A Full Cup

This weekend I attended a Women's Retreat with the women of First Baptist Church. Jeff and I joined this church when we got engaged, got married there, and were members until we moved to Bluffton. It was our first church family, and there are a lot of special women there.
The speaker was a women from Columbia. She was very passionate, and encouraging.
Being a stay-at-home-mom is one of the hardest things I've ever done, and the most important. When you read my blog, there are a lot of great memories documented. I do a really good job of making things "look" really fun and easy, but there are many struggles and trials that come with daily life. I am so glad I have a Savior that forgives me for all of my shortcomings and showers me with his grace every day, because he knows that I need it!
Some of my favorite truths from this weekend...

The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; he will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be discouraged. Deut. 31:8

Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.
Deut. 30:11

Some words from Beth our speaker:
We don't need to strive for victory, Jesus did it on the cross.
We must surrender daily to him. We have a daily choice.
Always be expecting great things!

Even though we fail, it's comforting to know that Jesus never does. He has a perfect plan for each of us, and the end result will always be for our good and for His Glory! That is my Joy!

New Year's at the Beach

We decided last minute to join Rick, Katie, and Karsen at the beach to celebrate New Years. In the past, we have spent it with our good friends Dave, Alexa, and their daughter Roen but they are currently in New Zealand finishing up their residences so hopefully next year! We had a great time at the beach that was nice and low-key. Katie and I made dinner, the boys got to play on the beach a few times, and we all got to relax a little. Henry loved laying in the sand and racing cars, and Clay loved running and chasing the birds and eating sand. It was so hard to keep them out of the water! This summer is going to be fun! Even though we haven't made it to midnight in quite a while, I love spending the first day of the New Year with all my boys!










Oh, and I turned 31 so we had to celebrate. Any reason for cake. Notice we had no candles, but the glade votive worked just fine. Jeff came home and surprised me with a bag of goodies all wrapped separately, and the boys helped. So sweet! I also decided on my 31st birthday to sign up for my first half-marathon. Hilton Head here we come! I've been training for a while, but probably not as strict as I should. I've done a couple of good long runs the last couple of weekends, and tomorrow I will peak at 12 miles and start going down until the race. I'm really excited, but a little nervous too. I just hope to finish, and look for my three biggest fans at the finish line!

Disney World

Ok, finally. I know! A few months ago we decided to take the boys to Disney around Christmas. I went through a travel agent a friend recommended, and we got it set up. With the boys being the age they are, we decided to make it a short trip, just going to the Magic Kingdom for a few days. It was perfect! We left early Thursday morning (only stopping twice). It took about 7 hours and the boys did great. We don't have a DVD player for the car, so a friend gave me a great idea. I went to Target in the dollar bins and stocked up on all things activities. I wrapped each one separate in tissue and numbered each one. Every hour Henry would pick a number and have a new activity to play with. Genius, and under twenty bucks!

We got there around 3:30. Henry immediately said let's go to Disney World. Our passes started the next day, so we checked around our hotel for activities. The best thing about staying on Disney Property is all the activities (and everything is so clean!) The hotel had a playground, which the boys loved after being in the car for so long, and that night they had a fire pit with smores, and an outdoor movie by the pool.

The next day, we hit the park early! There definitely was an awe moment when walking into the park, but I don't think boys are quite as impressed with Cinderella's Castle. We went on as many rides as we could fit in a day, and we were all worn out. I don't know which one of us had the most fun. It's so nice to be able to ride almost all of the rides as a family.

We were able to get a free meal plan with our tickets, and it was great. Kind've like being on a cruise and getting whatever you want. The disadvantage of course was eating way too much! Not sure if we needed all that, we might stick to bag lunches next time.

Day two was spent riding what we didn't get to the first day, and riding all of our favorites again. After lunch we were able to go back to the hotel and rest (Jeff and Henry went swimming- it was that hot!) That night we went to the Electric Lights Parade, and tried to make the fireworks, but we had two very tired boys so we called it a night! The next morning we headed back after a very memorable character breakfast. Henry loved all of the attention from the characters, while Clay was petrified. He kept looking around making sure they weren't behind him, and when they left he follwed them with his eyes to make sure they weren't coming back.

It was a great trip, and a perfect amount of time for our first one. Next time we might try staying off Disney and maybe renting a house or staying at a suite with a few rooms to see what the differences are. Jeff even said the other day, Do you want to go back next year? We all had a great time, and it was so fun to see everything decorated for Christmas. Warning: There are lots of pictures, they are not in order, and you will see lots of sleepy boys!