Egg Hunting 2015!

The Garden Church in Long Beach had an Easter egg hunt for the church/community today and our boys loved every second of it! Mitch and I laughed so much as James picked up a plastic egg, opened it, took a good long look at the candy, smiled, and then finally placed it in his bucket. EVERY SINGLE EGG. Henry was also very picky about which eggs he'd choose to place in his sea themed easter bucket and it was evident that anything big bro did, Henry would be seconds behind him doing exact same thing!

Thank you to The Garden Church for such a fun event!

40 Days...

For the next 40 days instead of completely being off social media for the duration of lent, like I have attempted the last 3 years, I will be aiming for some quiet time with my Savior.

That's it dudes...

Just some special time set aside for me and Jesus, and maybe a book too. Right now I'm finishing LOVE DOES ---BY THE WAY, OH MAAAAN! It's rocking my world...a special post about this book will be coming soon!

So today when I thought about what I wanted to "give up" for lent, it hit me that I was making a stank face about giving something "up" because I feel like I have been giving up a lot of things lately. I can't elaborate on it too much right now, but it's definitely a season of trusting the Lord and giving up a lot of comforts...but here's the kicker: I am utterly content in all that I have to give to Him. Like seriously you guys, the thought of being released from fear and what the future holds for our family is astounding, it HAS to be the Holy Spirit because last year's Ana would be freaking out right now...but I suppose that's the beautiful thing about knowing a God that goes before us and prepares a beautiful future for us, whether we see it here on earth or in heaven.

So I realized I couldn't think of anything more important to give, except for intentional time I personally set aside for Him. Don't get me wrong, I do sit and have a cup of coffee and read and pray in the morning, but usually Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood is blaring in the background and two cutie pies named James and Henry need something every 3 minutes, so it's a little bit distracting to really hear His voice in the midst of all the chaos. So when it came down to deciding what I felt like I should cut out of my life in order to focus and spend more time with Jesus, I just decided to ADD to my life and set aside precious time with Him.

I pray you're season leading up to the greatest celebration of redemption and joy is a spirit filled time and that you too clearly hear all He has to say to you!

xo,
Ana

Feeble Minded Socialmedialite...

Dude. I tried to go without FB, IG, Twitter (ok, I did great and did actually quit you for the almost 40 days) for lent. But....

It's so hard! I tried to convince myself I had to check IG to make sure I didn't win any of those enticing contests I entered, or "what if someone is trying to get a hold of me and it's uber important??!"

Sigh.

All this to say, I logged into my IG twice. And I logged into FB about, hmmm...20 times. I'm such an awful failure.

But sure, there were plenty of instances, and important moments that counted because I was engaged with the boys instead of checking my social media accounts, and then there was the occasional "stop and pray because I wanna check every app on my phone".

I've come to realize it's insanely difficult to QUIT YOU social media, and at the same time, I LOVE YOU social media. It's true that you keep me connected to friends, family, acquaintances, awesome deals on baby items, contests that I want to enter so I can win my boys some Freshly Picked Moccs, etc. etc.

Why do you both rock and suck simultaneously social media?! Why??

Sigh.

Ok, rant over. I'm officially back on social media since my heart has not been in it the last couple of weeks. I will stay off IG for now, try my best to keep off FB for the better part of the day, and instead of beat myself up over failing to completely abstain from social media during Lent, I will thank God for such incredible technology that links us together and encourages us!

Here are the latest happenings around here since Ash Wednesday:

Henry is 7 months old! Scooting, rotating, eating solids, drinking water, smiling all the time (when he's not working on those top teeth), and is on the verge of crawling soon.

James is my rambunctious toddler that currently loves the word "NO!", hot wheels, Disneyland, and library books.

Mitch is living and loving ministry life at RockHarbor Fullerton and the church planters residency. What else can be said about that? I'd choose to be married to a pastor vs. a doctor any day because although one can physically heal you, there's nothing on earth like spiritual guidance and encouragement from an Associate Pastor! Love you, babe.

And I am still here! Surviving! Loving these little monsters and photographing when I get a moment. The art history bug bit me HARD last week, so a trip to LACMA or the Getty is happening soon. Mark my words.

my new granny glasses + perfect baby Henry

choo-choo watching at Fullerton train station

the fab 4

book babes

his hat says, "Not large, but in charge."---it's all true.

THEM. My moon, my men.