Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo

Heaven is for Real is about a four year old boy, Colton, who goes into emergency surgery and afterwards tells his parents he went to heaven.  Over the course of a couple years, he reveals to his parents facts that he would have never known unless, miraculously, he really did go to heaven. 

My mom had told me I should read this book, as well as a couple friends, and I was like yeah yeah, I’ll get to it.  I finally did and it blew my mind.  Who doesn’t wonder what heaven will be like?  And what Jesus really looks like?  And who will be waiting for me when I get there? 

There are so many questions and not so many answers, that’s faith isn’t it.  But for some reason, as an adult, I need solid, believable answers.  Why?  The way Colton talks about heaven and Jesus is so matter-of-fact, he doesn’t question any of it, it just is.  He got to sit on Jesus’ lap, see the Throne of God and family he had never met here on earth. 

There’s a part in the book where Colton is in surgery and his pastor dad, Todd, is in a room yelling, crying and questioning God for doing this to his son and Colton told him that Jesus said he was answering his dad’s prayer.  Jesus was holding and loving his son the whole time Todd was questioning Him.  I cried.  There are many times I talk to God like that, not thinking He cares or is even listening, but I know He’s always there, even when I’m not being Christlike.  This book made me so aware of the reality of heaven and having childlike faith.  I can’t wait to go there and meet Jesus myself and live each day with renewed faith.

In the Bible it says in Mark 10:13-16, “People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.”

This is such a great book, I highly recommend reading it.  It was a very easy, short read.  Enjoy!


* BookSneeze® has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book.

Busy Weekends

We had my family visit two weekends ago and Der's family last weekend.  We love having our family around to visit.  Der's family was here a whole year ago, so really nice to have them here again.

Not only did we get to see family, Der and I got have two date nights in two weeks:)  Very much needed with Adeline not sleeping very well.  When my family was here, we went out to eat, I ate my first lobster...with cheese in a ravioli:)  I'm expanding my seafood selection slowly.  Then we went to Ikea for a little shopping and a $1 frozen yogurt cone, yum!  My mom and sister, Sammy, babysat, thank you!!

Der's family was here for four days, so we decided to get a hotel for the night.  We saw the movie "The Help" finally, very good in comparison to the book.  We ate at a pretty good pizza place.  Did a little shopping. Then went to the hotel and I got four straight hours of sleep, sweet bliss:)  Then we at the "Original Pancake House" for breakfast, delicious.  Thank you g'ma Wendy for babysitting, especially our wake up every hour baby girl.  It's crazy how much you miss your babies when you're away for just a short time.

With Der's fam we picked apples for the fourth time, went to Como Zoo, picked out our pumpkins and had a good busy time.

My mom also blessed us with her van.  So awesome of her!  We now have room for when we travel:)  Thanks mom!

 She actually prefers sleeping this way:)

 Der's Family

toys, toys and lots of books

Once upon a time we had a grown up living room...and then came kids.

Our babies have very generous grandparents, family and friends:)  We're just running out of room for it all.

No child needs this much stuff, earthly stuff.  I think we'll be teaching Hakan how to be generous and giving soon, too.


Colossians 3:2
Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

four weeks with little sleep

  

Our dear, sweet, sensitive Adeline has not slept well for the last four weeks.  

I wake up in the mornings saying it can't get any worse than last night...but it does, she ends up waking up even more the next night, sigh.

Last night I didn't get more than an hour of sleep at a time, rough business being a mom.

We can see her bottom two teeth coming in, so maybe that's been the cause...at least I'm hoping that's what it is so when they come in, we can be done for a bit.  Unfortunately, it means she's pretty miserable getting her teeth and we have a lot to go:(

Needless to say, we are very tired up in the Halvorson household, luckily she's not waking up Hakan, he's a good sleeper thank goodness.  Only took him 18 months to sleep through the night:)

But she always wakes up in the morning happy, and it's hard to be frustrated with such an adorable baby:)

Here's to hoping we all sleep a little more.

Stolen Goods

A friend of mine was selling some stuff at this festival down in KS and she asked if I wanted to put some stuff in to sell since I've been making a few things, I said sure!

So for the last two weeks, I was sewing like crazy trying to get stuff ready, not easy with two little ones.  And then the weekend before I needed to send it down to her, I got mastitis, needless to say, I didn't have time to do the cute tags and labels I had envisioned, but everything turned out pretty adorable.

I also have an etsy shop...but I'm still adding things to it, so it's a work in progress.

Here are the things I sent to my friend.

Burp cloths.

Taggie ribbon blankets.

 Vintage flower headbands.

Last but not least, some hooded towels.

The bad news is someone stole two of my burp cloths and two of my girl taggie blankets:(  So sad that people do that.  The good news is I sold all the rest of my taggie blankets:)

I'll keep you posted about my shop.

I'm also going to do a giveaway (it's the cool thing to do) for my 100th post which is about 7 away:)

Halvorson Park

I meant to do this post a while ago, like in August when we were at the lake, just a couple months late:)

So we have our very own park named after us...well not us, but same last name. It's right by my uncle's lake cabin and I've always wanted to get pictures by it, but we usually end up just driving by.

There's a plaque behind us that actually spelled it "er" instead of "or" like on this sign...not sure which one is correct, but funny that it's spelled wrong.

Also, this sign kind of looks like it says "HAL VORS ON P ARK"...someone needs to work on their spacing skills:)

Enjoy all the outtakes as well, ha!

 

 

Oh yeah, the only thing at "our" park are restrooms and this ginormous Native American, Indian, American Indian, whichever is politically correct these days.

Third Round of Apple Pickin'

I know what you're thinking, "Really...three times...." Yes, and it won't be the last time this season. You can read about our other trips here.  We each eat 2-3 apples a day, so we need to make multiple trips to keep up with our addiction:)

I've said it before, this is our favorite season and favorite thing to do, we love apples, and it's only this short time during the year, so we take advantage.

I even had a temp of 101 and still went...but how could I pass up a beautiful 85 degree day in October?!  These days are so numbered:(  Don't worry, nothing contagious, I wouldn't put other people at risk, just had mastitis for the fourth time in my life, yuck.  

So Adeline and I just hung out in the shade playing fetch with Fletcher, the owners most adorable, fun dog ever!  He almost dropped the pine cone on Adeline a couple times, but I'm sure she wouldn't have minded:)

We hadn't picked any Honeycrisp yet, so we mainly got those, SOOOOOO good!!!

Also in our baskets were Scarlet Surprise, one of the coolest apples I've ever seen, green on the outside, pink on the inside, so pretty! 

And Snow Sweet, Bonnie's Best, and Regent.

A friend of mine told me that I sound like Bubba, from Forrest Gump, talking about the kinds of apples and what we make with them...not sure that's a good thing, ha:)

One of Derek's goals is to know the different varieties of apples by looking at them..there are a lot.

Of course we had our apple cider cinnamon and sugar donuts, yum, and for the first time Sweetland's Cider, it's pure sweet heavenly apples melting in your mouth deliciousness, seriously.  Before I could get a picture, we already had some:)

On a side note, but still about apples, Der found a recipe from Rachel Ray which is basically apple crisp for one in 4 minutes, yeah, 4 minutes to eat some yumminess.  You can find it here.  Super easy, you won't regret it:)

left foot, left foot, left foot, right

The arch on my left foot started hurting pretty bad after Adeline was born, so I decided to go to the foot dr.  

He said it's normal for pregnancy hormones to mess up your planter fascia tissue and said I had a slight case of planter fasciitis.

I told my mom this on the phone and she said, "You have warts on your feet?"  No mom, not planter warts, planter fasciitis.  I thought it was funny:)

Anyway, he said I have high arches and could benefit from customized arch supports.

So I am the proud owner of my very own arch supports that fit only my feet...I feel old, but hey, if they help, then I'm all for them...you can't see them in shoes anyway:)

Of course they spelled my name wrong...it wasn't on my file or anything.

The dr. is super nice, probably one of the friendliest dr.'s I've ever seen, so if you need a foot dr...

Girls'/Family Weekend

What was supposed to be a wonderful weekend in Sioux Falls with my three favorite ladies, turned into a busy, but fantastic weekend with two of those three friends and lots of family...lots of family, in Fargo.

Sadly my friend Jenni was swamped with work and couldn't make it from KC, so instead of my friend Missy having to drive all the way to Sioux Falls from Bismarck, we decided to meet in Fargo.

Only one problem with that...it would not be solely a girls' weekend, like I've so desperately wanted and needed.  We have lots of family in that area.  

And so begins the super crazy, busy, awesome weekend.

In three days...

• we visited a good friend that I haven't seen in a while, Sara, love her!  
• my cousin, Megan, cut my hair, she's awesome and soon moving here to the cities, super excited!!
• my two best girlfriends, Missy and Kristy, arrived in town and we hung out, ate, shopped, caught up and ate some more.
• my loving hubby, Der, took Hakan most of the time (I owe him big time).

heepy of sleepy

Missy, me and Kristy

• we watched my little sister Sammy play volleyball, something we rarely get to do because we don't live close, I love watching her play!
  

  

• we visited my G'ma Jenny, who's nephew was also in town.

• we visited my Aunt Jan, who also let us stay at her place for a couple nights:)
• we celebrated my G'pa Don's birthday and spent some time with my G'ma Mae and my great uncle Dale.

 

• we saw my mom, step dad, Darold, and my sister Alyssa.

• we stayed in a pretty nice hotel...the girls (and Adeline) in one room and Der and his family in another, so we also saw Der's family.

• we visited Der's aunt Pam, Hakan fell asleep on daddy...something that NEVER happens, but he missed a nap.

So one word to describe the weekend, exhausting (see above picture), but in a good way.

I was filled up.  I love these weekends that I can spend with my girlfriends, that I've known forever.  They know me, inside and out, and I know them.  We are completely comfortable with each other, love each other and each other's families.  We can be totally honest with each other and not feel judged or criticized.  They are my family and always will be.

Don't get me wrong, I love seeing family as well, I just see them more then I see my ladies, so a weekend with them is rare and special.  Next time, just the girls:)