friends

I was looking back through the pictures we've taken since we left Fort Collins and I came across this picture. It was so good to get to see so many friends right before we left and sad when I think of the ones we didn't get to see. In the chaos of it all, I kept forgetting to take pictures of everyone that came and helped and all the crazy packing of those darn trucks! I even left my camera at Enzio's the night before we left and had to ask a friend to go get it and mail it to me. I hope to someday get my brain back.

In the meantime, I'm desperately missing my friends and my home. And clinging to His words...

Shout for joy to God, all the earth;

sing the glory of His name;

give to Him glorious praise!

Say to God, "How awesome are Your deeds!

So great is your power that Your enemies come cringing to You.

All the earth worships You

and sings praises to You;

they sing praises to Your name."

Psalm 66:1-6

fifteen and counting

Fifteen years ago today Ron and I got married. It really has flown by.

I love you babe! You're my everything, even though sometimes I give you the stink eye.

I love you for how patient you are, that you're a wonderful dad, that you love the Lord and desire to grow closer to Him. I'm so blessed to call you mine.

Miss P

I love this picture of my niece, Miss P, and just had to post it. She gives good stink eye.

Just like her aunt...

things I learned today...

1. Before you pack the children and all necessities in to the car and drive an hour and a half to spend the day at the beach, check the weather report for said beach. Otherwise you might arrive unprepared for the 57 degrees you are greeted with.

2a. Ross isn't that bad. We scored some rockin' deals on new school clothes and some much needed fedoras.

2b. My kids crack me up! I love that I caught Kate yelling at Mark for giving her bunny ears and Adam and Gregory are completely tuning them out so they can pose for the picture.

3. The Golden Gate bridge is still amazing. It was so fun to get to share it with the kids today. They thought it was totally cool and Mark reminded us all to be very careful and not jump off. He then climbed up on the wall so he could see it better.

4. If I have to sit in stop and go traffic for almost an hour, I want it to be as I'm driving through Napa Valley looking at vineyard after vineyard.

5. If you take your children to a cheap hair cut store in a town you've never been to and have no idea if it's any good, you have a 50/50 chance of those haircuts turning out ok. Good thing school doesn't start for four more weeks.

We had a wonderful day today experiencing new things and rolling with it as our plans didn't work out the way we thought they would. Everyone decided that a mini road trip discovering a new place is something we should do much more often. The only thing missing was Daddy, who was stuck in Sacramento at an AP Calculus seminar. Fortunately he'll be with us next week when we head out somewhere new. Stay tuned...

getaway

Last Thursday Ron and I decided that we would load everybody in to the car the following morning and head south to my parents house for the weekend. They had offered to watch the kids so we could get away for our anniversary, which is coming up this Friday. It's our 15th and we were really hoping to be able to get to do something special to celebrate. My brother Todd works at this amazing new resort and was able to get us a room for two nights.

Here's the view from a walking trail that runs along the edge of the resort.The happy couple, fifteen years later.

Laying out by the pool and enjoying the amazing view. We hung out at the adult pool where there were no children allowed. It was nice and quiet and we had drinks served right to us poolside. My dream vacation.

This was the view from the balcony off our room.

We drove down the street to Starbucks for breakfast. This is the view from Starbucks. Can you imagine getting to go there every morning for your coffee?! I could so get used to that!

We had a wonderful weekend and so did the kids. We even got to have an impromptu birthday celebration for my sister in law Rachel on Sunday evening. It was great to be able to so easily be spending time with family. Thank you Mom and Dad! And thank you Todd! Lucky you getting to go there to work every day.

marky mark

slowly, but surely

Several days ago I decided that I was going to focus on getting the boxes out of our bedroom. There were so many in there that we could hardly walk and it was, needless to say, getting very frustrating. So I spent an entire day working in there, unpacking stuff, putting it away, moving things to other rooms, etc. The room is far from being finished, but we can walk freely and there are no boxes. Woo Hoo!

Part of the reason I wanted to get our bedroom done was so that at the end of the day I could come to a place that did not look like this.

Or this.

Or this.

Mission accomplished!