shutterfly

I love Shutterfly! They print awesome quality photos, photo books, calendars, etc. I have bought several photo books and calendars as gifts for grandparents. They are the perfect gift. What's better than pictures of you beautiful children?!  Also, last year for Christmas I bought Adam a photo coffee mug with Noah's face on it! He loved it! And it's now my favorite cup to drink coffee from. And I think Noah gets a kick out of his face being on mommy and daddy's cup. :)

These are some of my favorite Christmas cards they have this year. I haven't decided which design I want to go with yet, but I love the more colorful "exciting" ones.
Adam thinks Christmas cards are nerdy, but I love getting my friend's cards in the mail.

I really like the design on this card.

I like that this one says "sparkle".

"wishing you Joy this year"

I will have a hard time choosing my favorite this year!

I {heart} Disney...

...BIG time! I have a serious crush on it. And thanks to my wonderful MIL, we were able to go this last weekend. We took Noah earlier this year before we had Naomi and again with the Scotts in May. It was definitely crazier with a 5 week old, who needed to eat at the most inconvenient times, but we had a blast. She can now successfully say she has been nursed while waiting in line to ride Pirates of the Caribbean. I didn't want to miss out on any ride so I decided I would whip out the nursing cover whenever needed and go for it.

So thank you Mrs. D! We had so much fun!

at the T-Rex Cafe

Noah getting to meet Pirate Goofy! His favorite part of the day I think! He loves pirates.

Noah got Toy Story for his 2nd birthday and has really gotten into it. Thankfully the wait to meet Buzz was only about 15 minutes.

Noah with his cousins, Halle Claire and Kerrigan. Their poses are hilarious! I think they were dancing right here.

Family of FoUr!!

Horrible angle for me, with a striped shirt on and a post-pregnancy "bump"!

What a blast! I love my family.

thanksgiving traditions

We don't really have any Thanksgiving traditions, other than getting together with family for meals. I would love to start some of my own! Eva is starting her own family traditions of decorating her home with fall decor. I love the leaf garland!  Here is one I came across on eighteen25's blog, that is so creative, and I would really like to start for my family.

Isn't is great?!? It is called a Book of Thanks. Every Thanksgiving everyone takes a turn writing what they are grateful for in it, and each year she puts a new family picture of that Thanksgiving.

Does your family have any neat thanksgiving traditions?? Please share!  

wreaths...

I love wreath making! I blame it on Eva, I think she is the one who initially brought up making wreaths. Or maybe it was Taylor?? I am still liking my current front door wreath so I making one for indoors, for over the fireplace or on the wall somewhere. I need some more decoration in my living room.

So here are my options...

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and then I will leave you with some rather interesting wreaths that people have actually made...

I like to call this one, "Gather Your Junk and Throw it on a Wreath"-Wreath

 this one is just scary looking!

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Which one is YOUR favorite?? Stay tuned to see which one I decide to make!



Air show...

We took Noah (along with the Scotts) on Friday to watch the air show "rehearsal" (not sure what they call it). He really likes airplanes. Anytime we go to Target we have to sit outside for a few minutes and look for planes to land/take off.

Cute pics of the best-y's

my family of FOUR!

the following day we headed to Conner's A-maize-ing Acres! It was hot, hot, hot!

he loves when daddy throws him SO HIGH!

It was a super fun weekend!!

pumpkin patch

PuMpKiN pAtCh!!

 the best I could get! my beautiful babies!

 I love this little guy!

17 years ago today, my beautiful mother entered heaven. What was, undoubtedly the worst day of my family's life, was THE best day of hers. She was with her Savior, whole and happy, in no pain, no sadness, just pure joy. I love the HOPE that our family has, that while we have and will grieve over loss, we can rest in the amazing promise from our God that death is not the end. That this day brings excitement that heaven is a real place. It brings thankfulness in my heart for my salvation and the salvation of my mother.

"But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord." 1 Thess 4:13-18

The Message:

"And regarding the question, friends, that has come up about what happens to those already dead and buried, we don't want you in the dark any longer. First off, you must not carry on over them like people who have nothing to look forward to, as if the grave were the last word. Since Jesus died and broke loose from the grave, God will most certainly bring back to life those who died in Jesus. And then this: We can tell you with complete confidence - we have the Master's word on it - that when the Master comes again to get us, those of us who are still alive will not get a jump on the dead and leave them behind. In actual fact, they'll be ahead of us. The Master himself will give the command. Archangel thunder! God's trumpet blast! He'll come down from heaven and the dead in Christ will rise - they'll go first. Then the rest of us who are still alive at the time will be caught up with them into the clouds to meet the Master. Oh, we'll be walking on air! And then there will be one huge family reunion with the Master!"

 ha I LOVE this translation!!