Surprises

After 10 years, my husband still has the ability to surprise me.

My VISA didn't come. After waiting and peeking out the window every time I heard the sound of an engine that could be the UPS truck, it never arrived. I had to call the airline and change my flight to this coming Friday. I'm still hoping and praying that it will come as Friday is the airline's last flight to London for the season.

My husband did come. Thursday night, after my house was spotlessly clean, thanks to my mom and my two aunts, exhausted, I sat down to check my email (again, just in case the consulate sent me an email saying my VISA/passport was on its way). To my surprise there was an email from my husband with a flight itinerary attached and a question asking, "Can you pick me up around 6pm? Want Papa Murphy's for supper?"

WHAT?!!

Since it was a three-day weekend in the UK, he decided to find a cheap, last minute flight and come home for the weekend. What a guy! So the girls and I picked him up from the airport Friday night and drove to Papa Murphy's to get our take-n-bake pizza for supper that evening. We were all so excited to see him and we had a fun weekend together. The picture is of Will and Annie standing next to the giraffes at the zoo on Saturday.
Sadly, we dropped him off at the airport this evening and it absolutely broke my heart when Annie kept crying, "Dada! Dada!" as we drove off :(
If it's meant to be, my passport/visa will arrive this week. If it doesn't, then I guess we'll come up with a new plan for the fall. We're praying for God to lead the way and for us to be attentive to His leading!

Sometimes

This blog post is inspired by Kristen over at We are That Family!

Sometimes I let Chloe watch a movie for her rest time just so she won't nap during the day and go to bed at 7:30 instead.

Sometimes I make cookies just so I can eat the dough.

Sometimes I pretend not to hear Annie in the middle of the night in the hopes that she'll just fall back asleep.

Sometimes I watch an episode of Glee while doing the dishes or folding laundry (in fact, that was me last night).

Sometimes I wait until the kids are in bed (or out of sight) and sneak in a piece of chocolate just so I don't have to share.

Sometimes, after playdates, I thank God for my kids and am glad I don't have to deal with "those other" children.

Sometimes I eat cereal for supper, especially if the husband is not around.

Sometimes I roam around Target by myself just because it's nice going at my own pace and getting to the checkout counter with nothing opened!

Sometimes I don't answer the door if there's a salesperson waiting to chat. Lesson learned: I'm a sucker.

Sometimes I feel like a great mom who has it all together and sometimes I feel like a complete failure!

Anyone else have anything to confess?

Freakin' Out

Can I just be completely honest? Well, yes, I can because this is my blog.

I am freaking out.

Why you ask? Because of this:



and



This is what our closets look like as of yesterday.

And now we have to find somewhere to deposit this:

My husband's flight leaves for England tomorrow at 4pm and he starts his new job in London on Monday. The girls and I will still be here, at our house in MN, awaiting my spouse visa approval and praying in faith that we will get to arrive in the UK on August 27th, a week later than Will. Once Will gets to London, he has appointments and viewings set up so that we can find a place to rent/live.

The only things we have left in our closets is what I'll be transferring into suitcases when the time comes.

The idea of all of the unknown (not knowing when my visa will arrive, having no place to live, not having any friends close by, still needing to register the girls as British, getting Chloe set up for preschool, etc.) and grieving the comfort of the known (house, friends, knowing the family/kid-friendly places in our area) is causing me to freak out a bit. Well, kind of a lot.

Thankfully when it feels as if my world and my head are spinning, I can hold on to the truth found in Philippians 4 verses 4 - 7:

"Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."

Just because something is difficult doesn't mean it will not worth the effort. I'm going to keep praying and giving my fears to the Lord and He will bless me by listening and understanding. Moving my family across an ocean and six time zones is not easy [the packing itself is very tiring]. But just because something is not easy doesn't mean it shouldn't be done. So, here we go! England, here we come!

Nana's Almond Tarts

During our trip to England, one of the highlights for me included my baking lesson with Will's Nana. She makes these delicious and highly addictive almond tarts that I just had to know how to re-create! Since then, Chloe and I have made them in our kitchen and for your pleasure, I will share the recipe.

Step One: Recruit a cute helper to help you measure, dump and stir














Step Two: Make a simple shortbread crust
* 6 ounces of flour
* 3 ounces of vegetable lard or margerine
* water
Mix the flour and marg. together until it looks crumbly. Add water by the tablespoon until it gets to the consistency of dough (or in my amateur case: like play dough)

Step Three: Roll and cut out the dough
* Lightly flour a hard work surface and roll the dough out flat until it is thin (between 1/8" and 1/4")
















* Use a cookie cutter or the top of a glass to make circular shapes
* Gently place the cut-out circles into a muffin tin

Step Four: Make the almond filling
* in a small mixing bowl, stir/whisk/beat with a mixer one egg white until it's stiff with 2 ounces of sugar, 2 ounces of ground almonds and 1 tsp of almond essence.
















Step Five: Fill the tarts
* put about a 1/2tsp of jam (any flavor you want) on top of the tart inside the muffin tin
* put a heaping tsp of the almond mix on the top





















Step Six: Put a thin cross of pastry across the top
















Step Seven: Bake at 350 degrees (or as Nana says, "a moderately hot oven") until set and lightly brown (about 12 minutes)
















Step Eight: Take out and enjoy!!






















Four generation of Yates' can't be wrong: these almond tarts are tasty!!

Fun Story

We had been planning a trip to England for a couple of months in honor of my mother-in-law's 60th birthday this June. Fortunately, she had no idea what we planning, because it almost didn't happen. So, here's a fun story for you.

As a backstory, Will needed to renew his British passport as his current one expired in May. So mid-April, he filled out all the documentation, paid the renewal fee and sent it off. At that point the processing time for a renewal passport was about 3-4 weeks. Shortly after he sent off his renewal, we purchased airline tickets for June 24, arriving at Gatwick the morning of the 25th with the intention of surprising his mother for her birthday. We told nobody for fear that someone might accidentally write something on my facebook wall in the likes of, "Travel safely!" or, "Have a great trip - hope she's surprised!" which of course my mother-in-law would see and the surprise would be spoiled.
Two weeks before our departure date, Will's passport had still not arrived. Feeling a bit anxious, he called the passport renewal helpline to see what was happening. For some unknown reason, the consulate was inundated with passport applications; they were receiving about 300 applications per day!! With such a high volume, they couldn't keep up with the mounting paperwork and processing times had drastically increased. The man he spoke with that day said that if it hadn't arrived in a week, to call back again.
The Monday prior to our departure date, it still hadn't arrived. The person he spoke with this time told him it was in one of the first stages of processing and the chances of it being ready and in our hands for Friday morning were nil. Feeling extremely discouraged and disappointed, we realized that we simply couldn't go and our grand plans of celebrating with my mother-in-law wouldn't happen. In fact I think I said something along the lines of, "Not even a miracle of God could make this happen. It's not even in the realm of possibility."
Thursday, June 23rd at 9:15am Will called the consulate/British passport helpline for one final attempt to see if there was any way his passport would arrive by tomorrow before calling the airline to cancel our flights. Before you can speak to a human, they take your credit card details and charge you what is equivalent to $1.50/minute. The woman who was taking his details said, "Well, this is strange. For some reason my system shut down and isn't working right now. Try calling back in a little bit," or something on those lines. So he tried to call again and couldn't get through. He waited a few minutes and tried again but this time I beeped through on the other phone line.
Meanwhile at about 9:20am there was a knock on our door. I opened the door and see a UPS man standing in his brown uniform. He asked me to sign his little machine w/ the fake pencil. I stared in disbelief. Could this be what I think it is? Impossible. I shut the door and tore open the package. It contained two burgundy passports - an old one and a new one - date of process June 22, yesterday. We needed more than a miracle, and it happened!!! So, the day before our flight was scheduled to leave, the much-needed and prayed for passport arrived. Chloe and I squealed with delight and danced around the living room, rejoicing! GOD did it!!! Outside the realm of human possibility is not outside the realm of God's possibilities.


Oh, and it gets better. A friend of mine had a bunch of family coming into town for the 4th of July holiday and they couldn't afford to rent a hotel room for a week. Guess whose house will be vacant for that whole week? OURS! Prayer answered for us and them! We had folks staying at our house while we were out and when we came back, it was way cleaner than we had left it! Blessings abundant! Isn't God cool?

one thousand gifts

The past two months have been a new kind of beauty journey. I've been on a beauty hunt. Through reading a book called One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp, I have been challenged to name one thousand blessings; to count the tangible grace of God toward me. What has this hunt for grace and beauty done in me? It has me completely undone.

Breakthroughs, breakdowns, palms open, knees bent, heart bowed. Humbled beyond measure.

My sense of entitlement has surfaced. The belief in my heart of all the things I have deserved, therefore not received with thankfulness, are staring at me straight in the face. "I deserve to have perfectly behaved children." "I deserve to take a hot shower a couple times a week." "I deserve to have a moment's peace and quiet for just a few stinking minutes a day so please, just leave me alone!" Sometimes the entitlement speaks so softly, I can't even hear it. Other times I face it with tight fists and clenched jaw and react in anger.

Eucharisteo. Thanksgiving. In Jesus' final hours, what does He count as important? A thanksgiving meal with his friends.

"He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, 'This is my body, which is given for you. Do this to remember me.'" Luke 22:19, emphasis added

Realizing that in everything, even betrayal by one of your closest friends, even the march to death, even the blood-stained rags, in everything, we must choose to give thanks. To receive everything God has to offer. Especially when we don't understand it. Especially when the temptation to hold onto anxiety is more comforting than the obedience of counting it as blessing.
What does a life of Eucharisteo, thanksgiving, look like for me?

1. teeny tiny (absolutely edible) baby toes
2. giggles in the shower while I wash a toddler
3. sparkly blue baby eyes smiling at me
9. hot tea with the right amount of milk and sugar
14. freshly laminated paper, hot off the press
15. cheeks flushed from afternoon rest time
18. worms
23. early morning snuggles in the quiet dark
28. warm bellies on a cold, rainy day
35. hearing the word "mama" being called out for the first time
36. green grass made greener by fresh rain
39. frustration and sadness over a job offered and then retracted
40. God's grace when I don't understand
50. chocolate chip cookie dough
58. dry spell/discontentment about being a stay at home mom disappearing! Thank You, God!
61. feeling humbled that God picked me to be a mother
64. seeing the water from the lake glitter and glisten
71. blooming lilacs making the world smell so good
73. sisters happily reading books together
78. two little 3 year-olds chasing a butterfly through the grass
85. spoken words from a stranger "Keep on being a good mom."
91. the toystore!
96. Chloe making the caterpillar "feel better" by giving it a push on the swing
100. first trip to the beach
103. cottonwood trees littering the world, making it feel as if we are living in a warm snow globe
107. Chloe finally eating vegetables!!!
109. learning how to pray with eyes wide open

I'm counting the blessings, one by one, recognizing God's providence in everything. I'm capturing these tiny moments throughout the day and thanking God for such a wonderful, joy-filled life. What I used to see as mundane, what I longed to escape, I now relish and receive with open palm of gratefulness.

"We only enter into the full life if our faith gives thanks." A. Voskamp, pg. 39

The only way to have a faith that saves is to give thanks for all He has given.

"to give thanks is an action and rejoice is a verb and these are not mere pulsing emotions. While I may not always feel joy, God asks me to give thanks in all things, because He knows that the feeling of joy begins in the action of thanksgiving." pg. 176

So why am I counting these gifts, all the way to one thousand? Because it is changing me and it's changing my perspective of God's goodness toward me. I'm learning how to trust Him more deeply and to love Him more fully.

I asked my husband last night if he has noticed any change in me and he said, "You seem more content."

Yes, I am. I'm receiving all the good gifts from the greatest Giver with open hand.

Thank you, Summer

We never thought it would arrive. Spring forgot to come. We went from freezing, cold, snowflake-y winter, to hot, humid, sticky summer.
But, summer IS here! In full force.
And we are so thankful!!
Here are a few things we've been up to the past two weeks:

Chloe had her last day of gymnastics. Here she is receiving her certificate standing next to her coach.

I took Chloe on a date to see Pinkalicious, the musical! Wow, it was so much fun. (For those of you who don't know, Pinkalicious is a book written by Elizabeth Kann and Victoria Kann and it's about a little girl who is obsessed with the color pink. She eats so many pink cupcakes, she actually turns pink!).

We have been going on a lot of walks to play at the various parks in our neighborhood. Chloe has been biking everywhere and she's really getting fast!! Here's a picture of Daddy and Annie on one of our walks.

I took the girls to the zoo! Annie loved the bears and the giraffes and Chloe liked climbing on things :)

Our last stop before leaving was to take a ride on the golden horses!

Chloe has been busy climbing the tree in our front yard

And today, we spent the morning at the beach! With a heat index of 100, we decided to head out early and spend the morning at the playground next to the lake. Annie LOVES to swing.

She wasn't too sure about the sand, but she eventually got up the courage to have a play in it.

Chloe would've spent the entire day (or week) in the water!

Annie found her favorite spot at the beach: in the chair!

Thank you, Summer. You have been missed.