Guest Post

There is so much to update, but today, I'd like to hand the mic to a friend who has some true insight into the find and death of Osama bin Laden. Great words and insight here--check it out:

http://www.infinitequeso.com/

More soon!! Check back!

Who Has Time??!

I hate that I have not updated this blog in so long!! I don't even know where to start!! Okay, let's try the one-word update thing again :) And pictures. Pictures are good.

January. Cold. Brrrr. Snow, ice, and more ice. Training in new Vibram five-finger shoes on some ice. Indoors and stir crazy, and at times without heat! Property taxes. Yikes.

February. Sun peeks out. More ice, but then sun. Lots of dental appointments. Gearing up for a little boy's birthday. Big boy bed! ZOO. Followed by a BUG PARTY. YouTube has video proof :) Can't believe my baby is FOUR. What a bright spot in the world, so full of life.




March. Greyson started OT food class. Some progress, but very slow. Allergies kick in. Finally took family photos!! Greyson's first camping trip!! Doctor visit with lots of shots :( Running faster. Melissa Ridge 5K. WINDY!!!!



April already???? Yikes! Greyson enrolled in Little Gym sports skills class and loving it. Gavin still loving his Birds class for little ones. Boys growing like weeds, and getting along better!! Lots of intentional, focused work on prayer, family and marriage. Getting ready to travel to Phoenix next week for a family trip! Weather warming up, flowers everywhere. Bug hunting. Lotssss of bug hunting. Meetings with church partnerships galore for church role. Singing every few weeks at church. Painting on nights that I'm not too exhausted to stand up for a possible business venture. Lots of DIFFERENT things happening at once. Loving life, though, and so GRATEFUL for where God has me right now, for these boys and our home and our time.

Hope to be back soon! :)

New Beginnings

Ahhhh, January....that crisp, refreshing time when resolutions and hope are ignited, fresh new calendars emerge, and......who am I kidding? January is my least favorite month of the year. Truly. It is bitterly cold, the excitement of Christmas has come and gone again, and restlessness resumes. Every January, I am just...restless! Call it SAD if you will, but it happens every January, and come Valentine's Day, all will be well :)


Aside from that bit of randomness, we did have a phenomenal Christmas holiday celebrating the birth of the Savior, spending time with family, and even getting to vacation a little...here is a recap:

Sweet Greyson did an amazing job performing in his preschool Christmas program. He sang, "Go, Tell it on the Mountain," and certainly showed that he enjoys being in the limelight :) My dad and brothers came up to celebrate Christmas with us, and we enjoyed spending time with them and experiencing all of the wonder and excitement of Christmas with little ones. We went over to my mom and stepdad's house later in the day on Christmas to get to spend time with them as well, and we even got to Skype with Matt's family, who we really missed seeing this year.

(playing Santa is hard work!!)

Matt and I got to celebrate New Year's Eve while my mom and stepdad kept the boys, and this was actually the first year since having kids that we made it alllll the way to midnight!! Phew! We weren't sure we would make it, but we held strong. We celebrated via dinner/movie, a few fun games and a tattoo to boot :)


A couple of days later, we got to travel up to Vail, CO for a few days, where my dad had rented a condo for our family to spend a little more time together, and in such a beautiful place. I had been to Vail in the summertime, but of course, the winters there are unbelievable. We had endless fun playing in the snow, tubing, ice skating, and riding the gondola up and down the mountain. Gavin looked like a little bear cub, or abominable snowman possibly, in his little snowsuit waddling around, and Greyson had a blast, of course. Traveling was a little intense, as always with little ones, but it was well worth it. Sadly, while we were gone, our dog got out of my mom's yard (where she was staying while we were out of town), made it out to a major road, and was hit by a car :( She was incredibly lucky, though, and pulled through, for which we are thankful, but with all of that drama came a very hefty vet bill that we were obviously not anticipating. Certainly an eventful week.


Despite the "January gloom," I am excited for this new year and for all of the memories that will be made and for all that the Lord might reveal to us. Matt and I, now more than possibly ever before, have more questions than answers when it comes to our future, but at the same time have more of a sense of trust and dependence on the One who does have the answers and does know how we will be provided for. All we have to do is trust...and walk forward. I don't really do the whole resolution thing, but if I did...mine would be to trust a little more this year, to depend a little bit more, and to walk forward in faith a few steps further.


Happy New Year!

A Shutterfly Christmas...

So this is my first promotion of a company or product on my blog, but with a deal like this, I could not resist. Get this: by writing this post, Shutterfly will generously be supplying me with my Christmas photo cards FREE of charge. How can I resist?? If you are a blogger and are interested to find out more about jumping on this promotion, go here:
http://blog.shutterfly.com/5358/holiday2010-blog-submission-form/

We have actually used Shutterfly to create our Christmas cards for the last three years. I have found a huge selection of cards for very reasonable prices through Shutterfly and have enjoyed being able to send high quality photo cards for Christmas. If you'd like to check out their selection of Christmas cards, go here:
http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards

A couple of my favorites for this year are:

We have also created beautiful photo books as special gifts for our family...to look at Shutterfly's selection of photo books to use as great gift options for Christmas, go here:
http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-books

Another great Shutterfly product is their birthday cards and invitations...what a cute idea for a child's birthday!! Go here to see some examples:
http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/birthday-cards-stationery

This is a great company with great products...check it out!!

2 Months is a Long Time

Sometimes life is so full that it is completely overwhelming to think about capturing even one day or even moment in words and pictures. There is no way to truly give justice and recount the last several weeks...sheesh!! So big and so full is life.

Our trip to St. Lucia was amazing. We got to do and see so many amazing things. Took a private segway tour (ironically a week after the guy who invented them crashed one and died--we did not know this :), took a land and sea tour of the island to see the fishing villages, banana plantations, botanical gardens, volcano, waterfalls and the beautiful Caribbean Sea. We kayaked, snorkeled, ziplined through the rainforest and ate out every day and night (it was all-inclusive). It was truly the trip of a lifetime, and we were so blessed to get to go, especially during this season of life. Happy 10th anniversary!!!



During the next couple of weeks, I celebrated a birthday, had a fun visit from my dad, who took us to a local pumpkin patch with the boys, and dealt with a couple of rounds of being sick--all of us. Greyson had croup, Gavin had some kind of nasty cold, and I completely lost my voice for several days and literally am just now starting to feel normal again--you know those coughs that hang on forEVER? Forever. In between being sick, Matt injured his ankle during our marathon training, and we thought that was IT. He could not run for an entire week during what was supposed to be the pinnacle of the training. It was really disappointing and a little scary. We have been through so much during the training--from my neroma and steroid shot to Matt's recurring back issues and then ankle. BUT by the grace of God, he was able to continue the training. There was also a random butterfly festival thrown in there somewhere...





Then came Halloween and the cutest little boys that you ever saw dressed as a caterpillar (Greyson, of course) and monkey (Gavin). We took them to our church's fall festival and then trick or treating on the actual day. Greyson boldly knocked on doors and greeted our neighbors like a pro, and sweet little Gavin actually seemed to understand the whole process after a couple of houses!! With his little monkey tail swinging behind him, he waddled up to doors and waited to take something from them (he doesn't know what candy is yet) and put it in his little bucket. SO cute.







This past weekend, we ran and finished the Fort Worth marathon. We waffled between moments of excitement and exhiliration and sheer exhaustion and frustration. We ran together for the first 20 miles of the race, and then things just seemed to really get tough for both of us. Poor Matt was really struggling with his ankle, and he urged me to go on if I could to try for a better time. We split up for the last six miles. I ended up finishing in 4:25, and he was not far behind. We were so relieved to have been able to finish it without having to succumb to injury or otherwise. Yay!!!



What's next??? I am SO loving this time of year and the upcoming holiday season. Lots of fun stuff, but aside from the seasonal events, I'm just so grateful for my family and for our health this year, maybe more so than ever. What a ride we have been on this year...can't wait to see what lies ahead...

Gavin is ONE and WALKING!!!

Man, doesn't life seem to just be in fast forward sometimes? Blink, and you'll miss it. My life right now is this strange combination of excruciatingly long and exhausting hours mixed with this nostalgic notion of wanting to bottle time. Very strange.

My baby turned one last week. Poor little guy was sick with a cold that was graciously passed to him from big brother as a birthday present. On top of that, he had to get four shots at his one-year appointment. BUT he did have cake for the first time, so I think he would tell you it was worth it, if he could talk. Greyson was at preschool on Gavin's birthday, and Matt and I took him out to lunch to celebrate and then had a family celebration that night. My mom and stepdad came over on Saturday to celebrate some more. But Gavin decided to wait until after the parties to start walking...I can't begin to describe how cute a first-time walker truly is...I have so many great memories of Greyson at this age, and I love that he is so proud of himself. Truth be told, when Gavin is walking, he is much slower than when he is crawling, so I actually appreciate it all the more right now :) Keeping up with these two is turning into quite the challenge. When it comes right down to it, the most challenging thing for me right now is that there are soooooo few things that I can do with both of them that they enjoy together. 99.999999% of the time, what is fun or good for one is painful or frustrating for the other. I welcome any ideas and suggestions for activities that will not immediately prompt sibling rivalry and frustration. I live for the times that one or the other is asleep, or when I have help and can actually enjoy time with them.

Matt and I are leaving on Saturday for the Caribbean...we have not gone on a vacation by ourselves in many years, and to celebrate out tenth anniversary, we planned this trip almost a year ago. I definitely have anxiety about leaving the boys, and while I know that it sounds so ungrateful and strange, I am dreading the thought of leaving for a week!! Not that I think the world will end without me here, but that I don't want to MISS anything!! Gavin will probably be running when we come back!!! Matt's mom is flying in tomorrow, and my mom and his will both be here to take care of everything. Very thankful for them both, and hoping for the best :)

Our marathon is less than two months away, and it can't get here soon enough. I will be sooooooooo glad to have some time and sleep back after it is over. Every spare moment is spent running or recovering, and it makes the days so much longer and more tiring. Right now, we are just hoping to stay injury-free for the next few weeks and to have the endurance to finish strong.

Thank you, Lord, for the ability to run and for good health. For the ability to take a wonderful vacation with my husband. For the blessing and JOY of two beautiful, healthy children. When you put it like that, there is no room for worry or complaint.

Transition Words

Too much to update!! Bad blogger. Bad! More words and phrases :)

Celebrated 10 years with Matt. His plan and surprise = a beautiful renewal of vows ceremony and reception, complete with picture slideshow and cake. So wonderful. Flying to St. Lucia at end of September to celebrate a little more :)

Greyson starting MDO for first time ever this week. Bittersweet moments. Blubbery mama. Love my boys. Know he will thrive. Still struggling with eating. Love/hate relationship with baby brother. LOVES bugs. And sea animals. Gives his mama flowers every day.

Gavin = ALMOST ONE!!!!!!! On verge of walking!! Teeth, teeth and more teeth. Separation anxiety. STRONG. Can climb up a playground slide like nobody's business--what the??

Running, running, running. Marathon 2 months away. Neroma in foot. Steroid shot--ouch!!! Doing better/minimal pain. Long run every Friday--up to 12 miles so far. Will get up to 20 in the training. Yikes.

Time of transition...summer to fall, baby to toddler, toddler to preschooler, time ticking on. Want to bottle it up and savor the moment :) Thank you, Jesus, for the blessing of such a full life!!