Easter Weekend Recap

Easter weekend turned out to be a pretty crazy weekend. 

What did we do?

We had dinner Friday night with sweet YMC friends at their super cool downtown penthouse.

I spent Saturday morning with Jesus, my favorite Easter chocolates, 

and coffee in my super cute new Easter mug from my mom.

The pups and I went for a nature walk/drive.

We took a trip to Costco and I found my next pet.

We said goodbye to Casey.

We set up, photographed, and celebrated Jason and Cecilia's engagement.

We went to the 8am service at church. [Easter morning church is my favorite]

We had a yummy and beautiful brunch with my family. 

J headed to church to set up for the Hispanic Easter service,
while I stayed at brunch a bit longer and took some fun photos with the fam. 

We opened sweet Easter baskets from both our parents. 

I failed to take pictures... but they were cute and everything was yummy :)

I took my puppies over to visit Sammy.

And we helped out at the Hispanic Easter service. J ran lights and I took pictures.
[J's job was more important and much more time-consuming, but I pretended to be as busy as him :)]

honey, way to pull off the coolest lights show ever! so proud of you.

It was a rather overwhelming, but neat weekend of celebrating the resurrection of Jesus.

Next year, maybe not so many big events in a 50 hour period ... :)

Capture the moment

"were you talking to us, mom?"

To remember our sweet Casey

This past Saturday, after thirteen wonderful and special years, my family had to make the awful decision to put our sweet Casey puppy down. 

We got Casey when I was in 6th grade. She was my sister's puppy. Carly named her and claimed her from the start. Casey brought joy to our home from day one - even in her puppy years of chew chew chewing everything in sight :). Crazy labradors :). 

Casey always wanted to be in the same room as everyone. As long as everyone could hang out together, she was happy as could be. She loved her life and everything in it. She loved looking out the front screen door. She was the guard dog of the house, always alerting of strangers. [Although she'd never harm a soul, we didn't tell the strangers that]. In the midst of all types of medical challenges, Casey always had a smile for us.

There's something about a dog. Animals truly change a home. They love you no matter what. They kiss your tears and share in your excitement. Animals are the best, and Casey was no exception.

We love you, pretty girl. Thanks for changing our lives with your sweet heart.

On my heart

"Naked I came from my mother’s womb, 

and naked shall I return. 

The Lord gave, 

and the Lord has taken away; 

blessed be the name of the Lord."

Job 1:21

Happy birthday Sam!

Happy birthday to my super fun super random super talented brother-in-law ;)

You are so fun. Thanks for providing some super great faces for photos. :)

Love you much - happy 23rd!!

J and I can't wait to see you and V in June!

He has Risen

I hope you had a special Easter.

Lead me to the Cross

Today on Good Friday, 

I remember.

[Jess-we had the same idea :)]

PS: please pray for my Poppa today. He is in the ICU after a heart attack last night.

Brotherly {sisterly} love

J's brother Sam and his super fun wife Valinda were in town a couple weeks ago from San Jose! It was so fun to hang out with them and get to catch up a bit. We hadn't seen them in what felt like forever!

We ate at the Brig, ate at my in-laws', and ate at Outback. We enjoy gathering over meals. :)

 

 when J and Sam get together, it never stays "classic" for long...

 

I love that they have fun!!

The progression of their love for each other :)

We love you S and V! Can't wait to see your town in June!!

Dear J,

Thank you for showing your love for me in a new way by pumping my gas at the gas station. I feel so special! I'm pretty sure my love language has shifted to acts of service, so this speaks love, baby! :)

Thanks for our Jamba, mexican and Michaels trip yesterday. I love that you trail behind me while I roam the aisles and amuse me by telling me which pad of paper you think is cutest when I ask. :)

Thanks for complimenting my first homemade pizza on our new pizza stone, and for having a Sees with me afterwards. And thanks for the shopping trip to get the Sees, which always comes with a Target run.

Thanks for loving me and our sweet little puppies. You feed them every morning, and it helps me so much! And thank you for waking up early with me ALL week long, taking the dogs out, and having breakfast with me. I love having mornings with you! I know you hate them, but I appreciate that you do it because I love them. The pups love it too :).

Thank you for your cuteness and your text messages and always answering your phone when I call you at work, just to say hi. You know I like those two minutes of connection, so thanks for never rushing me off the phone. Unless you have to, of course. :)

Thank you for being my life partner, my best friend, and my complaints department when my poor sissy calls sick of school and I can't talk to her. I love you with all my heart!

To the moon and back,

your J

A time for everything

Oh man, struggling to blog lately! Life has been cycling from crazy busy to ... well, crazy busy. And this weekend I was sick. So when I finally had a few minutes with no plans, I had no energy to do anything, and so I slept a lot. Which is saying a lot for me, because I'm not one to take naps or sleep for a long time. But I did and hopefully it helped, because tomorrow is back to work. And the busyness begins again.

I really do want to update you on my life and thoughts and how it all fits together [if I have any followers left after my lame-o blog as of late], and so slowly pieces will be coming back. Sorry if it's not all super recent...

Anyway, this has been on my mind lately. May you find rest in this:

¹ "There is a time for everything,
   and a season for every activity under heaven:
 ² a time to be born and a time to die,
   a time to plant and a time to uproot,
 ³ a time to kill and a time to heal,
   a time to tear down and a time to build,
 ⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh,
   a time to mourn and a time to dance,
 ⁵ a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
   a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
 ⁶ a time to search and a time to give up,
   a time to keep and a time to throw away,
 ⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend,
   a time to be silent and a time to speak,
 ⁸ a time to love and a time to hate,
   a time for war and a time for peace.
 ⁹ What does the worker gain from his toil? ¹⁰ I have seen the burden God has laid on men. ¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end." 

Ecclesiastes 3:1-11

Triplets... minus one :)

My mom and my sister look alike, sound alike, and act alike. 

So they entered the look alike contest that our town's newspaper is hosting.

So, to support them, because I love them, I'm encouraging you to

VOTE FOR THEM!!!

It's super easy and takes like 3 seconds. And it's fun!

Yes, I included myself in this. Because I AM the middle man between them. 

You know, being oldest and all.

I guess they still look most like each other.

But I think I am a close third. :)

Heaven in a moment

God blesses our eyes with many different skies. 

But I think this type is my favorite.

Mainly because it makes me think of heaven.

I remember I saw an angel when I was eight years old

in the clouds in the sky 

when it looked really similar to this.

I'm so thankful for small reminders of purpose.

[ps: i have been an awful blogger. it has just been crazy. 

but i'm alive and well. thanks for being patient with me.]