Family...

On Saturday we had a day of baseball...

Kris had a game in the morning.

Kale had a double header tournament in Reno.

And to top it all off it was Little League Rivercats Day!

Somehow we pulled it all off.

Kyle took Kale to Reno.

I left the baby with a babysitter and took Kris and Kara and headed downtown to the Rivercats Game!

It was a great night!

Kris had fun in the parade of Little Leaguers!

And loved watching the big leaguers play!

 And the kiddos and I had a great time . . . 

But as the fireworks started, I got sad. Sad that the rest of my family wasn't with us.

I mean. For years this was a FAMILY tradition. With the whole FAMILY. 

And as I sat there snuggled with my two middles. . .

I was missing daddy and the two bookends (as I like to call them).

My little family is growing up.

We are getting busier. Life is happening fast for all of us.

It's one of those "disadvantages" of having kiddos so spread out.

Family activities are becoming harder to participate all together in.

I don't have regret that I didn't cherish family moments when my older kids were younger.

I cherished those moments. And I appreciated them.

So for that I am grateful.

But it doesn't make it easier to accept the fact that at times my family won't be able to all participate in everything together.

As I sat at that game watching those fireworks, I almost started crying.

You see. Our family vacation this year will be minus a family member.

Kale will be at scout camp while our family will be at the Beach House this year.

It was Kale's choice to make. I would have supported any decision he made.

After weeks of thinking about it, he came to us and told us that he knew if he didn't go to scout camp this year he would probably not be able to earn his eagle and wasn't willing to give that up.

It got me thinking about the family time we have been blessed to share these past few months.

I look at this picture on Easter and have come to the conclusion that although I can't stop life from happening I can sure enjoy little moments of life as they happen!

Kyle and I returned home from a little getaway trip (more to come on that later) the day before Easter.

Kyle thought I was crazy because as crazy as life was that night I still pulled out the eggs and created the mess to color them.

Two reasons why it was important to me. 

One...it was Kody's first Easter that he could participate in the process.

And two. . . I know my big kids are only going to get bigger and who knows how much longer they will actually want to color eggs. 

So. It was worth it. The mess. The time. The Smiles. The Fun.

And this is what it's all about!

I love this picture!

Not because it's a perfect picture.

It's not the picture you would frame and put on the wall,

but all my children are in it!

So to me it is perfect.

We had a great FAMILY day.

A fun Easter Egg Hunt...

And dinner. . . amazing!

Thanks to an amazing Grandma!

And as I sit here reminiscing on FAMILY time. . .

I am remembering this impromptu picnic at the park.

It was a Monday. A Monday without Baseball and I decided to take advantage.

My kids were in heaven.

Soda and Chips (and we weren't even camping!)

Then we had a blast on the cement slides!

And as we were driving home we realized it was right at sunset so dad surprised us and pulled over on the side of the road and we all got out and watched the sunset.

So I will keep this picture in my memory.

A time when we were all together.

Not doing anything really special except for being together!