little house in the big woods :)

I have considered starting another blog so that one could be my "fun things" blog and the other could be "thoughts"... this post would be filed under "fun"... that's all it is :)

Emily, Jillian and I stayed in an adorable cabin Thursday - Today at the KOA in honor of Jill's birthday. Today after checking out, Jillian was blindfolded and taken to a surprise lunch and then to Ms. Charlotte's art studio for a painting session for all of us which also went splendidly.

Quotes from the weekend:
Jillian: This end of the pool is shallow - I can stand up!
Me: Oh good! I'm shallow! (I meant short... lesson learned: think before you speak)

Emily & Jillian: (We were in rare form) "You know what would be funny? The next time someone compliments you, you should say something like this: 'Oh really? Well I hope you die!'" (Unfortunately yes, we actually used it in a text... I'm sorry person-who-knows-who-he-is!)

From Persuasion: "I really haven't had a moment, Mr. Elliot, to turn my mind to it."

Please click on the pictures below to view them larger to see what we did (pay attention to the far left corner - that's our adorable cabin)... the bottom collage is of the paintings we did - Jillian's, Emily's, Ms. Sharon's and Mine... clockwise from the top left...


Think I should actually consider a blog that's "just for fun"?

where will we find it?

I was thinking today...
What will it take for me to be satisfied and happy?
Lots of friends, a planned future, things, the feeling after mission trips...?
No, none of these things will satisfy. They will leave me empty, hungry, wanting more. Because You are the only one who can fill me. You are my joy and my satisfaction. In You I find life and peace and happiness... all is worthless compared to You.

...why is it so easy to fill ourselves up with everything BUT God when He is exactly what we need? Why do we make ourselves busy, spend money, do things that give us a temporary feeling... when the only one who can satisfy us wholly is all around us?

The goal isn't my happiness, it's His glory. But when I lose sight of that and focus on me, I end up hurt, broken, exhausted and confused. And although He knows exactly what's going on, I wonder if God isn't a little hurt too. He wants to be our everything.

after a week on the mountain...

I've heard this quite a bit in the past few days: "So how was the FLOW and what did you learn?"

I usually answer this question with a big "Ummm..." until I've had about a week or so of processing time post-FLOW. One week of teaching, quiet times, worship, fellowship takes awhile to reflect on before I can actually give a solid answer beyond, "It went well". This year, things are a little less vague. Here's what stands out:

Number one was Refresh, which also happened to be this year's theme. Amazing how that works. I was refreshed by the teaching, the promises through God's Word, the completely quiet hour to talk to God and read His Word, the chat room (small group) times, stargazing chats with Emily, corporate prayer, free time, waaaay after midnight intercessory prayers with Taci... definitely came back refreshed spiritually. Unfortunately I was not refreshed physically in that I got very little sleep. Bed after midnight every night. Still catching up on sleep... quite tired. But I really was so refreshed spiritually and really just WANT God's Word. It's nice. Refreshing.

The number two thing was Surrender. Ouch, it hurts to even mention this which is why I didn't put it first... I hoped some people may have stopped reading after number one. I noticed that I have this awful tendency to not give things to God. The skit on the first night hit home more than I'd like to admit. I'm independant and I like to do things myself. I tend to think that I've pretty much got it covered and don't need to bother God. With the snake thing you'd have thought, or imagined, or at least hoped that I was doing better with the whole reliance on God thing... I'm sorry to disappoint. With nearly every lesson I saw areas in my life that weren't surrendered. It was embarrassing but I almost consider that to be a good thing. I needed to realize that not giving things to God is a sin and is detrimental in the long run.

{note:} Is it coincidental that on the first night I went to my cabin to grab my purse before dinner and my camera was NOT nestled comfortably inside where I'd placed it? I imagine that it was part of God's "Hey Lindsay, trust ME!" plan. I'm sad to say the camera didn't make it back with me - I have no idea what happened to it since it wasn't found on the bus... I don't want to believe someone stole it. I'm trusting Him with that whole situation... He's aware that I leave for Ukraine next Friday. I'm upset about my irresponsibility in losing the camera but I know that I need to rely on Him about it... either it will turn up or I'll have to buy a new camera, but I don't need to worry. And I'm glad it's not a snake this time :)

One little note: God definitely had me focused on people other than myself. One thing that is totally from Him is my small group. I'll be sharing about them in a later post because I could seriously go on and on - I know that the group of girls I got was from Him.

In summary, post-FLOW I'm: very tired, invigorated spiritually, missing my camera, missing the noises of the girls in the cabin below me, reading God's Word more, still pondering and praying over applications, praying hard for my small group girls, very glad I went.

{a note to the curious: photos are of #1- a massage line the first night (many of these occured throughout the week), #2- my rafting group, second day, and #3- Taci and I on a walk through the woods (I found it funny that our shirts match our eyes... are we good or what?) picture credits go to Taci and Becca... they were kind enough to give me their FLOW pictures -- thanks!}

still sweet seventeen

My Jillian,
I hope that your day is wonderful -
I can't wait to spend it with you on a crowded bus
on the way to FLOW.
But I'm glad I get to see you today and all week.
Happy Seventeenth Birthday, my dear Jillian!

much love, lindsay

[this was another scheduled post :)]

are there mistakes in God's eyes?

Setting: Church office, rather boring day, lots of time to kill. Decided to write in my journal which is half prayer-journal, half-regular journal. I was writing to God at the time.


What happened: Ah-ha moment.


What I was thinking: I was thinking about how God can use me in spite of my mistakes. Even though I mess up His plan, He still is faithful and He still prevails in the end.


Then I thought: God doesn't use me in spite of my mistakes, He uses my mistakes just as much as my faithful times to grow me closer into His ways. Also, I've always seen the times I've messed up as bad, as something I needed to have a wake-up call for, a punishment, whatever. All those times when I thought, "Hey, God worked anyway, even though I messed up His plan and EVEN let me grow from it!" are almost silly because I'm pretty sure now that they WERE a part of His plan.

Heather and I were talking about this the other night. She was mentioning some things she did in the past that weren't bad but probably weren't the best, looking back. In the same breath she said that she didn't really regret those things. It sounds almost silly if you think about that and move on quickly but I really see where she's coming from. I thought about several things that happened in the past that really weren't pleasant. I don't mean spiritual warfare, but times when I messed up. Or just things that I wish hadn't happened. I told her about a particular situation a few years ago that just pretty much was horrible. I didn't handle things very nicely, the others involved didn't either... it was NOT a good time. But when I think about it, I wouldn't go back and erase that because through that God taught me a lot. Not just because I could learn from the past and know better next time, but He grew me through situations, not away from them, and I think about the things I've learned and realized that He didn't have to come up with Plan B because I messed up but that "failure" was His plan all along.

We have to realize that God works in spite of us and that His ways are higher than ours. He knows just what outcome my life will have... and nothing is a surprise to Him. We have a free will but He already knows what we'll choose and what we'll do with our lives. Instead of having the "woe is me" mindset and dwelling on all the things we've done wrong, we need to realize that God's got the big picture in sight. He knows our every step. He has a plan. So really I don't know if there is such a thing as a mistake in His eyes. Perhaps it's unfair to Him and maybe it's wrong to think that we mess up His plan. Because He's got it. Really...

"For I know the plans that I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11... an oft-quoted verse but if you think of the context of its writing, you'll realize that this is being said while Israel is in exile for disobedience to God... even though they had disobeyed... God had plans for them: a future and a hope... He greatly used that disobedience to show Himself and His glory through them. I think that's what it all comes down to. God honors disobedience but He is so wonderful that even when we disobey, He shines through our cracks and failures. It's about Him, not you and me.

Are there mistakes in His eyes?

[scheduled post]

dancing in the moonlight

Heather and Chance are back! Heather requested a party with dancing while they were here so we had 35-40 people waiting at the house when they drove in last night. I included a few pictures from our welcome back celebration.


Taci, Stephanie, Heather, me, Katherine. I like this picture and I really like these ladies! Five out of the six roomies for Ukraine this summer (minus Jasmyn) and I am so excited to live with all of them for three weeks... and to travel to China also with Taci and Katherine. The six of us have already started to plan host family gifts and meals and things - I think we'll room well together :)




Heather and Chance. Both are such great dancers. They and Matthew and Emily were probably the best ones last night while everyone else either watched or made up their own dances. I like that though not everyone is good we still have a lot of fun trying. Not sure who took pictures of the dancing but whoever you are THANK YOU for stealing my camera for a bit :)






My brother and I. He was having fun holding my hands and spinning around really really fast but then decided that he wanted to actually dance. So we kinda made something up. I showed him some of the waltz(what we're doing in this picture), and then we did a twist like thing. His favorite part was making me spin under his arm.





Maddie and Jillian. I like these pictures of siblings dancing :) The Mansell kids all came and made the party a real party... Elaina's interpretive dancing, Tamu's obsession with the fire of the tiki torch, Bethlehem's desire to see my balcony and then gettin upset when no one could hear her yelling at them from above... I like that family!







There was quite a bit of dancing as you can see. A long game of Catch Phrase followed when we were all too hot and nasty to want to dance any longer. Not a whole lot of pictures were taken but I like the ones that people did get. I think they had fun - I did. Welcome back, Lachowitzers!

a post with thoughts from a conversation Heather and I had coming later :)

your opinions, please

If I were to do something different with my hair, what would you suggest?

• long layers
• cut it shorter
• lots of layers, long and short (this would mean shortish pieces up to maybe my nose level... it would look shorter than it would actually be)
  
• get it straightened again (I got it relaxed once... if I did this again I'd wear it straight, though not as severely as I used to)
• dye it (any color you please... that looks natural)
  

These are things to get you thinking... please let me know what you think because I'm a bit bored with it... if I get no feedback I'll probably just cut it off :(
If you comment you must offer some suggestion... I'm not looking for someone to say, "please don't do anything...".
Thanks.

snake in the grass

[Subtitle: We walk by faith, not by sight.]

I don't need to worry.

I was walking on the property next to ours this weekend when I realized how much more I worry than trust.

"Please don't let there be snakes" I prayed as I kept my eyes out for anything slithering in the tall grass next to the overgrown path or sunning themselves in the heat of the day. I'm not usually like this but I began to get panicky as I considered what may have been lurking around. I kept praying. "...at least please don't let them be poisonous!" I pleaded, heart beating fast (was I convinced that God just had it out for me?). I looked over my shoulder, looked left and right, studied the grass I walked, "what-ifs" flooding my mind - what if I got a snake bite? What if that Copperhead Scott killed the other day has a big brother who wants to avenge the death? It's hot out, I'm too far to yell, didn't bring my phone... can one run home with a snake bite? Would it be possible to run from a snake before he bites? Would he run after me? I was paranoid by this point, and praying over and over again in my head.

It was then that I stopped.

I didn't see a snake and I didn't stop walking, but I hit the pause button in my head and thought about all that I had just done. I realized, sinking feeling in my stomach, that I wasn't praying in faith. I wanted God to do something, to keep me safe, to kill all the snakes in Seabrook if that's what it took (now that would be nice!)... but I didn't ask in faith. I asked God to not let me even see a snake but kept right on looking for one. I planned an escape route even as I prayed for protection. I realized how stupid of me it was to say in essence - "I trust You completely except not." That's why I stopped.

I confessed my worry and doubt to God. Thinking about it now, it was a bit silly but I told Him that it would be okay for a snake to bite me because I knew that if so, it was His plan (I'm sure God thought, Oh thanks, Lindsay... it's so nice of you to give Me options). I knew He'd take care of me. I moved toward the dock, stepping through weeds and grass up to my knee. I cringed a little bit but then remembered that God had me... I was in His control now.

I sat on the dock for awhile but not for too long because I thought I would fry in the heat of the day. I sat and thought through some things and talked to God for a little bit. Then it was time to walk back. I fully expected a snake in my path this time, now that I wasn't supposed to be worrying but there wasn't one that I could see.

My absolute fear wasn't natural to me... I know that God wanted me to learn through that. I know that I was being totally irrational and overreacting... but I also know that I need to trust Him and not worry. There have been other things recently that I realized I'm reacting similarly to. I confessed that as well and will give Him the throne.

I read these verses shortly after writing this in my journal...
Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord -
for we walk by faith, not by sight.
II Corinthians 5:6-7

[written on 06.09.08... but I wanted to see how it worked to schedule a post... comment if this actually works]

how sweet and how profitable

O how I love Your law!
It is my meditation all the day.
I love how this is just overflowing with emotion - I LOVE YOUR LAW, God! It says... I meditate on it, it's on my mind, it's important to me, I think about it during the day! I think that meditation on God's word is proof that we really love it.

Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies
For they are ever mine.
I love the possessive pronouns in this verse. YOUR commandments...are ever MINE. I admit that I may not have the answers or be smarter than those that come up against me, but Your word is a lamp to my feet, a light to my path (Psalm 119:105). I follow You and realize that You come up ahead every time.

I have more insight than all my teachers,
For Your testimonies are my meditation.
This too is a recognition that I don't have it on my own... but I carefully dwell on the things He's done - and because I have the understanding that comes from Him, I have more insight than a teacher.

I understand more than the aged,
Because I have observed Your precepts.
Even those who have seen a lot cannot compare to what I have observed from meditating and looking at His Word.

I have restrained my feet from every evil way,
That I may keep Your word.
Not only do I hear Your word and see application in it, I use it and am proactive about carrying out what the Scripture says. My love for God's law will keep me from evil.

I have not turned aside from Your ordinances.
For You Yourself have taught me.
This verse is too cool. In my head I have this image of Samuel and Eli in the temple. I'm not sure why, but I guess it's the older man demonstrating, the young boy carefully observing... and as he watches, he sees the master's focus and commitment, he aspires to live likewise. He will not turn away.

How sweet are Your words to my taste!
Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
I love verses that are full of praise to God. This one sounds like the writer is overwhelmed by God... also overflowing with emotion and praise for God... but it makes me think: do I make the time in my ordinary prayers to praise Him and tell Him how wonderful His words are to me?

From Your precepts I get understanding;
Therefore I hate every false way.
I hate every false way because I love the Truth, I know it and I have it.
I like this too... coming right off "how sweet are Your words" we move right into... "from them, I gain understanding". Not only do we gain more insight from His words than we do from all others that teach, we love them, they are sweet to our taste... who would have thought, the knowledge that transcends all others would also be the sweetest taste in our mouths.

[Psalm 119:95-104]

twenty-two

Who are the people in the picture to the left?
here's a hint:
They met February 26, 1983 (I think I have the date right)
Got engaged November 1985
And were married June 7, 1986
Twenty-two years ago.

Happy Anniversary Dad and Mom!

FLOW

Last year, I posted about FLOW and what I hoped to gain from it. I fully expected to leave a bit more selfless, a bit less self-centered. This year, I don't know what to expect or hope for because when I think about it, I know that nothing will change just because I went to FLOW and had some amazing experience.

I don't say that to be pessimistic, but to be realistic. In all reality, five days are not going to absolutely change my life. God is the only one that will do that... He's the only one that will change this stubborn heart of mine and make it His. It will take effort on my part (surrender) but it's His work. Not mine, not Mr Mike or any of the other teachers... it's His!

Even so, the FLOW has been such a huge part of my testimony that I know that it is definitely something God uses to change a person. If not for this conference I wonder just when my growth would have taken place or IF it would have taken place. I remember sitting on the edge of the porch of my cabin wondering what in the world I would do for the time set aside as a "quiet time". I have no idea what I did but I remember realizing that there was more to knowing God than just knowing Him by name and trusting Him as my Savior. I think I realized it when I saw people in Cherith raising up their hands, faces aimed at the ceiling as they praised God, while others sat on the steps, knees pulled up to their faces, bowed down as they talked to Him. I saw that people relate differently toward one God and that He speaks differently to each of them also. The very idea that God COULD relate to each person differently from all others was so neat to me and I really saw it in that crowded room as the band played. And I wanted it so badly. I vividly remember looking across the room and seeing Charity, her long hair streaming over her face as she knelt to worship God. I wondered how she could be okay with that and not wonder what everyone else was doing. I wondered why she didn't care what they thought. I definitely wanted to live like that and not try to copy people or try to meet their ideals.

I don't remember a prayer I made for change or even much of a concious effort to live differently. I have no idea when the changes I wanted happened exactly, but each FLOW has been a landmark in my growth. I realize, hey, I'm not struggling about such-and-such anymore or wow, God has grown me in this! All I know is that I have a very real God. He's definitely present and wonderful. I've seen Him work every single year at FLOW (in my life and in the lives of others). I've realized that this five day conference can indeed be life-changing, but that it's all because of the power of the living God.

I'm excited about this year - the theme is "refresh". This is the best conference I've ever been to and I'm glad that one of the things about me staying a year longer in Beaufort than planned was that I'd get to go to FLOW again - thank You, Father! I'm excited to see how it works in the lives of my junior high girls who will be going (two in particular that I'm praying pretty hard for are going!) and just how God uses it in general in the lives of the leaders and students. I'm positive God will work. We may not see how immediately but that doesn't mean He's inactive... I've seen that in myself and I'm writing it here as a reminder to myself to trust in Him with all my heart - His timing is perfect, as are all His ways.

Nine days!

an ALMOST Christian?

I starting running again this week.
I love to run, but...
My legs ache, my head aches, my back aches, my arms ache...
Basically, I'm out of shape, so...
I'm trying to get back into it.
And wow, it's hard.

I've noticed though, that when I'm running I give myself a goal like, see if you can run to that tree, which is good, but I get two steps away from the tree and stop running, start walking again. Eh, it's just two steps, I reason to myself. But as I was going toward the gate last night (that was my goal) I noticed that I made a mental stopping place. I had decided to stop about three feet short of my "goal". Realizing what I was doing, I scolded myself and decided that once I touched the gate, I could stop.

Talk about endurance.

As I ran, I thought, what if this were my approach to life? What if I made goals and ran toward them but stopped short each time? Even though I've run faithfully ALMOST to the gate, I haven't run to the gate, I haven't finished, I'm not done. But what if my feet start to hurt? What if my knees give way? Don't think about that - it's not running in such a way as to receive the prize doesn't focus on the bumps on the way, it centers on the goal. If I focus on what may or may not hinder me or trip me up, I'll probably be hindered because I've lost sight of the goal. All those obstacles: the thoughts that make me think I can't, the physical ouch I'm sore, I don't want to go any more, all of those things need to be removed. I don't want them in there at all as I try to run this race. I don't want to be hindering myself from my goal in life.

I do have goals for running in case you wondered. I'd like to get in shape first of all. After that's been accomplished, I would love to run in a race. Right now I'm thinking 5k but in the future I'd like to run a marathon. I don't know that I actually will ever attempt a 26 mile run, but I can guarantee you that with the attitude of stopping just a little short that I've recognized, I'd never run that far. I would go go go and then stop at 24 miles... almost there. And how awful would that be? It isn't a basket of roses: it's hard, it hurts, it gets boring sometimes but when I'm running I've got to press on or I won't get anywhere! Same with life. If I decide that something's too hard and I'd like the easy route, I can do that but I need to realize that I'll need to change my goals. No one ever acheived Christ-likeness by opening their Bible on Sundays or singing along with Chris Tomlin. It's about the way we live, the things we do. I can read about running and set great goals for when I'm going to do it but if I don't actually get out there and put my feet on the pavement, nothing's going to happen.

I returned home last night absolutely drenched and disgusting with sweat. But I was so happy. I ran exactly to all of my goals, ran a little further if I could. Perhaps that little thought that popped into my head as I ran to the gate will come back to remind me if I start losing sight of the goal and decide to just give up but I hope not. I don't ever want to have that realization again. I don't want to find myself falling short or taking the easy way. I want to sweat and hurt go further than I thought I could.

I want to run to win :)

what's black and white and gray all over?

I scribbled notes like a madwoman this past Sunday in church. The topic was "Marathon Christianity" and it was from Acts (22:22-23:11 for those interested), just as the sermons have been for the past two years or so. I don't even know why the sermon was so good but I ate up every minute of it.

Point "A" on the outline was: Paul was a marathon Christian because he was morally clean.
- no guilt, totally clear conscience before God and before man.
different bad kinds of consciences:
- "whitewashed wall"... outwardly clean but still dirty underneath that "Christian-y" coat of paint.
- calloused conscience... not sensitive to the things that are sinful because of repeated sin... they just don't even notice it anymore (I always think of coarse language when I think of this one... it's become so common)
- seared conscience... totally confused, twisted conscience, condones evil and views good as bad (like when people get upset at those who speak against gay rights and things because of their "intolerance"... the good... those are viewed as the bad standing up for the truth)
All of this led me to think about how our culture has spiraled from a God-fearing nation to one that totally spurns the things of God and gives a big ol' bear hug to the things He's definitely against. I always considered myself to view things as black and white, good and bad but it's really hard to discern because our culture is so crazy and tricky. It's become perfectly normal to just sort of float along with the culture while not sticking our heads in the "really bad" stuff. Those things I used to say, "Oh no!" to, I now question, "Is that okay?" And it kind of freaks me out that I'm getting desensitized to the things that aren't good. It scares me that I wonder and debate about things. I don't like gray areas. I like things to be black and white. There is so much gray now. It's hard to be bold and stand up for the truth - that's why it's so important to know it!

"B" on the outline was: "Paul was a marathon Christian because he was theologically clear."
In modern culture it saddens me, because there are so many lost people without a clue. So many people just following something they think is right because they don't know the truth and their sense of reason and logic isn't based in the Truth. But with Christians, how are these gray areas to be taken? Why, oh why are we getting caught up in this madness? Why do we say, "Oh that movie is okay... it just has a LITTLE bit of x,y and z"? Why aren't we standing up for the Truth? More personally, why do I do that? Why do I allow myself to be caught up in the lies that have entangled so many before me? It doesn't make sense. Is it because I don't know the truth? Is it because I don't study the Word of God diligently as I should? Is it because my priorities are messed up? What do I believe? Obviously if I'm asking the question I'm saying that I don't know it as well as I ought.

Last point: "Paul was a marathon Christian because he was spiritually close."
Paul got thrown into prison because he had stood up for the truth, making a lot of people mad, a rather discouraging thing for someone who had intended to preach the gospel, not create controversy. But the thing is, he did what he was supposed to do... and God himself came to Paul and encouraged him.
I have this feeling that I won't ever get thrown into prison or persecuted a lot for my faith. I may someday and I'm not afraid of it, but I really don't expect it to happen. But my question was, do I even give myself the opportunity to come under opposition for what I believe? Do I preach the Truth or do I only pray for those that do, thinking that's my part? It's great to pray but if I'm not actually getting my hands dirty, it profits me nothing. Paul was faithful; he stood up for what he KNEW to be right. And his reward was not only a prison cell, but also confirmation that cannot be rocked. He was absolutely assured that what he was doing was right.

When I get to the end of my life I want to say without a shadow of a doubt, as Paul wrote before, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith." We can't expect to be able to say that if we aren't willing to be people that will run the race with endurance.

a birthday, the beach, and a terribly sour lemon

The birthday. Yordy turns five tomorrow so his "birthday surprise" was to go to the beach with Christina, Jillian and me (I get the whole personal pronoun thing terribly confused so I'm sorry if I should have said "and I"). So we headed out there after church. It was so much fun. We didn't rush out there, just meandered to Publix for food and the sunscreen I forgot (I use 50 spf... Jillian's 8 spf wasn't getting me anywhere). Yordy was such a ham. Loud, crazy, and the center of attention. I love that little guy (and Jillian and Christina too, of course!).



The beach. Oh my it was fun... I don't really enjoy being in the water (pool, beach, whatever). If I'm at the beach I'd prefer to be building a castle, having a conversation or something like that. But it was so much fun with Yordy. Wow. I decided I want to be an aunt or an honorary aunt or something so I can just play like a little kid and spoil a little kid. I had a blast. I'm super tired now, but I loved it. This picture is us jumping over waves... I look like I'm attempting to fly...




The little kid-ness extended to burials in the sand. Not REAL burials of course, but the fun kind, where you take the victim, dig a hole and cover them up with sand. Yordy was dying to be buried (haha... pun not intended) because he saw another kid with his head peeking out of the ground. We dug a shallow hole (he was impatient) and covered him in sand. He popped out after two minutes and begged to bury Christina. She declined. He settled for Jillian instead. Poor dear.




Again, poor Jillian. She was lounging on the sand when Yordy and I came back from the water, all nice and cozy, talking to Christina... Yordy ran for the bucket, filled it with water, and doused Jillian quick as could be - three times before she got up... I caught the final drenching before she got up and chased him in the water.





Christina and I were sitting on the blanket talking when Yordy came over and leaned up against both of us, grabbed my water bottle, let me have a final sip (seriously, he told me to "DRINK" and then, "That's enough!" before helping himself) and made himself at home. He was definitely the center of attention and the king of the afternoon. He kept saying "But it's my birthday!" when we'd question him.




We dropped Christina off and went toward home, Yordy sound asleep in the backseat. Sonic proved too tempting for us and we stopped for a chocolate milkshake with Oreo for Jillian and a lemon-berry slush for me (I'm kind of addicted to those...). The bridge opened and we got out to take pictures. That's when we took this one. We laughed so hard at Jillian's huge eyes :)




The terribly sour lemon. It was in the bottom of my slush and I decided to eat it. It tried to eat me, or at least the enamel on my teeth, so I made some pretty ugly faces on the drive home. Wow those things are sour... but I like them :)








Happy fifth birthday, Yordy!