Love is patient, Love is kind..." -1 Corinthians 13:4

Today was a good day.

My mom, Dannika, and the Yubeta family all went to church together.

It was simply amazing.

Today's sermon was amazing.

"Discovering the Key to a Powerful Walk With God"

**Pray to know and show His love**

**Expect a CHALLENGE**

"Love never fails..." -1 Corinthians 13:8

It was about LOVE <3...unconditional love...love your enemies...love your friends...love your family...love God...

as much as He loves us.

Without love we are nothing. 

 

It was such a fitting sermon for me in my life right now.

I have found it extremely difficult to love some of people in my life.

I am going to try a little harder to love the people that are the hardest to love...

No...there may not be reconciliation...

and yes...I'll probably fail a few times...lots of times...

But I can always love. 

Going to church makes me miss Texas...

So thanks mom and dad...

For forcing me to get up every Sunday...

Rain or shine...

In sickness and in health...

For better or for Worse...

To go to church.

 

After church, I took my mom to Laguna Beach for lunch, then afterwards, we spent the day relaxing at home.

We did take Dannika outside to run around a little to wear her out.

I got some cute pics.

And no, I'm no professional photographer (by any means), but this is my attempt with my DSLR.

Not bad for someone who is just figuring out the ins and outs of shooting on manual.

No day is complete without a temper tantrum/meltdown

ANYWHERE CHAIR! and Storytime!

I LOVE LOVE LOOOOVE....

Having my mommy out here :-)

We had a pretty lazy day today.

We did make a trip to Marshall's and the mall

Nick and I wanted to get Dannika the Pottery Barn Kids hybrid polka dot anywhere chair...in pink of course.

My mom decided to get it for Dannika as an early Easter gift...

She LOVES LOVES LOOOOVES it...

Thanks Gigi for saving me 140 dollars~! 

She is singing to worship music in this pic!

LASTLY...

Dannika LOVES her Gigi...

more than I thought...

Reading stories together...

This picture makes me laugh cause my mom accidentally hit her in the eyeball with her book. She didn't cry. She insisted that Gigi read her book to her...squinty, red. teary eyes and all!

GiGi is Here!!!

"GiGi" is what my mom refers to herself because she is OBVIOUSLY too young to be a grandma....judge for yourself...

Dannika ABSOLUTELY LOVES her Gigi.

In fact, as soon as they saw each other at the airport yesterday, Dannika has been inseparable from her Gigi.

As for me...

Thank God for mommies!

As soon as she landed, she treated Dannika and I to dinner...

She did some grocery shopping for us...

And as soon as we got home (before she even unpacked), she cleaned my fridge and reorganized my kitchen!

This is just in the first 4 hours of her arrival!

She is like super mom and super "gigi".

My poor mom has bursitis in her shoulder from working out, so she has a hard time constantly picking Dannika up.

It doesn't help that Dannika wants her to hold her CONSTANTLY!

Today, we went out to lunch, and since Dannika is so intrigued by her newfound talent of WALKING...

After SHE was done eating (no one else was done eating...)...

She insisted on walking around...everywhere...

Well, when it was time to go, we had a torrential meltdown...

She wanted to play and run around...

Getting her into her carseat was a nightmare.

HOLY COW!!!!!!!

I was really going to lose my patience today...

But how can I???

Look at this angel!

She is quite the "fashionista"

putting her diaper away in the diaper genie..such a big girl.

Getting out of her car.

Newfound freedom...she can finally walk

We Have a Walker!

This weekend, Dannika became an OFFICIAL walker.

What I mean by that is, she refuses to really crawl anymore....she walks EVERYWHERE.

In fact, she is so proud of her new found skill that she hasn't taken a nap all weekend because she is so busy walking everywhere!

I am so thrilled, and I can finally breathe.

Nick and I were so worried that she had something wrong with her (even after being told there wasn't anything wrong....many many times).

She is still ahead of her peer group when it comes to talking, and that makes me happy.

She can make two word sentences, and she can identify objects when you ask her to bring them to you.

We can't wait till Nick gets back to see all her cool new tricks!

Just woke up

This her in her baby Converse sneakers.

Her Ecco Mary Janes

heaven's scenes...guarded by United States Marines...

 My morning  started out just like any other morning.

I gave Dannika her breakfast, and proceeded to check my Facebook and read my Yahoo news.

As I was scrolling through the news feed, I saw several Marines I know had posted RIP Jordan Stanton.

My heart stopped for what seemed like a minute when I saw it. 

I couldn't believe it, and I found myself buried in Google trying to find out if it was THE Jordan Stanton.

The Jordan Stanton that I met in 2008 at RSS Mission Viejo.

He was one of those "kids" that EVERY recruiter wants.

He was in great shape (in fact, I never saw that kid without a protein shake in his hand). 

He was smart.

He had drive and motivation.

He wanted to be in the infantry.

There was no other job he wanted.

And he was patriotic.

This is a word that most "kids" in Orange County don't even know what it means.

I was not his recruiter, but he was recruited out of the office I worked at. 

I enjoyed his presence in my office. 

He was your typical jock, but not cocky.

He had a quiet nature to him.

On several occasions I went with him to his high school with his recruiter.

He was popular.

Liked by just about everyone.

While in boot camp, he was chosen to become a member of the Marine Corps' Silent Drill Platoon.

He had the look.

He kindly declined the offer though because he didn't want to miss "the fight".

In fact, even long after he had left for boot camp and had became a Marine...

I would have random people come in the office just to ask about him and see how he was doing.

I found out that he had tried out to go Recon.

I couldn't see him doing anything else.

He was among the elite just as a Marine, but he made it into an even smaller group of elite Marines in the Corps.

He loved tattoos. 

Even after myself and a few other recruiters told him to lay off on them (for the sake of his career in  the future as a Marine), he didn't listen :-)

He just smiled and said ok.

So Corporal Jordan Stanton...

If you're reading this from heaven.

I want you to know that I am eternally grateful for your sacrifice. 

I am honored that I had the chance to meet you, even if it was just for a short while.

If the Army and the Navy ever look on heaven's scenes,

They will find the streets are guarded by,

United States Marines...

Rest In Peace,

Semper Fidelis.