17 is a hard number to wrap my mind around. I can still remember those first few moments in the hospital room after I finally got to hold you for the first time. You came out of me looking purple, cone headed, and not breathing (let's just say you got a lot cuter in the next several hours after you regained color and your head shape rounded out :) For a first time momma, I had no clue what was going on or if you were going to be okay. Finally, we heard some faint little c

On Thursday morning, we packed up the van and left our cute little lake house. We had been told about Sleeping Bear Dunes, and decided to add that to our travel plans as we made our way up to Mackinaw City. Let me just say that the view did not disappoint at all . . . The lake water is so gorgeous! And of course, we found some more dunes that we could climb, so heaven forbid, we miss out on another sandy experience! The boys climbed up those narrow, steep trails while Mark

The weekly forecast did not look very dry (or hot), but we kept an eye on it, and we ended up with much more rain-free time than we thought we might . . . thank you Jesus! Tuesday was a dry and sunny day, so we drove south about 45 minutes to the Silver Lake Dunes. Mark is a Jeep lover, so we rented a Jeep for an hour to drive out on the dunes. After only seeing the dunes in Ludington, we soon realized that they were pretty minor compared to the HUGE ones at Silver Lake.

When we were thinking about our vacation for this summer, we were looking to go somewhere we'd never been to before. While we love going to the beach in South Carolina, it's not a destination that we want to go to every year--we definitely want to explore some new areas, and see different things. I've heard of people vacationing in Michigan, and absolutely loving it, so we started doing some research and asking for ideas fro those who've been there before. We definitely wan

My goodness . . . this momma is not quite sure what to do with herself. We have ourselves another teenager! 13 years ago this morning (at around 12:30am), this little boy burst into the world, giving momma no time to get an epidural (or any type of pain meds for that matter). We had arrived at the hospital around 11:40, and it wasn't long before this sweet little boy was in my arms. Big brother Cole was so proud of him . . . Even though he was our little blonde boy as a to

I don't know if your home is anything like ours when it comes to electronic devices . . . but it seems like we have an ever-recurring issue with charging cords disappearing. We may have one that stays in the outlet by the couch for weeks and then all of a sudden, it is nowhere to be found. And NO ONE has any idea where it disappeared to. It's really a 1st world, problem, I understand that. But I really enjoy the convenience of being able to plug in my phone when the battery

If I'm super honest this morning, this season of life has been full of crazy. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to let us know that the pace of life this world is traveling at is insane. And yet, without even taking a minute to consider our answer of "okay, sure", we join right in, jumping into the cycle that is basically impossible to keep up with. But, let me back up just a bit. Every fall, most photographers work at break-neck speed, because it is our "busy season", the

We'd been hearing all week that a huge snowstorm was heading our way. But, as is typical in Ohio, you don't really get too concerned because who knows how much snow you'll actually end up with. I was hoping for the 12"+ inches they were predicting, but knew that we could also end up with an inch or two. On Friday night, basketball games and things planned for Saturday were already being canceled in anticipation of the BIG storm. By 9:30 on Saturday morning, the flurries arr

I can't even believe that our baby is double digits today . . . Gavin is 10! It seems like a long time ago when he was a baby, but when I look back through the many blog posts and photos, it transports me right back to being a new mom with little ones around. Gavin has always looked a lot like his oldest brother, Cole, and we always referred to them as twins. Even their personalities seemed to be a lot alike, but as they get older, they are definitely 2 different kids. Gav

I feel like we should still be celebrating birthday 12 or 13, but those have come and gone, and I made the mistake of blinking . . . now you are 16 years old, and I cannot believe we are here already. 16 years ago, we were bumbling along in this brand new stage of being parents, having hardly a clue of what we were doing or what we were getting into. You were only about 8 hours old, arriving just after midnight on the morning of Dec. 11th. You were born with the cord wrapp

I'm not even sure where to start, but let me just say that 2018 has been quite the year. After going through some incredible valleys the past several years, 2018 started off with a desire in my heart to have this year be different . . . better . . . healing. I didn't want to have to walk through another 2017 ever again. Bitterness & unforgiveness had totally stripped me of nearly every ounce of joy, and I was sick and tired of it. I had no idea what Jesus was going to do o

This past weekend, we got to spend Easter with the Whipples. Arneelius & Carla and their kiddos just moved to a bigger house in Delaware several months ago, so they invited us down to spend the weekend with them. On Saturday evening, we went with them to the Easter service at Vineyard Church, and then on Sunday morning, we slept in and had a late brunch. Carla had the table decorated beautifully, and prepared a whole array of food for us to enjoy . . . ham, breakfast casse

Hey guys, I just wanted to hop on here for a quick blog post. I'm so excited for a new year, and having a fresh start. There's just something about January that feels new and un-cluttered (as long as you don't peek into my catch-all corners & countertops), and this OCD momma loves it. This time each year, I love looking back over the past year and dreaming forward to what is ahead. Seeing what worked, and making a mental list of things that need to be tweaked, changed, or

Fifteen years ago, I was a brand new mom. A tiny little 5lb. 13oz. bundle of boy was in my arms, and even though I had no clue of everything it would take to be a mom to this little guy, I fell in love with him so quickly and knew that he was the best early Christmas present I could've ever asked for. 15 years. Fifteen years. It seems almost impossible that it's been that long already. When you're a new mom, you always hear people advise, "don't blink . . . it will be g

"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." I John 4:18 NIV This is not a new verse or one that I've never heard before. But the message of this verse hit me in a whole new way yesterday. I don't even remember what radio station I was listening to, but the preacher was talking about being overcome by fear & worry. It's nothing new to this girl. The past year has been on

I'm an Iowa girl, born and raised in the state known for it's corn fields (NOT potatoes, like lots of people think. That's I-d-a-h-o, not I-o-w-a). Anyways, the majority of my family still lives in Iowa, with the exception of my oldest sister, who is here in Ohio, a little less than 2 hours away. Us Ohio girls have been bugging our little sister that she needs to come and visit us. We were finally able to arrange everyone's schedules several weekends ago--my Mom & sister (

Yesterday, Mark & Cole competed in the Warrior Dash. If you've never heard of it, it's a 5k race with lots of mud & obstacles mixed in. We arrived soon after lunch time and Mark & Cole registered and got ready for the race. Lots of waiting for the younger two :) Getting shoes all taped up for the race . . . In line, waiting for them to let the next group go . . . And they're off! Most of the race/obstacles are back in the woods or out of spectator's sight, but we were able

Time just keeps flying by (surprise, surprise), and somehow our kids' birthdays keep rolling around faster than ever. Ian is the only one in our family to have a summer birthday, so he loves taking advantage of that and with our pool, it was easy to have a pool party to celebrate. The forecast was showing an 80% chance of rain for that afternoon, but we kept praying and ended up being able to swim for almost the entire afternoon. It started raining for a bit, so we got out

Life can be a bit like a circus around here sometimes . . . I am so thankful that we get to have an amazing man as our ring leader, leading us through each day with his example of unconditional love and loads of grace. He makes me laugh every day, and I can't imagine anyone else helping me raise these 3 boys that we get to call ours. Happy Father's Day, babe . . . you are loved more than you will ever know! #FathersDay #LifewiththeSarvers #personalblog

At the end of October, Mom & Dad made another trip to spend a long weekend with us. We put Dad to work with building some shelving for us, and creating more organization in my kitchen cabinets. He & Mom helped out so much with so many little things that were on our to-do list, but just hadn't gotten done yet. Mom made some curtains for the dining room, so I love the splash of color they add to the gray walls. Mark also started installing the new island, and even though the