Absent

Please excuse my blogging absence. My family was involved in a horrible car accident on Sunday, January 25th, and while we are all sore and bruised but okay, there was a fatality, and it has rocked our world. The aftermath has been both overwhelming and devastating and will take time to heal and recover from.

I will be back.

Family prayer - the tradition continues

Last Sunday afternoon marked the 15th year of a beloved annual tradition... Halverson Family Prayer Day. 

I've written about it before (I've actually mentioned it every year since I started blogging), and I've decided I like that... having it included here on my blog... to remember. 

We started family prayer with Russ's parents, aunt, and siblings back when the kids were babies, some not born yet, and us adults would try to get as far away from the noise and crying and chaos as we could and then make it real quick before someone got injured. And now we have seniors in high school and everyone is involved, and man, is that something special.

It always starts with gathering for a meal. 

(We really like to eat.)

We talk and visit and shake our heads at what happens every single time the cousins get together (mass ipod/ipad gameage).

And then we casually begin, reading the things that we prayed for at the start of the previous year (that we wrote down and stored in a jar to remember), and sharing how those things turned out... all the kids included. We have found that nothing is more encouraging than looking back and seeing how faithful God is in the big and in the little. Sometimes our prayers are answered quickly and incredibly. Sometimes they end up taking all year, or several years, or are still continuing. And sometimes it seems like they weren't answered at all but the looking back makes us realize God did or is doing something even better.

Next we share any other praise reports of cool things God did over the course of the year.

And then we share what (and often, who) we are lifting up in prayer for the new year, and write them down and put them in a jar.

Everyone shares. Everyone opens up their hearts. Everyone feels supported and unashamed and hopeful.

And then Gary, my father-in-law, prays.

And then we jump and shout and hug and dance when the Seahawks come back from behind and win to make it into the Superbowl because we totally waited till halftime to start prayer and then turned the game back on to watch the end the second we were done. 

It's a very solemn occasion. 

Monday Confessional: I feel old

Yesterday, while over at my in-law's house, Cooper discovered a box of outdated stuff cleaned out from a friend's garage.

He picked this out of the box, tuned it to a radio station, and came over to Russ and I over-the-moon excited... "Mom, Dad, I got it to work!"

I said, "What? a cassette tape?"

Cooper: "No, the radio!"

Me: "Oh was it broken?"

Cooper: "No. But it's actually playing!"

Me: "I don't understand why this is exciting..."

Cooper: "This is VINTAGE! It's in Guardians of the Galaxy!"

And that's when we realized Cooper had never seen a walkman before, except in a movie. 

Listen. If stuff from the 90's is already being considered "vintage" then I'm in a whole heap of trouble. 

(Off to show Cooper what a discman is now...) 

The Friday Photo Dump

I should say, the massive Friday photo dump, because that's what this is. MASSIVE. 

I don't know how these things get away from me... perhaps the fact that I'm now into season 4 of Gilmore Girls? 

(Please don't be too concerned for me though, because I'm all caught up on laundry and have cooked homemade meals several times ;)

We've also had some family movie nights (Blake snuggled on Kendall's lap for this one. CUTEST THING.)

Cooper finished 5/6th grade basketball (and then started playing up with the 7/8th grade team... le sigh.)

Blake finished his basketball season, and I said hallelujah to our first Saturday morning home since soccer started in September.

Then I discovered coconut truffles and DIED AND WENT TO HEAVEN

Russ and I had a fun night out in Portland with my family,

(I love downtown Portland, especially on a beautiful night)

I went to Ikea for the first time and bought a closet scarf holder that has changed my life.

We celebrated the Ducks victory over Florida State, and then cringed our way through the national championship game this past Monday.

We also celebrated my friend Kristie's 40th with a night out line-dancing!

I took a couple of naps with this sweet boy...

See, homemade meal?! (Just call me the stir fry queen)

and discovered my new favorite yogurt brand (or at least a solid tie with Noosa.)

Poor Kendall had an allergic reaction to antibiotics and was out of school for a couple days (it's all cleared now, thank heavens)

and I attended the sweetest shower for my friend Nicole who is having a little girl.

If the coconut truffles weren't bad (er, good) enough, I then discovered these and can't make up my mind on which one is more amazing!

And Wednesday night, oh Wednesday night... was FANTASTIC.

Jana and I had ourselves the time of our liiiives at Dirty Dancing on Broadway at the Keller

(again in Downtown Portland where I may have wished I could live for a month.) 

But no, instead I'm at home in bed with a cold and an especially naggy cough and see season 5 on the horizon this weekend. 

Hope yours is a little more exciting! Happy Friday!

Blake Jr.

Introducing Blake Jr.

Blake's newly adopted precious, precious, baby.

I have never seen Blake so attentive or loving towards a stuffed animal in all of his almost seven years. (I've also never had a child name a toy after himself.)

Blake Jr. must not be squeezed tight. He must have air and not be shut inside anything. He must take naps, have special beds made for him, and be carried and cared for very gently.

(This coming from the child who is into nothing besides sports and playing outside and chasing birds and tromping through mud.)

It's the darnedest thing, and the most darling thing :)

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Awkward and Awesome Thursday - a new year!

Switching things up this week and starting with the awesome...

Awesome
- Downton Abbey season 5! It finally started! And in one fell one-hour-long swoop I have been completely sucked back into the Crawley's world and never want to leave it. At least, not on Sunday nights.
Awkward
- My other current TV obsession, Gilmore Girls. It's on Netflix... a full 7 seasons worth, and I can NOT stop watching it every night into the wee hours because the next episode auto starts all on it's own and my already sucky will-power doesn't stand a chance against such tactics. Thus, I've watching a whole season and a half in the past WEEK. (I've never watched the show before and am finding it just delightfully entertaining!)

Awesome
- My boys all got to go a Blazer game and attend the pre-game warmups beforehand, where they got to meet and greet and get stuff signed by the players!

{Wesley Matthews}

Awkward
- when your husband actually leaves for the game without the tickets and then scares the bejeebers out of you racing back down the driveway like a bat out of hades to grab them. CLOSE CALL.

Awesome
- little readers found in the oddest places engrossed in a book.

{on the floor in the corner of our dining room behind the table}

Awkward
- not-quite-so-little readers who you find out are getting horrible, horrible grades on their chapter tests for their current reading assignment because they are not actually reading the book, just browsing for the answers. And you're all horrified and, "cheater, cheater-face!" at this confession while your husband grins and says, "that's what I used to do too." Lovely.

WELL. Guess who gets to start back at the beginning and read the whole thing out loud to their mother now? That's right, sucka.

Welcoming 2015

We have this tradition every New Year's, and it's called, "let's party all night without our kids!"

And by party, I mean play cards and board games for 5 hours straight, eat lots of food, and gab and laugh with our friends.

And by all night, I mean till midnight exactly and then, BEDTIME.

And by no kids, I really mean no kids.

Awesome, right?!

Our hosts David and Carmajo. They are responsible for all the animals on the walls. Don't mind David's hurt finger. He just shot it with a nail gun. No big deal. 

It was our last night with my cousin Michelle and her husband Dan (in the center), visiting from New Zealand, so we made sure to get a cousins shot with my brother and sister and cousin Linley.

Favorite picture of the night. Our single friend Sarah's face! She was such a good sport :) And Jana kissing my mum because T.J. (a firefighter) was at work and my Dad had to be at work at 5am the next morning. And Jamin & Christine missing the memo (or maybe they were just shy? Or really quick kissers? I'm not sure ;)

I took those pictures so then my friend Shay took over and had me get in a couple shots...

Our turn to kiss :)

Cheers to a great start to a brand new year! 

(If my year's goals are anything like my goal to take down our tree this weekend, which is sadly still up as of 11pm Sunday night, I'm in trouble.)