Weekend Fun

Euchre night... tons of fun! Miss Sarah Elizabeth

Mike and the Land koozie.
Sonya and me!

The Lands

Baby G Shower

Last weekend we had the wonderful opportunity to celebrate Stacy Grove (and Dustin) as they await their new baby!! The Groves and Domingos came down Friday night for some good catch-up time. We played a serious game of cornhole with the Groves :

Then some Hand & Foot, Scrabble and an exciting game of Win, Lose or Draw. So fun! We spent the evening talking, laughing, and catching up. I love these weekends!!

Then Saturday morning was spent as any good Saturday at the Macks is - B&B style. When there are cars in the driveway overnight, our neighbors have started asking if they can come over for breakfast. Mike makes THE most wonderful breakfasts for our houseguests. This weekend the Groves requested his famous french toast, which was fantastic. I love a Saturday morning, drinking coffee and eating breakfast with friends. Can't beat it!

Following breakfast, and until 6PM, Mike and Jason escaped upstairs to play almost EIGHT hours of Mario Kart. Craziest thing I've ever heard, but it was a day in paradise for them. :)

While the boys had a great day upstairs, the girls had a delightfully girly day. We showered Stace with love and gifts for the baby we affectionately call "Baby G."

Stace looks AWESOME for being 7 months pregnant. She has a huge belly, but she's beautiful and glowing. She even rocked high heel sandals at the shower, which I hope to be able to do at 7 months, too!

This is "BabyBug," Heather's beautiful little girl. She is so precious, and it was great to watch Heather be the wonderful mommy she is.

Ain't No Party Like a West Coast Party Cuz a West Coast Party Don't Stop!

Yeah, that's the theme to our life lately. One party to the next to the next. It's been a whirlwind of activities and celebrations for us lately, and they have all been wonderful! The last six weeks have been wedding, graduation, wedding, mother's day, baby shower, tastefully simple, and now a memorial day party with lots of other events thrown in between. We've been going non-stop!! Stay tuned for some good pictures from the wonderful weekend of baby showering last weekend.

This weekend, we're stopping. Tonight? We're staying in. Probably going to rent a few movies and enjoy time alone. Tomorrow? We're doing whatever the heck we want! I've had three different invites to do fun Saturday stuff, including shopping and going to the gym. I turned them down to do nothing with my hubby. I am like a child anticipating Christmas, but as an adult I'm anticipating down time! We might ride bikes or play tennis or wash our cars or hang out in our pjs all day. I don't care. I just want to be with Mike, with no schedule and no expectations. Ahhh, Saturday. Thank you, God!

We'll hit the ground running on Sunday again, but I guarantee that the next 24 hours will be incredibly sweet!


(My question now is: Will our someday children increase our busyness or help our schedules slow down? Do I really want to know the answer?)

Inspiration

As much as I hate the amount of time I waste in the car driving to and from work each day, I think it's become therapeutic for me. It gives me 45 minutes every morning and afternoon to clear my head. Lately, life has been so hectic for the two of us, that I have been racing from one thing to the next to hopefully have a few hours of down time with my husband in the evening. And my success rate of that even happening has been low this month.

Anyways, back to the drive time... I love having our Christian radio station, KLove, on the air! It's inspiring and uplifting, especially when I get in a craze of trying to get to work faster. This morning, Matt Redman's You Never Let Go came on and reminded me of how good God is.....

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
Your perfect love is casting out fear
And even when I’m caught in the middle of the storms of this life
I won’t turn backI know You are near

And I will fear no evil
For my God is with me
And if my God is with me
Whom then shall I fear?
Whom then shall I fear?

Chorus:
Oh no, You never let go
Through the calm and through the storm
Oh no, You never let go
In every high and every low
Oh no, You never let go
Lord, You never let go of me

And I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on
A glorious light beyond all compare
And there will be an end to these troubles
But until that day comes
We’ll live to know You here on the earth

Oh no, You never let go
Through the calm and through the storm
Oh no, You never let go
In every high and every low
Oh no, You never let go
Lord, You never let go of me

So, today, my post is simple. God is so good! Sometimes I speed through daily life and forget who's in control. Not today.

Book Club!

I took one more step to officially being old last night! My friend, Heather, started a book club that I am now a proud member of! "Book club?" you might ask, mockingly, trying to stifle a laugh. Yes, book club. We're starting out with A Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing. Apparently, it's not at all about hunting OR fishing, but it's a start.

Eleven of us make up the initial book club group. Basically, I think it comes down to a social evening with food and wine that we just happen to bring up a book that we all read last month. The girls in the group are great! Probably half are my sorority sisters from college, but we don't see each other often as it is. One is my dear friend, Katie. The rest are friends of Heather's through different stages of life.

I predict a successful year of book-clubbing and many new friends! Mock all you want, I am excited for this new endeavor. :)

Our small group!

We have a fantastic small group (bible study) that we meet with every Sunday! I had to clarify what a small group is because my grandpa asked if we meet with midgets. Yeah, that's my grandpa.

Anyways, it's been awesome to get to know these twenty-somethings from our church, build friendships and grow in our walks with God! In the past two months, two couples have announced their pregnancies and are going to start the first families in the group. The rest of us are really excited to have babies around!!

Mark & Karyn Garland are leaving us on Sunday to head to Tennessee (Boo!) now that Mark has officially graduated from law school (Yay!). So this past Sunday was sort of our last hoorah with the whole group. Check out this good lookin' crew!