Christmas is Coming

Haven't blogged for a long time, here's some pictures:

 Family Picture over Thanksgiving in Beaver Creek

 Ice Skating in Beaver Creek

Christmas Parade in Downtown Denver

its been quiet a few last 2 months, but God has been faithful to be our comfort, bless us with deeper relationships, and bring us to a new understanding of who he is and our deep dependance on him. As we finish this semester, we are very thankful for the two weeks we have off.

Fall Break

I don't even know where to start, its been so long. Maybe I will share somethings I have been learning:

Intentionality - The biggest thing I have learned this past week was the huge benefit of being intentional. I got to spend a week at home hanging out with my family. One of the hardest things about being in Colorado is knowing that Grace, Josh, and Noah are growing up in California, and I am not there for a few years. Every time I see them (especially Grace and Josh), they have grown a few inches and show new stages of maturity. So, going home this past week, I decided I wasn't going to run around and try to see everyone. Instead, I made a point to be home, to be intentional in spending time with Grace and Josh, investing in them, and getting to know them more. (Noah's at high school and playing football; he is a busy man:). God took my small efforts and multiplied them into many blessings. I had such a special time with everyone; my mom, my dad, Grace, Josh, and Noah. I don't know how to put into words the blessings I experienced in being home with my siblings. They are each such special and unique people and I love them so very much! Over the 6 days we spent 1 night at Hume Lake, 1 night in pismo, I got to watch both brothers play football, we went floating, we cooked, we sat by the pool, got pedicures, etc. Time with family is so special these days and I never want to travel to California without intentionality again.

Trust - I am continually learning to trust God with a whole lot of things. Its been a rough start to the school year for Stephen, but God has continued to bring us through this crazy adventure of medical school one day at a time. Because my school is somewhat new, there are several things that have not been optimal, but I am learning to trust God with where he has me.

Marriage Plus - Stephen and I are just starting a year long intensive marriage course called Marriage Plus. It is taught and was developed by our young marrieds Sunday school class leaders. Although the time commitment was not an easy decision (seeing how busy we are already), we are excited that God has provided for us to be able to take the class. The foundation of the class is learning how to minister to/love on  people inside and outside the church, as a couple; how to compliment each other in our individual giftings.

Pictures from the last few months:

 Stephen and I at Rock the Range (Franklin Graham Crusade)

 My Aunt Julie and Uncle Ryan and all 4 boys came to visit for 2 days. We had a blast!

 My mom's sister, Aunt Steph was here the same time Aunt Julie's family was :) It was so fun for both of them to see where we live!

 Wearing green to support my brothers :) It was SO fun to see them play. I forgot how fun high school football games are!

 Grace and I made Josh a sign for his football game. He was a little embarrassed. I love these guys! 

 Frozen yogurt downtown Pismo 

 Avila Farm

Grace with the blue pumpkins (I wish I could have flown some home)

 Celebrating Dad's Birthday

Got the tubes blown up and all ready for our afternoon float! 

Much love,

Hannah

Summer seems to have slipped away

Its been a long time since i have blogged, but summer was full of fun times and new adventures, and lots of good time with Stephen :) So here is a picture diary!

We started our summer with a few days in california (most of which were spent up at hume!) 

 Then off we were, all 6 jacksons and 2 zerlangs, on a 17 hour road trip to Jackson Hole

 We spent a whole week with my family, most of which we were either atop our horses (4 hours a day), sitting in the steam sauna, or eating some fabulous meal

 Every day we went on 2 different rides to new places each time. The Grand Tetons wowed us all week.

 Josh and I before we had to leave. We had such a wonderful time. After leaving we spent a few days in Jackson Hole (the dude ranch was about 30 miles north of JH) for the 4th of July!

 Had a blast with my Aunt Julies boys (Lucas is now almost 4 and a package of fun!)

 

Jackson Hole 4th of July Parade. 

Even though I started school the day after we got home, we still had lots of time to do lots of fun things! 

 We went hiking

 but all this snow (in July) stopped us from going any farther :(

 We went camping...

twice :) It was a blast! 

Now we are back in the swing of things, starting our 2nd year of medical and almost 1 year out from my graduation with my BSN in nursing :) YEAH! 

My mom came to visit last week on her way home from dropping Gabi off for her sophomore year at ORU. It was such a blessing to have her here for a few days. We went to Ikea for the 1st time (One just opened 10 min from our house), we ate at new places, and we laid by the pool. We had a really special time. 

Now we are preparing for the Billie Graham Conference (Franklin Graham now speaks) and preparing our hearts for what God is doing before, during and after this exciting event. Please pray for us in these next few weeks as there are many people we want to invite or initiate conversation with. Stephen and I are excited to be counselors at the event and look forward to being apart of the great things God is doing. 

Much Love,

Hannah

Summer is calling

Well, I am coming to the end of another quarter of nursing school and Stephen is coming the end of his 1st year of medical school (the 2nd much more of an accomplishment than the first)
Its been a while since I have written anything on the blog, but finally I have some free time with nothing else to do. I am feeling quiet refreshed to sit down with a coffee frappuccino light outside starbucks in downtown denver. The sun is shining and a nice breeze is blowing :) Its a beautiful afternoon.
Exciting things first. A week and a half ago our good friend T Jeffcoach married his now bride Jesamy. What a privilege for Stephen to be in the wedding and for us to spend the weekend in Rolla, MO where Jesamy is from! Much about the wedding reminded me of the wonderful celebration of marriage that Stephen and i joined in almost a year ago. Here are some pictures of the wedding

 Rehersal dinner with my handsome husband and his new glasses :)

 The bride and groom to be :)

 The foursome from high school!

 1st kiss

Stephen and I with T and Jesamy

The newlyweds will be going on a honeymoon in July because T had to leave for an army training 3 days after the wedding. Because of this Stephen and I had the privilege of having Jesamy come stay with us over the weekend. And what a privilege it was. I was so refreshed and blessed to continue building a wonderful friendship with Jesamy. She is a true jem and our time together over the weekend revealed that even more. We also had a TON of fun together! She helped me find (at a yard sale), and paint our new red armoire

 Just getting started

 painting, painting and more painting

 Finished product!

On a prayer request note, Stephen is finishing up his last class and it had definitely been the hardest and most frustrating, not because of the material being learned but because of the lack of teaching and direction. So you prayers would be greatly appreciated. He will be studying as much as possible this weekend and then takes the final test on monday morning :)

This sunday we also have the opportunity to lead a team of a dozen or more people on what our church calls Service Sunday. Please pray as we will being going to a rough neighborhood downtown to paint a ladies fence. If you could pray that we would be a blessing to her and that our work would reflect the love of Christ for her and her family, that would be awesome!

God is so good! Beyond what I deserve or imagine. I found out this last week that for the month of July (while Stephen is also out of school) I will only have class on Monday and Wednesday mornings. When Stephen goes back to school I start my clinicals and labs. What an amazing gift from the Lord, to have so much time to spend together this summer.

Thats it for now :)

Love,
Hannah

Catching up

I had to make myself sit down and write this morning. I don't want to miss out on the abundance of blessings that come when others join us in prayer.

This last week we finished the Billy Graham Evangelical Association Christian Life and Witness Course. What a wonderful few weeks it has been as both Stephen and I have gone back to the basics of our faith in God, getting to the things that really matter. We were separated from God because of our great sin, and now, by his grace, he has brought us into a personal relationship with him. 
I personally have been learning so much on this journey God has me on. I went through weeks of discouragement being surrounded by so many hurting lives at school. God then opened my eyes to my classmates great need for him. Then he reminded me I can do nothing without him. He loves all these people more than I ever could imagine and desires they leave their hurting lives behind and accept his grace. Now he has me on the journey of praying for their Salvation, as I continue to be renewed in his likeness myself so that I might share the great hope I have in Christ Jesus.
Would you join with me in praying for their salvation?

Next,
Tomorrow I start bible study with a group of 5 junior high and high school girls from Hillside. Would you be praying that God would work through me to encourage them on in their faith and spiritual maturity.

Sunday Stephen and I are leading our young marrieds Sunday school class. Would you pray that God would equip Stephen with courage and strength as he teaches on 2 timothy (Jess and Jessi, 2 of Stephen's good friends, are helping him teach).

Lastly, In 3 weeks we are going to be helping lead a "service Sunday" group. Twice a year our church spends our usual Sunday morning time out in the communities of Denver serving in different projects to share the love of Christ. Would you be praying that as we prepare and meet the family our team will be serving, that God's love would abound in our live and flow out into theirs.

With all that is going on, I deeply desire that everything we do would be motivated by the love of our Lord Jesus Christ. Would you pray for this also?

Stephen and I are finishing up our last 3 1/2 weeks of school before a fun and busy break. We are so excited to fly to Rolla, Missouri next weekend to celebrate as our good friend T Jeffcoach marries his precious bride! (Bonus: a weekend with our Zerlang parents:)

Thanks for reading and thanks for praying!

Much Love,
Hannah

Just pictures because I don't have time to write :(

I (we) were totally blessed to have my mom and sister grace visited 2 weekends ago. God seems to bring family around, just at the right time.

 Friday morning (after Stephen left for school), my mom, Grace, and I woke up, made scones, lemon curd, and tea and sat ourselves down on the couch to take the royal wedding on my laptop! What a fun memory! 

 Stephen fired up our new antique grill and made us some amazing bbq chicken on Saturday night.

 Celebrating early mothers day on Sunday night for dinner!

We had a very special special time celebrating mothers day

Easter Weekend

Our weekend was busy but lots of fun! Here's some pictures

 Saturday morning we headed down to Colorado Spring to spend the day with T and his fiance Jesamy! We went on a beautiful hike up into the hills!

 MMMM, Love that guy!

 Classic T move, getting in our pretty picture

 Sunday after church we head to Gary and Ann Wooley's (our adopted CO family and leaders of our young marrieds group) to have a extravagant Easter brunch with about 30ish people from hillside.

 Stephen decided he wanted a picture of just me :(

 First Easter as man and wife :) 

Happy monday,

Hannah