What have we been up to?

Spring has been teasing us lately!  It's warm one day and sleeting the next!  Jaxon started baseball so we are enjoying that!  The boys participated in a Tae Kwon Do tournament and did great!  They got 3 medals each!  We've enjoyed some fun days out in the sun, jumping on the trampoline, riding bikes and playing ball.  This week we spent the night at Grandma and Papa's and saw some of our sweet friends.  Sadly, Bailey, our cat of 11 years got out 2 weeks ago and we haven't found him yet.  We haven't given up but we've all been pretty sad about that.  A neighbor called and said he saw him on the walking trail not far from out house.  

Here are a few pictures....

The boys after their tournament

Playing outside at Nana and Poppi's

Easter Sunday.  Unfortunately, Daddy-O had to work

Our sweet Bailey-Boo sleeping with Camron

Women's Retreat 2013

I am honestly not sure if I can put into words what I would like to say about this weekend.  I am typically not an "immediate blogger".  But my heart is just overflowing with what God has done this weekend so I decided an attempt at putting it to words was my best choice.
This weekend was amazing.  I spent time with the most wonderful ladies.  I had a small group who was  truly hand picked by the Lord.  I was blessed to be in a group with some ladies I had never met, some I had met but had always wanted to get to know better, and some who know me better than just about anyone!  Our conversations, both silly and serious, were just a blessing to me!

Here is THE best small group at Mirror Image Retreat 2013 ;)

My roommates were the best as well!  All but one of the girls were close friends before we left but each of them made an impact on me in different ways this weekend.  It was amazing to see God work so intimately yet so differently on each and every heart in our room.

Ok, so we didn't do a very good job on this picture.  Love them anyway ;)

The music this weekend was phenomenal.  Emily, Carrie and Jakenya (not pictured) just brought so much emotion to the surface.  I'm 99.9% sure there wasn't a dry eye in the room Saturday night.

The view from our room was breathtaking.  It was hard to sleep in (yes even with no kids and yes I'm only speaking for myself and not my roomies) because I knew I would miss the sunrise over the ocean.  Looking out over the sea....it seems never-ending.  It just reminds you of the love our Heavenly Father feels for us.  

Our speaker, Lara Williams, was fantabulous.  She let God use her and because of that He moved in a mighty way this weekend.  Hearts were changed.  Chains were broken.  Seeds planted by the enemy were pulled up by the roots and thrown out for-e-ver.  Ladies are going home to bear some fruit.  I am excited to see the way the Lord is going to use us, change us, and work in us. 

Finally, I thought I would share a few pictures that I just liked...for *various reasons!

*We had a beautiful view of the pier.  I wore my Uggs...on the beach.  The "boardwalk" was just about as far as we went.  I rocked my HE>i trucker hat (and probably will a lot more).  Kel and I took shadow portraits and very likely looked like lunatic.  Ang and I were sad that our friend was home sick.  Another sunrise shot.  A lot of shopping bags (but they belonged to 5 different people so cut us some slack).  And the beach as we bid our farewell (and maybe even sang that song from The Sound of Music...more than any passers by would want to hear.)

Green belts

The boys just tested for their green belts in Tae Kwon Do.  I didn't get a pic once they actually got them but I took a few action shots!

The rest were too way too blurry because they were breaking boards!  So proud of these boys!  They did their form wonderfully, broke their boards like champs, and recited both of their yellow belt bible verses!!

Grandma is 80!

I love my Grandma!  She is the best for sure!  She and my *cousin-twin, Jeremy share the same birthday.  It is rare that our entire family is ever all together at the same time.  We all made a point to come together to celebrate Grandma at Johnny Carino's for her 80th birthday!  It was great to have us all together.  I love my family!  Here are a few pics from our night!

A quick CHEESE!

Me and my sweet mama!

Grandma and her cake!  Yes that's an old school pic of her on the cake!  

Grandma and Papa and all the great-grands!

The WHOLE fam!!!  

*so I call Jeremy my cousin-twin because we are 2 months apart and were always together and mistaken for twins when we were babies/children.  He is the one in the orange shirt who is like a foot  and a half taller than me now!  We definitely still look alike but he towers over me!  Love my "cuz"!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Couldn't you just squeeze her?!

The elementary age kids at our annual homeschool skate party.

The whole crowd!  So blessed to be a part of this group!

Jossalyn's first tea party

Jossalyn was invited to her first tea party to celebrate Lilly's 4th birthday.  It was so sweet!  She was the youngest there but because Lilly loves her so much (Agnes like if you will....think Despicable Me) Joss was at the top of her invite list.  They drank lemonade out of tea cups, ate sandwiches shaped like tea cups and tea pitchers, were served by the sweetest women in cute ruffly aprons, and got girly lip gloss too!  I made Joss a cute little outfit to wear and we both had a great time seeing some of our best friends!

All the girls in their cute red hats!  Bryleigh and Joss both with sweet smiles!

Such a little priss pot!

3 of the 4 buffalo ;)

along with wonderful memories in Disney, we brought back....

....the norovirus!  It was NOT fun!  Poor Jaxon had it for one day on vacation.  Thankfully the others were able to steer clear.   Until we got home that is.  Thursday morning we went to Bible study.  We hadn't been there 15 minutes when Camron and Caden's teacher came and got me.  Man down.  Caden got sick!  We came home and quarantined him.  Later that night, Camron followed suit.  Now, Jaxon's vomiting, etc. lasted about 12 hours.  Camron's closer to 24.  Caden just couldn't shake it.  After a text to a sweet nurse friend, I took him to the dr.  I had to literally carry him.  He was so weak he couldn't even hold his head up.  The Dr. was obviously worried.  She gave him some meds and instructions to go straight to the ER if he was still vomiting that evening.  We prayed he wouldn't throw up again.  He didn't!  The next day he was able to keep a little food and liquid down.  He did end up getting sick once more but we think his stomach just needed time to recuperate.  It was not a fun time but we are so thankful everyone is over it and Mommy and Daddy-O were able to stay healthy!  (and the house got a deep clean)