Love is in the air...

{please don't share this post with gavin!!!}

meet mikaela.

gavin's first valentine.

she was the one responsible for the shower in the desert, she's the one on the {honda :)} and she's the one who has stole his heart.

she's a cutie!

CRASHED!

last monday was not the best day for gavin...
for most guys having their truck towed home is their {LEAST} favorite thing.

and by the look on his face, he's just like most guys.

the story goes like this...

he was on his way to pick up his cousin when his steering {something} broke and he lost the steering in his truck. he spun out and hit a guard rail. no one hurt, thank goodness and after a {2 hour} trip to the local pick a part and a few hours of sweat and grease he and his dad had it up and running.

i am SOOOO very grateful to have a son who is mechanically inclined. it saved us a TON.

and i have to say...i didn't mind the wait as he picked apart a salvaged truck, i got a lot of stitching done!

Mobbin' IT!

this is what was taking place in the backyard today!
gavin & david were "mobbin' it.

they were happy boys!

Because Kindness Matters...

and when we look back at what will {then} be {a book} of our lives, i'm going to want to you {gavin} to know just how remarkable i know you are...

a dad shared, in church, a couple weeks back a great story of his son. he told us about a moment when he truly proud of his son. it wasn't when he broke records, or scored the winning point. it wasn't about a medal he had earned or some honorable mention. it was of a simple act of kindness that mattered. kindness that was sincere and without expectations. i enjoyed the story. i wish i heard more stories like that one. to be honest, most parents praise their children for the things mentioned above and rarely for the things that matter most. the things that matter to the Lord. the things that make up who we are. who we really are. inside. the part that matters. i wanted to take a moment and share one of those moments so that when my children look back, they'll know what i believe matters most, and that will always be kindness.

to gavin,
the other day you & david were at taco bell and a homeless man asked you for 65 cents. he explained that he had 35 cents but needed more for a taco. you didn't have change but you had a 5 dollar bill. you handed him the $5. he told you he didn't have change and you told him it was ok. keep it. he thanked you and you watched him enter taco bell. about an hour later you went back and the man was still sitting inside eating. you were so happy and the spirit had touched you. kindness matters.

today. my battery died, you fixed it. a man needed help with his trailer, you helped him. your nana needed help moving trees, you helped her. you never complained. when you are in the service of others, you are in the service of the Lord.

gavin. i am proud of who you are, what your heart reflects, and what your actions show. because kindness matters most!

love, mom

Happy Birthday Gavin!!!

15 years have gone so quickly.
i love this picture of you, i remember moving into our house and taking pictures of you in your new room oh my gosh, you were such a cute baby!



you have grown up a ton, but you are still my "bestest son!"
i love your kind heart and the thoughtful ways you help me out. you have always been and will always be, a worry wart and while it drives me crazy at times, i know that it comes from the sweetest part of you and i love that.

everything you do is extreme and i try really hard to not be an "overprotective" mother, but give me a break,
you do push everything to the edge...



the biggest compliment i can give you, is to say your just like your father.



we are both very proud of you!
i hope you had a fantastic birthday weekend!
i love you!
mom

"Aren't You Over Reacting, Mom?"

{yes...these are gavin's feet as of today.}

monday, for fhe, we went swimming at nana & pa's. one thing led to another and gavin jumped onto the end of the slide breaking it in half and cutting up his left foot. i was mad. i had had it. bleeding, or no bleeding i was irritated. {ugh!}

later that night gavin says to me, mom don't you think you over reacted just a bit???
here was my reply...

gavin, since the baby was born {5 months} you have crashed your motorcycle resulting in a concussion, you have caught the hairs on your leg and arms on fire with a butane torch, you were ran over by a sand rail {see right foot, still not healed!}, you were messing around with your cousin tripped, fell back and broke your aunt's table in half, and now you broke nana & pa's pool slide. do you think i over reacted???

gavin {with a huge grin}...i'm sorry mom, i understand.

gavin, can we pleeassse get through the year without one more thing??? please?

Fishing...

we took the kids fishing at the duck pond for family home evening.

when we got there the only thing biting were the darn mosquitos. the kids were pretty patient about waiting, which surprised me. even more surprising was the fact that nolan stayed sitting as he was told. they fish on a bank that is on a pretty good slope and i'm always afraid someone is going to slip and fall in.

but between shawn and gavin, someone is always keep an eye on them.

masyn was the first to catch a fish.

i think, in all, she caught 5 or 6.

nolan, surprisingly, sat still and patiently waited for the fish to bite.

then gavin caught one.

we always catch & release...always.

and nolan cheered everytime someone caught one.

and soon enough, nolan had one hooked.

but he had absolutely NO intention of touching that fish!

shawn was finally able to convince him, after the 4th fish, to hold the line so he could get a picture. by this time, evyn had woken up and she and i took cover in the car away from the nasty mosquitos. shawn is VERY proud of the picture he took with his phone.
{he LOVES his phone. seriously. it's a problem}

{oh my gosh. i just noticed that nolan's shoes are on the wrong feet. he's normally pretty good about that. how funny!}

anyways...here's a few of my favorite photos from tonight.

happy fishing!

It doesn't hurt to ask!

gavin has been wanting a summer project and with money burning a hole is his pocket he has spent the better part of the last month on craigslist trying to find something that would fit his budget...


last week he saw this golf cart at our "soon to be neighbors" (nana & pa's neighbors) and decided that it wouldn't hurt to ask if he would be interested in selling it...and so he did. he and jake went over and introduced themselves and asked if he would be interested in selling the golf cart. the man, dennis, asked what he wanted to do with it and said he'd think about it. gavin gave him his phone number and didn't hear back from him.



this morning nana called to tell us that her neighbor was dragging over a golf cart that her "grandson" wanted. dennis was giving gavin the golf cart and a new summer project. see, it doesn't hurt to ask, ever!



so...
with his money still burning a hole in his pocket, he and jake started working on his summer project.

just one more thing in my driveway!

no, my mistake...
{3} more things
a golf cart and two happy boys!