a little late...

But here are some pictures from our Christmas festivities over the weekend.

My camera died Christmas morning. Can you believe it! So these are pictures from the day before and after Christmas. We had such a fun, relaxing weekend. It's been crazy hearing about how the rest of the country is freezing and full of snow storms. Christmas day here it was a sunny 75 degrees. It was pretty perfect.

But guess what- It's snowing in Arizona today. You guys sent the cold weather down here and I'm so thankful because this means I just may be snowboarding this weekend. AH! So excited.

Hope you're having a great Wednesday.

a new baby in the house...

Meet Moses...

I love african tortoises.

We would love to breed them if we could keep them from getting stolen and running away.

I have a good feeling about this one.

Isn't he cute?

We forgot to send out Christmas cards this year.

 So I made a fun little video.

I'm such a nerd but I think these videos are so much fun.

4 days!!!

Celebrating the holidays

Last night we celebrated Christmas with our friends by throwing a little party at our place. Best part about the holidays is spending time with your favorite people and sharing lots and lots of laughs. And playing the white elephant game.

I love how everyone's taller than my cheap garage sale tree. I had to show you this picture (cont. from this post)...look a few bulbs still left standing!!!

 My big brother and I. I love how he makes me take off my heels before taking pictures with him.

Some of my favorite white elephant gifts from the night...

Giant floor piano. Think about the movie big with Tom Hanks. I sadly didn't end up with this one.

My dad ended up with an autographed photo of the Hoff. So jealous.

You have to throw Bieber and the snuggie in there.

Overall great night with friends. The season is flying by too fast! 5 DAYS until the Big one!!!

What are some of the best white elephant gifts

you've given or recieved?

Special Monday Surprise

This is a special Monday for me because my niece was born this morning. First baby girl in the family.

Welcome to the world Linnea Belle

Now for the excitement of figuring out what life with a girl is like. We've been surrounded by boys for so long.

Congrats to my big brother and sister in law and Judah. Love you guys!

Dear Micah,

People used to tell me how nothing in this world compares to the love a mother feels for her child. I believed them of course, but the moment that I first laid eyes on you
I truly understood.

It was like my heart just wasn't big enough to hold all that love.

You became my world.

Happy birthday my love.

You can look back and read this someday and know just how much joy you bring to mommy every day.

lalalove

Holy, Moley, me, oh my,

You're the apple of my eye,

boy I've never loved one like you.

being childlike

My favorite part of every day is the moment that Skylar first opens his eyes. I’ll hear him start to wiggle around in bed and I know that it’s about to happen. So I lie down next to him and wait and sure enough seconds later eyes are open looking right into mine and the biggest brightest smile comes across his face. I love it! It’s the most amazing feeling in the world to see the person that you love so unconditionally love you back. It would break my heart if my children never showed me any sign that they loved me.

I love spending time with my kids more than anything. I love watching them grow and learn new things. I love holding them and comforting them when they are hurting. It brings me so much joy to listen to Micah tell me the silliest stories. I just love being with them no matter what.

God is the same way. He loves watching me change and grow, He wants to hold me close and lift me up when I’ve hit rock bottom, He wants to celebrate my joys with me, and He just wants to be with me. God-by Him all things were created and for Him, in Him all things hold together (our bodies, the universe, everything that exists), how amazing He is and He wants to have that kind of relationship with ME! With all of His children, this would mean YOU too! He created us, we sinned and that caused a separation between us, but then He sent his only son to be the final sacrifice to pay for our sin (past, present and future) so that our relationship could be restored and we can draw near to Him again like he always intended. He’s our father and He wants to be a part of our lives.

Like an infant depends on his mother and trusts and expects that she’s going to take care of him, God wants us to be like that with Him. He wants us to be childlike again. I want to trust Him like that; I want to expect that He is taking care of me. Jesus said that whoever humbles himself as little children is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.Secret to greatness-be humble and trust God like a child.

picture mail diaries

So this morning I was going through my picture mail on my phone and was laughing so hard about how insanely weird and random the pictures are. 

Judge for yourself...

Picture One. An inside joke I have with my stinky friend. I was so excited to find this for her. Deordorant soap who knew?  Love you friend!

Picture Two. So remember when I told you yesterday that I'm obsessed with cereal? I wasn't kidding. I get really excited when my favorite is on sale, SO excited that I have to announce it to my friends via picture mail. But seriously 2 boxes for the price of one- I had to tell the world. :)

Picture Three. Can you believe he fell asleep like this? So funny. Can you believe I now have four pictures of Micah sleeping on my blog? haha

Not weird enough yet? How about this...Picture Four. Yep. That's poop. I had to capture the joys of motherhood.

Picture Five. Shopping with aunt coco is so much fun!

 Picture Six. Don't you love it when you find products with your name or last name on it. Had to take a picture. This is my maiden name by the way. And the water was really good too.

Picture Seven. Micah: "Mommy he just flew up there."

 

And lastly Picture Eight. So scary! He kept staring at me.Sorry boys there will be no chuck E cheese birthday parties for you.

Alright totally random post. And these were only 8 of almost 100 weird pictures. 

Can anyone beat these?

If you have some crazy pictures in your phone that you think can compete with these I want to see them.

Reminder: Last day to enter the giveaway!

a very happy 4th of July

Pictures from the big 1st birthday.

before cake and after

Even Micah got a few presents.

 My friends spoil these boys.

bubble machine=genius!

Didn't quite make it to the fireworks but

the birthday was a success!

How did you spend the holiday?

Happy Friday

in one word or phrase- happiness

I’m dreaming of you- adorable chalkboard you will be in my house soon! and I would reallllly love drinking my cheap cappuccino out of these guys. I spent a lot of time on etsy this week, can you tell?

song on repeat-

The Fullness by Lovelite

you offer a life that is whole

you brighten my darkest soul

a mystery that I long to know

I am yours

gotta write it down- Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. -Abe Lincoln

lesson learned- “Which is greater, the evil of my sin, or the value of the blood of Jesus? By faith in Him we are forgiven forever. It’s the most incredibly gracious offer the world has ever and will ever know.” M. Connelly

picture to frame- My birthday boy

highlight of the week- watching a certain movie I had been waiting forever to see. I think you can guess what that was. I love the anticipation. And I love enjoying it with my favorite people.

weekend to do list- Celebrating Skylar’s 1st bday on my favorite holiday. Fireworks for Sky this 4th of July.

You can also find me here today.

Happy holiday weekend!

I hope you have a great one.

Play along if you'd like.

Secret #3

#3- be self-less

Put others before yourself and

you’ll be happy for a lifetime.

I would give up anything just to see you smile.

I've been tagged

First by Ilene at muchloveily 

The game:

Go to the folder in which you store your photos

Select the 8th photo

Post it to your blog and tell the story behind it.

This was about a month ago. We took the kids to the park and ran through the sprinklers. That's about the only way to survive the heat at the park in the summertime. But it was a fun day.

I was also tagged by Becca at life in technicolor.

The game: answer these questions. There were 8 but I'm just going to answer a few.

One. What song on the radio right now is currently at the top of your guilty pleasure list?

I'm really liking Neon Trees-Animals & Phoenix-1901. They put me in a happy mood.

Two. In your opinion, what is the most annoying show on tv?

ABC stuck the most annoying show in the LOST spot. It's called Downfall and I HATE it. It's where all this nice stuff (pool table, china set, furniture, etc.) is on a conveyor belt and if you don't answer the questions correctly it crashes down like 30 feet destroying it. This really annoys me to death. It's just wasting all that nice stuff. Did anyone else see this and hate it as much as I did?

Three.What is the strangest thing you've ever eaten?

My answer is sooooo lame but I have a MAJOR fish phobia. I am terrified of them and my hubby guilted me into trying sushi once so yep sushi was pretty strange and horrific for me. ha! I actually think I just washed it down with a cup of sake to drown the texture and taste. I'm weird.

Consider yourself tagged. Yep all of you. :)

questions for you...

1. Name 5 songs on your mixed cd from high school.

2. What is your favorite board game of all time?

&

3. What is the strangest thing you have ever done with your hair?

Comment me if you play so I can check out your answers

life lesson

Look who visited my house this weekend.

I woke up Saturday morning to a very scary phone call from Stephen telling me that he had been hit by a car while riding his bike home from triathalon training. A lady rolled a stop sign and he flew over the hood and into the street. It was very scary but thank God he wasn't seriously hurt. He injured his leg and has bruises and cuts on his face but luckily only that. It could have been so much worse and we are just so thankful that it wasn't.

Scary moments like this really put things into perpective for me. All weekend I couldn't help but think about what if that call would have been a different one. It was a good reminder of an important life lesson and that's to really appreciate the ones you love. Don't take anyone for granted thinking that they will be here tomorrow. The rest of my weekend was spent cherishing every minute with my guys and it turned out to be a pretty great one. I'm off to the dentist to learn another life lesson and that is not to wait 8 months to get a filling. :/ pray for me.

It's only when we truly know and understand

that we have a limited time on earth

and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up

that we will begin to live each day to the fullest,

as if it were the only one we had.

-Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

more random & recap

I posted total randomness yesterday but here is a bit more. Another picture from the river.

The camera that has the pictures with us in our pirate (but really more like gypsy) dress up is lost somewhere. I do believe there were 3 wardrobe changes-1.pirate/gyspy, 2.audreyhepburn and 3.wet rat. #1 & 2 would be on the other camera.

I love having a vase of beautiful flowers in my kitchen. It brings instant happiness whenever I walk into the room. My daddy always buys me roses for my birthday. Lovvveee him.


This picture cracks me up. I hope this doesn’t foreshadow Micah’s crazy driving in the future.




Any one from Jersey/Pennsylvania? My best friend is on a plane as I write this, moving back East for school. This breaks my heart but I know that we will never lose touch. Especially since I’ve nagged her to death to blog. I even started a little one for her here.  Steph-I will be texting,calling, skyping, fbing you about this blog all the time! If any of you live close to her and want an awesome new friend, you have to meet her. She is like my sister and the kindest person you will ever meet.

I promise a post with more substance tomorrow. :)

five

Love that is true never grows old. Just grows.

Thank you for the beautiful post Kristin.
love you. 

a love letter

5 rentals

1 home of our very own

6 cars…yikes!

2 turtles

1 dog

1 baby in heaven

2 beautiful boys

2 years dating

5 years married!

It’s undeniable that my love for you is forever.

Thank you for choosing me to be yours.

Happy Anniversary- a day early. <3

secret #2

#2- Choose joy

Some days we won't feel it, but we have to choose it.

P.S.-happy birthday mama!
I love you.