12th Anniversary

12 years ago, two very young love birds got married. 

God has been so incredibly good to us. We are so thankful!

Never in a million years did I guess we would have 3 boys and counting. Wow how we have changed and for the better I might add ;) We celebrated with a little over 40 hours alone. It was awesome! My parents, God bless them, watched the boys at their house and we enjoyed a stay-cation!

On Friday night, EJ played soccer in the pouring rain, while I stayed on the couch and watched t.v., without putting anyone to bed first! I slept in until 8:45 on Saturday, didn't know that was possible.

Then, we spent the day together in our garage painting. We are having new exterior doors installed soon and they needed to be painted. At first, I was not excited to spend our anniversary painting, but my perspective quickly changed. First, the fact that we can work together on projects (not all couples can without conflict and aggravation) is a blessing! Second, we had as much time as we needed with no interruptions. Third, we got twice as much done with 2 of us. Lastly, he was trapped in the garage for hours listening to me talk. hee hee!

 

We did call it quits in time for a night out. A yummy dinner at a mexican restaurant with a potent margarita ;) and then we saw Life of Pi. Not in 3D, thank goodness. Our old stomachs can't handle it.

We found a bottle of wine on our side stoop. From my sister, so thoughtful!

After church, we rescued my pour parents ;) We also manged a little more painting, but we still aren't done ;(

Even though we didn't go away and we spent a lot of our time being productive, I did manage to fall more in love with my man. He is pretty awesome and I am so glad he is mine!

Every Once in Awhile

They get along nicely ;)

DTC

I asked our social worker to take a picture for us ;)  

Now we just wait for a log in date (about 3-4 weeks). 

Then we are LID, we are eligible for referals!

Decorating the Tree

Before you get the wrong impression with our lovely decorating the tree photos, I thought I would show the behind the scenes. For some reason I needed to capture this part.

Probably because I am battling a nasty cold and although I am trying to look good on the outside, I feel like crap! Life is messy. Especially around here. I can not keep up. I try and try, but its useless. I struggle each day to keep my priorities straight, but it feels like I am constantly going the wrong direction. The boys seem to be a bit of a disaster too. I know its because my heart is not all here. But I am trying! I am so thankful that Jesus came to dwell in the mess. So thankful that I don't have to have it all together to be acceptable to Him.

 On to the tightly cropped "pretty" pictures ;)

 He was so in awe, so curious, so delighted in every little thing. Precious to watch!

 Mason showed me every ornament he unwrapped as if I had never seen them before!

 This year, Ryan got to do the honors of putting the star on top

 He loved it.

Praying it will be Sugar Plums turn next year!

Finding the One

It is almost impossible to get a good picture of Ryan these days. His "cheese" face is too much.

 And then there is this kid ;)

 On Saturday, we went in search of the Christmas tree.

I like to air on the slightly too tall for our ceiling choice, which always has EJ a little nervous (can you tell what he is thinking?)

 She is perfect. The tree, that is :) (and just barely fit!)

We got our tree at a local florist. It is beautifully decorated for Christmas, had this cute train set and snacks for their customers. We all left happy.