happy Birthday J-bear!

Can you believe that we have ANOTHER birthday to celebrate in March.  We did this one up right with a trip to see cousins in Illinois!  A trip that included a waterpark hotel, Shedd Aquarium and nonstop fun for 3 days! The J-bear knows how to turn 4!  He had an awesome party with a dinner out at Sweet Tomatoes, Dinosaur cake, balloons (which the dog loved!) and every batman imaginext toy you can find.  Write a comment to wish J-bear a happy birthday!
L

Happy Birthday T

We packed a ton of stuff into this day!  Some big stuff and a few little things.

It started at 7am when we heard the kids all whispering in the kitchen...K and I had organized a "Breakfast in Bed" for Mommy's b-day!  It was so sweet!

We had to have everyone at L and E's first soccer game of the season.  They are the big boppers and they were taking on their arch rivals the banana pops!  It was a grueling game.  back and forth, kicks in the shins, utter mayhem and constant laughter (by the parents)!  They had so much fun.  Levi has been sick the last few days, but you'd have never known it watching him jump around on that floor today.  Erin was goalie for a while, she did great, but forgot to watch the game a little bit!? oops.

Next, Mommy had a birthday lunch with Aunt Shelly and daddy headed home with the crew to make mommy's cake and get the house ready for her birthday dinner. See pictures to get a jist of how my angel food cake turned out :(

Fed the kids hotdogs for lunch, that was easy....

We had to practice for singing in church tomorrow, so we met the praise team at church by 1pm (it was a no-nap day for little ones). Kids ran around the church while we sang for about 2 hours. Got done there and went over to pick up Levi's new glasses!! He is so cute with his new specs and is very excited that he can see the letters in the books more clearly! He came home and showed me how well he can color now that he has his new glasses.


Mommy and K went and did a little shopping, daddy went home to remedy the cake mess and try to put the finishing touches on the awana grand prix cars that need to be handed in tomorrow.

We had a great b'day dinner of Roast Beef AuJus from the CrocketyPot and the store bought angel food cake fit the bill perfectly.

Isaac went to a Bandits game with a friend, and Mommy read to the kids on the couch until about 7:30. Kaylee and I finished up her car and when Isaac came home we got his done.
It's 11pm and I'm ready to call it a day.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to LEVI!!!
He turns 7 and I can't believe how big he is getting.
We have a big today with party, presents, and CAKE!!
Wish Levi a Happy Birthday by leaving a comment!!
thanks,

L

Daddy Daughter Date Night 2010

What a fun night we had together. It is so fun to treat these girls to a special night out and show them how it feels to be treated like a princess! First, we get all dressed up and take these pictures. Then we load up in the car, and head to the Long Lines event center. They had a huge turnout and it was fun for us to see all the girls' pretty dresses and some of the dads go all out with tuxes and top hats. They had a really good dinner with fancy serving tables, plates and cloth napkins. Then, our favorite part, the dancing. We did the electric slide, the boogaloo, the twist and let's not forget the chicken dance!

Let's not forget those boys. No, they didn't get all dressed up, they didn't dance, but they did have a date. Mommy treated them to a fun night of throwing peanut shells on the floor and getting stuffed at Texas Roadhouse!

We got elfed...

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

artwork

We get about 4-or 5 pictures a day from Erin. She loves to draw and the artwork is precious. I have the scanner hooked up to my laptop, so I thought I would share this one, since we just got our first snow...not enough for a snowman, but....

Happy Thanksgiving

Today,
Our family is thankful for time to be together and relax with G'pas and G'mas and cousins!!
Enjoy your day today and be thankful to GOD for his everlasting goodness and mercy.

The Henn's

Boo!

Why Adopt from Ethiopia?

Adoption Sunday is coming!!! November 8th, 2009.
What are you going to do? Check your calendar...
http://www.orphansunday.org/

READ THIS: http://www.orphansunday.org/media/documents/59b1f8cc-72df-62f4-514c-70978d3f51a8/10WaysPoster.pdf
Put a poster in your Church, Office, Grocery Store? Print bulletin inserts?

Ethiopian Orphans from Simon Scionka on Vimeo.

Flag Football season 2009

I put together a little video of some of the highlights from this years football season. So much fun! He is number 32. He got to play almost every position.

From Video

Trusting in the Lord, Not Self

Jeremiah 17:5-7

"Thus says the Lord: Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord."

When my life gets even more crazy and busy than usual, my time in the Word of God suffers! This verse explains in word pictures what happens. I am trying to really imagine what it would be like to be in a parched place in the wilderness.........an uninhabited salt land..............I am definitely thinking a very THIRSTY ME! God's word is the LIVING WATER. I am so thankful that God reminds us as, his children, we will be blessed when we trust in Him!

Today my "to do" list seems very overwhelming. (kids out the door, watching a newborn, homeschooling, laundry, changing out closets from summer to winter, cooking meals) If I trust in my own strength I am already feeling parched and thirsty. I feel overwhelmed and lacking joy. However, AFTER reading God's word, I am encouraged and dedicated to confessing my sin of self dependency and lack of a reliance on Christ! God's word is true and right. "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord."

Where do I start?

The last few weeks of our lives have been so hectic, but fun, it's hard to know where to start.
I can think of a good start, Our dear little Kbugg turned 11! She had such a good birthday and her school year is getting off to a good start, because she recently auditioned and was accepted for Philharmonia of the Sioux City Youth Symphony! She was very excited!!
We did our first family camping trip with the camper in Adel, Ia over Labor Day. This was a TOTAL blast! We spent three days and 3 nights in the camper! We visited Living History Farms and got to slop the hogs!! The kids loved it, met lots of new friends and were so sad when we had to put camper down and pull away! We are going to try to get one more camping trip in during fall, (Sure hope the heater works!)
Just returned from Twin Lakes Christian Center from our Church's Annual fall retreat. This was 2 nights and we had great teaching from Pastor Tom Steller, but awesome worship and tons of fun on waterslide into the lake, archery, paintball war, rock-wall climbing, and amazing food!
Isaac and Levi have been asked to be OFFICIAL WATER BOYS for the 2009 USHL Fall Classic
So, I guess we are going to be catching some Hockey!!
We are about half-way through Isaac's football season, so fun to watch 7 & 8 year olds play this game!!
I'm posting some pictures below, hopefully these shots will be worth thousands of words :)

A very hectic month

There are about a hundred posts to write just for this month. However, that is NOT going to happen.
Here's a list of events since the last post in July...
Layne finished School Law class in 3 weeks instead of 4, so he could go on vacation and enjoy it.
Our family loses a good friend to cancer
Erin has fever and goes on antibiotics
Vacation in Northern Minn.
Layne and 3 kids get Staph Infection while on vacation (no, I won't be posting pictures)
Tanya's cousin gets married, 2 of our kids in wedding party :)
School starting for Layne (teachers return)
Layne still healing from MRSA (staph infection)
Kids Start school
Isaac starts football
Isaac fever
Layne starts 2 more classes
Garage Sale
Erin starts the Cello
Switch banks
more to come....

Freed to visit orphans (Ethiopia)

Watch the video below and then visit this website.
http://lookdevelopmentethiopia.blogspot.com/
or
If you would like to sponsor a child please call Amanda at (406) 446-1648 or email matthewdesarro@hotmail.com You will receive a packet including a photo of your child, and an introductory letter about how to get started on this journey of love, hope and relationship with your child. All contributions to Look Development and Hope Ranch are tax deductible.


ht: Justin at http://theologica.blogspot.com/

Omaha Zoo

Sunday we drove my friend Alison to the airport. She was visiting from Michigan last week. After dropping her off we motored on over to the zoo. Layne's cousin is an employee there and gave us a very up close and personal tour of the aquarium. The kids marched with the penguins, touched the scuba gear used to clean the tanks, visited the kitchen where the SHARK food is prepared.

We are always so thankful to the Lord , for special times and memories made as a family. It was also a very wonderful way to introduce Levi to new vocabulary words. He now knows exactly what a swamp is and what a fruit bat looks like. I had no idea they would be sooooooo BIG in person. Small dogs with wings is how I describe them. Ha!

pop a wheelie

The kids came up with this on their own!!

"Famiversary"

7-7-07 we became a family of 7! So every year we celebrate this day on July 7th. This year we loaded in the Yukon and drove to the beach in Spirit Lake. We discovered it was family night at the water park conveniently located next to the beach and got in at a fraction of the cost. (Always a huge plus for a large family!!) We ended the night eating at a fabulous local restaurant, Boz Welz. We all ate burgers, fries, and chicken. The waitress brought us homemade icecream with a candle in it and we sang "Happy Famiversary" to ourselves. Cheezy, but fun and memorable.

We have been very blessed in the last two years. We continue to learn how to depend more on our faith in the Lord Jesus. We are thankful to see how far we have come in bonding together and we look forward to more in the future.

Happy 4th of July

Righteousness Is Sown In Peace

James 3:17-18
"But first the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace."


This verse jumped out at me this morning. As many of you faithful readers know, we grew our family through the wonderful journey of adoption almost 2 years ago. We are blessed by the addition of our sons. There have been however some issues of attachment. Our children by birth have also had many adjustments.

Isaac and Levi are struggling with bonding together. After receiving some Christian counseling last fall we began what we call, "Super Fun Time". This is a time that we carve out to interact and play with the boys together. We are actually the mediators and teachers. We are trying to teach them to play peacefully and lovingly. Lately with our busy lives we have not been focusing on this.

Recently we had anger issues resurfacing. Yesterday I attempted to try to resume "Super Fun Time". It was a disaster...........Ugh! Fighting, tattling, selfishness, anger. All with me in the room trying to help. I ended up sending them away because I was so frustrated. Some days it feels like so much work.

The part of this verse that resonated in my soul was that a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. I looked up the definition of righteousness: morally upright; in accordance with virtue or morality. I long for a "harvest" of these qualities.

I want to press on being a peacemaker in my home. To make time to help my children be peacemakers. This takes time and attention on my part. I need to slow down, let the daily "to do" list go and just be more available emotionally for them. I really do tend to just "get through the day" so often.

Today I am asking the Lord to help me be gentle, open to reason, peaceable, full of mercy, impartial and sincere. I definitely need the GRACE of the LORD to do this. I am thankful for a powerful God!

If there are any of you readers out there that have some ideas for us as "date" ideas for two active boys struggling to get along and see themselves as brothers, could you please post them! Lincoln logs and Legos are getting old!

Thanks for stopping by,
Tanya

It Is God Who Arms Me With Strength

Psalm 18:31-32
"For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock except our God? It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect."

Colossians 3:2
"Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things."


Our family just returned from a wonderful weekend get away at my sister's house in Minneapolis. (pictures in future post) I always struggle with facing reality when we get home. Things like unpacking, laundry, kids who are tired and grouchy, phone calls to return, a schedule to pick back up..............

As the house is still quiet, I have by His grace started my day in the Word of God. He spoke to me in such a gentle way. I need him for the strength not only to do my daily tasks, but to do them in a way that brings Him glory. I most fear my sin of anger. I don't want to get mad at my kids today........Getting back into the swing while dealing with five little ones in a manner that is gentle and peaceful seems so hard.

The truth is however, it is GOD who arms his children with strength. God wants us to succeed in His ways of love, patience, gentleness and self-control. I have these verses written on cards to tuck away in my pocket today. I hope to read them and pray them as I face the day.

Deuteronomy 4:29
"Seek the Lord your God and you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul."