Legoland

Hey friends, it's Jalen! Sunday we celebrated my 7th birthday! I know, I know, you can hardly believe that I'm growing so fast right? Instead of getting a ton of presents that Mom says will end up in next year's garage sale, my brother and I always get one or two small gifts and our choice of a family mini trip. Mom and Dad tell us that the memories will last longer than the toys and I'll admit, I sure do love traveling to new places! This year, I chose Legoland Chicago.

We started the birthday morning just as we always do with cake for breakfast! This is one of my favorite family traditions:P

Once inside the museum, we were able to walk through lots of exhibits, all made entirely out of legos!  

We entered a jungle with hippos, tigers, monkeys and snakes all constructed of tiny plastic bricks, pieced together one by one. I wonder how many hours it took to build such a masterpiece? I hope they stopped for snacks!

Mommy and Daddy's favorite exhibit was the mini replica of Chicago. It was amazing! Every tiny detail was there from the sears tower down to road construction being completed in the middle of Michigan Ave. There were dog walkers on the beach, shoppers galore and lights that shined through the stained glass windows of the beautiful churches. The pieces even moved so that the whole city was in action!

We rode a hanglider and we even took a tour of the lego factory where we made our very own souvenir lego. I was in charge of pushing the button that stamped the factory name on top.

My favorite part was when Daddy helped us build a giant tower out of lego bricks. 

Jacey took a little nap while we worked on our project.

It took a long time but we finally finished! Can you guess who's inside?

Before heading home we stopped at my favorite restaurant, The Rainforest Cafe!  Thanks Mom and Dad for such an awesome birthday! I'm already planning for next year.

Hmmm...an African Safari sounds like fun! Do you think we could make it there and back in a day? Probably not huh? Well, let me know if you have any ideas. I love exploring new places!

The Perfect Morning

Five years ago, my perfect morning would have consisted of my favorite black suit, a starbucks in hand and my favorite song on the radio while driving into to work. My agenda for the day would include managing a staff of 25+ people, 140 children, answering telephones, returning emails, scheduling, problem solving, answering questions and addressing concerns. My how things change! Last week, my day started out with my alarm clock going off around 7am. (a hungry baby crying for her bottle) I then decided to take my work outside to the front porch. There I sat, feeding my newborn baby and sipping on a glass of ice tea. A warm summer morning breeze was blowing and dew drops were still on the blades of grass in my front lawn. A cardinal was perched in the tree and a chipmunk was running through the mulch. Across the street my neighbor was wearing a straw hat and landscaping his side yard. Ah yes, now this was the perfect morning! I love that life has slowed down for me to enjoy little moments like these. It's days like this that I am reminded of how grateful I am that God is in control and not me, that He knows what is best for me and that my life is going according to His plan and not my own. I thought I had it all figured out, that I had a 5 day, 5 month, 5 year plan and that I was happy. That was before giving my life completely to him. Wow! What a difference it has made.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. - Jeremiah 29:11

Out and About

Hey everybody, it's Jacey! My brothers aren't here this week so I thought I'd steal the show. Now that I'm getting a little older, Mommy and Daddy have been taking me out to see the world! Friday night, I went to my very first strawberry festival. There really wasn't a whole lot to do there but Mommy insisted on taking me for an hour and fifteen minute drive just to get a picture of me in some dress that she bought before I was even born! Well, here it is folks. You can see how excited I was to be there. I guess I did look pretty darn cute huh?

Saturday I was a big city girl as Mommy and I went downtown Indianapolis to my cousin Sarah's graduation. She's a graphic designer and made me some super fun note cards with my name on them! Sarah says that I'm her little princess in training. I guess I might as well learn from the best:)

This is my cousin Halley, she's a soccer star! Mommy says that she will show me how to do my hair and makeup when I get older.

And this is my Aunt Alyce. Isn't she pretty? Mommy has looked up to her since she was a little girl. She says that she is very smart and talented and that I will want to be just like her.

My cousin Steph and Uncle Steve were there too but they were busy mingling and somehow we didn't get a picture with them. Maybe next time.

After the graduation, Mommy and I went to see the girls in her Life Group. My friend Jani was there but Brayden and Josh had stayed home. Bummer, I really wanted to see them. We were celebrating my new friend Zack which is suppose to join us sometime in the next couple of weeks. Then baby Russell will be here in November. Her Mommy isn't telling us her name just yet but I'm already excited to meet her. I just know that we are going to have so much fun together playing dress up and having tea parties.

Well, I'm starting to get hungry so I better sign off and let the parents know that it's time for my bottle. Trust me, it won't take them long to figure it out. Mommy says that the neighbors usually know when its time for me to eat. I hope you all have a fantastic week! Love, Jacey