The Night Watches

All this rain, makes me long for those sunny blue skies we had just this past weekend! I know the rains will make for greener grass, but boy do I miss playing outside. The boys, however, are really enjoying making mud pies. I don't have much to report on. Life has been returning to "normal" since we got home from the hospital. Jack is feeling good and he has definitely fully recovered from his suffering he endured just one month ago. The kids are learning to play and share, to differ to one another. We are staying home a lot, helping them to learn to obey and trying to avoid spending money unnecessarily (which happens whenever I go near Target)! We have really just been hunkering down at home, enjoying each other, and getting some routine in place, chores established and order. I took out one of my favorite lenses for my camera and rediscovered why I liked it so much. I spent the afternoon the other day taking pictures of my yard and our fig tree, my kids, and the messes...

For years I have been wanting to go down to DC for to see the cherry blossom trees with Jordan. And for years, it has either rained, or we have missed it for various reasons. Well, since we live only 15 minutes from downtown DC, we had no excuses this year! We packed it up and headed into the city with the masses! We had to park really far away, but it was so worth it. It was a perfect day, and although the kids were tired from the long walk, we enjoyed our time. And being that we live so close, it isn't a huge flop when we only stay for a little visit! Some pictures of the our day... you might notice, Jack doesn't look that happy and energetic... well he hasn't been feeling very well. I am working on a Jack update now, and hope to post that in a few... but for now, here is our day in DC.

Ahhh, I miss the beach! Have we really already been home only a week and a half? The sound of the crashing waves seems such a distant memory already! Although this vacation was quite different for us and more difficult than the many years past for many reasons, the beach days could not have been more amazing and memorable. Couple perfect weather, kids who love playing all day, a group of people just happy to be together, and joy from the Lord for the gift each day was... it was a wonderful vacation. I wanted to take tons of pictures, but when you have a baby who knows no fear, and is crawling headlong into the ocean, stuffing handful after handful of sand in his mouth... and two big boys that want to play hard all day... there was very little sitting down time, and less time to hold a camera and a baby... but oh so worth every moment with my boys. Here are a few shots of those precious memories and sweet beach days...