Principles to live by...

This year we have been studying the Life of Moses in BSF, Bible Study Fellowship...Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.  You'd think there wouldn't be a whole lot of application from reading most of the Pentateuch...but there is.  Our leader has given us so many principles from these books to live by...here are a few from this year:

God is at work in the dark times as well as in the light times.

God speaks to ordinary people on ordinary days to follow His extraordinary will.

God's plans are greater than our greatest disappointments and discouragements.

Discouragements and defeats are not meant to keep us down, but to turn us to God.

You win when you submit and follow God, if you fight God, you will lose every time.

There is only one way to be saved, and it's God's way.

Questioning God's provision and care reveals our lack of trust and our self-centeredness.

Obedience to God, brings God's blessings.

The closer you draw to God, the more others fall away...Moses went to the mountain top alone.

Worshiping and serving God must be a priority and must be done properly.

Having idols in our lives brings destruction to us and everyone else.

Tolerance doesn't mean we tolerate sin.

Disloyalty to God results in great judgement from God...He wants all of you, not a part, and He wants you all the time, not just sometimes.

Obedience to God is required to have intimacy with Him.

Blessings and punishments are both promises from God.

The Christian life is a battle ground, not a playground. 

God will NEVER fit into your schedule, you need to fit in His.

Complacency is the enemy of our character and spiritual growth.

All complaining angers God.

That last one was yesterday's principle and it hit hard.  That's all I do...it's how I start conversations...the remedy?  gratitude...be grateful in everything.

Next year we are studying John...it's said to be the greatest love story in the Bible...consider this your invitation...

A glimpse...

of heaven, our precious baby Kam. She's six months old now and smiling and laughing with her is so fun...it makes me so grateful and really makes me think of how awesome God is...

I caught her smiling at me yesterday at Panera Bread while I was laughing at a story a stranger was telling me...Kam's very interested in me lately and I'm starting to think a little separation anxiety is setting in...we were called out of church twice on Sunday because she was 'inconsolable', but upon my arrival, both times, she was fine...hmmm. Next Sunday, we'll have more data and will be able to confirm :)

We went to the doctor today and here's her stats (she got 3 shots and not a tear)!

Weight: 14 lbs and 11 oz (25-50%) holding steady on her curve!!!

Length: 26 3/4 inches (75-90%) going to be tall, but maybe not as tall as last visit suggested :)

Head: 17 inches (50-75%) she'll be smart just like her mom!!

"Mom, Brookie's on the shelf"...

that's what I heard Erin yelling from upstairs while I was downstairs feeding Kameron.  I put Kam down and ran upstairs, thinking she had climbed onto the bookshelf, but this is what I found.  

Brooke looks like a life-size toy on a shelf...

She had climbed up onto the built in shelves in the game room closet.  When I got up there, she casually said, "mom, I can not get down".   I did the responsible thing and said, 'hold on one second while I get the camera'...ran back downstairs, got the camera, and took the picture.

Our 8th Anniversary!

It's our 8th Anniversary and time has flown by!! We have been so blessed with a beautiful family :) and many years of wedded bliss!!


We met on a quasi blind date...met once and a couple of weeks later went to a Phi Delt Smoker...Kyle's fraternity's rush party, January 28, 1998...and yes, we smoked cigars for hours.


I can't scan pictures, tried all afternoon, so sorry for the formatting and thumbnail pics! Our first date, see below... I'm on the far left and Rachel's a blonde, far right...our best friend Kelly is in the middle :) (If you click on them, they're bigger)

Kyle and I at a late night fraternity party...Bird's Nest...not the safest place in good ol' Waco, Texas...
Kyle and I at our sorority's first function, our initiation dinner...believe it or not, my parents took the picture...nothing says 'aren't you glad you get to date me?' then having your second official date with the parents :)

College Spring Break in The Bahamas...good times...Kyle won a rapping contest on the beach and everyone was impressed :)
Just before we got engaged, Kyle came to visit me while we were in PA visiting my sister and her family...went to Blue Knob to ski...it was 4 below and no central heating in the ski lodge...not a happy time...not much worse than being cold...
One of our first Halloweens' married...when you would dress up instead of dressing your children up...oh wait, Kyle still likes to buy and dress in costumes every Halloween...we had Ginger then and loved her so much...RIP!
Kyle and I at Spence's wedding last May....I've discovered that I don't take enough pictures of just him and I since we've had children...note to self, do that more :)