Saturday, August 29, 2009

Just relaxing....

Didn't really do much today.....lots of lounging around in our comfy clothes ;)



Miss A hanging out with Dad on the deck.....and of course trying to take her bow out


While Jer and I were watching a movie the other night, I decided to get some things out and play...this is the finished product. Jer says it's too girly :)





Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Park Play

Ryan and I took the three girls to the park last week......I love dressing them alike :)

OK....do you see the scrunchy on Grace's leg....she is starting a new trend....



This is how Miss A sucks her thumb :)



My three little angels


"scoot closer so I can get a picture".....sigh



Faith loves sleeping with her hair braided so that it is wavy the next day :) My 80s girl



Addi slept most of the time we were at the park.....Grace said that she needed her giraffe to sleep. This is the giraffe the girls bought for her when I was pregnant




Way too tired to type

So here are some pics........

We celebrated Grumpy's bday at our house. We had so much fun.....family, friends, good food, and relaxation....hmmmm...where's Grumpy?


Absolutely refusing to let me take a birthday pic :)


Yes Uncle Daniel...that is exactly what she needs....blue icing!!


Yep we had a long night :) Ya know....a sugar rush night



Watching Baby Einstein


Just got back from Tulsa, Austin and Houston...so I am going to crash :)
Will post more later


Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Still Learning

(I have been thinking about how i should start this blog....so I am just going to jump right in).

Six years ago today was my Dad's funeral. It is true, time does help....but it ABSOLUTELY does not heal. This year has been hard for me. I have so many things I want to share with him and ask him about. I think one reason it has been tough is because I have no distractions this year. So instead of finishing off the rest of the brownies, I decided to let my Dad do what he did best....teach me! I pulled the envelope that holds all of his sermons out of my bedside table and started reading. This is the one I pulled out......and of course, it is exactly what I needed.

..........................

"I offer you a role model, who at an early age determined the path he wanted to follow.

What God can do with just one person

Josiah became king of the nation of Judah when he was eight years old. A pretty intimidating place for a young boy. But young Josiah set a direction for his life that would change a nation.

it says that as a child "He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walking the ways of his father David." He chose to follow the example of his godly ancestor.

When he was sixteen years old, "he began to seek the God of his father David." This seems to indicate that he was seeking a personal relationship with God.

At the age of twenty he put his faith into practice. He purged the nation of the idols and pagan images which had polluted its soul. This was not a real popular thing to do, but the resolve of this young king was unshaken.

God wasn't finished with Josiah just yet.

At the age of 26, Josiah commissioned a massive restoration of the Temple in Jerusalem. During this work a priest found the book of Deuteronomy. When Josiah read this book he torn his robe in personal repentance.

He pledged his personal obedience by saying he would "follow the Lord and keep his commands, regulations and decrees with all his heart and all his soul". "As long as he lived, they did not fail to follow the Lord".

If this young king could be here today I think he would challenge our young people and the rest of us to take these three actions.

First: ask God to make your life significant, no matter your age.

Josiah was only eight when he became king of Judah. Bill Gates wrote his computer program when he was 13. On the other hand Moses was 80 when he led Israel out of Egypt, and Joshua was 80 when he led the people into the Promise Land. It is never too soon or too late to ask God to use your life for something significant.

Second: ask God to make your life significant, no matter your circumstances.

Josiah's father had just been assassinated and he finds himself in charge of a nation on the edge of extinction, but this young man saved his nation by the power and grace of God.

Nearly half of our nation's 20.7 million middle and high school students drink alcohol every week. Alcohol-related car crashes kill nine teenagers everyday. 2,000 teenagers commit suicide every year. And for every suicide, there are 350 failed attempts (700,000).

But, young people, you don't have to become what your world is. Like Josiah, you have a choice. you can ask God to make your life significant, no matter how much pressure our society puts on you, no matter how unpopular righteousness is.

To lead the orchestra, you must turn your back on the crowd. Make that choice.

Third, ask God to make your life significant, until it is done.

You are not finished serving God until he calls you home.

Bill Graham was asked what about heaven he looked forward to the most. Dr. Grahams answer was that he looked forward to sitting down and talking to Jesus. He was then asked, what do you think he will say to you? His reply was that Jesus would say to him, You should have done more."

If Billy Graham should be doing more, I'm in serious trouble. But as long as he has this attitude he will never stop trying to do the job that God has set before him.

My prayer today is that God would raise up another Josiah among us today."

........................

I am so grateful that my Dad was able to make his life significant. He said that it use to be a "Leave it to Beaver" world and now it is a "Beavis kind of world" (ya know...beavis and ....). I can only imagine what he would think 6 short years later. He constantly showed me how to not get sucked into this "Beavis world". How to be significant by turning your back on the crowd. All of his lessons were taught by example.

I didn't really get it until this day 6 years ago. To hear all the stories and see all the people that he changed......just by being a small town man that followed God. He never stopped doing the job that God set before him.

The path that my Dad followed has shaped me into the mother, sister, daughter, wife and friend that I am today. Most importantly, his path as made me the "starting to try harder" Christian that I am today.

God knew that I would listen to my Dad......I really needed to read this tonight!

There has been so much good come out of my Dad's death. I am sincerely grateful that God allows me to see those things.

I am still learning from my Dad's words, actions and spirit.

I hope I didn't cut the sermon too short. :) I just really wanted to share this.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

A day in the life...

a little shopping bag time.....




lots of "nap" time in my boppy....





and of course a little pool (when Daddy isn't looking) :)




Jer and I took Ryan out for dinner a couple of nights ago. He has been helping out so much around the house. I have been trying to get more pics of the adults lately :)


Has anyone read "the shack"? Mom gave it to Jer for his birthday last year, so I decided to pick it up. I am officially in a "black hole" of depression. For some reason I catch myself skipping entire paragraphs just to finish it. Maybe the book is horrible or maybe the book touches on things I need to hear......whatever the situation, I can't wait to finish it and lock it away somewhere. Anyways, I am contemplating somethings I would like to share.....maybe tomorrow :)

Monday, August 3, 2009

You have got to be joking!

So last night our neighbor from a few houses down came banging on our door. He asked if a white pickup just left our house.

Come to find out, he caught a guy running out of our garage with stuff in his hands and then he jumped in a white truck. We were in the process of moving things around upstairs, so Jer's truck was full of furniture and the garage was up. The guy kept saying that he threw something down.

We couldn't find anything missing until Jer asked Ryan to look in the fridge. Yep, they stole two cases of beer. Are you joking!!!! We all search with flashlights and found the cold, full beer can he dropped while he was running out of the garage.

OK, I know times are tough...... but leave us alone. We don't live in a scary neighborhood. In fact it is a nice and "safe" cul-de-sac. What the heck is going on!!!! What if I had walked outside while they were in the garage? Hopefully they would have just run.....but no offense...if you are stupid enough to steal beer from people that are clearly home and going in and out constantly......

Anyways, I am more pissed off than scared. We, us and a few neighbors, are going to start the process of trying to get a gate put on our little street for privacy. (They did it for Bush) Our HOA is just our little street....12 houses...so I really hope it won't be a problem.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

More Diving Pics

Rebeca and Jim (the couple we met scuba diving) emailed me the pics she had on her camera. I look terrified in some, so I didn't post them all :)


This is when we were swimming back to the boat.


We had just jumped in the water

Just waiting.....

That is my "I'm going to die" smile.





Saturday, August 1, 2009

Here I Come!!!!!

First I have to check my mirrors....



Watch out......here I come!


Miss A is getting along very well these days.....today I noticed that she takes little breaks by resting on her side. Jer says she's just chillin' :)


By the way, belly rolls are the new six pack.....trust me!










She loves loves loves standing up! It is coming way too soon in my opinion.




You seriously have to watch your toes around her.....her little teeth are sharp!






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