sunday thoughts.

i want to talk about my parents for a quick minute here. 

my dad.  handsome, isn't he?

my mom.  so very pretty.

living with them this past summer could have gone one of two ways: really awesome, or really bad.  luckily i feel like i have the best parents in the world and we basically had the best summer ever.  they let me and the girls live with them while jake was away, and although we missed jake a lot, they let me basically take over their home with toys and diaper changing stations and food and we really did have a good time.  it was fun for me to spend so much time with my parents, especially my mom.  my dad travels for work a lot, so mom and i pretty much partied every night.  we sewed (kind of... i really should have worked on that more), watched tv (i won't name the show because my mom will be shamed), went on walks, made dinner together, played with the girls.  and then when my dad came home on the weekends, we all played outside, went out to eat, went to church together.  i could go on and on.  it was a very relaxing summer (even though i had a few breakdowns... bless my mom for dealing with me), and sometimes i fall asleep at night now and miss those warm georgia nights. my parents really love me and my children.  they really love my sisters and their children too (well, my little sister doesn't have kids, but you know what i mean). they do so much for us and i just hope i can be like them one day. i take it as a great compliment when someone tells me i remind them of my dad or my mom.  i always say thank you.

i was praying the other night and i asked heavenly father to bless my family.  i used to say, "please bless my family and jake's family..." but i don't say that anymore because jake's family IS my family.  i feel like his sisters are my own.  his parents love me like i was one of their own (and i like to think that i am). they love my children and would do anything for our little family... same with the rest of their kids. i feel very, very blessed to have married into a family that is as close-knit as my own. even their extended family relationships rival my own.  i always thought my family was very unique in the sense that i'm very close to my aunts and uncles and cousins.  jake's family is the same.  so, so blessed.

i LOVE this picture of my in-laws.  max is suffering from a brain freeze and julie is laughing at him.  lots of laughing in this family.

one of my favorite pictures of julie and goldie.  annie wears that outfit now.  crazy.

anyway, those are my thoughts for today.  i know that no family is perfect, including my own.  trust me. but i think when it all comes down to it, your family is who matters most.  your family will be there with you until the end.  friends may come and go, but family is kind of permanent. i'm glad i can say that my permanence is a good thing.  a great thing.  the best thing.

my weekend has been a quiet one.  i've been getting stuff done around the house: organizing, 8 loads of laundry, folding laundry (sort of... the pile is still staring at me), baking cookies for my neighbors (i never bake... they turned out crappy), and playing with my best friends: goldie and annie.

annie gets her own special post tomorrow because tomorrow she is 7 months old.  it literally blows my mind at how fast time flies.

happy sunday, friends.