Growing Up at the Pumpkin Farm ~ 2011 Edition

I update this post year by year as a chronicle of our family's growth and God's faithfulness. 

***
No series on Autumn Bliss is complete without mention of the pumpkin farm. Afterall, autumn bliss is steeped in memories and traditions. This is the pumpkin farm where our boys grew up. This is the pumpkin farm we'll visit this weekend and remember the little guys who once excitedly fed the goats; the guys who eagerly pulled around little red wagons filled with a few mini pumpkins and gourds. Now these guys are not so little. Our visit isn't so much about the animals. Or the pumpkins. Or even the corn maze. It's about nostalgia. Security. Creating new memories. It's about looking back and seeing how God has been faithful through these years. And it's about giving thanks for all that He's doing in the here and now.

1998 ~ This was the day we announced that we were expecting again!

1999 ~ Our first visit as a family of five!
2000
2001 ~ This was only one month after 9/11. I welcomed the feelings of "normalcy" created by this visit.
2002
2003
2004
2005 ~ This was only days before my husband and I left for Papua New Guinea. I was filled with a lot of conflicting emotions.
2006
2007
2008

2009

2010

2011

"I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more. My mouth will tell of your righteous acts,of your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is past my knowledge. With the mighty deeds of the Lord God I will come; I will remind them of Your righteousness, Yours alone. O God, from my youth You have taught me,and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and gray hairs,O God, do not forsake me,until I proclaim your might to another generation, Your power to all those who come. Your righteousness, O God, reaches the high heavens. You who have done great things,O God, who is like You?"

Psalm 71:14-19

The Time of Singing (and Remembering) Has Come ~ Day 13

I'm sorry for the sudden drop-off in my little spring series last week.  After my husband and son returned from Mexico, we happily and gleefully jumped into a whole week of spring break!  I chose to intentionally invest those days in my family and friends.  And it was sa-weet!  But today life is returning to a more regular routine and I am picking up my blog once again.

I came across these images from another spring day in another year.  Five years ago, to be exact.

Remember those sweet boys?  I believe this particular day was our first robin sighting of the year---hence the reason we made "Bird's Nests" (just one of our favorite spring creations way back when). 

Bird's Nests
1 (12 oz.) bag butterscotch (or peanut butter) chips
1 lg. can chow mein noodles
assorted jelly beans or speckled malted milk "eggs"

Melt chips of choice in microwave or in a small saucepan on the stovetop over low heat, stirring till smooth.  Stir in chow mein noodles until well-coated.  Form "nests" and place on waxed paper until set.  Fill/garnish with jelly beans or malted milk eggs.

Be Intentional

Stretching...

Reading...

Playing...

Working...

Walking...

"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."
Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Graduation Day

My li'l brother and me on my graduation day

1990

Memory Lane Monday

Medieval Feast ~ 2002

"Seek the Lord and His strength;

seek His presence continually!

Remember the wondrous works

that He has done..."

1 Chronicles 16:11-12a

January 2004

Sometimes...

...it takes more than one shot...

...to get a decent family picture.

But it's what seemed like so-called "flops" at the time...

...that make you smile really big six years later!

Giving thanks today for these remarkable little boys who have so quickly become incredible young men...

Memory Lane Monday

Pumpkin Farm ~ 1999

Pumpkin Farm ~ 2009

"With the mighty deeds of the Lord God I will come; I will remind them of Your righteousness, Yours alone. O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim Your might to another generation, Your power to all those to come. Your righteousness, O God, reaches the high heavens. You who have done great things, O God, who is like You?"

Psalm 71:16-19

Memory Lane Monday

Thank You, Father, for these sweet reminders of your hand of grace.