Rather than bottling his last batch, he put it in a keg … I came upon him checking on his set-up and had to capture him. 

Then for the taste testing … and, foam observing?? I don’t know the technical terms of beer stuff. 

While he did that, I found G being creative with his time, playing with a quarter.  I think all of you mama’s can understand my joy whenever my kids quietly, cleanly, and creatively occupy their time, without any assistance or guidance from me. 

Back to the beer …

I may not love it (or even like it) but I sure love it’s brewer.  And I really enjoy his appreciation for the craft and the focus and dedication he gives to anything he sets his mind to.  He’s never just about the finished product … each step of anything he is doing has value and reward.  Whether he’s stirring the concoction for an hour over the hot stove or taking the first cold sip of the brew, he’s in the moment, and I admire him so much for that.

xoxo

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… and I’m so thankful to this wonderful lady for bringing him into the world …

… so that he could bless my life with his love, humor, strength, faith, support, compassion, guidance, companionship, and commitment …

… and to parent these three little hoodlums with me …

Happy Birthday, to my husband … the guy who makes my life, and our boys’ lives,  infinitely better!

{{and thank you to Gage, Cooper and Myrna for taking these pictures!}}

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I just knew it would be me and him, and everything else would be an amazing bonus.

Twelve years of falling in love with this man, day after day after day has been … well … indescribably wonderful.

I have such a fondness for tailgates, too. 

{And thank you to Gagers, who knows how to hold my camera, and to continuously press the shutter button without me telling him to. }

xoxo

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Now, he is exactly the type-of-guy that I dream my boys will grow up to be.

I can’t even put into words how blessed that makes me feel.

I’ve told y’all this before, but I remind my kids of the blessing their dad is pretty much everyday.  They don’t really realize it on their own because thank the Lord, this is all they know.  A man devoted to Jesus, to our family, to his wife, and friends.  Who is generous and kind, and SO funny, and loves the outdoors.

He is their standard for what a man should be, and I know they already dream of being just like their dad.   By God’s grace, I pray they will be, too.

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And for me, it is a chance to watch my husband in his element, in his ‘manly-man’ glory.  Doing something that I could never dream of doing.

And watching my little boys watch their Dad in total amazement.  Doing something that they absolutely dream of doing someday…

And it is a perfect reminder to me of how much I depend on my man for so many things, and of how graciously, lovingly and humbly he provides for us…

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Yep.

And it was great.

Can you feel our excitement?

I realize now, that even though

1) I spent a large chunk of time with people I don’t know …

2)  I don’t hunt …

3)  I sat through a lecture on moose in Oregon …

4) and I didn’t win the raffle prize I really REALLY wanted….

My amazing time occurred because …

1)   I was with Matt who is my most favorite person

2)  I was constantly thinking about the generous gift from my aunt and uncle who made this resort stay possible

3)  I wasn’t argued with, treated like a servant, interrupted, cried at, pulled at, or the like for over 24 hours!!  amazing.

4)  And I didn’t have to share my food.

{{I share these next photos because they are a testament to how much I love great light and locations.  No, the focus isn’t great and neither are the comps or posing, but something had to take place in this spot and I had to go for it.}}

Anyway … to top off the weekend, I found out my aunt and uncle (who paid for our room!) also left us a gift card.  Matt encouraged me to use it at the spa.

First massage in about 5.5 years.

We left for home around noon and our drive got off to a fabulous start when we got to witness a modern day cattle crossing.  Modern because there were no cowboys on horse back.  Just a lady driving a truck, HONKING at the cows to keep them in line, and 2 boys on 4-wheelers keeping the cows away from our cars.

I laughed the whole time as Matt tried to disrupt the cows’ calm stroll down the highway.

I feel pretty bad about how much I enjoyed being away.  The second I got in the door of our home the demands came, arguments between the boys started, and I was instantly exhausted and needed another massage.

This weekend away was a gift from God – a blessing on our marriage for sure.  But my complaining, needy children are a gift from Him, too.  A blessing on my entire life.   So while parenting them isn’t always as relaxing as a massage (or ever!), it’s what I’m called to do.

And though it was enjoyable to not be  argued with, treated like a servant, interrupted, cried at, pulled at for over 24 hours, I realize I do that and worse to God ALL THE TIME.  So who am I to complain that my kids do that to me?

I’m thankful for this weekend, but I am thankful for this reminder even more.

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Can I tell you just a little about him?

This man is a rescuer.

Years ago he rescued a dog caught in a trap at the Clackamas Fish Hatchery.  Several years later he rescued a horse who had bucked off its rider and then ended up with its hoof stuck in its own saddle.  He brought it back to our house (I thought he’d bought me a horse) and tracked down its owner.

He rescued a hawk from our friends’ netted garden.  He’s rescued a number of birds from the buildings in which he’s worked.

He rescued (or helped, rather) the victims of THREE different car accidents!  Who has those odds??

Recently on his drive home from work he rescued a woman who’d fallen out of her wheelchair.  He parked his car, and proceeded to push her all the way to her home.

All, totally true stories.

Did I mention how he rescued me from a life of single-doom?  A life with myself?

{and consequently gave me 3 amazing little boys … who unfortunately suffer from meltdowns every once-in-awhile}

Anyway, this handsome man did rescue me from me.  I didn’t know the depths of love or laughter before him.  I didn’t fully understand or appreciate the importance of sacrifice, compromise, devotion, adoration, communication, patience, humility, or humor, before him.

How dull my life would be without these things, and him.

But that isn’t because I lived an oppressed life before  … the opposite!  So this is just a testament to how must better he made everything.

Before we got married it was required that we do pre-marital counseling with my pastor.  We took a compatibility test and answered EVERY single question the same.  But, my pastor informed us, we got one answer wrong.   The same question, both answering it the same.  

Confused?

The question was to the effect of: “Do you think this is the only person on the earth you are meant to marry?”  We both said ‘Yes’.

Evidently the answer was supposed to be ‘no’, but of all the questions I’ve ever gotten wrong in my life, I’m completely fine with that one.

Now that it’s been established that my husband is one-in-ten-million, I’ll let you in on how this little photo session with him went down.

I wanted to play a bit more with the Lensbaby I’m borrowing from my friend Monica, and since it is manual focus I needed a subject who could stand still for more than 5 seconds.  He’s my guy.  We had a beautiful day yesterday, so off we all walked.  Me with my camera and camera bag, Matt, and the boys armed with their remote control car.

The adventure can only be described as that … an adventure.  There were tears, frustrations, arguments, (from our kids, not us) and a lot of “Matt??? Can you stand here for a second??”  He obliged, keeping his attention on both me, and the boys …

He does NOT like having his picture taken, and likes looking at the camera even less than Kaden.  He’s modest and is probably going to wanna vomit when he reads this post.

Maybe I should just say that this little photo session is very much a demonstration of just how much he still loves me.  And puts up with me.  Or maybe those are two in the same.

I got a lot of serious shots (which I’m totally down with).  As soon as he’d smile, I’d start giggling and that would make my camera shake, and that just isn’t a good combo.

I’d say something like, “Is that how you look at your adoring wife?  People are going to think you want to sock me.”  Then he’d say something witty in response, flash me the smile that makes me swoon, and then I was a goner and have to recompose myself.  And this happened over and over.

{It took me a bit to recover after this one above}

Friends, thank you for letting me talk about my husband.

And thank you, Husband, for letting me photograph you.  And be married to you.  And stay home with our kids.  And blog about you and our life.  Thanks for supporting me and helping me laugh.  And for rescuing me from me.

Mostly, thanks for committing to me for the next 75 years or so.

I think the best is yet to come. 

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Everything about mine and Matt’s beginning is unusual and unique (you can read about it here) so to pinpoint something that is particularly so, you’d think would be challenging.  But I will ALWAYS remember that first night we met how Matt helped me put stamps on my grandpa’s final family newsletter.  Matt, good-looking as good-looking can be, and funny, and young … could have been doing anything that night.  But he helped a strange, sad girl put stamps on a lot of envelopes.  And even stuck around afterward. 

And that has remained his job all these years later.    And I admittedly smile when I look at the word ‘forever’ on these stamps.

He’s so good to me.    All the little things he does, just add up to the enormously big thing that is loving me.  

{87 Christmas cards and counting, by the way … I’ll post what this year’s looks like tomorrow!}

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The temperature in our neck of the woods finally topped a whopping 80 degrees and the boys were sweating their socks off.  They insisted that they needed a dip in the nearby lake … or better yet, our pond.  ‘Our pond’ is really my in-laws’ pond, but the boys think it’s ‘ours’ because we feed the fish that live in it.

Anyway, Matt, being the fun guy that he is, agreed to help them with their swimming, and so begins their first ever swim in  the pond.

Well, intentional swim in the pond, I should say, because Matt and Gage have both fallen in before.

{The lighting was not so ideal for picture taking, considering it was the middle of the day and evidently swimming in the shade is not preferred.   So, no thanks to them, the lighting is harsh … but, oh well.  Some moments just have to be captured regardless and we do what we can with the situation.}

Yes, you’re right … the water isn’t very clear.  Rather, murky.   Perfect for the fish living in it and, evidently, just fine for swimming in, too.   Because, according to them and their staple response to everything these days, “that’s how country boys roll.”  They roll in murky pond water.

Really, they were really excited about their swimming adventure…

Joy.  Pure joy …

Oh, wait … what do they see? 

It’s Dad …

Not just any dad …

… a dad, who at 32, still thinks it is SO fun to do crazy things like this.  Because he  thinks it’s fun and the fact that his boys (and wife) laugh hysterically, is an added bonus.

Happy Birthday to my man … full of surprises, love, wit, and strength…

Here’s to many years to come, all of which, I’m sure, will be lacking in dull moments.

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In honor of yesterday, today I want to share 5 things with you about the man I call my husband, my best friend, the light of my life, my significantly better half (s0 much better that I’m surprised he’s stuck with crazy little me for 10 years!)

1.  First, I’ll get this one out of the way … he puts up with my incessant picture taking.  On walks we stop for the boys to play with sticks and rocks AND we stop for Mama to take pictures of dandelions and bugs.  And he doesn’t mind.

He is my biggest supporter when it comes to photography and surprisingly, as much of a saver as he is, didn’t bat an eyelash back in March when I switched from Canon to Nikon … or when I just purchased a 70-200 lens … or spend time editing every night … or blog photos of him …

2.  He genuinely WANTS to be involved in our boys’ lives.  Sadly, not many dads show that in their actions anymore.  Matt is present, active, and a role model for our kids.  He wants them to be involved in his activities and I know it is his prayer that they would not only grow up to be respectful, God-loving men, but that they would grow up to be his FRIENDS, too.

3.  He reads his Bible more than I do.  I know that’s not something *I* should be boosting, but it does amazing things for my heart to see him reading God’s word.

4.  Not only is he active with our boys, he is just plain ACTIVE.  He chooses to leave for work at 4:45am so that he can be home by 3pm in order to do EVERYTHING.    Soak in the place we live.  Work outside, go on walks, work on bows, do firewood, ride his unicycle … oh, what?  You didn’t know he does that?  Check it out here …  He cares for our chickens, our cars, our property, he mows the lawn, and OFTEN even makes dinner (because he’s a wonderful cook!)  Ha … now you’re wondering what on earth I do!

There’s not a lazy, un-driven bone in this guy’s body.

Also, he does all that while being pretty darned funny.  I learned that the first day I met him, even given the circumstances (trust me, you ought to read the story …)

5.  Even with all of the work he does, he still always puts me first.  I knew that would be the case the first day I met him, too.  He put me before his likely uncomfortableness with the situation at hand.  He put staying with me until the middle of the night before his early work day the next morning.

He supports me, he comforts me, he is amazingly kind and respectful of me, he puts me in my place without offending me … he makes me laugh.

He’s never stopped putting me first.

And this works amazingly well, because he comes first in my book, too.

As always, I could go on and on about this guy.  But that gets gushy and maybe a bit annoying to you all.   And, he’d get embarrassed.

So, I’ll end with just saying my LIFE began 10 years ago, when Matt walked through the door, found me, a complete stranger, a crying mess … and loved me anyway.

And I know, that these past 10 years have got nothin’ on all the years to come.

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