Holland Happening

Well....i took an unexpected break from blogging! Life has been a whirlwind the last couple of weeks and i just haven't found the time or energy to write. We are alive and well......i just feel like all i do is run run run lately! =)



This past weekend we participated in the Holland Happening celebration here in the town we live in! It is a celebration of our city's Dutch heritage and is lots of fun!! Saturday morning there was the annual parade which we have attended every year since we moved here! I 'heart' parades...I love the atmosphere, the excitement and seeing the creativity that goes into so many of the floats! This year Colby actually got to be in the parade and he was super excited!!! He walked with Mooving & Grooving, which is a local fitness center for kids that he has been taking classes at for a couple of years! Brayden and i sat with friends to watch the parade and had a great time! The weather was absolutely gorgeous and we couldn't have asked for a better morning!

Me and Brayden watching the parade!

Colby helping hold the sign! (he is in green on the right!)

Later in the afternoon we went to the carnival so that Colby could ride a few rides! He had a great time but i forgot the camera so i didn't get to snap any pictures of the fun! It was a fun day and the boys slept GREAT that night! (a plus for mommy!!) =) Holland Happening is just one of the many things I will miss about living here.....it is a great little town and we really enjoy it!

Tip-Toeing Thru the Tulips

We packed up and headed off island to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival this weekend!!! We had a wonderful time enjoying the gorgeous weather and rows and rows of tulips! I *heart* tulips and spending time with friends & family so I feel incredibly blessed to have been able to do both on a beautiful spring day!

Lil' Studs!

Friends make life sweeter!

Me & My lil men!

I truly felt God's love while taking time to enjoy the beauty of my surroundings this weekend! I am so very blessed to be surrounded by amazing friends and breath taking beauty and I couldn't be more grateful!

Drumroll Please......

Our next home will be.....



Ok.....we aren't going to be living "on" the beach but we will be moving to Florida!!! We feel incredibly blessed to have these orders.....it is exactly what we have been wanting! The news brings alot of mixed feelings....I'm sad that I will be leaving all of the wonderful friends that I have made here (and sooner than expected)...but excited to move to a new place, experience new things, and meet new friends!! I will no doubt miss the great northwest....it's beautiful and we have truly enjoyed our time here! But we will be a lot closer to our family and friends in Texas, and God willing we will get a break from deployment for a couple of years. Great news in our eyes....Pensacola....here we come!!

So Fortunate...

We have been so very fortunate the last few days to have my Mom (aka Granny) here to visit!! We've had all kinds of fun and while I wasn't great about remembering my camera the whole time I did manage to snap a few fun pictures!!

We went to Home Depot on Saturday morning for their monthly kids workshop! This month we got to make planter boxes!! So when we were finished we went and bought stain, paint brushes, planting soil and the boys picked flowers to plant in their boxes! We had such a good time building, staining, and planting!!

While we were picking flowers...I decided that I would finally plant something in the cutest planters that I bought on clearance a couple years ago and never got around to doing anything with! (That's right babe...I am finally using them!!) =) So I got some hyacinths.....they are gorgeous and smell oh so good!!




We did alot of showing Granny around the island...this is a gorgeous place to live!! My mom got lots of pictures while sight seeing but I, of course, forgot my camera. =( I did remember it when we went off island though! Granny treated the boys to Chuck E Cheese and we hit the nearest Harley shop to get Papa a souvenir!!





We also did alot of relaxing, watching movies and just enjoying spending time together!! I was blessed to have help around the house, help with the boys for a few days and a girls night out one night!! A couple of my girlfriends and I met at a local mexican restaurant overlooking the harbor and enjoyed dinner and drinks! It was a much needed break for all of us and we truly enjoyed our time!


Granny will be heading back home to Texas in the morning....=(. It has been a great visit and we have really enjoyed having her! Mom...thank you so much for everything while you were here! It all has meant so much to me and the boys have truly loved the time they've spent with you!! We can't wait to be able to see you again!!

So...not only does my Mom leave tomorrow but Colby goes back to school! It is time to get back to our normal routine and then some! The spring soccer season officially kicks off tomorrow with our first practice!!! We have so much fun with soccer....we have played on the same team for a couple of years now and truly enjoy all the team members. And this season we are lucky enough to have a couple of new kiddos on the team so we are looking forward to getting to know them! More to come as the season presses on....I will be sure to post updates and pictures! I am off to clean up for the evening and get ready to enjoy Big Brother!!! =)

Mini Project Complete!

At least one of the many many projects on my list was completed this weekend!! I ordered the bed rails for Brayden's bed a few months ago and got the call that they were ready for pick up last month. But they were ready for pick up in Seattle and I just could not get down there. Something always came up....so last week my good friend Aaron picked them up for me and brought them to me!! THANK YOU Aaron!!!

So this weekend our good friends Ross & Carly and Ryan & Ashley came over and we ate and the guys put together Brayden's big boy bed!! He is soooo excited....before this weekend he had a full size mattress set but no head board or foot board. It is amazing what a difference it has made!! So another big THANK YOU to Ross and Ryan for your help! I am so very blessed to be surrounded by great friends who are always willing to help in any way they can!

So...I am one step closer to completing the boys room re-do's and of course I will finish just in time to pack up and move again but I am determined to get them done!! More pictures to come as I get more done but for now....I can check one more thing off my list!!



Please tell me I am not the only one who just can't seem to find enough hours in the day to get everything done that I want to?!? But I will keep chugging along, trying to get as much done as I can, and continue to work at being content with knowing I am doing my best!

Happy Easter.....better late than never right??

Aside from the pouring rain and random hail shower......we had a wonderful Easter! The boys had a ball dying and decorating eggs Saturday night! Thank goodness the Easter bunny hides the eggs inside at our house or it would have been one messy egg hunt, as the weather decided to not cooperate! =)

My boys after decorating eggs!

Then Sunday, we started our day at church where we were blessed to enjoy a musical presentation by the choir and a wonderful message from our Pastor. I was overwhelmed with gratefulness for the sacrifice Jesus Christ made on the cross that day and for the miracle of his resurrection. It is incredibly difficult to wrap my mind around the unconditional love that our Savior has for each and everyone of us, but I took that hour in church to reflect, ponder and give thanks. After the service we enjoyed fellowship at the annual brunch that the church puts together!

Me and the most handsome boys around!

Later in the afternoon we had some of our "Navy family" over for food, fun and fellowship! We had a housefull and enough food to feed an army!! It was truly an enjoyable afternoon and evening and I am thankful to have such an amazing "Navy family" to share these special days with!

Party Animals!!


I pray you all had a little time to pause and reflect on the miracle that Easter is truly about and that you were able to enjoy celebrating with family and/or friends!!

Goodbye "K" Family

I knew it was part of the adventure that we, as a military family, are experiencing right now, but I wasn't quite prepared for how difficult it would be. Goodbye. I have met so many wonderful people and made so many incredible friends in the last couple of years, and while I knew it would happen, the first goodbye snuck up on me.

Brayden and Anneliese

Tonia and I met when our kiddos were in preschool together. What an incredible blessing her friendship has been. Our kids have grown to be the best of friends and I have grown to cherish the support I found in our friendship. From playdates at DQ where it all started......to weekly coffee and breakfast at Angelo's when the boys started kindergarten......all the late night phone calls when the guys were away.......the shakira(is that how you spell that?) dance when 9 months pregnant and everything in between.

The original pre school crew!

Tonia.....you have touched my life more than you will ever know and you will be so very missed! True friends that you know you can always count on when you really need them are few and far between...but I have been so very blessed to find that in my friendship with you. You saw me through some of the hardest times in my life and I don't think you even knew how much your support and friendship meant to me then and will continue to mean to me! You amaze me, you inspire me and I will miss you so much! Give the kiddos a big hug from "Aunt Aubrey" and the boys....we miss you already!

One last picture together.....

In the Hope for the Home Front Bible study I am doing right now there was a chapter on the sacrifice of separation and author Marshele Carter Waddell ended with the question...What's so good about good-bye?? I'd just like to share a few of the answers she gave....



~It is good that we stop our frenzy of activity to express our appreciation for the comfort, the friendship, the support, the laughter, the tears, and the encouragement the person has added to our journey.



~Good-bye is good if it teaches us to cherish life and breath, strength and sound mind, and the moments we are allowed to walk side by side with a friend.



~Good-bye is good if, in that difficult moment, we stand still long enough to give thanks to God for the lessons we've learned together, the love given, and the love received, recognizing that these blessings are gifts from the hand of God.



Driving away from the "K's" house after our final goodbye I thought back to this lesson and I did thank God for the time I had to walk side by side with Tonia!



So "K" family.....Fair winds and Following Seas.....you will be truly missed and we wish you all the happiness in the world as you move on to the next part of your journey!

Luck O' the Miculka's

HAPPY ST PATTY'S DAY!!!

I was looking forward to a fun filled green filled day and things didn't quite work out the way I would have liked. As alot of you know, Colby spent all of last week sick with a "fever virus." (who even knew there was such a thing??? ) And in perfect Colby style he has spread the "love" and lil brother has now come down with it. Poor kiddos....So I spent my St Patty's Day catering to a cranky, feverish 2 year old! I couldn't even get him to put on his cute lil shirt I got for today....=(.....but it wasn't worth fighting him over! Colby, however, did get to sport his St Patty's gear and even got to go to the parade downtown after school!! I didn't tell him until i picked him up from school and he was beyond excited! So....a BIG THANK YOU to our good friends the Martin's, for taking Colby along! Hope everyone had a fun day!

Freshly Amazed....

Once again, I am freshly amazed by God's timing! In my bible study lesson last week I came across the following verses and the timing couldn't have been better.

Ephesians 5:22-24

Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. (23) For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. (24) Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

I took time to truly stop and think.....Am I giving John the respect he deserves as my husband and the head of this household?? Am I submitting to him in everything as I have been directed to do in scripture??

As we begin to look at options for where we will make our home next I am being taught an important lesson is submission to the man God chose to lead this family. Of course I have my ideas of what I want.......and I have found myself getting frustrated when John brings up options other than what I want. But once again the Lord has humbled me with his timing and His word and how thankful I am for it. I am going to step out in faith and know that the God given leader of this home will make the right decision......we have discussed everything.......he will take my feelings into consideration and will turn to the Lord for guidance and we will do the Lord's will for our family. And as hard as it has been for me to come to accept.....it may not be what I want. And I am working on being ok with that....its difficult but I am comforted by the following verse....

Jeremiah 29:11

"For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

What a comforting declaration from our Lord and Savior. This verse has been such a comfort to me in so many different situations and I pray it can be the same for you! We serve an amazing God and I am so grateful for the husband he has blessed me with. Please pray for John, and for our family, as we go forward with the process of finding out where our next home will be!

Sparks-A-Rama!!!

Colby had his Sparks-A-Rama competition on Saturday up in Bellingham!!! It was a fun day! Our Awana group competed against 4 other teams and we came in second. But more importantly the kids had a great time! I have really been working with Colby on not focusing so much on "winning" but taking on the attitude that as long as you try your absolute hardest and you have fun doing it that everyone comes out a winner! And he and his team most certainly came out winners this weekend...they worked together as a team and had fun doing it! Brayden and I had a good 'ole time cheering them on too! It was held in a high school gym so it was like flashbacks and flash forwards too! I did a little reminiscing about the good old days....dancing in our high school gym at pep rallies, going to basketball games, etc....FUN! And then thinking forward to what it will be like when I am going back to a high school gym to cheer on my boys....CRAZY! Then we made a day of it and did some shopping and I treated us to dinner at Olive Garden. We were pooped when we got home but it was a fun day together!

Colby's numero uno fan.....

Lil Cuties......

Family Bible Church Awana Team.......

Me and my favorite lil boys......

And now some not so fun news...Colby is running a mystery fever. =( Poor guy.....he is congested(which around this house w/ all the allergy problems the boys have is nothing new) but otherwise is not showing any symptoms other than the fever. Hopefully whatever it is will run its course quickly so that he can feel better soon! So we are shut-ins for the time being and hoping and praying that Brayden and I can remain healthy!!