This Is Kristin

This weekend we packed up our car and headed to Missouri, for a couple days of being away from the normal routine. A friend of ours invited us to stay in their cabin and play on their 400 acres of land.

We arrived at dusk, the boys jumped out of the car and ran and ran.

Brody made a huge bonfire, and we roasted marshmellows, a first for our boys to experience.

The next day we rode 4 wheelers, hiked through the woods, Blue drove an actual tractor, and got really really muddy. Initially I had thought I’d stay back with Cooper, and hang out, but Brody convinced me that I should go on a ride with him. While practicing driving the 4 wheeler, I avoided every bump, and mud track, stayed on the driest, flatest places I could find. Then Brody said “follow me,” and off we went into the woods. We drove up mountain sides, through a river, through fields of wheat, and straight into giant mud puddles. It was a totally thrilling experience, I don’t think I stopped smiling the entire time.

While we were out in the middle of this land, with no phones at all, Brody and I were trying to cross this very muddy area. After looking at it for awhile we determined a place that we thought was most shallow. Brody went at it fast, expecting to plunge right through, the 4 wheeler went up, then straight down, stuck down in the mud. I backed up. Thankfully the 4 wheeler I was riding had a metal rope hooked to the front of it, that is apparently made for this sort of thing, so Brody hooked it up to the back of his, and after a few tries, we pulled his out, and found another way around.

Scattered throughout the land are very old barns and buildings, one which l immediately called, “Jacobs house.” (If you are a LOST fan, you may agree that it looks like that!)

The goal of the weekend was to get away together as a family, disconnect from everything else, and just have fun together. We loved watching the boys run, play and explore. We have been talking about going out and doing something like this kind of thing, but have always felt the boys were too young. We don’t have any more babies, we have boys that like to get dirty and run and play and explore. It feels like we have started a new stage- the family adventure stage, and that we can now introduce the boys to hiking and camping, to bonfires and new experiences, I love it.

The thing I love about the winters in TN, and the view from my kitchen sink, is that the sunsets are bright and beautiful and amazing. I don’t know if it’s the cold air or what it is that makes them so bright, but it is a beautiful time to do the dishes!

Brody and I don’t get the chance to go on too many dates that aren’t work related! So tonight, we are going on a belated Valentines date to grab some dinner, (hopefully try the frozen yogurt place, “sweet ce ce’s”) and a movie. I don’t know much about the movies that are out, but because of twitter I’ve seen a ton of people talk about “Avatar” and “The Book of Eli.” So, in your opinion, which movie should we go and see??

This snowy February 14th of 2010 is Brody’s 31st birthday! We love birthdays in our family, because (as most people do) it’s a day to honor and celebrate the life of that person. Brody is a very loved person, he is faithful, kind, and funny, and is always there for all of us. I don’t think I could ever do enough to truly honor him, and show him how much we all love him!

Today is a day for him to relax, because he doesn’t get to do that often, and I’m going to attempt to make a giant hostess cupcake for him!

Happy Birthday Brody, I love you.

~ They predicted snow, cancelled school, and around 10 am it finally started to dump snow! And it continued and continued….. It is the good kind of fluffy snow too….

…. Aiden’s favorite thing to do is to make tracks in the snow… he also tried riding his scooter in the snow…

….Cooper lasted outside a whole 5 minutes, until he got snow on his face….

….Brody caught a picture of me slipping… and you can see how the snow is just coming down….

…Our family picture in the snow, minus Brody… I look weird in hats….

… Brody and the snow….

…Tommorow is another snow day, more forcasted to fall, and basketball games cancelled!… So, hopefully we’ll finish the snow man we started building….and hopefully we won’t get completely stir crazy…

“Instead of viewing our areas of weakness as part of our personalities or ‘baggage’ which has been handed down to us, let us see it as what it is- bondage, that we can break free of.” ~Beth Moore “Breaking Free”

(I stole this picture from Erik Bledsoes blog… He used the picture in a different context, and also has some great discussion going on over there, so check his blog out…)

Mercy Me is in the process of creating their next album, entitled “The Generous Mr. Lovewell.” The idea behind it is that this fictional character, Mr. Lovewell, gets up every day and does random acts of kindness, and that kindness creates a ripple effect. I love all the videos, and ideas, that they have for the album and the tour, and the way they are visualy and creatively conveying the message.

Brody is the Art Director for the album, and he has been working so hard, and doing such an amazing job! The cover turned out awesome…

…Also, Brody asked me to paint a heart that they could use as a prop in the photo shoots. Now the heart is also on the cover of the album! It is so fun, and surreal for me to see something that I painted, on the cover of a Mercy Me album! I am grateful for the opportunity, and happy to help in a small way. Follow Mr. Lovewell on twitter, and stay tuned on MrLovewell.com for more videos, and also mercyme.org for details, songs, and information! Most importantly, Love- Well!

My sweet Aiden turns 5 years old today! I can not believe how the time has flown. He has grown into an amazing little boy. He is quiet, sweet, musical, artistic, and incredibly loving. He loves playing soccer, and basketball, swinging, reading, and especially laughing! He has loved going to pre school this year, and has grown up so much in the few months that he’s been going. We love our Aiden so much, and today we celebrate him!

~ I can’t remember the last time I bowled. Aiden has been wanting to go bowling for a long time, and since his birthday is coming up this week, we thought we’d start celebrating early, and go family bowling. We had so much fun! Blue was really good! He kept right behind Brody the whole time, who had a strike nearly every turn. Cooper could barely push the ball down, and once the ball literally stopped. Brody had to roll another ball down to knock it back. All in all we had a lot of fun.