More pictures. ..

THANKSgiving

We had a lovely thanksgiving weekend, filled with love, laughter, thankfulness, food,  giggles and goofiness!  :)  We have such fun together and love making memories. We also put up the tree, which elicited joy and wonder from both of our blessings.  4.5 is a great age and Zion got such joy out of each ornament, snow globe and bobble that we have.  Fun fun fun.  And Miss Ellie wants to get into EVERYTHING.  :) it's amazing that at just 6 months you can tell that she delights in getting into what she thinks she shouldn't have. Lol.  She loves getting ahold of Zion's little people nativity scene.  Lol. 

But,  back to Thanksgiving! We are so thankful for the Many many many blessings that God has given us! ! Every single thing we have been given is a gift from God that we don't deserve. .. but are so thankful for! ! Most of all our salvation!  Thank you Jesus for dying on the cross to save us from our sins and rising again 3 days later!! Our children, incredible gifts that we are SO thankful you chose to give to us!  Our marriage, the gift of getting to spend our life with our best friend.... priceless! (My husband is the bestest ever, just in case you didn't know that! ) :) And our family and friends: we are thankful for YOU! I can't imagine living life alone.... so glad we don't have to! We're surrounded by wonderful people!

AND we're thankful that we will soon be seeing some of our favorite people!  We haven't seen grandma and grandpa Miles in over 2 years!  But we will be with them soon!  Yay!  I think every sales associate in green valley knows that too. Lol.  Whenever we've bought anything lately, Zion is sure to tell them, "this is for me to take on an airplane to take to grandma miles!" :) So fun! We can't wait!  Meemaw, Papa Wo and the Aunties are also driving over the pass for a couple of fun days in Seattle!  :) So... stay tuned for lots of fun! :) Be blessed today! And as I will soon sing to Zion and Ellie when they wake up, "this is the day that the Lord has made! I will rejoice and be glad in it! "

Veterans Day 2014

Took time this year to go to the Tucson Veterans day parade.  Never too early to start instilling in Zion pride in our country and respect to those who have served to protect us!  It was great!  HoT, but great!  :)

Operation Christmas Child

We hosted a costume party and Operation Christmas Child Shoebox packing party this year!  It was so fun!  Zion was Cowboy Larry (a favorite cucumber character from a favorite book), and Ellie was, naturally, a princess! The kids each brought supplies/gifts to fill plastic shoebox sized boxes to send to children and the world.  Together we had 5 boxes overflowing with presents, soap, toothpaste coloring pages and letters from the kids. Such a great way to teach compassion and giving

A New Smile

Ellie has a new smile!  LOL!  She has started doing this goofy smile when I say smile!  Haha!  It's hilarious! She is such a hoot and already brings so much laughter to our family!  :) She has also started waving AND saying mama! :) Yay! Brandon is working on getting a Dada and Zion is working on a Zizi. :) soon!  She's so smart!  She's blossoming into such a big girl! Almost 6 months! Ah!

BleSsEd!

These two children bless me beyond measure.  Being their Momma has made me  a better person in every area of my life. Because of them I am a more compassionate, selfless, awe-filled, strong, secure,  love-filled person. It is my total joy to devote myself to my awesome God, my amazing hubby, and these 2 miracles.  They are such miracles and I am reminded of how BLESSED I am every single time I look into these sweet, searching eyes. 

Lord, continue to mold me into the person YOU want me to be. The Momma you designed for Zion and Joelle, the wife you created for Brandon,  and the daughter of the Most High you created to worship You!

CUTEST girl EVER!

I looked up from picking up some toys. ... and I find this precious little thing.  Lol.  Zion plopped the hat on her head and she didn't know what to think.  Lol

"Why yes, the world does revolve around ME." -Joelle Miles, newly 5 months old. 

Growing Fast!

Someone Found Her FEET!

Miss Joelle found her feet! And what wonderful chew toys they make!  :) She is so funny!  She LOVES munching on then every opportunity she gets.  :) 5 months old already.  How is that possible???

The Place Family: Growing by leaps and bounds!

Oh how I love my baby brothers! I am so proud of Tyler and Josh!  They have both grown into such handsome,  smart, caring, funny, successful and compassionate men of God. And BOTH got engaged to the women of their dreams in the last 3 weeks!  :) So exciting!  God has blessed both of my awesome little brothers with women who have a heart for the Lord. How blessed we are!!!  Mary and Erin we love you! And cannot wait to be official parts of your lives from now on!  :)  Now on to planning the weddings! Woohoo!!

Quick Camping and STUFF

We had the privilege to attend an auction fund raiser for an awesome crisis pregnancy center a few Saturdays ago.  Since the event was over an hour away and started at 7, my mom had the idea to camp at Catalina State Park (which was only minutes away) for just that one night.  I'm so glad we did!  It was so fun! One of the items my mom bid on and won was a basket of small toys for Zion.  To say he was excited, when he walked out carrying a basket as big as him, would be an understatement.  He kept saying, "I got STUFF!" :) He wouldn't let the coordinators of the event (who are old friends of my parents) leave until they had acknowledged his stuff.  Lol.  He probably said, "look, I've got STUFF!" about 30 times!  It was so cute.  Once back at camp we probably looked like the weirdest campers EVER unwrapping these baskets like presents and being so excited over all the little items.  But it was so fun!  :) For all of us.  Zion's excitement is contagious! :) So,  enjoy these pictures from Catalina State Park! :)

Blessed Beyond Measure!

A few pictures of our blessings!