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!

Guano 5k

Last Saturday Brandon and I ran a 5k! It was so fun! Except for the hills... They weren't fun. Lol.  We could see the finish line and got excited, until we realized we first had to scale this huge hill! Wowza it was steep.  But we did it!  In around 40 minutes.  Which, because it was a rocky terrain trail run and we had to walk through a couple running streams. .. and the hills...it's not too bad a time!  It was out at Kartchner caverns about an hour away. It's gorgeous out there! So fun! My cousin Bekki also joined us, so that was extra fun!  :) After our run they had a kids fun run that we did with Zion. He did amazing! ! He ran almost the whole mile!!! We had to keep slowing him down so he wouldn't overheat.  We are so proud of him! And he was so proud of himself.  It was awesome!  He also won a pizza,  a wristband, and a flashlight. .. which he loves! What a fun day!  We've also definitely got another competitive little person in the family! Look out world! :)

Another Week Gone By....

Where does the time go?  Another week in the history books.  It was a lovely week with no real exciting events. :) Miss Joey is another week older.... I guess we're all another week older! Ha.  My parents have been gone for 2 weeks, so we were happy to get them back on Saturday.  To the "Life Museum" we went!  (That's what Zion calls it, it is the International Wildlife Museum.)

This week my goal is to appreciate every moment... More than I usually do.  I'm always thankful for being with home with our kids, but too often I count down the minutes until Brandon gets home or until he's home for the weekend. Now there's nothing wrong with that, but I'm determined to not let those minutes in between tick by unappreciated. :) God has given me this time here on earth to make a difference here.... and I'm gonna make the most of it!  We never know when He'll call each of us Home to Heaven. Better be ready all the time!

Zion is in love with the word 'THE'. He gets such joy from spotting it somewhere. He's SO smart and is LOVING learning to read and memorizing sight words.  So fun to teach him!  I am so blessed!  And Joelle is such a delight. Her smiles have turned into full open mouth, nose crinkling grins. And she just talks and talks. .. Such a delightful girl already! Love it!

Alrighty, have a blessed week and be sure to appreciate every moment! :)

She loves just looking at her brother! 

Playing ball at the park.  Can you tell he loves orange?  

They look like their Poppy!

And our princess is in LOVE with her hands!  :) So funny! She just sits at looks at them like this for long periods of time.  :) 

Weekend Fun And Monday Morning Smiles

What a fun weekend we had!  Complete with a concert by Zion, rock throwing in the backyard, selfie laughter, Jojo chillin on the grass, bike riding,  cow watching over our back fence, and frog watching in the retention ditch next to the house.  Throw in church, a sermon on living with integrity by Pastor Zane, and lots of laughter and Smiles. ... and you've got our weekend!  :) Here are just some of our pictures that captured our joy-filed fun.  God has surely blessed us! Our little rocker performing a concert! 

Monday morning smiles! I was trying to take a "good" selfie picture of all of us without cutting off our heads... and this was about the 100th one.  Lol. 

Ellie loved just hanging out on the grass with me while Zion and Daddy worked hard on the yard! Zion taking care of our peach tree!

 A boy throwing rocks. ... :)

Love, love, love! 

That is our house.  We got alot of rain Friday night and Saturday morning it was quite full! 

Went on a special 7 am bike ride to look for cows behind our house and ended up at the park.  Zion was still looking for the cows from atop the slide!  :)  (Ellie is strapped to me in the Ergo carrier and is under that blue cloth bc of the wind! ) :)

One of my favorite things. ..

Broiled cauliflower!  It is amazing! !

Turn oven on to 450.
Break up pieces of cauliflower on a baking sheet. 
Coat generously with olive oil and paprika. (I have a smoked paprika that is amazing! From Costco! )
Pop it in the oven for about 40 minutes! Stir once.
I usually put a tiny bit of sea salt on once they're out, but probably not necessary. And. ...
It's Amazing! :)

Zion and I eat this bowl in about 5 minutes!  And we always want more! GOOD stuff! 

Warning: it cooks WAY down. .. and you'll always want more than what you make.  :)

Trusting Him

I am so thankful I serve a God who is Alive!  His Holy Spirit lives within me, and guides and directs me daily.  Praise God!  I don't know how people survive day to day without Jesus by their side.  For me,  I think I would collapse from stress overload. Lol.  Truly,  I rely on Him SO much throughout my day to keep me calm and full of Joy. His joy.  It's my strength! He is the difference between a fake smile and a real smile.  He gives the ability to live without fear of the future. When I have the urge to panic and over think a fear about something going on with one of my children, I am totally comforted by the fact the He loves them more than I do, and holds them in the palm of His hand. What an awesome thought... The creator of the universe holding my little loves tightly bc He loves them so much. I know that whatever might be trying to stress me at any given moment is already known by Him and He'll take care of it.  Read His Word, the Bible,  and let these promises take root in your life also. HE will get you through whatever you're going through, we're not made to go through life without Jesus.

And here's some pictures from our weekend.  Ours was nice and quiet, but went too fast.  :) We always miss Brandon extra on Monday mornings. But back to doing some school work, the letter 'f' and the sight word 'the' this week.  Zion loves it and I've got some fun things planned!  Ellie's loving blowing spit bubbles, smiling and cooing. 3 months is so fun!

Be blessed today and know that Jesus loves you too.