A Neighborhood...finally

Our entire married life, we have lived in neighborhoods, but we have not ever known more than 1 or 2 neighbors. And not from complete lack of trying. Finally, after living here for one and a half years, we feel like we live in a neighborhood.

The neighbors who live behind us have a 4 year old boy who LOVES Kate. He is a sweet, sweet boy and Kate likes to play with him too. He was gone for a week visiting his dad and when we saw him the evening he got back, he ran over shouting "Kate!" Last weekend his mom and her boyfriend came over to just to visit with us for a bit. They are a little younger than us and we are enjoying building a relationship with them.

There is a family a couple of houses down from us with four kids. Kate and I have played with the kids outside a few times after school and their mom has sent dinner over for us just because she wanted to share. Last night the parents came over to have coffee with us. They stayed until after 11pm, clueless to the fact that we go to bed much earlier than that. But we wouldn't have thought to kick them out sooner.

The elderly couple across the wall from us give us much cause for concern. They should not be living on their own anymore and we are trying to figure out how we can help them make that decision. They have trouble driving, can't remember where they live, and often don't remember who we are. It's dangerous for them to be alone.

It's good to be in a place where people know you and you know them. We have people who notice if we are gone. We have people we want to get to know. We hang out randomly and without planning. We like to be able to share life with those around us.

Goat playdate

Josh's mom recently bought two baby milk goats who have been bottle fed since they were days old. They are tame and act more like puppies than goats. We went out to play with the goats with two of Kate's little friends.

Group hug!
Helping Jojo feed the baby goatPlaying with a puppy...I mean goat.
It's funny that for Kate playing with goats is a normal childhood activity. She gets distracted by rocks in the yard or a ball to throw for the dogs and doesn't realize that playing with goats is not something everyone gets to do. She likes them, for sure, and runs over and gives the goat a hug when she thinks of it. It's so fun to watch her!

A Wild Night Out on the Town

Last night two of my friends here in Kerrville took me out to celebrate my birthday. Our husbands were watching the kids, so it was to be a fun girls' night out. We thought we'd head to Fredericksburg for something different. As we were driving that way, though, we could see the dark clouds sitting over Fredericksburg and saw HUGE streaks of lightning. When we hit torrential rains, we decided to turn around and just eat in Kerrville so we were closer to home.

The storm followed us and it was flood-quality. As we were going down one of the main streets to the restaurant, the power flashed off and then back on. The wind picked up and was shaking the SUV we were in. Barely able to see the road, much less stay out of huge puddles on the road, we pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant and stopped to think through our options. The electricity had flashed off and on again and we were wondering if the restaurant even had power. The wind was shaking our car and the streets looked like they were flooding. In fact, we watched as bags of trash floated down the street outside.

We all called our husbands to check in and found out that Josh and Kylie's husband were without power. Sally's husband had power, so we realized it was not down all over town. When the rain let up just a bit, we decided to race to the restaurant and salvage our dinner out.

We ran through the flooded parking lot. I was in a dress and heels, Kylie was in heels, and Sally (who is pregnant) was in white pants. Not running-through-rain outfits. But we made it inside with minimal damage.

We had a great time at dinner. Good food, fun conversation, delicious dessert, and wonderful company. We enjoyed talking without having conversations interrupted by toddlers. By the time we left, the rain had stopped. The drive home was eerie and dark. No street lights were lit. Trees and branches were down everywhere. Kylie's and my houses were still without power and remained so until 1:30am.

What a night!

I am so thankful that my friends wanted to take me out to celebrate and so thankful they didn't bail for bad weather! We had quite the adventure together and a good stories to tell.

Thank you, Sally and Kylie, for your friendship and your sense of adventure!

Wildflowers

Portraits with Children

I love taking pictures of my Kate. Of course, it's a challenge to get a picture of her looking at me smiling because: 1) She doesn't understand "Look at the camera and smile" and 2) She's way too busy to stop and look at the camera and smile.

While I do get some good shots (out of 200 or something), I also get some like this:

Gotta love photographing a baby!

So I'm prone to think that when she gets older this will be much easier. Well, that's what I thought before this weekend. I helped Josh's cousin take some wildflower pictures of her girls. They were not in the mood for wildflower pictures.

This one cracks me up:

One sister wants to run around, one sister is doing diva poses.

Josh's cousin agreed that in some ways it's easier as they get older (they understand "smile") but in other ways it's harder (like having their own ideas for posing).

Still, every now and then you catch a sweet one...

Public Service Announcement

Be Advised

Please talk to your children about the dangers of texting while driving. It starts early.

Recent Happenings

I know it's been a while since I've updated. Lately I've had my nose the grindstone studying in any free moment I got. "Studying?" you say. Yes, Studying. A year and a half after graduating and 2 years after taking my last round of finals, I took another test.

Yesterday morning I passed the National Counselor Exam.

Whoop!

It was a hard test and took just over 2 hours. I was exhausted afterwards. But it's done and I passed and I don't have to study anymore!

That's some big news for our little family right now.

I'll post more with pictures and other fun stuff later.

Beautiful Girl

You are growing up so fast...







Love those eyes!

Blogging for Books

It's been a little while since I've reviewed a book for you. This week we have a book for children. This Little Prayer of Mine by Anthony DeStefano is a sweet book that leads children in a child's prayer. The rhyming prayer asks God for His help to do the right thing, thanks God for the blessings in the child's life, and acknowledges a future of possibilities. The illustrations by Mark Elliott are beautiful and Kate likes looking at them. I think it's a great book for parents to read with their children to help teach them to look to God for help and to be thankful.


This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

Easter Eggs!

This morning we had an Easter egg hunt for Kate. Josh and I dyed eggs last night and this morning we set them out in the yard for her to pick up. I really didn't think she would be very interested but I was way off! She loved finding the eggs and putting them in her basket. She carried the basket around and put all 10 eggs in them. She wasn't even interested in her Easter basket of toys. She loved those eggs!

Eggs, eggs, everywhere!

Finding Easter eggs at FBC Kerrville last weekend.

Getting excited about our own egg hunt this year!

Happy Birthday Kate!

Kate is 1 year old today! I can't believe my baby is now a one-year-old. It's amazing to think that a year ago she was finally here. Before then we had not seen her or held her or kissed her or experienced the joy that is Kate.


We had her birthday party this past Saturday and I have to say it was quite a success. We had a great time and Kate did too. Several of her friends were there and we had a happy chaotic time. The weather was awful - cold, windy, and overcast - so we had an inside party. But the pinata still worked inside and the cakes was delicious, so no one seemed to mind.
With this pinata instead of hitting it with a stick there were strings to pull that would break the bottom. Much safer with little kids.


Kate's party was a bunny theme. She wore her ears for a little while.


My mom helped me make her cake. So fun!

She had her own little bunny cake which she enjoyed eating, contrary to how she may appear in this picture. =)

So far today we have celebrated with blueberry pancakes for breakfast. We have leftover birthday cake for tonight, a few more presents for her, and we will see what happens in between! =)

Thank you to all who helped make her birthday celebration so fun. Kate, your parents love you more than you can imagine and we are so thankful for this year we have gotten to have with you. We look forward to many more and are excited to watch you grow up. You are a blessing and a joy to us, more than you will ever know.

Fun with my new camera

Jesus Has Overcome

Sarah mentioned last week about the passing of our friend Julie. Last weekend we headed to Arlington to see friends, go to Connect Church and attend the Celebration service. Although we had heavy hearts, the weekend became one filled with Christ-centered worship. The theme of the weekend as spoken by Julie’s husband Mark was. ”It will be a little about Julie, and a lot about Jesus”

Julie was a woman who loved her God and Savior. She loved to worship Him and longed for others to share in her joy by knowing Him also. Faithful to who she was, the weekend became one about celebrating and praising Christ, and pointing others to Him.

It sounds so easy to type that, and almost natural, like, “well that is what you are supposed to do…” but it was Sunday morning during worship at church that I was overwhelmed by the foolishness and absurdity of it all. Here was a man (Mark) whose wife of 15 years had just died after a long difficult struggle with and ugly disease. They had been laboring in prayer for years that God would heal her and intensely trusted that He would. He is now left to raise their two young kids without their mom. This seems like the perfect opportunity to become angry and shake your fist at God and say things like, “she doesn’t deserve this… she was such a wonderful woman… why her…you owe me!!??”

I’m not saying Mark didn’t have those moments, but to see him standing there with both arms lifted high to his Father, singing and even shouting loudly “How great is our God…You alone are Worthy… Your Love is better than life…Oh Christ, Be the center of my life!”… I was overwhelmed with emotion. This just isn’t a natural response, it doesn’t make sense, and could even be disrespectful to Julie…. unless…. God is great and good and right and does no wrong, even in the midst of tragedy...unless He alone is Worthy of all honor and praise and worship in all circumstances…unless His love is better than life, and unless Christ was and is the Center of Mark and Julie’s life, marriage, and family. If those are true then a weekend of passionate worship is the only true and appropriate response such a tragic loss. Only in Christ are all understanding, purpose, peace and comfort found. For it is only in His death and resurrection where our hope for victory over death lies.

God give me the faith to praise you and rejoice in your goodness and grace in the midst of tragedy.

May I join with Job to say..”The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, but blessed be the name of the Lord” and Habakkuk who said “…Though the fig tree does not bud…yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. …” and Paul when he says “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord”

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

1 Corinth 1:18

These two songs resonated in my heart this week as I reflected on the weekend.

---I hear the Savior say,
"Thy strength indeed is small.
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all."

’Cause Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe.
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

Lord, now indeed I find
Thy pow'r and Thine alone,
Can change the leper’s spots,
And melt the heart of stone.

And when before the throne

I stand in Him complete,
Jesus died my soul to save
my lips shall still repeat.

--Alex Nifong

---There's a peace I've come to know
Though my heart and flesh may fail
There's an anchor for my soul
I can say "It is well"

Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead

And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise

There's a day that's drawing near
When this darkness breaks to light
And the shadows disappear
And my faith shall be my eyes

And I hear the voice of many angels sing,
"Worthy is the Lamb"
And I hear the cry of every longing heart,
"Worthy is the Lamb"

---Chris Tomlin

Blogging for Books

This week there are two books in the same tour. For the first time since starting the "Blogging for Books" program I was unable to finish reading the books. As the previous post stated, we had a good friend pass away and were out of town for several days. I did get to read about half of one book, skimmed the rest, and skimmed and read sections of the other book. So I can give a decently informed opinion.

Sally Clarkson wrote Dancing with My Father about finding joy through our relationship with the Father throughout life's challenges. She draws from her experiences in life and how the Lord taught her to develop a life of joy. Clarkson uses Scripture to explain what the Lord wants from us and for us.

I think that Clarkson is an encouraging and practical writer. She seems approachable and realistic. I like the way she tackles her topic and I have enjoyed reading the first half of the book. =)

Here is part of the summary for this book:
"In this warm and wise book, author Sally Clarkson invites readers to take God’s hand and let Him lead them into a life of anticipation, passion, and purpose. With the voice of a trusted mentor, she reveals how, by getting in tune with the rhythm of God’s presence, women can nurture an inner attitude of anticipation and celebration even in the stressful seasons of life."

Mother-Daughter Duet by Cheri Fuller and Ali Plum is about developing a strong relationship with one's adult daughter. I have not read this book, though I have read sections and skimmed much of it. Written toward mothers, it is a discussion about how to bridge the gap so that your daughter will want to draw close to you. Cheri and Ali are mother and daughter and use their own experiences plus stories from women they interviewed to help mothers move in the right direction.

I could see how this book could be a helpful resource for a mother wanting to develop a stronger relationship with her daughter. It seems to be encouraging and thoughtful. I would recommend it to a mother who is wanting to draw closer to her adult daughter.

Here is part of the summary:
"The mother-daughter dynamic is intense, personal, complex, and unique. But mothers and daughters can achieve mutual respect and learn to celebrate their differences when they learn the two-part harmony of the mother-daughter duet."

These books were provided for review by WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

In His Arms

Today our friend Julie Mangrem is in the arms of Jesus, worshiping Him. Last night, after almost 5 years of battling cancer and trusting God, Julie went Home. We have heavy hearts as we think about her husband, son, and daughter that she left behind. Her children are 8 and 5 and will have much healing to go through. But we also rejoice, knowing that she trusted God completely. She leaves behind a legacy of a woman of God, mighty in prayer, and sure in her faith.

(Arica, Julie, Sarah)

We will be going to Arlington to be with our friends there and to attend the funeral and celebration services. Please pray for her family as they continue in the grieving and healing process.

Actually, this is her first rodeo

Last Friday a friend and I ventured to San Antonio to take our girls to their first rodeo. It was not the sunny beautiful day we were hoping for, but it was still a great trip and the girls were bundled.

They loved the animals! It was so fun to see Kate's eyes light up as she sat forward and looked at the horse or pig or cow or pony I was pointing out to her. She would point and wave at the animal.Looking at the chicks. She really wanted to get in there with them.Here I am telling her something very intelligent about the chicks. Probably something she will remember forever and will help her win at trivial pursuit.

Pointing at the ponies. She loved watching them!

Kate does not want to be a goat when she grows up.

Kate and her friend Abigail. Don't they look thrilled?
Our little piggies! Don't they look so cute!

The rodeo is a must for next year. We are thinking cowboy boots and hats are in order for the girls.

In case you were wondering, I did wear my cowboy boots.