Girly Girls

Talking about the latest fashion?

Trying to walk in mommy's shoes.

Last night, Morgan and I got to enjoy a evening out at one of our favorite spots. We attended a dinner party for one of his conferences, that happens to be held at a nearby resort every year. The outdoor dinner is always a treat for me. We have delicious food, a lovely band, beautiful scenery, and lively conversation. The weather has been gorgeous here lately and the evenings are perfect for being outside. The girls had fun helping me get ready for the evening. They tried on my shoes, bracelets, and all the girly stuff. Thanks, Grandma for babysitting!

Congratulations

May is a special month.

Both of our parents celebrated their wedding anniversaries this month. We are proud to say that Morgan's parents have been married for 48 years and my parents just celebrated their 41st wedding anniversary. That's almost 90 years between them! What an awesome accomplishment! This could not have been possible without great sacrifice, love, commitment and of course, the good Lord watching over them. We know that even the best marriages are not always easy. There are many trials that we face throughout our lifetime. We also know that a good marriage takes work, respect, and service. In a world that commonly thinks of marriage as a temporary choice, we are blessed to have such great models to follow. May the Lord continue to bless them with good health, a relaxing retirement, the deepest of friendships, and many more years of joy and laughter together. Congratulations, Mom and Dad. We love you!

Even to your old age and gray hairs, I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

-Isaiah 46:4

Memorial Day Weekend

The girls get a boost from Hapajee & Daddy.

Grace & Hapi stroll through the rose garden.

Faith gets a bird's eye view.

The grandparents ride in the back of the minivan.

The girls put Hapajee to work.

Faith sits in her second favorite spot (#1 is Daddy).

Grace is so excited about her first sugar free popsicle.

Enjoying every lick.

Faith takes a bite out of hers.

Can you tell she likes it?

Modeling their new Princess bathingsuits.

Swimming at Grandma & Grandpa's.

Doing their monkey walk across the pool.

Faith jumps to Grandma.

We had cooler than average temperatures over the long weekend so it was incredibly pleasant to be outdoors. Hami & Hapajee came over on Saturday. They originally came over to babysit so that Morgan and I could go to our Twins Club Date Night but since Grace wasn't feeling well, we ended up not going after all. The poor thing had two canker sores on her tongue that were bothering her so bad that she hardly ate a thing for two days. She also had some difficulty sleeping. We thought it'd be best, just to stay at home. Thankfully, she's feeling much better today and her appetite is almost back to normal. On Saturday, we planted all of our annual vincas (periwinkles) for the season. We also fininshed some minor landscaping that's been on our to-do list for a while now. We spent the rest of the weekend barbecuing in our backyard and swimming at Grandma and Grandpa's. Morgan even got to play a round of golf with his dad. All in all, it was a relatively restful and productive weekend. Hope you had a nice holiday, too!

May God Bless the troops, their families and all those that have fought to protect our country and our freedom.

300 & counting!

Can you believe it? My 300th post! I never imagined that this blog would end up being all that it has to me, my family and those that continue to follow our journey. In many ways, I feel as though my college degree is making itself somewhat useful here. I have a degree in Broadcast Journalism/TV with a minor in English. For many years I thought I wanted to be a news anchor/reporter. More specifically, I wanted to work for the sports network, ESPN. For various reasons after college, I ended up working in the financial services industry and became a stock broker and investment consultant. For 12 years, I worked for several Fortune 500 companies. I have to admit, although the money was good, I had no real passion for it. God knew that somehow I would meet my future husband down this path and for that, I'm eternally grateful. These days, I enjoying writing, taking pictures, and in many ways, reporting our news. I know that there are some days that my family thinks of me not as a reporter but more like the paparazzi. :)

There are many benefits from having this blog that I didn't intend on having when I first began it almost 2 years ago. First and foremost, it will serve as a journal of detailed memoirs for our daughters. Secondly, it has become a great way for us to remember when certain things occurred. Our memories seem to grow dimmer as the years fly by. Lastly, I feel as though I am using some of my spiritual gifts to serve the Lord and glorify Him. Now, that is something that I do have a passion for and in some small way, I feel as though I'm making a difference here. With that said, I still have no idea how long I will continue to blog. I hope that you have enjoyed our journey thus far but more than that, I hope that you have also been encouraged, inspired, and challenged to delve deeper into your own walk of faith. After all, that's what life is isn't it? A journey of faith. May God bless you along your way and may you find the courage and humility to accept His gift of grace. For Morgan and I, it is there alone where true love, peace, and joy abundantly flow.

The Sweetest Thing

Best buds.

Faith sits on her balloon.

Grace thinks it's fun ,too.

Nope, it didn't pop.

Silly girls!

Putting bibs on their babies and getting them ready for dinner.

"Say cheese, baby."

Grace helps her little one smell the roses.

We've been having so much fun with our sweet little daughters. Every night after we put them to bed, we can't help but take a moment to share how in love with them we are and how truly blessed we are to be their parents. They are blossoming into these amazing little spirits of kindness and joy. There is nothing better than to witness your child become all that God has planned for them. I'm sure that God feels the same way about us as our Heavenly Father. Lately, Morgan has even ventured to say that girls are the best and who needs boys, anyway? Of course, we know that this statement is a little biased but I thought it was cute nonetheless.

Last night, I hosted a M2M leadership meeting in our home. Morgan was kind enough to rush home from work, quickly eat dinner and take care of the girls. He played with them outside for a little while and then gave them a bath. Just as it was nearing their bedtime, he came out of their room and apologized for interrupting our meeting. He said that the girls wanted kisses from mommy and didn't want to say their prayers without all of us together. When I went into their room, there they were, waiting for me to say their prayers. It was the sweetest thing ever. It's moments like this that I want to remember.

"I swimming!"

Faith looks like a big girl on her Barbie tricycle.

They can't reach the pedals yet so they happily "Barney Rubble" along.

Grace scoots down the street with a smile.

Faith loves to ride any time she can.

My three loves.

Daddy lifts Gracie up to touch the misters at church.

Faith gets her turn.

Morgan dives into the pool.

Faith & Grace.

Grace goes underwater to get her ring.

Now she gets the ring from the next step down.

Finally, daddy helps her get the ring from the bottom step.

She loves it!

Faith has fun jumping in the pool with her floatie.

Although it's not officially summer yet, us desert rats are feeling the heat. It was our first hot weekend of 100 degree plus temperatures. Today, we're climbing up to 111! The good news is that by Wednesday, we should be back down in the high 80's. This was the same weekend last year when our pool was completed and we had our first family pool day. We spent much of this weekend relaxing, catching up with friends, and practicing what the girls have been learning in their swim lessons. It was so much fun to watch them do their drills. Afterwards, they proudly proclaimed, "I swimming!"

We also had some great success with potty training this weekend. We celebrated with lots of praise, stickers and a few M&M's. I finally received the potty training book that I ordered. Wouldn't you know it? It was on back order. Hopefully, I can read through it this week and maybe by next weekend, focus and devote some more time to training. The girls are definitely ready. The question is, "Am I?"

T-Shirt models

Our box of Tutoring Club T-shirts arrived yesterday. We ordered them to give to all of our new and existing students. The deal is...

If they wear them to school all day before coming to the Tutoring Club, they will receive extra tokens. The tokens can then be redeemed for cool prizes.

Morgan and I were trying on our t-shirts and the next thing we knew, the girls had taken off their tops. Of course, this meant that they wanted to try on theirs, too. Since the smallest size was a Youth Small, they looked more like big dresses on the girls. Nonetheless, they were super cute. As you can see, the box was a big hit, too.

Ah, the little things in life...

Mommy Calling Cards

My friend, Hailey told me about these adorable Mommy Calling Cards after receiving hers as a birthday gift. It makes perfect sense! Us moms are the busiest people around. We are often digging at the bottom of our purse for a pen and something to write down our phone numbers. These cards can be given out to schedule playdates, to give to babysitters, teachers, daycare, or to anyone who may need our contact information. It's also a fun and chic way to announce your new profession... Full-time mom! They come in all different styles. These are mine that Joan at Bitsy Creations made. She kindly changed our personal information so that I could post them here in cyberspace. I also had some cute polka dot ones made as a birthday gift for my friend, Samantha. Too fun, huh?

http://www.bitsycreations.com/ or http://www.etsy.com/