we love in vancouver.

evelynn: she is asking a lot of good questions these days; about life and God and friends and weddings. I'm trying to carve out one-on-one time with her so that we have a chance to talk about these things.
maisy: she loves to help me bake, but it sure does require a lot of patience. on this particular morning, we made granola together. and of course, she loves licking the spoon too.
leo: what a content happy baby he has become. he smiles easily and has starting making the cutest talking noises. i really love this boy.

evelynn: creative. she makes up great little songs on the piano and draws the best pictures. the other day she wrote her first story, 'the majic bot' (magic boat), and gave it to me. i was so honored and proud of her.
maisy: loving. she gives hugs on her own all the time. and she lights up when people come over. she is a lover of people.
leo: cuddly. i love how he lets me cuddle and kiss him all day (and unfortunately all night).

                         


I've never been that reflective or contemplative around the start of a new year, but recently I have been learning the value of taking the time to look back, reflect, remember, be thankful, and also look forward, plan, dream, and make goals. This year I also asked God to give me a word. A word that I could focus my thoughts on. A word that could challenge me into becoming a better person. I thought of a few words that sounded really good, but I could just tell they weren't the word for me. And then last Sunday at church, during worship, we were singing a song and the word 'deep' really stuck out to me. And then I just could not stop thinking about that word and I realized that I had been given my word. 
Deep.
Already this word has settled into my spirit and I am motivated by its challenge. I'm sure this word will mean different things to me throughout the year, but for now I am challenged to believe - to really believe how deep God's love is for me. I know this to be true, but I want to feel the impact of that truth.

"and may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high and how deep his love is." 

-ephesians 3:18

In 2013,
we celebrated 8 years of marriage - took a road trip down to Portland to meet my new little nephew Finnick - found out we were pregnant - took a family holiday to Palm Springs where Maisy discovered a new love for swimming with water wings - spent many Monday evenings at Hillcrest pool - Evelynn graduated from preschool - we took a few trips out to Cultus Lake where we enjoyed s'mores, tubing behind the boat, delicious meals on the deck and lazy afternoons on the dock - found out we would have a baby boy - had our first annual Trinity & Main camping trip - discovered that I really like beets - Evelynn passed level 3 in swimming - we moved from our cozy little house in Mt. Pleasant to a spacious house in Shaughnessy - Evelynn started Kindergarten at our neighborhood school - on Sept. 2, Leo Martin was born into our family -  my mom came for 2 weeks to help when leo was born - T & M started meeting at our house and we moved to Sunday morning gatherings - Scott turned 34, I turned 31, Maisy turned 2 and Evelynn turned 5 which we celebrated with a fairy princess tea party - we celebrated Nana Carlson's 80th birthday, God gave us a mini-van that we affectionately call the "God-Mobile" - Scott, Leo and I flew to Ottawa for the week to enjoy a church planting retreat - we took the ferry over to Victoria for 5 days on a family holiday - we enjoyed 'Happy Time' every Sunday evening where we chowed down on nachos while watching Full House, America's Funniest Home Videos, or Mr. Bean (our personal favorite) - God patiently taught me about gratitude and thankfulness - I chopped 8 inches off my hair - I held and rocked and cuddled Leo a lot for the first couple months of his life- we celebrated Scott's Dad's 60th birthday with a delicious catered dinner, -T & M kids raised over $500 to buy animals for children in Asia for Christmas - our family frequented White Spot, Nikkyu Sushi, Bon's, and Menchies - my entire family congregated at our house for christmas - we built a giant snowman named Belinda - watched in awe as Evelynn learned to read - experienced generosity like never before - witnessed Leo's first smile and his first giggle

When I look back on 2013, I feel overwhelmed with gratitude at all that I was able to experience and learn. It was not all easy, but I am thankful for all of it.

evelynn: her hair is getting so long - she says she doesn't want to cut it until she's a grandma. and she likes to eat her hot chocolate with a spoon.
maisy: this girl is so funny. she makes the best faces and makes me laugh all through the day
leo: our brown-eyed boy is drooling like crazy these day, and he loves chewing on his hands. he is so happy and content. i am so grateful he has finally settled into our family