A Storybook of Grace

 Let’s see.  Ryan just got back from camp.  He went last Thursday and we picked him up yesterday.  He went with his Salt and Light youth group through our church at the Salvation Army Wonderland Camp in Salem, WI.  He had a blast.  He was so missed!   Jessica has potty trained finally!  The last two have been over 4 years old.  Why?  Oh well.  We are all celebrating lol  Lucas is starting to drink from a straw sock I think we we are going to try to wean him off tube liquids and just use his tube for his cardiac meds.   Natalie is a big girl!  She had her one year appointment and she is doing great.  We moved her to a big girl car seat, too.  We thought she was going to love it, but she doesn’t know how to fall asleep in it so she gets frustrated.  She’s sleeping through the night in her own room and she is slowly weaning from nursing and learning how to drink from a cup.   Sean had his 25th, no wait that can’t be right, oh year 41st birthday last week!  We celebrated for like two weeks

 My mom visited us from California for close to two weeks and we so enjoyed having her here and spending time with her.  She left early this morning and we are missing her already and can’t wait to see her again!  We were fairly busy with going out and about and eating out, as well.  AND of course celebrating Natalie’s FIRST birthday!  So here goes the pictures!   Went to Six Flags yesterday afternoon.  It was fun, except for some major complaints with the theme park.  :(.  Simmons Beach in Kenosha, WI.  We ate dinner at Ashling on the Lough after beach time.  SO delicious! My mama :)  Natalie’s first haircut.  We went to Kid Snips at Hawthorn Mall to celebrate the big milestone.  She did great, until she didn’t lol  Love the face! First birthday outfit! Smash cake time!  She was pretty dainty about it.  Illinois Beach State Park  Natalie’s elephant birthday party  Dinner picnic at the beach  Natalie’s cake on the left, our cake on the right from Nothing Bundt Cakes.  Yum :)  The kayak

 Thought I would give the link to my old blog.  I had it for a very long time!   http://alittlepeaceinourheaven.blogspot.com/   I will post again soon!  I’ve got lots of baby’s 1st birthday pictures!  <3

 First of all, thank you to all those who gave their lives for our freedom.  That is the most important thing of the whole long weekend.  I hope everyone was able to stop and remember them and their families.   We had our first overnight trip with some of the kiddos.  We took Hunter, Addison, and Natalie.  We got a hotel room at The Zachary, which is literally right across the street from Wrigley Field.  The hotel was really nice.  We went walking around Wrigleyville Friday night in the cold and rain trying to find a place to eat, which we finally did and let’s just say it was unique!  Lol. We were on the no plan plan and that made me a little uneasy to say the least.  :)  Saturday we were lazy at the hotel until checkout time and then walked around the stadium and then got to our seats for the game.  IT WAS COLD!  I had my winter coat on and gloves!  It was windy and our seats were in the shade.  That was all fine for all of us, except for Natalie.  She was screaming so I had to bring