A precious friend sent us a gift telling us that the next time we went to La Paz,
to take our family out to eat at our favorite restaurant.
Yesterday, we had to go once again as we're working on renewing my visa, so after a long drive and some time waiting while Mommy went into the immigration office, Daddy pulled into a parking lot and told the children about this gift and asked them where they wanted to go. We pretty much figured they'd say one of two things...either pizza or McDonalds.
Most of the younger ones wanted McDonalds because of the play place.
You have to understand what a treat McD's is. There are only 3 of them in our entire state, and we normally only go a couple times a year. And then, it is always the same routine. Mommy takes all the kiddos over to the play area while Daddy orders 30 or so dollar menu items and the boys bring in some bottled water.
But yesterday, before we got out of the van, Daddy explained that due to the generosity of the gift, the children could choose whatever they would like to eat.
You should have seen their faces!
Timothy said, "You mean something other than the dollar menu?"
To which Daniel replied, "Maybe something with fries and a drink."
To which 3 or 4 children said, "You mean we can pick a soda??!!"
To which 3 or 4 children said, "You mean we can pick a soda??!!"
Yep, that pretty much made their week.
The little ones of course wanted Happy Meals.
The older ones picked some sort of hamburger or chicken sandwich with fries and a drink.
It took us forever and a day to order,
but that's okay.
It's not something they do everyday.
And it's something they'll remember for a long time.
Play time, praying to thank the Lord for the food and to bless the dear friend that gave,
eating, playing some more while mommy, daddy, and the older ones visited,
and then daddy saying we had enough left over to get a bit of dessert.
Such a special gift. It reminds me of how good the Lord is to us. How He delights in giving us so many good things.
Sometimes, we miss them. We get "spoiled" and when those special blessings come from above, we don't even notice.
I love how my children get excited over the "little" things in life.
Their joy is contagious!
The Lord has given us so many "little" things each day to enjoy.
Are we thankful? Do we take His abundant blessings for granted?
The joy, faith, unconditional love and forgiveness of a child.
Humble and trusting.
Full of joy.
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| Playing table football with pesos while waiting. |
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| Look, Mom! I can start and end the slide at the same time :-) |
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| Rule number 1, Timothy....Only children under 4 may enter Rule number 3- Take off your shoes Rule number 6- All children should be supervised by an adult :-) |
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| Definitely his father and mother's child |
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| See what I mean? |
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| Now you know where they get it from :-) |
How precious, and what a blessing! Thank you for sharing:)
ReplyDeleteI know exactly what you mean when you say it's a treat for everyone to get their own soda :-) What a blessing to know the Lord is watching over you in big ways and small ways through dear friends. What a treat indeed!!
ReplyDeletehugs~Cinnamon
This post made me smile. God is good!
ReplyDeleteHow lovely for you all. Your family is so precious. Love from England x
ReplyDeleteyour family has a McDonalds in your state thats cool while i have a McDonalds in usa, going to get the letter mailed out on friday and hopes its there in two weeks i wish i can meet your family.
ReplyDelete-Brittani.b
My youngest son would ask to go to McD's because of the play area, the slide specifically, but to tease him I would say "Are you hungry?" It was like he didn't know they had food there, he just wanted to slide! You are good parents for not trying to convince them to go some where more appealing to you. ;o)
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun treat! :) It looks like everyone is healthy again, and having a great time. Your pictures just make me smile. :) (And, I would probably be giving my ice cream the same look as you are!! ;) )
ReplyDeleteHey girl, I e-mailed you ome time ago----hopefully your heart i not troubled ith me. ure love you and think of you often!! much love Kimberly
ReplyDeleteThis just blessed me so much that I read it out loud to my husband. I just love the sweet spirit of your family. And the photos, they are a blast too!
ReplyDeleteBlessings!!!!
I'm late with reading your update!!!! But how fun to get such a special treat!!!! I had to laugh about the father/mothers child thing:) You guys are so funny
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic treat! We were recently given a gift certificate for a sit-down restaurant for the whole family. That will be a lot of fun for us. Pizza Hut is normally as close as we get to this type of restaurant, and that is only very rarely. Restaurants aren't very convenient for families of 15, right?
ReplyDeleteLooks like you guy had a great time, as you always do at everything. :)
Love to you, my quiet friend. And no poptart talk, even. Good for you!
This post made my heart happy:-) Your children just seem so tenderhearted and sweet. You have a beautiful family Jaynee!!
ReplyDeleteI love to hear about how people are blessed! It is also a blessing to me to get a perspective view of thankfulness. We have been in a tight financial situation where we don't go out to dinner at Olive Garden or Chili's anymore, but we can do Mc D's. The kids get Happy Meals and are happy with that. But I believe they do take it for granted. To hear about your children's utter joy at getting to order a Happy Meal to themselves just makes me put things into perspective! I will enjoy sharing this post with my kids and discussing thankfulness.
ReplyDelete