Triple Threat

Sorry for whatever technical difficulties were going on before...

Hopefully all fixed now!

Parker loves loves loves music. He freezes if we're watching something on TV that has a theme song and as soon as it's over he's back to playing. (His favorite is 30 Rock fyi) Pretty much the best music in the world is the Wiggles and he tries to copy their dances and sing along. We got him this keyboard for Christmas after he discovered Nana & Papa's piano & he plays it alot! Here's some singing/piano playing/dancing action...

I "Heart" Thursday

I am participating in this weeks I "heart"... at You and Me Plus Three. Go there now to add yours and read others!!

I ♥ the chocolate chip cookies Brent made tonight

I ♥ Parker's belly laughs

I ♥ my new highlights

I ♥ the girl's Bible study on Monday nights

I ♥ Parker's dancing

I ♥ consignment shopping

and I ♥ that tomorrow is Friday!

(Rental) House Hunting

1st of all let me give a big ole "Yikes!" to my lack of posting this week. This is not the only thing that has fallen to the wayside this week let me tell ya, but we're hopefully back on track! (Fingers crossed!)

I have some super adorable pictures of Parker to share later, but for now I want to vent share how the hunt for a place to live in Denver is going.

Not great.

It's hard to look for a place to live from another state, even though we are just renting not buying. There's so many factors to consider and deciding which option is best is tough. It's more expensive to rent downtown, but it would be closer to where we'd be alot of the time. So, if we could spend less on gas and less time traveling downtown that might be a good option. Buuuuut, rent is alot cheaper (and for a bigger place) a few minutes from downtown, I'm just not sure what we'll do.

I'm really not worried. I know God is going to take care of us. I was reading last week in Matthew where Jesus is asking why we worry about where we'll live or what we'll wear when He takes care of the flowers and birds, and He loves us SO much more than those things. I'm just impatient. (Is that any better than worried?)

So we're still looking. Every once in a while I come across some crazy huge house for $6,000 a month and I find that very amusing. I'm really excited to see where "home" is going to be! And I'll let you know when we find out!

Crockpot Homemade Applesauce

My friend Chelsea talked about making this awhile back & inspired me. I don't even like applesauce, but Parker eats it - so I thought I'd try it out. Just call me Suzy Homemaker. (No, please don't...)

As you can see I wasted alot of apple by not peeling them right. I don't have one of those crazy apple peeler things and my patience level for my hand peeler was just not there. So peeled they were, even if not well...

After they're peeled you're supposed to slice them up, but again with the lack of patience, I only sliced about 2 apples before I moved on to the power tools...

Once I added the cut up apples chunks to the food processor I realized that since Parker would be the main one eating this, that making smaller chunks made more sense anyways... so that made me feel better about my laziness.

I threw the apple into a bowl and added one Tbsp. of Cinnamon Sugar. (Next time I might add only 1/2)

Once the cinnamon/sugar is all mixed in, the apples go in the crockpot on low.

And ta-da! 8 hours later this is what you get!

It smelled really good while it was cooking! With the shortcuts I took I think it was definitely worth doing from scratch & I'm sure I'll make it again. Here's the link to the original recipe, and I'll post my version below.

Crockpot Homemade Applesauce

10 medium sized apples (Gala,Yellow Golden Delicious,or Macintosh)

1/2 Tbsp. Cinnamon Sugar (or 1/4 cinnamon & 1/2 sugar)

1/4 cup water

• Peel and core apples.
• Place apple pieces in food processor & run until desired size is reached.
• Place apple in a bowl & stir in cinnamon/sugar until mixed well.
• Pour water into bottom of crockpot & add apple mixture. (I added a little more water about 1/2 way through cooking time.)
• Cook on low 8 hours.

Things that are awesome...

It's been an odd week. Really busy, but in just weird ways. Anyways, inspite of a sick (now all better) baby and hectic schedules there were a few little things that really perked up my week. In no particular order...

Awesome thing #1: Iced coffee. Particularly that swirly thing it does when you add milk.

Awesome thing #2: $5 Lime green rubber bucket. It's Parker approved!

Awesome thing #3: Fruit Tootsie Rolls. Bonus! It's a piggy bank too!

A New Chapter...

Our family has some BIG changes ahead! Change is exciting and terrifying all at once, but we know we're following the path God has shown us and there's a comfort in knowing that.

We'll be moving to Denver, CO in the beginning of May to serve with Providence Bible Church located in downtown Denver. Providence is an incredible church who lives out Christ's example of ministry. There is so much need in downtown Denver; from homelessness, to drugs, to prostituion, to the epidemic of fatherlessness, this is an area that's thirsty for real hope. Amidst all the negatives that are on the surface, are individuals and families trying to keep it all together and needing the love of God.

Brent will be helping with some of the kids & youth programs at Providence. And we are both excited to see the many ways we'll be able to get plugged-in and serve. We would ask that you would pray for us as we continue to raise monthly financial support for our first 3 years there, in order for Brent to be able to fully commit to working with the ministries of PBC, and also as we continue looking for a place to live.

I don't even want to think about how hard it will be to say goodbye to friends and family here, but I find joy in knowing God's plans are greater than our plans! We are so thankful for the time we've had here in Wyoming at Westside, and we're really glad we'll still be up this way alot to be able to see everyone. We'll be moving the week of May 2nd, and I know it's probably going to come way too fast.

If you'd like to receive our support and informational letter, or if you'd like to recieve future update letters just get me your address, and I can have those mailed to you. And of course I'd be happy to answer any questions too!

I know there's a whole world full of needs, but there's also alot of people in need right in our own backyards. One of my favorite quotes is "I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world." I know it's a little cheesy, but I guess what I like is realizing that I'm just a little nothing, so if God can use me - that's pretty amazing.

Tubing

It finally worked out for us to take the teens tubing! We've tried a couple times, but there's either been too much snow so we couldn't travel, or not enough snow to be able to do anything. But this time it was perfect! So we loaded up the kids, we ended up with a smallish group (7 kids) and Aaron & Lauren, couple friends from church, came to help too.

You haven't really lived until you've ridden in "the van" with a group of teens. This group was pretty mellow & totally exhausted by the ride home, but it's always an adventure. And if the van doesn't break down, that's such a bonus!

We drove about an hour away up into the mountains a little bit. It was the most gorgeously perfect day, and we were the only ones up there. There was still snow everywhere, but it was really sunny and warm. Perfect for playing outside!

The kids had a blast! Brent and Aaron helped the kids build jumps and "miss the trees." sigh. And me and Lauren lived out our Olympic dreams and were the bobsled pushers. Mostly Lauren and I sat and talked and laughed and gasped as we watched the kids (and our kid-like husbands) play in the snow.

This is Abner, Aaron & Lauren's crazy dog & her giant tree branch she carried around!

I did go down a hill once. It was horrible. I thought I was going to hit a tree so I may have freaked out a little about half way down. I don't know how or when it happened, but I managed to flip out of my tube and, well, basically I won "Best Wipeout" for the day.

And I claimed the only injury for the day as well. It may not look to brutal (and it really wasn't haha) but I had a weird bruised lump on the side of my hand that burned like crazy! All this confirming my notion that snow activities are not my forte.

It was a great day just to be outside and enjoy the mountains. Plus Brent didn't break anything. What more could I ask for?!