Hanging around

Well... this is an old post from 2017 I never posted.

Just some random pictures of how we spend our days sometimes:

Finally I am beginning to understand

There is a song called "gratitude" by Nichole Nordeman that I have always liked.  I discovered it for the first time back in 2010 when we were going through similar financial/employment/child bearing years.  The first verse and chorus goes like this:

Send some rain, would You send some rain?
'Cause the earth is dry and needs to drink again
And the sun is high and we are sinking in the shade
Would You send a cloud, thunder long and loud?
Let the sky grow black and send some mercy down
Surely You can see that we are thirsty and afraid
But maybe not, not today
Maybe You'll provide in other ways
And if that's the case ...

We'll give thanks to You with gratitude
For lessons learned in how to thirst for You
How to bless the very sun that warms our face
If You never send us rain

I remember thinking, "wow - I don't feel that.  That is the kind of faith that I want - but a faith that I do not have.  How on earth do you give thanks for and ask a blessing on the very thing bringing you your pain and suffering?" The last 8 years I have tried to find and grow that kind of faith.  Over the last 8 years we have had it rain - but even in the rain some of our hardest trials still came.  And now, the drought is worse then ever.  We are shrinking in the shade and the shade is quickly disappearing. 

Today I heard this song again and I found that I am not afraid.  I have found that faith - instead of tearing up and identifying with the verse and pleading to a God who seems not to care or be aware (which is what I did 8 years ago) - I was instead rejoicing with the chorus and giving thanks to him for the last year and for the trials that are in our future.  I know that we are in His hands.  I know he has a plan.  It is not our plan - but His ways our higher then our ways and he is not so concerned with our finances, or soccer, or school, or birthday parities, or even our mortgage - he is concerned with our hearts.  I know in His own time and in His own way - he will light our path. But maybe not, maybe not today, maybe He will provide in other ways, and if that is the case - I am grateful to be molded into the wife, mother, and woman that he wants me to be and am counted worthy of His watchful care. The song goes on to say, "oh the differences that often are in between everything we want, and what we really need."  I know with every fiber of my being that I want what I really need and not what I think I want or need.  And so I trust Him.

It was a nice tender mercy this morning to realize how much my faith has grown in the last 8 years and that I am standing on solid ground this time.  I am not afraid.  I am not scared.  I am fine.  I have hope and faith.

Curren's

I didn't post a picture with the Curren's on my camping post. 

Arkansas

Just a few days after we got home from camping we packed the car up again and drove 11 hours to Arkansas to spend a week with most of Jason's family.  What started out as Kasey and us meeting in Arkansas at Jon's house turned into 6 of the 7 siblings all coming.  It was pretty cool.  Our kids love Jon and Marisa's kids.  Last year we were talking about what kind of family vacation we wanted to take this year.  I gave them a lot of ideas (this was before things got tight).  We could do Disneyland again, Universal Studios with Harry Potter World, beach house, a cruise, a cabin, a winter ski weekend with lessons, Yellowstone, etc.  They said, "Can we go to Arkansas and see our cousins?".  Um... YES!  Save us several thousand dollars.  Truly that is what they picked.

Matt and Janina moved from Arkansas about 2 years ago to Connecticut and took a job with Lego (and Janina to start her PHD in piano).  Lego is now transferring him to South Korea.  So they came to Arkansas to see their friends and us before they left.  And.... he brought huge Lego sets for all the kids!  It was pretty awesome!

We also played a lot of dice, card, and board games.

Jon's older girls got my girls into baking shows.  They spent a lot of afternoons watching Nailed It and Cupcake Wars.  This inspired them to make a cake.  I helped them.

One evening we went to downtown Bentonville to go through  the Walmart Museum, play at a park, and share a giant bowl of ice cream.

On the boys' end there was a whole lot of this:

They spent 90% of their time playing video games with Caleb.

One afternoon we went to the same waterfall we went to last year.  This might be one of my most favorite places in the world.  It is just so perfect.

We may have gotten lost a few times.  Here we are arguing about which fork to take and everyone going down the path they think is right.  (this right here may define the Herbert family).   But after going back and looking at the map and asking 2 different people directions we found it.  (If we would have listened to the kids in the first place we would have gone right to it - they remembered from last year - but the adults all thought they were wrong)

But even in our wanderings we found some cool caves and rivers and enjoyed ourselves.

Miles was a doll.  He just loved to sit and throw rocks.  I LOVE a toddler who is happy to sit on the bank of a river and throw rocks.  

And then... we got there!

There hadn't been as much rain as there was last year - so the falls weren't as big and the pools weren't as deep. But it was still a lot of fun.

Kasey spent most of her time refilling Miles' pile of rocks to throw.  Good momma.

We had a picnic lunch after our hike.

Their neighbors across the street have a pool and went out of town and said we could use it when ever.

We went a couple of times - but with out fail every time we went it would start to rain about 15 minutes after we got there.  Once we got caught in a torrential downpour and only had time to run  under the side of the house and put towels over our head.  Good times!

Miles was the star of the week.  He was so so cute.  When we went we didn't know if we were having a boy or a girl - but it definitely got Jason and I ready to have another baby.  Sometimes you think "I want a baby - but not a toddler" - well Miles reminded us of how much we adore toddlers and how much joy they bring.  He had the cutest expressions and found happiness in the simple things.  He was so cute!

We spent a lot of time just hanging out around the house and playing with cousins.

The girls mostly hung out with the girls and the boys mostly played x-box.

One evening we went to their children's museum.  I hadn't taken my kids to a children's museum in a few years (we used to go weekly). Madison really enjoyed herself and spent most of the time in a pioneer homestead - making beds, washing dishes, sweeping the log cabin and picking apples.

The museum had a lot of science displays and Jason was in his element teaching all the kids about what the display was talking about.

The big boys were mostly board and walked around.

Last year the girls put on a lot of concerts for us.  Megan and Madison were excited to go back assuming they would do the same this year - but with Alaana a year older and Jamison there - things didn't go as planned.  Jamison was WAY too old for my girls and just wanted to hang out with Alaana.  So it wasn't quite what the girls expected but Alaana did do one concert on the day we left with the girls.  It was pretty cute. They sang and made instruments for "lost boys" and "A million dreams" from The Greatest showman.

Miles was very interested and wanted to get in on the action.

Tragedy struck the day before we left.  Megan and Leilani were out riding bikes (with out helmets) and Leilani crashed really bad and 4 of her adult teeth popped out!  The dentist said if we could find them quick he might be able to put them back in.  We found 3 really easy - but the fourth took a while.  It was quite the search party.

She was such a trooper and handled it really well.

And these are way out of order - but on the first day we got there we had a Sunday dinner with everyone.  It was the only time we were all together.  Jared and Sarah (who live about 20 minutes away) came for about 2 or 3 hours and Matt and Janina were flying back the next day. 

 Pretty cute!