We are so blessed

I am constantly reminded of how blessed our family is. It is easy to slip into traps of self-pity, materialism, discontentment, restlessness, worry and anxiety about what the future holds. Through all things we should remember to put our faith in God and keep our priorities focused on what we value. God is so good. We have been faced with many roadblocks that are being lifted one by one as we continue to put our faith in God. Though Josh has lost his job, his search for a new job and preparation for a career change has consumed his time as though he has a full time job. We sometimes feel like we're juggling the kids back and forth between us as we each run off to get things done. We both made it a point not to make appointments or plans for Friday or Monday so we could have a 4-day weekend and spend some time relaxing. It is easy for us to take it for granted and let a weekend trip to Long Beach become "just another trip back home," but not this time. We really benefited from this "vacation" we just had. We were blessed to spend so much quality time with each other and our extended family as well as doing things we don't normally do. We were SO busy--constantly going and doing something with the kids--but also planning some lazy moments to rest. It takes effort to get out of a rut and enjoy life and that is what we did this Fourth of July. I'd like to start a new family tradition of making this holiday one in which we stop and make an effort to get out of our ruts and enjoy each other doing simple things with family and friends. We took a TON of pictures which I will post more as I have time.