Sugar Hill

8.12.2015

california || part two

the second part of our trip was spent in san diego, visiting chris's extended family. they over fed us + made us feel so loved + welcomed. it actually turned out to be my favorite part of our stay, not surprising, as i usually feel that way about family gatherings. one of our nights, we stayed at chris's aunt's house late, playing with the kids, eating, sitting around the fire + just enjoying the company, reminded me of home.

^^^abel had some of "papa's sandwiches" and loved them (lucy liked it too!). this is a salvaggione tradition + so special to see chris there with his son, as i've seen chris there with his dad, and his dad there with his papa.

^^^fun in great grandma's kitchen, and below... abel per usual, found the prettiest girl in the room + claimed her. chris' cousin gina... he is going to be so disappointed when he finds out he can't marry her.

below, our kids first time skateboarding + loving every second. they have no fear, i love it + i don't in the exact same sentence... but mostly i love it... with my eyes closed... + constant prayer.

one afternoon on our visit, abel did not want to join us on an outing to go and see the sea lions... i don't think he knew what he was missing out on because he'd have loved it, BUT we love + trust chris' family, so we allowed him to stay back, and went on an outing with Lucy! this was her first time getting all the glory of her parents + it was such sweet time for us with her.

^^^what? another? :)

thanks cali! it was real :)

california || part one

my girl gets all the heart eyes, and so does abel at the airport at 3am. he was SO stinkin' excited to go on an airplane and so preciously aware of how big the airport was, never wanting to let go of my hand. we went for a 6am flight, hoping that the kids would sleep straight through it. we were half right, they slept for the second hour, but in all honestly, we learned from this trip that we can really fly anytime of day, because they slept for half the flights both morning + night, but everyone was generally happier during our airport time when they were rested.

our first day, we headed straight for the beach. abel had been singing the guppies song for the past month, so we took him to get his "sand in toes" as fast as our legs (or car, and traffic) would take us. he loooved chasing the birds, and getting his legs splashed by the water. lucy is normally our little fish, but she surprised us and was way more interested in playing in the sand.

when we weren't at the beach, we were at the pool, or seeing friends that warm our hearts + that we don't get to squeeze as often as we'd like! the kids actually napped like champs too, so we spent some time in our room just relaxing, which was surprising, and appreciated.

^^^luxury. this was right after i overflowed the bubble bath in the big jetted tub... didn't think ahead of the bubble/jet combo, oops. the kids loved it, so i got mom points.

^^^when flowered walls call

^^^acai bowls became my new favorite food group. i had one nearly every day of our trip, and we went out and got all the fixin's as soon as we were home so we could make more!

^^^two peas. i love this little family of mine!

8.11.2015

easy like sunday morning...

i believe that the writer of that song either a) didn't have children to get ready + out the door for church or b) never dropped them at the childcare ...or maybe our kids are the only ones who don't want to be separated from us? but i really doubt that.

if i didn't disclose that this is a serious struggle for us on church days, these happy little photos sure would paint us with the perfect sunday morning! the good news is, that we aren't perfect + the better news is that once they are in there, they usually enjoy themselves + are happy to see us an hour later when we pick them up. leaving them is SO hard for me, like want to cry or just turn around and go home + watch elevation online instead hard, but I read recently about loving God first. NOT NEW INFORMATION. but as a parent, i can tell you that it is easy to find yourself putting those little precious ones above ALL, without even meaning to. i'm in a time of life where i am trying to re prioritize the important aspects of my life, and so dropping them at childcare is one of my first shots at it. intentionally choosing God + choosing to let my spirit be fed for one hour (distraction free) + trust that my babies will be well cared for + loved while I do so. we started an awesome new series at church and it's made the struggle worth it, and i'm still praying that over time, they'll get used to going, or maybe even look forward to it? we will see! more on that later...

here are some photos from the happy parts of a recent sunday, i'd say we were 90/10 and i'll take it :)