Party, Party!

Elijah checking out his bike!

Timothy is wanting to get into that toy!!

Birthday Boys!

Timothy's cake

Elijah's cake

We celebrated Elijah and Timothy's Birthdays this weekend with Family! We headed down to Alabama on Thursday and ate supper with my parents and grandmothers then on Thursday morning Bryan took Isaac, Sarah, Elijah and my dad fishing in Clay County. They had a blast. My Mom and I (and Timothy) decorated cakes and got things ready for the party. On Friday afternoon some of the folks went fishing again and caught 66 pounds of catfish! WOW! We had the party at Bryan's parents house and my mother-in-law was so great in all that she did to help. Thank you Joan for all you did, it was great! My mom and dad were great in helping me with the kids and just being there to help in whatever way they could. Thank you mom and dad...you are great! Then on Friday night Bryan's family came and we had a huge party for two very special boys!! Elijah will be 3 and Timothy just turned 1!! We had Bar-B-Q and it was so good! Then we sung "Happy Birthday" and of coarse I had to throw in something a little different...on the last part we sang "we sure do love you". Then we blew out candles and cut the cake. Along with the cake we had homemade icecream...ummmm. Finally we opened presents, presents and more presents. The boys got alot of nice toys, clothes and lots of love! We gave Elijah a bicycle and he is so excited to ride it when we get home. Then after the party Joan made cinnamin rolls (homemade) with Elijah and Sarah. Isaac went home with my parents (for some one on one time) and Timothy crashed! This morning we just hung out and enjoyed being with Bryan's mom and dad. We had such a great time this weekend and love making memories with family! Thank you to everyone who came and showed love to Elijah and Timothy, we are blessed to have family like you...we love each of you!

Psalm 42:1

On Monday morning before breakfast we saw some deer across the street from our house. There was 7 deer and we all were so in awe to see them. It was just beautiful! As I was taking the pictures of the deer and my thoughts were on blogging these pictures. God reminded me of His word...Psalm 42:1...As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My question to myself and to you is when is the last time that our soul panted for God? I have too often panted for the things of this world only to be unsatisfied, but it is only when I pant for God that I find satisfaction and a hunger for more of Him! May I challenge you and myself to seek the Lord this week more than we normally do and pant for Him...we will be satisfied.

Happy Birthday!!

Spiritual Birthday that is. Today Bryan is celebrating 23 years of having a changed heart! We have always tried to make our spiritual birthdays a special day. Bryan has an awesome testimony of how God changed his heart. God has made Bryan into a Godly man, husband and father. He is a true, real thing Christian. Matter of fact one of the things that attracted me to him was his love for the Lord and his genuine service for the Lord. I can say that after being married to Bryan for almost 14 years I have seen him grow and grow in his walk with God. He will be the first to tell you that he is not perfect and I would be the first to tell you that he strives every day to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord. Bryan is my mentor and the best accountability partner I could ever have. I know that it is because of all that God has done in Bryan's life that makes Bryan such a loving and selfless husband. He is always trying and wanting to bless me. It is also because of God that Bryan is such a loving and strong father. He sees children as a blessing. Bryan believes it is his call to disciple and lead our children in a closer walk with Jesus. God has formed Bryan into a Godly leader of our home and I am so thankful for him. In looking for a picture to go on this post I had to crop one because in all my pictures of Bryan he is with at least one of us, now that is a man that is a family man! I thank God for changing his heart 23 years ago and that God placed him in my life!! I love you Bryan and Happy Spiritual Birthday!!

A weekend in May!

Our "Pounding"

Timothy loved the Bubbles!

Isaac is holding on!!

Sarah was our first brave zip-liner!

Elijah loved the zip-line!!

I am a week late in posting...better late than never, right? Last Thursday my mother came up for a visit and actually came all by herself, my dad had to work and couldn't make the trip. It is always an exciting time when family arrives! We were all so excited to see her and was looking forward to the weekend with her. It was late when she arrived so we visited for awhile and then headed to bed. On Friday mom, I and the kids went and did a couple of "looking" (shopping but not too much) stops. Then we all hung out here at the house together. On Saturday morning Sarah & I attended a Bridal Shower. It is always fun to do girl stuff, just mommy and daughter. Sarah is such a sweet heart and so friendly. She did really well at the shower, she was Ms. Social Butterfly! Then right after the shower we all took my mom to the Bell Buckle Cafe. Bell Buckle is a small town about 25 minutes from where we live and we actually have some families that go to our church that live in Bell Buckle. It is a cute little train town. The Cafe is a great place to eat! Little did we know when we went that it was Motorcycle Day in Bell Buckle. There was not one parking spot because all the motorcycles had them taken up. I don't think I have ever seen so many motorcycles at one time. Thankfully I had called ahead of time and made reservations. We had a very nice meal and then Bryan, Elijah and Timothy enjoyed a Peanut Butter Moon Pie! Yes, Bell Buckle has this big thing every year called the RC & Moon Pie Festival!! Just a neat little town. Then it was back home for some R&R....but not for too long. We were up and headed out the door at around 4 to go to a Fish Fry that the 1st choice Pregnancy Center holds. We were thinking that this would be a nice "little" event. Were we EVER wrong....it was HUGE!! The kids had a blast. There was a petting zoo, zip line, moon bounce, bubbles and face painting. Then the food was....so much and so good! We had been invited to a Sunday School Party that night too and had we of known how big and how much the fish fry would be we would not have done both....but we were off again. My dear mother offered to watch the two small boys while we went to the Party. So we took mom, Elijah, Timothy and our to go boxes (of food from the fish fry) back to our house. Then we headed to the party with Isaac and Sarah. WOW!! There were so many people at the Sunday School Party. There were some games that the adults and kids could play and then there places just to sit and socialize. When it was time to eat they just dumped it out on the table...really just right on the table top. Help yourself!! I have never seen it done that way, but that's what made it so fun. Isaac and Sarah's look on their faces was "So this is how you serve food in Tennessee"! We got to meet and know some people that we had not yet been able to. It was such a nice time and loved the fellowship! After a very restful night we woke to go and worship our Lord and Savior!! It is because of Him that we had such a wonderful Saturday! Then after Sunday Morning services the church collected food, paper products and cleaning supplies for us (a pounding) as a welcome thing. The picture above is just what fit on that one counter. We were so blessed!! What a weekend and what a Savior!!

Joy!!

My heart is full and I just have to share with you. I had posted two post ago (Day at the Park) about Bryan developing Family worship sheets for the families in our church, we as a family have gotten so much out of this. It is amazing what kids pick up on even when you think they are not listening. Bryan and I have had some very awesome talks with the kids through these family worships and love every minute of it. I am sure you can guess who is the one we are teaching to sit and listen and be a part of this worship time....Elijah. Yes Timothy is doing his own little thing among us, but it is Elijah that we are training. He has began praying and they are the sweetest and most sincere prayers. Also he has started singing to us in the car. We were coming home from church the other night and he started singing and the one thing I could understand him say was "He could not do this by Himself". When he would get to that part he would sing it as loud as he could. So when we arrived home I asked him about that and he said that Jesus couldn't die on the cross by himself. WOW! It was by the strength of the Father that Jesus died on the cross! Then last night after family worship Elijah asked "Why did Jesus die on the cross?" What a great opportunity we had to share with him. Isn't God so good and I love that He is at work in the lives of my children. I am humbled...

Happy Mother's Day!

Me and my blessings/gifts from God!

My mom and the grandkids!

My mother and I! I love her!

Bryan and his mom! She is a great mother and mother-in-law!

Gigi with our children (some of her grandkids)!

I pray that all you mom's had a great and blessed Mother's Day! We had a very exciting weekend. We went to Alabama on Friday and surprised my mom. My Dad was a great "partner in crime". He made plans to take mom out for a date on Friday and then as they were leaving we pulled up in the drive way. She was so surprised! Thanks Dad for all your help, you were great! We took mom out to eat and then to the cookie place. After supper with my mother we headed to spend the night with Bryan's mom. It was nice getting to spend some time with them. Then on Saturday morning everyone except for me headed to watch our nephew play baseball. My dear hubby took the kids with him so I could spend some time one on one with my mom. We went to a few stores and then we went and got a red velvet doughnut! Time with mom was great and the doughnut was delicious. Mom and I hardly ever get time alone so that was a real treat. Thank you Bryan for giving me some time with my mom. You are such a wonderful and selfless husband, I truly am so blessed! Then Bryan called me and I met all of them and we ate lunch with his mom. It was a nice lunch and a great time to spend with her. After a full morning we headed back home. Today has been a blessed mother's day for me! My children (Isaac and Sarah) told me Happy Mother's Day first thing this morning without having to be reminded. Actually Sarah beat Bryan to it. After lunch Bryan took care of the kids and let me have some time to read and rest! I told you he was and is awesome!! Then after supper we went to the Sonic and got ice-cream. The sweet part was Isaac used his money to buy everyone's ice-cream. He said that was my Mother's Day gift from him. I feel so blessed to be a Mother and also so undeserving. I thank God for making me a MOM!

Her children rise up and call her blessed, her husband also, and he praises her. Proverbs 31:28

A Day at the Park!

On Good Friday some of the moms invited the kids and I to go to the Bell Buckle park with them. This was my first outing without Bryan so I was a little nervous. The park was about 25 minutes away. One of the moms had given me her cell phone number and I did end up having to call and ask for some help. We did make it and had a great time. Because it was Good Friday one of the grandmothers in our church came and did a "Seder Service" with the kids. She talked about what each item was and why it was a part of the supper. She even had things for the kids to smell (bitter herbs), see and taste (bread/cracker). It was neat! The play ground was really nice and the kids enjoyed getting to play with the other kids and getting to know them. I also got to meet some of the moms and talk to them, the best I could while keeping up with Timothy and Elijah. We have so enjoyed getting to know the other families here. We don't feel like strangers, it's as if we have always been here...we just fit right in! Isaac and Sarah have made several friends and that has been good. Elijah and Timothy of coarse don't completely understand and everything is "new" to them (new church, new house, new room, new people, etc.) so it is taking them a little longer to adjust. Bryan has come in at a time that is really busy at the church. With graduation, youth camp, kids camp and then also trying to follow God's lead in leading the small groups (Sunday School). He has just started doing a family worship sheet for the families in the church to do each night together at home and it has gone really well. Bryan is really gifted in this and has a heart for families growing in the Lord together. There are alot of things that he is really excited about and excited about seeing the Lord lifted up and glorified in our church and the lives of the families in our church. As for me I have been visiting the "older" ladies (more mature) Sunday School classes and have loved each one. It has been so good for me to be around those ladies and to know that they are sincere in their walk with the Lord. Matter of fact the kids and I are going to start visiting some of the older people each week and getting to know them better. We enjoyed all the older people we built relationships with at West Park Heights. We hold those people very dear to our hearts. I truely believe that the older people have so much wisdom that we can glean from them. Until the next post..."fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:2