New Every Morning.

Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,

for his compassions never fail.

They are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23

Beach Fun

We often don't even go to the beach in the summertime around here just because it's too crazy. But we ventured out today, early, and it was surprisingly peaceful. I think it gets especially chaotic in the afternoons, and that's when we nap anyways.

The water was super warm, Jeff and J did some boogie boarding (and some wiping out).

Family Camp Wrap-Up

We just returned from an incredible week at family camp, located in the San Bernadino Mountains. This was our first time, and it was awesome. The food was amazing, we made many neat new friends, and had a great time together as a family.

Ear handles are always a good thing.

S and J on the zip line... they were so brave!

J (red shirt on L) and S (pink shirt on R) zipping along.

Creek crossers.

Our camp had it all... mini golf, a merry-go-round, pool, lake (complete with "the blob").

Every night our two CCAs (Child Care Assistants) put the kids to bed so we could enjoy the evening speaker and fellowship.

Wading in Mill Creek with friends... c-c-c-old water.

The trout pond.

S horseback riding.

J horseback riding. Except this horse didn't "neigh."

One morning, we woke early to hike up to inspiration point for an amazing pancake breakfast.

Pretty nice view, eh?

J conquers the "iceberg."

Spidey J in front of the tall slide (see video footage of Jeff's slide below).

Z was a professional boat rower :)

Sweet S had a 102 temp at one point during the week. We visited the nurse's office for some tylenol and they almost sent us home because she could have potentially had the swine flu! 30 minutes after children's meds and she felt great again. Whew, that could have been a huge bummer.

J loved getting his face painted Spiderman-style.

Huge chessboard.

Applying insect repellent (for the umpteenth time) in front of our cabin.

Pool time.

Showers: yeah, a little on the short side. But that's normal for Jeff.

It was an excellent week overall... we hope to repeat next year for sure!

Finally, here's video of Jeff's decent down the huge lake slide:

Shadows

This is just the sort of thing that we Garlands do.

Trace the outline of your shadow in chalk every hour throughout the day, and see how it changes.

You could probably even make a graph or something really crazy like that.

Z's 2nd Birthday

The devoted Mr. Garland decorated another fabulous birthday cake, elephant style.

Backyard camping. Jeff and the kids slept out under the stars 2 nights. I made it one night. That was enough for me.

Tough Week

Last week was a roller coaster week: bad, good, bad, good.

Tuesday. The kids had their 6-month dental cleanings. Bad news all around. J has 2 cavities and S had 5. Five. Cinco. Ouch. It's hard for me to joke around with this. I take it personally when it's our kids have holes in their teeth because in reality, it reveals how well the parents are (or aren't) brushing (or are making the kids brush) their teeth.

We are maniacs about teeth brushing. Every night. In the last 6 months, I have been flossing the kids teeth every other night, which is pretty darn good. At bedtime, I floss each kid with our handy Glide flossers (I truly look like a dentist with my headlamp on) and then we pray and snuggle. We eat healthy food. Our dentist asked if we drank a lot of juice or sweets. Hardly. We are milk (chocolate milk maybe 2x per week) and water drinkers. Very boring.

Our sweet S (age 6) has a horrible gagge reflex (like her mother) and so these fillings aren't going to be fun. She'll definitely need happy gas (remember that stuff?) to help her relax.

Argh. It's so frustrating. I'm much more a proponent of being pro-active and wanted to get our kids used to flossing and brushing well, instead of being 'used' to sitting in the dentist chair for drilling and filling. These are all baby teeth fillings, so I pray we make the right habit changes so that we don't have issues with their permanent adult teeth. Our dentist recommends using a fluoride gel so I'm hoping that helps.

Sorry, this was way too much information for most of you, but just had to share.

Wednesday. The devoted Mr. Garland and I celebrated 9 years of marriage with a date night (Thanks Murrays!). I had a hankerin' for Chinese Food, so yummy.

Thursday. I got my traffic violation "courtesey notice" fee. Are you sitting down?

$488

Dang it's expensive in California. I've chosen not to fight it. I saw my red light video camera footage, and there's no getting out of it. I was in the intersection and the light was as red as it gets. Bonus: I also get to go to traffic school. Wahoo. Online or classroom traffic school? I'm leaning towards classroom. Not sure why.

Friday. Z's 2nd birthday!!! What could be wrong with that. Had a great time with cake, presents and camping out in the backyard (photos coming soon).

Ending on a happy note... our anniversary date night!

I love the devoted Mr. Garland!

(And I also love Chinese food!)

Memory Monday

April 2003: The devoted Mr. Garland holding our sweet newborn S at 2 months old. Awwwww.

Happy Birthday

It's Official...

... she's toothless.

9 Years of Marriage

Happy Anniversary, Jeff.

I. love. you.

(Bring on the date night.)

Regulars at Legoland

If you live in the San Diego area, you know exactly where these photos were snapped. And chances are high that you have these exact same photos, just with your kids in them, in place of mine.

So my apologies to you up front because you've already seen these photos, and you know too well all the Legoland rides (and perhaps are totally sick of them).

But we're new here and we're super pumped about our brand-spankin' new annual passes. So you'll just have to deal with it.

My sister Stacy got to visit Legoland with us. She was out house hunting from Denver, found a house, put an offer down and they accepted it... bada boom bada bing... house, done! We can't wait for our cousins to move out here this summer!

Yep, you've seen these shots at least a dozen times already.

Such a fun day with Stacy!