some things.

Since it's been a month and a half since I've blogged anything at all, a bit of a catch-up post is in order. There's no way I could catch up on everything (we've been busy 'round these here parts!) but, here are a few of the highlights, as well as other random things that will pop into my brain as I sit here and finally type in this white square of a "New Post" box.
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On May 24th, I had my 3rd annual recital for my piano students. I absolutely love the recital-- it's more fun than I can say to listen to each young person play their very best in front of their friends and families, to see the look of pure accomplishment on their faces when they play that last note, the nervousness gone, replaced by joy. I'm beaming with pride by the end of the night. We all work very hard on our songs for months, and the recital is our big pay-off-- a reward that is totally worth it. Have I mentioned how much I love my piano students? I really do. Since the recital I've given not one piano lesson (I decided to take the summer completely off, figuring a new baby might keep me busy enough) and while I love having the afternoons free for other things, I do really miss seeing each one of them.
Our own Emma Joy participated in the recital too. She played a song called "Lavender Sunset", and it was absolutely lovely. And then she and her teacher, Ryan, played a fun duet together, and her smile was infectious and wonderful to see.

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The day after the recital the girls and I headed down to LA to visit my brother Elijah for the day. Two very important things had recently happened, and we needed to celebrate, oh yes we did.
one. He got engaged! On May 19th (which is also my sister Lydia's birthday), to a beautiful redhead named Lindsey! And we are so excited!
two. He was made a Captain in the Air Force! We couldn't be there for the actual ceremony, since it was the day of the recital, but Lydia was able to go and be there for it, and Lindsey had flown out too. They both said it was very impressive. And I think he looks so very dashingly handsome in his dress blues.

We had so much fun all hanging out together, as per the usual. My girls pretty much adore Uncle Elijah... and now they adore almost-aunt Lindsey too.
We even went to the beach while we were down there, where it was extremely and incredibly windy and cold. Rosalie peed on herself in the first ten minutes, and Annabelle got knocked over by a bigger-than-expected wave and "almost went into the sea" (her words) after which she was simply done with the whole thing. But Emma got soaking wet and loved every minute of it, and the rest of us tolerated it for as long as we could. :)


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At the beginning of June I got to have my "last hurrah" away in the form of a last-minute beach retreat with some women from my church. We stayed in Cayucos at the cutest beach house I had ever seen, ate way too much yummy food, slept in a room full of bunk beds and stayed up much too late laughing over ridiculous things and talking, lazed around in our PJ's, went shopping, and enjoyed every minute. I'm so thankful for each of these beautiful and godly ladies.
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As the Bakersfield heat has increased, we've been hitting up the spray parks as much as we can with friends. There's nothing like the smell of suncreen in the sunshine, little kids running around in swimsuits, snacks on the hot cement only to run happily back into the water.

Rosalie and some of her best buds, Lucy and Chloe

These are the simple summer memories I treasure with my girls, with family and friends.

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We of course celebrated Father's Day, in a simple and quiet way, which is sometimes the best way, I think. The only thing lacking was getting to give my own dear and wonderful dad, who lives in Wyoming, a BIG hug. I miss him, and appreciate him more and more over the years for the great dad and the godly man he is.

The girls bought their daddy a Star Wars mug that said "I AM YOUR FATHER" and filled it with Werther's Originals and scraps of paper that each had something they loved or appreciated about him. It was so sweet to watch him unfold each scrap and read it as they eagerly looked on, giggling at the silly ones and smiling shyly at the other ones. I'm so thankful for the daddy he is to these three-- and can't wait to see him with our little one.
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Speaking of the little one, I'm 38 weeks pregnant. Every time I write how far along I am, I want to follow it up with "HOLY MOLY!" or at least a very emphatic "WHAT?!" The end of this pregnancy is coming, is suddenly upon us, any day now, and every day brings us so close to finally meeting our baby, to finally knowing the answer to "boy or girl??", to having four kids. I have so many mixed emotions these days, but mostly, I just can't wait to hold my baby and to fall in love with this little blessing.

I haven't taken any recent pregnancy pictures, but here is one from two weeks ago. Not too much has changed since then, except for my feet are now the size of small balloons and my ankles are huge. oh, the fun that the end of pregnancy brings!
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Jeremy bought me a spa package gift certificate for my birthday way back in January, and I finally used it a couple weeks ago. It was five hours where I padded around the quiet halls of a little tucked-away place in a huge bathrobe, going from room to room where I was pampered with such things like a facial and a pre-natal massage, a pedicure and a manicure. It was so sweet of him to do that for me, and thankfully my appointment came on a day when I really needed the time away and a bit of pampering. But by the end, the mommy guilt was setting in, and I felt horribly selfish... whixh made me wonder, why do we moms do that to ourselves? My husband wanted to give me this, it's something I never get to do, and it was a huge blessing. I decided I shouldn't feel guilty or selfish, and to simply be oh-so-thankful instead. :) and I am!
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It's things like my day at the spa that make me realize all over again how much God knows our needs, and how good He is even in the little things. As I look back over these past few busy months, and look ahead to what the next few months will bring, I think that's the thing that stands out to me in the midst of the happy memories as well as the hard days: God is good. Always, forever, no matter what is happening. I can't even count the ways in which He shows it, I simply stand in awe and thanks for what He has done and what He is doing all the time in this life of ours, from simple summer days at the spray park, to the wonder of new life and new beginnings.