. . . a glimpse into my heart.

So, there's been a lot of discussion with Judah about unhealthy obsessions. He is very obsessed with TV, movies and video games. They often cause him to disobey and cry when he has to stop or walk away from them. We're working on this and trying to teach him how that is not a good thing. Today he told me he wanted to be Justin Bieber. I asked why and he said it was because he wants girls to be "Ohh, Justin Bieber!" when they see him. So, I talked to him about how girls are obsessed with JB in a very unhealthy way. That obsessions can become more important to us then the only thing we should be obsessed over, which is God. Liam, having had been listening to my conversation with Judah, asks me "Am I obsessed with anything or just God?" Hmm. . .We talked a bit about it and I finally asked him, "Liam, what would you do if people told you that you aren't allowed to go to church anymore or read your Bible (He got a new Bible for Christmas that we've b...

In September 2010 I posted my bucket list. > Write a book > Take my boys to Ethiopia > Take a cooking class > Get a bachelor's degree > Go on a short term missions trip within the next two years We are heading to Thailand in a couple weeks to minister to some missionary families. Dave and I will spend our time with the youth. I don't know if this is officially a "missions" trip but I'm counting it. The cooking class is something I would still like to do but more then that I want to take a baking and cake decorating class. I love baking and want to learn more about it. So, I'm adding that to my list! > Take a baking class > Take a cake decorating class

I have no intention of taking credit for ideas and patterns so I will add a link to where I found the useful info. Bible Cover I followed the directions closely but found I needed just a bit extra on the width x 2 + depth measurement. It's a little tight. I am making it again and adding between 1/4 to 1/2 inch. I love it though! Super easy and cute! Flower hair clips I got this idea off Pinterest and just did what I thought would be cute. I took cheap felt and printed a small flower outline for a pattern. I pieced the pieces and colors together. I used a craft brad for the center but I'm sure there are numerous things you could use. I hot glued them onto hair clips that I purchased at the craft store. More to come but I don't have time to post it now.

I made some lemon cupcakes that turned out quite yummy. I have made them twice, once with lemon cupcakes and once with vanilla but both times I made lemon butter cream frosting. Here's the recipe: Vanilla cupcakes (makes 1 doz) 1 1/2 cups flour 1 cup sugar 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 8 T unsalted butter at room temp 1/2 cup sour cream 1 large egg, room temp (you can place the whole egg in warm water to assist in this) 2 large egg yolks, room temp 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract Heat oven to 350. >In separate bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. >In mixer cream butter, sour cream, egg, egg yolks and vanilla. >Add dry ingredients and beat on medium until smooth, about 30 seconds. Scrape down sides and mix by hand until smooth and no flour pockets remain. >Divide batter evenly among paper cups in tin. Bake until tops are pale gold and tooth pick comes out clean. , about 17-20 minutes Cool cupcakes out of tin and on cooling rack. Alternative Vanilla...

I took my mom's Oatmeal cookie recipe and tweaked it a bit. I substituted real white and brown sugar for Splenda white and brown. I also added a teaspoon of lemon juice which (I have read) cuts the after taste of the Splenda. I have made these without the pretzels but decided to try the sweet-savory direction this time per Dave's request. Grandpa's Favorite Oatmeal Cookies (with a TWIST) 1/2 cup butter (softened) 1/2 white Splenda 1/3 cup Brown Splenda 1 egg 2 TBL Milk 1/2 tsp vanilla 1 cup flour 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp salt (I omitted it this time due to the added salt in the pretzels and because I used salted butter) 1 cup Oats (not quick cooking) 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips 1 cup broken pretzels Heat oven to 350 1. Mix Flour, baking powder & soda and set aside. 2. In mixer, blend butter, brown and white sugar until smooth. 3. Add egg, milk and vanilla. Beat well. 4. Add Flour mixer and beat well. 5. Add oats, chocolate chi...

Cupcakes are so fun! I experimented with cupcakes at high altitude while living in Colorado and had some success and many failures. It's challenging to get it right. Now we're living at 1000 feet instead of 4500 in grand Junction and baking is much more fun. My dream is to some day open my own bakery. . . .I know it's not likely to happen but a girl can dream. :-) My sister Bethany is taking art classes and is a very talented artist. She drew me a picture to use for my logo someday. But at this point, I still need to play with it until I am happy with it. Until then. . . I am going to start blogging about my baking successes and mishaps. So, I created my blog logo by using one of the three cupcakes Bethany drew for me and merely call my baking blog "Kami's Kitchen". Here's the blog logo: So, I have a few cupcake and cookie blogs to catch up on, so stay tuned!

1. I am a daughter of the Living King and that my hope and salvation are secure in HIM! 2. God entrusted me as a mother of 3 little men who are healthy and happy and have such tender hearts toward the Lord. 3. My husband fears the Lord and lives his life to bring only God glory. He is a wonderful husband and father and serves us with such humility! 4. We have a warm place to live. As the weather is turning cold outside, I am humbled by the blessing of having a roof over my head unlike so many. 5. I get the privilege of spending a lot of my time with wonderful high school girls and the honor of being a part of their lives as they grow in the Lord.

I'd like to ask for prayer for us and Judah. Judah's 1st grade teacher informed us that he isn't doing well in math and maybe reading also. She is going to discuss this with Judah's reading teacher and together they'll talk to the principal about whether or not Judah should be in the 1st grade. There are pros and cons to pushing him back to kindergarten. After some discussion, Dave and I both agree that staying in the 1 st grade would be best even if he needs to repeat it next year. He is getting better at reading on a daily basis but if he goes back to K he won't be working on reading much at all. We're hoping that through the course of the year he'll start picking up on things quickly and make some progress. I'd rather him not repeat the first grade but I do think it's better then having to change classes mid-year and go back to kindergarten. Our parent/teacher conference meeting is Nov. 3rd. I assume she'll have discussed all of this with ...

So, I googled my name yesterday and found my old Live Journal . My last entry was January 1st 2006. I blogged fairly regularly for a whole year. It's so interesting to read about that year of our life. I started the blog right after I had my surgery on my right elbow and was out of work for awhile. I was just getting into watching Season 1 of 24. Dave went to Seattle for his buddy's wedding and Nicki Loomis and Melissa Cramer (now Meyer) kept me company. We blogged about our fun adventures living in Dubuque and what newly wed life was like. I look back with such fondness although when I read some of my entries, I remember some of the very difficult things we went through. We had a wonderful, solid marriage but we went through a lot together. The blog begins in IA with Dave attending Emmaus Bible College. Dave graduated, we moved all our belongings to CO, we moved into my parents basement, we spent the summer at camp on Whidbey Island as Staff Directors for our 2nd summer in a r...

I'm excited to think I might be back into old pants by later this winter or spring. From Aug 1st up to today I have lost 10 pounds and many inches. I can fit into a skirt that I couldn't wear earlier this summer. I feel good which I know is all because I'm active and eating healthy. I haven't had sugar cravings at all which is so unlike me. I have realized that sugar is what causes you to be hungry and eat more. I eat less and am satisfied. I am so proud of Dave. He's running a 1/2 marathon Thanksgiving weekend in Seattle and his training is going so well. This will be his 3rd 1/2 marathon. He has plans to run a full marathon next summer! He's lost a ton of weight and I'm sure he's gonna lose a lot more. I am glad he's getting healthy. I must admit that the recent move to Yakima is why we're doing so well health-wise. There's so much less stress and so much more joy and excitement. We're so happy here and thank God for his clear direction...

Dave and I finished the Advocare 24 day challenge at the end of August and he lost around 20 pounds and I lost around 7-8 pounds. The last 2 weeks of the challenge I ran 5-6 times a week. It was great but soon after the challenge ended I got sick. I did run a mile two different days during my sickness and it just about killed me. It was tough to get back into exercise after I was feeling well enough to do it. So. . .running. . .I am kind of quitting for now. I have never thoroughly enjoyed running and rarely had a great run that made me want to do it again the next day. My endurance was not increasing and the discouragement was increasing. So now what? Well, I found a great video that is called 10 minute Solutions Carb Burner. It gives me 5 different 10 minute workouts that are pretty awesome. I am up to doing 4 in a row which is 40 minutes of workout with a high heart rate. The great thing is that my endurance is much greater then when I would run. I can exercise much longer stretches...

Cookies and Cream cupcakes are in the oven, two oldest boys are at school, Gabriel put himself down for a nap and I have the AC turned off and the windows open to this beautiful, cool, wanna-be-fall day. Life is so sweet right now. Yes, there are always things that could be better or that I would change if I could but over all we're happy. God is teaching us new things and pushing us into a new way of thinking and living and it's refreshing and a little scary. I recently read the book Radical by David Platt and was really challenged. The American dream has some how become part of our Christianity and we see it as the blessings from God. When in all reality the Bible tells us to give to the poor and the give away our coat to someone who needs it. Prosperity is not a promise we find in scripture but instead trials and hardships are. I am encouraged that reading this book at this point in my life is not as painful as if I read it two years ago. I look at our life living with 3 kid...

I write this blog today with a very heavy heart. It could be offensive to some and encouraging to others. I don't apologize for it because what I share today are words from the mouth of Jesus. These verses are heavy and hard to hear. I felt a strong need to blog on this because God won't let me push it aside and forget it. He keeps it in the forefront of my mind and heart. I have shed A LOT of tears over this and prayed and prayed! Recently a group of mom's in Grand Junction, CO, my home town, came together to fight against some of the homeless population in the city. They say they have compassionate hearts for the homeless who have good excuses for their situation but want to drive out those who drink, fight, and ultimately those they think don't want to get help out of their situation. They say it's for the safety of their children in this one particular park which is the favorite of these moms. But in the midst of this, a lot of the press and media coverage is ...

It's hard to believe that I once held Liam in my arms and nursed him and rocked him. I will never forget when we found out I was pregnant with our Little Liam. We were at camp, Lakeside Bible Camp. We had only been "trying" for a couple months. I took the test at like 7am while Dave laid in bed. I sat on the floor next to the bed and showed Dave the positive test. We were ecstatic! We had to go to our staff meeting that morning and decided not to tell the staff yet. We just weren't sure who to tell and when. It was tough to keep it in. I ended up sharing our news with Melissa Cramer (now Meyer) who was serving at the camp that summer. What an exciting time in our lives! We went home to CO where we lived in my parents basement for a couple months until we moved into our first home. Liam's arrival was amazing! I will never forget the emotions and love I felt. Now Liam is a little artist. He lies in bed unable to sleep because he has an idea for a picture. I let him ...

Dave and I are starting day 3 of the 24 day challenge. The first two days I didn't feel well, upset stomach and frequent visits to the toilet and a unending headache. I told Dave that I think our bodies are mad at us and want sugar! haha. Actually, I think our bodies should be feeling better soon. We are so limited on what we're allowed to eat and as much as I love fruit I am kind of tired of it after only 2 days. BUT on a lighter, more positive note I am down 5 pounds! My weights wavered a lot but It's encouraging to be down in only 2 days. :-) I did find out that we should be getting more exercise during the cleanse then we have been. Honestly, I couldn't have done anything the past two days with how I felt but I'm hoping to get in a brisk walk or jog today. So, that's my update.

We've been here at Yakima Alliance Church for 5 weeks (that's from Dave's first day in the office up until now). Things are going wonderfully! We love the youth and the leaders and are feeling so cared for in the church body and truly feel like a part of a family. But I am not sure where my place is yet. Dave and I both know I am just as called to Youth ministry as he is but he's the one who's being paid and has expectations placed on him. I'm kind of on my own as far as what I want to be doing. At River of Life in CO I only ever worked with the high school group. I always felt a connection with the girls in that age group and it came naturally to me. Now, 8 years after we first jumped into youth min as a couple and 4 years after our start at ROL we are both feeling like we have a ministry to leaders in the ministry. There are some young ladies here who are working with the high school and jr. high who might benefit from my experience and guidance. I only want t...

Dave and I are starting a 24 day challenge to get healthy and back on track with our weight and exercise. The first 10 days are the cleanse and I've heard it's the toughest part. I am only hours into day one and I must say the fiber drink it hard to get down. The flavor isn't bad but it's texture is thick and grainy. Once I got it down my stomach kind of turned and I had to focus and fight to keep it from coming back up. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. We measured and took our weight last night so we can watch our progress along the way. I'll keep you posted. :-)

Counting our blessing here in Yakima: >When we arrived in Yakima we stayed with one of the adult high school volunteers and her husband for our first night until we could get the keys to our apartment. >We had an elders wife offer to babysit the kids while we unloaded the moving truck. >There was a large box in the foyer of the church with our name on it and it was filled with pantry items as well as a few gifts cards. >We received an invitation from an elders family for lunch on our first Sunday here. >We went to dinner at another elders home. >One of the adult HS volunteers babysat for free one evening for us so we could have a date night. >A young lady in the church committed to babysit once a week so I can attend youth group and her and another young lady are staying the weekend free of charge with the boys in a few weeks so I can go on a youth trip. >An elder's wife is occasionally babysitting, praying for me and checking in regularly. >Another elder...

http://youtu.be/XWqk1o6bDxA Watch the video first and then read the definition below to get a better understanding of what a bounded set is vs. a center set. A bounded set would describe a group with clear "in" and "out" definitions of membership. The Christian church has largely organized itself as a bounded set, those who share the same beliefs and values are in the set and those who disagree are outside. The centered set does not limit membership to pre-conceived boundaries. Instead a centered set is conditioned on a centered point. Membership is contingent on those who are moving toward that point. Elements moving toward a particular point are part of the set, but elements moving away from that point are not. As a centered-set Christian membership would be dependent on moving toward the central point of Jesus. A Christian is then defined by their focus and movement toward Christ rather than a limited set of shared beliefs and values Wikipedia definiation Christi...

Hi friends and Family. . . I sit down to blog and find that I tend to only think about negative things to complain about. Although some of these things are connected to being in Yakima they are by no means things that make me sad or unhappy about being here. SO, instead of blogging about my struggles I thought I would simply throw out a list of our prayer needs because prayer will have a much larger affect on these things then just complaining. 1) Liam. He's been struggling since a few weeks before leaving Grand Junction. He was sad about leaving friends, his preschool and our house. Since we got here he has been a roller coaster of emotions, over joyed one second and angry the next and sad the next. Night time is the toughest when he gets angry about stupid things just for the sake of throwing a fit. He gets angry and cries so much more then ever before. 2) My health. I have been so fatigued this past week. I sleep 9 to 10 hours at night and wake exhaustion. I have little energy t...

I weighed myself a few days ago and I weighed the most I ever have when NOT pregnant since I got married. The past couple of weeks I have been eating a lot of eggs and veggies and trying to snack on healthier stuff. Within the past 6 days I have run 5 times, one mile each day. I weighed myself this evening and I am down 8 pounds since my last weigh in! Not sure if it's a fluke, we shall see. But now I am only 8 pounds away from my lowest weight since married which, crazy as it may seem, happened the summer I got pregnant with my second. Dave and I are ordering the Advocare 24 day Challenge kits and I expect that we should be starting them in the next week and a half. The first 10 days is a cleanse and the last half is the "Max Phase" which gives your body the best tools it needs to achieve your weight loss goals. Our friends did it and each lost about 10 pounds in those 24 days. I have a friend doing it now and in her first 3 days she's already down 9. Now, I know I ...

Duck Fight! Judah thought it was awesome!

Liam wanted to hold his fish but got scales all over his hands. He thought it was awesome! Gabriel wouldn't even tough his. :-) Dave's dad Paul and step mom Nancy came down from Seattle for Father's Day weekend and took the boys fishing. Liam caught a night little trout and Gabriel caught a HUGE one!