Cracker Barrel

Last Wednesday, (a week ago) our church was canceled due to power outage. So, we met up with Brian's parents for dinner. We were able to have a very nice evening with Mom, Dad, Roni, Jason, our nephews & niece. :) Aspen loved the extended family time. We quickly snapped a picture when Uncle Jason had her, because just until recently Aspen had nothing to do with him...she'd even cry when she saw him. In the picture she looks a bit unsure, but I promise, she was smiling!

Cakes...

I'm busy filling a 300+ cake order today. Aspen had been down for a nap, but woke up and was playing around the house. Then I heard the sweetest, "mmmmmmmm..." :) I forget she's tall enough now to reach the tabletop... Thankfully it was just a little, and easily fixed. :) Thought y'all might like that little story...stories & pictures from Mothers day coming as soon as I can!

On a side note, the Lord is really blessing today, and causing these cakes to go incredibly fast! :)

Trip to the Park

We had a free evening a week or so ago, and decided to have a fun family outing to a local park. It was such fun watching Aspen's excitement as she tried out new things. The best part was just being all together!

(stay tuned for my Mother's Day blog...it's coming!!! This week is just super busy though.)

The Beach!!!

At the beginning of last week, my oldest brother, Joshua, organized a McDonald Family Beach Day. We have many email conversations planning out day. I was SO excited to take Aspen, I had a feeling she would love it; and she did. Joshua & his family got to Stewart Beach early to reserve a great spot, and get set up. We were able to pull right up and park. It was so nice! I didn't even take my bag out of the trunk, because we were so close. (we typically go to a different beach were we walk a little bit away from the car.) It was a bit over cast, thus almost cool with the wind, but that didn't slow the girls down from playing in the water!!! They LOVED it! I didn't take Aspen to the water right away, because I thought she might get cold from the breeze, but, after playing in the sand for awhile, she spotted a bird (in the water) and decided to go check it out. She walked over and into the ocean with the determination to see that bird! She didn't exactly like the little waves, and couldn't figure them out, but being closer to the bird made it worth it. (silly girl!) Eventually, Annabel & Alyssa came & played in the water with Aspen, which she really enjoyed. I don't have any water pictures on my phone... :( They're all on my real camera. Aspen really, really enjoyed the sand. I think it may have reminded her of the dirt from the backyard... :) She played, and played, and ate some, and then played more in it. I honestly am not sure how much sand she consumed, Rebekah guessed probably around a Tablespoon. I just prayed against any yucky germs. :) I assume the grittiness of it didn't bother her, due to her only having 3 1/2 teeth. :) The fun day absolutely wore my little girl out...she was asleep pretty quickly after getting rinsed off and into her car-seat.

Joshua grilled some yummy burgers for lunch, and we enjoyed just being together at the beach. Thank you Joshua, Rebekah, Mom & Dad for a great beach day! We greatly missed Caleb & Becky...looking forward to planning another day soon so they can go too. Oh... :) Brian too!!!! :)

Thank you also to Uncle Ruben for the cute yellow Cr0cs. Those are the best! So versatile!! :) I thought the waves would've washed them off Aspen's feet, but they stayed on. :)

Granny & Nanny Fun

Last Saturday was super busy for me, so Aspen was shipped off to Granny & Paw Paw's, then after that Aspen, Mommy & Daddy went to Nanny & PoPo's for some family TLC. :) I'm pretty sure Aspen enjoyed the day with her Grandparents! Here are some snapshots that were sent to me throughout the morning, then one I took myself.

Granny kept her busy by riding the horsey, having a picnic lunch inside, playing with the toys, and a wagon ride.

Nanny kept Aspen in giggles. Aspen was just cackling when Nanny made funny faces after Aspen hit her block on the cabinet. Brian has the video of that on his phone... :( Nanny also got the Bird out of her cage...that was very exciting for Aspen. Aspen enjoyed "petting" it, but wasn't quite sure what to think when it walked onto her little hand. Mommy broke down, and let Nanny spoil Aspen too...she had her first Blue Bell Ice Cream Sandwich. :) And she ate all of it...minus the tiny bite I snuck. :)

Dirt...

Last week, my sweet little girl was sick. And, it took pretty much the whole week for her to feel better again. Last Thursday morning, she was feeling well enough to go and play in the backyard. I was in the kitchen, and she was playing on her outside play-place. (yes, we have an inside one too:)) I could hear & see her, and of course, popped my head out to check on her; plus, the door stayed open. At one point, I turned around to see Aspen's adorable little hand FULL of dirt/mulch mixture. She was just standing at the door looking inside, at the floor. Then, she throw that handful of dirt right inside, and scampered off for more. I told her "no", and swept it up. Then, I left the dust pan for her thinking, "she can put the dirt in there, and then she won't carry it to my kitchen." A few moments passed, then I turned back around, just in time to see Aspen bringing the dust pan, that had several handfuls of dirt, to the kitchen door, where she dumped it inside. Next, she decided it needed to be stomped on. It was one of those opportunities to teach, but in the long run, it really didn't matter if she did dump dirt in the kitchen.

"Think on these things..."

Psalm 104:33, 34 

"I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the Lord."

These verses "jumped" out at me this morning as I has my Bible time. I summed up my desire pretty well... Hope they encourage you as they did me.