happy anniversary my Scottish nobleman! :0)

The calm before the storm!  I highly recommend all couples smash the cake-I chased this precious man down in 2 inch platform heels and got him!!

I'm laughing-promise!

our precious wedding party-ignore the awful quality of the picture-took a picture of a picture ;)

a wedding made possible by precious family...I didn't even know the good things the Lord had in store for us!

Happy anniversary to an amazing man, father and friend.  You have blessed my life more than you can imagine.  The Lord has sustained our marriage through so much, changing our hearts to His glory.  God has blessed us with five sons-who would have thought!  Here we are after 12 years of marriage and I truly love you more than the day I married you. You are my best friend and it is truly an honor and privilege to be your wife.  Love you Mr. Keyes!


“I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” 
Philippians 3:14 NKJV


Blessed to be with you in this journey as we raise these boys and serve our Father-to God alone be the glory!

thankful

the view

Thankful for...

~an unplanned family vacation gifted to us by more than one person, in their own ways, not realizing how the Lord brought all of their "small" gifts to equal a "big" one for our family
~VBS for our boys
~a mama leading praise (with a gentle smile) for little ones after a long night of losing a dear loved one
~a hug from an unlikely one
~my honey loving me with my love language and not his own
~growing belly
~contentment by His grace
~sweet ones with their own personalities, me humbly trying to embrace each one
~a talk with a dear friend (can you believe we've been friend for almost 21 years?!)
~answered prayer
~continued prayer
~His grace
~His mercy (aren't these two -shouldn't they be- on every list?)
~lunch with a sweet friend, a bunch of little knights and a precious princess (how our conversations bless me...and of course the coffee too ;) )
~the trials of the past five years...gifts from the Lord
~His Word
~blessings that have resulted from hubby going back to school: growing in our faith, the relationship of a daddy with his sons, God's work in my heart, teaching in our home...and yes, the blessing of this dear man learning so much about business and how God has wired him...a privilege to see
~quiet time
~continued learning of who I am in Him and the unlearning of who I think I am
~a slate truly wiped clean with the cross...a gift so undeserved but so freely and lovingly given...with a price I could never pay
~the gift of Him showing me this after believing the lie for so long
~a family excited about sharing His Word and the testimony shared on Sunday
~being able to answer two big questions from two innocent boys...who didn't "already" know the answers
~being able to write this
~a breakfast date with my honey tomorrow :)
~our wedding anniversary...the gift of this marriage from the Lord

Praying you find joy in the smallest of things, contentment in where He has you...praising Him in all things.

We don't find answers in explanations to"why did this happen?" We find answers in God's promises...and His promise to you, " My grace is sufficient for you."~Warren Wiersbe




(What is the most profound statement you have ever heard about the christian life?
Warren Wiersbe said... “Christians don’t live by explanations, we live by promises.”)

⁹ And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.~ 2 Corinthians 12:9

a heritage from the LORD...

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward.

Psalm 127:3

hello sweet one at 8 weeks-what a precious surprise you were to daddy and I!

30 weeks.. excuse the background ;)

My how time is flying.  It is hard to believe our sweet boy will be here in 10 weeks.  It's funny, it seems like so far but I know it's close!  I chuckled today at my doctor's appointment as this sweet lady asked if this was a boy since I had three of the other boys with me to which I, of course said yes. She went onto inform this was her fifth girl!  I laughed that it was our fifth boy and we were raising up husbands for her girls :)

I have to admit, I really thought this one was going to be a girl (because we have silly thoughts, right?!) but as we got closer to finding out at the ultrasound it became the farthest from my mind.  Simply praying this sweet one would be healthy was the main concern.  And the gift of having another boy was truly that-a gift.  I've heard sad stories of women being terribly disappointed at not having a girl or "another" boy, but I consider it an honor and a privilege to be a boy mama.  The Lord has chosen my husband and I to train up these young men for Him.  It is for the Lord to choose and this is good :)  On the other side of things, it was good perspective for me to be in this situation. I'm hoping I will choose what I say to other expecting parents (especially with siblings around) more wisely, rejoicing in their precious addition regardless of gender or anything else.  Little ears are listening...our boys were and I didn't want them to think they were disappointments.  Maybe I'm over thinking it but kids internalize situations in different ways and I was guilty of our boys seeing their mama be overly excited for someone having a girl.  The Lord is gracious though.  He allowed me to see this, allowing conversation and love and affirmation to happen...oh, how I'm humbled daily (hourly!) by His mercies.

So we begin to enter into this new season...boy oh boy! :)

love it...trying to get a Christmas picture last December.

“being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6 NIV

some spring 2012 :)

beware...lots of pictures but I need to keep some sort of record for my sweet family ;)

baseball season begins

precious little hands helping knead

such a character...excuse the nose ;)

a gaggle of boys and mini golf followed by ice cream :)

the birthday ice cream, almost the size of his head!

our sweet boy turns eight.. numbers cut from scrapbook paper, I usually do this and place a sign in front of their room for their birthday morning

so baby field mice were found in our shed, the mother abandoned the nest and I have to say how proud I am of our oldest.  he brought 2 babies in, set up a nest (yes there was a cover-I don't care if they couldn't move, there were to be NO escapees in our house!), researched online how to care for them and then he got up every 2-3 hours for almost a week to feed them formula.  sadly they didn't survive but the dedication and compassion warmed my heart...yes, we're a  a homeschooling family ;)

a visit with Grams, down in the harbor, ignore me, but check out my awesome sneakers from my honey...my girly shoes, love them! :)

daddy and his boy, skipping stones

our boy and sweet aimee <3

the result of swimming in water meant for lobsters

he loves painting!!!!

 thank you postcards from the 3 year old (cardstock cut to 4x6 with poster paint)

the birthday boys

pineapple upside down cake for my honey, sweet boy didn't like it which was okay because he and sugar are not friends-LOL!  okay, so yes, those are peach chunks because I was trying to figure out how to get cherries without buying a jar of cherries that would sit there for 2 years.  apparently a large can of fruit cocktail has almost enough and my guess is it might be just a tiny (really?) bit healthier since it was in juice not heavy syrup...we wont't discuss the mass quantities of butter and brown sugar...

daddy and his boy on their birthday

24 weeks-just to record this pregnancy, baby boy number 5 (you should see me now at almost 29 weeks-whoa!) excuse the mudroom, we are in the process of clearing out the mass quantities of stuff everywhere-yay!

Their offspring shall be known among the nations,
    and their descendants in the midst of the peoples;
all who see them shall acknowledge them,
    that they are an offspring the Lord has blessed.
Isaiah 61:9