Some days are like that...

Some days I feel like we get to tackle each thing and I have time to complete it and move on to the next, and other days, it all just comes at the same time and we just go with it:

On this particular afternoon, we were finishing homework, working on Eden's birthday invitations, making dinner, preparing for our Life Group to come, printing off paperwork to enroll Eden in Kindergarten and get Ryder's paper work set for baseball, and Eden's paperwork set for her dance recital while making lunches, and finishing laundry to have uniforms ready for the rest of the week... And it poured outside.  We got it all done and when we sat down to dinner that night, I took a sigh of relief.  Some days are just like that, and we wouldn't have it any other way. I want to stand back and be thankful for the opportunities I have to love and serve my family in these special ways.  We are able to feed and clothe them and that has not been something that I want to take of granted with my recent trip to Uganda.  They have access to education and extracurricular activities that give them such life!  I have a dishwasher, washer and dryer. Heck, I EVEN have running water and electricity, not to mention how much we get to love each other on a daily basis with good health! We have so much and on those days when I want to hang my head in the feelings of inadequacy and exhaustion, my prayer is that I can instead look up and say thank you with a heart of gratitude for all that the Lord has done. 
❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎

weekend family time

This last weekend, as Kit prepared to teach, the kids and I headed out to Redlands to be with our family...  We had a full day that started at the museum:

 What you don't know is that while you are looking at an exhibit:

 A ginormous game of hide and seek is happening:

 Fossil exhibit:

 Goodness gracious Ryder and I had so much fun here!

Mia was in on it too...

Nope, can't find him anywhere!

 In-N-Out

 Then on to bowling!

We had such a fun day together!  I am so incredibly thankful that we have these people in our lives and that we get to call them our family!

bikes

After school, this is their favorite way to enjoy some fresh air and be outside before dinner...

How fun to watch them enjoy things together!❤︎

a tree and her boy...

One of my favorite things is when Ryder reads to us.

He recently read me one of my favorites...

I may have wanted to cry.

He read it from cover to cover.

"Once there was a tree and she loved a little boy... And the boy loved the tree very much. And the tree was happy..."  

~Shel Silverstein

Oh sweet boy of mine, will you ever really know how much this "tree" loves you...?

I hope that you know and experience it every day...❤︎

And so it begins...

Ryder got a guitar for Christmas and is THRILLED about it.  We got a recommended beginner book and Kit has been working with him before we hand him off to a sweet friend of ours at church who has offered to give him lessons!  So here are the evenings around our house:

I can not stand how sweet our boy is!

First NFL game...

On December 4, The guys went with our close friends to a Charger game!  It was the first professional game for Kit and Ryder...

Last time Ryder had driven by Petco park, he and Micah were this age:

This was them now:

 They got to tailgate!

And loved the stadium:

 Ryder was only a TINY bit into it...❤︎

 The first professional game for these guys was made so special by who they got to be with...

The next day, Ryder had to check all the games that he DIDN'T see:

(Where did this kid come from?)

They loved their first football experience!  

We love you Pavones!

a new president...

So as of last Friday, we have a new president:

I have to say that I love our country and I love that the inauguration began with prayer and the name of Jesus was said and that the Sermon on the Mount was referenced.  THIS IS NOT THE CASE IN MANY COUNTRIES and I am so thankful for this gift that I take so lightly.  We pray for our country's leaders daily for wisdom, strength, and discernment as they lead this nation. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

God bless America, land that I love
Stand beside her and guide her
Through the night with the light from above

From the mountains to the prairies

To the oceans white with foam
God bless America, my home sweet home
God bless America, my home sweet home

~Irving Berlin

Playdates at the Discovery Cube!

We met up with some friends at the Discovery Cube on Tuesday, and we had so much fun!

 Wind tunnels...

 Time with this girl is just the best!

(We missed Ryder though...❤︎)