Cody Turns 12!

For Cody's 12th we celebrated at home with the family enjoying a great night of pizza and swimming.  For his 12th, as was the case with Nicholas, Cody got his first cell phone.  Of course, he chose a Jayhawk blue color!

Cody wanted to decorate his own cake this year

After Lincoln blew out the candles, we relit them for Cody.



All the crazy cousins....so thankful for this bunch!!

Cody after his last baseball game as a Nelson Roadrunner his 6th grade buddies

Quick Visit to Paradise

Cruisin around the island

I was very blessed this week to go along with Neil to his teams' conference tournaments. Did I mention that the tournament was in Hawaii?? It was such a nice time for the two of us to get away and have fun.  Although Neil still had to work, I had plenty of time to go for runs on the beach, shop, relax in the spa, and get lots of rest.  I have not had an opportunity like this since before Nicholas was born so I must say that I enjoyed and cherished my time there.


Climbing to Maakapuu Lighthouse

At the top of the mountain with a 280 degree view of the ocean...breathtaking

Tennis Banquet

My view while in the sauna

View from our hotel

On our 6 am walk on the beach...we were still on CA time

Spring Break 2013

This year for Spring Break, we were able to get out of town for a couple days.
Neil and I were both embarrassed to admit that although we have both lived in the valley our entire lives, neither of us had been in to Yosemite National Park to do the Yosemite thing.  And, aside from one visit to Badger Pass, our boys had also never been in to experience Yosemite.
So, we decided to take a day trip and do the Yosemite thing.  We drove up in the morning, hiked to see some of the waterfalls, had a picnic in the valley, and enjoyed some great time together.

Then, later in the week, we decided to take a spontaneous trip to the beach.  We branched out and instead of visiting the central coast, we decided to experience Manhattan Beach for the first time together as a family.  We played volleyball on the beach with friends, visited the Santa Monica pier and Third Street Promenade at night, and even played a round of golf with the boys on our hotel's golf course.

My morning run.....heaven

As the boys are growing older and the finish line is beginning to come into view of how long I get to have them at home with me.  It makes it all the more clear that we need to take advantage of every opportunity we have to spend time together making lasting memories and laughing together.

Nicholas's Baptism

Since entering middle school this year, Nicholas has had the opportunity to attend FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) at Alta Sierra Middle School with Coach Paul Babcock.  To say that Nicholas enjoys attending FCA would be a gross understatement. Nicholas is always inviting his friends to attend and he demands to go each week.  In fact,  the only time he missed this year (the day we celebrated the one year anniversary of Brett's accident and the miracles God has blessed us with) he went down with a fight.
Because of Nicholas's involvement with FCA, we have seen him grow in his walk with the Lord, develop greater understanding of the Bible's truths and really learn to trust God in hard situations.  So, it really was no surprise when he came home a couple of weeks ago to inform us that he wanted to get baptized.
Although this was no surprise, it has been a prayer of mine for years and years that my children would develop an authentic faith of their own.  That they would not choose our "religion" because that is what our family does, but that they would really truly love Jesus and desire to follow him with all of their heart.
So, when Nicholas made this decision as a 13 year old, in middle school, when professing your faith is not the most "cool" thing to do, I was very proud.
My prayers will continue...that Nicholas continues to grow in his faith, that he would learn to trust and obey God no matter what, that he would know God's love, His mercy and His grace and that he would seek Him above all.
But, for today, I will take a moment to just say, "Thank you, Jesus.  Carry on."