Family Lake Day

Way too much fun to share a day at the lake with Elias and Freney! We love our boy cousins that chase you with a bucket of water and then laugh uncontrollably when they succeed in dumping it on your head, who climb rocks and destroy sand castles. They add the perfect amount of crazy chaos!! Could it be that our world of all girls is missing some of this delightfulness?? We will have to steal you away with us again and again so that we can enjoy laughing until our sides split!!

(Josiah 7yrs, Adalie 4yrs, Elias 3yrs and Freney 1yrs. Redinger Lake)

Belize

Belize, Stewart Family Vacation #5, year of the Parable, was nothing short of incredible!! We did it all, from fishing and snorkeling, diving and sailing, zip lining and cave tubing, to water slides and bicycles (and everything in between). We had great family relationships, lots of laughs, good food, fantastic weather and fun entertainment! A simple "Thank You" just doesn't seem enough...... so I will give you a riddle...... what do you get when you take 15 people on vacation together for 1 week to a fabulous little island??

That's right over 400 pictures!!!

Intentional

The definition of Intentional is "done deliberately, by design, calculated, conscious, considered, contemplated, decided, designed, determined, knowing".

This is my word for the summer. I want to be intentional. I want to pour into my little family, to hear their words and see their faces. I want my days and moments to be deliberate and considered. I want to maximize our time together. To break out of our usual molds and routines. To take time for one another and all the little fun things we want to do.

I suppose my plight of intention is a battle against the days that fly by because we were too busy keeping our schedules. If I were honest, it is yet another attempt to slow the hands of time. Yet, as a result, I am enjoying new adventures and the smiles that come with new discoveries, and the funny little quirks and comments I might have otherwise missed if I wasn't listening. The voices and special memories are sinking in deeper; perhaps even treasured a bit more!

(Josiah 7yrs, Adalie 4yrs and Ducey 13yrs)

Graduation

Well, he did it!! Uncle Tay Tay graduated for UCSB. We got to celebrate with a weekend down in Santa Barbara. Our little family of 4 stopped by our old studio where Josiah was born and saw our 1st Christmas tree which we had planted in the back yard; once 3 feet tall was now a towering 30 feet tall. We BBQed and played on the beach where every Easter Seth and I would host all the family for the weekend. We roamed the campus where Daddy once attended, graduated and taught! It was fun to introduce our girls to what once was, to enter a lecture hall where Daddy learned, to talk about old memories of riding bicycles on campus and throwing tortillas at concerts in the park. So Congratulations Uncle Tay and thanks for the stroll down memory lane!

Cheer

Cheer was one of those tough decisions. One of those decisions you debate over. But in the end, the girls had alot of fun. They learned some neat routines for the monthly school rallies, got to fly on the top of pyramids, worked on the coordination of stepping and clapping at the same time and made good use of their tumbling skills from gymnastics.

(Josiah, Kaia, Piper and McKenna - 1st grade)

Grandparent's Day

A fun day with Grammy and Papa; working in the classroom, swinging on the tire swing, puzzles and games.

Thank you!!

Mother's Day

I just might be the luckiest Mom in the whole wide world!! I feel loved by my family everyday, but today was a very special celebration of me, planned by my family...... and I found myself overwhelmed. Overwhelmed by the blessing it is to be a Mom to these 2 little girls. They fill my heart to overflowing. I love the way they laugh, the way they pout, the way they dance, the way they learn, the way they love. They are my very best Mother's Day gift ever! So thank you for a day filled with little surprises and sweet notes, for meals cooked, for arguments quenched, for no decisions, for all your time and attention you lavished on me!!