A Rainy Day

This is my good friend Juli's little boys...she actually has 4 total, but these are the youngest with Sam. Yes, mothers of boys tend to find each other in this life for support, encouragement and lots of laughs. Juli and I have actually been friends for over a decade. We met when I was pregnant with Conner and the Lord knew we'd need each other, that's for sure. We've been blessed to end up in the same neighborhood and our boys are connected at the hip, migrating between our houses, and always up to something. Last week was quite rainy and I had decided to do something constructive and creative.: :-) If you know me at all, I didn't get the creative gene. However, no worries. I headed to the bookstore to find a clever, creative, and colorful "book for rainy days". We got home, quite excited about making "salt dough"(yes, to play with), "paper roses"(which we would fill our own vase with), and "star boxes"(don't really know the purpose behind these, but we'd give 'em a try). **BTW- who comes up with this stuff? I ran upstairs to check email...literally 2-3 minutes of time, and heard some odd noises coming from our lower family room.

As you can see, the boys had decided to make use of their rainy day a different way. Quickly I might add. In a 2-3 minute span of time, they had found our gigantic beanbag, placed it at the bottom of the steps and were launching themselves from the top of the steps to the beanbag...without any hesitation, mind you. Here's Sam, our little ring leader.

This is Juli's little boy. By the time I got the camera, they had been doing this for some time. By the end of the jumping, leaping, launching session, the beanbag was broken, but I am happy to announce that no one was hurt.

Do you see the look of pure happiness as he leaps off the top of the steps? Let's see, when my sister and I were younger, rainy days called for calmer things. We'd bake a cake with mom, play dress-up, pretend we were teachers with our dolls. Well, it looks like I still have a lot to learn about a boys' nature and the pure excitement that comes with doing things that should require some thought. I'm not sure things like,"Maybe I'll get hurt", or "This isn't such a great idea" goes through their minds...EVER.

I thought the madness was over, but I was so wrong. Sam decided to paint his face with peanut butter later on that day and no, this was not an idea from the "rainy day book". I'm sure you're wondering if I ever keep an eye on my children. I do, but only on sunny days.

One Big Wedding Weekend

**This is Taylor's cousin Ryan and his new wife Emily the morning after the wedding. This was the only picture we were able to get with them despite being with them all weekend.

Taylor and I just returned from a venture to Perrysburg, Ohio. Or Toledo for those of y'all who aren't familiar. Taylor's cousin Ryan was married to a great gal named Emily and their wedding was a blast! I wish I could explain in words how beautifully breathtaking and elegant this wedding was. We were really honored to be able to spend several days with most of the family and wedding party b/c Taylor was an usher in the wedding. Taylor and Ryan were always very close growing up...about 6 months separates them in age. Ryan is a ball of energy and a super sweet guy. I remember when I first met him, at the young age of 19. He greeted me with a hug, which if you know any of Taylor's family, a hug or kiss is usually what you are greeted with. Taylor and I would always laugh about Ryan being a forever bachelor, but the entire family knew he had met his match with Emily. While I don't know Emily very well, she has been nothing but kind, and truly genuine to me in our conversations.

Here's the newly married couple sharing their first dance. Did I mention how gorgeous and elegant everything was?? I even walked around snapping pics of all the flowers, centerpieces, and even the food.

Here's Mark and Taylor. Mark is our future brother-in-law. Yippee!! I adore Mark. There aren't a lot of guys quite like him, besides Taylor, of course!! He's just a good guy and someone I can't wait to have in our family. We don't get to see Mark and K(Taylor's sister) very much, so when we do there are a lot of laughs and fun times. I keep hinting to them that they really should consider moving South, possibly near Cincinnati. :-)

Here's Kristin and Mark. Too cute. And obviously I adore my sister-in-law. I tease her that she is a girl version of Taylor, but much prettier. I miss her, especially after spending the weekend together.

This is one of a few pictures Taylor and I got to pose for together. Honestly, I didn't spend a lot of time with him considering he had such a big job. Let's see, Friday he played golf, then took a nap, then left 25 minutes after waking up to get to the church for the rehearsal. I ran into him at the rehearsal dinner. Saturday we managed to get a run in together and breakfast with his parents. But after that, he left for all the usher duties and pictures and I don't think I saw him until around 7:30 or so when we finally sat down together for some yummy sea bass and filet mignon. The food was scrumptious.

With all that stuff aside, I am always impressed with the love, affection, and warmth of Taylor's family and this weekend was no exception. I am greeted every single time I see each and every one of the uncles, aunts, cousins, extended family members, etc. with a hug or kiss and it truly means so much. So, these things were just the icing on the cake, so to speak.

Congrats, Ryan and Emily!!

Matthew 11:28-30

I was up early today for my morning run...7:30am hits and I'm out the door! Today was a different run than most. For the month of July, we have had some really mild weather. Not the norm if you're from around here. The humidity is generally horrible, so it's not great when your hair is prone to frizz or you hate sweating in all the wrong places, if you know what I mean!! However, the past couple of weeks have been cool and this morning was no exception except for the fact that there was a light mist of rain coming down. I love early morning runs. It's quiet and peaceful. I like to carry on conversation with the Lord a lot during the day and my morning runs are no exception. I pray. It's truly a time that I experience His presence the most. My relationship with the Lord has been like no other recently. The life experiences and circumstances God has put in my path recently have been quite significant. God is truly teaching me that although I have been blessed with an amazing family, friends, etc., He is truly my stronghold and fortress when I'm weak. There's no one else I can cry out to in my distress, worries, anxieties, troubles, etc. except Him. As I was running this morning, the Lord reminded me of a verse that our pastor just preached about on Sunday. It was a verse Jesus spoke himself concerning our own human merit and abilities and how leaning on Him and getting throught this thing called "life" is impossible without Him. Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus spoke, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." Apart from God and his divine grace, I can do nothing. Apart from him I could never save myself. Apart from Him, I am fallen. As our pastor preached, he explained how we are carrying our burdens the wrong way. We're not meant to carry them on our own. Our world tells us how important and honorable it is to be self-sufficient, abundant in riches, strong, and proud. But I know that my pursuit of happiness is a different way. And I am humbled that I am His.
BTW--check out what a "yoke" is if you get a chance. No, I didn't get the spelling wrong. It's not the y-o-l-k of an egg. But I will tell you that a yoke was not meant to be used by one, but two.