Wordless Wednesday

{Welcome Summer}

Father's Day!

I am so honored to have a wonderful father in my life! I've always had the security of knowing that my Daddy would protect, love, and correct me, and having a Dad who leads his family in the ways of the Lord is the biggest blessing that I can think of. I'm so very thankful for my Dad! I'm so thankful that my kids have my Dad as their Papa.... I think he would say that the greatest joy in life has been his grandchildren, and he treats them like they are!

I'm also thankful today for my father-in-law, Barry! He (along with my wonderful mother-in-law) raised the man that I am honored to call my husband, and who is the best Daddy to my favorite kids on the planet!

Of course, I am so very proud of my husband and thankful for the way he leads our family. Our kids are so very blessed to have him as their Dad, and they would all agree. Quality time is so important to him, and he makes sure that he gets that time with each of our kids, which becomes more of a challenge when there are four kids!

The thing that has stuck out more in my mind this Father's Day, is this little girl........

She waited FOUR years to have a Daddy. Today was a day to be celebrated.... and even though she doesn't understand what all the hoopla about today means, she knows she has a Daddy, and she know that he LOVES her!!!! That is something worth celebrating!

And I just want to add.... there are SO many out there just like our precious Ella Grace.... they are waiting, and some have been waiting for many years for a Daddy to hold them and love them. My prayer is that God is tugging at a Daddy's heart tonight to find that child and bring them home! There is joy like none other when you do!

20 years!

We've hit a major milestone, and really, I don't know how time flew so fast to get us here, but we've hit the 20 year mark in our marriage!!!  I am so very blessed to call this man my husband!  I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that he is daily following God's leading to be the best husband and father that he can be.  He spoils me rotten and loves me unconditionally, and I don't deserve him.

We enjoyed a very RARE date night tonight (thanks mom and dad!), and we had a wonderful time spending time with just the two of us!   We left Ella Grace and Allyson with some friends, and the boys got to spend their first evening at home alone, with a large pizza, pop and the Wii!  There was only one piece of pizza left when we got home.... and the house was still standing, so I guess we'll let them do it again one of these days!

If I haven't said it before, we absolutely LOVE the beauty of where we live, and our very favorite place is anywhere near the Puget Sound.  We headed down to one of our favorite restaraunts down by the water, and did a little photo shoot before dinner.... we don't often have many pictures with just the two of us, so it was fun, and really easy to get smiles!  Thankful for the timer on my camera!

Can't wait to see where God will lead us in our next 20 years!

Look how far she's come....

What an amazing little girl!