Love and Joy

Good Morning & Happy Tuesday! 

Back to the grind I go but before so I'm just sitting here looking at pics from our weekend - Fathers Day.  We had such a FUN day and Maximus was such a good boy.  We headed to Monterey and the weather was BEAUTIFUL!  Sun was shinning, crisp breeze and the sun rays beaming on our face.  We had a picnic at the park, went to Monterey Bay Aquarium, wine tasting and enjoyed a nice dinner at Outback. 

Not sure how much Max picked up at the Aquarium  but it was fun to show him the beauty of Mother Nature, let him see the colorful fish and hold a starfish (fake of course).  To us we planted a learning seed in him. 

But throughout the day I just kept glancing over at my boys and was so proud of them.  Alex is a wonderful father,  Max is such a happy baby and seeing the joy of The Lord on their faces just melted my heart.  We sat on the beach and just looked into the ocean and in amazement of how happy we really are. Not happy because of the material things but happy because we have God centered in our lives. We see the joy in almost everything and we are willing to give our best to Maximus. 

We went on our trip on a budget - what's that! LOL!  We've been working really hard to be debt free in the next year and a half and I'm not just talking about credit card debt but our car loan and lastly working on our mortgage.  We set aside in a white envelope - Dave Ramsey tool - and I was so PROUD of us that we stuck to it. There was plenty of things I wanted to buy but the key word is "things".  I didn't need to bring home more things - Instead I wanted to come home with memories.  They last alot longer than something from a gift shop.   So I sit here in pure happiness because I have my memories, I have my little family and I have the Joy of The Lord.

At dinner time we embraced each other without our phones in our faces (Unplug for Love) and simply engaged.  A family sat next to us and kept looking over but I didn't know why until they were finished.  The wife came over and told us: We have a beautiful family and whatever we are doing to keep doing it. We were a nice family with a happy baby.  We were shocked and all we could do is smile and thanked her. But as she walked away we both looked at each other and just starting crying!  Tears of JOY!!  We knew we were doing a great job! Despite our challenges.  To me when some stranger compliments you and your family you know you're doing something right. 

I'm a work in progress. I'm not perfect. I stumble at times. I'm still learning to give my boys the best. But through all that I'm always smiling and blessed!  

Strong & Fearless