Caitlin...

...This one's for you!!!!! And a few more who have been pestering me for a blog post!

Eli is ONE!

^"Be still before the Lord
    and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when people succeed in their ways,
    when they carry out their wicked schemes."

Psalm 37:7

Long Lost Post

Oh Boy! Wasn't even sure if I should write again since it had been so long.

Here's the deal...our camera is broke, so the only pictures that have been taken this summer have been on my phone. Those pictures are definitely not phenomenal so we just need to get our camera fixed.

Here is Eli at 10 months...still no teeth, but cute as ever!

Eli has had a busy first summer in Minnesota. Many days at the pool, lake and with cousins all around him! He is loving it as much as his mom and dad love him!

Thanks for checking in with the Wetzells! I will try to update sooner than later next time.

"I wait quietly before God,
    for my victory comes from him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation,
    my fortress where I will never be shaken."

Psalm 62:1-2

9 Months

I can't believe our little man is 9 months old already. Wowser Basowser! Time flies! For some reason he was not a happy camper during our photo shoot. He's even sweet when he's mad! You can tell his little feet were even kicking by how blurry they are in the big picture!

Our poor little bubby (cutest word ever from Melissa:) ) is finally back to himself (health wise). It seems like he has had some kind of sickness since we moved back to MN. It went from a cold, to a longer cold, to some kind of virus that made him throw up numerous times, to finally now! But that is life with kids, right?!

Tomorrow we become parents of four for a week and a half! We get to watch our three nieces while my sister and her hubby get to spread God's amazing love in Thailand.

Have a great Memorial Day!! We get to enjoy it by heading to the family cabin and loving on the girls!

"The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need." Psalm 23:1

California...Much Too Long Ago Now!

We took an amazing little vacay with the Wetzell family 2 months ago already.

This post is long overdue, oops!

 

We were there celebrating Megan's 30th! WOOHOO...Oldie! And Mr.B just happened to be turning the Big ONE the same weekend so we got to have double the birthday fun!

                                  

I love family and warm sunny vacations!!!

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Romans 12:12

8 Months and a Few More

Eli is the sweetest boy in the world with eyes of wonder...as his daddy says!! And let me tell you, Eli feels the same way about his dad. He absolutely adores his daddy. When dad walks in the door at night he just squeals! And no matter what he is doing Eli immediately wants to be held by Ben! It is the most precious thing in the world!

Here are a few more pictures of Mr.E!

Can I just add one more thing by saying we have some of the best friends in the world! Thank you Gaalswyks for making my birthday so memorable! You are MUCH too sweet! Love you guys!



"But may all who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength.” Judges 5:31

Switching Lanes

We have now moved over to the fast lane! Our life has picked up unbelievably since moving back. Now, compared to a lot of families our life is probably still creeping in the slow lane, but when thinking of our life in WA we have definitely had to get used to having a lot more to do. So with that said, sorry for my absence. I have gotten a word about it from a few of you!

Eli will be 8 months tomorrow so you must see his 7 month pictures before you see his change to 8 months.

He has had a couple big haircuts since those pictures so tell me if you notice when you look at his 8 month pictures! That little rascal has had his hair cut about five times in his short little life!

I will try to be better but since I got this darn new iPhone(which I never thought I would get but am absolutely in love with), I don't turn on the computer...ever!

"Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun." Psalm 37:4-6

So Much To Say

Wow, so much has happened in the past month that it may take me a few posts to catch up. I will start with the most important thing...Big E! He is 6.5 months and as sweet as pie! Here are his 6 month pictures!

He is doing great in his new room! We are loving our new house. It was built in 1886, so much different than what we are used to. We adore the unique character of the house. I am hoping to put up some pictures of our home very soon.

Other than that, we feel so fortunate to be close to family and friends again. Our calendar is much fuller living in MN! :) We definitely are missing our wonderful friends in WA, so hello to all of you! More updates to come!

“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:23-24

5 in Five...and 5 Months

Well, it is official. We are moving back to the Midwest! Ben got a new job and we are heading back to Minnesota in T-Minus 2 weeks. So yes, we will be moving into our 5th home in five years. Some may call that being a nomad, we call it learning a lot about each other! I am not going to write much about it because most of you know all the details. We are extremely excited to get back to family and friends but it is definitely another time of our life where the Lord is challenging us to completely trust in Him.

Some of the ways He has decided to do that is by: giving Ben a brand new job, moving into a home we have never seen, leaving amazing friends in WA, trying to sell a car in 3 weeks, figuring out how to move across the country in less than a month and many other things.

Yet we (Ben especially) have such an amazing peace from the Lord about everything. We know we are blessed beyond belief and can't wait to continue our pursuit of the Lord in all of this.

We also can not wait to hang out with our family and friends whenever we please...BOOYAH GRAMMA!

Eli is 5 months old! KER-AYZEE! He is now eating two meals a day. We upped his solid food intake pretty fast because, well, he is just one stinking big little boy! Oh and have I mentioned a CUTE big little boy! :)

In case you are wondering, which you probably are not, I am not sure what the name of our blog will become once we are officially Minnesotans again. Hmmmm...any ideas?

"But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did." 1 John 2:5-6

Squash, Avocado and Snow

I had hoped to wait a while longer to introduce solids to Mr.E but he had other plans in mind. I finally took his advice after he drank more than 11 oz. of milk before bedtime one night. If you aren't familiar with babies and their milk intake then I will inform you...that is one big meal!

My doctor(along with a friend) steered me away from rice cereal for a few reasons and guided me towards squash as Eli's first food. Just as I had prayed, Eli will be taking after his dad in the food department! Thank goodness because I was way too picky as a little peep! He loved the squash! We couldn't keep him sitting up. He just stayed bent over the entire meal because he wanted the spoon/food in his mouth the entire time! We are now on to avocado and he seems to love that just as much.
Sorry about the bad pictures, my camera has decided to be a pooper scooper and only work when it wants.


We have had crazy amounts of snow here this week and it is supposed to continue until the weekend. It is so pretty but the roads are terrible when you get this winter weather in the PNW(Cargill term=Pacific Northwest...took me awhile to catch on), because they don't keep up on plowing and they don't salt the same way MN does. Schools are pretty much cancelled all week, along with Eli and I being snowed the entire week!

I took a few pictures of our little sweetie and had to share because he is of course the cutest baby ever! Ha!

Instead of a bible verse I am going to end with a verse from a song I heard today. Emily had me listen to IHOP-International House of Prayer..not the Pancake house, although I am making pancakes tonight! Anywho, back to what I was saying, I can't stop listening to their live worship in the prayer room and this verse filled me today! And if you decide to check it out too then make sure to listen for awhile because you will probably like some leaders more than others!
"I delight to do Your will,
For I know I'm loved by You."

Christmas Craziness!

What a blessed Christmas it was! Eli's first, spending a month in Minnesota with family and friends, going on our FIRST date since Eli was born and so much more! We truly enjoyed every busy second of our time at home.
Our first week was spent with 'The Girls'. It took Eli a little bit to get used to the hustle and bustle at their house, but once he did he just loved those girls just as much as they loved him.

The rest of our crazy time was spent spending as much time as we could with all our family and friends!




We just love our family and friends! We miss you all so much!
"Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night." Psalm 1:1-2

4 Months

Eli is still as sweet as ever...is it possible that he is continuing to get sweeter! He is learning more and more every day! We love everything about being his daddy and mommy!


"Praise the LORD. How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him!" Psalm 147:1

3 Months

Unbelievable! 3 months has flown by! Eli is the sweetest and happiest baby! We feel so blessed every day! The biggest news is he just rolled over today! Woohoo! It is so funny how the smallest things are so exciting when it is your own child!
Excuse the wrinkly blanket again!


We can't wait to go to MN on Sunday, but we are going to miss Ben like crazy! Can't wait to see you all! Love you!
"You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples." Psalm 77:14

Read below about our great Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving!

What a fun Thanksgiving we had with the Thuls! Although Ben would have to say it didn't start out so great!

It is supposed to be about a 4.5 hour drive to Portland. We figured traffic would be a little crazy since we were driving down Wednesday night, so we had planned on 5-6 hours, especially by the time we stopped and fed Eli. Well we started our trip south and no more than 20 miles into our drive we were stopped in traffic..."what in the world," we were both thinking. Come to find out there was a rock slide and a huge boulder was blocking the road...of course! So that put us back right away, but we were still keeping a positive attitude! Not long after we drove past the huge rock on the road we slowed down again and unbeknownst to us we would not be going much faster than that the rest of our trip. Long story short, we ended up being in the car for about 8 hours and Eli was a champ! Unfortunately I can't say the same for Ben!:) But who can blame him, driving in traffic for almost 8 hours, I thought he was going to lose his mind!

Once we were in the Thuls home we couldn't have been happier! The weekend was so wonderful! They are the most wonderful hosts! What a blessing they were to us, to let us invade their home for an entire weekend! It was so fun to share Eli with family and they loved to "love" on him! Thanks for EVERYTHING Thul family! Eli misses you guys so much...especially the soothing piano, Buddy and the silly noises and faces you all made at him!


"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful." Colossians 4:2

Eli's Dedication

Eli was dedicated at church this past Sunday. Even though we were sad none of our family could be there to support us in giving Eli to the Lord, it was still an awesome day and we had so much fun with all our friends! And thankfully our good friends brought their camera to church, because ours decided to take the day off right when we got to church! Thanks B family!

The B family also took video of Eli being prayed over but I can't seem to get it to upload. I will keep trying.
Eli's Grandpa Tom emailed us some great insight the morning of his dedication! Thanks Tom! He reminded us of a really cool bible passage in 1 Samuel that deals with one of the first accounts of child dedication.
Hannah went to Eli the high priest and asked for his intercessory prayer to bring her with a child, who she would then dedicate his life to the Lord. And she (Hannah) made a vow, saying, "O LORD Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head." 1 Samuel 1:11 When God answered Hannah's prayer by giving her a son, she remembered her vow: "As surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD. I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD." And he worshiped the LORD there. 1 Samuel 1:26-28