Oh life is beautiful!

My heart is full. My joy is overflowing and life really is beautiful. 

I don't want to sit here and brag, it's hard to write about happiness when ppl i know and love are going through.... hell on earth. Thankfully the bad things on this earth are as close to hell as a Christian will ever come. But it doesn't make our hearts ache any less. So I write with a hope that if you are facing some of the worst moments in your life know that there is hope and God will bring you out of your pit. That we can be sure of. The timing is not certain but his love is. 

Yesterday Kevin and I took the boys snowshoeing! We didn't think too much about the decision because it would have been really easy to convince ourselves out of taking a 4 and a 2 year old snowshoeing. However we had a great time!!! Definitely some meltdowns, but overall a really fun day. Kev carried Micah in the backback as we thought we would hate snowshoeing had we let him try (next year little buddy). He did however walk for a whole km by himself:) We just did 3km, with Jake walking the whole thing! 

two minutes in.... uh oh

So Beautiful

Although we did ALOT of encouraging and motivating! And as we were nearing the end of our hike Jake falls into the snow for the 20th time and says he can't go on anymore. It was slightly humorous as  he was almost at the finish line! So Kev and I took the opportunity to shower him with life lessons. "See Jake, this is alot like life,  it can be hard but when you finish it is rewarding and you will be so thankful for the rough times because it made you stronger, on this occasion your muscles and endurance:) We asked him what reward he got at the end of snowshoeing (it was hard to get past the donut and hot chocolate we promised him) and we had to dig before he finally said he was proud of himself, but i think we talked his ear off enough that he got our point haha.  

YES life can be hard! I know this too well, but if we quit right before the finish line, what joy is there in that? What reward or feeling of accomplishment? What does that say about your trust in God? "I have fought the GOOD fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." - 2 Timothy 4:7 There is a reason it's called the "good fight" it's worth every hard and painful moment and thankfully we don't have to walk it alone. 

Ok i love that i just turned that into a teachable moment... you know you're a mom when.....! haha

My amazing parents watched the kids so Kevin and I could have date night after snowshoeing:) We're not married, but when there are kids in the relationship you need to work that much harder to have nights just for the two of you. And we're able to do that at least twice a month if not more, thanks to our awesome parents! 

It was one of those dates where you just fall more in love, head over heals crazy for each other kind of love. I didn't want the night to end. And the funny thing is that it wasn't even a date where we did anything super spectacular. Isn't it that way? the dates you don't plan are always the greatest? 

I feel that having kids has made me appreciate Kevin and date nights all the more, we don't take each other for granted that's for sure.  We went for dinner, had terrible service but we were able to laugh about it instead of get totally annoyed (always a good thing), then we drove through the Ford dealerships - yes we're that exciting:) Kevin has a love for Fords, we like to dream and joke around as he drools and i laugh at how he knows every single detail about every truck. Kind of like my kneen knowledge of decor on tv. I can watch most shows and tell you where they got this wall art from or that coffee table from.... is that sad? i dunno, i'm kind of proud.

Then we rolled home (after eating too much) and just hung out, then went out again and got a milkshake - because we could - no kids sleeping at home, this is a big deal for parents who are forced home everynight haha. The whole night we just talked and laughed alot.  Preston made me laugh and I didn't think I would ever find that again but God is good and I did. Kevin makes me roll with laughter, he brings me so much happiness. To be drenched in mourning then to be singing with joy and so much laughter is a beautiful gift. God is good. I know i am sharing the great moments of Kev and I, but of course it's not always easy, it's a huge adjustment for everyone and there have been hard moments but not red flag hard, worth it hard:) 

Some of what I love about Kevin is how he loves Jesus more than us and because of that he is able to love us so well, he constantly puts us before himself and always strives to show us and tell us how much he loves each of us. He is not just dating me, he knows I am a packaged deal:) 

He is such a great example to the boys, that is something you look for in a man when you have kids or even if you don't maybe that's a good thing to think about! Can my boys look up to him? Is he someone they will want to model their lives after? And he is very much that.  They adore him, micah calls him Pevin, "I miss my Pevin" and Jake wants to copy everything Kevin does. Kevin tells the boys, "We don't cry over the small things" so during the day Jake tells Micah the same thing, even when he hits his little brother, "now micah, stop crying over the small things!" well Jake.... that is a big thing... so we're working on what small and big things are haha 

Kevin prays with us and with me. He doesn't take this relationship or this role with the boys lightly. He is trusting and seeking God through it because it's not always smiles and laughter, as every parent out there knows! I'm so thankful for a man who seeks the Lord and how that shows in his daily life. It has been so awesome as well to see how God brought us together. To hear Kevin's history and story and how God led him to us is nothing short of a miracle, what he has learned through his life has helped him understand some of what I have gone through. He came into our lives at the most perfect time. God's timing is more than perfect, and in retrospect we always see that. 

It is in these monuments, when we see how faithful God is, how he walks with us, loves us and comforts us through the pain and then bring us up and out of our pits and into joy... these are the monuments we treasure and that help us know and trust God through every other hardship we will face in life. 

Anyway I think I have talked enough. I love talking about Kevin, i really do, I know it's so mushy, but it's real, and I'm so thankful for all of you who have loved and supported us over the years! And who still love me despite my disappearing act (aka i'm always with Kevin)!!