Thankful for His resurrection

Easter this year felt a little different, well it was different...our hearts were still freshly wounded by the loss of Josh's mother, Carol. I know I wasn't the only one who felt like there was a gaping hole in the house as we all gathered to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus. It was just 4 weeks earlier we had all said goodbye to a women who had forever impacted our lives. 

Carol was so many things I am not, things I inspire to be. But the one thing that really stuck out to me about Carol was how she always remained calm. Calm, when every nerve in my body was shot and I felt like I had steam coming out of my ears! When my children were running, screaming, arguing, disobeying...there she was with a calm attitude and sweet gentle voice. A voice that encouraged them to, yes ultimately correct their behavior but it never came out of her mouth that way, no it always came out as this encouraging, loving suggestion that my children responded to. That, that is something I inspire to be, calm, gentle, and loving in my responses to the chaos that sometimes comes with raising young children. I thank Carol for being a great example of a Godly mother. I only wish I had more time to spend learning from her.  

Clinging to Hebrews 13:14- For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.

 Although the air was heavy with our grief I wanted to make sure the girls still had some fun to distract them from the difficult changes. They were a delight to watch as I lead them around Grandpa's house on a Easter scavenger hunt for their baskets.

Then out to enjoy grandpa's yard and the nice weather!

Chicago, New York, South Bend, Oh My! (Part 3) THE END!

Ok here is the last leg of our cross country summer vacation!

After staying 5 nights in Ellicotville, NY we said our good-byes to our family over breakfast at good-ole McDonalds. It was perfect, a little food for our bellies, some great conversations and a play gym to help the kids burn off energy and prepare for our long road trip to South Bend, Indiana.

Love them!

Four Generations!

We got to our hotel in South Bend Friday evening a little before dinner. Once we unloaded a few things from the car everybody relaxed while I made some BLT's. (Pre-cooked bacon makes doing this on the road super easy! Although we did forget the ketchup and knife, my mom was sent to the rescue=across the parking lot to Arby's!)

The next morning we had some questionable breakfast from the hotel, packed up and headed for Notre Dame college campus. The part I was looking forward to was the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, the colleges Roman Catholic church. It was breath taking! The rest of the campus was beautiful as well and provided a lot of photo opportunities.

Silly girls wanted their photo taken with the manikins

We stopped at the Cancer Survivor & Awareness Tree. Each tiny ribbon represents someone who is battling or has battled cancer. The girls and I tied on a ribbon for Grandma Scherb and Grandma Diane (Grandma Diane is cancer free, Yeah!). I thought this was such a beautiful symbol of remembrance and celebration of life.

 There was about to be a wedding in the church so we had to make our visit quick.
Now as you can imagine my photos do not do this beautiful place any justice!

It was a wonderful trip with my family that I am so thankful for.