Some guys have all the luck...

I never win anything. I don't even ever win the bid at silent auctions, but Ben, well that guy has a hidden good luck charm somewhere. He just called this A.M. and announced he had won tickets to see Laura Bush in Branson. The funny thing is this happens all the time. Now if he could just win an amazing vacation or huge diamond ring....

confession: I am apparently not a blogger

It seems I am failing at keeping up this blog. I can also add laundry and dishes to that list of failures as well.

So here I sit with laundry to be washed, dinner to be made, schooling to be finished, and very distracted. I am hoping/praying my lack of enthusiasm for these tasks on hand will be momentary, and that the domestic diva that resides somewhere in this tired body will arise and conquer. Very doubtful that will happen, but it was a nice thought...

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Second Most Important Day...

Tyler woke up Sunday morning and said "this is the second most important day of my life!" You can pause the music on the blogger if you would like to hear the video. We are so grateful for Tyler's decision to be baptized, and excited about the plans God has for him!

they will grow out of this won't they?

I was looking back through all of our pictures, and came across this one. I want to laugh and cry when I see this. These two outlaws managed to get into the corn starch and have a 10 minute spree that took me 3 hours to clean up.

July 4th

Nothing very eventful...swimming...fireworks...dance on the square...

Like Father Like Son

Well here he is, the proud daddy and his little munchkins. For Father's Day this year, I told Ben to get ready we were headed out for the entire day. (We did skip church for this) I despise breakfast food as most of you know, probably because I am a vegetarian and almost all breakfast food comes with a side of something that once had a face and a mother. Anyways that is for another blog...Ben loves him some IHOP! And it just so happens his little offspring inherited the same liking for IHOP. So off we headed to breakfast. The boys had silly face pancakes, Ben had a big breakfast which included a pound of pork or something ridiculous, and I had a veggie omelet. After breakfast we went to Ripley's believe it or not, The Track, The Imax (to see Up), and then dinner with my sister and her kids at Pizza World. We ate too much and spent too much money, but Ben wore a smile the whole day....so it was totally worth it.

One of a kind...

This is usually how you would find my grandpa, always with a glass of tea on the back deck enjoying the view with one of his beloved dogs. I can't believe it has been 7 months now since Papa left us. I certainly miss seeing him on the deck just how he is in this picture.

I miss so much our conversations about important things and the ones of nothing. I could always count on him to challenge my thinking and keep me on my toes, console me during tough times, and make me laugh during the sad. His passing is beyond my understanding and beyond what my heart feels like it can bear, but I am comforted by God's word "Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. John 14:1-3

How refreshing to my soul that not only will I see Papa again, but it will be for eternity with the presence of our Lord. This is the very foundation Papa built his life around. So although I don't have him anymore to payback for the tireless love, patience, wisdom, and friendship he provided me, I hope to honor him by taking the legacy he left and carrying it forward.

I know I will always look for him on that back deck, it will always be a little void without him here, but I anxiously await the day when we will be reunited and he again can share his humor, wisdom, and friendship with me. Maybe we will sit in heaven and shoot the breeze and enjoy the view.....

No Tricks...Just Treats Please

Tyler was a knight and Benjamin was a cowboy

Grady was a penguin

Aren't they all cute?!

The boys and I had fun making silly food

Now I am tired and ready for bed...