4 Birthdays and a Mothers Day...

Within the last 3 weeks we have had 4 birthdays, this includes my dad.
Miss Avi Joy turned 5 years old!
Nehemiah turned 3.
And Miss Beautiful turned 13! YES I know, a real picture. It has been a year with no pics or names. But I allowed myself to break this rule for her birthday : )
This was her exactly one year ago this week, the day we met. Boy has the Lord changed her both inside and out. On track for finalizing in the summer.
We were able to celebrate all four birthday's and Easter with our family in St. Louis. The trip this year was especially blessed!
Nehemiah enjoyed chasing after a real duck!
Avi Joy hunting for eggs. We did both dyed eggs and candy filled.
They received some new sports gloves from Granpa Ken. Love this gift as the gloves were lined with Velcro and the ball stuck to the glove easily. They were playing "toss" with their Uncle John and hitting him in the head with the ball left them in stitches.
*Almost* all our St. Louis family!
Four generations. My cousin Johnny with his new peanut.
Making our yearly Risen Rolls with Granpa Ken. Marshmallow is Jesus, wrapped in a roll which is the tomb, covered in cinnamon sugar dirt, bake them- they come out hollow. Or He Has Risen from the tomb!
Cousin Katie is such a doll baby. I have some pictures of just us two and we favor one another SO much in looks its crazy!
Aside from visiting family, there are some "things" that are enjoyable about St. Louis. By "things" I mean food. Imo's Pizza, White Castles and Ted Drew's Custard are always on our list.
My Cousin Jansen (from my mom's side) just so happens to live down the street from my dad's side while finishing up nursing school, so she was able to join us for the party. Love us some Jano, xoxo. Pictured with my dad and Lil' Shades, that is his rapper name.
While my dad, older kiddo and I all went shopping for a swimming suit, Adam took Avi Joy to The Magic House! A huge house filled with hands on activities, slides, crafts and more. Perfect place for Avi Joy for a daddy date.
After our St. Louis party we had a family party here at home. We all chipped in and bought the kids new bikes! They were also blessed with some new things for summer, like towels and bubbles and here Avi Joy is modeling her new swimsuit.
Adam's grandparents enjoying the party... in 3 months they will celebrate 60 years of marriage! We got married on their 50th wedding anniversary. We share the same anniversary date so 10 years for us coming up.
The one request from the kids was to have a pinata. Those things are tough as nails and Adam ended up beating the thing to get it open!
Nehemiah's turn to take a swing.
As you know, we moved into our home last fall. We immediately went into Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. We did our best at unpacking, but still it did not feel like home yet.
THEN the worst blizzard in Oklahoma history came upon us and our home suffered ice damming. It was shocking to have our ceilings and walls falling down because of water damage. You can see pictures here.
So we repacked our things, moved furniture to the center of the rooms, covered everything with tarps and so began our 2 month stay at a hotel. 8 weeks people. We learned A LOT.
During that time we had 2 major family crisis', everything broke and really, I could go on. But the Lord sustained us through it all.
And my reward feels sweet. Here is my new kitchen!
In my dining room, I painted a scripture, "He brought me to His banqueting table and His banner over me is Love." It is indeed feeling like home!
It is a very pale blue with hints of light yellow, all on our bold Sealskin colored walls.
And in my front yard, all our roses have bloomed. The week we moved in, the previous home owner told me it was time to prune. He transplanted them from his grandmothers about 45 years ago and said there would be hundreds of blooms. And OH are they beautiful. Yellow, pink, red, you name it. I have always had a favorite rose and now I have them in my front yard, these deep orange roses are so stunning they cause me to spontaneously combust into worship.
The ultimate horsey ride.
Caught Nehemiah doing "Di Cho" which is This Little Piggy in Vietnamese to his daddy. He did it all in Vietnamese. I do it to him each night, but it was quite amazing to hear him do it. I just love this precious moment.
HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!
I love you mom and mother-in-law and all those that have mothered and mentored me along the way. God has used you mightily to shape and mold me into the woman I am today, I am grateful for you and understand even more so of your love now that I have the gift of being a mama myself. Thank you!

AND because it is Mothers Day, Adam is downstairs fixing dinner for the kids and I am getting caught up on life, including a blog post! : )

My new favorite verse:
"Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations as Your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth as Your possession." Psalm 2:8

The Perryman Family.