Celebrate Freedom 2008

So Daniel, April and I went to Celebrate Freedom this weekend. For those who may not be familiar, Celebrate Freedom is a huge outdoor, free concert celebrating the 4th of July. It is put on by 94.9 KLTY, a Christian Radio Station in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Although Daniel, April, Randy & myself are all 89.7 Power FM fans, we decided to attend anyway to see some of our all-time favorite Christian Artists. We actually missed 3 of our top favs on Friday night (David Crowder Band, Shane & Shane, and Dizmas), but we weren't deterred. Saturday morning we left our apartment and headed north.

We spent all afternoon (in the heat) listening to great Christian music (both contemporary and rock) and hanging out. There was an issue with the water but you'll have to ask me about that outside of this blog! :) Some of the artists we saw included Mandisa (awesome, btw!), Fee, Addison Road (so worth the heat!), Salvador, Jaci Velazquez, Anthony Evans and Meredith Andrews. We were just about to see Lincoln Brewster, Skillet and Kirk Franklin when the concert was canceled due to the storms and lightning in the area. We headed home and enjoyed some quality bonding time asking questions and laughing at each other.

It was so good to get to spend time with my little brother and one of my best friends (who by the way is Daniel's sweet girlfriend!). I love them both and am so glad we can hang out and have fun together. We all went to church together (minus Randy) on Sunday. Randy had a 24 hour clinical on Saturday so he had to miss out on most of the fun this weekend. Maybe next time, honey! Here are some pictures from Saturday:
Addison Road - Rocking out
What Daniel was doing during one point in the afternoon.
Doesn't he look comfy?
Oh, wait! He's not asleep!
What April & I were doing
And finally - the cute couple! Awww..

My 2nd Birthday Celebration/Surprise

You know something is important when you celebrate it twice and it is just as fun the second time. Today I was expecting to celebrate my birthday with my parents since they weren't able to come down last weekend. Well, I ended up being surprised with a Surprise party made up of my parents, my little brother, Randy and friends, April D., Courtney F., Jacob & Laura, and Grant, Sarah, Rhett & Hudson. Wow! How fun! And I was surprised. It was a great ending to a wonderful birthday week.

Randy & I are so blessed to have such loving family and friends. To sit and watch our close friends visit with my parents and brother and really want to get to know them is incredible. Thank you Randy & Mom for planning such a great lunch party. I really appreciate you thinking so much of my 25th birthday to plan a party with our friends. Love you!

Surprise!

Me & My parents :)

Almost the whole group - sorry we left you out Sarah!

I needed a little help - thanks Rhett!

Me & My wonderful Hubby

Randy just had to feed cake to me like at our wedding!

Daniel and April - aren't they cute?!

#25

So yesterday I turned 25 - yes, that is one quarter of a century (people keep reminding me of that). I had a wonderful day and weekend, and get to celebrate again this coming weekend!

I woke up to my hubby singing his version of Happy Birthday and then French Toast that he made for me. Thank you Randy! Then it was off to work, where my cube was decorated by my fun co-workers. Sadly, I forgot to take a picture of it, but let's just say I had to almost crawl out of my cube any time I needed to get something. :) My parents and brother surprised me with a beautiful flower arrangement of yellow daisies and roses. Daisies are my favorites (along with tulips)!





Laura (co-worker) took me to Olive Garden for lunch for some yummy soup and salad. Then back to work for the afternoon. I got home and Randy was so antsy for me to open my gift. So I did and guess what? He got me a cool, flexible tripod for our camera! It is like a Gorillapod, but a different brand and made for heavier cameras. I am so excited to get to use it on our next trip. Currently it is wrapped around Randy's bike, holding my camera. Silly boys!

Randy, Sonia, and Bruce took me to Outback for my birthday dinner. The steak was wonderful and I got a cool chocolate ice cream dessert because it was my birthday. And no, I didn't have to sing or dance for it. :) Although Randy tried really hard to make me believe I had to...lol!


My gift


Sonia & Bruce


Love this pic minus the glare from the blinds.


That's better.

My birthday was a very blessed day. I got so many calls, emails, and messages from family and friends wishing me a happy birthday. I am very blessed. Can't wait to see what happens in the coming year!

Happy New Year! (a little late!)

2008 is here and a new year has begun. It has been a while since we posted so I thought it might be time for an update. We had a great holiday visiting family and friends and enjoying time off from work and school. We spent Christmas with my family in Oklahoma and New Year's with Randy's sister, brother-in-law, and neice in Tyler, TX. From our pictures below you can probably see we had a wonderful time. We loved getting to spend time with family and friends, but were glad to be back home (and in our own bed again)!

Work began again and the routine slowly fell back into place. Its funny, I love surprise and excitement, but I also love falling back into routine and familiar. I know this is something that I struggle with - my want to stay in the familiar, aka comfortable, and Jesus' call for me to step out into the unknown. Thankfully, I am learning to trust Jesus more and more and that makes it easier to step out into the unknown. And thankfully I serve a patient God who loves me even when I mess up.

Last weekend, Randy & I got to spend lots of time with our friends, Brian & Janelle, and Jacob & Laura. We hung out Friday night and played a mean game of "Killer Uno" (no one was hurt or died during this process...lol). Saturday, we all went to the wedding of our friends, Josh & Gilda. The wedding was beautiful and as much as I would like to share pictures, I forgot my camera. Hopefully, I can get Brian or Jacob to email me theirs sometime, hint, hint.... Afterwards, we headed back to Jacob & Laura's for dinner and to celebrate Jacob's 25th birthday. Sunday, they all were able to attend church with us and Randy & I actually got to be in the worship service with them! It was awesome. We headed back to our apartment, ate lunch and then spent the rest of our time visiting and catching up. Brian & Janelle are in the process of adopting/hoping to adopt a little boy named Alex. Please be in prayer for them during this time. Jacob & Laura are doing well - Laura starts back to school in a few weeks and Jacob is working.

Randy started back to Paramedic classes this week. He is excited that this is the downhill slope for him. He should be finished and a Paramedic by July/August. His clinicals start sometime in March and will keep him busy but we know it is just temporary. God will get us through it all.

And in closing, I wanted to leave you with cute pictures of our neice, Bella Grace. She is just adorable and I love getting to show her pictures off! Hope you all are doing well. We'd love to hear from you!

Christmas Pictures - finally! :)

Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas to you and your family! Randy & I pray this letter finds you blessed. We can hardly believe that Christmas is almost here again. This year has just flown by! Of course, we have done our part to keep it busy, but we wouldn’t change a thing. Here are the highlights from our year:

• November 2006 – Randy proposed! On a snowy night, at my apartment Randy asked me to be his princess for always. I said yes and it was official. We were getting married!
  
• January through March 2007 – Wedding planning had begun! From picking flowers, colors, cakes, tuxes, and a wedding gown – our lives were almost completely wedding. We had engagement pictures taken, I found my dress, we picked out flowers, went to 3 wonderful showers given by our wonderful friends, discovered that there is way more that goes into a wedding than we realized, and through it all thoroughly enjoyed every part of our engagement.
  


• April 2007 – This was a very busy month in our lives. I quit my job at Fossil in Richardson, TX. It was going to be too far for me to drive once we were married and living in Arlington. Thankfully, I was blessed with another opportunity in Irving with BancTec, Inc. Our God is faithful to provide just when we need it. Then I moved out of my apartment, and moved in with Paul & Shannon Mints for a few weeks before the wedding. Randy & I have been so blessed with family and friends who helped us in so many ways leading up to the wedding. Thanks! And squeezed in between all of this activity – I had a birthday! I am looking forward to a calmer birthday next year!
  
• April 28th, 2007 – Randy & I were married at Marietta’s First Baptist Church in Marietta, OK. It was a very blessed day. We couldn’t have asked for anything better. Our family and friends were there to share it with us, the weather was wonderful, and we were getting married! Thank you to all of you who shared in that special day with us. We thank God for friends and family like you.

• May 2007 – Randy took me on a wonderful Honeymoon to Lake Tahoe, CA. We settled into married life – how fun! Randy also started EMT classes at the end of May. Our first nephew was born on May 12th – Caleb Matthew. He is a cutie!

• June 2007 – We moved – again! I moved 3 times in 3 months. This time we moved from Randy’s apartment (his lease was up) to the apartment we are in now. It is a 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment and we love it! People say that the most stressful events someone can go through are getting married, moving, starting a new job, losing a loved one and divorce. We did 3 of the 5 in 3 months! Whew!

• July 2007 – Randy had his birthday on the 12th – complete with a double layer chocolate cake. Ask him about that sometime. It is quite the story. Oh, and our friends Jacob & Laura got married. We have been to so many weddings this year. I have to say 2007 was the year to get married!

• August 2007 – Randy finished his EMT classes. Yay! He finished as one of the top in his class. He also started his Paramedic classes. He should be finished by this time next year. Our church, The Community at Lake Ridge, also held a baptism at Lake Joe Pool, baptizing 8 people! If you want to know more about our church, check out the website – www.thecommunityatlakeridge.com. It is growing like crazy and God is working in amazing ways. Randy & I help with our kids’ ministry – KidRidge and we have grown from 40 at Easter to 70+! We are so blessed to have a wonderful church family – please be in prayer for what God is doing at TCaL.




• September 2007 – September was full of visiting family and friends. My cousin Waylon married his sweetheart Nina on Labor Day weekend. We traveled to College Station to visit Brian & Janelle Franklin (one of Randy’s best friends). The month ended with one of my best friends Tiffany visiting for the weekend. We are blessed to have friendships that endure despite the distance and busyness between us.

• October 2007 – Randy took and passed his EMT National Registration test! I am so proud of my smart husband. We also took a road trip to Odessa to visit Randy’s family. It was so good to all be together for the weekend.

• November 2007 – A surprise birthday party, Thanksgiving, a new niece – November was an exciting month. Randy, Daniel – my brother, and I threw a surprise birthday party for my mom. Boy was she surprised! We had so much fun. We spent Thanksgiving in Oklahoma with my family since we had spent last year’s in Odessa with Randy’s family. It actually was cold this year! At the end of the month, we had the privilege of becoming an uncle and aunt again. Bella Grace was born to Kristi & Andrew on November 28th. She is a doll!




• December 2007 – I love this time of the year. Christmas trees, snowmen, the Christmas Story, being with family and friends, celebrating Jesus’ birthday. It has to be one of my favorite times of the year. I love being with family on Christmas and reading the Christmas story. This is our first Christmas as a married couple. We are excited to look forward to what God has in store for us next year.
  

We pray at this special time of the year, that you would be able to spend time with your family and friends remembering the real reason for the season. Jesus was born in a stable 2000 years ago to be our Savior and Lord. He was the Ultimate Gift that first Christmas. May you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! We love you!

Pictures!

Here at some of the pictures of our visit to Tyler to meet Bella Grace! Enjoy!

Bella Grace is here!

It's official! Randy & I are an uncle & aunt again! Bella Grace was born last night at 8:24 p.m. She weighed 7 pounds, 6 ounces and was 20 3/4 inches long. Mom, Baby, and Daddy are all doing well. Randy & I are heading to Tyler to visit Kristi, Andrew, and Bella this weekend. We can't wait! We'll have lots more pictures after that.

Thanksgiving

Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone, and now Christmas is around the corner. Wow, this year has gone by fast. Randy & I have our 7 month anniversary tomorrow! Can you believe it? 5 more months and we will have been married for a full year. I know for those of you who have been married 5, 10, even 15 years, that 1 year is nothing. But still, it is a milestone for us! :) Anyways, back to the point of this post - Thanksgiving.

Randy & I headed north to Oklahoma Tuesday night after work. Wednesday Randy & Daniel went mountain biking at Lake Murray. I hear they have some pretty cool war wounds to show for their fun. Ask them about them sometime. Mom & I baked and cooked most of the day on Wednesday. Mom & Dad hosted Thanksgiving at their house last year and did the same this year. Thursday all my cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents came to our house for Thanksgiving dinner. There was way too much food (as usual) and lots of full stomachs by about 2 o'clock! This year (which isn't normal) almost everyone had to head somewhere else for supper. Normally, everyone stays and we eat leftovers for supper. The boys braved the cold to play a little football and have a pecan war outside.

Friday was pretty laid back. Randy & I spent a couple hours at the doctor, waiting on a breathing treatment for Randy. It seems his allergies/asthma didn't appreciate the cold weather/pecan war/being in Oklahoma. We aren't really sure what caused all of his breathing problems, but after a 10 minute treatment he felt much better. My grandparents came up that afternoon and picked up the rest of the pecans from our pecan trees. The poor squirrels were wondering where all their nuts went that evening. We wrapped up our Friday with a double date with my little brother Daniel and his girlfriend April.

Saturday it snowed(very little)/rained/misted almost all day long. Mom & I put up the Christmas tree with help from Dad and Randy. It was a long process, but their house looks very festive now. Sunday we went to church and enjoyed worshiping with our friends and family in Marietta. It was good to see old friends and catch up on everyone's lives.

All in all Thanksgiving break was wonderful. A relaxing break, away from the busyness of Dallas, getting to be with family and friends, and most of all stopping to thank God for all his many blessings on us this past year. We have much to be Thankful for - much more than 1 day of celebration can represent.

Thank you God, for blessing us this year. Thank you for giving us your Son as our Savior and Lord. Thank you for giving us health and life. Thank you for our family and friends, our church, our jobs, a place to live, food to eat, a bed to sleep in, for our freedoms we take for granted. We don't deserve any of your blessings and yet you continue to bless us - without reserve. Thank you. We pray that our lives would be a thanksgiving offering back to you in how we live each day. Not to us, O Lord, not to us. But to your name be the glory.

Weekend with the Family

This weekend Randy & I went to Oklahoma to celebrate my mom's 50th birthday with her, my dad and my little brother. It was a great weekend - we helped them work around the house (more on that later), then gave Mom a surprise dinner party that evening. Check out the pictures from this weekend below. Sunday we went to church with them, and then spent the afternoon just hanging out.

Today is Mom's actual birthday, so Happy Birthday Mom! We love you soooooooooo much! Thank you for all you have done and do for us. You have been a blessing to us and to so many others whose lives you have touched. I hope you have a wonderful day! Love you!

Other news - my parents have been remodeling their house for the past few months. They put on a new roof, with new porch, took out a wall between the kitchen and living room, retextured the walls and painted, put in new doors and windows and put in central heat and air. Needless to say, they have been very busy lately. Here are some pics of the house and of our weekend helping out.

Bella Grace - We can't wait to meet you!

This weekend Randy & I had the pleasure of traveling to Odessa, TX to visit his family and celebrate our new baby neice, Bella Grace. She is due around the first of December. Sonia's wonderful friends threw Kristi the sweetest baby shower on Saturday. Randy's dad Ronnie, and step-mom Lupita, along with his sister Katrina, and her cutie son Caleb, were also able to come in. We had a great time visiting with everyone and celebrating Baby Bella. Here are some pictures from the weekend:

Labor Day Weekend

My cousin Waylon got married this weekend to his sweetheart, Nina O'Toole. It was a simple, elegant ceremony. Randy & I were able to visit with family and friends all weekend. It was great to catch up with everyone and see how things were going. Here are some pictures from the wedding.

Father's Day

Today is Father's Day and incidentally, both Randy & I are away from our dads. My parents are currently on their way to Colorado for a family vacation with my brother and Randy's dad and step-dad live a ways away. So to our dads, we love you very, very, very much. Thank you for all you have done and are doing to help us become the people God designed us to be. Even though we are far apart on Father's Day, in God we are close.

Our kiddos sang in the service today (Randy & I head up KidRidge). It really got me to thinking about how the relationships we have with our earthly fathers is a representation of our relationship with our heavenly Father. Pretty cool. So on Father's Day, here's to our Heavenly Abba -- We love you! Thank you for saving us, for giving us a hope and a future!