La Famille Armstrong

Anyway, so yeah, it's there and I hope that many of you are inspired and challenged by it as I was and continue to be. Of late, my life has just been all about planning and fixing things, trying to make things better and getting out of messes I've gotten myself into. I realize that I have not been putting my time and energy into what God has wanted me to, even though I still don't know what that looks like. And I'm changing my prayers today; Instead of asking for solutions to my problems, I'm going to ask for peace in my circumstances. Trying to figure things out is STRESSFUL and usually doesn't come to any benefit! 

So, all this to say that if you are struggling, you are not alone! I want so badly for my kids to see God in me and not the need for God in me... does that make sense? 

Well, Asher is officially too big for the seat I usually put him in while I shower. My shower got cut short when he tipped the chair over and landed head first on the tile... he's going to have quite the bruise! Poor kiddo :-( I have no clue what I'll do with him while I take showers now... I am looking forward to moving and having a completely babyproof room for him! Be praying for the house search... we won't be moving until February but we'll need to line up a place that will work for us for the next few years. 

Love you all!

Now that I've made my fair share of phone calls I can finally announce...

We woke up yesterday, turned on the news and lo and behold, Portland government employees were being asked to come in to work. The roads were peaking out from under the snow (on TV anyway, not in McMinnville) so we thought, hey let's give our trip to Coos Bay a try. I knocked the ice and snow off our Escape and drove around McMinnville a while to check out the roads. I seemed to have enough traction so we packed up, jumped in the car and for Joellen's folks' house. Once we got to Amity the roads were starting to clear and by the time we got to Salem, there was no snow on the roads at all!

Anyway, here we are and it's far from a white Christmas here! But hey, we managed to pull off our planned trip down here and Joellen was getting really stir crazy cooped up in the house with Asher for the past week+. Joellen's sister Gnome (short for Naomi) and The Face (Short for 'Trace the Face') are on their way down and should be here in a couple hours. In the meantime, Jo and I plan on meeting up with her friend Tina and husband Eric for lunch.

So here's a 'Merry Christmas' wish going out from our family down in Coos Bay to all of you out there. Make the Yule Tide Gay Y'all :)

Well, yesterday I was talking to my mom and I had said that this was the most snow I'd ever seen in my life... anywhere! And this morning, once again, I am totally shocked! More snow!!! The back of my car is about even with the top of my car b/c of the wind and the snow building up on the trunk. At the front, the snow pile is almost even with where the snow has accumulated with the snow on top of the hood. We really won't be going anywhere today :-)

It was like a blizzard yesterday!!! It was snowing when I woke up, snowing until about 8pm and then we had some freezing rain. This morning, all the windows on the north side of the house have a nice coat of ice on them. A huge branch fell down in the front yard and thankfully was just a foot or two from hitting my car!!!

More photos of the snow... Asher's asleep so I'm editing and playing with stuff... let me know what ones are your favorites... I'm always curious to see what others like!

Yesterday, since Asher didn't take his 2nd nap, I laid him down at about 4pm when he was just too tired. Less than an hour later, I looked out the window and there was almost 4 inches of snow!!! It was crazy! At 4pm, there was just mush and I could see most of the grass but by 5pm it was a winter wonderland! 

No, not another baby (yet)! Another cute Asher photo...

As the snow and freezing rain continue to coat the ground, Mark and I struggle to get stuff done! Mark is trying to finish negotiations with his old business partner but it's slow going... luckily they can sign and do it all over the phone and through faxing. Me, well, I'm stuck at home with a kiddo who like to go places... you can imagine how awesome that is! Asher actually hasn't been too bad... we just have to be creative with where to play in the house and when :-)

Sorry to disappoint, but we haven't actually gotten to go out in the snow :-) Asher (or Mark and I for that matter) doesn't have any water-proof clothes and since it is only about 27 degrees outside I think we'll wait and see what the rest of the week brings. But... I do have some cute photos of Asher looking out at the snow! Enjoy :-)

I'm at the Newberg hospital as I write this with mom & dad Armstrong.
They are ok, but they were in a car accident on the way home from
church this morning and mom broke her hand. Dad has been discharged
and mom should be shortly... But they're both going to be sore in the
morning! The roads are slick and treacherous tonight and will be
tomorrow too. So stay home, fix yourself some hot chocolate and settle
in with a good book.

Hey all, we entered a photo of Asher in a "cute kid" photo contest! Here's the link...

Sorry so long! Life always seems to get in the way of this blog :-) But I do love being able to keep you all updated and share our stories of Asher's silliness.