Encouragement

 Yesterday I had to go into Anchorage for the day to attend a very difficult meeting.  I was exhausted by the end of the day and was almost home when I drove past the gravel pit behind our house and saw this.  It is a message stamped into the snow by Josiah and it says, "I love u mom  from J.C."  It was the most encouraging blessing I could have received at that moment.  I cried and couldn't wait to squeeze him and thank him for expressing his thoughts in this way.  (And now would be a really great time to have a decent camera.  My iphone camera didn't quite cut it...)

Fun at Alyeska! (a.k.a: Vacation In a Day)

Today was Anna's FIRST day down-hill skiing.  She's a cross-country pro, and after one day on the slopes, she's a great down-hill skier as well.  We were all very impressed with the amazing progress she made in one day.  Watch out!  She's a daredevil!

Today was Josiah's first day down-hill skiing on groomed trails.  Wowzers.  He's got the hang of it, showing off taking jumps and double-black diamond runs.

The ride to Girdwood was fun.  We have a dvd player in our new Suburban and I don't let the kids watch it running errands around town.  This morning they watched a full length movie to start the vacation-in-a-day.

Today was Isaac's first day on groomed trails.  He's a snowboarder through-and-through and was waaaayyyy too brave for my nerves.  He's a natural and enjoyed the "runs at the top" the best. 

Anna was polite enough not to tell me directly, but I got the feeling she liked skiing with Daddy best.  We tag-teamed it and Jeremy and I both got some good runs in, he on a board and I on skis.

Ryley's been snowboarding for quite a few years, but never on any groomed trails.  I do believe he is now officially spoiled.  He's a great snowboarder who makes it look super easy!

Coke Bro Film's 2012 Blooper Reel

New Garage

Everyone has been helping with the garage project on our property.  Jeremy got a lot done over his Christmas break and it is almost fully enclosed.  This week the building lumber package for the house will be delivered to the garage and he'll start framing!

 We're up on the second floor of the garage, which will be the bonus room.  We're thinking about using it for a band room so the electric guitar and full drum set can be a little more, uummm, removed from the rest of the house.

 Anna, pulling nails.  The small building
behind her is the generator shed.  We're
thankful to have the generator, as we still
don't have electricity.

                                          My new-to-us Suburban, waiting for its new home.

                                     .The (dark and blurry) view from the second floor.

Joey Charlos

Josiah has found an intriguing new way to study.

Josiah has been enjoying taking some online classes this school year.

Anna found a willing student!

One day while grocery shopping at Fred Meyer, Josiah heard some snoring, peeked around the end of the aisle, and found this guy taking a catnap on a display recliner after enjoying a snack from the deli.  Ever the quick-thinker, Josiah loudly whispered, "Mom!  Quick!  Give me your phone.  I gotta get a picture of this guy."   We were sure our stifled snickering would wake him, but we were wrong.  It wasn't until an employee shook him that he awoke from his sweet slumber.

Isaac, Isaac...

Isaac and his good buddy Jaron got creative while wrapping a birthday present for a mutual friend.  (Boys are so gross...)  As the "story" goes, the recipient of the gift was the victim of Isaac's multitasking.  He never should have been wrapping the present while on the toilet.  (The melted chocolate and chopped peanuts looked quite convincing.)

Isaac and Jaron pose while bathing Dave, Isaac's guinea pig.

Isaac has been enjoying a new book he got for Christmas.

Ryley's Guitar

 Ryley bought his own first guitar just before Christmas!  He's been saving for one for quite a while and it was so much fun to go the music store together as a family when he picked it out.  A little over a week later, Ryley was able to use it to help lead worship at church.  He and Josiah were so blessed to be able to participate in Youth Sunday, which will occur several more times this year.
Up until he bought his own, Ryley has been using Jeremy's guitar (which Jeremy bought himself when he was 14).  We hope Ryley's lasts as long as his dad's!

He's been enjoying teaching Isaac some guitar chords.

Anna Elise

 Anna is 9 and is becoming a very busy young lady.  She has found a bosom friend in the last year and they have been making many memories and having a blast together.  Kailee and Anna are quite alike some ways and are drastically different in others.  I pray that their precious friendship lasts for a lifetime!

Kailee and Anna dressed up to attend a concert that Kayla, Anna's violin teacher, performed in at Christmastime.

Anna is LOVING and excelling in violin.  She has the best teacher ever, and just before Christmas she had her "graduation" as she finished Suzuki Book 1 and moved on to Book 2.  Kayla had a fun lesson planned for her, which included Anna teaching each family member (and some friends!) how to play a measure of any song of her choice.  Wow, was that entertaining!  Kayla presented her with a certificate and some lovely violin-related gifts.

Kailee and Anna have begun a girls' Bible study.  They meet twice/month and currently there are about 6 girls in attendance.  Kailee's mom and I oversee it, but the girls do ALL of the planning themselves.  They completely lead the study together and include an activity and a snack, along with the study straight from the Bible, in the two hour meeting.

They decided on calling it, "You With Jesus".

Here they are at our first planning meeting at Kaladi's coffee shop.

Anna's Recital

Just before Christmas Anna was invited to participate in a recital.  She was very nervous but did so well and her confidence was boosted by doing something hard and succeeding!

Our friend Nate came to watch Anna perform!

Mad Scientist

I took Anna to the doctor the other day and he ordered some lab work.  Anna and I took the specimen to the building, went through the door marked "laboratory", dropped it off, and went home.  When the guys got back later, Anna told daddy we had to drop off something for the scientist to look at.  I envision her visualizing a mad scientist with wild hair in his lab analyzing her urine.  She's been asking if the scientist has called yet to discuss the results.

Christmas 2012

One of the Christmas presents I gave Jeremy was a blog book.  It is awesome!  It is our entire blog in book form, with a hard cover, complete with pictures and posts.  I'm so excited for this resource and it inspires me to begin blogging again.   We love that we have a sort of family journal that we can hold in our hands and turn the pages.  Last night, on Christmas, the kids took turns picking out certain posts to read aloud to everyone...a walk down Memory Lane.

A favorite Christmas tradition is to give the kids new jammies that they open on Christmas Eve.

Each year the kids draw names among themselves. This year was different, though, because since they worked this summer, everyone had their own money with which to shop!

Josiah got Anna a Fur Real Pet.

Isaac got Ryley a cable for his guitar/amp and a hat (not shown).

Ryley got Isaac a Nerf gun and table-top pinball game.

Anna got Josiah a North Face Hoodie.

One of Anna's favorite presents is her Own! Pink! Bb gun!

This was the first Christmas that the kids had their very own, hard-earned money to spend on others.  It made for an incredibly special time for our family.  I loved hearing them discuss how excited they were for someone to open a present and be so surprised.  They didn't focus on what was under the tree for them.  Each person was able to experience the full joy of giving and receiving.  It seemed to be a much richer experience.

And LOOK!  They got each of us some COOL presents!  They all did seriously awesome in this regard.  They bargain-hunted, coupon-clipped and placed bids to get exactly what they'd chosen for us, even buying not-too-matchy sweatshirts for mom and dad.

The Latest Coke Bro Film

It's been an emotional day full of roller-coaster-like ups and downs but I'm so glad I got to end it in such deep laughter!  I love my kids.  I love my life.

Click this link to watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJdH1lgnQ9w

Is He Calling You?

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this:  to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."  James 1:27

Recently, God has called our family to specifically "look after orphans" by bringing some of them into our family.  This is only one way we believers can honor His Word regarding orphans (and widows, and the needy, and the unbeliever...).  Over the years our family has participated in this instruction from the Bible in various ways.

The Creator's beauty and creativity can be seen in the way He works through His people to care for those in need of His love.

Much like a call to the mission field, God has called us to adopt.  Much like missionaries called to the field, we cannot do this alone.

Has God placed this type of ministry on your heart?  Are you unsure of how to jump in and be a part of His movement in the area of orphan care?  


As we answer His call for our family, we need help.  Sadly, many kinds of adoptions are staggeringly expensive.  The astronomical price of adopting from Ethiopia has been the biggest hurdle I'm working on overcoming.  Our adoption(s) will cost roughly $30,000.

We believe God doesn't ask us to do the impossible...alone.  The mission we are on looks impossible for us and we are so excited to see how the Lord is going to enable us to do this.

Can we be so bold as to ask you to consider helping Him use our family?  We are seeking people who can participate in one (or more!) of three areas:

1.  Much prayer is needed.  Will you pray for our project?  My heart quickens as I push away fear of the finances required.

2.  Much creativity is needed.  Do you have any ideas on ways we can pull these funds together?

3.  Much funding is needed.  Are you in a position to financially support our project?

Asking for any kind of help is never easy; no one likes to do it!  I believe God is working on building faith in us and humbling us through this journey.

If after prayerful consideration you find yourself answering "yes!" to any of the above, please send us an email letting us know!  jsand4kids@yahoo.com

We are excited as we anticipate sharing the amazing things God does in this next stage of our lives.

Until the end of my life becomes the beginning of my life I sit at His feet, busily worshipping by serving.

"Whatever you've done to the least of these you've done unto Me."

God has asked our family if we're willing to open our hearts and lives to some of His children who desperately need love and physical and spiritual nourishment from a family who will be theirs forever.

  We have said, "yes".


                                                                                                                                                 

Over the last few months we have begun the process of adopting two children from Ethiopia.  Stand by for further updates...

Kale Smoothies=yum!

The last time I was at Costco I grabbed a big bag of organic baby kale.  It's pre-washed and, like everything at Costco, comes in bulk.  I don't love cooked kale, but I figured I'd find a way to use it.  I love that it's high in iron, calcium, vitamins K, A, C, fiber, etc...
So I've been experimenting with various smoothies in our Vitamix.  Our favorite so far:

1/2 cup (or so) frozen Alaskan wild blueberries ;-)
1 organic apple
1 organic carrot
1-2  organic banana(s)
1 kiwi
2 Tbsp flax oil
1 large handful of kale
About 1/4 cup water
A sprinkling of stevia (if needed)

Although I've been making and drinking them daily, I needed to preserve the kale, as I wasn't using it fast enough.  Typically kale is blanched before freezing.  For various reasons, I didn't want to blanch it so I scoured the Internet for information on freezing without blanching.  With the Internet, perseverance pays off; if you look long and hard enough, eventually you'll find what you want to read. ;-)  I read that it's not necessary to blanch so I tried freezing it in a pillowcase (advice from the old days).  It's worked really well, although I haven't steamed it, as we use it raw in the smoothies.

Word Nerd

I learned long ago what a word nerd I am.  Writing is a fun hobby for me and as I look back over years of journaling, I realize that I often use a $50 word where a $5 word would suffice.  Recently as I set a new goal in my writing,  I enjoyed breaking the very goal I was attempting to set.  I love irony.

"I should use acceptable, abbreviated words where appropriate and applicable.  (Alliteration is an appreciated appliance.)"


Looking back over what I'd written with fondness and satisfaction, I noticed a pattern.  Almost every word beginning with an "a" has twin second and third letters.  AHA!  Now I realize that I'm not only a word nerd, but a number nerd as well!  Balance is beautiful.