concerts in the garden star wars style

so to say that this weekend was busy would be an understatement.  i am amazed, looking back on it now, at how well we all handled it.  it was a lot!

on friday, we joined in with my mom and sister and held a garage sale at my mom's house.  sounds easy, right?  well, garage sales are A LOT of work, even if you don't have a ton to sell.  not to mention, my mom lives 40 minutes away, so we were in the car headed south at 6:20 am.  i'm rarely even awake at that hour, ha!  we were a little concerned about the heat as it's been above or near 100 degrees for several days lately.  we were pleasantly surprised with overcast skies, cooler temps and a nice breeze.  we were not so pleasantly surprised when it began to rain, and scurrying to get everything undercover.  it didn't last too long but wreaked enough havoc to really make you wonder if this whole garage sale idea was a good one.  despite the rain, we managed to make around $150, which always feels so strange....getting paid money to get rid of things you don't want anymore.  i almost feel like these people were doing me a favor by taking it off my hands!

we had to head out from the garage sale a little early because we were taking the boys to concerts in the garden that night.  this is such a fun, family-friendly event and a great way to expose young kids to an orchestra.  in case you've never heard of this, concert in the garden is put on by the fort worth symphony orchestra at the fort worth botanic garden.  everyone brings lawn chairs, blankets, food and drinks and has a picnic on the lawn while listening to outstanding music.  john and i have been several times before but this was the first time for us to take burrito and noodle. 

we picked this particular night because the orchestra was playing music by the great composer, john williams, from movies such as star wars, indiana jones, jaws, and e.t.  they even had people dressed up in star wars costumes walking around for photo ops, a BIG HIT with the kids!  we managed to get our pictures made with all three.

and yes, rain tried to ruin our day for a second time, but fortunately it never rained too hard, we were able to huddle underneath our way-too-small umbrella, and it stopped just in time for the performance!  i was just thankful i even remembered to bring an umbrella!

the below picture is compliments of noodle.  i love having kids that can take pictures now!  notice the raindrops on our shoulders thanks to the aforementioned way-too-small umbrella!

this is a very casual event which is so nice when you have kids!  the boys entertained each other by pretending to be little jedis in battle.  i mean, where else can you wrestle to the sounds of an orchestra!

and you can't be a jedi without first donning your glow in the dark jedi belt!  noodle still has his warrior face on!

and just when you think the night couldn't get any better, they choreograph the music to a fantastic laser light show and top it off with fireworks.  as the boys sat in our laps completely enraptured with it all, i had the deepest satisfaction ever.  it was a super sweet "i will always remember this" kind of moment!

so there's my plug for concerts in the garden.  if you haven't done it, you must!

so, that was just friday.  saturday brought another visit to the garage sale (we were excused from being there early since we had a late night!).  we picked up the things that didn't sell and that didn't warrant a trip to the garbage, collected the remainder of our earnings and headed back home to get ready to attend john's cousin's wedding in dallas.

i love going to weddings as a married couple.  it just renews in me my vows to john and just makes me feel good all over!  i think john, for the most part, feels the same way.  i won't share what the boys thought about having to attend a wedding but i will say they did great!  the wedding was truly worshipful and the reception that followed was lovely.  congratulations kyndall and keith!

i am grateful to have been able to attend.  especially, in part, due to the horrific way i felt on the way there.  for the past few months, i have been plagued with nausea that seems to have no rhyme or reason.  we suspect it may have something to do with hormones out of whack from my last surgery (the technical term is a unilateral salpingo oophorectomy, try saying that 3 times real fast!).  you can read all about that starting here if you want the low down.  i have an appointment this thursday for a normal checkup but we are hoping to gain some wisdom as to what might be causing the nausea.  would you please pray that the doctor would either have some idea as to what may be going on or know what tests to administer (bloodwork, ultrasound) to determine the cause?  we would really appreciate it!  it is no fun feeling sick most of the time.

so that's what's been going on with us.  we're having a low key kind of day to try and recover from the busyness and also to help me feel better.  happy sunday!

Whom have I in heaven but you?  And earth has nothing I desire besides you.  My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.  Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.  But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds.

Psalm 73.25-28