11 weeks today!

Here is our little Baby C - we have graduated from being an embryo to being a fetus - YEAH!

You can see where the doctor has labeled the sonogram, so that's probably the best explanation that I can give to you........LOL I know that it is still hard to see, but just wait - when I go back in a month - it'll be much better I'm sure. :) While doing the ultrasound it was much easier to make the baby out, but pictures just don't do it justice!

Have a great day!!

Monday's Appt

Yesterday afternoon we had another appt to see how the baby was still doing. We were hoping to hear the heart beat, but Baby C is still a little too small for that. However, during the sonogram, Baby C was moving its arms and legs all around. It was so neat b/c we have not been able to see the baby move yet, but since its grown some, definitely got to see it moving now! At one point Baby C grabbed the umbilical cord and shook it a little bit and that was so funny. We were all laughing at that.........LOL Definitely an exciting moment to see our little one moving around!! :) I don't go back again now till the last week of September, so I am doing good. YAY! Of course, that time will be here before we know it.

That's really all that is new, but I do have a sonogram picture that I will post later. I forgot them at home, but I will scan them ASAP, so..............STAY TUNED!!

Catfish!!

We were so excited yesterday because we now have our very first fish in our pond. :) Les went fishing yesterday afternoon while I was at work and he caught a catfish. He brought it home and left it in the ditch where we had water standing from all the rain. He surprised me when I got home and told me about it. He said that he waited to put it in the pond because he wanted for us to do it together. I wanted to see the catfish, so we went to our ditch and there it was; just chillin' out. Les grabbed it and it wasn't moving too much, but we thought that we would give it a chance anyways. Les found just the perfect spot at the pond (to avoid as much mud as possible) and put the catfish down into the water. Once the catfish realized that it was free - it swam off like lightening!! It was pretty funny.

The catfish is not alone in this pond because we have who knows how many tad poles and a few bullfrogs. We have also had ducks that will stick around for a week or so and then leave for a while and then come back. We have had those gray herron type birds and I'm sure more, but I can't think of any others off the top of my head. OH, the dogs, they both LOVE to swim in the pond every chance they get. You'll notice that one or both of the dogs will disappear and moments later, we have a wet dog........LOL

We're now 10 wks along and so far so good. I go in on Monday to try to hear the heart beat and make sure that everything still looks good. It would have been 2 weeks since I last saw my doctor and I am getting anxious. :)

Lullaby

This video is soo cute - I hope that you enjoy it too. Make sure that your speakers are on so that you can hear the man singing. :)

So Far So Good!!

I had a follow-up appointment last Monday and everything was looking good. We were able to see the amniotic sac and the doctor said that it looked thick; which she said was good.

I go back in one more week to try to hear the heart beat! I can't wait to hear it - as long Baby C cooperates.........LOL :)

I have been feeling good and managed to only get up 1x last night - we'll see what happens tonight though. I had a lot of watermelon with Les and our neighbor, Chief. It was sooo good that the 3 of us just kept eating away and talking. We have had the watermelon for about a week and finally had time to eat it. My nephew and niece went home on Friday (I'm sad about that), so now we'll be home more since we won't be over there visiting with them and having them stay at our house too. We had a great time with them and look forward to seeing them in November for Thanksgiving!

Oh, I forgot, I can't remember what I was reading today, but I saw that since I am due in March; then I should outgrow my clothes by October and November. I can't wait to start seeing my belly growing and knowing that our baby is growing bigger and bigger!!!

Well, that's all for now, just getting ready for the week to start!!!!!

Pregnancy Bitchiness – Are You a Sufferer?

I laughed out loud when I read this this morning! I haven't been extremely cranky by any means (Les is lucky so far), but I have had a moment or 2 that I wanted to argue one moment and honestly in tears the next. Les was trying to hold back laughter and was like," what's the matter?!" I teared up and said," I guess the hormones are controlling me right now." I am so glad that this is not a common occurence for me because I don't like feeling that way. Anyways, enjoy the article below - so funny!!!!

Oh, in case your wondering, the things that I deal with are: fatigue, achy boobs, urinating a lot; which is helping in the fatigue because I have now started waking up 1 - 2x a night. Most of the time I can sneak out of bed w/o waking Les up, but most of the time he keeps count on how many times I get up!!! :) hahahahaha

Now onto the article.......................................

Pregnancy Bitchiness – Are You a Sufferer?
Who was that mad woman?

The fatigue …the stress of being pregnant but not public with the news…the nausea …any of these things can bring on a mean case of Pregnancy Bitchiness. (ie: extreme crankiness provoked by – well, anything.) Someone screws up your latte order and – bam! – you’re sniping at that barista before he can offer to make your wrong order right. And your poor hubby – he’s been on the receiving end of some majorly harsh behavior lately.
We’ve been there – and we can tell you, it’s totally normal. Our advice? Get in tune with your bad-mood triggers (husband forgot to empty trash or mom called “just to check in” for the tenth time = anger on the rise), and then divert your attention (Will not yell! Instead, will leave the room to do something fun – like take a gender predictor quiz ). Find a few good mood-diffusers – ice cream cones and milk shakes also work amazingly well – and you’ll be back to your old, sweet self before you know it.

New Picture!

Here is a picture from the sonogram that was performed yesterday to make sure that everything was still going good from last weeks events. :) Baby C is looking great and we were able to see the amniotic sac yesterday and she said that it looked good too. In 2 weeks we go back to HEAR the heart beat and I am so excited. I can hardly contain myself......LOL

As I look at this baby on the screen and watching the heart beat - I just can't believe that I am really pregnant! I am so excited and still trying to let it sink in too!! :) We are so excited to meet our little blessing and I continue to pray for Baby C as he/she develops and grows. I pray that everything will continue to go smoothly and that everything will develop as God wills.

Thank you to everyone who has offered prayers and support last week during the scary time. I really appreciate it!

Yay........I'm off bedrest!!!!

Wow, what a week, but glad that I am doing better and seem like I am back to normal. ;)

You can read about the car accident from a few days ago below, but I haven't updated the rest of the week. Here is a somewhat brief rundown of our week.
Monday morning, car wreck and was able to see the first sonogram of our baby and I was able to see the heart beat.
Tuesday started off very normal with nothing seemingly out of the ordinary. That afternoon I started having a big problem (I'll leave it at that w/ no gory details) and when straight to the ER. My doctor was able to get a hold of me and had me leave the ER and come straight to the office even though she was already closed. They were all still there and saw me immediately. Right before the exam, Les and my mom walked in and I was so glad. My sweet c0-worker, Lauren had taken me to the doctor and let me use her phone. I appreciated her so much and once Les and my mom got there; then she left me. Lauren couldn't believe how strong and calm I was, but once I saw Les; then I teared up because I didn't have to be strong anymore. :) The doctor examined me; something that Les has never witnessed..........hahaha and then she did the sonogram and Les was able to see the heart beat that day. It was so neat and I was so glad (and baby C was too) that Les/daddy was able to see the baby. ;) Everything looked good and the doctor could see the hemorraging, but it was not from the baby or the placenta and there was a strong heart beat. The doctor put me on bedrest till I stopped hemorraging. So, the next 3 days I was on bed rest. I was still spotting up until Thurs and then it all stopped. I just praised the Lord because I prayed constantly for the baby to be just fine and nothing would happen to our unborn blessing. So far so good and I have not spotted in several days. I am still praying that all goes well. I go back to the doctor on Monday to make sure that I and baby are still doing well. I am 8 wks and 3 days today. :)

Thank you, Lord for protecting me and the baby this week. I love you, Lord.

We appreciate all the prayers and covet them!

Introducing...........Baby C!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here is our little baby!! We are measuring 7 wks and 6 days today.........:) I am calling our baby "Baby C" (baby cornelius) for now till we know the sex of our little one.

7 wks & 5 days!

YES, I am pregnant!!!!!!!

We weren't going to share the news to world until Thurs after my first appt, but here is a lay-out of our my day. :) This day has definitely been a very interesting day!! It started out at any normal day and I was getting ready for work; kissed Les goodbye and left. However, while on my way to work I got rear-ended. :( The other driver was at fault and we filed a police report. I was being checked out by the EMT's and the guy who was doing the main work on me was a guy that I had gone to middle/high school with. It was nice to have someone that I knew taking care of me. So, we went ahead and went on to the ER because the doctor was going to be in late and they weren't sure when they could work me in. They wanted to make sure that I was looked at since I was pregnant. The ER checked me out and I looked great. I went home and then when Les was going to work - he dropped me off at my parents' house to spend the afternoon/evening with them. During the afternoon after I woke up from a nap - I had started spotting, so I called my OB/GYN and went in to the doctor. They moved me from Thurs to today and I had my first OB appt. I got there and they did blood work, urine test, pelvic exam, and a sonogram. I was able to see the baby and see the heart beat!!! It was sooo cool seeing our little babies heart beat just beating away. We were thinking that I would be about 7 weeks this Thurs from my last period, but the baby is measuring about 1 week later, so we're due March 18, 2009 and I am 7 wks and 5 days!! We were very excited and I am going to go back for another check-up next Monday to make sure that I am still doing good.

We appreciate all the prayers and glad that we can share the good news - I do have a sonogram picture, but I'll have to get it scanned and then post it on here of our little peanut. ;)

OH CRAP!

While I was at my parents' house for lunch today we were all getting ready to leave and this "smell" was lingering behind Kodiak like she had BAD gas. It was really funny, but man did it ever burn your nose too. Caitlyn, my niece who is 3 yrs old kept saying," something is stinky!" We all kept laughing and saying that Kodiak had gas. Well, I take Kodiak outside to see if she "needs to go," but she refuses to do anything but stand there and stare at me. I took her back inside and I went ahead and left to go back to work and my mom and the kids left to go to the vet with one of the other dogs. My mom got back home about 1 1/2 hours later and she walked into the house and could STILL smell the stinch. My mom said that she either really has bad gas or she has gone to the bathroom in the house. A few minutes later Caleb went into the living room and lo and behold he found the culprit of the stinch - 4 HUGE PILES OF POOP! My mom said that one pile was honestly 4 inches high and about 8 inches wide - she said," Kimberly, I'm not kidding, it was gross!" As she was telling me on the phone about this whole incident - I am just laughing and laughing. I told her that if I would have had to clean up the poop - I would have gagged or thrown-up because I don't think that I could handle it at this point. Anyways, I will be going to get Ms. Kodiak Marie after I get off work and take care of a few things. Hopefully she'll have the poo poo all out of her system! LOL

The fun times of having a dog and having a dog that enjoys eating weird things like bugs, sticks, etc...............have a great day!

Awesome Movie!

Mammia Mia was sooo good. I want to buy it when it comes out on DVD!!!! I saw this on Broadway and really enjoyed it. I was definitely NOT disappointed between Broadway and the movie. Here you can see the Broadway link: http://www.mamma-mia.com/

Definitely go and see it if you enjoy musicals and music from Abba!

Mamma Mia!

I am so excited because I am going to see this movie this afternoon with my mom!!!! I have seen the Broadway show and it was awesome, so excited!!!!

84 Year-Old Bride..........sooo funny!!!

The 84 Year-Old Bride

The local news station was interviewing an 84 year-old bride because she had just gotten married - for the 4th time.

The interviewer asked her questions about her life, about what it felt like to be marrying again at 84, and then about her new husband's occupation. "He's a funeral director," she answered. "Interesting," the newsman thought.

He then asked her is she wouldn't mind telling him a little about her first 3 husbands and what they did for a living.

She paused for a few moments, needing time to reflect on all those years.

After a short time, a smile came to her face and she answered proudly, explaining that she first married a banker when she was in her early 20's; then a circus ringmaster in her 40's; later on a preacher in her 60's, and now in her 80's, a funeral director.

The interviewer looked at her, quite astonished, and asked why she had married 4 men with such diverse careers?

"Easy, son," she smiled. "I married 1 for the money....2 for the show.....3 to get ready...and 4 to go!"

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HONEY!!!!

As you can probably tell from the title - today is Les' 37th birthday!!!! I just wanted to write a quick note of our fun birthday weekend for Les.

We started out by going to the rodeo on Saturday night and had an absolute blast! We actually didn't even get home till 2:15 AM....... :) We went out to the Ladonia Rodeo and had a good time. No one was hurt majorly - thank you, Lord! Then we danced our hearts away afterwards with the live band. It was so funny b/c Les and my friend, Kristy, were dancing and this guy came over and asked me to dance. I accepted and we were out there and the first thing that he asked me was," Are you married?" I said," yes, he is actually right over there dancing with one of my girlfriends." So, we finished dancing and I went over to Les and Kristy to tell them what he had said. Well, Les and I were out dancing and I saw Trey (the guy who had asked me to dance) walking around looking for someone to dance with. So, Les and I decided to dance over to him. I tapped him on the shoulder and asked him if he was looking for someone to dance with and he said," yes." I told him that my friend over there in the black shirt would dance with him. So, he goes over to a girl in a black shirt (not Kristy) and asks her to dance, but she tells him no. So, we go back over to him and tell him to go a little bit further back. So, he asks Kristy to dance and they do. Then several more times over the next little while he comes back to dance with her. We knew he was young, so Kristy asked him how old he was and he was 18! It was really funny because then 1 time while they are dancing he asks her if she likes to party. She says," well, not really." We just kept teasing her about it and we got a really good laugh out of the whole thing, but definitely fun!!!!

On Sunday night, we went and ate dinner at Texas Roadhouse with my family - we had just picked them up at the airport. My parents had been in MD and were bringing the kids back to Texas for the rest of the summer. It had been about 2 weeks since we had seen my parents and it was fun to see them! They even brought us some maple candy and my mom brought me a pair of pewter earrings from their visit to the Trapp Family Lodge (The Sound of Music). The Trapp Family had escaped from Austria and resided in VT (http://www.trappfamily.com/).

Les, I am so glad that you are my husband and we have had an awesome 9 months of marriage and can't believe that we have been together almost 3 yrs now!!! I am so glad that God brought you into my life. I look forward to all the memories, trips, and all around life that will come our way as we live out our dreams together. I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!

ADDITION TO THE POST!

I was just talking to a girlfriend of mine because she was asking how old Les was, etc. I was telling her that the first time that I ever found out when Les' birthday was was actually on July 13th of 2005. It was a Wednesday night and I had been at a bible study at church (we were doing a video series of dating). Well, I had a huge crush on Les and I thought that he might be interested too; which he was......:) I asked everyone "in general" if anyone wanted to go get ice cream - definitely hoping he would accept and go too; which he did!! He was driving one of his big trucks and he met a few of us at Braum's in Allen. I remember him saying that his birthday was the next day and we asked him what he was going to do and he said that he was going to stay home and work on the truck! I think I remember him saying that his mom would possibly be coming over to make dinner.

Today, Les is actually teaching my nephew how to shoot guns with my dad. Caleb has this huge fascination with guns and they went shooting - the 3 men! :) I hope that Caleb is having fun and learning the safety of guns too.

Just wanted to share a memory from our 1st summer of meeting and getting to know each other.

4th of July Weekend!!

It's about time I am telling myself........hahahaha Normally I have not wanted to get on my laptop after being on a computer all day at work. So, I have not made the time to do it. :)

Here is a lowdown of our 4th of July weekend celebrations!!!

Thursday night - we went out to Royse City to visit with my mother-in-law, Doris. We had a good time. We went and had BBQ at this really good BBQ place. Then we went and got the dogs and took them for a walk around city park. After that we went back to the house and talked till about 11 PM. It went by so fast, but it was great seeing her and spending time with her! I am definitely fortunate to have a mother-in-law that I get a long with so well. Oh, one of the highlights besides the walk around city park was her feeding the goat. Oh my gosh what a site and man can that goat eat fast......hahahaha It is so cute b/c the goat eats its meals out of a bottle still. After Doris put the goat back in the cage; I could see the goat in there shredding/eating the newspaper in her cage. It was pretty funny!

Friday - slept in!! Then Les worked 12 - 6 and I did things around the house. After Les got home; then we headed out to Garland for their 4th of July events. They had booths set up and my favorite booth was the ice cream booth........LOL You could pick your ice cream and cookies and they made you an ice cream sandwich - VERY GOOD!!! The picture below is of us at the festivities in Garland.

The fireworks were awesome and we were literally right under them. I took several shots, but the picture that came out the best was this one. I don't know how to do a video posting, but I got some great video of the fireworks too.

Saturday: Slept in!!! We went to a wedding early afternoon and then that evening we went out to the Honey Grove rodeo. There was a dance afterwards and those are always fun! At the rodeo they have started a new thing: mini-bullriding. They are boys about 12 yrs or so and they are riding bulls, but not the HUGE ones in the main bullriding event. On Friday night one boy named Chance was taken by careflight to Dallas, but he was back out for Saturday night to compete. He ended up with a bruised lung, but he was ready to go again. BRAVE (or stupid?!?!) little guy! In fact, I think he might have even been in Ladonia last night too competing. I didn't catch the boys' names from last night. He did good if it wasn't him and no injuries besides a few bruises for the boys last night - Thank you, Lord.

Sunday: We went to church and then we grilled that evening. We just hung around here and did things because we had had a very busy weekend; which we love! There aren't too many days out of the week that we don't have something going. :)

Overall, we had a wonderful 4th of July weekend!!!!!!!!!!!

Mass

Yep, my parents are in the giant state of Massachusetts (haha). They are visiting a close friend of mine, Thomas, and his family. Thomas and his siblings bought an old farmhouse together several years back. On the property is a cottage that they rent out throughout the year. They are letting my parents stay there for free since we're like family. :) Anyways, they called me this morning and asked me to look up where they were going online. It looks like they are going to have a blast! There are about 5 or 6 of them going to this place: http://jiminypeak.com/sum/s_attractions.html

If you scroll down and look at the Mountain Coaster; this is just one of the activities that they are going to do. Looks like a blast!!!!!!!!!! I wish that I was there to go too, but they said they would take a lot of pictures! Can't wait to see those........LOL :)

Last night.........

...............I learned to play Tennis!!! I had a lot of fun! Lauren and I went after work and she taught be the basics of playing. When our friend Eileen got there; then we played Australian Tennis; which is 2 against 1. We each took turns being the single and I ended up winning the game! It definitely helps that I am athletic too - as I told Lauren," I feel like I'm dancing." :) I love sports and now I can add this to my list of things I like to do! We played for about 1 1/2 hours and it was pretty warm, but we did find a court that had some shade to it. That helped a TON!!!!!!! So, if you are up to playing a rooky; then give me a call and we'll go and have some fun.

Best Friend, Julie

CONGRATULATIONS TO JULIE & NATHAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They were engaged on June 28, 2008 in Boerne, TX. I am so happy for her and can't wait for the BIG day!! Her wedding date is (drum roll please)......................May 2, 2009!!!

I am so happy for Julie. She is my best friend from high school. We met when I was about to finish my sophomore year of high school. I was a current Tallenette and she was going to be trying out. We stood next to each other in try-outs, but then over the summer; she grew tall over the summer..........LOL We still stayed as friends and then over time became inseparable. We have had so many laughs over the years and I can't even tell you how many stories........LOL I think of a lot just sitting here and they're making me laugh thinking about it.........HAHAHAHA

Julie is a wonderful person and someone that I can always trust no matter what and go to her with whatever. She is a wonderful friend and someone that I consider to be more than a friend - a sister!

Julie, I am so happy for you and I look forward to being there and standing by your side through the whole thing. I hope that you and Nathan will have MANY years of happiness. Remember to keep God in the center of your marriage and He'll work everything out! I love you!!!!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!!!

YAY, we're getting off work in 39 minutes.........I can't wait. I just LOVE getting off early; even if it's only a little early. :)

We have LOTS of stuff going on this weekend, so I'm not sure if I'll be posting any, but I'll write more next week if I don't get a chance this weekend.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!!!!!!!!

You Know You Drive a Standard Well When...........

....you drive while eating an ice cream cone in the TEXAS summer..........LOL

Yes folks that is exactly what I did. I totally wasn't thinking when I got an ice cream cone today at Chick-fil-a. I got to my car and thought," oh, how is this going to work?!?!" Well, I managed very well and did not have any problems, did NOT drip any ice cream (hahaha), AND made it back to work with about 1/2 the cone still left to eat while sitting down at my desk. :) I was very proud of myself!!!

Just had to share and this is what the Icedream looked like piled high to the sky......:)
http://www.chick-fil-a.com/#menu (click desserts and then icedream) YUMMY!

It's July.......WOW!

I can't believe that it is already July - where has the other 6 months gone?!

I am excited because on Thurs we'll be getting off work early for Independence Day on Saturday - YEAH!!!!!!! I am so excited b/c I LOVE fireworks!!! I just can't get enough of them and they never seem to last long enough. :) LOL

We went Saturday night and saw fireworks in Allen. We had a blast! I ended up running into a friend of mine from high school. I had not seen her in years and was so excited to meet her kids and catch up before the fireworks.

That's all for now - just completely stunned that it's already July. Almost 9 months of being married!!!!!!! (THIS Sunday) :)

Why Are People So Mean?!

Yesterday at church someone said something well, not so nice to me. I thought," how can a fellow Christian speak to other Christians like that?" Well, I decided to look up online this morning how the tongue can be used. I don't understand how people who call themselves Christians can be mean and use their tongues to hurt others. Your words, tones, and nonverbal signs can be VERY hurtful to those around you and even make others feel uncomfortable. Christians have enough problems in the world, but why do we have to take unkindly words, tones, actions, etc from our brothers and sisters in Christ, family, and friends. We need to be uplifting and not hurtful to each other. I try to be very nice and hold my tongue; although I do slip, but I do try hard to definitely think before I speak; which is not the easiest for sure!!!!! When I know that I have spoken out of place or even just in the wrong tone; then I apologize. However, since I am a Christian, I have the strength of our Lord and Savior. From the cartoon Bambi, Thumpers mom always says to him," if you can't say something nice; then don't say anything at all."

Anyways, I found this article online and thought it was very interesting:


Is your Tongue out of Control?
By Dr. Dale A. Robbins

It has been said that the “tongue” is one of the most exercised muscles of our body. It has been estimated that in a typical week, the average person will speak enough words to fill a 500 page book! However, for the Christian, the use of the tongue must be a matter of careful forethought and discipline. The Bible warns that believers who do not bring restraint to their tongue and speech have been deceived — and without such control over their words, their religious acts are worthless and hypocritical. “If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless” (James 1:26). It is a deception for any of us to think that Jesus can be Lord over our life, without also becoming Lord over our tongue.
The reference to a “bridle” in the previous verse is the leather harness and bit placed in a horse’s mouth to control it. In the same manner, Christians must allow the Holy Spirit to bridle their tongue, and bring restraint to their words. David used a similar device as a metaphor to describe his tight control on his mouth to avoid sinning with his tongue, especially when the ungodly were around, where it’s easy to develop a critical tongue, or pick up their bad tongue habits, such as profanity. “I will guard my ways, Lest I sin with my tongue; I will restrain my mouth with a muzzle, While the wicked are before me” (Psalms 39:1).

Hypocrisy of the Tongue
Elsewhere, James gave a warning of the evil poison of the tongue. He described some who try to use their tongue as praise and blessing to God, then turn around to use their tongue to speak evil of one another. “With it we bless our God and Father, and with it rue curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so” (James 3:9-10). We cannot use our tongue to curse and bad-mouth our brethren, then continue “business as usual” with our relationship with God. The Bible says that such tongue behavior is characteristic of hypocrites. “The hypocrite with his mouth destroys his neighbor... “(Prov. 11:9).
Along this same vein, the psalmist warned that the wicked who use their mouth for evil and who speak against their brethren, violate the sacredness of God’s covenant and forfeit their right to use that same mouth as a vessel of God’s Holy Word and promise. Paraphrased, the passage says, “What right do you have to use your mouth to declare my word and promises? You have used your mouth for evil and deceitfulness, to bad-mouth and slander your brethren” (Psa. 50:16-22).

Mouth sins are not Trivial
Unfortunately, mouth sins have somehow been domesticated and entertained by the modern church. Gossip, backbiting, and slander have become viewed as “naughty” little habits that aren’t really so serious. However, when Paul wrote to the church at Rome he sternly contended that gossips, slanderers, and bad-mouthers were in the same league as murderers, sexual perverts, and haters of God. Furthermore, he said such sins are worthy of a death sentence (Rom. 1:28-32).
Some believers have experienced problems and misfortune, or fail to get answers to their prayers, because of their mouth sins. Using their tongue to ridicule, gossip about, or to slander their brothers and sisters is clearly sin — and as we know, unrepentant sin cuts off the flow of God’s answers to their prayers. “If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear” (Psa 66:18). Those who have mouth problems are destined to experience much trouble in their life and will not find it easy to obtain God’s help with their problems. Satan takes advantage of those whose mouths are undisciplined and that are used wickedly. “Whoever guards his mouth and tongue Keeps his soul from troubles” (Prov. 21:23).
The Bible teaches that they who desire to dwell in the presence of God, to experience His blessings, are those who will live righteously and who will not backbite or badmouth their neighbor. “LORD, who may abide in Your tabernacle a Who may dwell in Your holy hill? He who walks uprightly, And works righteousness, And speaks the truth in his heart; He who does not backbite with his tongue, Nor does evil to his neighbor, Nor does he take up a reproach against his friend” (Psa. 15:1-3). Furthermore, God promises a long, blessed life to those who keep their tongue from evil. “Who is the man who desires life, And loves many days, that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil, And your lips from speaking deceit” (Psa. 34:12-13).

Accountable for all our Words
Jesus warned that our words are so important that they will actually determine our condemnation or justification. He said we will be held responsible for all our words, even our careless, idle words. “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matt. 12:36-37).
Elsewhere, Paul cautioned believers to disallow any corrupt or worthless talk to come from our mouth. Only those things which lift-up, encourage, and are gracious should be expressed to others. “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers” (Eph. 4:29).
Obscenities, profanity, cursing, dirty jokes, or making fun of others is not something that should ever be found in the mouth of a believer. “Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving” (Eph. 5:4 NIV).

Confess and forsake Sin
Thank God there is a remedy for mouth sins. His grace and forgiveness is available for all manner of sin, whatever it may be. Jesus will forgive all sins that we confess to Him (1 John 1:9) — but we must also “forsake” them. “He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy” (Prov. 28:13).
The scriptures tell us to “repent” of sin (Rev. 3:19), that is to “turn away” from sinful behavior. True repentance means that we will make every effort not to repeat our former sins and will seek to walk in the nature of Christ. Since mouth sins really originate in the heart (Matt. 12:34), repentance requires a change of attitude within. Such was David’s desire in his repentant prayer. “Hide Your face from my sins, And blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, 0 God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Psa. 51:9-10).
If you realize that your tongue is out of control, seek His forgiveness and allow Him to change the attitude of your heart and your mouth, so they will be pleasing to Him. “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, 0 LORD, my strength and my Redeemer” (Psa. 19:14).


This article (VL-132) is copyrighted © by Dale A. Robbins, 1990, and is a publication of Victorious Publications, Grass Valley, CA 95949. Unless otherwise stated, all scripture references were taken from The New King James Bible, © Thomas Nelson Inc., 1982. You may download this article for personal use as long as you retain credit to the author. Obtain permission before reproducing copies for any reason, by filling out our simple permission form. This writing is also available as an attractive tri-fold pamphlet, which can be downloaded for reproduction from our Online Catalog. For media reproduction rights, or to obtain quantities of this title in other formats, email us.
Return to the Victorious Network

Slumber Party!!!!!!!

This is going to be SOO much fun tonight. My nephew and niece are going to be sleeping over at our house tonight. So, we're going to have a good old-fashioned slumber party with all kinds of fun things, sleeping bags, etc!!!!!! The kids are really looking forward to it. Normally Caleb always asks to stay with me when he's down and the same was true for this time too. He loves his KK! :) It was such a movie moment when he first saw me at the airport. We spotted each other from across baggage claim and he exclaimed across the way," KK!!!!!!" He started running for me and I bent down and he ran into my arms and we hugged so tightly. I hadn't seen Caleb or Caitlyn for that matter since August. It had been so hard and I was sooo glad to see them!!!!! It was AWESOME!!!!!!

Tomorrow we're having a special day with them again. Since they were not allowed to come down for the wedding; then a friend of ours came up with the idea of having a "second wedding." I LOVED the idea and asked Les about it. So, that's what we decided to do. Although it is VERY small; we'll have fun. We're going to all be wearing shorts and the theme is patriotic. My dad is going to be the officiator since he's a licensed preacher. Caleb and Caitlyn will be the ring bearer and flower girl. Les and I are going to walk down the driveway together.........LOL and then renew our vows. The kids are looking so forward to it!! To top it off; we're going to have Dickey's for lunch. We had Dickey's for our rehearsal dinner when we really got married! I think we're going to have all of about 10 people there.........hahahaha Definitely MUCH different than our wedding back in October!!!!!!! I wanted to do something special for them since they were not able to make it and Caleb had been looking foward to it. When we told Caleb what we were going to do he asked my mom," Is KK going to marry Uncle Les again?" Of course! We all laughed. I thought to myself, "I wouldn't trade Les for the world - I love that man!! :)" Then tomorrow night to continue in our fun we're going to go the rodeo out in Wolf City. YEEHAW!!!

I know that we'll be taking pictures of tomorrow and I'll post some when I get them from either my camera or my parents. :)

Yay, today is like a Friday for me since I'll be off tomorrow for a 3 day weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!!

Today is my mom's birthday - she's 57 years old. Still a spring chicken..........:)

She is a wonderful woman who is a strong Christian, loving, always there for us, instructs us by the Bible in the way we should go, fun and serious. She has so many aspects to her God-made character! I'm so proud that I can call Marsha Jewell Johnson MY mom!!!!!

Tonight we're having a little surprise birthday dinner over at our house. It'll be fun!! My niece and nephew are in town and I think that this might be the 1st time that they have been here for her birthday. What a GREAT present to her - she couldn't ask for anything better than to have her grandkids (Caleb & Caitlyn), granddogs (Bear & Kodiak), her husband (Bryan), kids (Christopher & Kimberly), and new son (Les - my husband) altogether for her BIG day!!!!

Mom, I love you and I'm so glad that God made you my mom. I would not be the person I am today without you in my life. You mean so much to me! Thank you for all that you have done for me and all that you will do for me in the future. You're always there when I need to cry, to laugh, WHATEVER I need - you're there! Thank you!!

By Popular Demand ;)

Here are some pictures for your enjoyment of our hard work; which has definitely paid off!!!

The picture above is part of the floor just sanded and the other part is the floor that we had stained. I loved seeing the change take place. While I did love the floor that was just sanded - I love it now too. It's so pretty!!

Here are the pictures of the floors ALL DONE!!!!!!!!! What a relief to be all finished and enjoying the new living room. :) We even arranged the furniture different and like this a lot better. The room to us feels bigger. Also, I cut the curtains off and hemmed them. I did not like them long and so Les told me that he liked them cut-off too, so I cut and sewed them to fall right above the wood-framed windows.

This picture above was taken from the kitchen and looking into the living room.

This picture was taken from the other side of the room and you can see the doorway from the kitchen (behind Kodiak).

RIP

I haven't had time to write a blog about the double homicide that happened last Thursday early in the morning. I was at home watching the news at lunch time when I was somewhat listening to the news. I happened to look up because of what was on the news and lo and behold I knew one of the guys who's picture was on the news.

A very tragic homicide occurred early in the morning on Thursday, June 19th in downtown Garland, TX.

Two young men, both Christians, were murdered. Matt Butler, 28 years old, the man I know, was shot and killed. Steve Swan, 26 years old, the man Les knows, was shot and killed as well. The murderers stole Steve's car; which was later recovered in Texarkana, TX.
Here is an article of the event: http://www.guidelive.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/stories/zionmurder_0619gl.1c02b6d0.html

Please keep the Butler and Swan families in your prayers. I know that Matt's funeral is today at FBC of Dallas, but not sure of Steve's. I know that Matt leaves behind a wife and 2 kids (1 yr old and 2 yr old). I am not sure about Steve. Les says that Steve was a very smart young man and he remembers him from working with him at Sears several years ago.

Although this is a very sad time - I hope that many will find our Lord and Savior. Matt's wife has been able to share the Gospel on the news and many will hear.

*~*~*UPDATE*~*~*

There was a joint funeral today for Matt and Steve.

A friend of mine told me that it was beautiful and that there were

a lot of people there to honor these 2 young men.

Cadence & KK

This is such a cute picture of Cadence and I. Cadence is one of my best friends' little girl! Her birthday is only 5 days before mine.......:)

They were down visiting family in TX; they live in Vegas. It was great seeing Christy and Cadence. Thank you, Christy for all the support that you have given to me!!!

Love ya and see ya soon!!

Cracked Windows

So you're probably thinking now that I have a cracked window - I don't! I left my windows cracked so that it wouldn't be so hot when I got into the car. Well, if you live in the DFW area you know that we had some VERY strong storms. I ran out to my car at lunch and didn't realize that they were cracked until I sat down and my bottom was wet.......hahaha I looked at the windows and thought,"OH NO, I left them cracked this morning." Oh well, too late to get mad, so I hurriedly got the car started and shut those windows quick!!! LOL

That's all for now - I am super busy at work, but I did want to write this down before I forgot.........hahahaha

Have a great day!

What a weekend

The floors are all done and the furniture is back in the living room!!! I haven't taken a picture yet b/c my camera batteries died and I left them recharging yesterday. I will try to get some good shots tonight, but no promises. :)

On Saturday, Christopher (my brother) and I decorated cookies for Father's Day. We had a lot of fun and we made shapes of sail boats, hearts, planes, tulips, etc. We had fun and didn't make that much of a mess..........LOL

Les and I also went out to a party at the lake and had a really good time. We ate Dickey's, listened to a live band, watched kids jump off the top of the party barge into the lake, and then danced some while others karaoked. We had a SUPER fun time!!!!!!!!!!!

On Sunday we celebrated my eating lunch at Red Lobster (I have been wanting seafood for a few days now), so we went there.

We celebrated Father's Day with my parents last night and really had a good time. We cooked out, played games, and chatted.

Now, I'm heading home - we're taking the boat out tonight!

Wow............

Boy, what a weekend we had!!! I should title my blog the exciting and busy times of L & K!!!!!

Friday - we went out to dinner at Spaghetti Warehouse with my brother (Christopher), his friend Kim and her sister Karen; then it was Les and I too. We had a good time! After that we climbed into Kim's vehicle and went down to this place called Pokey O's. Kim had been telling me about it on Thurs and I was excited to try it. You pick your cookies and then your ice cream and they make you a big ice cream sandwich (aka Pokey). I had a vanilla sugar cookie and a white choc macadamia nut cookie stuffed with cookies and cream ice cream!! YUMMY!!! To me this was the best part of the evening. :) We didn't stay out late because I was walking in the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure on Saturday morning EARLY and Les had to be at work at 8 AM.

Saturday - got up early and me, my mom, and brother all walked in the Race for the Cure. My mom is a 4 year breast cancer survivor and a 9 year uterine cancer survivor. Every time that we're involved in these events it always brings tears to my eyes for the appreciation that I have that God chose to heal my mom instead of take her to be with Him. Thank you Lord!

Here is a picture of Christopher (my brother), Marsha (my mom), and Me before the walk. Thank you for taking our picture, Angi!!

Saturday night we all went out to the races in Greenville. We had so much fun and there was this one car that went off the track and into the back of a storage unit. Thank goodness the boy was not hurt, but I wouldn't want the responsibility to have to pay for someone's things in the storage unit. That night was the 1st time that anyone had ever run into the storage unit and not only did it happen 1x, but 2x's in 1 night - they were shocked!!! We had a great time, even though we had dirt flying in our eyes and being hit my mud on occassion!!! :)

Sunday - went to church and then afterwards went grocery shopping. Then I hung out with my brother for a few hours and then went home and started cleaning. I had to do some laundry too along with cleaning the bathrooms. Les got home and we cooked hamburgers and spent time just the two of us. We had fun!

Today Les is supposed to be working on finishing the wood floors (last coat of varnish) and then we're going to move the furniture in on Tues night after I get home from work. We're going to do spring cleaning too and get rid of a lot of clutter of things that we don't use or need anymore. That'll be nice! We'll also get to set up the new bed in the spare. I'll take pictures once we have it all done and clean! Everything is so dusty right now from sanding........that stuff gets EVERY WHERE!!! :)

Well, I'm getting back to work now. :)

YAY!!!

Today is our 8th month anniversary!!! How exciting! It has been a wonderful 8 months and looking forward to making it to 1 year! Whoever said that the 1st year was the hardest - they were wrong for us! The 1st year has been so easy - Praise the Lord! We have had out growing moments and learning more about each other, but definitely nothing major. :)

Someone else said that the 7th year is the hardest, well, we have a while till that, so I can't blog on that yet..........LOL

Les, I love you and I'm so glad that God made YOU for ME!! Cheers to 8 months!!! :)

We're DONE!!!!!!!!!

Well, this morning Les painted on the 1st coat of the varnish (polyurethane). We're going to paint on more coats, but it is so exciting to see it done! I do have pictures, but I didn't download them on the computer yet (they're on my computer still :)).

Stay tuned for pictures of our woodfloors restored!!!!!! :)

The well.........

The black pipe to the left of the picture is the well. This is the tubing that we have down in the well supporting everything. It sits about 9-10 ft below the surface. The pipe is about 2 1/2 - 3 ft across, so it's pretty big! You could fall in there, but we have been very careful.
This shot is looking down into the well. If you look at the middle of the picture at the shiny stuff - that is the water. We have pumped about 10 ft of water out of it so far. It is holding steady b/c if we stop pumping then it fills up in about 24 hours and we have to re-pump it out. I am so fascinated by it - very interesting stuff. I just wish I could see what lies beneath the well. It reminds of the movie the Goonies and they come across all those hidden treasures underneath the ground. I wonder if WE have hidden treasures??????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

~More pictures~

Here is Kodiak on our front porch. You might notice that her hair is shorter - you're absolutely right, I am now in business for cutting dog's hair..........LOL j/k I thought that she would be much happier and cooler with short hair, so last Friday night I got the scissors out and gave her a short cut. She's my little lionness......... :)
Here is a picture of Bear. We keep him leashed up in the back and here is him on his leash.
I was wondering around outside taking various pictures and when I came to the pond - we had two ducks. I snapped their photos and they didn't even fly away - YAY!! We have had them before, but I couldn't get any shots, but here we are folks - real live ducks in OUR pond!

Here is a picture of our pet bobcat that Les shot years ago. This sits in our living room and I took this picture of the bobcat. To me it looks REAL! It's beautiful..........

Pictures - FINALLY!!

Here are various pictures - this will be mainly a picture post. :)

I took this picture this evening, so you can see where we're at with the floors. I am so excited that it is almost time to stain it!!
I like this picture - I took this picture this evening too. :)
We went to Medieval Times on Saturday and here is some of my family. Uncle Claytie "Bear", Christopher (brother in the back), Mom, and Dad. We had a very good time!!
Here is a picture of my brother and I. We're very close! He is 4 1/2 years older than I am, but people think that we're twins. When asked we do tell people that we're twins.......LOL
Here were lilly pads and I thought that this pink-ish bloom was VERY pretty! This was in the mote at Medieval Times!!

We're almost done!!!!!!

Stay tuned because we are almost done sanding! We have just a few more boards left to do and then we will be done sanding. Thank you, Kevin (my brother-in-law) for letting us borrow 2 electric sanders to finish off the final sanding. Talk about MUCH easier than by hand!! The floor is looking great in my opinion. I have pictures at home to post, so I'll hopefully do that later.

We also have our well up and running; which is so exciting too! We have made it to the water table and now the pump just runs and runs. It won't turn off because the water level is not going down. It fills in an as quick as we pump it! The water is really cold and clear, BUT I am still NOT going to drink it unless we got it tested to see what chemicals/trash is in it. :) It's neat because we can keep our pond up AND water our garden for free now!! I don't have any pictures of the well yet, but it is not pretty (I'll take some this evening and post them too).

I can't remember off hand if I posted anything about our Memorial Day, but we had a lot of fun with the family!! We got up early and worked on the well to get it complete and working. Then we were off to Les' brother and his wife's house. We got to play with our nieces and nephew. Les' sister, Amy, the one who has triplets came too, so we got to play with them too after their naps and feeding. After that we went over to Les' mom's house and spent a little time with her - she had been pulling weeds and trimming trees all day (not my idea of relaxing ;)). While we were there one of Les' friends came down and we road backroads with him for a while and then finally got home around 11 PM. I was pretty bushed by the time we got home, but it was definitely a great day and a day well worth spent!!

Jury Summons

Yes, you heard right - jury summons - YAY! Today in the mail I received my very first jury summons!!! I am so excited because I have ALWAYS wanted to serve in a jury. I hope that I get picked!! I'm not due for about 1 month, so I'll update then about this.......... :)

I'll leave you with a picture - I had this baby skunk for a few days a few years ago. I didn't know anyone that could de-skunk it (take the bag with the smelly stuff out). So, I took him to the Heard Museum and found him a home with one of the workers there. I named by baby skunk, Rave. Introduuuuuuuuuccccccccccccing, Rave!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Komen - Race for the Cure

Hey Everyone,

I thought that I would put on a blog about the Race for the Cure through the Susan G. Komen. I am going to be walking in the Race for the Cure and thought that it would be fun if other's wanted to join me. It is $30 to register, but the money goes to a GREAT cause. My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer 4 years ago after already battling through uteran cancer several years before that. She is definitely a fighter and God healed her!!

If you would like to walk - please let me know! You can register online at http://www.komennorthtexas.org/.

Mom, I'm walking for you!!! Thank you for being so strong and beating cancer - I love you!!!

Medieval Times

Today we took my Uncle Claytie to Medieval Times. We had such a fun time and what a good show they put on!! I have a few pictures, so I'll post them later. I am at my parents' house and don't have any cords with me. If you have never been it is so worth the money. They have awesome food, beautiful horses, great performers, talented hawk, and an all the way around wonderful show. Thanks, mom and dad for inviting me to tag along too. :) What a great way to start off my 3 DAY WEEKEND!! Yay, for time with family!!

Also, I want to thank all the veteran's who should be remembered for their service in our military. My dad is a veteran from the US Army. Thank you, Dad!! I love you and so thankful to have the freedom that I have because of people like you!!

I hope you all have a great weekend!!!!

Halloween 2007

Here is such a funny picture that was taken at our church's annual Harvest Festival. :)

From L-R: Dad (hmm....not quite sure), Mom (The Infamous Miss Piggy), Me (Dr. Cornelius), Les (Cowboy......very original), and Christopher (California Raisin).

I have a funny story about the California Raisin suit. I wore that when I was little and I was ringing doorbells asking for candy. Well, this dog started chasing me and I was "running" as fast as I could, but the only place to go was up this fence. My mom was sitting in the car laughing because all that I could do was waddle and not run because the outfit was too big for me. I still laugh at Halloween when we bring the suit out. ***NOTE - I have never worn that outfit since......LOL***

How To Plant Your Garden

First, you come to the garden alone
While the dew is still on the roses....

FOR THE GARDEN OF YOUR DAILY LIVING, PLANT THREE ROWS OF PEAS
1. Peace of mind
2. Peace of heart
3. Peace of soul

PLANT FIVE ROWS OF SQUASH
1. Squash self-interests
2. Squash gossip
3. Squash indifference
4. Squash grumbling
5. Squash selfishness

PLANT FIVE ROWS OF LETTUCE
1. Lettuce respect one another
2. Lettuce be faithful
3. Lettuce be kind
4. Lettuce be patient
5. Lettuce really love one another

NO GARDEN IS WITHOUT TURNIPS
1. Turnip for meetings
2. Turnip for services
3. Turnip to help and serve one another

TO CONCLUDE OUR GARDEN, WE MUST HAVE THYME
1. Thyme for each other
2. Thyme for family
3. Thyme for friends
4. Thyme for someone in need

WATER FREELY WITH PATIENCE AND CULTIVATE WITH LOVE

THERE IS MUCH FRUIT IN YOUR GARDEN BECAUSE YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW.

Adam & Eve

This song is really funny, but man does it have a message about the Bible too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xzp0S3yO1QA

FOUND THE CAMERA!!!!!

Yay, so I found the camera AND the cord to be able to download the pictures onto my laptop. So, here we go, I'll try to put a comment by all the pics so that you know what you're looking at! I love it and even though it doesn't look the best yet - it will once we're all done. I am SOO EXCITED to see what it looks like all restored!!!!

Here is the first picture; this is part of what has been sanded so far. It has dust on it, so it's hard to see it clearly, but it really looks pretty in person.

The picture above is the whole room, well, most of it. There is part of it that you can't see. We only have about 25% left to strip and then start sanding it too. We have been stripping and sanding both to see what we have and to make sure that it is looking good to us. We had dinner in here last night and Les sat in the chair that is on the far side of the picture.

Above is a section that I wanted to show you. As you can see on the left side of the picture that part has not been touched with stripper OR sandpaper. The right side of the picture has been stripped and sandpapered. However, the part that has been stripped and sandpapered is FAR from being done. You can see my laptop in the picture and this is where I am sitting while typing this blog up. :) Everything that WAS in our living room is now in the kitchen, hallway and spare bedroom. The door in the picture above leads to our kitchen, so see below!!

Here is our beautiful jam-packed kitchen LOADED down with everything!! It has our couch in there and the couch is actually on its back. Our computer desk is in there along with both computer chairs. :)

Below is a picture of our spare bedroom loaded down with things too. We have a stuffed bobcat that Les shot in there, an old entertainment center (its for sale for $15 OBO), a table (its for sale too $10 OBO), a vacuum cleaner, bunk beds, dog crate, several dressers, etc. What I'm trying to say is," IT'S BEYOND FULL."

Les and I have decided that when we start to put things back in place we're going to get rid of things too. We have too many things in the house that we never use, so we'll have another garage sale and get rid of several things that we do not use or do not need anymore. :)

Overall, I would have to say that I wasn't definitely skeptical about taking on this project, but once we have started it - I have really enjoyed it! This is my first thing to really "restore." It's been very different and fun at the same time. I'll keep updating to let you know how we progress!

Till then............

Wood Floors

So if you remember from a previous post you'll see that we had burned our carpet and besides that there were various pee stains from a few dogs. We decided that since the carpet was getting nasty; then we would rip it up. Les knew that there were wood floors underneath in the living room. He hadn't seen it in about 10 years, so he was not sure of the condition. We ripped up part of the room and it looked pretty bad (see below).


See the stain above is from the carpet padding, but the stripper is making it come off so easily and then we're sanding afterwards. It's so neat to me to see it coming together!!!!

Now we have been working and my hands/fingers hurt, but it is starting to look GORGEOUS!! The hardwork is really paying off and the life of the wood is coming back. After all the wood is almost 60 yrs old!!! Our house was built in 1950. ;) The 3rd picture you can see the couch and part of the carpet that has not been removed yet. That has now all been removed. It is amazing what some TLC, stripper, and sand paper can do. :) I am planning on taking a picture of where we're at right now, but since our house is all disorganized right now I can't seem to find it. I am so happy with it and I think when it is all done the floors will resemble an old wood cabin. I am LOVING the floor!!!

Favorite pic from PA

I decided to post a picture of mine that I took in PA - I just love it. Les asked me why I liked the picture so much and I don't know. I just love it and the all the things in it: horse, tulips, silo (sp?), fence, etc. Very cool and I actually took this picture while we were driving - I think I was in the backseat for this shot!!

No We're NOT Pregnant, BUT

we have been talking about baby names!!!

This has probably been one of the funniest moments tonight though that I had to write about.

We were looking at this website that a friend sent me (http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OACT/babynames/).

Well, we came across the name Chloe and Les said," there's no way that we're naming our child Chloe (ch-low is how he said it). I am still laughing histerically!!!! It was soooooo funny!

Just had to share the funniest moment, okay, well now we have even a funnier moment. There was a spot next to Les approximately 2 inches and Kodiak hopped up in the spot and for those who know Kodiak - she needs a LOT more space than 2 inches. SO, now Les has Kodiak sitting on him in the 2 inches and SHE STINKS!!! She went swimming in the pond!!! hahahahahahahaha

Hill Country

We had a great time in the Hill Country this past weekend! We got up around 6:45 AM on Saturday and we were on the road by 7:15 AM. We stopped to fill the gas tank up and we were on our way. We went backroads and had a nice drive until we somehow missed a road.....LOL We ended up in Austin on 35 and well, you know how that is. They are always doing construction, so we were all detoured off of 35 on the South side of Austin, but honestly it didn't take long at all and our journey continued. We made it to the Hill Country Resort and rested a little before we went downtown. It was pretty hot down there, so we waited for the heat of the day to pass. We got to downtown around 5:30 PM and walked around. Since I had lived in San Antonio before - I knew my way around pretty well! We parked and off we went. We went to the Alamo, the riverwalk, the market, rode the trolley, ate dinner at The County Line (BBQ), and of course rode the riverboats. We got back to our room around 10PM or so and we were pretty tired! We got up on Saturday and started our day. We wanted to go to Guadalupe River State Park (http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/guadalupe_river/) and that was beautiful. We hiked for several hours before lunch and then had a picnic overlooking the river. The place was packed with families grilling, swimming, and fishing. We then left there and went through Fredericksburg and continued on till we arrived home last night. We had a really good time even though it was only for 2 days!!! It was definitely worth the 2 days!!!

***Sorry, I only took like 5 pictures the whole trip, so nothing to post***
However, all the places that we visited are online and all you have to do is google them...... :)

TEN YEAR HIGH SCHOOL REUNION!!

Holy Cow, so today in the mail, guess what I received?!

Yes, an invitation to my high school reunion. I knew it was coming because I actually helped plan a little bit of it. Our get togethers are going to be in September and we're going to have 3 events, so I'll have to try and make it to at least 1 of the events.

pics - FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here are a variety of pictures, but here we go:

Here is when the carpet got burned - this doesn't really make it look that bad, but in person it looks more burned. :(
Here is Les & Kodiak asleep on the couch. Les was sick and got up coughing one morning and he then fell asleep on the couch with Kodiak.
Here is a really cute picture of Bear & Kodiak!!!
Here is Les in the boat in our pond and Kodiak swimming out to him.
This looks like they are both in the boat now in the pond.

Hill Country............

............watch out!

Well, we're going to the Hill Country this weekend. We're excited and it'll be just the 2 of us. As Les said," sort of like a mini-honeymoon!" Which is so true b/c we're going to leave early Saturday morning and then come home Sunday night. It'll be a nice mini-vaca!!! :)

It's already Wednesday and the time is FLYING by!!!

Almost Forgot!!!

So, we have a full pond and we have ducks and thousands of tadpoles and frogs. I'm not kidding when I say thousands of tadpoles. If you go out to the pond in the middle of the day while they are basking in the sun under the water - you can see them. They are big, they are small, they are medium! It's crazy, but so cool too!!! Our pond is now inhabited by living things. We knew that we could hear them, but wow, to actually see them was so cool. I can't imagine WHAT it will sound like once all those tadpoles are full grown frogs!! We're going to have our own frog tourist attraction.........LOL If you stand out there for a few moments - a frog will actually float to the surface and float at the top of the water with its head out. Oh, also the tadpoles swim around a lot; they are very busy swimming, eating the insects that are on the water, etc.

We now have the well uncovered b/c the bricks were slowly starting to fall in and we wanted to do something. So, Les and his friend David pulled the 2 big brick coverings off and we have a board deep in the hole covering it in case something living falls in and our john (sp?) boat sitting over the hole to help even more. We bought this big heavy plastic pipe to stick in there and we're hoping that it will keep anymore bricks from falling in. I think I have pictures of the well, so I'll have to take some the way it is now and then the ending result. We want to build something pretty to put over the well to make it look cute and go with the house (I have a vision in my head as to how I want it, but we'll see what we end up with!!!). :)

Just thought that I would share in our fun times!

Oh wow!

Has it really been 2 weeks since I last wrote on here?!

On Sunday we went to a Cuatro de Mayo party (I know, it wasn't Cinco de Mayo) and had a BLAST! Our Sunday School class (ABF) had a party and we had fajitas (beef and chicken) and all the fixings. I took queso with hamburger meat in it and it went FAST! I do have to say, it was VERY tasty. I used this mini crock-pot that is supposed to be used for hot dips - I got it as a wedding present and it worked very well. Althought it got really hot on the outside - it still worked great and kept the cheese nice and HOT!!! :) There were a few little girls (Ella & Olivia) and Jen (http://jenleforce.blogspot.com/) got a great shot of them eating those really big iced cookies - you can follow the link and see the pictures - they were too cute!

I tricked Les into eating a chocolate cake that someone made - well, it wasn't the chocolate that he would have not eaten - it was the mayo (yes, you heard right, MAYO!)!! So, he totally missed the conversation that the cake had mayo in it to keep it moist. He tried a piece of cake and liked it. After he ate it I told him that it had mayo in it - he got the most disgusted look (yes, I am laughing as I type it) on his face and he said," you're supposed to tell me these things." I said," well, I knew you wouldn't try it if you knew it had mayo in it." I laughed and laughed and laughed some more! Poor Les, BUT he did like it. :)

I know that I promised pictures from our trip to PA, but I have STILL not downloaded them from my camera. I am terrible, but I promise to do that soon. We're going to go out of town this weekend and I want to have my memory card cleared so that I can take LOTS of pics! We haven't decided where we're going to go yet, but these are our thoughts (what do you think?)
1. The Hill Country and see San Antonio too
2. Beaver's Bend & camping & hiking
3. Granbury - rodeo and drive-in movie theatre
4. Galveston

I'll let you know what we decide as soon as WE decide..........LOL :)