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The last 24 hours have been FULL and oh so RICH with friendship, family and fun. A picture’s worth a thousand words so I’ll leave you with ten thousand : )
Candlers & Venables (minus kids)
Me & Dana with the kids (boys didn’t want to sit still, of course)
Noah and Daddy throwing pine cones into the river
Noah with his favorite girl, Madison
Mommy & Noah
Campfire and roasting marshmallows
Smores : )
Yummy : )
Coffee, smores, campfires, mountains, and bff’s… nothin’ but the best for us : )
Friends to the end
Madison, Dana & baby girl Candler (in the womb) on the boat at Dillon Lake
The captain and his boy
Unbelievable views
My cute boy
Father and daughter moment… so sweet
Noah and David playing a game with Matt
Matt throwing David overboard… just kidding (the water is about 40 degrees)
Sweet friends – Madison and Noah
They are super cute together… Noah ADORES Maddie
At Sapphire Point
Multi-tasking Matt
Noah and the chipmunks
Noah feeding his first chipmunk
On this day four years ago, Stephen and I went out for a short hike in the mountains of New Mexico…
And right about now, I was praying and weeping in a waiting room at a hospital in Espanola, New Mexico, while Stephen was in emergency surgery and the doctors were trying to save his foot and ankle. (For those of you that don’t already know this, he fell off of a 30-foot cliff face and had both an open, compound fracture and a pilon fracture of his right ankle).
Today, as a redemptive “celebration” to mark that awful day in our history, Stephen and Matt and our boys (Noah and David) went for a hike in the mountains of Summit County, Colorado. No falls, just fun… and for Stephen, a little bit of redemption (and as you can see from the picture below, simply stunning). They were really close to the tree line. So from valleys to mountain tops… our pilgrimage continues and our joy overflows.
I have to say I had a lot of feelings before the hike… none of them remotely rational, because this hike was neither difficult nor dangerous… but it was the first time Stephen had done something quite like this since the fall AND he was taking our little boy with him. My whole world went up on that mountain for a hike today, you know? But it was good; and it was a gift to Stephen and a memory for him and Noah. So I’m glad they went. Dana, Madison and I went for a drive and ended up at an outlet mall (of all places : ))… so we had a good girls date too.
These two pictures are of Madison and Noah playing together — putting packets of sugar on their heads and giggling. Noah LOVES Maddie… though I think it would be impossible NOT to love Maddie, or David for that matter. They are the greatest kids ever, so much fun and so good for Noah. Right after this, Noah and Maddie were rubbing noses and hugging… we tried to get a picture but none of them came close to portraying the cuteness and sweetness of that moment.
Last night, we all gathered at the ranch Matt and Dana are staying at in Breckenridge for some steaks and brownies… and had SO much fun as you can see.
Our view from the dinner table.
This is my Noah-bear, who always wants things in their proper place, trying to put the pine cones back on the tree : ) I’m not sure where or who he might have inherited that from… ha ha : )
Yummy brownies, oh yeah.
We are here in Colorado on our annual trip to the mountains… so LOVE it here. This year, the Candlers are up here too for part of the time, which is simply the best. Beautiful mountains, wonderful climate, favorite friends, and long days enjoying Jesus and each other… really, there is nothing better.
Noah and Fluffles hanging out in our room…
That would be Noah’s fake camera smile. I love him… he’s such a trip.
The “back yard”, aka the forest of Breckenridge around 10,000 feet, at the house where the Candlers are staying this weekend. Unbelievable.
The kids had so much fun picking flowers and exploring, climbing and jumping… really endless adventures to be had when your backyard is a forest.
Magnificent mountain Maddie.
Best buds.
Stephen has hidden little notes for me all over the house today that say, “on this day five years ago…” Inside, he recreates some of the scenes of the most romantic and beautiful day of our lives. On this day, five years ago, I married the man of my dreams (literally). We were married at sunset on a snow packed mountaintop in Colorado surrounded by the most important people in our lives. It was a small ceremony with only our immediate family and closest friends, but those who were there were our great cloud of witnesses (stress the word “great” – because they were truly the great people of the earth, minus a few that didn’t make it that I wish would have been there – Marla & Justin, Beth & Shane, Marisa, Lisa & John, Shelley… just to name a few but there are a few others). We took a lot of the House of Prayer with us (lucky us) and Jesus came too (wow, did He show up)… so the ceremony was filled with worship and prayer, and it was unbelievable! (Thank you Murray et al if by some small chance you happen to read this!) I have a tape that my aunt recorded all the music from that night – a cassette tape (yes, like you, I didn’t know you could still buy those), but even on the old school cassette recording, the worship is stunning, if that gives you any idea how incredible it was. I came down a staircase to the Hallelujah chorus of Misty’s “Until the Day Breaks” and I stood face to face with my future gazing back at me, and together we lifted our gaze to our First Love singing, “And the Spirit and the Bride say ‘Come.’” And our dear friend and mentor, Allen, led us to the throne of God as we made a covenant with each other and the Lord until the day we see His face.
Oh, there are so many perfect moments that I could describe from that day. And I have to say as a sidenote that I can’t remember that day without remembering and loving our friends — our faithful, wonderful friends that truly made that day great. They decorated, they prayed, they stood with us, they moved without complaint when there was a gas leak (nightmare), they celebrated the Lord and us with all their hearts, they communed with us, they loved us… they are the ones that made that day glorious in ways we will never forget. We will never forget your love for us and for the Lord that day.
The words that kept coming to our hearts as we prepared ourselves for our wedding day five years ago were “Eternity in time.” John 1:14 was the banner over the entire ceremony for us – and really, it is, or I should say Jesus is the banner over all of our lives. The Lord has entwined our hearts around the God who took on flesh and dwelt among us, our Beloved and our Friend… He is our first love and He is the foundation and the glue (the Author and Perfecter, if you will) of our love for each other.
We said “yes” on that mountaintop to the Lord and to loving each other in every season of the soul, no matter what lies ahead. It’s a staggering commitment, if you think about it. Impossible to fulfill apart from the grace of God, but the most glorious display of the heart of God in the earth when the promise is kept and presented to the Lord as an offering and a fragrance of His enduring promise to His Betrothed. Our journey together these five years has been one of twists and turns, beautiful mountaintops and wasteland-like valleys, some of which most people live a lifetime before they experience. It really does feel like we’ve lived a lifetime in just five short years. We joke that we feel like 80-year old thirty-somethings. But every moment, in all the twists and turns, has been a gift from God.
On February 27th, 2004, before our families, before our beloved friends, and before the Holy Three, we said these words:
Love compels me to choose you, to choose us - In the valleys and on the mountain In the storms and in the full light of day, In strength and in weakness, In sickness and in health, In prison and in freedom In every season of the soul and in every way Until we see His face And this, not by my own will or in my own strength But by His grace alone.We couldn’t have known how true these words would be. Today, I say ‘yes’ again to this promise made five years ago at right about this time. I say ‘yes’ to you Stephen and to You Lord… that in every season, come what may, I am yours and yours I will always be.
Merry Christmas from the Venable Trio
This year has been so different. Because we really purposed to set our hearts in a more intentional way on things above during Advent and Christmas this year — and not on shopping (especially since as Americans, we pretty much live like EVERY day is Christmas) and to-do lists and what not — we SO feel like the Lord has met us. I think this is just the beginning — meaning, this was not a one-time “fast” for us… we want to enter into Christmas every year in the same way. We’ve been able to slow down, ponder the Incarnation, enjoy one another more, and give to those in need (and there are many this year).
Honestly, the lack of lists and lines and all that business was AMAZINGLY refreshing in and of itself. (Just as an FYI, I’m a huge “gift-giver” — I love giving presents… so I usually go too far in that arena any way).
Tonight, Stephen decided to try to make homemade chocolate chip cookies. I’m not sure what possessed him, but he looked in the cookbook and found a recipe and tried it. It was a lot of work. (He kept saying, “why did this say it was only 10 minutes of prep time?” It took him about an hour and a half. It was so funny listening to him… I’d tell him to try to fold the ingredients in instead of stirring because he kept saying it was impossible to stir… and he spouted back, “Fold? What in the world does that mean? Is that some kind of code word that they only teach girls?” ) All in all, it was pretty funny… I have to say. But in the end, the cookies were really good! And later, I made my annual chocolate pecan pie… which of course to add insult to injury, only took me about 10 minutes of prep time and the kitchen was spotless before I even put the pie in the oven. Ah, the joys of marriage.
So here’s a little look into our 2008 Christmas thus far…
The REAL Christmas tree going up... Noah is helping Daddy
Noah ringing the Christmas bells... (and an angel getting its wings)
PS – I know that the angel’s wings thing is not Biblical… I just love that movie 
The finished tree... beautiful! (Love those 10 foot ceilings at Christmas)
Our trip to a Live Nativity... it was cold and breezy (like 40mph breeze, that is) but fun.
The Nativity
We went to the Holiday Express at Union Station in downtown KC... cool little train with all kinds of Christmas fun that you could walk through. It was about 20 degrees below zero with the wind chill, but Noah LOVES the trains.
Ah, the Loves of my life. Stephen, Noah, and the Holy Three (I do realize that you can't actually see the Holy Three in the picture, but they ARE there!)
This is at Crown Center (Hallmark's world headquarters) in downtown KC. The Mayor's Christmas tree is in the background.
Christmas trees in Crown Center
In Crayola Land at Crown Center... Noah was coloring a picture. He had so much fun in this store chasing these lights that were shaped like reindeer all over the floor.
Noah cracking up for a Christmas picture...
One last thing…
Great book to read during Advent (Bernard of Clairvaux’s Sermons for Advent and Christmas Season). Obviously, not always perfectly sound theology, but OH there are some gems in this book about Jesus and loving His coming. Love it!
And for even better reading on the Incarnation, you should definitely check out this post by my friend Dana: Wordless Words of God in Bethlehem
I think I’ve read it 20 times already… it’s SO good.
Here are a couple of Thanksgiving photos… for some reason, most of the ones I took with our camera didn’t turn out well.
This is us down at the Inner Harbor in Baltimore… not a great picture, but you get the idea We had fun… and we ate some AMAZING seafood (something you don’t experience much of when you are landlocked in the Midwest).
Stephen and his beautiful sister, Katherine, at Phillips in the Inner Harbor.
Stephen’s dad, Sid, and step-mom, Judy… same place, same time…
Daddy and Noah.
I just think this picture is funny. Noah wanted to eat a lemon… thus, the “sour” face. It was pretty funny. He’s an expressive little guy.
Noah with his GREAT Granddaddy and Grandmommy on Thanksgiving Day. He’s blowing a kiss. So cute.
