sweet baby J.

 a week with sweet baby J.  it wrecked me, if i'm being totally honest.  what a divine privilege it was to love this dear boy for seven amazing days.  love is messy, it's hard, it's often amidst and intertwined with the broken pieces that surround all of it, isn't it?  but it's entirely worth it.

i'll never forget him.  he'll always have a piece of my heart.  

God, please restore, redeem, protect, and guide all the parts of this little boy's life...may baby J. know warmth and consistent nurturing love, may he feel safe and carried by your gentle hands, all through his days.  

Mother's Day

i read this recently.  it struck a chord with me.  thought i'd share it as we come up to Mother's Day.  thanks to my amazing mom, for loving me so well for all these years.  because of you, (and Dad), i knew warmth and stability (and buttertarts:)) in our home.  thanks to my mother-in-law too (and my father-in-law), for loving my dear Jeffrey in such a way that he grew to be such an exceptional human.  

so, i ran across this little piece...i do not know who penned the words, but maybe it will resonate with you...

"Mother's Day is beautiful.  But it can also be heavy to many.  It's not always filled with flowers and breakfasts in bed.  Sometimes, it's filled with grief.  With longing.  With what could have been.  With what isn't.

So this Mother's Day, let's hold space for more than just celebration.  

For the moms in the thick of it, unsure if they're getting it right.  For the ones who have lost a piece of their heart in the form of a child.  For those holding a positive test and a thousand emotions.  For the women who ache for a baby they've never held or one they had to say goodbye to too soon.  For those who have lost their moms and feel the weight of that absence a little more today.  For the stepmoms, the chosen moms, the second moms, and the mother figures who love just as deeply.  For the ones in between, wondering if they fit into any of these boxes.

You are not forgotten.  You matter.  You are so deeply loved.

No matter what your Mother's Day looks like this year, I see you.  I'm thinking of you. And I'm wrapping you in love."

beautiful words, aren't they?  a message i'd like to leave with the many i know who fit in the categories above.  

to be sure, motherhood is not for the faint of heart.  in fact, it's completely heart-splitting in thousands of different ways.  it's also an indescribable privilege.  still, the gravity of the task of raising a child sits heavy on most.  it's daunting and sometimes crushing and often difficult to quiet the voices that remind you of how you've fallen short.

so on this Mother's Day, hugs to all those feeling the weight of the holiday, or the losses, or the unspoken parts that sometimes feel like a lot to carry.  

and Happy Mother's Day as well to all who will capture the full and pure joy of the day.  that's a gift to be cherished too!

❤❤❤

sweet moments

 many sweet moments catch me through these days.  many less than sweet moments too, in all reality and honesty.  but in this space, my mission is to capture the purely wonderful.  not necessarily extraordinary, but wonderful still.  choosing to place my focus here has been absolute "best practice" for my day-to-day grind,  i don't always get it right.  not even close.  but when i do choose to see things through a lens of gratitude and have a watchful eye for the glimmers of joy and light, my perspective stays centered.  it stays grounded.  

this was a moment.  i caught it.  a sweet connection between a boy and his dog at the end of a school day.  

Then I Will

 oh happy day...a new-ish Lauren Daigle song...i stumbled upon it, much to my delight!  it comes from the motion picture "Bonhoeffer", which i have yet to see.  i love the purity and truth of the melody and lyrics, all on its own.  i can imagine it's even better tied to an inspiring movie.  enjoy!

Then I Will

Lay is home!

 so happy this girl is home.  what a whirlwind adventure she was on.  five and a half months of new experiences, friendships, discoveries, and life changing events that all combined to make for a monumental trip that will never be forgotten.  so many snapshots of time and memories that will be etched into her core~ into the heart of who she is, and is still becoming.  

thanks to all who prayed, supported, contributed in so many tangible ways, and encouraged her from near and far.  

back home, she's finding her way, navigating all the pieces of readjustment with an undercurrent of visible peace~ the hard and the wonderful.  God has been sooo good.  

Lay...keep walking forward in courage and truth as you discover next steps.  have an open heart and upward gaze.  God will direct the rest.❤

Proverbs 3:5-6

Florida 2025

 wait a minute, we went to Florida?!  yep we did, last month.  feels like a really long time out from that, honestly.  not gonna lie.  life is busy for us this time of year, and there is much going on, always.  still, we did escape the pace for a nice long week of rest, sunshine, and Florida beauty.  it was wonderful.  dropping a few photos here to highlight this gift of our late winter vacation. 

we for sure missed our family who weren't with us (we haven't been all together for a vacation since 2020, before Cree was born!) but still we soaked up the time spent and memories made.  and the sun and warmth was dreamy, as always!

fifty skates!

they did it! Jeff picked a number (did i mention he's the ultimate numbers guy?), set the goal, and lo and behold...Cree came out with loads of rink time this winter season.  fifty times, to be exact!  lots of laps, drills, stick handling, goal keeping, and shots on nets.  he was also really fond of shoveling after a snowfall.  

Cree got really speedy and learned a lot while having so much fun out there.  good way to pass the winter when the weather permits. 

also, Cree has a great dad. so thankful for that.