Pine Cove Family Camp 2012

One of the most exciting things that our family did after Brady's return from deployment was taking a trip to Tyler, TX for Pine Cove Family Camp. Family camp gave us an incredible opportunity to reconnect and enjoy uninterupted time together. Brady and I were able to spend time together as a couple while the kids happily went with their counselors and peers to take part in exciting activities while also sharing about God's love for them. The sweet counselors even came to our cabin two mornings during the week to help the kids get ready for the day so that Brady and I could take and early morning trail ride and a bike ride, just the two of us. It was wonderful!! Pine Cove offered a great chance to spend time outdoors swimming, biking, horseback riding, ziplining, boating, archery, and lots more. Hands down it was the best family vacation I have ever been a part of and I look forward to going again with the kids this next summer!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Daddy Is Home!!!

Brady came home this week and we could not be more excited to see him!! One of the most exciting parts is we will get to spend the next 3 weeks with him because he is taking vacation to be with us! It has been such a sweet reunion and so fun to see the smiles on the kids' faces. We are all SO happy to have him back at home!

Getting Ready

Sweet friends from the squadron came over last week to help me prepare the yard for welcoming Brady home from deployment. We put up flags on the edge of the lawn, tied a yellow ribbon around the house, and we hung a "welcome home" sign. This was an exciting part of the week because at this point it truly felt like the deployment period was coming to a close...yay! Thank you ladies for all of your help! These are my sweet neighbors, Sue & Nan who kindly help me ALL the time! I don't know how we would have survived deployment without their visits and continual encouragement. Before Brady came home I went out and bought a new dress to wear to the airport to pick him up(a red one because he really likes red). The girls stayed with Sue and Nan while I shopped. When I got home I showed them my new dress and Kaelyn said, "Oh Mom...why don't you go model it for us? As I was walking to the room to change she added, "and what shoes do you think you will wear? and what necklace? any earrings?" I told her I hadn't really given that a lot of thought and I was up for suggestions. She took that to heart and ran upstairs while I changed. When I opened the door to walk out and show them both girls gasped. Kaelyn said, "Mommy!!! You look really beautiful!" as she handed me a wand and tiara to add to my attire. Chloe clasped both sides of her face and bent over saying, "SOOOOOO PRETTY!!" I tell you...these two really know how to make a girl feel good about herself. And in my head I kept thinking...."wow, I might want to break out of the gym clothes and consider dressing up a little more often if the change is THIS dramatic for them."

Happy Easter!

Today our family was blessed to have the opportunity to join the Ravella's for church and Easter festivities at their home. Jim & Ginger are such dear friends...we so enjoy spending time with them. I can't remember if I have blogged about this in the past but Jim & Ginger share similiar life experiences as Brady & I in that they have also both lost their first spouses and then God blessed them with each other. Sharing time with them is always so comfortable and even though I have only known them for a year...the relationship with them is so familiar and so special. I believe it was far more than coincidence that the Ravella's moved from Florida back to SA just 3 days before Brady & I got married....God knew I would need this remarkable friendship.

My Sweet Son

I woke up the other morning at 8:00...it is unheard of these days for me to sleep past 6:15 so I welcomed 8am with great excitement! Once I got going, I realized that Zeke had both girls in the playroom, entertaining them. He later told me that they all woke up around 6:30 but he had managed to keep them content for an hour and a half with games, toys, and tv. I was so proud of him for being so considerate and thoughtful towards me, I could hardly stand it. He then later told me to not go in his room because he was working on a surprise. After an hour he came out and told me to come and look.

He had cleaned his room and made his bed so it looked like this...


He had gone through all his drawers and organized everything so that we can now find his clothes more easily.


He even took my suggestion and made labels for each drawer so that we would know what items were in each one.


Can you speak closer to a mother's heart than to clean your room like this? I was so moved I was practically speechless. He knew how much I wanted to straighten those things so he took it upon himself to make it happen. He was honoring me in such a special way. God could not have given me a sweeter boy than this one. He is an amazing gift.

Here he is loving on his sister. He helps me with the girls every day. He is going to make the most incredible daddy.

The Girls Get Haircuts

I took Kaelyn in for a badly needed hair cut at the beginning of March. In May of last year, just before our wedding, Kaelyn took a pair of scissors to both sides of her head and removed a good chunk out of both areas. She is just now getting the hair on both sides to grow in at a normal length. Thank goodness. She told me the other day that she really wants to have long hair like Ariel (the Disney mermaid). I reminded her that if she wanted long hair like Ariel then she would have to quit "playing beautician" on her own hair. This the the third time that Kaelyn has taken on the job of cutting her own hair. The first time was right before Cousin Alli's wedding and it was by far the worst because she chose electric clippers as her cutting tool that time. I'm definately seeing a trend..a new self-delivered hairstyle right before a big event.

After K's haircut Chloe got her first professional trim too! She did very well with it and thought she was so big to sit in the chair all by herself.

Fun Friends Visit

The very first weekend in March I was blessed with a visit from two of my favorite friends: Valerie Shoup & Vanessa Martin. My kiddos went to Kerrville for the weekend while the three of us hung out for the weekend at the house. We talked, we ate scones, we laughed, we shopped a little, we told lots of stories and we ate a few more scones. It was so much fun to reconnect with these two...it was great reprieve from a busy week and it was great girl time. Thanks for the visit you two!!!