A day in Austin

The boys and I spent Saturday down in Austin. We started at Zilker Park and played on the huge playscape there for awhile.  Then they wanted to ride the train so we did that, too.  Of course, they wanted the seat in the back and they both loved being able to wave at all the people we passed.  After they were worn out on both of those activities we went over to try Gourdough's specialty donuts.  There were so many combinations to try.  The two we choose were the Flying Pig and Miss Shortcake and they were soooo good!!  We will definitely be going back!!  It was a great way to spend a Saturday!!

A long weekend

It was nice to have a three day weekend.  The boys and I got to spend the whole weekend with Richard and the kids.  Richard was nice enough to give up his bedroom for the weekend so we all would have a place to sleep.  We hung out with some of his friends on Friday night, had dinner with his parents on Saturday night, enjoyed church and lunch with more of his friends on Sunday and went to the zoo on Monday.  It was a jam packed weekend, but it was so nice to spend it all with good company!

All the kids playing on the hay bales

Baylee and Auri (Richard's niece)

Another one of Richard's silly faces!

Baylee and Koby had school so we took the three little ones to the zoo.  They were hard to keep up with and moved from one animal to the next before Richard and I could even get to the cage to see it, but it was a lot of fun! 

A wonderful surprise

During nap time on Friday, my co-worker called me over to the office.  I wasn't sure what she was going to need, but when I got over there, she pointed to some flowers on her desk and said they were for me.  At first, I didn't believe her, but she showed me the card and they were for me!!  I opened the card and read a sweet message from Richard and immediately started to cry.  I have never received flowers at work before and I just felt so special!   When I brought them back into the classroom, my co-teachers all wanted to see them and my boss even called over from across the street to tell me how pretty they were and that she was happy for me!!  I don't think guys realize what a big deal flowers are, or at least for me it's a big deal.  To think that Richard was not only thinking about me, but took the time to call a flower shop, choose something gorgeous and have it sent to my place of work to surprise me means so much.  I feel lucky to have found someone so thoughtful.  What a great start to my weekend!

My 2012 word

A couple of weeks prior to Christmas I started thinking about what my 2012 word was going to be.  As much as I loved 'Adventure' last year, I wanted something a little more challenging, so I started to pray that God would lay on my heart what area He thought I needed to work on and what my word should be.  I started getting a feeling about the direction that I wanted my word to be geared toward.  When Daniel left, I spent so much time in the Word and talking to God and looking for God in everything I did because He is all I had left.   Now, 3 years later, I find myself slowly slipping into old habits.  With work and kids and church and the fact that things are "good" I find myself more self sufficient and not leaning on God as much.  I still talk with God and spend time with Him, but I can honestly say that I don't have that same yearning to just be with Him.  I am also finding it tricky to have Richard in my life, but striving to keep God my first love.  It's so easy for me to substitute Richard into that spot that only God can fill and I don't want to do that.  So I started thinking about how I can go back to that desperation of loving God with all of me, without being in such a traumatic time.  So after I had that vision in my head, I started trying to think of a word that would encompass all those thoughts.  One Sunday in youth we talked about 1 Peter 2:2  "Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation"  Once I heard the word crave, I thought that might be a great word!!  I continued to pray and see what God laid on my heart and during one of our many trips to the store, I saw a huge display for the new Kellogg's cereal...

...and that was all I needed to see!!  That would be my 2012 word!!  It still amazes me how in your face God can be if we just take the time to look and listen!  I pray that this year will be filled with learning how to CRAVE God through the good times and, that as my life moves forward with Richard, I will always be able to keep God as my first Love.

Happy 2012

Happy New Year!!! I spent New Year's Eve with Richard and the kids. We went out to his parents land and road four wheelers a little while, which was fun! Then went back to his house for dinner and fireworks! The kids loved the fireworks...especially Kelby. Richard couldn't even get one lit before he was bringing him another one to light! The boys played basketball and the girls played Dance Party on the WII and before we knew it, it was 11:50pm! We got our glasses ready and the champagne for me and Richard and the sparkling grape juice for the kids. We counted down and then it was 2012!!! I already have so many hopes and dreams for this year and I am certain 2012 will be a memorable year!!

Riding around the country

I learned how to do a waterfall braid and Baylee let me practice on her hair...I think it turned out good and looks great with her highlights!!

I seem to always give Richard the camera to take a picture of us and then once he takes it, I immediately look at it, only to find one of a million funny faces that he does. It always take 5 or 6 tries with him to get a real smile!!  That is one of the things I love about him...never a dull moment!

FIREWORKS!!!

Ringing in the 2012