Schaefer Family Adventures: March 2021

Last month seems like ages ago.  I’m getting this blog post out a little later than I normally do because the past month has been so busy! Between all the various engagement sessions we’ve had (click HERE), visits from friends and family for my birthday, and then the preparations for Easter, we had a very full March.

I began the month with a weekend silent retreat.  I was hesitant to go, thinking that I wouldn’t be able to handle the silence. Being a mom of little kids and running a business, my life is very busy and very noisy. It took me about 24 hours to settle in and get comfortable with the silence and loads of prayer time. But oh my, was it so needed.  It was a beautiful time to sit, pray and talk with God. It was the perfect time to think about the past 30 years and how much the Lord has blessed me; in joy and sorrow, He has been there.  It was the perfect way to kick off my birthday month!

Speaking of my birthday, Matthew planned the most amazing birthday weekend for me! I surprisingly don’t have any photos from it…..I just lived it, eyes wide open, soaking it all in!  It all began with my dear friend flying in and surprising me! I was SO surprised to see her and it was such a gift to spend the whole weekend with her!  The next day I got to go out to brunch with my two closest friends from college. We hadn’t been in the same room for a good 3-4 years so it was so lovely to catch up! My family came into town and my kids had a blast playing with their aunts and uncles!

That evening, we had an engagement session in Pittsburgh (little did I know all the preparations that were going on during this session!) Matthew told me we would be going on a date after the shoot, so I brought a nice dress with me to change in to. We then headed back to Steubenville to go out to dinner, but Matthew told me he was a tad tired, so he wanted to stop at Leonardo’s to grab a coffee.  I thought this was odd, since he could order a coffee at the restaurant, but I just followed him into the coffee shop. The barista told me to go upstairs and when I got to the top of the stairs, there was a room of smiling people saying…..surpise!! Friends and family from all parts of my life were there for a surprise 30th birthday for me! I was shocked!!

Matthew pulled off the most amazing surprise party! There were all my favorite kinds of food, drinks and dessert. He had live musicians playing all of my favorite songs. Towards the end of the evening, they invited Matthew and me to come up and dance. They played our first dance song from our wedding, Heaven’s Knife by Josh Garrels. It was so amazing to walk around the room and talk with all the people there.  I was overwhelmed with such love and gratitude!  It was the best birthday ever! The perfect way to kick off a new decade of life!

We ended the month with preparations for Holy Week and Easter.  We also enjoyed some unseasonably warm days and spent many of them outside just soaking in the sunshine. It was a really wonderful month and I am so thankful for all the family and friends that made it possible! Especially Matthew, he really hit it out of the park!

Here are a few snapshots of moments throughout March!

xoxo,

Laura