A Day in the Life of Claudia

Hi! My name is Claudia is I turned two in June. Here is a glimpse into my crazy and wonderful life...

I love to go to OMSI! Last week my nanny Becca took me there and it was so much fun. I got to listen to different sounds in BIG headphones to see how my hearing was (I passed in case you're wondering).

WOW, I can't believe how big those teeth are!!!

I decided that I look really good on tv, so look for me coming to a channel near you! All the local weather reporters better watch out!

I got to "play" the piano without even touching the circles! So cool.

I liked looking at the slides that showed the growth of Alzeimers diease on the brain. I may end up being a doctor just like my mommy!


When I'm around the house I like to take off my clothes. It's my new thing! In this picture I had my diaper off too and was running around in my pink Croc's and my pink "daimond" bracelet. Nanny Becca said I was a real looker!

This is my "Oh my goodness, I'm naked" face!

Nanny Becca taught me how to put my finger up to my mouth when I'm thinking about something. We do this together and say, "Hmmmmmmm...." It usually helps us figure things out pretty quick.


But the best days are when I get to see my very bestest friend Piper!! We got to go to Sauvie Island and visit Kruger Farm.

We got to chase the chickens which was probably almost the most fun thing I've ever done! When they saw me tromping around in my boots they ran away pretty fast! :)



I l-o-v-e flowers and I l-o-v-e Becca!!


Piper and I had fun filling this water bowl for the doggies full of rocks! I like to do things that Piper does.

I couldn't believe how tall all of the sunflowers were!! Nanny Becca thought I was pretty cute walking down the rows of flowers, especially when I'd stop and smell them.

We got to pick flowers and I helped Becca make TWO huge bouquets.

This is my special flower that I got. Don't worry, I made sure to get one for my baby doll too--she loved it!


I live a good life!! Stay tuned for more fun times!

Lovey

Lauren took this picture of Claudia when they were in Cape Cod and my heart literally melted when I saw it. Such a doll!!

RAshley

Last weekend one of my dearest friends got married. It was a beautiful wedding and I was ecsatic to be a part of it. Ryan and Ashley have been together for about five years and have been through a lot in their relationship. It is so neat to be a part of something that God has obviously ordained. Knowing their hearts made this day that much better. It was a huge celebration and I'm so excited for their future together!!

Little Buggie Boo

I have been having so much fun with Claudia. She is so seriously cute and like always, I LOVE going to work in the morning. Here are some pictures of all of our fun! They are of the Rose Gardens, the Children's museum, The Zoo and a couple of parks.

WaFaRa...

...aka Washington Family Ranch, aka "The Ranch", aka Wildhorse Canyon. Camp this year was great as expected. My cabin consisted of six campers, two student leaders and Ashley and myself. It was small, but I really loved that. It gave me the chance to get the know all of the girls and spend some quality time with all of them. Out of the ten of us in our cabin, five were already believers. By the end of the week, three of the other five accepted Christ, with one of the other girls thinking about things. It was so exciting to be a part of the process with these girls!! It's always amazing to me to see God transform lives and work on the hearts of his children.
This years activities included all the normal things, the swing, the ropes course, the ridge runners and the (stupid) bikes. I successfully survived all of them, although it was a bit touch and go with a couple of them!! I almost passed out three, yes that's right THREE, times on the bikes. We did a couple mile ride around the perimeter of camp but it was SO hot that I just couldn't handle it. Luckily Ryan was there around the place that I hit the grass and flung my head between my knees. He gallantly rode my bike back for me. Atta boy Ry! :) After about twenty minutes I was able to make it back to my cabin and regroup. Yikes. The ropes course sent about 300 jolts of anxiety through my entire being about every other second. I did finish in about 20 minutes, thanks to me yelling at Ashley that I was going to die and her encouraging words of "Oh Becs, you'll be fine." Luckily she was right! I also made the summer staff guy talk to me for the last three obstacles so that I wouldn't vomit all of the people on the ground watching. I think I said it best when I landed on the ground and exclaimed, "Yeah!! Only 365 days until the next time!!" Hopefully the nightmares don't start quite as early this year. Seriously.
The highlight of the week was definitely when I got the old Swine Flu. Oh don't worry, you heard me right. I walked in healthy as a horse and left feeling as though I'd been trampled by one. I caught it the last full day, which was good. My fever was 102+ and I had this insanely crazy cough. After about four days of sleep I was healed, althoug the cough is still occasionally hanging on, a month later. Blech. Dang those pigs.
Thanks to all for your prayers! It was a great, hot, exhausting, rewarding week.

My cabin of girls before we conquered the dreaded ropes course

Me on my way down. Good angle, don't you think??

Here I am with Olivia, Celeste and Mallory, the three girls that met Jesus at camp!

Here is the view of the mountains from the pool. This was during the pool olympics and those are my girls at the edge of the pool.

My cabin during the volleyball tournament. I played. And scored. I know--A MIRACLE!

This was all of the people from DDHS on the final night. We do a nice dress up dinner and have an amazing meal. I was infected with the swine so don't mind my nastiness.

We hiked up to the top of Communication Hill for the sunrise on friday morning.

We were cowgirls on our theme night. They had a show, a carnival and sqare dancing, followed by a fireworks show. It was so fun!! Our program team was from Tennessee and they were AWESOME!!!! They were the best everybody had ever seen. It was so cool to experience that.

This is my table at dinner on theme night. I love these kids!

Just a broken girl...

"Just a broken girl, in this fallen world, learning everyday how to live like Christ."
Most days I seem to focus on the broken and fallen part. Most days I feel defeated, overwhelmed and lost. I wish that I found the positive in things. I wish that I didn't allow the negatives to permeate me so thoroughly.
I remember thinking to myself a couple of months ago that it had been the only time in my life where I felt as though I really was exactly where I should be in all aspects of my life. I was feeling confident, content and impactful--which lasted approximately two minutes at most. It's interesting to me that as soon as I feel comfortable and settled and okay with life, God does something to stir the pot. It's not a bad thing--actually, it's a good thing. But I hate having my world rocked...
These past few months have been hard. I have cried until my eyes were swollen more times than I care to mention. The picture that I saw as my life became different. I no longer feel confident, content or at all impactful. I just feel broken. I feel the darkness of this fallen world and the evil that comes with it trying desperately to sneak into any cracks that my defeated exterior may have. And it's exhausting.
I wish that I could say that I am intentional about learning to live like Christ in a deeper way every single day. Unfortunately I am not. Thankfully, I praise a God who is solid and steadfast, one who is a pursuer of my heart, one who is my rock and carries me. And right now, I need to be carried for awhile...
Maybe tomorrow I'll remember that it's okay to broken. It's okay to have moments of defeat. It's okay to be overwhelmed with life even though I have it better than 99.9%of the world's population. And just like many all over the world, to the cross I must cling.

Catch Up

Here are some pictures from the past couple of months.

I was quite depressed about turning 27...Here's my not so happy "I'm 27" face:


During my birthday week my sister and the most beautiful baby girl in the world came and stayed. Here are a couple of sweet little Rebekah (Jake and Ty make a special guest appearance):




My dear friends Ryan and Ashley also got engaged. Yeah for them!! Here is the happy couple:


Jered and I were able to take a day and head to the beach. We went to both Cannon Beach and Seaside and had a really nice day together:



Sorry to those who care, aka MOM, that it's been awhile!! :)