Ladies Weekend 2011

YEAH!  The time had come again--a weekend away (just the ladies) with some wonderful Christian friends back to the land of Penn State where we all met and formed lasting friendships.  Two years ago a group of us met and stayed at a beautiful resort near Harrisburg.  This year we decided to go to where it all began. 

We stayed up late, went out late, walked the campus, sat on the lion for some pictures, got ice cream at the creamery and went to the Boalsburg Tavern--a memorable place for many of us that stayed at Penn State for one of the summers in between classes.  Great time.  Great friends.

Here we all are standing on the front porch of the house where many of us lived together.  (I only lived there for about 9 months.  The company I worked for in Doylestown had gone bankrupt and laid everyone off.  Dave and I were dating and I moved up to PSU to live with some girlfriends so Dave and I could be closer.)

Lindsay, Meryl, Carolyn, Jess I, Jess R, Steph, Ellen and Melinda--I love you all.  Thanks for a great weekend.  Looking forward to the next one!

Thanks Dave for letting me go.  I know that boys had a great time at home with you.  I got the re-charge that I need for the next two years....or maybe one???  :)

Snapshot into Mother's Day

Sleeping in with breakfast in bed.....the BEST way to start the day.  Then a hike up Sugarloaf Mountain.

Here's a view of a farm at the base

Dave and the boys :)

We chose to start at the lot that only has a 1/4 mile hike to the top of the mountain.  Most of this trail has steep stone steps.  Jacob hiked the whole way himself, taking every other step with a deep lunge!

Here's our view from the top

Yes, we did let Levi out of the back pack...

 Not a shabby view for a picnic lunch with your family, huh?  I have to admit that I was done my lunch a little bit early when a creature of unknown origin was suddenly on my bare leg--EEK!

I am so blessed to call Jacob and Levi my sons.  They have added so much joy, laughter, screams (cocoa incident), and fullness to my life--and Dave's.  We were just talking last night about how big Levi is getting and how grown up Jacob is becoming.  Don't grow too fast!  Thank you Lord for the gifts you have given me.

A rare sight in our quiet house!

Warning: 
The pictures you are about to see are a rare sight!  Dave and I are the parents of two VERY quiet, introverted boys.  There is NEVER any yelling, screaming, shouting, crying or whining in our home--oh, or shrieking!

 In all fairness, we do have two wonderful boys, and I wanted to take this Mother's Day eve (since I will not be doing work of any sort tomorrow ;) to say how thankful I am to God for the blessing of Jacob and Levi.  When I was pregnant with Jacob, my strong motherly instinct told me that Jacob was definitely going to be a boy.  Then, when I was pregnant with Levi, I refined my skills and was definitely positive that Levi was a girl.  Double oops!  We are, however, SO glad that Jacob and Levi have each other and are really growing into their roles of being caring, loving and sharing brothers.

Tonight Jacob was riding his bike and it tipped over, spilling him onto the deck.  I watched from the kitchen window as Levi ran over and turned the bike right side up.  Earlier Jacob was riding the BELOVED Little Tykes yellow and red car (thank you Mr. Carrie!!!).  This one-seater is a hot commodity in our house.  Jacob took a turn, got out and said, "Your turn Levi".  Actually it sounded more like "Your turn Wevi".  Hey, this is an improvement over the original "Wuvi" that we used to hear.

When I put Jacob or Levi to bed, I say a prayer with each of them that they will grow to be best friends with each other.  Thankfully, Jacob has only fallen asleep once during my prayer, and Levi always likes to end our prayer with a loud "may-men!".

Here's to a great year with my almost 2 and almost 4 year-old boys.  I love you both so much and can't imagine my life without either of you. 

P.S.  Uploading these pictures was a labor of love, consider each of my 188 pictures loaded slower than dial up connecting in 1975!
Love MOM

HOME AWAY FROM HOME...the perfect way to describe how Dave and I feel about living in Maryland, away from both of our family's--and all of my life-long friends!  We miss them, and beautiful Bucks County, PA.  While there are no friendships that can replace the girls back home, the amazing team of nurses that I worked with in the ICU, and the comfort of the place that was always "home" to me, God has blessed us with a place that we are comfortable enough to consider our new "home".

We were blessed to find an amazing church, Derwood Bible Church--and we immediately felt welcomed and loved by the genuine, and generous people there.  These people have become our extended family.

Dave has a great job, with the benefit of working from home several days a week.  I recently started working part-time as a hospice nurse and love what I'm doing. 

We are blessed beyond measure to have two beautiful boys.  Jacob has proved to be a wonderful big brother with an infinite imagination.  Levi is a fearless younger brother, who shows GREAT enthusiasm for everything!

We'd love for you to follow along on our journey of the place we now call "home".