December Flashback

Hi friends (and family)!  The next few posts will be flashbacks over the past few months since I've been out of touch.  Enjoy!

Daniel's brother, Steven, graduated from Missouri State University:

I worked long, fun hours at my work's longest annual fundraiser, a Gift Wrap Booth at the mall.  This is a snapshot of one of the many great groups of people I got to work with (the great folks here are all from Corporate Business Systems):

Somehow I don't have any pictures from Christmas Eve and Christmas with our families.  Sorry!  Guess by the end of the Gift Wrap Booth month, my brain was a little fried.  We were blessed to have Daniel's family and even some great friends to our home Christmas Eve for a fantastic meal and then Christmas Day we woke up, had breakfast and headed to my sister's to eat Christmas lunch with my family.  A blessed time was had by all!  And we were all blessed as we remembered the reason we celebate - JESUS!

Oh, I know why there are no pictures.  We have video!  We were dance all-stars with the Michael Jackson Wii game and Dance Central for Kinect.  Maybe I'll post some video soon.  ;)

Family Time in California

I've decided to not worry about being caught up on my blog anymore.  Last thing I need is another thing to add to my to do list.  So, the fact that these pictures are from nearly a month ago doesn't even bother me. :)

Just over a month ago Daniel received a call that his sweet Tia Mayra had passed away (his dad's sister).  She'd been battling cancer for quite some time.  She's a fighter and bypassed all those dates the doctors would give the family of her life expectancy.  But on August 20, she went home to be with the Lord.  It didn't take us long to decide we needed to be in California with the rest of Daniel's family for the memorial service so off we went to L.A. with Steven and Evelyn.  While we wished the circumstances for the visit were different, we were very thankful for the chance to spend time with his family.  We were also extremely thankful Daniel and Alvaro had had the chance to spend some time with Mayra earlier this year.  Without a doubt, God is good ALL THE TIME.

Here are lots of snapshots for you!

Slip 'N Slidin' Fun

A couple weeks ago Kyler called to see if he could bring over his Slip 'n Slide to play with Uncle Daniel.  (I had told Daniel how excited Daniel got when he saw one for sale, so she and Ky were happy to share his Diego slide.)  We had lots of fun and ended up with plenty of grass cuts from sliding off  into the grass!

I hope to have some video up soon.  Soo much better than the pictures!

Of course, as much fun as this was, we had to get one where we could race!  The next weekend Daniel bought a 3-person Slip 'n Slide complete with flags to grab at the end.  This time Katie and Josh joined in the fun. :)

Thankful

Dear Jesus,

Thank you.  For teaching me (continually and still) that I can't control anyone but myself.  For providing for our needs daily.  For giving me a husband who loves me AND tells me.  For your Word that directs, comforts, and gives us all we need.  For the Holy Spirit that convicts us and leads us to repentance.  For the example of true love that you showed us through dying on the cross for our dreadful sins.  That depiction of love is what drives us daily.  Your example reminds us that love is not easy.  But it is deep.  It is real.  It is a choice, a commitment.  It's staying when running seems like an option.  Love is sacrificial.  It calls us to put others first.  Lord, thank you for the fun, the laughter, the memories (and the ones to come!).

Thank you that today, because of YOU, Daniel and I are celebrating our marriage of five years!  We love YOU so much and give YOU all the glory!

Riding Away

My dad surprised Daniel for his birthday back in April with this riding lawnmower.  While we don't have a huge hard, we have a pretty good incline for a pushmower.  So, Dad was very excited when he saw this in a yardsale.  He cleaned it up and even gave it a personal touch (see the Alvarez on the front?). :)

As you can see, Daniel was extremely excited and surprised.  Thanks again, Dad!  We love you!

Belated Birthday Post to My Beloved

Oh my goodness!  I can't believe I didn't get a post on here for Daniel's birthday - it was last Tuesday, the 20th!  Sorry, honey!

We did have a great time together for his birthday, though.  We gorged at Cheddar's (it's ok because it was his birthday, right?) getting the amazing spinach dip and even topping it off with a yummy cookie monster. Seriously, we hadn't had a cookie monster since before we got married so we enjoyed every bit of it!  Then we followed our tradition of walking it off across the street at Best Buy and the neighboring stores.  :)

I'm so thankful the Lord brought Daniel into my world.  Every day, I love him more and more as we continue to learn and grow together.

Happy belated birthday, sweetheart!  I love you so much!

"So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him."  Genesis 1:27a

P.S. Daniel also happens to share a birthday with my grandma, my mom's mom.  Happy 80th birthday to you, Grandma!  I love you!

Check Him Out

Well, the blog bug has bitten Daniel.  After I told him my dad had started his own blog, Daniel started thinking maybe he should too.  (Not to verbally say I told you so, but I did mention to him when I started mysouldelights that he should do a sports blog since he knows sooo much about it.  Hmmm... :) )

I'm excited for him, though.  As you can imagine, the entire theme is Lakers although believe me, he'll have something to say about more than just basketball.  As I said, when it comes to sports Daniel does not discriminate.  Check him out at time2talksports here.  Don't forget to follow while you're on there so you can keep up with him.  As a matter of fact, hopefully you'll follow me too!

P.S. If you haven't seen our family photos in our Lakers jerseys, check them out here.