a lasting impression

i read this today: "if i love worship and the presence of the Lord, it's because such is my spiritual heritage." it didn't come from a book. these are sincere words written with a heart of thanksgiving by a friend nearly 5 years-ago. anyone else feel freshly challenged in parenthood?! i hope and trust in the Lord that these same words will be spoken by my children.

home

we're home and it's nice. i like our home. a couple of friends came over last night because they missed us, and so we sat and watched american idol together while sipping hot cocoa and throwing in our two cents about each contestant. side note: i think norman gentle is hi-larious, tatiana whatever-her-name-is makes my skin crawl, and danny gokey is currently my fav. so, where was i? uh, oh yes... love home, miss florida, had a total blast.

ok, so bad news first: it's cold, wet, snowy, and i'm pretty sure my tan started to fade as soon as we reached new york state. good news: my husband had a surprise waiting for me when we got home! we had nate here removing the popcorn ceiling in the kitchen and dining area while we were away, which i knew about. what i didn't know is that he also had nate remove the popcorn ceiling from the upstairs hallway and master bedroom and repaint the walls in the master bedroom to a color i had chosen out of a pottery barn catalog! i had been less than loving the color of our bedroom walls pretty much since the day they were painted and now i love them! what a wonderful surprise. it looks and feels so fresh.

pictures coming soon. also coming soon, a short tale from the trip.

the last day

today is the last day of our vacation. here are a few photos to mark the day.

outside of the house before our last leisurely stroll of the trip.


main road inside of the club. these are my favorite palm trees because they're bushy.


standing outside of one of the club entrances


view from behind the main pool looking out towards the golf course.


me and the boys

Boca Raton, Fl

we've been in boca raton, fl for a week now and it has been lovely. the weather has consistently been 80* with clear blue sunny skies. this vacation has been refreshing. i've enjoyed every minute of our time together as a family. we've taken many walks with the boys - often two a day. we've been swimming and soaking in the warmth of the sun daily. we've watched our boys grow in size and personality. we've shared laughs, good meals, and memories with my family. we've seen a ferrari, two aston martin's, a maybach, two mazarati's, multiple bentley's and porsche's. we were yelled at by a lady golfer. we lost a nuk to the tire of a golf cart. we've sipped mocha frappuccino's. my 101 year-old grandmother mistook the words "ethel's poodle" for "apple streudel". i have loved this vacation. here are a few photos:

laughter and babble

gabriel


addison

morning in st. pete

my little federal agents

thanks ryan and abby! these boys couldn't wait to be big enough to wear these outfits.