Two Holidays In One!

Today, I'm wishing my Dad, Grandpa, Uncles, Friends, any and every dad out there a very happy Father's Day! I love my Dad, and I'm so blessed to have him! We had a wonderful day, and my dad even got to go so a movie he wanted to see (Green Lantern) with my mom and sister, while I happily stayed home baking a cheesecake. :) He had fun, and then we spent the rest of our day at my grandparents house because in addition to being Father's Day, guess what else it was?

My Grandma's 62nd Birthday!

My grandma was actually born on a Father's Day, as well. She is so fun to be around, I love her, and I'm wishing her many more happy happy birthdays after this!

Today was a really great day for me. I just realize how blessed I am to have such wonderful family and friends! I love you guys!

Summer officially begins on Tuesday. Tomorrow is the last day of Spring! I'm a little sad, because I have to go back to school SO soon (August 10th!), but I'm just embracing every moment and living it to the fullest!

I so excited, because on Wednesday, my uncle, aunt, and 20 month old baby cousin, Hunter, are coming in for a week from Virginia! I've only ever seen my cousin twice (his first Christmas and his first birthday last October), and I didn't want anything to do with him. I was anti baby, seemingly anti everything for so long. I'm done with that! I'm a new me. I'm a changed person. I now realize that babies are precious gifts, and I can't wait to embrace every second of time I get to spend with Hunter.

I hope you all had wonderful days as well. Praying for you today!

Happy 25th Alex!

So Excited. Guess what today is? My big sister, Alex's, 25th birthday! Only... she's not technically my big sister. She's my best friend in the entire world's big sister. Same difference to me!

When I was 5 years old, I met my best friend Sabrina.It was the first day of Kindergarten, and we instantly connected.

I started going over to her house all the time. Alex was quite a few years older than us, but she always took the time to hank out with us. I remember being 8 years old watching cooking shows with Alex the living room while Sabrina watched cartoons (I was 8 going on 18).

I've always had the best times with Alex, and she has never treated me any different than she did Sabrina. Really, we are very close.

Last year, Alex married Ryan. They are the sweetest couple ever, and coming up on their first anniversary! June 5th!

I can vividly remember our sleepovers. They were the most fun thing ever! Alex would hang out with us, and include us in whatever she was doing. She would buy us hot chocolate from Starbucks. When she in college at California State, Sabrina and I used to come down and spend the night with her. Those were some fun times.

I totally look up to Alex. She's going to law school, happily married, a great sister at all times, and I can only hope I'll be as awesome as she is when I'm 25!

Miss ya and Love ya, girl! Happy, happy birthday! May you 26th year be the best one yet. :)



P.S: Happy Earth Day and Good Friday! (Busy day, huh?)

Birth Verse: Everyone has one. What's yours?

Just a few days ago I discovered this interesting website, called Birth Verse. Birth Verse is a book of 366 verses from 66 different books in the Bible.

All Scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. - 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Bob Harju is the creator of Birth Verse. He owned a greeting card company and he prayed for God to give him a new assignment. An employee at his greeting card company, Cindy James, was also praying for God's direction on a new assignment. She noticed that the chapters and verses in the Bible could easily correlate to months and days of the year.When they discovered that they were thinking the same thing, they new it was a sign from God and so they created the wonderful Birth Verse! 

"Aren't there a ton of Bible verses that correlate to my birthday?", your probably wondering. Yes, there are, but a team of special people made lists of all the verses for your birthday (For example, if your birthday is March 3rd, than your Birth Verse could be any chapter 3 verse 3 verse), then narrowed the lists down to just one verse unique to you (and all the other people who share your birthday!).

Once you find your Birth Verse, you can buy products with your verse on them! Bracelets, necklaces, cards, and key rings are all available to buy online.

My birthday is December 2nd, and my Birth Verse is: Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning it's shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. - Hebrews 12:2

Today's Birth Verse is: Therefore, as it is written: Let him who boasts boast in the Lord. - 1 Corinthians 1:31

Today is actually my Dad's birthday, so that's his Birth Verse. Happy Birthday Dad! 

I've only really seen a few of the 366 verses, but I can already tell what the focus is. Put your faith in the Lord, stay Faithful Always!

God Bless,

Sydney

What is your Birth Verse?

Happy Birthday to A Perfect Lily!

Isn't that just the sweetest face ever?! This precious baby, Lily Anne Rice, is turning one year old today! Happy Birthday Lily!

I've never met Lily, but I'm in love with her Mama's blog, A Perfect Lily. I came across Patti's blog a few months ago, and I've been obsessed ever since!

Lily was born with, as her Mommy says, "a magical extra chromosome." A Perfect Lily is Patti's blog of letters to Lily, who is her tenth child. She blogs about how she has felt throughout Lily's whole situation and diagnosis. Though Patti was scared before Lily was born, once she was here on Earth, Patti knew she was just perfect. Lily may have down syndrome, but she will never feel short on love.

A Perfect Lily is one of my favorite blogs. I check it daily for updates on sweet little Lily. The best part is that after almost every one of Patti's sweet, heartfelt messages to Lily, she posts pictures! There must be a thousand pictures of that beautiful little girl on A Perfect Lily.

Patti is a wonderful mom, woman, and servant to God. Even though I don't know her, I can just tell by the way she writes. Patti's other blog Notes from Home, is a blog about her entire family and their life. Notes from Home is great as well, and I love the music!

Lastly, we can't forget about Patti's daughter, Mackenzie's, blog to Lily. I just discovered oh, dearest lily bird a few days ago when I heard about it on Patti's blog. Mackenzie loves her sister Lily so much! Her words to Lily are so sweet. They just melt your heart.

In addition to her parents, 9 siblings, family, and friends who love Lily, she has someone else. Her heavenly Father. He will always be there for her because he loves her. He will always be with her family, as well. God will guide us through life, past the hardships, so we can embrace the wonderful things. Trust Him with your life, and let Him lead you, just as the Rice family has!

I wanted to post the most precious video of Lily's first year, but I have no idea how! Instead, I'll settle for posting a link. Click here to watch the video!
Don't forget to stop by and visit the Rice family at their awesome blogs!


A Perfect Lily

oh, dearest lily bird

Notes from Home

God Bless,

Sydney
P.S: On A Perfect Lily, Patti blogs a lot about some very special children on Reece's Rainbow, the International Down Syndrome Orphan Ministry. The stories of these children are heartbreaking, but there is definitely hope. Patti has raised thousands of dollars for 2 specific children on Reece's Rainbow: Olga and Kareen. Kareen is so blessed to have recently found a wonderful family. However, something has come up, and the family that wanted to adopt Olga had to back out.
Also, I can't forget about another baby on Reece's Rainbow, a boy named Peter. He is about to turn 4, and he is facing an institution. Patti has asked everyone to pray. Please pray for Kareen, Olga, Peter, and all the other precious children on Reece's Rainbow that are still in need of families. Thanks!

Visit Reece's Rainbow