In memory of...

...my Uncle Rick who passed away this past Thursday and who's life we celebrated today. Go in peace, save us a place next to you, and play your heart out with your new lungs.

My Uncle Rick fought for his life almost his whole life and in all of his pain and sickness at the end of it, continued to give God the glory. He was an amazing trumpet player who played with passion and soul and who once said: "I have always played the trumpet for myself, but from now on I play the trumpet for God."

"It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed."

1 Corinthians 15:52

"When the trumpet sounds and I look around --- just be there" - Uncle Rick

And lastly, he spent time with a friend at the end of his life discussing the song and book "Shout to the Lord" and the meaning it had to his life. The power of these words never ceases to move me and make my heart overflow with thanksgiving, humility, and awe......what an awesome God we serve and what an amazing gift it will be to one day bow down before Him.

My Jesus, My Savior,

Lord, there is none like You

All of my days I want to praise
the wonders of Your mighty love

My comfort, my shelter,

Tower of refuge and strength

let every breath, all that I am

never cease to worship You

Shout to the Lord

all the earth, let us sing

power and majesty, praise to the King

mountains bow down

and the seas will roar

at the sound of Your name

I sing for joy at the work of Your hands

forever I'll love You, forever I'll stand

nothing compares to the promise I have in You

new page - old event

I actually managed to do some scrapbooking this weekend (well, one layout at least) so I decided to do it of our 2nd anniversary this past summer (wow, that sounds so ridiculous knowing we have an almost 2-year-old). Jeff and I went to the melting pot (for the first time) and then he blind-folded me (no naughty jokes, let me finish the story, sheesh!) and drove me to Weston, MO where we spent the night in this adorable bed & breakfast. The sad part was it was over so fast and before we knew it our one-night vacation of sleeping in and and enjoying a quiet breakfast was soon replaced with missing our baby (yes, we are still that ridiculous couple that misses our child even after one night away...just give us a few years and a few more kids and we'll be as cynical as the rest of ya :) ). Anyway, it was a wonderful night and thought it was deserving of a pretty little vintagey (yes that's a word) page. :)

Easter Goodies

Here's my niece Nevaeh on Easter (super cute, right?). Her dress was so bright and festive with 3 different colored ribbons as her shoulder straps. Marietta made her hair bows...

...here's a better shot of them. And I made her matching necklace. What a lucky girl, custom designed outfit just for her! :)

Easter Sunday

Happy Easter everyone!

this is a banner I made to add a little Easter cheer to my house. I'm so bad about decorating for holidays (except for Christmas of course) and am trying to make an effort to do more. Below are pictures of each square close up. My camera is crap so the pictures aren't that great but you get the idea.....Hope you all had a great day!

A few of my favorite things....

We are in the middle of a two-part series at our church called "1 week 2 live". Last week we were all asked to write down 3 things we would do if we had one week to live. I wrote 1) spend every second with my family and hold my baby 2) tell all of my loved ones just how much I love them and 3) write down my thoughts. I figured you would have quite a few "thoughts" running through your head if you had one week to live. And with Jaymin being so small, I would want him to have something to read down the road that I had written, and hopefully he would hear my voice behind the words. Brian, our pastor, asked us to do this because the celebration of the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus is upon us. Jesus knew he was going to die. And there were specific things he did with his time before he was crucified. I'd like to think I would handle such a heavy load as that with just as much grace, wisdom, and peace as Jesus did. When I was thinking about MY three things and all of the amazing experiences I have yet to experience in this world, I couldn't help but think, no, I wouldn't fly to Greece, or gorge myself on every delectable food item that exists, or max out my credit cards on the shopping spree I've always dreamed of, no...all I could think of was every precious moment spent with my baby on my lap, my husband at my side, and just being in the presence of the family that I love so much...My dad makes the most amazing chocolate milkshakes I've ever tasted, better than any restaurant, so one of my favorite past-times is sitting around my parents' bar, eating milkshakes, and laughing at old stories that we tend to tell over and over again...yeah, that sounds like a pretty good way to go....

Prayer

Ok, sorry for this (somewhat) exaggerated illustration of my family's current finances, I needed a visual and this is actually a vintage coin purse left to me by my favorite Grandma Margaret (who passed away in 2000) and was recently discovered after going through some boxes at my parents' house. Anyway, I am in desperate need of prayer. Jeff and I are in some difficult financial times and I have been exploring different avenues of work for myself. I have a few options on the table, I just don't know what it is God wants me to do. I know he wants me to do what is best for my family, I'm just not sure which option that is right now. So please keep our little family in your prayers and please pray for unity (one of my favorite words from Kristy Shacklett) for Jeff and I and that our marriage grows stronger instead of weaker through this hard time. Thank you!

New Shoes

Okay, so the other day Jaymin just kept tripping and tripping and tripping. He normally falls over invisible objects but this was getting ridiculous. I knew his size 4 shoes were getting a little small but they still went on pretty easily so I didn't think they could be that bad. Anyway, so I picked him up and felt the toe of his shoe only to feel his little feet trying to burst through the end of the shoes. So I took him to get measured and it turns out he's a size 5 1/2 or 6! Yes, I'm a horrible mother. So these are his new shoes (yes Jodi, I copied Ty's shoes yet again, you are my child stylist :) )....and he's very proud of them. I guess I'm still learning as I go, and hopefully my child's balance and foot health will not be permanently damaged.