Father's Day 2013...

Alex arrived home from Costa Rica on Friday afternoon.
He has been sharing stories all weekend and I've been in tears listening.
He left part of his heart in Costa Rica.
He really loved visiting with the local pastors and their children.
Despite the language barrier - a pastor's heart for the lost and for his flock is the same.
That was evident in the conversations Alex had with these pastors.
Amelia and Sydney picked out bags of candy for the kiddos there
and Alex gave it all to the pastor's kids.
I love that and can't wait to take our girls some day to meet them!

We made some signs, put on our "Daddy makes us smile" t-shirts, 

and headed to the airport to surprise him on Friday!  

This was Amelia's first time in an airport. 

Everything amazed her.

I look forward to taking her on her first plane ride!

We sat down at a restaurant in the airport to wait for Alex's flight to arrive. 

Amelia wanted to watch the planes land.  

Sydney was near meltdown mode but hung in there, once I ordered her a lemonade. 

No clue what this face means but it makes me laugh.

Here comes Daddy!!

He might have started running once he saw us. 

They were both really happy to see Daddy!  

Sydney would take one step back every time a bag would drop. 

She wasn't impressed with the shiny, round thing that went in circles.

Daddy was pretty excited to see his girls.

Amelia asked him to bring home a monkey from Costa Rica.

She got a wooden monkey whistle.

Sydney's is a toucan whistle. 

They loved everything he brought back.

I helped with a ladies luncheon on Saturday.

Mama and I helped make the food and serve the ladies at my sister's church.

I was thinking Alex could stay home and catch up on his sleep - 

he was exhausted from his trip.

But he insisted on coming with us!  It gave us a lot of time to talk in the car which I loved. 

He watched Sydney at the hotel while Amelia and I were at the church.

Joy shared on hospitality by demonstrating some of her yummy recipes

and then spoke on trusting/praising God through all seasons in life.

She did a great job!

It was a quick trip but it's always a treat to spend time with my Mama and sisters. 

We gave Daddy his gift on Saturday evening. 

He asks Amelia to run in and get a plate for the food EVERY TIME he grills. 

So we made him a special plate to use when grilling.

I love how it turned out.

Sweet kisses.

They love their Daddy.

We gave Daddy his cards on Sunday morning.

It played music and had Amelia's voice saying, 

"Happy Father's Day, Daddy, we love you!"

I tried to get Sydney to talk 

but she just smiled at the card every time I pushed the record button. 

After the 35th try - I gave up. (LOL)

Sunday morning before church.

This picture makes me smile so big.

I wasn't the only one who waited for three years to be a parent. 

He waited too.  

And he doesn't take one day with these girls for granted.

He knows just how important it is for our 

girls to have a healthy relationship with their Dad.

How important it is for him to spend TIME with them.

I was reading this article yesterday and there are SO MANY of 

these things that Alex puts into practice with our daughters. 

He's winning their hearts early. 

I couldn't ask for a better father for our girls!

Neither of our Dads were in town on Sunday 

so we had lunch with my Uncle and Aunt after church.  

We always love our time with them. 

Alex chose Big Orange for dinner and then we came home, 

bathed the girls, and we were all in bed pretty early!

Alex leaves town tomorrow but only for one day. 

I'm counting down the days until vacation.

We need it!

Love to all,