The Fun Has Begun!

The Boys up at Burney Falls

The fun has begun but June is almost come and gone! Ugh! Too fast. My summer officially started on June 14 when I did my annual "check-out" from school. The kids were out June 1 and were very anxious for Mommy to get her head out of the paperwork so that they could do some summer frolicking.
We took our annual trek up to McCarthur-Burney State Park in the Lassen area on June 10 and enjoyed a few days just being together. The kids took to the lake and viewed three beautiful pairs of Bald Eagles soaring over the water and surrounding mountains, they fished (caught some trout), and rode their bikes like maniacs around the campground. Silas became a bit ill on our last night, vomiting three times, but we claimed healing over him and he was up and at it the next morning.

We went from Burney into a spectacular Father's Day weekend, celebrating with my Dad (Gina's) on Saturday and Daddy on Sunday. Grandpa was overwhelmed when the three sisters (his daughters) surprised him with a portrait we had done especially for him. Both he and Mom were undone. Then, we surprised Daddy with a "Barbecue Basket" filled with BBQ paraphernalia because he is after all...The Grill Man! We think he is the best Daddy this side of Beijing, China and we can't wait until Sarah Grace knows she has a loving, precious Papa waiting to laugh with her and cuddle her up. He doesn't know it yet, but he's going to be a GREAT Daddy to this little girl:0)!

The rest of our June days are getting filled with fun little trips here and there. I love being able to just take off with the boys and shrug the responsibility of reading, writing and arithmetic! Love it! We picked a bounty of blueberries in Placerville with Grandma and Tami and the boys yesterday, and I mean a bounty...over 10 lbs.! Yummy treats to follow!

Can't believe I was able to run with the girls (my good friends Tami and Rhonda) this morning to see Evan Almighty which turned out to be a fabulous movie filled with messages of God's love and constance. I don't care what the critics say, I think it is a must see as long as you're seeing with the eyes of your heart:0)! Really, we all have our 'plans' but ultimately God wants His plans for our lives to be fulfilled and they are likely not what we had in mind...better for sure! I thought about this journey to our daughter and just how much God loves me enough to let the challenges come. Something that stuck with me was a scene when "God" (Morgan Freeman) is speaking to Steve Corell's character and says, "If a person prays for patience do you think I am going to just suddenly bless him with patience? No, I am going to bring him into a multitude of situations where he can practice patience!"

As most of my friends know, it is not easy raising three lively sons and I am easily discouraged by my lack of patience with them in the evenings when Daddy is at work, and I break into what I call my "freak-out sessions". I am asking God to teach me how to discipline them with dignity and respect. So hard for this one who wants to just blahhhhhh! Maybe you can relate, or maybe not. Pray for me :0)!
For those of you wondering, and I have people ask me daily when we will have our little one, the simple answer is, "In quite some time." Sigh! But the good news is, we have already knocked out two months. Not quite doing a count-down yet, as we are still looking at about 16-18 months but hey, I am getting really good at day-dreaming!
Love to all and bless you for your continued prayers!