Dog Days of Summer

I suppose July is reffered to the "Dog Days of Summer" becuase it is smack in the middle of summer. School has been out for about 6 weeks, but is still 6 weeks from starting up again. It usually is the hottest, dryest month; and the time when kids are geting "bored" with the dullness of summer vacation.

I have been tutoring and working a little this summer, so it hasn't really seemed all that bad to me. To keep the kids occupied though I've been trying to spend time with them doing and learning new things. Joshie can count to five now and knows TONS of animal sounds. He's also learning to formulate actual sentences! We're leaving behind the "baby world" of one-word phrases and moving up to a more sophisticated communication world. Its been so neat to watch him develop during this time in his life! Jenna's exploring more of her world too - she is venturing to try and stand on her own and loves chasing Joshie around the house. Their favorite thing to do now is to crawl all around the living room and kitchen together giggling the whole way through. Its so cute to watch them play together!

One of the things we recently did was have summer portraits taken. There was a beach scene set up at the place we go. Surprisingly, Joshie was the one who did NOT like the sand. He would not touch it or let his feet touch it while sitting in the chair. It was hilarious!! Jenna on the other hand wanted to eat it! All in all though we got some good prints. Here's my favorites:

Three-Two-One

Three:
Three years ago today, Jason and I got married. Its been a hard three years, but one that has made everything worth it. Many people I know who have been married as long have not gone through the things our relationship has - things that have ultinmately refined and shaped it into the caring one we have now. Looking back, these past three years have created character in areas I thought were perfect, and stirred things that I thought would be fine just the way they were. Its when you allow your selves to be changed though that God can work through you and redefine things for His purpose.

We are stronger and happier than we were three years ago. We are living 1700 miles away from our closest family, a place we never thought we would ever live. In three years, we have seen good days, bad days, hot and cold days. We are at the place where we "know" each other - not a "dating type" of knowledge, but one that goes deeper. There's so much more to each of us and as we individually change and grow, so does our marriage. It adapts to meet the needs of each other in new ways. We have a family and careers. We have hurts and fears. But above all - we have each other.

Two:
Three years, and two kids later....Who would have ever thought that as we celebrate our third anniversary that we would already have two kids! I know I didn't!! The kids are such a wonderful, and unexpected blessing. It is true that God doesn't give you more than you can handle. I never thought that I would be able to handle two little ones so soon, but it is one of the things that has really added flavoring to our marriage to make it sweet to taste. I can't image today with out them. I can't imagine Jason not being a dad - he's so great with them and shows them his love each day. I love watching him with the little ones....

One:
Three years, two hearts entwined - beating as one....This is actually the first year that we are able to celebrate our wedding anniversary without expecting any kids!!! In all seriousness though, I wouldn't trade it for the world. "I am my beloved and my beloved is mine". We might go through so many hills, valleys and mountain peaks, but in the end we are together and as long as we keep our eyes focused up, all we can do is deepen our relationship into a richer, more meaningful life together.

I am looking forward to where we will be in 5, 10, 25, even 50 years from now. I look forward to reading this and laughing at how much further down life's road we have traveled. Marriage isn't always easy - but I wouldn't image life any other way.