Recently, our Besties came over to visit us. By Besties I mean: my best friend Maraeca, Lia's best friend Acaiah, and Siena's best man, Ezra. They always bring us so much joy when they come by - such a welcomed break from our day-to-day. Here is Ezra and his mommy - who happens to be explaining Acaiah's Halloween costume (which is an adorable lion costume! And she has the "roar" down so well) :)
After this crazy game of charades with Maraeca and Ez, the girls ventured outside in the HOT HOT sun! (Thankfully, tomorrow's high will be 87! Can't wait!) The girls love to sit (yes, just sit) in the car that Nina Tiffy gave to Lia. Somehow, who knows how, because the girls aren't so great at steering themselves around the yard, Acaiah got stuck in our little ditch area! It was so funny because Maraeca, Tina and I were all inside and we looked out and there was little Acaiah, "help! help!"
Of course, I had to snap a photo before we did any "help! help!"ing.
After THOSE shenanigans, the girls ventured into our little "grotto" area.
When Michael and I first saw the house, we thought the little grotto outside was awesome (by awesome , we mean hilarious and holy at the same time). The grotto is a place where we plan to put a Mary statue (that may be Mike's Christmas present as we have yet to get a Mary statue - and if I don't type it out here I will totally forget). But, since we don't have a Mary statue to safeguard our grotto, we just have Acaiah and Lia. Which is ironic, because they are becoming less and less holy by the second because they are 2 year olds are on a mission to be as rebellious as ever ;)
Look at this mischievous face!! You know she's planning something :) But still, can't help the cuteness. Like for reals.
This day of fun was just another day for us - another day of giggles and sighs and everything in between. These moments have been shared so much with our beautiful friend Christina. Tina (what the kids like to call her) is truly an incredible, magnificent creation from God. She is the epitome of what generous, unconditional love looks like. From the moment she was around our family, she gave all of herself to love on Cecilia, and eventually, Siena as well. I have never seen someone so open to children as much as she is. It's really unbelievable.
Not only has Tina brought so much light to our girls' lives, she has continually brightened Michael's and mine. I feel so blessed to have met such an incredible person - that the Lord would see it fitting to show me the light that she is. It can only be from Him and through Him that I was given her as a gift to my life. With that, I know that He sent her here and into my life to teach me, as all of the people in my life do. And the things I have learned from her - about cooking, about serving, about adventure, about delighting in my children... these are all things I hope to grow on from now to kingdom come.
We (I) will truly miss her more than she knows. I will always be grateful for what she has taught me, and I can't wait to take many a trip to Nashville to learn even more.
74/365
"Alongside the sadness, I was feeling something else. I was feeling free."
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