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.