Colorful Cinque Terre!

If you want to do nothing but relax on your vacation then go to Cinque Terre! It is composed of 5 towns and if you get the urge to exercise then you can hike from town to town. Greg and I hiked from Vernazza to Monterosso and it was beautiful. The views were amazing. The towns are so colorful, and in the summer months you can head to the beach. It's the perfect place to sit at an outdoor cafe...have some wine or coffee and read a good book. We loooved Cinque Terre!

Italy is full of hidden little narrow streets...so cute!

On our hike...looking down at the town of Monterosso

Looking back at Vernazza

Vernazza is so colorful! Feels like a little fairy tale village!

the main street through Vernazza. After you shop this one little street, there's not a whole lot left to do other than relax!

The best little breakfast place in Vernazza!

Vernazza is a town of steps!! You climb and climb and climb. These are the steps leading to our Inn.

under the tuscan clouds

well, we made it past the 7 year itch! on april 21st, greg and i celebrated our 8th anniversary! a lot has happened since the year 2001! we've lived in 6 residences, changed jobs, struggled through infertility, been blessed with 2 kids, said goodbye to friends and family, moved to austin, made new friends and learned a multitude of lessons along the way! i'm thankful when i look back and see where God has brought us. We have learned a lot and i can't imagine all that we have left to learn!

Greg and I went to Italy to celebrate the past 8 years and we had a great time...we relaxed, read books, sipped wine at cafe's, toured the sights, dodged the rain, spent time with friends who came over from Tunisia, Africa, ate a lot of gelato, and slept late....something we haven't done in a long time! Here are some pics from the trip. it's hard to sum up, on paper, 8 days in italy...so i'll let the pictures do the talking.

Siena's main square....Il Campo

a quaint street in Siena

Greg and I went to dinner at 6:45 pm on our 1st night in Italy...I kid you not, this is what the restaurant looked like! So, we had dinner at one table while the restaurant staff dined at another. don't go to dinner before 8 pm! unless you want the whole place to yourself


The Ponte Vecchio bridge in Florence. Apparently, this was the only bridge in Florence left standing by Hitler. He supposedly liked to see the sunset from it.

A Razorback in Italy!??! I couldn't resist!


Greg and I did a 13 mile bicycle tour through Tuscany. Despite the rain in our faces, it was a fun time and the scenery could not have been more beautiful. We visited a castle winery...Castello di Pappiano. Great olive oil and wines! The count and contessa still live in the castle and this is their own personal church!

Some of the barrels used to "age" the wines

translation: you can plant and you can irrigate, but without the presence of God nothing is possible.


Relaxing at a cafe on the day we arrived.

An Italian sized cup of coffee. So disappointing on a cold rainy day to want to wrap your fingers around a warm cup of joe and get handed this!! And they look at you really funny when you order 3 of them!


Beautiful Tuscany...
I thought Tuscany was supposed to be sunny, but we dodged rain for about 6 out of our 8 days in Italy!


Greg getting "artsy" with the camera!

some yummy tuscan food! caprese salad and bruchetta

a little bit of AR in TX

Several weekends ago our good friends, Bruce and Susanne Clinton, came to Austin! We took our oldest kiddos to Sea World San Antonio....which was a tough decision b/c of the swine flu. Turns out is was the right decision b/c there was not a soul there! Even still, we used hand sanitizer all day and made it out of there flu free.

Thanks for a fun visit friends!!

Who's next???

a great love

we sang this song at church this morning. a great reminder....

How deep the Father's love for us
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss
The Father turns His face away
As wounds that mar the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the man upon the cross
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

by stuart townsend.

messy

for the past 6 weeks or so i've been in a Bible study discussing women and our emotions. my conclusion....women are emotional wrecks. all of us. insecurity, competitiveness and jealousy, anger, fear, fatigue, loneliness...just to name a few! we all have baggage. whether from our parents, our past, hurts, trials, beliefs, perspectives...whatever it is...we are burdened. we are all "groaning" for something more. something that this world is incapable of providing. there is an ache in my soul that will never go away on this earth...and i think that's a good thing. i'm beginning to grasp the fact that God is a jealous God, and He will pruin me back until i turn to Him...and remain in Him. it's a messy, ugly process. i fight His pruining daily. i want comforts, security, obedient kids, a sacrificial husband, more, more, more. i compare, i get angry, i'm lonely, i'm tired, i'm fearful, i'm insecure. it's a constant battle...a war for our hearts and minds and perspective. i'm slowly learning and thank goodness God is patient.

The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. From everlasting to everlasting the Lord's love is with those who fear Him.

Praise the Lord, O my soul.

Psalm 103

prayer of a child

the other day when will prayed before dinner this is what he said...
"Lord, help me to not fall when it's slippery"

i couldn't have said it better

a growing bond

i love this. it doesn't happen much, but i'm beginning to watch as will and ava really start to enjoy each other. they managed to get themselves into this wagon...with drink and snack in hand, and they stayed there a good 30 minutes. chatting and babbling about who knows what. it's so fun watching them really start to play together...don't get me wrong, we still experience our fair share of sibling rivalry. but this "snapshot" now in my head makes it all worth it.

"To the outside world, we all grow old. But not to brothers and sisters. We know each other as we always were. We know each other's hearts. We share private family jokes. We remember family feuds and secrets, family griefs and joys. We live outside the touch of time. "