Psalm 118:24 was read aloud several times over at church on Sunday morning and rattled around in my head throughout the day:
This is the day that the Lord hath made.
We will rejoice and be glad in it.
Indeed, it was a weekend full of rejoicing. Â Because…Easter! Â And sunshine! Â And this sweet kid’s 7th birthday!
We spent Saturday morning at the Rusts’, ringing in Isaiah’s 7th. Â There were lawn games and presents and pizza and popsicles. Â And smiles. Â This! Boy’s! Smiles!
Happy birthday, Bups!
Post-party, Shane and Juliette went on a 1.5-hour bike ride while I wandered the aisles of Target in blissful solitude.  I expected Juliette to be antsy and tugging at her bike helmet by the time they got back as she’s never spent more than 30 minutes in the bike seat, but this girl was such a good sport.  It seems she’s cherishing Daddy-Jules time more than ever.
I hated to spend the day’s last few sun rays indoors, so Juliette and I took a stroll through the Greenbelt before dinner – this little patch of woods has become our go-to when we want a nature-fix.
The birds seemed particularly exuberant that evening – one jay (?) had Juliette a bit spooked with his extra-loud calls.
Eh…no worries!
There are times when I open up a photo I’ve taken and my stomach flip-flops at the sight of how grown-up and lovely this girl has become.  Hard to believe she’s only three.  And yet hard to believe she’s already three!
We ushered in Easter Sunday with pastries at Cafe Besalu, sensing God’s goodness in the form of buttery croissants and rich coffee.
After church, we headed over to Discovery Park to do some exploring with the Rusts.
The woods were bursting with bright, bright green, poignantly heralding signs of new life.
After a few wrong turns, we finally landed down at the beach, where we muddied our shoes and flipped over rocks in search of crabs.
Jules and I hung tight in this driftwood fort while Shane trekked back uphill to get the car.
We all snoozed through much of the afternoon and then woke up rearing to go again. Â I hid a few eggs out back for Juliette to find and loved watching her react like she’d won the jackpot every time she cracked one open.
She quickly amassed all 15 jelly beans, looking into her bucket with bright-eyed wonder and exclaiming, “I think I have a thousand jelly beans, Mommy!”. Â I put together a grander basket this year as the ultimate prize, stuffing it with art supplies and a new doll.
We headed over the Rusts’ again that evening for an egg hunt with the bigger kids. Â I was glad Juliette had gotten her own private hunt at home, because she didn’t stand a chance against these rascals!
The boys were actually pretty great about sticking to their 10-egg limit and leaving the easy-to-find ones for their kid sister.
We feasted on roast chicken and then let the kids run off their jelly bean high.  Isaiah was kind enough to share his birthday walkie-talkies with Juliette, who spent 15 straight minutes jabbering into the thing without letting him get a word in edgewise.
Sometimes rejoicing comes so very naturally – my heart is full. Â Thanks be to God.