Life// Dad's Birthday

Last month, the day after Valentines Day to be exact, we had the privilege of celebrating Dad's birthday.

 Quite an assortment of gifts...

 We always have a hard time deciding what to make him for his gifts, but usually end up making food. Lots of different foods. He likes food... And this year we made him his very own cookie cake. (Piping by Layla)

Our Dad is awesome. Period. He carries the weight of everything. He juggles a full time job, full time school and full time family. And still smiles and makes us smile!
He teaches us in the way we should go daily.
                He always make up some little song for each occasion. Even when I'm just doing dishes. 
       He is quite a dork, I must say.
And I love him. I wouldn't trade him for any other dad in the world.
We LOVE you, Dad!
                 

Everything is AWESOME!

Last week we celebrated eleven years with Gabe. I just can't believe he is already eleven!
It was a rather Lego-y birthday, hence the title of this post... We had just seen The Lego Movie so we were singing, "Everything is Awesome" the whole time!

 Everyone thought that the little green candies were peas...

 A gluten-free, vanilla cake with cream cheese icing is always a good mix.

We usually don't have as many candles as we need, so we just put them in the shape of 11.

 Eli said that his drawing was Gabe's wedding suit.

 He got from cards to letters to...

 You guessed it, Legos!

I, too, got him some Legos.

 After cake we ate dinner. 'Cause what's a birthday without eating cake first?
We had a dinner of his choice. Corn on the cob and what we call, "meat muffins." 
 It was quite scrumptious.

I am so blessed to have Gabe as my brother. Our whole family is blessed by him.
 He has such a sweet heart and is always smiling. His happy attitude cheers us all up on rough days. 
We don't always get along, but he never holds a grudge.
 I love my bro. 

He's AWESOME!

Love,
Hagen

The Fourth Day of the Seventh Month

I hope you all had a wonderful, safe Independence Day! I know I sure did! 

   It was a fun, delicious, bright day.

To start the day, we ate patriotic pancakes. Sourdough pancakes. I didn't get a picture though. If you know anything about me, you know I am not a morning person. Meaning I just didn't feel like it...

 Later we went to the creek, had a little picnic lunch and then splashed around for a bit.
Gabe and Dad also enjoyed catching craw-dads.

 When we finally went back home it was dinner time, so we started up a fire. We ate all natural, uncured, pure beef hot dogs, wrapped in equally healthy pepperonis (that's what I'm talking about!), watermelon, potato salad, smoothie and for dessert we had chocolate ice cream floats and of course, s'mores!

 Our little camp site.

 Afterward, Layla played us some campfire tunes...

You all know what happens next...

 FiReWoRkS!!

 I am so happy with how all the pictures came out. I'd been preparing for awhile. 

 Sparklers and Roman candles...

 Mom's sparkler looks like an eye!

Layla managed to do a star...


It was a blast. All of it. The whole day.
I am so thankful for our Independence and Freedom. Everyday I think, and pray, for those who have to hide their love for Jesus and go underground just to sing praises to Him. We are very, very blessed to live in this country. To be able to be bold without fear and love Him without hiding it.
Anyway, it was just a really good day and no one got hurt (except for just a few minor burns...).

How was your 4th of July?
Did you do anything special? Get any amazing shots?

Love,
Hagen

Our Easter Celebration

The day of Easter was a beautiful day of celebration. Not a day of egg hunts and Easter bunnies, but a day to celebrate His life. To celebrate His resurrection. Today was a day that we came to the Lord with thanksgiving and praise.
I am just so thankful. I really can't put it into words. My mind can't really comprehend that Christ would sacrifice himself, would be beaten and nailed to the cross for me. I am nothing. I am just a lowly sinner. I really can't think about it without getting all emotional.
    But, praise be to God! Christ lives again!
He has rolled the stone away! The tomb is empty!  
    They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. (Luke 24:2-3)
"...Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen!..." (Luke 24:5-6 )

I will have to just say, I think Easter is pretty much my favorite celebration, because on this day we celebrate life. We celebrate our new life, and we celebrate His life.

To celebrate (wow, I'm using that word a lot!) Easter, we have a Passover or Seder meal. We feast! But with food that represents Christ. Before we begin our "feast" feast, we have a sample of each food, we read, we ask questions, we pray. We enjoy the presence of the Lord.

 There are four questions that are asked by the children. I like that we do this, it helps us feel more involved and helps the children pay more attention as Dad answers the question that are asked.

"Why are we eating unleavened bread, or matzah, tonight?"
"We eat matzah because tonight we remember Jesus, by whose stripes we are healed. Yeast leavens or puffs up, as pride and sin inflates our hearts."
 The matzah is a reminder of when the Israelites fled from Egypt. They did not have time to wait on the yeast to leaven the bread. (Exodus 12:17&34) They had to be ready when God made the call to flee, just as we as Christians should be ready for Christ's return. The matzah represents the sinlessness of Christ.

"Why are we eating bitter herbs?"
"To remember the bitterness of the cruel slavery of the Isrealites to Pharaoh, to recall the bitterness of our ugly bondage to sin."
The bitter herbs are a reminder to us of how Christ, the Lamb, suffered for us and took up our bitter sin.
"Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29)
 They represent the cost of our redemption. 

"Why tonight do we dip our greens twice?"
(First we dip the Karpas or greens in salt water and than in the Charoset.)
"We first dip them in salt water, representing the salty tears the Isrealites shed of their slavery. We dip them a second time in the sweet apples, reminding us of the hope we have in Christ because he died for us. We wipe away our salty tears and sweetly rejoice for our new life in Christ."
The green of the Karpas reminds us of the new life and rebirth in Spring but also serves as a reminder of our new life and rebirth in Jesus. 
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"
 (2 Corinthians  5:17)

 This is when we serve the juice of the vine. There is one single cup in the center, the cup of Elijah. We share this one cup, passing it from person to person, sharing it. Just as we share in the freedom and mercy and love of our Messiah.

"Why are we eating this meal reclining?"
"Because Jesus has bought our freedom, we are no longer slaves but children of the one and only King. Free men, people of royalty lean back, recline, while eating. We as free people recline, just as Jesus did at the Last Supper."
We are His children! We are royal!
"...They will sparkle in [the Lord's] land like jewels in a crown." (Zechariah 9:16)

We then serve The Sacrifice. The lamb. Of course this represents Jesus. Before He died for us we had to continually sacrifice animals in atonement for our sins. But Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice. He was beaten, slandered, mocked, nailed to the cross so that we might have life. True, new eternal life.
"For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring to you to God..."
 (1 Peter 3:18) 

We eat in the low, flickering light of the white candles, reminding us of  how Christ washed us white as snow. How He washed away our crimson stains and made us pure.


After this nice little ceremony, we stuff ourselves with more of everything we ate during it, (except maybe the bitter herbs and salt water) buttery mashed potatoes, sugar glazed carrots, and for dessert.... Delicious homemade cream filled eggs, chocolate truffles and healthy lollipops! 

It is so nice to have a Christ centered Easter and not have to worry about the distractions of what the media has made it about. 
I praise the Lord everyday for what he has done for us! I don't deserve to live. I don't deserve anything I have, but because of God's mercy and grace and love He has renewed me and blessed me greatly.

Psalm 150

Praise the Lord.

Praise God in His sanctuary;

praise Him in His mighty heavens.

Praise Him for his acts of power;

praise Him for His surpassing greatness.

Praise Him with the sounding of the trumpet,

praise Him with the harp and lyre,

praise Him with tambourine and dancing,

praise Him with the strings and flute,

praise Him with the clash of cymbals,

praise Him with resounding cymbals.

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord

How was your Easter celebration? 

Do you know the Lord as your personal Savior?

Love,

Hagen

Crossing the Creek

Hello friends!
Last Thursday, we went over to our friends house to visit. We hadn't visited with them since before Winter, so it was nice to be able to walk around their land, enjoy the breeze and laugh together! All the snow has finally melted, causing the streams to flow.

 As we came upon a stream, we each took turns carefully walking across the slippery log. The braver ones went first, and then stretched out their hands to help the others cross. Those who had not yet crossed encouraged those who were carefully crossing by cheering them on and saying, "Come on, you can do it!"
 

 

As we waited our turns to cross the creek, we watched this small act of kindness unfold. It reminds us of the way we are to help one another in life. Either by reaching our hands out to help them get through what we have already experienced, or by speaking words of encouragement and prayer to help them on.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 says, "Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up. Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; but how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be over powered by another, two can withstand him. And a three-strand cord is not quickly broken."

1 John 3:16- "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers."

These verses are a great reminder of how important it is to be there for one another, to have strong, God-fearing friends that can help each other cross life's small creeks and roaring rivers. 

Words of Wisdom from our mama: Often, the evil one will lie to us (he is the father of lies), and tell us we are independent, we can do it on our own, and sometimes, we believe him. But Our Father`s word is clear, we need each other. We need to pray for others, so that we can help them, come along side them, but also to keep us from becoming self- absorbed. We do need others to pray for us, to encourage us, but when we lift each other up, we build up the Body.

So, why not text, e-mail, call or write a friend a letter today, giving them the Lord`s word, and your Christian love? Pray that The Lord would lay someone on your heart, and give you the words He would have you speak. It is a simple act, but we may never know this side of heaven just how touching and profound it can be for someone else we love.
Love from,
Layla & Hagen

Birthday Girl!

Yesterday was a day of celebration! Matilda turned Eight! Can you believe it? She's growing up so fast!

 I just love her! She is very artistic and and has a wide sense of humor! She is very independent, she loves and is loveable!

 Reading a card from Layla....

Opening her gifts! (Check out Baby O's face in the background!)

 Matilda was pretty stoked when a friend bought her a muffin from the coffee shop we went to that morning...

I can't believe this, but I totally forgot to take a picture of the cake! We just ate it to fast....
But it was a delicious chocolate cake with peanut butter icing and chocolate chips sprinkled on top.... (Now you know why it was gone so fast...)
 

 Here is a video of us singing "Happy Birthday!" Please, do excuse our singing voices but, as you may know, the happy birthday song is possibly the hardest song to sing on the whole face of the earth.

Love,
Hagen

A Christmas Giveaway!

Hello Friends!
We are thrilled to announce our first ever giveaway!  We have to admit, it wasn't our idea originally. Thanks to Lauren at Musings of a Flower Child for the idea. Head on over there and check out her Vintage Christmas Giveaway!

It was so fun to collect all the items and of course we discovered them in thrift stores and flea markets or made them ourselves.

 The lucky winner will receive:

• Milk Glass candy dish
• Cocomels- Diary free caramels
• Vintage cookie tin
• Vintage pin
• Christmas paper art by Hagen
• Six pack of hand crocheted snowflakes by Layla 

This giveaway is not sponsored and is open to US residents.

The giveaway begins today, Dec. 14, 2013.

And will end Christmas eve, Dec. 24, 2013.

You have ten days, so hurry and enter and you just might be the lucky winner!

May the odds be ever in your favor!

Love,

Layla & Hagen

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