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| Happy Hannie after eating all her strawberries |
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| Bundled up and staying warm in Auntie Katie's jacket |
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| Our final sunset |
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| Playing the sand together |
Sunday, September 1, 2013
Our final evening
For our last evening we did a picnic dinner on the beach and stayed until sunset. The girls played and we all enjoyed our final sunset together. We had a wonderful time with Grandma and hopefully we will get to go back out there next summer.
The Disneyland Day!
Granny decided to take us all to Disneyland so after a birthday pancake breakfast for Gracie (since Monday was her real birthday) we headed out. We rode the Winnie the Pooh ride and got to see Tigger and Winnie before heading towards Fantasy Land. The girls loved riding the carousel and Dumbo and meeting the princesses. We got great spots to watch the parade and the girls had the best reactions during the whole parade. It was such a fun day and the girls are still talking about it.
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| Gracie at her birthday breakfast |
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| Posing with Cinderella |
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| Claire was so nervous meeting Sleeping Beauty, it was sweet to watch. |
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| All my girls LOVE Winnie! |
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| In line at the Winnie the Pooh ride |
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| Hannie loved the carousel |
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| Granny did all the rides with us. |
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| Peter Pan was so sweet to Claire and even gave her a flower. |
Cali (Day 3)
Sunday we visited a great church called Compass Bible Church and heard a fantastic sermon. After church Claire and Katie went to the beach, Gracie and Hannie napped, Daddy relaxed, and Granny and I chatted and made potato salad for Gracie's birthday party. My cousins and my Aunt drove down to celebrate Gracie's party. They brought a ton of yummy food, gifts, and even painting crafts for everyone. The girls had a great time meeting my California family. Gracie loved eating her cake and played with her new gifts until bed time.
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| Some of the girls posing on the deck |
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| Grandma and my Uncle Mark (a dear family friend) |
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| Me cutting the cake my Aunt brought. |
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| Gracie enjoying her birthday cake. |
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| Wearing her special birthday headband and accessories. |
Cali (Day 2)
Saturday we headed to Sea World for the day. We rented strollers and headed to the kid play area. The girls climbed, bounced, and played until lunch. After lunch we saw a show and then took the girls to feed the sea lions, see the sharks, touch the bat rays, and go on some rides.
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| Feeding the sea lions |
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| Add caption |
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| Claire and GG at the show |
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| Hannie and Auntie Katie |
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| Gracie playing in the kid area |
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| Claire loved running through these in the kid area. |
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| Claire loved touching the bat rays |
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| Gracie riding the rides with Daddy |
Our California Vacation (Day 1)
My sweet Granny flew all of us out to California to spend a fun and busy week with her. We arrived thursday evening and first thing Friday morning the girls were all over her house and deck exploring. They loved sitting on the kitchen sun seat, playing in the same kitchen cabinet I played in as a little girl, and running all over the deck. We heard Granny's two sliders opening and closing constantly as Grace and Claire explored. It was special to watch my girls play were I used to play as a child. After a big waffle breakfast we all headed to the beach to play. The girls loved the sand and Claire loved the cold ocean water. Her Aunt Katie would hold her and they would go waist deep into the ocean and let the waves splash against them. Gracie never got brave enough to go in the water but rather wanted us to bring her the water in a bucket.
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| The girls on the sun seat, this was Hannie's favorite spot |
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| Getting buried in the sand |
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| Fun in the sand with GG |
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| The girls were always making 'sand soup' |
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| The beach view from GG's deck |
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| Playing in the kitchen |
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
The Hole in our Holiness
I finally finished reading The Hole in our Holiness by Kevin DeYoung and enjoyed every bit of it. I have been reading this book for awhile now due to 3 little ones that make it challenging to have any leisure time :) There were so many wonderfully convicting things in this book and I am still going over much of it in my head.
Some highlights:
-In Christ every believer has a once-for-all positional holiness, and from this new identity every Christian is commanded to grow in the ongoing-for-your-whole-life process of holiness (Phil 2:12-13).
-The world's holiness is not found in being true to God; it's found in being true to yourself... The world stands for everything that opposes the will of God. In it's simplest form, this means "the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions" (1John 2:16). Or to put it another way, worldliness is whatever makes sin look normal and righteousness look strange.
-The Bible is full of commands. They aren't meant to stifle a relationship with God, but to protect it, seal it, and define it. First God delivered the Israelites from Egypt, then he game them the law. God's people were not redeemed by observing the law, but they were redeemed so they might obey the law.
-So, there is no abiding in Christ's love apart from keeping Christ's commandments (John 15:10). Which means there is no fullness of joy apart from the pursuit of holiness (v 11).
-Preachers must preach the law without embarrassment. Parents must insist on obedience without shame. The law can, and should, be urged upon true believers-not to condemn, but to correct and to promote Christlikeness.
-When we sin, our union with Christ is not in jeopardy. But our communion is.
-One of the main motivations for obedience is the pleasure of God....If we are his true children we will also love to please him. It will be our delight to delight in him and know that he is delighting in us.
-God doesn't ask us to get familiar with sexual immorality on the big screen, TV screen, or smart phone screen so that we can engage the culture. He commands us to get away.
-First, the main goal in all relationships is to glorify God, not to get as close to sinning as possible. (regarding sexual sin)
- Sexual sin is terribly serious because it is a sin against your own body and a sin against the body of Christ of which you are a member. If you can't picture Christ with a prostitute or Christ in front of porn or Christ sleeping around, then you shouldn't picture yourself in those circumstances either. Your belong to Christ. More than that, you are joined to Christ. If his body is pure, yours should be too.
I really like this quote from his book:
Second, the gospel aids our pursuit of holiness by telling us the truth about who we are. Certain sins become more difficult when we understand our new position in Christ. If we are heirs to the whole world, why should we envy? If we are God's treasured possession, why be jealous? If God is our Father, why be afraid? If we are dead to sin, why live in it? If we've been raised with Christ, why continue in our old sinful ways? If we are seated in the heavenly places, why act like the devil of hell? If we are loved with an everlasting love, why are we trying to prove our worth to the world? If Christ is all in all, why am I so preoccupied with myself?
Finally, DeYoung lays out 4 practices for oneness with Christ or for better communion with Christ. Communion or fellowship with Christ is essential for holiness and even though Christ is the one who draws us closer to himself we still have a role to play. The four practices are:
1. We pursue communion with Christ through prayer
2. We pursue communion with Christ through the word of truth
3. We pursue communion with Christ through fellowship with other Christians
4. We pursue communion with Christ through partaking of the Lord's Supper.
Some highlights:
-In Christ every believer has a once-for-all positional holiness, and from this new identity every Christian is commanded to grow in the ongoing-for-your-whole-life process of holiness (Phil 2:12-13).
-The world's holiness is not found in being true to God; it's found in being true to yourself... The world stands for everything that opposes the will of God. In it's simplest form, this means "the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions" (1John 2:16). Or to put it another way, worldliness is whatever makes sin look normal and righteousness look strange.
-The Bible is full of commands. They aren't meant to stifle a relationship with God, but to protect it, seal it, and define it. First God delivered the Israelites from Egypt, then he game them the law. God's people were not redeemed by observing the law, but they were redeemed so they might obey the law.
-So, there is no abiding in Christ's love apart from keeping Christ's commandments (John 15:10). Which means there is no fullness of joy apart from the pursuit of holiness (v 11).
-Preachers must preach the law without embarrassment. Parents must insist on obedience without shame. The law can, and should, be urged upon true believers-not to condemn, but to correct and to promote Christlikeness.
-When we sin, our union with Christ is not in jeopardy. But our communion is.
-One of the main motivations for obedience is the pleasure of God....If we are his true children we will also love to please him. It will be our delight to delight in him and know that he is delighting in us.
-God doesn't ask us to get familiar with sexual immorality on the big screen, TV screen, or smart phone screen so that we can engage the culture. He commands us to get away.
-First, the main goal in all relationships is to glorify God, not to get as close to sinning as possible. (regarding sexual sin)
- Sexual sin is terribly serious because it is a sin against your own body and a sin against the body of Christ of which you are a member. If you can't picture Christ with a prostitute or Christ in front of porn or Christ sleeping around, then you shouldn't picture yourself in those circumstances either. Your belong to Christ. More than that, you are joined to Christ. If his body is pure, yours should be too.
I really like this quote from his book:
Second, the gospel aids our pursuit of holiness by telling us the truth about who we are. Certain sins become more difficult when we understand our new position in Christ. If we are heirs to the whole world, why should we envy? If we are God's treasured possession, why be jealous? If God is our Father, why be afraid? If we are dead to sin, why live in it? If we've been raised with Christ, why continue in our old sinful ways? If we are seated in the heavenly places, why act like the devil of hell? If we are loved with an everlasting love, why are we trying to prove our worth to the world? If Christ is all in all, why am I so preoccupied with myself?
Finally, DeYoung lays out 4 practices for oneness with Christ or for better communion with Christ. Communion or fellowship with Christ is essential for holiness and even though Christ is the one who draws us closer to himself we still have a role to play. The four practices are:
1. We pursue communion with Christ through prayer
2. We pursue communion with Christ through the word of truth
3. We pursue communion with Christ through fellowship with other Christians
4. We pursue communion with Christ through partaking of the Lord's Supper.
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
The summer is flying by
Our summer is just flying by and I can't believe we are almost at the end of August. Here are a few pictures from our summer.
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| Snow cones with Uncle Mikey and Aunt Jules |
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| A day out with Daddy |
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| Happy Gracie after eating her first s'more |
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| Finger painting outside |
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| Hannie wearing one of my baby dresses |
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| Face painting and balloon animals at the mall |
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| Painting with Papi |
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| Ice-cream social at the mall |
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