We are the Champions ... AGAIN!

Meet team Volley Time. This is the group of ladies I play with. We just won the season and the tournament for the second time. Volleyball is my pedicure or night of scrapbooking. I guilted myself for a while not being crafty like other moms. I love playing and getting to spend time with A.J. and Rachel (who is preggers now, and can't play), a couple of long time pals. The other girls are great too, and the competition is getting better. Tons of fun for me!

Fear

My girlfriend Alexis was just over, and we had a great conversation about safety. Alexis is on one page, and I don't think I'm even in the same book. It was a great conversation, very friendly and challenging. Alexis is BIG on safety issues, and, well, I'm really not.."

Alexis has a friend whose 6 year old daughter choked and died Sunday when a hot dog got lodged in her throat? Very sad story, and my reaction to these things is always to ask myself if God allowed it to happen?

Just yesterday, Scott and I drove past Platte Canyon High School. I had a big conversation with God over the life of Emily Keyes. Had she put her life in His hands? Did God allow Emily's life to be taken?

Two summers ago I met a missionary to Muslims in Iraq. One day his car broke down, and he was picked up by Muslim extremist who took him to the field where their executions occured. They asked him if he was afraid. He told them that he was not afraid because they could not do anything that God did not allow. The men themselves became afraid, and drove him to his village. Did God allow his life to be spared?

When I look at my life, I see God's provisions all over the place. Many times when I didn't do the smart, safe, or wise thing, -- intentionally and unintentionally -- but I was protected. And then there were times when I didn't do the safe, smart, or wise thing and significantly paid for it. So, when making an application to my life, there are so many questions to ask... Does it matter if I slice my kids' hot dogs in 3 parts; Does it matter that they are buckled on the long stretch of highway to Texas? Is God really that intimately interested in each of our earthly lives? Does the measure by which God takes control equal the measure of control we give up? Proverbs 1:33 says "but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm." Are we harmed because we do not listen?

I thought I was doing so well "not worrying" about things when it came to safety. However, it has come up so frequently the past few days, that I guess I have some work to do...

Happenings

Well, it's been a while. Surprise, surprise! It's a busy time for us, and I don't see it slowing down anytime soon. Here's the latest happenings ...

My parents came up to help while Jace was sick. They stayed for 2 weeks which was nice since Scott was out of town for a bit. Scott arrived home at 2am last Saturday, Mom and Walter left at 5:30am, and Scott's brother arrived with his family around 7pm that same Saturday. It was a busy day!

We had tons of fun with the Mike Mc family. They each fought a bug and some altitude sickness while they were here. That stunk. The weather was great, though, so they were able to enjoy themselves between stomach aches and headaches! I think my favorite memory of their trip will be what Owen called our nephew Lucas -- "Circus." It took us a little bit to figure out why he kept talking about the circus. Fortunately, Rana understood from the get-go, and shed some light on the situation. Thanks for coming up, guys. We had tons of fun!

On Wednesday, Rana and I were given tickets from a dear friend to see the Disney on Ice, Monster's Inc. show. I was feeling very ill, but could never pass up one-on-one time with any of my kiddos. It's such a rarity. Apparently, Rana can't either. The little baby in the picture is Brianna Rose Petals, Rana's "real" baby (and don't argue otherwise!). We had a GREAT time! Thanks Amanda!

Yesterday we went to the St. Patty's Day Parade downtown. We had taken Rana and Owen 2 years ago, and really enjoyed ourselves. This year ... completely different story. There were SO many people there. We met up with our Colorado family (the Moore's, Jops, and Garcia's), and joked while walking downtown that we were doing our own parade. It was funny until the parade got separated in the sea of people and the double stroller that was taxi-ing 3-4 kids at a time lost it's wheels. Wish I would have taken a pic of it. We left it on the sidewalk, and it looked like a car that got left on the wrong side of town. Hilarious! When the parade was done, we all paraded to our house for a cookout. It's great to hang out with old friends.

So, today is Sunday, and we're trying to wind down. We went to the park today after church. It's another beautiful, dry CO day.

Update

My apologies if you've come to my blog more than once to see the same post. My mom arrived on Sunday night, and I've been completely focused on getting Jace well, cleaning my house, and getting some work done.

Jace is doing way better. His face in this pic makes me laugh. It pretty much says what we were all thinking about that oxygen. I took this one beautiful, sunny day when he was stuck inside. Props to my chiropractor who adjusted Jace the Tuesday after he was released from the hospital. Jace was honestly a different child after the adjustment. Our pediatricain, who is a personal friend and we love him, said Jace would have a cough for about 2 weeks after we left the hospital. Jace hasn't had a cough, sniffle, sneeze or fever. It's pretty amazing. Thanks again for all the prayers and support. Jace has been off oxygen for a week.