christmas

as always, christmas is a blessing to our family. not only do we get to celebrate the birth of the One who came to save us, but we get to spend time all of our family.

since taylor and levi were little, we decided to give them three gifts on christmas, that's how many Jesus received so why should they get anymore? after all, it's His birthday. the kids have always been more than satisfied with that and it sets limits on us. we have to really think about what to buy. no more impulsive shopping on our part. taylor and levi are more than happy with that and have learned not to expect any more than that.

when levi was about 3, i was explaining this to him, as we drove down the street. i reminded him about the story of the birth and related it to the three gifts he would receive. at that age, we went over it a few times so there wouldn't be any disappointment. when we got to the three gifts that Jesus received, levi was ok with the first two, but when i said the third one, levi was upset. he said, "myrrh?! why didn't jesus get a bike."

here are a few pictures of our blessed day.

taylor and levi

my crazy mom and nutty aunt lula

my little, no, my younger brother josh

taylor

my sweet niece, cheyenne

my nephew, matthew...sorry, er...matt

and us

we pray you had a wonderful christmas and have a blessed new year~

shhhhh

keeping christmas secrets?

a visit to the happiest place on earth

we had fun looking into the ginormous christmas tree balls on main street.

the tree is so big, the kids barely reach the bottom of it!

taylor and levi loved the tea cups. matt and i didn't join them, aging has caused our tummies to react to spinning. blech! matt and i watched them while secretly searching for the snacks and coffee cart! yummo~

space mountain at night. we enjoyed this ride twice (and the matterhorn four times!) it is nice going with the kids now that they are older. we were there before 10am and left at midnight! what a fun day!

it was nice to meet up with the bruns in the evening and ride the roller coasters again with them. taylor and levi just love brett and lauren. we think their parents are pretty cool too!

anniversary in dana point

what can i say...i love my coffee!

i have three words for you...amazing anniversary!

For our 15th, matt completely surprised me, he made arrangements for the kids to stay with a friend. he packed and delivered their things, moved a doctor appointment to avoid conflict, arranged for me to take a day off work, booked a hotel and made dinner reservations all without my knowledge or help. he so sweetly attempted to pack my things too. we'll just give him an a+ for the effort. we had a great time!

my buddy zack

i couldn't resist...

what were those darn settings?

i snapped this picture of my neighbor in our kitchen a few days ago, played around with it and emailed the shot to his mom. she loved it and asked me to do the same thing with her older son... if only i knew what my settings were on the camera. if i come up with anything close, i'll post it, but don't hold your breath. the sun is at a good spot, maybe i'll get something now?

15 years ago...

our wedding day... november 6, 1993

it seems like a lifetime ago that we followed our hearts and God's will and took those steps down the aisle. we were so young, sarah, barely 19 and matt, just days from turning 23.

and now...

we've made it 15 years!

slumber party anyone?

to celebrate taylor's birthday, we invited 15 of her friends from school over to swim. we warmed the pool so they didn't have to. gross, i know! no one went into the house to go the whole night, maybe when you swim, you don't have to go? we ordered way too much pizza, warmed the pool to 88 degrees and ate everything with sugar! most of the boys and a couple of the girls had to go home but 10 are staying over. notice, i didn't say sleeping over because probably there won't be much of that going on. prayerfully, they will be lulled to sleep by the movie we put on, but all of that sugar is certainly taking it's toll. we are thankful for a drama-less night!

after a few of the girls showed up, levi asked taylor when she planned on introducing him to them. another year or so and he will be kicked out during slumber parties.

taylor is 10 today

one week old - in my brother's apartment with his red sheet, what a fun day!

and now, she's a beautiful young lady.

where did the time go? wasn't it just yesterday that we were shocked to come home with a baby? we had no idea what to do with her. and 10 years later, we still don't. our time of molding is quickly coming to an end. i'm very proud of her and thankful for the gift that God has given us. she is His and on loan to us. off to her favorite restaurant, olive garden to celebrate 10 years.

smile...it's picture day

i ran across this picture of levi. that's him, just goofing off for the camera. no, really, his eyes are fine. he does this to simply freak me out. here is what scares me -yesterday was picture day and i couldn't be there to micromanage...er...monitor his smile. every year since the kids have started school, i've been in the picture room, threatening them to "smile!!" when i'm in there i can be sure they look their best. because we spend a lot of money for a package of pictures that will sit in a drawer for the rest of the year. in that room, i can fix hair, straighten clothes, use the "mom spit" and my finger to wipe their remaining snack off their lips and cheeks. but, picture day was wednesday, which is the only day i have a scheduled meeting at work and i couldn't sneak away. i only hope that levi smiled a little better for the professional than he did for me.

first day of school

what? no pictures from the first day of school you ask?! that's right. i did manage to take a few in the kitchen before the kids went outside, but they weren't great. i gave the kids a few minutes to go outside to see their friends before the first day back to school. with about three minutes before we needed to leave, i, being a mom, grabbed my camera again and went outside. the neighbor boy, who is levi's best friend, started kindergarten at harvest that day too, so what a cool photo op right? i called the kids over only to see taylor's new white shorts are covered in blood. she fell on her bike, scraped her elbow and knee and "didn't know"... in the house i ran to iron another pair of shorts so she could at least go to school in clean clothes that didn't look like they'd been stuffed in a drawer.

it was a memorable first day for sure.

because of the crazy change that being back to school brings, we've been forced to drop the habits from summer. no more playing outside until dusk. no more eating ice cream in the spa at night. it's back to the routine. now we focus on homework, studying, and getting to bed at a reasonable time. everything else has to wait. in fact, the laundry fairy hasn't come to our house this week, i wonder if she knows there is a mountain that grows by the day? hopefully when she does come, she'll bring her sisters with her, the window fairy, floor fairy and bathroom fairy. we miss them. until then, i better get to it...tomorrow, cause tonight, i'm tired.

castle park

this summer, the kids participated in a reading program through the public library, they each read 25 books and earned a ticket to castle park. so, read they did! this afternoon, we took taylor and levi, along with our niece, jadyn, and nephew, zack to use those tickets. we heard some cool music too, "more than a woman," something from britney spears, "stand by me" and "mustang sally." there were others in the mix, it was a little random.

we got there 45 minutes before they opened and sat in the 100 degree heat waiting for the gates to open.

zack is just the cutest thing. i love taking pictures of this kid. most of them don't turn out, but every once in a while, we get a keeper.

jadyn borrowed taylors glasses and we couldn't resist snapping this one

she isn't happy that she is too little for the big girl rides. she wants to scream on the roller coasters with taylor.

day at the beach

we spent some family time this summer at the beach. we played in the sand, ate lots of really unhealthy food, and surfed. we had such a great time that we even bought two boards. levi is a natural on the board. taylor prefers to surf with dad.

levi is tired of hearing "smile buddy!!"

taylor is always ready for another photo op

t and daddy, ready to hit the waves