The Berry Patch

Last weekend, we took a short 20 minute drive north to The Berry Patch to pick our own strawberries.  The strawberries were ripe and ready to be picked!  Trigg loved finding the bright red surprises under the green leaves of the strawberry plants.

 He like eating the strawberries even more than finding them!

 Heather grabbed a carton and started filling it up too!

 Trigg was our "quality control" and tasted, what seemed like, every 7th strawberry to make sure they were up to his standards!

 ...oh so good!  Trigg had the evidence all over his face!

 We took a long stroll to the raspberry patch, but they aren't ready to be picked yet.

 We had a ton of fun at The Berry Patch, we picked strawberries and for snap peas!

We are already planning our return trip in late July to pick blueberries!

Month in Review

We are in full swing of summer and having lots of fun!  We are still searching for our new house and making the most out of our time living in the basement in Ankeny!  Trigg found a cowboy hat and was running around the house as a cowboy should!

Trigg also found a chair in the basement that is just his size...complete with a foot stool!

 Trigg has been using more utilizes and enjoys his folk and spoon...it gets a little messy in the mornings eating oatmeal.

 Trigg also got a new lawn mower and he loves it!  He pushes it around the yard as I push the big mower around.

 Hanging out with "Big Bear" down in the basement...

 ...oh "Big Bear", Trigg loves to wrestle Big Bear!

 The dudes taking care of the yard!

 The dudes and the mowers

The summer is rolling along and we are enjoying the summer days!  We've been to the pool several times and go for nightly bike rides!

Adventureland Adventure!

A few weeks ago, we met up with Heather's family for a day of thrills and spills at Adventureland!  Trigg was really excited to check out all the rides.  We got to the park when it opened at 10:00 am!

 Grandma Great was there and ready to ride the rides!

 The rest of the crew joined us and into the park we went.  First stop...the bathrooms.  The kiddo's waited patiently and smiled for a few pics!

 The Adventureland Tiger was strolling around by the front entrance...we weren't too sure what Trigg would think when he spotted that overgrown tiger...

 ...big hugs!  He thought that Tiger was the coolest thing in the park!

 We all made it into the park and snapped a big group picture!

 Our group split up, a few headed to the Gallion and others went to check out the train.  All aboard!

 Trigg loved the train and was pretty sure that it was Thomas the Train pulling us through the park!

 Trigg and I took a spin on the teacups...

 ...and then Trigg and Toby took the ladybugs for a spin.

 The green ladybug was so fun that they tried a red ladybug...just as fun!

 Next stop...the big rigs!

 Then Trigg, Gracie and Toby drove the big fire truck.

 Addy and Aaron Paul rolling on the motorcycles!

 More entertaining than watching the kids on the ride was watching the adults trying to get the kids to smile as they go by!

 We took a break for lunch and then back into the park to take a spin on the big Ferris Wheel!

 Nathan and Gracie are all smiles as we go around and around!

 Around and around!  We are all smiles as we finished up our day at the park!

We finished our day after the Ferris Wheel and headed home for nap time, the rest of the crew headed back into the park for more thrills and spills.  We had a great day and even 3 weeks later Trigg still talks about the Ferris Wheel and the train ride!

Book Review: gods at war by Kyle Idleman

I just finished reading Kyle Idleman's latest book, "gods at war" subtitled "Defeating the Idols that Battle for Your Heart".  I really enjoyed this book, it was both informative, challenging and encouraging!  Kyle unpacks we are all wired to worship but we often put honor and glorify false idols in our lives instead of God.  He shows how there are false gods at war within each of us and how they battle for the place of glory and control in our lives.  Kyle does a great job of stepping back and explaining how idolatry isn't an issue - it is the issue.
Kyle breaks up his book into 4 parts: "gods at war", "the temple of pleasure", "the temple of power", and "the temple of love".
Part 1, Kyle frames out his book and really unpacks how idolatry is still a big deal.  Most of us (Christians in the United States) don't have small statues that we worship, but we do worship status, jobs, relationships, etc.  Looking at scripture God makes it very clear "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.  You shall have no other gods before me." (Ex. 20:2-3).  Kyle explains that often times, our own idols seem so normal to us, that we can't see them for what they are.  He says "The problem is that the instant something takes the place of God, the moment it becomes an end in itself rather than something to lay at God's throne, it becomes an idol."  Kyle reiterates several times, and I agree with him, that "All of us are worshipers.  Worship is hardwired in who we are.  Everyone worships."  The question then becomes "What will you worship?"
Kyle then spends the rest of the book looking at areas that can pop up as idols, areas that often are overlooked or thought of as "normal" pursuits.  Part 2: the temple of pleasure, is broken down into the god of food, the god of sex, the god of entertainment.  Part 3: the temple of power is comprised of the god of success, the god of money, the god of achievement.  Lastly, Part 4: the temple of love is made up of the god of romance, the god of family, the god of me.
Kyle does make it very clear that each of these areas aren't bad in and of themselves, the issue arises when we replace God as the center of our lives with something else: money, jobs, relationships, family, etc.  I really like how Kyle ends each chapter with reflection questions that dig a little deeper.
To sum up this book, Kyle shines a light on each of us, we all have a God-shaped hole in our hearts that can only be filled by God.  We try to stuff other things in the hole only to find that we aren't filled up, only God can fill that hole. 
Kyle uses the analogy that this is a "top button" issue. Like a dress shirt, when we put the top button through the top hole, all the other buttons are lined up correctly.  When we try and put the top button through the second hole (putting something else in God's rightful place) every other button will be off and we end up looking silly and our shirt doesn't feel right. I really enjoyed this book and I would highly recommend it!

Week (Month) in Review

So it has been a little bit of a roller coaster at our house over the past month...it's official, our house sold!  We closed on our house on May 17th...

 ...so there was a lot of packing to be done!  Trigg was a big help with packing and boxing up his toys!

 Trigg and I ran in the Klompen Classic together at the beginning of May, after the run, Trigg found my "running" shoes and was running around the house!

 We had some crazy weather at the beginning of the month...2 days of snow!  Trigg took advantage of the snow in May and we got to play in the snow!

 Bbrrrrrr.....it's cold!

 But the snow melted pretty quick and the temps jumped back up into the 70's, 80's and we even saw 95 degrees already!  We headed down to Water Works park to see all the blooming trees!

 Smiles for spring!

 We haven't found a new home to move into yet so in the interim, Heather's folks opened up their basement to us!  Saturday was a beautiful day, so we got outside to do some yard work.  After watering the plants, Trigg got a lesson on how to drink from a water hose!

 ...he got a few pretty good sips but mainly started laughing as soon as the water hit his lips!

 He got the hang of it in the end...

 ...but I think he ended up with more water on his shirt than what he drank...

 ...but he didn't mind, and with the temperature around 85...we didn't mind either!

Spring Races

I ran in 2 races this spring, the Grand Blue Mile and the Klompen Classic.  The Grand Blue Mile is held in conjunction with the Drake Relays, it was a very chilly afternoon to race an all out mile...

Lined up at the start...

 ...and we're off.

 ...and the finish.  My official time was 5:09!  There were a couple other faster guys from Nationwide that ran and we ended up winning the "Corporate Division"!  Click here if you want to see complete results.

 Trigg and I ran the Klompen Classic again this year.  It was kind of cold and ended up snowing the next two days on all the tulips...crazy weather!  We bundled up and had a great time!

 We're off and running!

 We both took our hats off during the middle of the race...

 ...and to the finish.  We unofficially won the "jogging stroller" division!  Click here if you want to see the full results.