liyas & eagles & bears.. o my!

A gorgeous Saturday = A trip to the ZOO with a couple of the animals. *wink*

I really like our zoo, except that it's called the Washington Park Zoo, even though it's in Portland, Oregon. I guess it's because it's connected to our Washington Park... which includes such attractions as: the Hoyt Arboretum, the Forestry Center, the Children's Museum, the Japanese Gardens, the Rose Garden, the Veteran's Memorial, and the Washington Park Zoo. Yeah (again) for the things right in our 'backyard'!

Today was turning out to be the most gorgeous day of the month for a trip to the zoo, and not only so, but it was also Easter weekend so we knew it would be packed. Great time to take advantage of the MAX. A short hike down our hill to the Nob Hill transit center. Ticket purchased. Board the MAX. and one stop later we arrive into the hillside underground. It was cold and clean, but really awesome! A quick elevator ride to the surface and viola! we are at the entrance to the Zoo again enjoying the rays of the sun. No long waits nor congestion caused by looking for parking. And not only that but you get $1.50 off your admission when you present your transit stub. Simply awesome!

We were invited by our friend {linsi} and her two kiddos {et} & {zt}. My {DH} had a field trip to attend to today so he couldn't join, but at least he was able to get out in the great weather as well. {Lg} and her little brother {jasper} came along with me. We had a sweet time. I'll save the rest of the space for pictures.

In the Great NW section of the zoo we saw:
Black bears - Brown bears - Bald Eagles. . .

sea otters

owls bald eagles

Mostly I enjoyed the people I was with. . .

Start wearing purple for me now!

Strange, but I didn't get my camera out for all the animals that day.

The baby elephant was fun to watch as it roamed about in the elephant yard.

blogging the backstroke... (again)

Ok, so be prepared to receive strange alerts in your blog-follower emails regarding posts that are back-dated as early as the end of January of this year. Yes, it's true. I'm backstroking again with the blog. I'm not proud of the way that this always happens... And I'm sorry to those that I confuse, but I'm ever so thankful for the ways to go back and fill in the days/months that I miss. Thank you for your patience.

o magnolia

One benefit to having a hubby still in school is getting to attend a few of his field trips. This one in particular was simply gorgeous and the weather cooperated as well.

I feel so blessed that the Hoyt Arboretum is almost literally in our 'backyard'.

Can't wait to go back when it's even more in bloom!

teach me to number my days

"Teach us then to number our days

That we may gain a heart of wisdom." ~ Psalms 90:12

"O Jehovah, cause me to know my end,

And the measure of my days, what it is.

May I know how transient I am." ~ Psalms 39:4

"But what things were gains to me, these I have counted as loss on account of Christ. But moreover I also count all things to be loss on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, on account of whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as refuse that I may gain Christ And be found in Him, not having my own righteousness which is out of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is out of God and based on faith, To know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, If perhaps I may attain to the out-resurrection from the dead." ~ Philippians 3:7-11.

This song has been going thru my head a lot recently:

having vs. taking

This week I was touched repeatedly by this word shared to me by a colleague:

There is a difference between having Christ & taking Christ. You can have Christ all your live and yet not take Him in your daily life. However, you must take Him in order to really enter into the Good Land. You must labor on Him.

Infact, take every opportunity to take Him.

Life is composed of days. Days are composed of hours. Hours are composed of minutes - to experience/labor on Him moment by moment... at traffic lights, during school/studies, ordinary mundane times with your spouse, your children, your friends, your colleagues, etc*...

So Take Him! Obtain Him! Lay hold of Him!

(* by the way, 'etc' = Eat That Christ!).

artists' corner

Today was an extra-special Triple T.day, to say the least!

Not only did our {ms. frenchie} make it to Tea. . .

But also, {hans} is on her Spring Break and was able to join {lg} on her weekly ritual of sleeping over at our place. If I haven't mentioned before, {hans} is an amazing artist. So naturally I couldn't help but to pull out the paints & canvases upon her arrival and have a workshop with her this evening. Look what came of it:

{Hans'} dream boot from Sperry.

My 'put-a-bird-on-it' whimsy.

{LG}'s Gleb the Gnome.

{Lulu}'s seaside square.

A 'Vana White' display. *wink*

learning to drink

It's a good thing to pray with my hubby in the mornings!

A real good thing.

To stop. To rest & to drink from the fountain that never runs dry!

In the NT, to keep the sabbath is to believe in the Lord Jesus.

To be "fired", to be replaced with Christ, & to drink of Him as the waters.

In the sight of God, this the REAL keeping of the Sabbath.

The more we REALIZE that it is NO LONGER I WHO LIVE BUT that it is CHRIST WHO LIVES IN US, the more we drink of the waters.

*Learning How to Drink

teen birthdays

Today a good friend of mine,

who happens to only be a year older than I, son turned 14.

It's hard to imagine that she has a teenage son, because

I could hardly imagine having a teenager myself.

Nevertheless ~ we had fun helping host his party for the day.

Honestly, it was a blast.

Beginning with eating loads of Pizza,

Multiple games of LaserTag,

Dinner back at our place,

Cupcakes & RootBeer floats.

And a bunch of rounds of Dutch Blitz.

Happy Birthday Dima!

May all your dreams come true.