Ethan turns 4

We officially have a four year old. No longer a toddler, but a little boy. We celebrated with a joint party at our rec center pool with our friend, Alana. She and Ethan are 3 days apart, and we had their first birthday party together too. They are sweet friends, and the party was a blast. The weather wasn't looking so good when we got there, but after eating and blowing out candles we were in the clear to swim.

I really think Ethan enjoyed his party.

He isn't as much of an attention seeker like his brother, so it is interesting to watch him in these situations.

He wanted George's help opening presents, and he liked other people to help with his candles.

He didn't want all the attention solely on him, and it must be because he has his siblings with him all the time.

It is so funny to watch each of my kids be their own person.

Sunday was Ethan's actual birthday and we gave him a balloon bath in the morning before church.

Tim has to be at church early now on Sundays, so we didn't get to really celebrate until dinnertime.

We had his favorite dinner of steak, corn on the cob and rice (he fought us on choosing because he wanted to let George choose dinner).

We had cake and opened a few more presents.

It was a great day celebrating Ethan.

He is such a special part of our family, and we are so thankful for exactly him.

My Dearest Ethan,

          I simply can't believe it has been four years since you were born.  It seems like yesterday I was battling all kinds of scary things at your birth.  It ended up being super quick and the things that could have gone very wrong didn't.  I was so thankful for God's mercy on your life then, and I have continued that line of thinking throughout your life.  You are our passionate, motivated, and adorable little boy.  I have enjoyed watching you grow and mature.  

          Each year brings different challenges as well as celebrations for our family.  This year was definitely more stable than the last, and you were definitely happy to be in the same place with all the same people for an extended period of time.  You attended a small preschool for half of the year, and you did so great.  You are young for your class, but your teacher told us you accomplished anything and everything she asked.  I loved watching you shine in your own environment.  

          Your relationship with your siblings is continuing to grow and change as well.  Last year all you wanted to do was follow George and be with him.  You noticed Lexi every once in a while, but George was your idol.  While you still look up to your brother, you are getting more and more interested in Lexi girl. Each morning you ask me when she will get up because you just can't wait to play with her.  You play pretend, and legos, and cars, and dress-up, and so much more.  It is so fun to watch your relationship with your sister blossom.  I hope you always love and protect her.

          Your dad and I are just so excited to see what God is going to do in and through your life.  You have already brought us both so much joy, and I know that will never stop.  God was so intricate with all the parts of you, and we are grateful for each and every one of them.  It is a blessing to be your parent.  You are fearfully and wonderfully made.  Don't ever forget that.  Follow Jesus with everything you have because His steps for your life are what will bring true joy.  That is my prayer for your life, Ethan.  Stick with Jesus, no matter what.  We love you so very much and will continue to help guide you with our love.

                                                                                           I love you, my passionate one,

                                                                                                                           Mommy

           

FFF in Mexico

On July 11th of this summer my entire Tragos side of the family flew out to Cancun, Mexico for some "forced family fun."
Although, in this case it wasn't too "forced."
We flew into Cancun and had a short (but seemed super long) bus ride to Playa del Carmen which is where our resort was located.
It was gorgeous. and very hot.

Throughout the trip I tried to spend as much time as possible in this spot.

Where can I find a lounge chair in the water with a drink holder in the states?

No, really.  Please tell me because that is where I want to be.

All day.  Everyday.

There were other places in the pool where we hung out (although none spoke to me like the lounge chair).

Surprise of the trip . . . Peter likes to mess with us.

The finals of the World Cup happened while we were there, so they had some characters running around the pool to get people excited.

I only traveled off the resort one day to do some "authentic" shopping.

Tim, George and my sister, Gina, took a day trip to Te Lume.

They got the opportunity to repel, zip line and take tours of the ancient ruins.

George is really into geography and learning about other countries.

While they were on this day trip it was about a million degrees. 

Tim said he and Gina just wanted to sit down and not listen to the boring tours.

George kept running up to the front of the tours to get all the information.

Tim kept trying to take his picture and told George he came to document the experience.

George said, "That may be why you came dad, but I came to learn."

Such an awesome kid.

While the adventurers in the family were out, the rest of us were back at the hotel celebrating Papou's birthday in the balcony hot tub.

Once they got back we all ate dinner to celebrate our father and grandfather.

The original Tragos 5.

My cute parents.

We had dinner together every night and took a lot of pictures.

This is the back of my favorite outfit Lexi wore on the trip.

Little Sassy Pants.

And here we are at the airport saying goodbye to Mexico (after Lexi puked at 4:30 in the morning on the shuttle to the airport in the shuttle car seat).

Memories.

In all seriousness, we are all so thankful that my parents gave us this special time together.

Traveling with a large extended family isn't always easy (and our trip wasn't perfect), but not many families have the opportunity to do it at all.

We are so thankful that God has given us these relationships and that my parents use their time and resources to bring us all together.

It was a lovely vacation (but I think we may need to wait until there are no children under 5 in the family before we go out of the country again).

Just my opinion:)

Building 28 VBS

Our family has made another change.
Tim is now a bi-vocational pastor.
Our church, Building 28, has hired him to be the part-time Pastor of Discipleship.
It is a really funny story how it all came to be.
They had been searching for a full-time assistant pastor for quite a while, and our pastor had even talked with Tim about applying for the position.
But Tim really loves his job at Trinity and wants to stay there for a while.
Several people began to tell Tim how they thought he would be great for the position, and he kept saying he just couldn't do it full-time.
Through a series of God-ordained conversations and circumstances the church decided to hire three men part-time, and Tim is one of them.
We feel very humbled to be serving at this great church.
One of my favorite events at the church that we have been a part of is their VBS.
Our church is a church plant of about three years, so we have been renting space in a store-front.
This was the first year we did VBS in the current location, and we had about 80 kids there.

It was so much fun.
I was deemed the role of the Coo-coo craft lady with my friend, Stephanie.
We got all kinds of crazy with the craft supplies.

We used a super hero theme to teach the kids the gospel throughout the four days.

Each day had its own word: justify, sanctify, glorify and multiply.

Each day also had a verse to go along with the theme.

The super heroes all had Christian names like . . . 

The Bible Bat

Captain Atonement . . . which was Ethan's favorite:)

The host was a character named "Doink"

We even had special men who were 2,000 years old like the Apostle Paul come and give the Bible lesson everyday.

It was truly an unforgettable week.

The people in the church who gave of their time and energy to make it successful were such a blessing to the kids.

My kids have not stopped talking about it.

I am so thankful for a church that teaches truth and loves people.

Classy Wine Tasting

My sister, Gina, is such a giving soul.
She was nice enough to invite her siblings and their spouses out to a classy night on the town, wine-tasting.
We were all so excited.
We all parked in the hyde park parking garage and began to look for the classy joint where the wine tasting was being held.
My loving sister then looked the address up on her phone, and she informed us that it was actually a few blocks down the road.
No problem.
 There was a slight drizzle, but who cares about showing up to a classy wine tasting with frizzy hair?
Not. me. No. sir.
We finally arrived at our destination after quite a bit of walking.
I wish I had a picture of the outside to show you.
But somehow I missed that opportunity, so pictures of the inside will have to do.

Now you may think this wine tasting establishment looks a little like a convenient store/gas station  . . . 

But I will have to tell you.

You would be right.

That is exactly what it was.

And we couldn't stop laughing.

We each got our small taste of wine and decided to hit the road.

But, of course, it was pouring down rain.

So my wonderful sister had another brilliant idea and decided to use the "lift" ap on her phone.

This ap is something all the young professionals in Tampa use to get from here to there.

Those of us in suburbia have never heard of it, but she promises it is a stellar way to travel.

And why wouldn't we trust her after her amazing skill in picking out wine tasting venues?

So we get a "lift" from a random car who answers her call.

The boys ride and the girls wait.

And somehow it works out that they come pick us up from the convenient store/gas station/wine tasting and take us to a restaurant.

It is Gina's pick, and she redeems herself.

(Except for the small fact that our reason for going was the all you can eat sushi, which they were no longer offering . . . but we won't hold it against her).

The name of the restaurant was Cheap, and it had a cool atmosphere that looked a little like a japanese steak house/club.  You know . . . more class.

In all seriousness, though, I think I laughed more that night than I have in the last five years.
It was really, really fun to have an adult night out with my siblings and their significants.
We are siblings by blood, but we are friends by choice.
I couldn't pick better friends or siblings.
And I do want to thank Gina for planning the whole night.
If not for her skills in this area, we definitely wouldn't have had as much to laugh about.
Well that and the word "punish," but that shall remain a family secret forever.