stress

This is absolutely the best thing I've ever read about stress:
http://www.incourage.me/2011/11/because-thanksgiving-is-more-than-a-holiday.html

It was written by Ann Voskamp, author of One Thousand Gifts. It's honest, and beautiful, and the desire of my heart. Thankfully, the creator of this heart of mine knows. And cares. And will not give up on making me more like Him. For that I am thankful.

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I somehow deleted my entire list of favorite blogs. I now have to re-enter them one.at.a.time. If you notice any that I'm missing, would you please let me know? Thanks!

Disneyland pictures

Brace yourselves - for more pictures than you probably care to see!

The four of us at the airport waiting for our plane to board. We've been up since 4:00am but so excited no one is feeling tired!
On the shuttle from the airport to our hotel. Getting a little bit goofy!

Waiting to enter! You do lots of waiting in line at Disneyland. Probably a good experience for these homeschooled kids!

The kids watched several vacation-planning dvd's before we left and knew that they wanted Splash Mountain to be their very first ride. I tried to warn them that it's pretty scary and maybe we should work our way up to it. No one listened to me. It ended up being our very first ride - and our very last. With many, many in between! A family favorite, for sure. These pictures are taken during the 50 foot straight-down drop.

Singing "Jingle Bells" with Farley.

Disneyland is even more amazing than usual this time of year. Every night the park is transformed into a winter wonderland - complete with snow falling! It's beautiful.

The vacation package we bought included one character meal. I had heard that the food at "Ariel's Grotto" is great so that's where we went. It also includes a parade of princesses and photo opportunities. Our little "princess," however, is not interested in those princesses so we just did a family photo instead.

We had a ball exploring Tom Sawyer Island.

On our short walk from our hotel to the park.

The only character photo my kids cared about was this one with a Storm Trooper!California Screamin' is a very scary roller coaster. Our kids loved it!

The highlight of the trip was Jedi Training Academy. I had been warned ahead of time that not all kids in the audience get to participate. So we were delighted when both kids got picked! So much fun!

When Patrick and I were last at Disneyland (we think about 11 years ago) we fell in love with a show called Billy Hill and the Hillbillies. It's a bluegrass show with a Christmas flare this time of year. So much fun!Some friends of ours moved down to Huntington Beach a couple of years ago and we got to see them! So great to see familiar faces there!

Yummy food, of course!

The biggest Christmas tree you've ever seen.

More family photos. Maybe we can photoshop Ethan in and use them for Christmas cards. Except for my horrible Splash Mountain hair, of course!

So, so much fun. The week before we left I had been praying for God's favor over this trip. And He gave it - in abundance. We are so grateful.

reunited

After being away from Ethan for the past week, the kids were going through a bit of an adjustment period last night. Mostly good - they played together a lot. But there was some testing to be sure. At one point Ethan hit Audrey. Audrey said, "Ouch Ethan - don't hit me!" Ethan replied, "Oh sorry Audrey. I thought you were a drum."

Oh goodness - we missed that boy!

Everyone had a wonderful time last week - but we are so thankful to be back under one roof again.

Disneyland...

...was amazing!



**More pictures to follow once I catch my breath!**

boys weekend

Liam - "I wore all my clothes more than once while we were gone. Two or three times even."
Me - "That's ok."
Liam - "Except underwear."
Me - "Oh good."
Liam - "I didn't change those at all!"
Me - "What?????"

So let me get this straight. Boys weekend = dirty underwear + TONS of fun!

seven!

Liam is seven today. Hard to believe. We counted this morning and we have been celebrating for over two weeks! First, Nana and Papa visited. We went out for pizza, had ice cream, opened presents and sang to him. The following weekend, we had his friend party. (I'll post pictures soon!) It was a Seahawks party and very fun. And as a bonus, Grandma and Grandpa came that weekend to surprise him! They took us out for pizza, took him shopping for a new Lego set, and gave him a great Seahawks jersey to wear at his party. Then this past weekend, Liam and Patrick went to Chelan for a fun boys weekend. The highlight was getting to see cousin Erick play in his football game (and win!). They ate yummy food, stayed up late, and had another birthday cake!

This big birthday (seven on the seventh!) has been well-celebrated. Special happenings for such a special kid. Love you so much Liam!