MARCO ISLAND

The entire Peters clan ventured to Marco Island, Fl for a little spring break fun in the sun! We had a splendid time lounging poolside, catchin' waves, collecting seashells and just hanging out together. This trip was something Rich and Elaine had wanted to do for the family for a while. The trip was in honor of Rich's 70th birthday. What a great present... to all of us! Thank you so much Gma Elaine and Gpa Richard for the unforgettable memories.

Max's first airplane ride. He was a little unsure at first!

Now he's smiling. Making friends with the lady and her little dog behind us

In the rental car headed to the beach. Almost there!

First steps on the beach. He was soo excited.

Ginormous jelly fish washed up on shore. Eww. Felt like a hardened gummy bear

Washed up starfish, he was still alive and squiggling around

Max like throwing the seashells back into the ocean.

Lucky cousins, Hannah, Ben, Will, Ed, Max

Aahh. Rockn' the day away. Max, Hannah, Gpa

Me,standing in the tropical foliage.

Looking for seashells wasn't hard, there were tons. Finding the best one on the other hand

Cheesy. her her

This pic made me think of a hurricane. It only rained one morning.

Odd looking bird. God is funny.

Me and Jen by the pool

Stinky, sunkissed boys. Max, Ed, Ben, Will

Oh Lord. Our family photo attempt

The Peters clan (Max hiding behind my head.)

Headed to dinner one evening

Gotta have a palm tree pick. Just gotta.

Balcony view

Bye Bye Marco

My Baby is 3!

My baby boy turned 3 on Mar. 2nd. He is technically, officially Not a baby anymore, but he will always be my baby. You know how everyone always tells you how fast they grow and to enjoy these young precious years? Well, its true. I shed some tears on his bday, felt a little choked up and I thought, "Man this is only 3, what am I going to do at 10, 13... 5! A mother's love for her children truly is unexplainable
We celebrated with a pizza party at Monicals pizza with cake, icecream,
pizza of course, balloons, fun and fellowship. Rather than bring gifts, I had guests bring a new children's book to be donated to the Newman Regional library. As much as Max loves books, I thought this would be a great idea and a good way to give back to the community. We did open a few presents on his birthday and had some cupcakes too. Homeade at that!
Enjoy all the pics! There's alot...it was hard to narrow down. :) Plus, gmas and gpas like to see.







Mmmm pizza!

Big bro Will lighting the candles

Red frosting was everywhere!

Will, Ed, and Max(who is eating more sugar)

Bath pic for fun

Homeade cupcakes!

Presents!

Theres nothing like a brand new box of crayons. Smells so good. :)

Who's ready for spring?

I'm officially snowed out. I realize I posted some beautiful snow pics and raved about the wonders of the snow... and now I am ready for spring. We've had an especially long, cold winter here, so we are excited to be reaching upper 3o's lower 40 temps by this weekend and next week. I am ready for spring flowers, green grass, warm breezes, the sunshine to do its thing. On another note (kinda, I try to tie it in at the end): Why is it that when life seems to be going so smoothly, happily, generally great; we get hit/bombarded from all different directions with set backs, frustrations, an unexpected expense..? Is it God testing us? Is it Satan attacking us or both? Its so easy to get down. Life is so fragile, so precious, so...hard. I keep thinking of a quote from Joe Dirt, (that movie with David Spade) "Ya gotta keep on keepn' on!" Endure to persevere, ...I can do all things through Christ. Just as the earth gives us its seasons, life also gives us its seasons. Rainbows and roses, stormclouds and lightning, snow, rain, sunshine and breezes....

Max swimming at hotel pool. We shared a romantic valentine weekend...with Max. :)

And now he's all done. Was getting close to nap time and I think a little cold.

Swimming pool at home. Don't think we'll be getting in there anytime soon.

I wish, I wish with all my heart...just be patient my darling.

Taken from our front door. We see these five deer often.

Full moon, doesn't this picture just "feel" cold?

We ARE living in a Fairytale

(settle in for a read here)

One of my favorite stories growing up was Alice in Wonderland. A curious little blonde girl in a pretty blue dress who stumbles into a strange magical adventure. Like some of those dreams we have that are just so weird you have to try to remember them. Tim Burton has recreated the story into one of his dark, slighty creepy but still intriguing and magical movies; coming out this spring. I will try to go see this but will probably prefer the visions my own brain gave me reading the storybook. Anyway, as I have been thinking about this, I came to my next daily reading in one of my devotional books. (my newest one, thanks sister!) It is by one of my favorite authors, John Eldredge, and is a collection of readings from some of his best books. The reading went like this:

......Into this world God opens his hand, and the animals spring forth. Myriads of birds, in every shape and size and song, take wing-hawks, herons, warblers. All the creatures of the sea leap into it-whales, dolphins, fish of a thousand colors and designs. Thundering across the plains race immense herds of horses, gazelles, buffalo, running like the wind. It is more astonishing than we could possibly imagine. No wonder "the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted shouted for joy" (Job 38:7). A great hurrah goes up from the heavens!

We have grown dull toward this world in which we live; we have forgotten that it is not normal or scientific in any sense of the word. It is fantastic. It is fairy tale through and through. Really now. Elephants? Caterpillars? Snow? At what point did you loose the wonder of it all? Even so, once in a while something will come along and shock us right out of our dullness and resignation.

We come around a corner, and there before us is a cricket, a peacock, a stag with horns as big as he. Perhaps we come upon a waterfall, the clouds have made a rainbow in a circle round the sun, or a mouse scampers across the counter, pauses for a moment to twitch its whiskers, and disappears into the cupboard. And for a moment we realize that we were born into a world as astonishing as any fairy tale.

A world made for romance. -John Eldredge from Epic

Whoa. Really cool. Stop and take a good look around. We Are in fact plopped down into our own fairytale. What an extraordinary Creator we serve!

Dreams, Goals, Accomplishments yet "To Do"

As 30 drew near and as I settle in to being a 30 yr old, it brings much reminiscing of what I have accomplished with my time here on earth but also of what I would still like to achieve and dreams that I desire to be fulfilled. I got out a piece of paper and drew a line down the middle and wrote things down to help me sort it out in my brain. I love making lists; it helps me "sort" through all kinds of things. Settles my mind a bit. Anyway, I thought I would like to share some of these things with you, my few precious readers. So, here goes.

Accomplishments/Dreams fulfilled:

1. Water baptized at 11 & saved at a young age!

2. Graduated from highschool (with) a ceremony, some of you know what I mean.

3. Dream of becoming a cheerleader came true (cheered in junior college at ICC)

4. Was "cover girl" for K-State women's calender

5. Graduated with bachelor from Kansas State University

6. Have travelled to some cool places like Las Vegas, S. Padre Island, Panama City Beach, FL, Chicago, Minneapolis, Canada, Colorado, Bahamas.....

7. Trained myself and became a lifeguard

8. Found my prince charming and had our dream wedding a year later

9. Honeymooned in Maui

10. Became a MOMMY!

11. Became an Illinois country girl and a stay at home mommy.

So there is that. There are other things I have done that I am proud of too, as well as some things that I am not so proud of. But thats how we learn and grow, makes us stronger..

Now, here is a list of things I would still like to achieve..

To Do:

1. Become a Mommy for a second time!

2. Do some things to help serve in the church (like music, or nursery)

3. Continue to jog and eat well

4. Participate in a marathon to benefit a charity

5. Learn to play piano again

6. Take a ballet class

7. Make some new friends (not that I don't Love and adore my old friends!)
8. Continue to walk and grow closer to the Lord

9. Travel some new places (some faaaraway places like Europe, Australia, Isreal, Japan, and Alaska; and not so faraway places like NYC, LA, San Diego, Virgin Islands...oh and many more

10. Continue to do my paintings and pursue art gift/passion
11. Learn to sew a bit

12. Cook/bake a bit more

13. Start or join a book club

14. Own a cabin on the lake

14. Become an Auntie again! and again, Hi Sisters!

15. Buy Stephen a vintage corvette :)

16. Own a successful business in retro/vintage/shabby chic decor and assist people in their decorating needs

17. Take horseback riding lessons-get a horse too?

18. Take some more floral design classes

19Whew, I'm tired, I think thats good for now.....

I think by sharing these dreams and desires it will help hold me more accountable to actually following through with them. Thank you for taking your valuable time to read and let me share with you. Have a beautiful day my friends.

A New Decade!

I turned 30 years old yesterday. THIRTY years old um, young. For me, this has been an exciting one. As my sister said it "matches" where I am right now. I am glad to no longer be a twenty something. I feel great and eager to begin this new chapter in my life. I know the Lord has wonderful things in store.

Stephen had lots of surprises for me. I knew a trip to my favorite store at the mall was on the agenda but I had no idea he had secured a sitter for Max and checked us into the Marriott for the night. We dined at Ko-fusion, my favorite sushi and mojito place, and I was then surprised when one of my friends and her husband walked in to join us. I felt very blessed and special to receive such wonderful gifts of time and love.