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We have a brand new fire station that opened and the invitation went out to all of the neighborhood to come for fun, food and simply to tour the station. Of course, it being only 10 minutes away (walking distance) we decided to take our bundles. To say they loved it, would simply be a lie, we had some tears as soon as we got there. The firemen hats were somehow not a hit with our children, so that’s what triggered the tears ; ) Joshy was intimidated by the fire engines so there was some hesitation there, but overall, we had a good time. It was fun to take the kids and sit in one of the trucks and have them see the police car close and personal. They definitely remember it and talk about to this day : )

4th of July, celebration, fireworks, family, friends and in the midst of it all, sorrow and heart that aches for the ones that are not in a situation to celebrate. After having a fantastic time at Oleg’s and Lilya’s and watching a spectacular fireworks show from the roof top we headed home. It was that moment where everything almost felt frozen, like the time has stopped. As we drove past the county jail, there was not a person insight except for a mother and a baby sitting on the cement steps at 10:15P.M. As she leaned over to her baby who was in the stroller, it almost seemed as she was saying that everything was going to be ok. I couldn’t help it, my heart cried for her and her situation. Why was she there? Why was the baby with her at such late hour of the night and not sound asleep in his/her warm and cozy bed? A flood of emotions and prayer has overcome my heart and soul. I prayed for all the babies out there, that do not have homes, I prayed for broken marriages, for fathers that neglected their families, for women hurting, for all of that goes on in this painful world. Then peace came over me, it was as if Christ had his hand on my shoulders telling me that He has all of these people in His hand and He knows each and everyone’s story. I thanked Him over and over for the things and relationships that we have and do not deserve. For his gracious heart that keeps on loving us no matter how much we mess up. We are blessed beyond measure!

This post is mostly photos that I have picked off my iPhone. I take between 1-10 photos daily on my phone and that is the reason why I forget about my “real” camera very often. Below is the last few months captured of daily life, trips, swimming, schooling, play and etc.

As each year passes and my birthday creeps up, in my mind I always go back and re-analyze my previous year. The things I look for is did I make a difference in this world? Did I make a difference in my children, in my relationships with people? Was I a good wife, mom, daughter, neighbor, friend? Nothing scares me more than living a self absorbed life without leaving any type of legacy behind. Daily I ask my Creator to mold me into a better person, to show people who He really is. It’s a daily challenge but yet He gives me strength and keeps my eyes on Him, even in the most unknown and difficult times. I praise my Father for yet again a wonderful, beautiful, challenging, exciting and useful year. I thank Him for giving me breath as without Him, I would be absolutely incapable of living. I am glad to say, I have blessed a couple of people on my birthday, it was a couple of strangers that had no idea what was coming, but I know I made their day. I pray that we as a family will get better at it as years go by and will always bless someone on our birthday. Bella is beginning to understand more and more what that entails and is excited to give as well as to receive of course 😉 Somehow giving always brings more joy than receiving. We had a blessed time at our home, celebrating with family. I wouldn’t wish it any other way. Thank you my precious family for blessings me and spoiling me with your presence and the gifts. I didn’t deserve any of it. Thank you Lord for yet another year!

It’s not everyone that can have a priviladge of a hair dresser come to your home to cut hair, but we are definitely blessed. We have an amazing auntie Lilia who comes to our house to give haircuts to the kids and Barry. She is currently still in cosmetology school and God willing she will be all done in December. Both kiddos needed haircuts and she made them look just lovely. We had lots of fun and both kids did great. Thank you, thank you, thank you auntie Lilia!

I love that there are days such as Mother’s Day and Father’s Day for us to step back and to truly reflect on how gracious our God is, to design family and to put two precious people in our life.  I don’t even know where to begin counting my blessings.  My parents are truly a gift from God and I cherish them dearly.  The older I get, the more I realize how much work and time has been invested in us.  I believe no child will understand the depth of parenthood, until they become a parent themselves.  It has been sweet joy to watch my husband being a daddy.  A daddy that takes his kids to the park, a daddy that takes the time to read to them, to play with them, to tackle the obstacles that come their way, to take heart and drop them off in Sunday school every week even if they are not happy to be there, to teach them not to fear, to be silly with them, to read their Bible to them every night, to pray with them, to take them on bike rides, walks and runs, to sing with them, plant a garden and watch it grow, to mow a lawn with them while having them on his back and to take the time to stop when needed to explain the importance of obedience and our existence.  As a child, I recall many talks with my parents about rights and wrongs, about our days at school and the feeling of my dad’s “huge” hand holding mine.  There was that sense of security, joy and freedom.  It is knowing that you can succeed in anything that you put your heart into, because you have the best support system in the world.  It starts with parents, the root of love, understanding and acceptance.  God is the glue that holds it all together and without Him, none of life will make sense.  I am grateful that I have my Heavenly Father to walk me though parenthood, which is THE MOST important job that you will be given on this earth.  Every day I look at it as an honor, no matter how bad some days are.  Thank you for trusting us to raise our kids to our best ability God.  I pray for wisdom, patience and love that surpasses all understanding.  Happy Mother’s Day & Father’s Day!

I am finally sitting down to write about it and somewhat beating myself up for not doing it sooner, when all of the emotions were still very much alive. But, I suppose I still remember that day very well and not just that day, but the weekend in general. My first praise goes to God for helping me finish the course and for providing opportunities like these. I thank God for giving me the ability to run and for all of the functioning body parts that require to finish a marathon. As the day was getting closer, I just kept getting more and more nervous as it’s in the top 15 world’s toughest marathons. The fear began to creep in of not finishing or getting injured. I asked Barry and family to keep praying for me and boy did they pray. I felt the prayers all the way through :- )
Our first stop was the Expo, which I have never experienced, so it was fun to check things out that had to do nothing with any other sport but running. I picked up my bib, the map from where the buses were leaving on the day of the race and my shirt, which has become my favorite running shirt. We then moved on to check in to a hotel, which was very pleasant and quick. We found out that we got the first floor, which was perfect as we parked the car right in the front of our room (with kids, little things like that, make the trip ;)) The next thing on the list was to find a good meal, to “carb load” as they say. We found the cutest little place, called Lugano Swiss Bistro. The food was great and so as the atmosphere. I was constantly cold that evening, I think it was the nerves, so of course we had to turn in early as the kids go to sleep at 8pm. Before we went to sleep, my sweet husband found a couple that I could walk with to the bus stop to go up to the start line at 3A.M. I actually slept that night pretty decent. Everything was ready to go the night before, I organized everything I was to wear and to bring with me, to only realize on the bus that I forgot my Garmin watch. I texted Barry to tell him my sad news, he, not losing a minute, ran out and handed it to someone that was headed in the same direction. As soon as he told me that, I began to get worried, what if I will not find the guy, what if he steals it and what ifs took off flying. Long story short, I never found the guy at the start line and have accepted the fact that I will be ok. It’s amazing how much I was relying on it while training, to know my pace. However I was very glad to find a friend of mine that signed up with me to run this race. The morning was chilly, 42F degrees and there was really no way of getting warm, so the start was very much anticipated. Well, the time was finally there and all the runners were line up. There is no way, I can describe the feeling while standing and waiting to start. All I can say is it will stay in my memory forever. The sound of the forest, 8,800 runners lined up to run and the sound of the anthem…that pretty much sums it up. It was breath taking. After all of the anticipation, the time came to run. The first 8 miles were a breeze, then a few hills made me realize that this is definitely a lot more serious than I have thought. At mile 10, there was the sound of the drums that I have heard about, but nothing compares to hearing about it, it was indescribable. Mile 13 is when it began to hit me hard, so decisions had to be made and goals had to be let go. I have decided to let go of my goal time and just enjoy God’s beauty, which meant a few hills walking. At mile 22, things got even more fun, it was time to run “the rolling hills” it seemed endless and mile 26 was the longest one I have ever had to run. The finish line never looked better and the medal was overly special :- ) The faces of my precious family was the best reward at the end of my 26.2 mile journey. I have absolutely loved the experience and in a heartbeat would say I would run it again. I must say, the event was organized to the T, the water/Gatorade was provided almost at every other mile, the course was breathtaking, entertainment was great and over all, everything was excellent. It’s amazing to see how many volunteers are involved to pull off such a wonderful event. If I could thank each of them individually I absolutely would. I finished it in 4 hours and 27 minutes. My goal was to break 4 hours, but I guess it will have to do for now :- ) God willing, there will be other times and perhaps I will run Boston one day 😉
The rest of the weekend was fantastic, we went to the beach, aquarium and simply enjoyed ourselves. It helped not to be in pain nor have any blisters, I praise God for that again and again! Thank you for all that prayed for me and supported me. Thank you to my sweet husband who was behind me all the way and helped me turn this dream into reality!

I am smiling as I type this, just remembering the time with two kids as dirty as they get. I loved every bit of that day. I have been dreaming of having a little garden for a while, but we kept putting it off until I finally asked my Papi to gift me a planter box for my birthday. Of course that man does not like to loose any time and he built one within a week of me asking. Can I say I am blessed? YES! He went and bought all the wood and then came early in the morning to put it together. I don’t think I can ever thank him enough. The best present ever! Bella was so excited we were going to have a little garden. A few weeks after my dad built the box, Barry went and got the dirt, very good, organic dirt, I have never touched such soft soil, it’s pretty amazing. The following day we took a family trip to a nursery in Auburn and started planting our little garden. The kiddos did a great job helping 🙂 All in all, we have planted, potatoes, tomatoes, chives, basil, parsley, watermelons, melons, strawberries, corn and carrots. I know it sounds pretty funny for such a small box, but the idea is to have the kiddlets see how things grow and show them all of the different varieties of things. I can’t wait to see how it will grow, so far so good 🙂 Thank you dorogesenkuy Papi for making my dream come true!

We have been planning to go to the zoo for a while now and finally picked a day to go enjoy it. It was Joshy’s first trip to the zoo and I believe he was very pleased with it. He kept pointing his little finger and making the “Whoo” sounds, pure cuteness. We were very excited to have Nana and Papa join us. It was a wonderful time, surprisingly with no surprises 😉 The pictures will tell the story.

Yes, I did it again, I got my kids out in the nature to take pictures. I had a blast, they had an ok time, but mama is very satisfied with the photos 😉