Monday, November 29, 2010

What we are thankful for...

After a great Thanksgiving weekend with the fam (me, Josh and Mad) I had to write about how thankful I am to have them in my life. This past weekend was the first "time off" that Josh and I have had. No football games, no weddings, no band competitions, no meetings, just time together. We held Thanksgiving at our house so Josh and I cleaned Thursday morning, while I cooked. The Josh and I cleaned again Thursday night, then sat and watched some TV. Nothing super special, but it felt so nice. Then, as usual, I went Black Friday shopping with my mom and Regan and came home to a bare Christmas tree. While I decorated the tree and the inside of the house, Josh did the outside lights. Again, this is something we do year after year (now almost 8). The rest of the weekend went pretty fast. We lazed around. Watched football, ate dinner with friends, and I sang at church. Again, these are things we do all the time. But what I don't do all the time is sit back and reflect. I did today. I was sad that Josh had to go back to work. We had such a great time with him for four full days! But I was happy that I have my little girl to keep me company. She was very needy today (I think she is teething again) and just wanted to cuddle. I couldn't have spent a cold wintry day any other way. I so often get caught up in what is going on around me and the "things" I need to do, that I rarely stop and just take in the moment. Once I do that, I am reminded that there are few things in life that will matter in the end. I got to speak with a dear friend of mine this morning and she reminded me that most people do not look back on life and say they wish they cleaned more, or worked more. But they do wish they spent more time with family, with their kids, etc. She was telling me that her goal is just to have a peaceful home. I like that goal. As always, I am going to let that give me perspective. I also just want to have a God perspective. There is so much in this world that I am blind too because I am so drowning in my everyday life. I need to lift myself out of it and be thankful for what I have or enjoy what I have. Whatever it is... Anyway, so that is what I am thankful for. I am thankful that God has put good friends in my life to remind me of what really matters. And then I have a daughter who forces me to slow down. And I have moments with my husband that I cherish and keep me wanting more. I am so blessed. I am so thankful!

Speaking of thankful, a huge thank you to Gretchen for taking our family pictures again this year. xoxoxo

This shot was not working out so well...

I think this was one of the first pictures we took. We should have just saved ourselves the frustration. Oh boy!
We had her pinned in with our legs. I am super surprise she smiled here. Usually she does NOT like it when you pin her down.
We brought Ella and Regan along so they could get some cute girl shots. And Gretchen captured them perfectly. Ella is in love with Madelyn. She always wants to hug and kiss her. Madelyn wants to do her own thing.
But they both like holding hands. Awwww...




And here is "tee tee" and Miss Ella.

I LOVE this last one!

Monday, November 15, 2010

First Trip to Disneyland

I know this is a little outdated, but it is too important to just not post it.

Over Halloween weekend Mad and I traveled with Josh and his band to California for their marching band competition. The trip just sounded too fun to pass up. I was very reminiscent about the year before when Dave, Cheri and I followed the band with little Miss Thye to the competition and Magic Mountain. We had fun, so I thought I would do it again. Plus, Halloween is not my favorite holiday so I thought going to Disneyland sounded much more fun than trick or treating.

Side note, Josh's band is awesome! They scored very well in California, placing 3rd. Which is really good against California schools, who just might place their children in marching band as soon as they can walk. They always seem to be SO good. And on another side note, the DV band just won the State Competition beating out all other schools in the state by 3 points! Which again, is FANTASTIC! Now we are anxiously awaiting their Fiesta Bowl competition on December 30th. I am praying they win that too. I like winning....

Anyway, back to Disneyland. Here is how our day went, so you know while you are watching the slide show. We were only there for six hours. But that was plenty with a 15 month old.
- Got to Disneyland and took the shuttle into the park.
- Mad was so excited once we were there, she ran around for like 10 minutes.
- We rode the carousel (which she did a year ago at Magic Mountain too).
- We rode Dumbo.
- We took the Storybook Land boat tour.
- We rode the Nemo submarine tour.
- She took a nap and Josh and I joined some other staff members for lunch.
- She woke up from her nap but still laid on Uncle Drew's shoulder for about 20 minutes.
- Then she didn't want to do anything but play with the flowers (as you will see by Drew's little photo shoot). I figured we were in the Happiest Place on Earth, so she might as well do what makes her happy.
- She did meet Mary Poppins while picking flowers. She didn't care much for Burt. He tried to give her flowers and she ran away, picked her own and then gave them to Mary Poppins. It was really cute!