Visiting Auntie Kiah!

We are about to spend the weekend with my sister in Minneapolis! I am excited to see her! It has been far too long! I will update as to how the weekend goes once we are back home.
So far, we have hit 80 billion pot holes! Gotta love Minnesota Roads after winter ends! Yikes!

Elijah is asleep. He is teething and his left cheek is a little swollen. We are going to lunch with my sister. And then we are going to meet Kiah's nanny family and babysit their daughter •A• for the day! Kaleb is going to go see a movie with a friend later on this evening!

More updates to come!

We had a great weekend!
Saturday we hung out until we had to go babysit •A• (kiahs nanny family)
Kaleb picked us up Chinese food. Then Kiah, Eli and myself went to babysit. Kaleb had movies and shows on tv he wanted to catch up on.

I loved hanging out with Kiah and •A•
She is a sweet little girl!
Timid
Funny
Silly
A thinker

She warmed up to me and we played and giggled!

We babysat til 10:30pm
We went home (Kiah's) and hung out with Kaleb. We watched Parks and Rec and talked.

I miss my sister!

Moving to be 3 hours from her is scary for me! And I'm sure, for her as well.

Sunday, we decided to sleep in and relax. I didn't want to go to a church because our time with Kiah is precious.

We wanted to sleep in, but Elijsh was up at 7! But only for an hour, then he slept 8-11

Praying his sleep schedule isn't too screwed up!

Sunday was fun! We all woke up at 11 and just had a lazy afternoon with Ebear. Kaleb ventured out into the rain and picked up burgers from Five Guys! That food was amazing! A burger and fries has 900 calories! good thing breast feeding burns 500 calories just creating the milk! We relaxed until 4pm {we had to! Those burgers were intense!} then we made our way to Costco and Ikea!

Kaleb loves Costco!
He found his Birthday gift, luggage!
His mom is buying it for him!
He is excited for his next business trip so he can try them out!
We also bought the usuals:
Bulk diapers- size 3 nowadays
Bulk wipes! They last a long time! I am set for another 4 months or more!
Elijah clothes! I found some cute onesies! And a sleeper-bib-pants-onesie set!
We also found a "tank top onesie" my brother will appreciate that! He loves man tanks!

I love the popular nautical theme this year!

"Captain Cutie"
"SSS Cutie"
Etc!

My dad was in the Navy so the boats and such make me smile big!

After Costco we went to IKEA!

I
L O V E
I K E A!!

What a great place! I found some super cute lantern decorations!
I also found a cute orange moose stuffed animal! It made Ebear laugh out loud and giggle! Probably because he wants to chew/gum it and slobber all over it!

My sister is shopping for a bed! We found one! So exciting! She will buy it this week! And gave it delivered!
She is growing up!
We are all grown up now! Well, almost! Our little sister is 17! She is almost done with her 11th grade year of high school!

It was fun to visit! I can't believe we are old enough to visit one another!
The love between sisters is unbreakable and such a thing to cherish!
I thank God for the sisters He has blessed me with!
We know that no matter what happens we have each other!!

The drive home went quick! As usual, I cried a bit! I miss Kiah and leaving is hard! I wrote this blog entry to distract my brain! And we only had to stop once to feed Ebear!

The last few photos of Elijah were taken right when we got home! So happy to be out of his car seat!

God Bless you all!

Thoughts for this blizzardy day...

I sit here holding my beautiful son. Thinking about how precious life is and how easily we take it for granted.

We don't mean to but we all do it.

We get caught up in the day to day existence.

The laundry

The dinner

The news

Facebook

Twitter

Television

Games

Shopping

Cooking

Cleaning

Diapers

Church activities

WHERE IS THAT MATCHING SOCK!?

You name it.

We get caught up in it. And I only listed the "good" things we get caught up in. What about all the not so good things? What about the evil things?

What about the stuff we do that seriously goes against the Bible?!

What about those things?

What about the sin?

Even the small sins?

What about those?

This tragedy with Boston and all the other tragedies have happened. 

Yup, that's true. 

Those poor lost people did evil things. And many people's lives were changed forever or they died too soon! And I know what we think. We think:

"those are BIG sins!"

"I could never do that to anyone"

"How could someone do something so evil?"

"They deserve to go to hell"

"They deserve to die"

"They deserve the death penalty"

"Someone white would never do that"

"All people of other races are far more evil than Caucasians!"

These are just a few of the disgusting things I have read on Twitter and Facebook!

Sad.

The reality is different than any of those thoughts! ^

The reality is

"All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"

Romans 3:23

We have all done things we regret. 

Yes, perhaps we haven't killed anyone. But for people who choose to take the forgiveness offered to us through Jesus, we have a new life to live. 

We have a different standard to uphold. A different way we must view humanity.

Everyone deserves a chance for forgiveness. 

God will judge everyone. 

But He also forgives us for our shortcomings and our sins. 

BIG and SMALL

I know it is easy to think that the 2 persons who hurt and killed those people in Boston or the young man who killed those children in Newtown, are far worse than us regular people.

When reality is we are all lost without our Savior. 

We were each given our life on this earth. 

We were given, our parents. 

The way they raised us. 

We didn't choose that. And the way we are raised molds who we are. It can take a lifetime for a person to get over how they were raised. Especially when that upbringing damaged them in ways that are hard to heal. I have met children who will be struggling for their entire life. Yes, they can find Jesus and let Him heal their heart. But the physical and emotional damage that has been done is reprehensible and nearly impossible to change.

We don't choose some things that happen to us. Sometimes, Satan gets into the minds of people and they believe the lies the Enemy tells them. 

Every human is flawed and every person has been given the ability to choose. 

That freedom can go both ways. 

Evil and good.

Without being raised with morals, we cannot expect people to simply inherently know what is right from wrong! To expect that isn't fair. BECAUSE if we sit here and judge, we are trying to be God. Even though we aren't God and we are also not in that person's shoes. 

We sit here with morals because someone taught them to us. We cannot say how we would've turned out had we been raised differently.

I keep hearing people say that, they should have known what was right. But reality is, those people saying that learned their morals somewhere. And they are taking that 'SOMEWHERE' for granted. 

I myself have done that before as well. Even though, my mother raised me and my siblings to love God and treat others with kindness, it's easy to see what others are doing and think, 

"WOW, I would never do that!" ... 

WELL, DUH!!

Of course I wouldn't because my mother taught me better than that! But some people's moms do not teach them things. Frankly, plenty of women have children that they didn't even want. And those poor sweet souls are treated with disdain.

Now with all of that said, I believe whole heartily, the Body of Christ has lost touch with what is important! We have decided that judgement is the answer. Yes, what those men did was horrible. But have we come that far from understanding the Bible? And Jesus' sacrifice? Do we take ourselves THAT seriously? That because we no longer sin small that we are somehow better than people that sin BIG! 

Big sins:

Abortion

Murder

Suicide attempts

Terrorism

Robbery

Abusive behavior

Porn star

And on another note, what about all of the people that sin SMALL? And what I mean by sin small, I mean these sins:

Smoking

Drinking

Cursing

Promiscuity

Sex outside of marriage

Watching pornography

Yelling at your children

Those are just a few. I know I could keep going.

But I think you get the point. 

All the things I listed are equal in God's eyes. They truly are. 

When Jesus was hanging on the cross He talked with the man hanging next to Him. This is the excerpt from the Gospel of Luke.

Luke 23:32-43, 

 32 Two others also, who were criminals, were being led away to be put to death with Him. 33 When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. 34 But Jesus was saying, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves. 35 And the people stood by, looking on. And even the rulers were sneering at Him, saying, "He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God, His Chosen One." 36 The soldiers also mocked Him, coming up to Him, offering Him sour wine, 37 and saying, "If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!" 38 Now there was also an inscription above Him, "THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS." 39 One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, "Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!" 40 But the other answered, and rebuking him said, "Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 "And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong." 42 And he was saying, "Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!" 43 And He said to him, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise."

Now, for a little history lesson. In order to be sentenced to death by crucifixion you had to do dastardly evil things. Things such as, rape or murder. It was a similar equivalent to the death penalty today. We do not give the death penalty to just any criminal. And all it took was for the criminal on the cross to believe in Jesus and he was saved. 

Jesus forgave him for his sins. 

The least we could do is understand that everyone can have forgiveness!

We don't deserve it. 

None of us do.

But we can all have it through Jesus.

He can save you as He has saved me. 

He can comfort those who are hurting. 

He has brought me great peace since my Grandfather George passed away.

Pray for your loved ones. 

Pray for Boston. 

Pray for the lost individuals 

My sisters new...

BUNNY!! 🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰
🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇
She named him Boog! {B-eeww-g}
Can't wait to watch him grow!!
We spent the day at my parent. It was relaxing. My sister's bf came over and he had just went to the pet store and they had minilop bunnies. He bought the black and white one. See photo :)
We already love little Boog!!
We helped Gina pay for her bunny because we will be taking her other dwarf Netherlands bunny as our first family pet! Yay!
I want to feel what it's like to have a pet and an infant/baby!!
Tomorrow is church, if I feel awake enough to go. I can't sleep even youth in tired!!
Goodnight all!
God Bless!!

Boog or Bob

Marley, Mason's minilop

April so far..

We have been so busy!

Where to begin.

Well, Elijah is growing fast! He is now wearing 6 month clothes!

He is babbling a bunch and smiling constantly!

I can't believe it's been 14 weeks!!

Everyday he changes!

We are taking his "3 month" photos soon! I can't wait!

Our daily routine consists of:

Up by 7am

Mama eats, baby eats.

Playtime until 9.

Nap 1-2 hours.

Up.

Baby eats, mama eats.

Play more, tummy play, take photos!

Nap, mama too!

Up around 5.

Ebear plays with daddy

{we will go for a walk once the weather is nice}

mama cleans and cooks

Ebear eats,

mama and daddy eat and then sometimes watch tv.

Bath, reading to E.

Bedtime at 9.

In other news, the Holzhauers are moving!

One hour south of where we are now!

About 5 blocks from Kaleb's job site!

I am sad to move further from my family. We will be 1.5 hours from them. But we are excited for a bigger house! We can have a few more kids while we live there! *wink*.. The Lord just worked everything out smoothly.

Lower rent.

Bigger home!

A dishwasher!!

4 bedrooms!

2 baths!

Double garage!

Quarter acre lot!

Kaleb got a raise today! I am so proud of how hard he works!! I am able to stay home and raise Ebear because he works hard!

Now that Elijah is part of our family we have had to make time for each other. It's easy to start to feel guilty for leaving Elijah. But I know we need time together.

On Sunday evening, Ebear went to bed at 7:30, which is early. I like to have E in bed at 9 that way he sleeps til 7am. But Sunday he was exhausted so he went down early.. Which gave K and I some time to ourselves. It was lovely. We had dinner and talked then we watched one of our favorite shows, Breakout Kings.

Check it out, it's a great crime solving show!

We are excited for Kaleb's patents to come the end of May!!

4.9.13

One of my favorite photos E V E R! 

April snow storm!

Popop's grave is up. Strange feeling. But happy with what
we chose for the words.

4.8.13

Playing outside with daddy!

A M A Z I N G  mulling spices that you brew with apple juice!
Makes the best hot apple cider!
Great for snow days!

Pedicure time while baby sleeps! This happened TODAY!!
And that is the book that coincides with our Bible Study at Willmar AG
on Tuesday mornings!
Oh how I will miss that fellowship when we move!
Great book to read! Lisa Bevere is amazing! A wise woman of God.
READ IT!!

4.7.13 All ready for church, Elijah is fast asleep in his carseat
so we snapped this quick!
Kaleb just had to have his gun in there!

4.9.13 He wants to sit up so badly!
But this pose last about 10 seconds then he tips over, in slow motion!

He loves that duck toy!! 

¹⁹ We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain

Sober!

Just a good time to reflect how far I have come with my Savior!!
Amazing!

Happy Easter to all!

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

 +Romans 5:8+

Above all powers

Above all kings

Above all nature

And all created things

Above all wisdom

And all the ways of man

You were here

Before the world began

Above all kingdoms

Above all thrones

Above all wonders

The world has ever known

Above all wealth

And treasures of the earth

There’s no way to measure

What You’re worth

Crucified

Laid behind the stone

You lived to die

Rejected and alone

Like a rose

Trampled on the ground

You took the fall

And thought of me

Above all

Easter!

MY FAVORITE HOLIDAY!

We had a lovely Easter weekend.

Filled with God, family and fun and laughter. 

Good Friday service is always a great time and I enjoy being there with everyone. 

It is a lovely time to remember what Our Savior did for us on the cross that day.

What a sacrifice. 

NOTICE: The Blood of JESUS flows from the crosses!
There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins.
Sinners plunged beneath this flood lose all their guilty stains!
LOSE ALL THEIR GUILTY STAINS!

My sister drove from Minneapolis to spend Saturday evening and Easter day with us all. 

We went to Willmar (a town about 20 miles away) to get new phones for us both. 

It turned out that there was a mix up with the phone that Kaleb found on E-bay for my sister so we returned that one and bought her a new one; which should be arriving shortly. 

We did purchase a new iPhone for me. And I am loving it! It works so WELL! And it is so simple and easy to use. Great for being a mom and needing to capture cute Elijah Bear moments! 

The rest of Saturday was spent enjoying each other's company and playing with E-bear. 

I cannot believe he is 3 months old already! 

TIME FLIES RIGHT BY!

I am so glad I spent the time to cuddle him when he was tiny because he is all about sitting up and wiggling now. 

And when he does fall asleep he wants to be set down and left alone. He sleeps a lot longer when he isn't being held, these days.

Saturday of Easter weekend! Hanging out with  Poo-Paw Mark (my dad)

Hanging with Auntie Gina.. Using her legs as a chair! SO CUTE! Sitting up halfway on his own! 

Sunday, we were up early, getting ready for church. 

We rarely dress extra fancy for church because our church does not have dress requirements of ANY kind. It helps people be less judgmental about outward appearances. It is about the HEART anyhow.

 E-bear decided that 6 am was a good time to start his day. So I was up with him. And I let everyone else sleep in until 8:30 or so. 

We were a busy household that morning. Trying to get all dressed up nice for Easter service and get there a bit early to get a good seat. :) 

Elijah slept right through the service. 

SUCH a blessing!

NOTICE: By the crosses it now flows white!
WHITE AS SNOW!
REDEMPTION IS HERE!

SISTERS!

GEEN THE BEAN!

It amazes me that little ones can sleep through SO much. He is a hard sleeper most of the time. Perhaps, he gets that from his mama! 

After church, we zoomed over to my aunt Deb's house to see all of my dad's side of the family. Which is always a fun and interesting time, to say the least. ;)

They all loved holding Ebear and getting him to smile. 

It was nice to not always have to be holding him and to be able to relax. 

But I did change MANY poopie diapers and he did pee on his cute "I'm a chick magnet" onesie and pants. 

But that's okay, I came prepared with MANY outfits. :) 

Ebear was so happy and excited to grab a hold of this water bottle!
 He grunted and grunted and smiled!
THE CUTEST!!

We use the fancy plates on Easter!

The food was amazing and the desserts were even better! 

My aunt Karen, her husband Mark and their two young boys came to visit also. That was fun to see them. It has been far too long since we saw them last. I saw them when their oldest was 2 months old and now he is 21 months!! YIKES! And their youngest was born in July! One brown eyed boy and one blue eyed! They are beautiful. I am not posting pictures OF THEM but here are the rest of the photos from our lovely Easter day! 

CHRIST IS RISEN!

HE IS RISEN INDEED!

 :) 

Left to Right Kiah (23), Yvonne (mom), Jesse (20), Mark (dad), Elijah (3 months) Gina (17), Jenni (25), Kaleb (25)

Ebear being held by my cousin M!

TIME TO EAT!
GOSH I LOVE HIM!

Ebear hanging out in the basement at my Aunts house ZONKED out from a long day of visiting and socializing!
He is my little social bug! 

This is a photo that my cousin took of us while we were in South Carolina for my Popop's funeral. We had a great time visiting despite the circumstances. And this photo is entered into a contest. PRAY it wins!! My cousin would be so happy if it did!