Thankful List ~ July 2013

July 2013 Thankful List

*  This month Josh and I celebrated our 10th Anniversary by taking a trip to Colorado. There are so many things that I’ve been thankful for concerning this so I’ll start here.

• First, I’m thankful for my amazing husband. Ten years ago Josh Kelly and I made a covenant together to love and honor one another for as long we live. I am so thankful that by the grace of God we have only grown more deeply in love than either of us knew was possible. We have been through some really hard things together and yet the way my husband has responded to life's trials and the way he patiently leads me to seek The Lord during these times, makes me admire and respect him all the more. He is my favorite person to laugh with and we have more fun together than I can begin to describe. He is the most wonderful husband and the most amazing father I know and I wouldn’t want to spend the rest of my life with anyone else!
• Next, I’m thankful for all those friends who watched our kiddos while we were away. The day of our flight or childcare fell through. After several hours of calling around we had lined up 17 friends to watch Addi and Josiah. It made me realize how blessed we are to have that many friends who we trusted and felt confident could care and love for our kids and were willing to serve us at the last minute. Their love and sacrifice meant so much to us!
• My grandmother and grandfather wanted to do something very special for Josh and I for our anniversary so they paid for our airfare to Denver and back! This was a huge blessing! 
• We also were invited to stay with some friends of ours who had moved to Denver last December. They graciously opened up their home, gave us tourist tips, and invited us to their church. We had a great time visiting with them and are so thankful for their hospitality and generosity. 
• While in Colorado we had the opportunity to go a Rockies game, explore downtown Denver and the 16th Street mall, take a white water rafting trip, walk around Idaho Springs, Estes Park and Boulder, enjoy Clear Creek, spend time at Golden Gate Canyon State Park, take in God’s beauty at Mt. Evans, Summit Lake, Echo Lake, Rocky Mountain State Park, and Red Rocks Park. It was an absolutely unforgettable! We loved every minute of it!

*  This month I was thankful to make time to edit home videos. I’ve been a couple years behind but I have a goal to get caught up soon. I was able to downloaded a program to burn the videos on to DVDs so now I’m really excited!
*  I got to go to the Kids Exchange again and I’m so blessed to have found clothes and toys for the kids at really great prices.

*  I’m thankful for more fun events in Raleigh. On Independence Day Raleigh has a huge festival downtown. Although Josh had to work we met up with several of friends and enjoyed the atmosphere. Although Addi and Josiah are both still scared of fireworks we still had a great time. 

This month the kids also had a blast at library Lego time. The movie theaters in the area also do $1 summer movies for kids. We’ve gone to see Despicable Me 2, Rio, and Kung Fu Panda 2. Pullen Park hosts “Hoop Jam and Drum Circle” on Wednesday nights. Addi and Josiah love going. Josiah’s favorite part is joining in with the adults and playing the djembe. Finally, the last week in July kids got to go to half-day summer camp at YMCA. Every day they got to play games, sing songs, swim, and make crafts. It was fun for them and a great break for me!