show and tell Tuesday, Favorite Pictures

I'm linking up with Andrea from Momfessionals for this post.

I couldn't pass up this link up when I saw the title: favorite pictures.  Y'all know I love a good picture and some memories that go along with it.

Also, I have been scrolling through pictures, because I need to provide some of my son who is about to graduate from high school.  Insert all the crying face emojis here.

Anyway, here are my favorites.

It's kinda blurry, and my hair is all over my face, which makes it weird, but when this was taken we were on a ferry on the North Atlantic Ocean headed to the Westman Islands in Iceland.  On this day, the ocean was unusually rough and choppy, and at this point, we were still on an inlet, not even away from the dock yet.  And I was ALREADY getting very, very seasick.  About two minutes after this, apparently this look came over my face, because Mike, the missionary who lives over there, saw the look I had and he and Todd rushed me and his wife Sheila down the very bottom level of the boat.  They had these bunk rooms where sick people could go, and oddly enough, once I got down there with  cool towels on my face, I started to feel better and slept the majority of the trip, which took FOUR HOURS.  We still laugh about it.  We were on a mission trip for about nine days there in Iceland.

Goodness!  I am fairly certain that this picture was taken on the last day of school that I let them all skip.  We love to swim with my mom in love when it's not too hot, and this was at the pool in her neighborhood.  We had it all to ourselves, because it was cool on this day, and they probably swam for thirty minutes before we went back to her house.  I love days like this, all these years later, but they don't happen all that often anymore.

These two have always been the best of friends, and I am so glad they have such a great relationship.  This was the summer of 2009, so Drew (left) was eight and Graham was nine.  Shouldn't they still be this little?

This was also the summer of 2009, back in the day when we spent all our free time at the baseball fields.  Graham and Drew played baseball during this time, and Jonah and Noah played t-ball, but only played once a week or so.  Graham and Drew had multiple games every week, so we were literally always here.  I would pack a picnic and we would eat dinner here after a day of swimming, usually, so these two would crash the second we got home.  They were six here.  Look how tan they already were, and it was only June.

They lined up, on their own, from left to right in the correct order of birth.  I just thought that was funny.  On nice mornings, in the summer, I would be looking for the boys and I'd find them right here, on the back patio.  They would get their breakfast and come sit out here and eat almost every single morning.  And y'all, I am not kidding when I say that Jonah has been cleaning off this deck since he was a little bitty thing, like he is here in this picture.

He loves eating outside.

Oh, this picture.  Taken two Christmases ago, when I had to wear that walking boot for the stress fracture I had in my foot for eight weeks.  I distinctly remember laughing so hard as Todd took this picture of all of us, and Drew isn't smiling, but he and Graham were cracking me up.  Drew has a smirk on his face here, which is what he does when he's trying to stop laughing.  This pretty much sums up our whole lives.  They always make me laugh.  I love being a boy mom!

Last, but not least, is my favorite picture of my best friend Christa and me.  This was the day before her wedding, which was the most worshipful wedding I have ever been to.  She's been on my brain a lot in the last few days.  We talked on the phone for a long time on Friday of last week, and have texted on and off since then.  I really miss her.  We used to pray together all the time, which is why we are so close, and why I'm so close to my sweet Abbey, whom I pray with every week now.  Also, Christa and Abbey are like the same people.

I'm going to insert (again) here how much I strongly recommend finding a prayer partner.  My friend Denise taught me the value of this, and so have a few other women ahead of me in years (and in their faith), and I am so thankful for how they all encouraged me in this.  When you pray with someone, you're basically your most vulnerable with them.  They totally see your heart and they know about your struggles, your ups, and your downs.  There have been days when both Christa and Abbey have seen me do the ugly cry, because I so often bawl my eyes out while I pray.  I am not that open with many people, and I can count on one hand the people who've seen me do that.  If this appeals to you, pray about it!  Ask God to give you someone to pray with every single week, and I promise you, He will work out every detail.  He knitted my heart together with Christa years ago, and He has done that in more recent years with Abbey.  This is why the ones you pray with are often your very best friends.

And just for fun, here's me with Abbey back when we traveled across the country together to the Navajo Reservation in Arizona.  Please excuse the way we look.  No makeup, bad hair.

And again when we served together last summer at Street Reach.

I love all the pictures.  I'll stop now, though, because I have such a busy day!  My family is coming over tonight to celebrate my dad's 86th birthday, which is tomorrow.  I have a full list of things I need to accomplish before then.  So, thanks for reading my rambling on and on.

Love to all!