Favorite Five: January 2015

2015 is certainly cruising right along. 

There is so much beauty in this crazy life of ours.

I love how this "Favorite Five" helps me to look back and pick out beautiful moments to remember.

Moments like… 

The first sunset of 2015.

 A leak in the girls bathroom that led to a beautiful new bathroom they can enjoy for years to come.

The mermaid print was done by a talented friend and neighbor, 

it reads "SISTERS make the best of friends." Indeed.

 Celebrating this guy on his birthday, 

feeling overwhelmingly thankful for his life and the fact that he is ours for keeps.

Sweet moments at Westmont College with this crazy crew.

They may be laughing in this picture because they just pulled the fire alarm and evacuated the entire Dining Commons. Yep, that happened. 

 Moments like this where 15 women left 32 kiddos behind to be inspired and encouraged by Jen Hatmaker. What a special weekend in Santa Barbara!

24 pictures for 12 months of 2014

2014. 

Time really does fly.

This post is a practice in gratitude and joy. It's my favorite.

It was too hard to pick just one per month, so this year there are 24.

Here we go…

January 

Best text message I have EVER received.

Double rainbow from Oceanside Pier.

February

A special 35th birthday celebration.

Cousins.

March

Just life.

April

This baby is a character.

Jump for joy.

May

First getaway since 3 kids.

 Mother's Day with MY MOM this year.

 June

Sign of a good time.

Cousin, meet the Pacific Ocean.

 July

Staycation fun.

 A happy place for us all.

August

A quiet early morning in Fish Creek, WI. 

 My three little loves doing their thing.

September

 Real life.

A beach family.

 October

Fun in Nashville.

Happy Halloween!

November

Full hearts, full tables, a full house.

 Tree lighting complete with San Diego "snow" (aka bubbles).

December

Christmas break cozy mornings.

Santa Barbara Mission.

My heart is glad. 

"For from Him and through Him and for Him are all things." Romans 11:36

A walk down memory lane:

12 pics for 2013

12 pics for 2012 

12 pics for 2011

Favorite Five: December

December. 

High highs, and low lows.

Stillness, and busyness.

A big beautiful month…all about Christmas.

These two nuts sang with the children's choir at church 6 times in December.

First ever Christmas Eve service at our home church (normally we are out of town).

We loved having friends with us this year. 

 Christmas morning at home.

 Cousin time in Santa Barbara.

Favorite Five: November

November.
It is a distant memory by now, but I didn't want it to be undocumented.
A month where we were grateful for…

A special visit with my Dad.  We had him here for 6 whole days and loved every bit!

The chance to play tourist in our great city.

Cousin time at home.

A Thanksgiving to remember, with tables full of family and friends.

So much to be thankful for.

6 Halloweens

This post is for my kiddos.
A lot has changed in the past 6 Halloweens since we have moved to CA.
And every year is more and more fun.
A stroll down memory lane...

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

 2014

Favorite Five: October

October was AWESOME. It is my favorite month. 

And this year RSAD (reverse seasonal affective disorder) did not get the best of me…I think I have officially adjusted my expectations. It's still summer in October, I get it now.

These are my favorite 5 pictures, not because they are great pictures (they aren't),
but because they documented great things.
Things like…

A totally spontaneous surprise outing to see Disney on Ice with the two big girls.

Abby did a kids triathlon in our neighborhood. 

The event was for grade school kids (and Sam couldn't do it due to something else going on), and I questioned if Chris should bring Abby on account of the fact that she can't swim very well, and can't ride a bike (2/3 of the race - hello!). Well, they didn't let that stop them, and some floaties and a scooter made it possible. She did awesome!

 We celebrated our "golden anniversary" this month…12 years on October 12th. 

We got away for 2 nights (first time in 3+ years…THANK YOU Grandpa Bob and Grandpa Janet!). The first day of our weekend getaway we surfed and the second day we sat...
right here.

I did my first sprint triathlon since having kids. My splits were surprisingly similar to my times before kids, but my body DID NOT respond as it used to after races. I "did something" to my shoulder and I am still paying for it two weeks later. Apparently I am at the age where you can't go all out (without having trained properly) and expect not to suffer a consequence. Despite my little injury, it was super empowering to finish the race, and my cheering squad was a welcome sight (even though they missed the finish because I told them the wrong time to come  - ooops). I thought I was doing this race "for me," but I realized how important it was to me for my girls to watch their mama do something challenging.

This was just a regular day, driving to the YMCA. They keep things interesting. They make me smile.