Living an Intentional Life
Wil E. Coyote is loose at Mission de Los Arroyos. It has been said we have a 3-legged Coyote who comes out and lurks around 3am.
This little guy has been loitering around our home lately, and I feel I need to warn him.
He is now more aware and is paying attention.
Run, Roadrunner, Run!
We’ve been going every year since she was a baby. Yes, 2014, we went with my mom’s group.
2015, we went with Doug and Mama (my first Christmas with honey)
2016 Baby joined us.
2017!
More? Yes, 2018. Just mom, Tot and me
Then, last year, our first year married 2019
All I know is that it is a fun tradition, and the weather is never consistent. Sometimes it’s frigid, and this year, it was pretty warm although I still wear gloves due to my numby fingers.
This year, they took reservations because of Covid, so we got in the line of our time slot at 6pm.
Mama went to get a hot dog, so we got on the next train.
Look, Sugar Bowl!
Now, we will hit the Carousel. Tatum used to need me to ride with her, but now she just wants me next to her. I’ll take it!
Hi Daddy!
Mama is having a blast!
Now this tree. It is beautiful!
Then we HAD to see the life size, Baby. Tatum instantly ran up to him and cuddled
Mama couldn’t resist.
What fun this year!
And so…we exit again 2020. Thank you for lighting up our Christmas.
Merry Christmas!
We are gearing up for HIS birth! Let’s start with our Advent calendar.
A cat? Oh, sorry Coopy. Let’s just get the cat thing out of the way first day.
OK, now our little scene. We do this every year with our book.
The donkey opens up our Nativity. Sorry, Cat!
We are excited for our Christmas season.
Although his real birthday is Monday the 30th, we wanted to maximize the celebration by doing in on Sunday. So, we kind of tricked him and told him we were going to have a Hay Happens meeting at 4:30pm, so wear your shirt! He promptly came out at 4:30 donned in the Hay Happens garb. We did too. (But, we had a dress underneath so we could give him his surprise!)
After our meeting prayer, we retired to the bedroom and told him to close his eyes. Then we ducked down and guess who popped up? Gerald and Piggie!
Yes, welcome to the show!
Hello Douglas! What do you enjoy doing in your free time???? He loves hanging with his family. Love that answer.
Uh oh. Here comes the cameo performer….COOPY, please, show some control.
Now, we are ready for our song. Tatum, could you please sing Happy Birthday for us?
Mommy accompanied her, TADA!
Next, on the agenda is the whirlwind card. Piggie and Gerald, will you introduce? (Hi Tot!)
Tot will read her 30, and Mommy will read her 30. (Why do you think we came up with 60…hint hint)..
And there are many more actually!
He loved the show, and we gave him his present: A pair of Raycon earbuds so he never misses a podcast again!
We love you so much Daddy!
Yes, Birthdays in our house are a multi-day event. So, part one of Doug’s birthday took place with a complete surprise up our sleeves. I had told him that he needed to be available from Friday around 3pm to Saturday around 9am. We’d all go away. (wink wink).
We left the house at 3:15 and I told him we had to stop at my mom’s. He had no idea what was about to take place.
When we got there, my mom gave him a task and then we all met in the kitchen. I gave him this card:
He and I would go to Flemings for dinner and then stay the night at the Hilton (for dessert…heh). Tot would stay at Mom’s. He was sideswiped!
All of a sudden, his relaxation quotient flew to outrageous levels.
We had a little champagne on our patio and relaxed before getting ready. (It was a tad chilly out there!)
We got ready, and oh, doesn’t he look fabulous?
And me… He wanted me to pole it.
We sauntered over to our destination. So nice not to drive!
It is so nice to be out to celebrate. We forgot our masks, so they let us have a couple before sitting down.
Then it was a lovely dinner of ahi appetizer, filet, salads and some wine. We had a list of fun questions to ask each other, so we ended up staying for a while and chatting. How refreshing!
Happy Birthday to you, baby!
Back to the room for some dessert. Long overdue!
More to come, honey. (Thank you so much mom for hanging with the Tot and making this possible).
This year we’d have dinner at the condo. Who would have thought that!? However, it was cozy and quaint. And…we had a special guest! You’ll find out soon.
The day started with us venturing out for a walk outside. We were going to ride our bikes, but alas…it is way too chilly! (Finally!) So, we opted for a bundled up walk.
Three miles later and much ideating (Doug did some dreaming of landscape ideas and I looked at the birdies), we arrived back home for a craft.
Doug says he is not good at these, but I beg to differ.
We centered our turkeys and….oh Coopy. You need some love.
Ok. Focus.
Voila! We wrote our thankfuls on the feathers. Colorful feathers I might add.
The common themes: Family, God, our health, and Coopy. Not to take anything for granted, ever!
The turkey baked, salad chopped, cauliflower potatoes pureed… now, Tot and I worked on some paper craft centerpieces. Ollie and Poky we named them.
And we set the table ready for Mama and AUSTIN!
Before he came, we took some pics. Always gotta take the pics.
Beautiful Mama and daughter. So blessed.
My handsome hubby…Tot you take amazing pics
My turn with the hubster.
Look at this….oh my favorite people.
Ok, time to read Squanto. Tot and I shared the reading. This is the true story of a special Indian who God used to help the Pilgrims here in America.
Austin arrived just in time for our feast!
Tot prayed for our meal, and then we played Thankerchief around the table. You read the poem and wherever the Thankerchief stops, this person says their gratitude. You do this over and over until all have shared.
We shared our gratitudes, and it was so fun to hear Austin say he was grateful for his new job!
We had a nice cozy delicious dinner and pie. After dinner, a game of Snorta to make us laugh.
Soon we’ll be in our new home, but we continue to make special memories in our little condo.
2020 was tough, yes, but we all grew closer this year, and for that, I’m eternally grateful.
I love you family!
Ready to go greet at church. Tot and I greet at the 8am service so we have to get there at 7:30am. What a great way to start her birthday. Now, realize that when we are there, many older people look forward to seeing Tot. For example, a few weeks ago, this one gentleman had heard it was her birthday on the 22nd. Well, we were standing there at church, and Tatum said, I wish I had something that said “it’s my birthday.” Then, guess what??? This sweet man (with his family) handed her a birthday card.
It had a button on it for her to wear, first of all. (whoa!) Second, look what it says inside.
How incredibly kind. They made her feel so special, and all of her kindness of smiles and happiness through her greeting paid off. It showed her the value of serving. You never know what will come back to you!
After church, I made her some French toast. Delightfully delicious. Then we had to clean the house for our dinner tonight!
We also built some Lego Friends sets. How cute is this?
Doug would take her out after lunch for some ice cream and a Daddy daughter date. She would get to spend 8 Daddy dollars too!
While she was gone, I set it all up. She had a blast with Daddy, and when returned, look what she bought?
I got her table all set up.
And then Mama arrived! And look what she brought? The cutest shirt ever!
The presents shower began. Literally a showering of gifts. But first, a Waldo card. Kind of a fun scavenger hunt. The 8th one on the list is for her to go find her name in the house.
She found it. Her name TATUM HAY has 8 letters and now she got a raise to 8 dollars (being 8!)
Then, gifts galore
Some more LEGOS (Love to Daddy here with the space shuttle), some clothes (and jammies shown), and her gift of the year! She has wanted this for a few months.
It’s….First a kiss.
A FitBit for kids! She wants to track her steps and have a sleep tracker.
Hmm..where did she get this idea!? Guilty!
Coopy can’t wait to join her in the count.
My mom enjoyed giving her some pretty clothes. She has the BEST taste!!
And a COOOOOL card!
My dear brother and Dolly got Tot some puppets to enjoy inspired by Mo Willems’ Elephant and Piggie.
How completely adorable and fun for imagination.
We enjoyed salmon, salad and fingerlings (she had asked for this), and after dinner, I had another little surprise. A blessing for her.
I first prayed for her:
And then she sat on my lap to read the 40 blessings. Each one has a Bible verse associated (many which we know from our memorization). We first sang the initial blessing from the song taken from Numbers 6:24-26:
The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.”’
We sure love you, my sweet girl. Each one is for you.
Mama and Daddy adore you as well.
Let’s sing one more thing: Happy Birthday Sweet 8 year old-Tot.
May you know how incredibly loved you are by God, Mommy, Daddy, and Mama.