Miscellaneous July pictures

Here’s a few pictures of Logan & Alexa lately :)

 
Hanging out with Mom :)

All ready for church while Daddy watches the news

We took the kids to the Hull Summerfest Parade with the rest of the Schouten family before Cousin Sophia’s birthday party ~ and although it was incredibly hot we sure had fun! :)
 
Being silly sitting with Aunt Jena & Aunt Kiley
 
Alexa had a blast picking up candy! ~ Logan standing by Aunt Bobbie - as you might notice on his face, he was a little on the warm side! :)

Helping Sophia play with her new toys! :)

Aunt Coby comes to visit :)

Alexa, Sophia, and Logan took a dip in the pool at Grandma Schouten’s :)
   
We all (minus Grandpa Schouten) went & hung out at the Van Roekel’s pool for some family time :) 
 
Alexa gave Sophia her birthday present for her first birthday (her birthday was June 22 but she was on vacation) 

Coby did a great job of getting Logan to sleep almost every night she was here :)

Thoughts on my mind & heart

Matthew 10:26-31
26"So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 27What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. 28And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Jeremiah 29:11-12
11"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you."

When life seems filled with things that don't make sense to us or things that we can't help but stop and ask "Why, Lord?" all I can do is try & remember these verses & know that no matter what happens, no matter what is put in our path, what trials we face...we have one true absolute comfort - the Lord is ALWAYS in control - not a hair shall fall from our head apart from his will - not one single hair. If you truly stop & ponder that thought how truly filled with awe are you for the Lord? Many days all we can do is get up each morning & focus on that thought - that the Lord knows the plans he has for us, regardless of our own plans - His is absolute & He is all-knowing.

As hard as it may be to focus on these truths there are many days where they are the only words that can comfort us.

These are the verses I have turned to repeatedly over the last almost 3 years...and will continue to no matter what the Lord places in my path & the paths of those I hold dear.

Alexa’s Birthday Party photos

Alexa with her cake at her party

Eating cake and having fun

Aunt Sarah, Uncle Jason, Faith & Luke gave Alexa bubbles, a purple jump rope and jacks, & magic cling coloring sheets!

Kinzie gave Alexa a large pink bouncy ball ~ Aunt Bobbie, Uncle Eric & Sophie gave her a pretty pink swimming suit

Aunt Kiley, Aunt Coby, and Uncle Kris gave Alexa a cute outfit with a pink shirt and plaid capris, a yo-yo, a pin wheel, and a pink jump rope with jacks ~ Grandma Fennema gave her a Barbie computer that lets you learn & play (it even lets you pretend to send text messages)

Those who could stay went outside to play ~ Alexa rode her bike, played with her new golf clubs from Grandpa Schouten, and all her other toys

Pretty sure its safe to say that Alexa is one spoiled little girl!     

Alexa’s 3rd Birthday!

Alexa turned 3 on Monday, June 27th! I’m still in shock that she’s already 3 years old…but eventually I’ll accept it. :) She wanted a Word World cake for her birthday but I wasn’t quite that confident that I could make one look at all decent so I asked what her next choice would be -- and she decided she wanted Curious George. So I decided to make my first cake ever that I’d cover with fondant. It was pretty easy to make the fondant and even working with it - but I ran into trouble when I tried to design it without decent tools -- I wasn’t “allowed” to go get the tools I wanted so I had to make do with things I could find in my house -- it turned out okay but I wasn’t really thrilled with the overall results/look of the cake. For Logan’s birthday hopefully I’ll have talked him into getting me at least some of the tools I’d like! :)

Here’s a photo recap of her actual birthday & then the making of her cake & her actual birthday “party” (just family over for cake & ice cream) was on Friday - those pictures will come later.

Grandma Fennema stopped by with a butterfly necklace & a princess cake for Alexa along with her cousins Faith, Kinzie, and Luke


Auntie Jill, Grandma Schouten, Logan, Grandma Fennema, Luke, and Faith watching Alexa open a few gifts on her birthday ~ and Kinzie helping Alexa open something

Auntie Jill gave Alexa a princess hat & sunglasses & Grandma Schouten gave her a pretty new dress

Auntie Jena gave Alexa a new pooh swimming suit, a back pack purse and m&m’s :)

We gave Alexa a big girl bike - here she is riding it for the first time (Daddy is adjusting the training wheels) :)

Alexa’s finished Curious George birthday cake…not really looking like him but oh well!

Alexa thought she should help :)

Logan woke up from his nap before I was done shaping the cake…so he got to be occupied by eating the parts I was carving off :)