Fast Forward to Thanksgiving

I'm not joking when I tell you life has flown by. If you look at my summer post and see me complaining about summer, well fall and winter have only flown by faster. Life has been good, God ultimately has been good.
Brace yourself as you fast forward through the life of the three Aderholds over the past month.

Let's rewind to early last month. Cousin M turned the fantabulous 1! We had lots of fun celebrating her.

 Great Grandma with five of her great grand-kids with two more on the way in 2013!

 J made some cookies, unfortunately they didn't come out that good, but we had fun together and there is always next time.

 Our favorite boy cousins came over and we had a fun cousin night while the mommy's chit chatted. We had a little electricity shortage and had to play by candle light for bit, it only made our night all the more exciting.

 And this is us in our norm. J and K were sleeping shirtless during our 85 degree autumn months here in South Cali. The boy's wanted to sleep "just like Papa" they said. Kaleb also read his very first book, he was a very proud student.




The boy's went bowling for the first time ever! (I love experiencing the first's with my boys). They had a great time with our friend Josh. I even saw a little of their competitive side which they probably got from their mother.

I love the little friendships they're developing so young and I pray these great people stay in our lives for a long time.


Mommy had a special night thrown in the mix celebrating special Kent for his Bday. We went to California Disney for dinner and watched the spectacular water show.....incredible.

I swear I just posted a post about starting soccer......well now it's ending. K actually did better at the beginning of the season than he did in the later half. I have no clue as to why, he was much more excited and passionate about soccer and made some really good plays at first. Towards the end he was over it made more efforts to socialize than anything else. These are a few pics from his last game and his pizza party.

 This man is so special to K's life.....I couldn't imagine what my son would be like without his Papa.

 His little friends who encouraged one another on the soccer field, and two of the best soccer players out there.

 Soccer trophy! Note how excited he is? He was really over the pictures by this time.

 One miraculous Saturday mommy had off from work we headed 

to Home Depot for mommy's craft supplies and the boy's had a 

great time putting some of their own projects together.

J was so proud of himself, having used a "scwewdwiver" to put his project together. He rushed home to tell Papa he could help him fix things around the house now! It was precious.

Our friend John who has been such a blessing has introduced us to new friends who the boy's absolutely love. This is the Sweeton Ranch, and the boy's had a ton of fun being boys and farmers. J had another great experience with horses and ponies.

 What a blessing this home is. God is so good to answer prayers.
He is even so good to give us things that are much greater than we could have imagined or prayed for.
He is a faithful God who is perfect in His timing. (I've got to remember this!!)

We had an additional member of the family visiting with us at our annual Bass Pro Shop, cousin Eli came to visit and he was the best sport. Note how calm and cooperative he is.

 J decided to write Lord knows what to Santa.......even though he knows Jesus brings us gifts at Christmas time.

 And toy's.....what would I have to bribe my boys to smile with if we didn't have these fun toys to play with after.

The next week the boys and I along with John and some of his out of town family were able to go to Disneyland. Disneyland the week of Thanksgiving was packed but not nearly as bad as I would have expected. We had yet, another great time!

 These boys are having a serious conversation, about what? I have no clue.

 If you ever think juice boxes are a child's pleasure, think twice.

Main Street at night on a crowded evening. I love Disneyland Christmas decorations!

 

Stay tuned for post from Thanksgiving till now.....life is still on fast forward!

Sawdust factory

We had a great time at the Sawdust factory today! The boys and I discovered this fun craft place two years ago, and find it a treat to visit every so often.

Heidi is the shop owner who is sweet and kind, she always greets us with a friendly welcome.

And as usual, we leave with beautiful creations to decorate our house with.

Blessed Me

So this is what results of a broken PC, and only an iPad to blog off of. It's kinda annoying. Anyhow, my post titled "blessed me" doesn't come off so "blessed" with me complaining (Forgive me God).

Over the past week or so I've been pondering on how blessed I am. I'm blessed to a point that I kinda feel guilty. Not that I sport the name brand purses or the latest fashion trends. But I have a place to call home (even if it's living with my parents), an income and food on the table (often of which I go out to pay for)-which many today consider blessed.

So many people go without having gone on a vacation.....EVER, they go without a shopping spree in the past five years. Some people stress thinking of where the next check for rent will come from or how much money is in their bank account.

Fortunately, and only by the grace of God, I don't have those worries. That doesn't make me any better than those that do, it just makes me stop and realize, I am blessed. And instead of complaining about a broken PC or online shopping for new clothing for my kids (which I often do), I need to stop and be thankful for the things I've been blessed with. I can't carry on in life thinking it's owed to me because I worked hard, or because I earned it. For the only thing I'm entitled to is my sinful nature, but by GOD's Grace I have been saved and given the opportunity to chose life over sin.

So just an encouragement, when you don't have those shoes to complete that perfect outfit, or if you don't have the latest tech gadget, stop and realize, you are far more blessed than many others. I encourage you to bless another with a bit of what you've been blessed with.

In reality, we need nothing more than what God mercifully gives
"My Grace is sufficient for you"
1 Corinthians 12:9
That alone, makes me abundantly blessed.

Nurturing my seed

"I wish he didn't leave, I just wish he'd come home to be a family again" are the quotes of my little boy who's dad left nearly two and half years ago. What do you say to that? How do you respond?
It's the struggle I had as a hurt mom to answer as truthful, honest and lovingly as I could.

I explained things happen, things we don't want to happen, things happen for reasons that only God knows.
I held him as I swallowed my tears saying "God say's in His word 'My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, yet as the heavens are higher than the earth so are the plans God has for us." (Is 55:8-9)

You can't explain hurt, pain or betrayal to a five year old. You can't explain why sin exist and why it pains so many. For a short time after the boy's dad left I couldn't even explain it to myself, there was no explanation. But as my mom would say holding me in a puddle of tears "God has a plan".

Ever thought that's not good enough? I did. It doesn't take the pain away, it doesn't make things better right there and then, so how would it be healing to my brokenhearted son?

Over time I've realized my job as his mother is not to band aid the wounds of life.  It's not to shelter him from the realities of this world. My job as his mother is to guide, direct, influence, lead by example and encourage the ways of truth through love and grace. God did that with me, He didn't shelter me from a broken heart, He ALLOWED me to experience pain. And as I pained He cradled me in His arms just as I did with K today. And in that broken season I saw Him. He directed me to His word, He influenced through my loving family and friends and I saw Him through grace and love.

Lately I've witnessed a lot of grief, pain, hurt and heartache. Today I held it (pain) in my arms absent of any consoling words other than pure scripture. I didn't expect the verse to immediately change K's emotions, It was meant to nurture a seed.  A seed that I have planted to show my son that no matter the defeat of hurt, pain, sorrow or failure, God is truth. Truth is our foundation for living. It is is eternal and never changing. If my son can believe in that, then I'm doing my job in giving him the tools needed to conquer the pains and suffering of this world. And in that he will be a conqueror.

Child of mine,
The pain of Daddy leaving will never go away, you will always want him to come home as any child would. But don't give up hope in your eternal father who never abandons us, He never leaves us nor forsakes us. Know that He is with you always and He will carry you through the rough waters of life. Never give up on truth, learn it and hide it in your heart so when words escape you, you can open your heart and words of hope will pour out. Love, Mommy

My promise to you

"Mahalo"

What do you say when you're presented with a great opportunity to go to Hawaii?
You say "Mahalo" (Thank you in Hawaiian) and accept the offer.

That's just what me and boy's did and in a matter of just weeks, we were on our way to beautiful O'ahu Hawaii. Or "ha-wa-hoo" as J calls it.

We headed early Sunday morning and the boy's were well entertained (Thanks Kent).
The flight was 5 hours and 30 min and I wasn't quite sure how they'd tolerate small quarters for that long, we survived!

When we arrived to Hawaii, the boy's received the lei's! I was so excited for them (and me)!

Soon after, we got our car and headed to the wonderful and highly anticipated Aulani Disney Resort. There really aren't words to describe this place, you can note the fun we had through our pictures to show you just how wonderful this place was. I was really impressed that Disney catered to family and children with activities and all the amenities.  It definitely made me want to go back.

 

This was the amazing view from our room! It was such a refreshing feeling to wake up to such a beautiful view. Made me awe God even more.

This was the fun we had in our lagoon, it was beautiful warm blue ocean water! The boy's are in awe looking at all the exciting things below.
There were water slides, jungle gyms, river pool, beach pools, spa's and I could go on and on....we used our first two days to discover the place. 

 K-loved the water slides! He went down numerous times and could have gone a whole bunch more if I'd of let him. I wasn't to fond of the enclosed tunnel slide (note my face). And well J, he came down booty first on his tummy cause he twisted on his way down, he didn't care to go down that slide again.

 The other water slide was with an inner-tube. This was a blast!!! Note K's smile.

 The rest of that day I just enjoyed watching my boy's being boys and loving brothers. My heart melts seeing K help his little "brudder" with his goggles. "Brudderly love".

 Hawaii is 3 hours behind California time, so the boy's were up early! The first morning there we decided to take a walk, we just found more beauty and more fun. I love the serene picture of a vacant beach.

 We climbed rocks, played at the beach, wrote in the sand and just took it all in. I love K's picture, he's looking out onto the sea, just pondering.  (I love a lot of pictures, I know)
These clouds are amazing!

That evening we went to our first REAL Luau.

 I was so blessed with many compliments on how handsome my little men looked. And I do have to admit, they did look quite handsome.

 We saw the incredible man climb the palm tree to collect coconuts, then we saw them cut it open, it was all really pretty amazing. We're so customary to utensils and tools of today that it's hard to imagine that people at one time had to do this.

 We watched some beautiful ladies shake their hips and witnessed a beautiful sunset.

We took pictures and did the typical tourist things. I love the boy's profiles as they watch the show. The show went a little long, it went till about midnight California time, so we left a few minutes early and the boy's were pretty much passed out by that time.

The next day I woke up and took in this beautiful view.

 Since I have never been to Hawaii I wanted to see all the tourist sites, so our tour guide Kent was so wonderful at pre-booking our day's and getting us to the places that were well known.

That day we had plans to go to Pearl Harbor and see the memorial of the Arizona ship.
 So in the car we got and off we went!

 This was such a beautiful memorial.
On our way to the memorial I was educating the boy's about what we were about to see (the wonderful part about homeschooling is it's done anywhere and/or everywhere). I went on to explain that because of sin in the world we have wars, wars are where soldiers and people fight with weapons. I went on to explain that there was an attack on America from a country named Japan. Shortly after, as we reviewed I asked the boy's about Japan and J said matter of factly "Mommy, we know Japan, that's where Jessie was going to go in Toy Story 2!!" Just so you all know, cartoons can educate our kids in one way or another. That was a precious laughable moment that I'll always remember.

The boy's got toy jet souvenirs and never put them down.

We toured through a submarine and got the real claustrophobic feeling most navy men probably get. We got some silliness out of us also while we were down there.

 My favorite picture is Kent in the fumbled headphone set picture.

 

That day didn't stop there. We headed to Waikiki next.

 Blue beautiful water, it was surreal! Growing up in California, this is unheard of.

 Family picture with Diamond head behind us.

OK, I don't surf, I probably couldn't even if I tried, so pardon me for not know who this man is. But now I do, and we took a picture with him so I remember.

Part of Disney's awesomeness of catering to family and kids was the bonfire story telling at night. We lounged on chairs and listened. The boy's again, didn't make it.

I have to give a lot of credit to my little men J and K, they tolerated a lot of hustle and bustle with vacationing especially with time change.

That next morning our itinerary was planned. We had our character breakfast with Mickey, Minnie and Goofy. What I loved about this was that they actually interacted with us, they didn't just make an appearance. The boy's were hesitant but somewhat warmed up to them.

 After breakfast, we headed off to the Dole Plantation (yummy!) and North Shore.

 The view from the plantation was beautiful! It was a little overcast that day so this picture doesn't even capture it's full beauty.

 Matsumoto's shaved ice was a must, and we enjoyed it till there was a party foul and our cups fell over. Enough was ingested to enjoy though.

 Again, it was overcast that day but still warm enough to enjoy the beach, its Hawaii! I enjoyed watching my boy's build sand castles and play in the sand. They were over the picture taking so that's why I'm posing solo in my North Shore pic (party poopers!).

The sunset that night was the prettiest ever! This picture doesn't even do it justice. Again, it puts me at awe of how wonderful my creator is.

  That evening we enjoyed a little more of the resort and then when we started to dwindle in energy we headed to our last dinner, our "sancy" (fancy) dinner.

 Dinner was scrumptious, especially cause the chief made me something I was craving that wasn't on the menu. And......I had the best company on the whole island!

And again, the boy's didn't quite make it, but they were super sports trucking along with us. And yes, J is a sleep bent over on the chair.

That next morning we had to say goodbye to paradise, and our "2nd home" as the boy's would like to call it.

 Between our Cabo and Hawaii vacations this year my little men have become quite the travelers, knowing the routine of flying and lugging luggage around. I applaud them for being my good little traveling buddies. I would never want to enjoy any experience without them.

Happy little blessed boys is what God's granted me with and I treasure them.

Hawaii 2012 was an amazing trip!

Kent, we couldn't have done it without you and I know I wouldn't have survived without all your help. A big "Mahalo" and Thank you to you!

"Aloha and Mahalo Hawaii! Till we meet again, thank you for an amazing experience and a glimpse of the what heaven has in store for us."