Thanks [of the ginormous magnitude] to some dear friends of ours and their generosity…last weekend my friend and I spent up at their Lakehouse! We caught up on LIFE, laughed, cried, shared, laughed and cried some more! And we were SO well rested!

The view off their deck…onto the gorgeous Lake!

The view walking back from the water to the Lakehouse…

and some very sweet creatures we met along the way:)

Thank you to Mom and DH for taking care of the littles so I could rest, recharge, and rejuvenate!

Wishing you a beautiful week ahead!

Blessings,

Erin

Cheers to finally feeling back to 100%! We took full advantage…

Aside from our typical weekend activities of cleaning, chores, reading class, and golf lessons…

We enjoyed birthday parties, roller skating, washing our cars, and:

GOLF!

9 holes with Uncle Davey, too!

Is she ready for the pool or what?

here’s our little “fishy mermaid swimmer girl!” – self proclaimed after nearly two hours Sunday after church!

and Lots and Lots and Lots of this time!

Feeling very blessed, wishing you a wonderful week ahead!

XOXO

Erin

This post has been one in the making now for months. We found out our youngest has a mild form of Autism last July. I shared a bit back in the summer.

I’ve prayed, read, prayed, researched, interviewed, attended meetings with various professionals, and prayed some more.

While on a daily basis, we learn something new, here’s what we have ALWAYS known…about our little girl.

She is bright. She is witty. She is sensitive. She is confident. She has a tender heart. She has SO much love in her.

We have discovered…

that she processes differently. that she has sensory issues. that she isn’t comfortable in her own body most of the time.

And yet…

She is this BRIGHT, WITTY, SENSITIVE, CONFIDENT, TENDER HEARTED little girl with SO much LOVE inside her!

She has been working so very hard in all of her sessions, and embraces her therapy with arms WIDE open! And gives 110%

And whether she has a good day, not so good day, her skills continue to emerge and we couldn’t be more proud of her!

She has been going through a very very rough patch, and we are gently reminded to trust in Him, and that’s a very sweet lesson in and of itself when you are faced with intense challenges daily. We thank the Lord for bringing her to us EVERYDAY!

Here’s a layout I created shortly after her diagnosis.

[on her own path]

And here’s what my amazing and sweet husband created:

Thank you to everyone who has prayed alongside us, listened, offered advice/referrals, and then continually prayed for her and for us. God bless you all!
XOXO

Hello and Happy Monday friends! Have you caught up on life after CHA? With all the scrappy FUN back in Anaheim, my time to play has been put on hold…since I’ve been home!

After catching up on household stuff…we took advantage of the gorgeous Winter we have been having here in the BAY!

Our weekend had playdates, bday parties, reading class, golf, church, and of course a Superbowl party:) Oh, and we started prep for Valentine’s fun for the girls’ classrooms, but that is a work in progress:)

Here’s some of our highlights:

Oh, thank you to our family, dear friends and our church family…this weekend was exactly what this Mommy needed after being away!

God bless your week ahead!

XOXO

we got together with some very sweet friends:)

and after dinner, it was GAME on! so, we took on the guys!

while the photos are no where near good quality…they are by FAR emotionally perfect! [a phrase I learned from my friend Krista Lund!]

KINNECT…skiing was it?

Loaded questions…who is the ARTIST freak?!!

us cheering during the darts round?

we were there to help our dear friends feel better…LOL!

doesn’t this say it all?

Thanks friends for such a fun night in:)

Hope you all have a fabulous Monday! I’m up to my eyeballs in projects…and YES they all will get done!

XOXO

We have been enjoying the second half of our school year routine + after school activities + playdates + golf + bday parties…

We have been extra patient with Mommy, since she has been working on CHA assignments since before Xmas…

We have been so grateful for this glorious weather, and would like to share some sweet photos with you [since Mommy can't share anything quite yet]…

We hope you are all having a beautiful day, rain or shine!

XOXO

Emi and Mari

Oh my goodness, I just can’t be more in love with all that miss M’s school/community does for these children and their families!

We are so very blessed to have her here, and have God’s love poured into her daily through these wonderful and amazing teachers!

So…let me just allow the photos to say the rest…

Hope you are all having a warm and cozy filled with LOVE all day long kinda day!

Happy Tuesday friends!

XOXO

Before I share with you our fun few days in photos [WARNING: PHOTO HEAVY!!!]

I wanted to share this with you:

While we typically have a relax at home, play with new toys, and stay in pjs all day while we clean type of NYE…

This year was a BIT different, and boy were our girls ready!

Miss E and I enjoyed Tea Time with some dear friends …

Celebrated my Mom’s birthday…

[mind you this is her third celebration- we were soaking in the moments the first two, somehow this is the only photo OOPS!]

Here’s some good and not so good photos from the NYE party we are still recuperating from…

[this was a good one?!! LOL]

[miss M and miss K videoing it out!]

[love this one!]

[the not so good variety…]

[the BFFS took some time to listen to JB…

]

[everyone watching the Ball DROP]

Getting together at my Aunt’s for a traditional Japanese New Years…

[photo credit: James Yong]

photo credit: James Yong

and my FAVE…totally captures the JOY on this day!

photo credit: James Yong

And then the girls and I sat and created our hearts out…what a blessing to make these thank you cards for all of our goodies!

[miss E made over half of the cards, so proud of her!]

[miss M had fun using the MLS mini alphas here!]

a master of the squeeze punches!

love this shot…LOVE it! who doesn’t need a little help from their beloved friend and some juice!

If you’ve made it this far, what a trooper you are!

God Bless!

XOXO

In photos [heavy on the PHOTOS!]

AMEN!

Hoping you are holding on tight to your sweet memories of this holiday season! I sure am!

SO much to be grateful for!

Happy happy day friends!

XOXO

Happy New Year! We just cannot believe how this year has flown by!

2011 was a year charged full of emotions on all levels, and through the challenges of it all, discovering sweet blessings along the way is what it is all about!

Here’s a photo of our extended family enjoying a traditional Ozoni Japanese brunch…[somehow DH and miss E escaped the photo!]

I will be back with more once we have recuperated from the NYE celebrations we had with some dear friends…

Hope you have a happy and healthy New Year!

God Bless!

XOXO