before the movie Brave started. It was caused by a choking episode, but still made for quite the memory.

The next day we headed out to the beach to stay at Beverly Beach and camp with Summer, Ayden, and Alanna. It was a fun trip except we had to leave promptly at 2am because Bronson had a very bad reaction to the camp fire and couldn't stop coughing.

Because of the possibility that Bronson was actually sick we canceled our 4th of July BBQ and had my dad over to celebrate with us. It was a fun BBQ and fireworks kind of night!

The next day Bronson and I went swimming at Otter Beach while Kyle worked on our free truck!

The next day Bronson and I went swimming with our friend Jenn at the country club. We had lots of fun!

Saturday of vacation week was our annual Philomath Car Show. This year we barely got the Corvette ready because of a major foul with one of the parts. I say we, because I actually drove down to Junction City to get the part. We had fun, but the heat was a bit too much!

The last day of our vacation was the best. We spent the evening in our backyard on the Slip n' Slide and had a nice BBQ. Kyle doesn't remember much of the great part of this day because he ended up sick at 2am and the following day I had to take him the ER to get fluids. Overall, we had a great and memorable vacation. What more could we ask for?

When God Speaks to Me

The last couple of weeks have been hard on me as a parent. I have found myself exhausted at night and looking to the heavens above for understanding of why my 4 year old all the sudden has decided to be  disrespectful, stubborn, and often times a nearly hateful child towards me. I shake my head as I hear him recite exact phrases and words that I say to him when he is doing something wrong. My heart breaks when I ask him to apologize and I feel that he is only saying sorry because he knows that is what I want to hear, rather than truly feeling repentance for what he has done wrong. Despite his feisty behavior these last couple of weeks my love for him has NEVER changed and NEVER will. This boy is my heart. I feel blessed to be his mom and love that at night despite all of our struggles during the day he wants me to hold him and make him feel safe.

As I was driving to work the other day I felt a huge tug at my heart as I realized how much my relationship with my son is a direct mirrored relationship with my Lord above. How often does he shake his head at me as I continue to put Him on the back burner? Even worse He can tell when I continue to repent for something that I know I will continue to do. He knows my heart. He knows that I love Him. How often do I really show Him the respect He deserves and how much He means to me? I believe that God has given me Bronson to teach me some of the most important life lessons. He has given me trials so that I can feel pain and know that He is still there. This stage of Bronson's sour behavior and disrespect will pass. As it does I hope that it serves as a reminder to me to stay close to God and remember that He deserves my love, respect, and true repentance.