Asher's 3rd Birthday...

Oh my! Where has the time gone? Our little Asher is now 3 years old! All week we have been telling him that it is almost his birthday. I like building the anticipation in him- it's so fun to make birthdays so special. On Wednesday night (the eve before his birthday) he told me, "It makes me happy to have a birthday." So cute! We filled his room with balloons when he was sleeping and he awoke to that and some Tarzan presents laid out for him. He and Zoee have loved playing with the new toys. We had a nice family day just enjoying our little kiddos who are THREE and almost TWO (in November)!! 

Here is Asher in the first few months of life...

Here he is on the morning of his 3rd Birthday!!

Here is our little family of 4 in the afternoon... we are so thankful!

Trusting in the Lord...

In our young adult small group last night, one of my friends shared that she needed prayer with trusting things to the Lord and trying not to take things into her own hands. I so relate to this, as I am sure many people do. I have just been refreshed this morning that it's so crazy for us to trust in ourselves or any other man to give us comfort, peace, wisdom, safety or anything else that we desire. I was reading Jeremiah and this verse just struck/encouraged me...

Jeremiah 17: 7-8

"Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is in the Lord. For he shall be like a tree firmly planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when the heat comes; But its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit."

Besides the obvious things that are apparent in this passage, the Lord reminded me through this passage that tough times (of "drought" and "heat") are inevitable in this life. No one is exempt from trials and difficult seasons. The thing we all must remember is that when those hard times do come, if we are firmly planted in the Lord by trusting completely in Him, we will be able to get through those storms and even produce fruit that brings glory to the Lord. 

For me and Sonny, parenting has been one of the most refining and enjoyable gifts from the Lord. While it is simply wonderful and amazing and so full of joy and laughter, it is the hardest thing we have ever done (and will ever do). You are ministering to little souls ALL THE TIME. You never get to be "off." They are watching you constantly and learning about the Lord through your life. This can be so rewarding when you see them start to imitate your faith but it can also be hard when you see a reflection of your own shortcomings in these little ones. At times it can be so difficult to know if you are raising them exactly how the Lord wants. Parenting has led us even more to be on our knees and to be daily seeking the wisdom from the Lord. I love how much parenting makes me cling to Jesus. I have never realized my need for Him more. While marriage can be hard at times, you know that the other person knows your faults and is able to love Jesus despite how you might misrepresent Him at times. With kids, it's hard to explain that you, too, are a sinner and will fail at times. It's hard to continually be pointing them to Jesus when you have stressful days where every little thing seems to be going in the opposite direction as you were hoping. Thankfully... we CANNOT depend on ourselves but must cling to Jesus daily and constantly be asking for His wisdom, strength, leadership, patience, joy and peace. He alone is worthy of all of our trust and hope! Thank you Jesus for blessings that keep us seeking your face!

(Sonny's mom took all these pictures of our little ones! I am so thankful for the people that God has put in our lives to help us raise our kids. I have heard that it takes a small village to raise your kids right and I surely believe that!!)

Crazy Kids and More Howard Happenings...

This month has been so fast paced. We have had a wedding in Austin, graduations, birthday parties and so much more! I cannot believe that summer is actually here already. Here are some pictures to sum up some small parts from the last month. The kids are so brave and crazy and keep us constantly on our toes. There is never a dull moment around this house!! We are trying to soak in every moment of this fun season with them!

Sonny and I went on a date a while back... As always, it was wonderful!

 Ash and Zo are so incredibly brave. Asher loves to climb and balance on anything he can find- especially Daddy =)...

 Apparently Zoee thought I was taking too long to put her in the bath. I started the water, went to get their jammies ready for after the bath and came back in to find her just like this...

 Ash and Zoee will literally try to squeeze into ANY spot that they can find. It cracks us up! Here we are one night as we went to get the mail. Ash climbed in first and Zoee decided to follow suit. We could not stop laughing! Who thought our kids could fit in the mailbox!

The kids LOVE the water hose. Playing with the water hose is always a lesson in sharing... here they are playing outside...

Here are some more of us just enjoying the evening sun!

We went to a birthday party this weekend and Zoee got to wear a new dress that Mimi got her. I think she looked so so pretty!! Thank you Mimi!!

Here was Asher diving into the Elmo cupcakes!! Yummy!!