I hope you all had a wonderful Independence Day weekend. I know we did! It wasn't the traditional way to celebrate but we live in the lower forty eight now, so road trips are a must haha. Kyle and I went to Florida to visit family and meet the newest little members and also to take some time to celebrate being nine years together. Our trip was short and sweet.
It felt so nice to sleep through the nights and we even slept in quite a bit in the mornings. (Such a luxury after having kids haha). We went walking along the beach while catching up with family. Kyle spent some great quality time with his dad. And I got to catch up with my sisters and little brothers. It was all peaceful and time really well spent!
We captured a beautiful Floridian sunset and had chips with sour cream as a bedtime snack. Did some touristing lol as well as important things that needed to be taken care of. We drove through a few thunderstorms and overall made lots of great memories!
Kyle and I had many quiet, uninterrupted hours to talk, dream, discuss and learn new things about each other. We had a few misunderstandings that we ended up going through and as always I try to learn something from them. Like for example one time I realized that I had expectations that weren't being met, another I was being entitled and so on.. So to be honest I don't mind having a little disagreement here or there because to me they are always lessons for growth. You would think that after nine years we would have our act together but we are human and get our "toes stepped on" every ones in a while. But I've learned that it's totally ok, healthy actually. That's what marriage is all about.
Our newest members of the family are twin girls, Skye and Heidi. They were born early so were at the hospital for a while, one of the girls was released but the other one is still there. It was so nice to meet them (almost made me want another set of my own-almost ;) Spending time with them and seeing how little they are just made me realize how fast they grow up.
Being away from my kiddos and being in the car for 24+ hours, I really had a lot of time to think and look back on my life and evaluate things. Although I already do that on a daily basis, it's different when you're actually miles away from your kids, (and have a moment or two of peace and quiet to think). I realized how much they really mean to me and how often I'm just trying to make it through the day without really being focused and present. I realized how much I do want to get to know my children and their individual personalities. Not only for myself but also for them to know how loved they are and how much they do mean to me. I never want them to feel like they don't contribute much to our family or that we might even be happier if they aren't around.
Having a family is a gift. Having little ones doesn't last long. I want to love them and serve them unconditionally while I have them, big or little. I'm so thankful for the getaway to be refreshed and energized for my marriage as well as my children.
And the kids, they had a blast without us! Mother took great care of them. I didn't worry and they didn't even care that I was gone. Thank you Mama for taking such good care of my little clan!
So tonight as I sit here and listen to all the fireworks that are happening outside, my heart is full. I am so happy to be home and so thankful for the time out. I'm also very grateful for our country and the privilege of living here.
I heard a song on the radio while on our drive and the sentence that caught my attention was "If you wanna make the world a better place then take a look at yourself and then make a change" I believe that to be true. It's so easy to complain about this or that or blame someone instead of taking responsibility for our own actions or mistakes. Really though if we all just focused on bettering ourselves then how much better would this world be to live in??
My take away for tonight is to look inside and work on "me" do my best to love and serve those around me and hopefully by doing that I can make the world a better place.
Love and blessings to you dear friends! Thank you so much for reading and as always stay in touch!
-Natty