Rainy Dayz

Those of you who know me well know that I love a good rainy day. In the middle of a winter drought, the sound of rain dancing on the rooftop for hours was music to our ears and a beautiful sight to our eyes last weekend. I've come to appreciate the rainy days and the occasional thunderstorms much more since moving to the high desert. It's interesting how we take things for granted until they are lacking or suddenly in desperate need. We do it with people, things, everyday luxuries, everyday necessities in fact.  Oh to stop and smell the rain from a distance and then go dancing in it when it finally DOES fall!

Warming up with some passing

Jump ball! nice job #15 ;)

We took advantage of the few rainy days we were blessed with, actually forcing us to stop and slow down for once! An afternoon of relaxing, cooking up some fun in the kitchen, and putting in some more hours of uninterrupted family time...perfect.

now THIS is relaxing on a rainy afternoon...

...and this rarely happens ;)

the rain didn't stop the boys from riding--mud puddles and all!! :)

the start of something delish....

YUM!!

Mason in his classic sleeping position...can we say 'little man'? ;)

Even Andy's birthday contained a bit of moisture throughout the day. I could say it stemmed from his sniffles in turning a year older, but it truly did come from the grey skies overhead. ;) Not an all-day event, but enough sprinkles in the morning to make the wet spots on the pavement and enlarge the puddles just a bit more. The boys could hardly contain their birthday excitement on behalf of their daddy all day long and they managed to keep a few secrets quite well!! Mason could hardly stand it anymore though while opening presents at Andy's parents' house; he made it to the very last second before finally blurting out just what was in that large box....priceless. The three little gents yelled surprise when we returned from a dinner-date, as if we didn't know they were there, had to have all the lights off in the house in order to blow out the candles, picked out the camo cake plates we were to have dessert on, and overall made the day that much more special for their amazing dad.

Father and sons!

A little birthday celebration at mom and dad Anderson's! Austin ended up with my camera most of the time ;)
 

Happy Birthday to my very best friend and lifelong playmate!! :)

wish made and hopefully granted! ;)

I won't write in a separate V-tine post but rest assured, we celebrated with the annual heart-shaped cookie baking/decorating festivities, made Valentine boxes and cards to pass out to classmates and friends, partook in the consumption of chocolate and sweets at respective parties, and when all is said and done, will probably have that sugar-crash all weekend long thanks to the sweet goodies that inevitably invaded our home.

 1 John 4:19 "We love because He first loved us."