Best Vacation EVER!

We are a water skiing family! We love the lake, so when the opportunity to spend a week at a lake house came up we jumped on it!

It was a dream come true and the best vacay we've ever had! We invited lots of family to come with us (the lake house could sleep over 20 people) but everyone couldn't make it. We got to share it with my parents, my brother and sister-in-law from Florida, and my aunt, uncle and cousin from Texas.

I had special shirts made for the week - along with a fun welcome bag.

There was lots of this - relaxing on the deck.

Lots of game time!

Music time!

Trampoline time!

And of course time on the water!

We hiked to this lake and the 300 foot waterfall, which you can see on the mountain in the background.

Cliff Jumping!

Fishing!

Planking!

The whole fam!

This was one of the many amazing views we had all week!

It was such a great week that no one wanted to go home. Before we left we decided this vacay was worth repeating next year! And all those family members who didn't come this year....well, they are already anticipating their chance to join us next year.


 

Building the Blocks

A few months ago I came across this blog: Building the Blocks, and I was so moved by what I read and saw. This family is such an inspiration! They have 4 biological children and 5 adopted children. And now they are preparing to move to Guatemala where they can make a difference in the lives of more orphans.Once I read their story, I knew I wanted to get involved.

You see, prior to discovering the Block's blog God had been speaking to my heart about orphans. Everywhere I looked I would hear about orphans in need. I didn't know what God had in mind, but I shared it with Tim and we both began to pray about it. In the mean time, I was planning a garage sale to get rid of lots of baby things and items that had collected in our attic over the years.

The two came together one morning in church when I very clearly felt God tell me the money we raised from the garage sale should go to the Block family. I was so excited!!! I made up signs and displayed them on the day of our sale.

Even Emma got excited about it and decided to donate all her lemonade money!

In one day we made $500 for the Block family. I love how God connects families and that He chose us as vessels to help this precious family. I hope you'll get involved, too. Read the Block's blog and get inspired!

P.S. We have also decided to take a family field trip to the Compassion International headquarters and let our kids pick children to sponsor on a monthly basis. Little by little we can all make a huge difference!

A memorable anniversary!

Tim and I went to Breckenridge to celebrate our anniversary, while the kids had a grand time at Nanny & Papa's house. It's actually up for debate as to who had more fun.

Within minutes of arriving in Breck, we hit our favorite ice cream shop. The Mexican chocolate was amazing!

This was the view from the lodge we stayed in, which was the same place we spent the first night of our honeymoon.

The next day we biked 40 miles on our favorite Colorado trail - from Breckenridge to Vail Pass. There is some of the most beautiful Colorado scenery on this route, and much of it you can't see unless you are on the trail.

We had dinner at one of our favorite Breck restaurants - The Dredge. It is a floating restaurant on the Blue River. The views and the food are outstanding!

We loved sitting on Main Street - people watching and enjoying the views and gorgeous summer weather.

Breakfast on the deck was definitely a highlight!

Another highlight was getting a couple's massage after our 5 hour bike excursion. We were so sore but hadn't thought ahead to schedule massages. Once we got back to the lodge we went to the spa to see when we could get in. The gal asked me when we wanted to be seen, and I half-jokingly said, "Now." Fortunately, she had a break in her schedule right then and was able to get us both in! I know that saved us a lot of painful muscles the following day.

Breckenridge is such a fun place to be on the 4th of July weekend, which is why we've spent 4 of our 13 anniversaries there. This is the first time since having kids that we've taken an anniversary trip alone. Tim and I both agreed this was one of our most memorable anniversary trips yet.

Thirteen years of wedded bliss - and that ain't no lie!

Happy anniversary to the man of my dreams! "Some call it luck, but I know it's grace." I love you this much...

This is what an "I do" and thirteen years of blessing have amounted to...a wonderful life, a wonderful family, a wonderful dream come true.

I love you, Tim!

Three things on Thursday

1) I was seriously thinking about taking a summer break from blogging until I read my friend Emily's blog and copied her post title. The thing is...I love blogging! But I have been very distracted playing with my kids this week. We've had a picnic every single day (even Monday when it rained...we picnicked in the basement). We've played Barbies, the Wii, and finished a 500 piece puzzle (thanks Grandma for the difficult glow-in-dark puzzle). We went to the pool for the first time today since summer break started (good riddance chicken pox)! So I may not take a complete break from blogging, but my guess is you'll see much less of me as I soak up all the free time I have with my kids. I'm loving our "no schedule" summer!!! (And that's a big deal coming from a gal who lives by her calendar.)

2) I started today in traffic court. Not something I've shared with anyone - (yes it's embarrassing) - and now it's out there for the world wide web. I was so upset and anxious about the whole thing when it first happened three weeks ago, but I worked through it with God and He gave me overwhelming peace about it all. By the time I left the house this morning, I was slightly annoyed at the inconvenience (it cut into my play time with the kids), but I was not the least bit anxious. I was only there an hour, but I managed to memorize Psalm 19 during my wait. That's what I call "God working all things for good." Let's just say it cost me a pretty penny to memorize that verse!

3) Next weekend Tim and I will be going to Breckenridge to celebrate our 13 year anniversary! How can it be?! I don't feel old enough to be married that long.... This will be our first anniversary trip without our kids. We've always taken family vacation the week of our anniversary; so needless to say, I am SUPER excited. We'll be staying at the same place where we spent part of our honeymoon. (It should be dually noted that the kids are equally excited to spend the weekend with Nanny and Papa!)

1st camping trip of the season

We went to our favorite CO camping spot for Memorial Day weekend. It was a perfect weekend with nice weather and lots of fun and relaxation.

This little creek runs right through our camp site.

LOVE our new chairs!

The tent was a perfect play place for Nate and Emma.

One of our favorite camping activities...building stick towns.

Handmade boat races.

Relaxing by the fire.

S'mores!

Reading bedtime stories.

Shooting guns.

Who let Nate play with the hatchet? I must have been napping.

More stick cities.

Playing frisbee.

Reading by the fire.

On our way home we stopped at the sand dunes. This is the only picture I got because we stayed all of ten minutes. The wind was raging 50 mph. We sat down long enough to get sand blasted then headed back to the truck.

Love how our kids crash on the way home. This picture says it all! FUN weekend!!!