Beautiful days ahead

I haven't looked at the forecast lately, but I feel that there are beautiful days ahead. This weekend was a perfect end to the week. Friday, after Bob got home from work, the kids and I convinced him to put on jeans instead of pajama bottoms. He'd been up since before 4 a.m., but he put on his jeans and came outside with us. It was in the 50's and was simply beautiful.

Emmalee tried out the tennis racket she received for Christmas. We are all looking forward to lots of hours on the courts this summer.

I think this one wacked Bob pretty hard...if she connects with the ball, she's got a
pretty good arm.

Ryan and Bob played catch for a while. I love to see the two of them outside spending time together. The guys normally got fishing once a year for the annual fishing weekend with Grandpa, uncles and cousins. This year, however, since we're back in God's country (as my Dad would say) we plan on going fishing as often as possible. Ryan received a tackle box complete with tackle for his birthday...he's spent the last three evenings organizing it.

Here's me and my sweetie. Ryan took the photo for us, but Emma really wanted to be in it. You can see her little head hiding behind the tennis racket that's sneaking into the picture.

That evening Mom came to spend the night. We enjoyed BBQ chicken with bacon and cheese, roasted asparagus, and hummus with homemade pita chips. Yum! After dinner, Bob was kind enough to watch the kids while Mom and I took a quick trip to the book store and the scrapbook store. Saturday morning found Mom, the kids and I at the YMCA by 9 a.m. The kids had a blast playing in the pools. Emma and I went back and forth between the kiddie pool and one of the larger pools. Ryan passed one of the swim tests, so he was able to go on the slide. He must have went up that thing 35-40 times. There were quite a few stairs to climb to get to the top, so he was exhausted by the time we left. Mom treated us to a yummy lunch afterwards. Watching my kids eat, you would think that I never fed them. It was quite entertaining. Then a quick trip to the mall and then back home. Sunday was a quite day with morning and afternoon meeting and meeting Daddy for lunch.

*****

What a wonderful weekend it was.

*****

And now, tonight as Bob and the kids are sleeping, I sit here with a heavy heart. I received two e-mails today that made me sad. For totally different reasons. There are two people that I care very deeply for that are in my thoughts tonight...I feel like there should be something I can say that would help them. As I've been baking cookies this evening, I've been formulating a reply to one of the e-mails in my head. I feel like there is so much I could say to justify what I believe...to maybe make them understand and believe too. But that's gotten me into trouble in the past. I know that I cannot make someone believe or have faith. That can't come from me. So, I've learned that it's often better to say nothing at all and just pray.