PHFR/TT: Kind Hearts

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~ 



It's been awhile since I joined Like Mothers, Like Daughters for a Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real post. I'm glad I put this little number together. This past weekend, our Family Bible Study took our, now, annual Fall weekend trip. It was nothing short of absolutely wonderful! Our friends and all their children have been such blessings to our little family. So, a weekend away with these lovely families is always so much fun!

We've started going to a farm house in a nearby town where our friend from bible study grew up. His mother has been such a gift in sharing her beautiful home! She has just enough rooms and space for all of us and all 20 kiddos. You can imagine the fun the kids get to have getting to be together for a whole weekend, and it is just as much fun and very refreshing for us adults too!

{Pretty} Seeing how this all wouldn't be possible without our friends' mother and her beautiful home, I thought I'd share just a glimpse of how beautiful it truly is! I honestly feel like we are all on a retreat for families.

I took this same photo the first time we went. Love this stone! The kind hearts that we have met in all our friends definitely make our little world a better place!

So much space! Beautiful grass and trees! And, an incredibly gorgeous grotto for the Holy Family. 

Here's the angel at the entrance of the grotto. The little roses placed everywhere are from the kids. They left the angels and the Holy Family little sweet gifts. I'll add this picture to Theme Thursday as well as another below. Statues are always cold to the touch to me and the theme is cold. I really like the way this picture came out and, being I live in Texas, I don't have any fun, wintery/fall weather to capture. So, this works! 

Beautiful statue of the Holy Family covered with roses and petals. It was pretty beautiful to watch the kids do this. And the fact that they got to just hang out and play around here. 

Beautiful roses.

Oh, and the stones on the fence each have an image for the Stations of the Cross. This was in the works the first time we went. We missed the second fall trip, so seeing this home surrounded by a beautiful prayer this time around was breathtaking! I'm telling you, family retreat! Blessing! Gifts! Pretty!

{Happy}
There were so many happy times while here. We had friends, kites, a trampoline, sliding, so much space to run, swinging, a gator to ride, basketball hoop, cows to look at, and so much more for the kids! For us adults we had each other, time to chat over delicious food and/or a good beer/wine, memories to make with the littles, prayer, Aggie football and tons more too!

Mid-morning coffee for me, Linus napping on me in the sling, while the kiddos were enjoying the grotto, a kite on a windy day, and bike-riding.

Gator time with Dadas!

Also, Bigfoot was definitely pretty happy for all the fun time he got to spend with the big guy on the right!

Dada was everywhere to have fun with!

For the boy who loves all things sports, this place was AWESOME! I'll also add this picture to Theme Thursday. The theme is cold, and since this is Texas, this is about as cold as we have right now. We have hoodie weather in the shade and feel good in the sun. Wonder if we'll get some snow this year? Excited to find out! Thanks, Mary Kate for hosting!!

First time on a bike with training wheels!

So much ground to cover and a Dada, Mama, brother, or friend always around - best. time. ever!

I was happy to get a few pics in of me and the boys. Funny, I don't have too many pics of Linus this time around because he was usually with me.

But here's a good one. Probably the only one I have of him actually looking at the camera.

Swings!

First swing for Linus! He was smiling at first. Then he was just kind of hanging on.

This picture makes me happy. This face just melts me! How I love him and how he blesses us!

Family picture after Mass!

One more try for a family picture! One of these may just be for a Christmas card. Haven't decided yet. Any thoughts?

{Funny}
So, the funniest thing to me was the fact that my oldest gave each daddy an unexpected workout. Pretty sure he had almost every dada carrying him to this very rim. 

I saw workout because my toddler isn't exactly light.

Haha. And, the rim isn't exactly short. When you get to lifting our toddler above your head you can guarantee you will be feeling it the next day.

All the daddys were generous. Thank you, friends! But, no daddy got the workout that this one did. Bigfoot was all over the place and was loving having his dada along for the journey.

Haha! This gem was minutes into our drive home. GeekMan and I just cracked up because we literally maybe had one brief conversation before I turned to ask Bigfoot for his input only to find he was knocked. out! Evidence of a great time!

{Real}
These friends that we spend time with, the ones that I call amazing blessings, are definitely that and so much more. One family thought it would be nice to have a family rosary at the grotto Saturday afternoon. I have no words for how special it is to be able to gather with so many friends with all their beautiful kiddos to sit and pray such a beautiful prayer.

Bigfoot chose a stick to pray with. Life just isn't the same without sticks for this little guy.

Gathering.

Our sweet boy.

Same sweet boy with his stick during prayer.

Beautiful friends that are real gifts. They have all been inspiring in so many ways and definitely all help our little family strive for holiness and union with our Lord. Their examples of holy marriages and amazing love for Our Savior has shared with us an encounter with God that makes my heart and soul feel so happy, loved, and nourished.

This sweet picture is of Bigfoot and Linus. At one point they were both sitting with me during the rosary. It was sweet. It was beautiful. It was precious. A memory I will always remember. 

I know this isn't exactly every day life, but it was what our everyday was over the weekend and there was such an abundance of contentment in that weekend I had to share. And, I guess since we meet for Family Bible Study every Thursday, this contentment can be found in our little family every week at the very least.

Thank you, Lord, for being so sweet to our little family!

And, thank you for stopping by! Go on over to Like Mother, Like Daughter for more happiness!