Jack turns 4!

Our little Jacky boy is four years old today. How did this happen?!

First day home

Ah, man. These pictures are tough to look at. So so little.

These two are still BEST BUDS.

And he still LOVES horses.

I have always said, and continue to say, how incredibly SWEET this little boy is. He has a very kind soul. Truly. He melts me. Just look at this face...

And this one...

Some words to describe Jack...

~ Sweet  :-)
~ Sensitive
~ Silly
~ Active
~ Imaginative
~ Kind
~ A follower
~ A cuddlier
~ Carefree
~ Easygoing
~ Likes to learn

Jack's love language is lots of hugs and kisses. He freely gives these because he needs them. He also needs a lot of affirmation. And he wants to be "rough and tough just like Daddy". He's a typical little boy... loves to play outside and get dirty. Pretend shoots anything. And he can pretend like anything is a horse... a bike, side of the couch, a bed, a swing... give him something that resembles reigns, and he is good to go.

He also loves everyone. Everyone is his friend. He'll tell you all his aunts and uncles are his favorite.

Well, this one he might have a crush on. :-)

His newest aunt 

His best buddies are his sister, brother and cousins. I love that.

Iron Man and Spiderman aka Shepard and Jack

Some of his last pictures as a three year old...

And now a four year old. On a new big boy bike!

Happy Birthday Jack! One of my prayers for you is to know and love the Lord. To need Him. And to trust Him for courage and strength even now. I love you.

Summer Travels...

Mark and I started out the summer with a 10 year anniversary trip. We went the beachy route for our honeymoon, so I knew I needed to agree to a cooler option for this trip.

Off to Colorado we went!

We had several "adventures". The first one being that when we arrived to our campground (yes, we were tent camping!), it was closed for beetle spraying. So, we were directed by a national forest operator to go "back country camping". Which basically meant... drive up this mountain for an hour and a half, and then pull off the dirt trail wherever you want and pitch your tent. We were in the middle of NOWHERE. NO ONE was anywhere. That night Mark said, "If we die up here, no one will find us for weeks. Maybe months." Perfect.

We made our way back to Bear Lake Campgrounds the next morning and set up camp. It was a great get-away full of sleeping, reading, fishing, hiking... and it sounds cheesy... but just being together having thoughtful conversations.

We left Colorado a day early and made an impromptu trip to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico.

Several weeks later, we took the kids back to Carlsbad with Mark's family... the kids loved it!

Last week, I got to go on a girl's trip... It. was. amazing. This trip was dubbed Girls VaCAPEtion. Brilliant.

Sunset on the beach in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. There really are no words to describe how beautiful this was.

I have never been anywhere like it. Everywhere we went, no matter what it was, felt like I was walking around in a book or movie. It didn't even feel real.

This was our quaint little cottage...

We joked that we were on an old lady trip... visiting Plymouth.

This lighthouse beach was my favorite. I felt like I was on the set of Anne of Green Gables.

The weather was cool... even cold sometimes. We wore hoodies on the beach most of the time. And read books. And chatted. I laughed so hard with my girls. Perfection in my book.

We even threw in a little photo session. With this background... yes please!

It was really hard to leave this magical place. But I was happy to hug my family!

One day after my return, we had a staycation with my family... FULL of swimming, grilling, a bounce house, and a party boat. It was such a blast!

It has been a FULL few months with so many memories made. When I look back on it, I can only be very thankful. People tell us we stay super busy... Mark and I are both from large families. And we are both close to our families. And we have close friendships with people. So, when our calendar fills up with these people, I can only be grateful. And I don't ever want to take what we have for granted.

Thankful for our truly amazing family and friends.

Thankful for the strong love that unites us.

BLESSED.