Carefree....

My kids can drive me nuts at time, that is not a secret.
Today I sat on the beach and watched them play. It's something that they do on an everyday basis but watching them today was different, maybe because I was removed from my everyday tasks and I could focus on them. I watched them run and jump around without a care in the world...I admired that.
Life is short yet we focus too much on keeping up with the Jones and not enough time focusing on what is really important...take a minute today to allow the little things in life to consume you...in the end the only thing we will have are our memories!

Water park fun...

I realize now after going through my own pictures of the day that I spent so much time playing and taking pictures with Jill's amazing camera that I really don't have very many of my own...oh well.
The last picture is our nephew Ryan. He LOVES Gabriella!

Happy 4th!

What a great day we had! It was hot and at times it was stressful...but we had a great time. We spent the day in Boulder City with grandma and great grandma. The kids had a great time playing at the water park..even Gabriella had fun. Afterwards we went to great grandmas for dinner and ended the night with beautiful fireworks. In the end everyone was exhausted...
Just a side note...we live in a wonderful country....I can honestly say there is no place else in the world I would rather live. THANKS to all the men and women both past and present who have made and continue to make this country what it is...may God bless you all!

Fun Times

My sister and her kids arrived on Monday night. So far we have had a great time...
It's always a great feeling when we can be all together. We laugh so hard at things that are so stupid.

The first night we went to dinner and had sleepovers. The girls (minus Gabriella) stayed the night at Grandmas and I kept the boys. WOW...that's all I can say about that. The kids have a ton of fun together, especially the girls...the boys do a fair amount of bickering.
I do have pictures that I will post when I am at home.

Last night we went to the mall. That again was an interesting experience. Jill and I are HUGE shopping fans....but when the boys are with us...not so much. The one good thing we have come up with is we do spend less money with the boys so I do guess that is a positive.

I'll post pictures later at home...

Walking the walk....

This was the message at church today...
if you are going to talk the talk are you willing to walk the walk?

The last few years have been defining ones to me...
I was raised a Christian, my mom took us to Sunday school classes and I was involved with church as a teenager too. I had a love for Jesus and God, but I was never the one to openly discuss my faith.
When I had Alyssa I suddenly had a desire to know more about God...I needed to know for myself that he was more than just stories in a book. I became more involved in church and surrounded myself with friends that shared the same values.
I am not a perfect Christian...but I do try my best. I love God and I'm not afraid to admit it...I will talk the talk and I will walk the walk!

Saturday Fun...

We had a great day today...despite the 110 degree heat!
A good friend of mine at work is raising her granddaughter and today was her 11th birthday. I was a little hesitant to go at first, the party was at LV Mini Grand Prix...about 90% of the activities are out side. I'm glad we went. Alyssa and Hailey hit it off and became instant friends and Brandon (even though he was only big enough to go on 3 rides) had a blast too.
On top of the party I also managed to do some laundry, run some boxes of winter clothes and baby things to storage and got the van washed and taught my Sunday school class. I felt like I accomplished something!
Jill comes in two days ( a day and a half, if you ask Alyssa) I am so ready to see her and the kids...
Gabriella is making more progress towards crawling...she gets the idea but insists on either rolling everywhere or crying until someone runs to her beckon call. Smart girl!!

Random stuff...

Alyssa's last choir concert was last night. (Do you hear my sigh of relief?!)
We are finally coming into the summer and though my kids go back to school in a few weeks to finish out this school year...we have a break from EVERYTHING else!
I can't tell you how nice it feels to go home after working all day and being able to stay there.

Brandon is at a wrestling camp all day today from 8:30a-2p. Because of his age daddy has to stay with him. No big deal-right?!
Well...we found out about this camp last night at 8pm...Jeff worked all night and got off at 7am...
I scrambled to piece together a sitter for the girls (thanks Grandma and Aunt Julie)
I have to do a quick THANKS to mom...I know I can always count on you and JULIE....I bout passed out when you agreed to keep them when you have to work tonight. THANKS...THANKS...THANKS!!!
This morning I raced around looking for head gear and hats...in the rush of it all I walked out of the house and left the formula...woops!! At least this time I remembered the diaper bag and it had diapers in it! (yes, I have done that before!)This should be a good thing for him. It will help brush up his skills and give him a chance to wrestle some kids his size and not just daddy.

Gabriella claps now. Ok...ok...I am aware that this is more than likely just "big" news in our house...but hey...
she also gives kisses...well, her version of them anyways!

My sister comes in less than a week...YIPPY!!!! I'm SOOO excited!!

I guess that's about the last of it...if you are still reading this...thanks...:)