A Life of Gratitude

Our family really enjoys dressing up for Halloween! We always dress up in coordinating costumes. This year we are Star Wars characters! We'll get dressed up again on Halloween for trick-or-treating but tonight we went to the Almodovar family's fifth annual Halloween party! Luke Skywalker, Yoda, Princess Leia, and Annakin Skywalker. It looks like Princess Leia might have the force! Po Dameron and BB8 Star Wars!!!! Dylan with his best buddy, Hugo Hugo was also dressed as a Star Wars character but I can't remember which one. Fiona, Allison, and Tyson  How cute are they? Evan and Sergio The kids all had a blast playing outside with light sabers and glow sticks. Allison had one of every color! Allison, Me, and Amanda We roasted marshmallows and made smores. The kids loved it! Today I am thankful for enjoyable times with sweet friends! Amanda and Hugo have been our good friends in college, which seems like a hundred years ago!

Earlier today Tyson was playing with a yo-yo. He doesn't really know how to yo-yo so he was mostly just swinging the yo-yo around the room. Somehow it slipped from his hand, flew across the room, and then busted on the floor. Tyson immediately starting sobbing. He was broken-hearted because his yo-yo was broken.  This was one of the 12 yo-yos I bought to use as party favors for Evan's birthday party we had last weekend. Many of the kids forgot to take their goodie bags so we ended up with at least 7 yo-yos. As soon as I heard Tyson crying over his yo-yo I offered to give him a new one. He absolutely would not have it! He was sobbing and said, "But I don't want a new yo-yo! I want my old yo-yo!" It seemed so absurd to me. Why wouldn't he just take a new one? It's so simple. I was offering a yo-you that wasn't broken; one that was brand new. One that was better. Why didn't he want it? Why was he clinging to an old broken yo-yo? I qui

This morning, as we packed up to head home from our family vacation, Bryan brought up a rolling cart for us to put all of our luggage on. As soon as he entered the room with it, all 4 kids jumped aboard. Somehow this has become a tradition for our vacations! The kids always love riding on the cart. This was Allison's first time and she loved it too!  Bryan told them to get off because we needed to put the luggage on it and they all protested. Evan said, "We just want to be together! Let's always be together, guys!" They all hugged each other and played some more on the cart, laughing and jumping around. It was like a scene from the Brady Bunch or something. It was the cutest thing!  I have to admit that my heart swelled with joy as I watched them. This really was the perfect ending to our vacation because it summed it up so well. The kids had so much fun together. The entire vacation was full of laughter and happiness. The older boys included the little

Today was Tyson and Allison's first time at the beach! They both had an absolute blast!  In fact, we all had a wonderful time! We spent 4 hours at Santa Lucea Beach, which is absolutely gorgeous. The color of the water is incredible. The beach wasn't crowded at all and there were seashells all over.   The boys had a terrific time playing in the sand. Allison loved the beach so much! She never fussed! We made a make-shift pool for Allison to sit in so she could play in the water and the sand safely. She enjoyed it tremendously. She stayed in her little pool almost the entire time! Bryan and the boys played in the waves for most of the afternoon. They had such a great time! They didn't even want to take a break for more sunscreen! Pure Joy!  I had fun in the waves with my biggest boys too! Tyson made it his mission to keep Allison's pool full of water! He brought bucket after bucket!  I had so much fun with my littlest lov

 Yesterday the moms and kids from our small group put the finishing touches on the new Memorial Garden for the Unborn at New Life Family Outreach. Since the ministry moved to a new building at the beginning of the year, the memorial garden needed to be redesigned and recreated at the new location. Some folks from our church did a lot of hard work to prepare the ground, lay the bricks, install the statue, place the benches, and put out a lot of mulch. Our small group got to pick out flowers and plants for the garden and then plant them. It was really hot but we had a great time. The finished product is beautiful! The Memorial Garden is a very special place for me because we have a brick in honor of our two babies that are in Heaven. It was very important to me that the garden be put back together so that all of the bricks representing unborn babies can be seen and the babies can be remembered. It warmed my heart so much to see the completed garden today!

It's been almost 3 months since I was diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis. I have educated myself thoroughly on this intimidating disease, so much so that I'm pretty sure I know a lot more about it than any of the doctors, nurses, or pharmacists I've come in contact with since July (with the exception of the Rheumatologist that diagnosed me.) Seriously, all the medical professionals just look at me and say, "I'm sorry," when they hear that I've been diagnosed with AS. Even with all my new knowledge, it's hard for me to wrap my around what's truly happening in my body. I've been dealing with this disease for years but the fact that it has a name now is both validating and unnerving.  For the past 2 Saturdays, I've taken my older boys to sell popcorn with the Cub Scouts at local stores for a few hours. I took a chair to sit in because I can't stand for long periods of time without a lot of pain and fatigue. Each day I got the b