Lost, But Holding Hands

This past week we were blessed to take our third trip to Disney.  For those of you who are not Disney fanatics, let me fill you in: Disney=Magic It has to be exhausting to be a Disney cast member, because those people are on the top of their game 100 PERCENT OF THE TIME.  In my everyday life, I have my stuff together, on average, 25 percent of the time.  I can rarely keep my house clean, can't ever find my stuff, and I lose my cool more often than I would like to admit.  But in the time we have spent at Disney, those employees have modeled extreme grace, joy, and compassion.  They look for opportunities to serve and go above and beyond to make sure all  people feel special.  What a fantastic example of what would make our communities better place to be.  If only the magic of Disney would flow out into the greater community. We have found the joy at Disney to be contagious.  We have done the same thing every night we have spent at Disney- ...

When your best friend asks you to be her Matron of Honor you quickly say of course .  Then you watch and help where you can as her dreams become reality.  This weekend we were blessed to ring in the new year by celebrating the marriage of one of my oldest and dearest friends. If you know me at all , you know I HATE public speaking.  From the moment Vanessa asked me to be her Matron of Honor, I was excited for all of the awesome things it entailed- planning, bachelorette party, bridal shower, etc.  But I dreaded the idea of standing in front of a huge crowd to share my thoughts about the bride.  This is especially true because I figured there was no way I would be able to get through a toast without tears. Somehow I mustered the courage and delivered what I think was a coherent speech, but most of all I appreciate the the entire group of ladies helped me pull off a special surprise for Vanessa that she loved!  Because I know I was flustered and did not s...

Last year for Thanksgiving we were enjoying the most magical place on Earth.  Knowing that we couldn't swing Disney, but that we want to keep up the tradition of a family getaway over Thanksgiving break- we began to look for more localized options.  If Disney is the most magical place on Earth, then Branson is the Disney of the Midwest (or at least of southwest Missouri). Generally speaking, I don't like ideas that aren't my own and I really  don't like spending money on things I hadn't planned. So imagine my surprise when I received an e-mail while at work from Tyler detailing a trip that he had planned without my consultation.  Yikes.  Panic ensued.  As my blood pressure decreased, my excitement increased.  I did some Branson research because, unlike 99.9% of Missourians- I had only been to Branson one other time and didn't know enough to adequately  judge the amount of excitement appropriate for this "vacation". Needless to say, just as any...

we were on our way to independence to visit costco and get some birthday party supplies. it was rush hour traffic time. daylight savings time was over and at 5:30 it was already pitch black. ryan was having a difficult time following directions and became...shall we say..."'physically active" in the backseat of the truck. of course, this meant we needed to pull over and wait for him to be safe. after getting himself together i waited and waited for some kind soul to let us back onto the highway. i'm sure people were annoyed about letting me in and probably didn't want to. but sometimes we pull over during rush hour. we got to costco with our unhappy customer in tow. he was hellbent on getting into that over-sized cart and "going to sleep". he informed me to "leave him alone" and proceeded to--butt in the air--roll over and "go to sleep." we got all kinds of looks which were, probably somewhat, well deserved. as i pushed around the g...

Ryan turned 8 at the beginning of the month.  8.  I still can't really believe it.  8 is almost half way to being a full-grown human.  INSANE. On Monday, Ryan and I celebrated just the two of us (daddy was out of town).  He wanted "chicken on the bone" so we went on a mommy-Ryan date to Strouds.  So. Good.  We ate until we wished we were wearing stretchy pants...maybe that was just me. Then pushed the fullness limits to enjoy awesome dirt-cup cupcakes for dessert.  I love a good challenge, especially when it comes to eating! This year, Tyler and I had lengthy debates about what we should do to celebrate Ryan's birthday.  We finally decided on tackling a friends party in addition to our traditional family party.  This was Ryan's third birthday with us, but the first time we were going to invite friends from school, the neighborhood, and sports.  Parties with friends make me nervous...would anyone come?  This was a huge l...

Ryan started basketball a couple weeks ago.  He's definitely got some talent and his height definitely helps.  This week he made two awesome baskets- unfortunately one in the wrong basket...oops!  I'm stepping outside of my comfort zone and coaching.  I have zero  basketball skills, but the teacher in me can keep things organized and moving along productively. We may not be able to shoot any better than when we started, but we can form a line and take turns with the best of them!

We love, love, LOVE  the zoo!  This past spring, we purchased a Friends of the Zoo pass and it has made the zoo wonderfully convenient and so much more relaxed.  Now, it doesn't matter if we only go for an hour or find ourselves in a sudden rain storm because the pass virtually paid for itself after the first few visits. This weekend we spent the afternoon with grandma and grandpa at the zoo.  It was such a fun day.  These pictures make me feel so blessed to see my mom and dad have such a positive and strong relationship with Ryan!