Friday, February 25, 2011

More Blessings!

Well, we just got back from warm, sunny Florida...I miss it already! We had so much fun! We were so blessed to be able to take this vacation and even more blessed with the weather we had while we were there. It was absolutely perfect every day!


We started out the trip with Brandon and Jenny. They live in Kissimmee, actually as they like to say, they live in Touristville, FL. We didn't believe them until we got there! They are literally 5 miles from Disney "Everything"! We spent time relaxing by their pool, they also took us around town and we ate some amazingly yummy food, but even more delicious ice cream and frozen yogurt!


The one ice cream place we went to was called Pure Magic...and that's exactly what it was! Oh man was it good! You pick all your toppings and then they put nitrogen in it to mix it all together, it was really neat. Ben and I decided that could have been a meal in itself!




Then we headed to Clearwater Beach! The sand was soft and white, ocean beautiful, but cold! We had absolutely nothing on our agenda while we were there, which was exactly what we wanted! Our first day at the beach was really breezy, so we thought the weather was perfect...until we got back to our hotel room 4 hours later and realized the breeze was so nice that we didn't even know how fried we were getting! Oh boy did we pay for it that night! We went out to this awesome Island Grill restaurant, but our conversation was about as dull as could be because all Ben could think about was his entire body feeling on fire, and me, well I felt like my shins, feet and wrists were sitting on burners! But the food was awesome! Needless to say we bought and used an entire bottle of aloe vera that night!





The next day we sat, bodies covered, next to the pool and just enjoyed the warmth and read.

Wednesday was our last day in Clearwater so we were going to spend the morning on the beach then head back to J and B's. When we woke up it was foggy so we decided to try to hit up the Yankees Spring Training Practice, we had no idea what time they practiced, we just knew where the stadium was. We got there and the weather was perfect, but even more perfect was right when we sat down all the players were just coming onto the field! We were so excited! We had so much fun just watching them field and hit! That was probably the highlight of our trip!





We spent our last night with J and B, eating Pei Wei...they let me choose, and eating the best frozen yogurt ever, Menchies! We had SO much fun with them, it was really hard to say goodbye. But like I said earlier, we felt so blessed to even be able to spend a few short days with them!

Another blessing that happened while we were in Florida was Caleb Timothy Thorp was born! What a little sweetie....we love you guys, Chad, Megan and Caleb... Remy too!


The last blessing we want to share is the biggest blessing of all...We are having a baby! We couldn't be more thankful and excited! We are due August 22! I will leave you with this picture...which is already 2 weeks old, but I will put a new one up early next week! God is good!


A few P.S.'s I am now addicted to Karen Kingsbury books and I will put more pictures of our trip up once I get Jenny's pictures! We love you and miss you all!

"Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from him." Psalm 127:3

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Blessings

For those of you who know me well, you know that God made me for warmth and sunshine! Oh boy, do I love that combination! Well, He has blessed me with an amazing husband who knows my love of those two things, so for Christmas he got us a trip to Florida! He also knows how much I love my best friend, and she just happens to live in Florida!!

So, tonight Ben and I get to head off to enjoy three loves of my life...Jenny-who is one of the biggest blessings in me life(we are excited to see you too Brandon :), sunshine and warmth! I can NOT wait! I wanted to blog before we left because I knew it would be awhile again!

We love you and miss you all! My next post will share about more amazing blessings in our life! :)

"Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is." Ephesians 5:15-17

Friday, February 4, 2011

The Girls!

I was fortunate enough to be able to go to MN for a week to watch my nieces while Emily and Mark were in Thailand for a missions trip. It was a busy, crazy, amazingly fun week! I miss the girls like crazy. It was wonderful to see family too! Thanks to mom for helping a ton! Here are a few pictures of the week. Sorry Emily, if they look like scraggle muffins in the pictures! :) I learned that kids will not get their hair done every day, they may wear their pjs almost all day AND that you, as the mom, "might" get a shower but most likely not until they are all in bed! :) I wanted to visit my mom at school with the girls, so I knew I could get the girls all cutsie and ready to go, then I realized I had to get myself all cutsie and ready. Needless to say, we didn't get to go see mom!


Gabby and Lauren put on a wonderful show for me at mom and dad's when I first got there! Don't you LOVE their costumes and accessories! :)


Macie thought she was really hot stuff on the desk. Not safe right? It was too cute not to get a picture, then I got her down!



A lot of games got played throughout the week! My favorite was Uno Spin!





Crazy hair!


We decided to make some V-Day crafts! We had so much fun and I was so impressed with the girls cutting skills! :)




Another show...notice the matching dresses over their gymnastics outfits. And yes, KTIS was blaring in the background!






Too sweet!



We had a bday party for Ethan my last night there! It was so fun to be with everyone, well except the owners of the house where the party was being held:) You probably can't tell in the pictures, but I wanted you to know not only was I staying at a beautiful house, it is also a farm! They have Ben and Amanda, their cats that live in the garage to keep the mice away. They also have lovely chickens in their garage, it is a very scrumptious smell once you step foot out the house in the garage! :) :) :)






It was really hard to leave after being with the girlies all week, but I am so glad I was able to do it! I love you and miss you all tremendously!

"So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the LORD your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul—

Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." Deuteronomy 11:13, 18-19