Gabe is turning 13…

AAAAAGGGGHHHH another teen. I just say though, based on horror stories from friends and my childhood experiences, these dang kids are amazing.

Gabe. How shall I begin? He is FULL of passion. A zest for life like none other. He loves being the helpful one. Knowing how to fix something. Being able to resolve issues. He absolutely lives for it. And we are blessed by it and our lives enriched because of it.

He decided, long ago, that this birthday would involve gators. And boy did it… we went to Gator Land. And they legit have the most gators I have ever seen in my life, let alone one day. Albino gators, HUGE gators. Tiny cute baby gators. Salt water crocodiles too. It was amazing and the whole family had a blast.

OUR TINY BABIES DEMANDED TO SIT ON ONE. And without any fear they did. We later found out that TrūLee had overheard the gator handler making a joke where he told someone it was a robot gator and she immediately took that to be truth. She would not believe us when we said, over and over again, “no baby, you sat on a real live gator…” but none the less they all loved it.

Feast your gaze on the photos I took. :)

And remember - even though we know we love someone and would do anything for them, that doesn’t mean they know it or even believe it. Take the time to go OUT OF YOUR WAY to speak to them of this love and show them how real and pure it is. Self esteem is something the enemy constantly attacks. And a facet of that is believing that someone values you. If you don’t value you, it is hard to think others do.

So - TAKE THE TIME DAILY to say it, show it and prove it. It’s important.

Ok pics now. :)

ALL GATORS SEEN ARE REAL!

ALSO - it wouldn’t load them in the correct order… so they are out of whack. But hopefully still enjoyable.