Ready to jump in

The last several days have been a whirlwind of excitement!! We started the festivities Wednesday night at Life Group, and it was a great way to start this special occasion!  They were so sweet to give us this wonderful frame filled with verses that they all contributed.  Then they prayed over us and sang over us and it was so neat to feel God's spirit among us and speaking to us.  We are so blessed to have found such a wonderful community to enter into.

Today we went to my BFF's home where me and Tanna and Laura got to spend the afternoon swimming and talking and catching up.  The kids did great all playing together and it was such a relaxing afternoon.  Here they all are...5 girls and 5 boys!!!

This evening was spent with my family.  My mom always has the more gorgeous table décor for any party and tonight it was all Texas Rangers!  We had BBQ and cake and ice cream and even gifts!  We specifically said "no gifts" but they all had a gift for us!!

We had a big gift wrapped in a blanket to start things off...

They were Rangers Stadium seats!!!

We then opened all of our gifts from our new seats!  Richard got a stadium blanket.

I got a cute VS Rangers shirt.

The framed certificate for our authentic Rangers seats!

A wonderful frame collage from my grandmother.

And a huge Rangers Stadium canvas to hang on the wall that is gorgeous!!

Amber made me this fall wreath that is so beautiful with the gold and brown.

We also got to celebrate my grandmothers birthday which was special, too!!  Happy Birthday GG!!

I feel we are definitely prayed up and anticipating tomorrow.  We feel so blessed with all the people that God has placed in our lives that will make tomorrow even more special!

We are ready to take the "jump" into a fun loving, God fearing family of 7!!

Bachelorette Party

The girls from my church in Georgetown threw me a wonderful bachelorette party last night. It was so classy and special in every way! The food was prepared by Faith, who is wonderful at cooking exotic things that taste wonderful!! Becca opened up her home to all of us and Jenny supplied the variety of wines.  We ate and talked and laughed and it was so good to be back in the company of these wonderful women.

Then is was on to presents and that was a lot of fun, too!!  I got a lot of nice things and feel very blessed that these girls still hold me dear to them, even though there are many miles in between us.  Only friends bonded by God could remain friends no matter the distance.  No one could ever replace these women in my heart and I miss them all dearly and will cherish the memories we made last night!

4th of July

Another 4th of July spent at the lake! After 11 days of working the fireworks store, we were in need of a break away from everything!! We did fireworks, floated in the lake, played washers and ate alot!! Here are a few pictures from our relaxing weekend!

Love this picture of all the little ones watching the fireworks!!

Baseball Party

The boys had their end of the season baseball party last weekend.  Troy and Kelby surprised me on how well they could swim.  We go to the water park all the time, but at the water park they can touch in all the different pools.  We rarely swim in a pool with deep water, but they did great!  Here they are jumping off the diving board.

Baylee and Kelby and Troy decided to all jump at one time!  Troy and Kelby are too busy trying to do tricks so Baylee is the only one posing.

A few of the dads started throwing the boys in and they all thought that was so much fun.  The dads tired out long before the kids did!!

Skittles and Baby D.  These two are the youngest on the team and were given those nicknames at the beginning of the season and they stuck.

Teague liked the pool and trampoline and the swing set and the playhouse; he was everywhere, but he had a great time!!

 I'm glad the boys have made some great friends and are having fun learning the game, as well as how important it is to be a team player and have good sportsmanship.  It's been a great season!!  The team made it to the playoffs which start in a week, so the seasons not quite over yet.  We will see how far they can go in their efforts towards State!  Go Cardinals!!

God is BIG

There have only been a handful of times that I can remember feeling how BIG God is in my life. That He really does have a plan bigger than just me. That He really does know what He is doing, even if I have no clue. He is big and when I come face to face with that it blows me away.

A few weeks ago I met a woman at the dental office. She was the hygienist that was cleaning Troy’s teeth. I had both Troy and Teague with me at the time and her first question was “Do boys ever slow down?” I replied, “no” and we began talking about our kids. Slowly the conversation turned to our significant others and I learned that she and her boyfriend had both lost their spouses too early. I mentioned Richard’s name and she mentioned her late spouses name to see if we have a connection there, but neither names rung a bell. I then told her Richard’s late wife’s name, Bridgette, and she was amazed that she did know her. She said that she had worked on her teeth awhile back and said that she was so kind and compassionate and that she had offered to pray for her, which I have no doubt she did. That one connection opened up a flood of conversation between the two of us and we have now started a friendship. I know God had His hand in our meeting because that hygienist does not even work at that dental office and was called in that morning for another employee who couldn’t make it. God knew we were going to meet that day!

Also, what I had not expected in meeting my new friend was how God is showing me how connected Bridgette and I really are. Before I even met Richard face to face I knew he was a widower and I prayed hard that I would be able to date someone who had lost their spouse. I knew choosing to be with a widower would come with a whole host of struggles and I have prayed God will walk me through those. One is insecurity. Bridgette will always be remembered as perfect, as she should be, but I have to remind myself often, that I am not perfect and that is okay. Another is comparison. Richard and the kids have never compared me to her that I know of but I find myself comparing myself to her, and again, I have to remind myself, we are different and that is okay. I know God is helping me work through all of it and this situation was one of the ways I see Him working. God is showing me that it is not a comparison; whether in our love or our abilities, but rather a partnership. I love that God is using me in conjunction with what Bridgette did here on earth. I get to finish raising her 3 beautiful children that she bore, I get to love and support the man that she loved and supported at one time and I get to continue in the ministry she began in this hygienist I met at the dental office. God is so much bigger than I choose to remember most of the time, and He does know what He is doing ALL the time. I truly believe this is how Heaven will be; believers loving God and doing His will to bring glory to Him, and I look forward to meeting Bridgette face to face and praising God together.

Planning, Planning, Planning

The count down begins! The last month has been full of planning; for the wedding, for the honeymoon, for going back to school. This is definitely going to be a busy summer filled with so many special memories and transitions!

Through a few mentors that God placed in my path this past year, I was highly encouraged to go back to school and get my teaching certificate, so I decided to follow their advice. I am currently taking a class this summer and will have one more class next summer to complete my education. I am hoping God will open a door to teach within an ISD this coming year.

Luckily, school will finish up the first of July in enough time to help Richard with running the fireworks store and then it will be time for the wedding!! We chose July 19th to exchange vows and we are so excited!! We got this in the mail this week and it all began to finally feel real!!

All our tickets to the suite for the Rangers game!

We decided since the Rangers has always been a big part of our relationship that we would get married in a suite and then enjoy the game afterwards!  The planning has been minimal and it's been the fun type of planning, like the cake and the dress and the invitations, so it's been pretty easy!  Now all we have left to do is count down...

34 days!!

Surprise!

As I look at the calendar I am amazed that I am already 6 months into my "word" for 2013!  It goes so fast! I chose 'community' as my word for this year and I think I have done pretty well in this area so far.  We love our church that we attend and they have Life Groups that meet throughout the week and we have found a great one that we have started going to.  It is a mix of a older couples,  newly marrieds,  engaged couples, blended families; the diversity is very refreshing.  Although we have not been plugged in with this group more than a few months, they have embraced us.  This Wednesday they surprised us with a celebration of our engagement!  It was so touching, right down to the Rangers themed cake and card!  It is so important to me that we find a community of believers to live life with and I believe that we have found that.  I am excited about growing new friendships and seeing what God has in store for us as we begin our marriage together and begin to make couple friends that are "ours".







o

Kindergarten Graduation

Troy and Kelby graduated from Kindergarten!!  It went by so fast and they have grown so much!!  The first portion of the graduation was a play that they put on to the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  Troy was the sign holder



and Kelby was one of the strawberries.



At the end of the book it talks about how the caterpillar changed into a beautiful butterfly and the teachers related this back to the kids and how they changed over the year and now they are ready to fly into the 1st grade!  It was so cute and the kids did so well!



Troy's awards were:
Certificate of Excellence
Reading Certificate
50 Mile club
Presidential Physical Fitness Award



Kelby's awards were:
Certificate of Excellence
Reading Certificate
50 Mile club
Super Hawk Award
Presidential Physical Fitness Award







Each child had their best work displayed around the cafeteria to take home.




There were many loved ones that came to cheer them on and they even received several graduation gifts!!  They had a great day!!



Troy and Kelby:  you are each so unique in your own special way and I know this is just the beginning of your success throughout the years.  Troy, you are so disciplined and alert to all that is going on around you and I know these qualities will serve you well as you grow older.  Kelby, you are so outgoing and laid back and those are wonderful attributes to carry with you throughout your life.  It has been so fun to watch you both begin to learn to read and find joy in learning and excel physically as you begin to compete in different sports.  It has been an amazing year and Richard and I are so proud of you!!