All things beautiful!

Earlier today we went to church as we usually do on Sunday, but today was different. Kyle preached from the current series entitled 30 Days to Live. His words sincere... his heart so pure... He relayed so beautifully that as Christians we should make it our goal to be about Jesus first and foremost. Before all else, we should make Him our first priority. I was humbled. Each day before my feet hit the floor it seems like my day is already so full of distractions! I have a list of a thousand things to do and more often than not I forget to begin it with the one who has chosen to give me one more day - Jesus! I suppose I could talk myself into self pity, and make excuse after excuse as to why I forget,but the harsh reality of it would have to be because it is not something I have chosen to make important.
I am humbled.
If I had only 30 days to live who would I choose to spend my time with? What would I do? Who would I want to make sure that I saw?
Anyone who knows me knows that I am all about my family! Each and every member! My kids are my life,they have each stolen my heart in a way that I can not put into words. They are the most perfect things that I have ever been privileged to take part of. However, at my funeral do I want the minister to say she loved her kids more than ANYTHING? Yes and no! Yes, I want my children to never waiver of my love for them, but I also want them to know that I loved the Lord with all my heart, and with all my sole! That is the most important thing I want to leave my kids.
Am I perfect? NO! Do I always make the right decisions? NO,NO,NO!
The very sin nature that each of us were born into, has at one time or another taken over my life. It has led me down paths that I will regret for the rest of my life. The beauty in our mistakes is...that Jesus can make each and everyone of us brand new, however often we may need Him to! What is broken can be made whole through Christ Jesus! What blessings we can only find in Him!
As I draw this post to a close, I want you each to know the desire of my heart.
I will pray each day to make it my priority to love the Lord with my whole heart.I want you to be able to see this in everything I do! I can promise you now I will not do this perfectly.Please pray along with me that God will give me His grace as I go through my day.
As I sit and write this, I can assure you that Satan is scheming to figure out how he can destroy my desire, crumble my very intention before I ever remove myself from this chair. So to you satan... get thee behind me! I am reminded of a song by Meredith Andrews that simply says... Draw me nearer Lord, never let me go, closer to your heart, draw me nearer Lord! Keep me here, keep me here, there is no where else I would rather be. This is my hearts desire. I love you all and covet your prayers! Blessings.

Off To School!

I can not believe how fast the summer went this year! It seemed like we just got out, and it was already time to go back!
This school year is bittersweet because Greta started kindgergarten!
I can not believe it!!! Her first day of school went really well there were no tears because Grant took really good care of her! I totally believe that was a huge comfort to her, just knowing he was at the same school with her gave her such peace. He is such a good big brother, and he has always been willing to take good care of her. Even the teachers comment on how good he is with her.
Grant is in the 4th grade this year, and he really loves his teacher.He has some of his good friends in his class, and that has helped also. We are so blessed to be able to go to such a great school where the teachers, and staff truly care about all the kids, and they see to it that everyone feels comfortable!
Grayson is a 2nd grader at Meredith Dunn School. He is with the same teacher he was with last year and he is so excited about that! He has a couple of boys in his class from last year, and several new students. Grayson is always excited about school!

Destination Destin!

We just got back from our family vacation to Destin, Florida. My whole family went are you ready, it was... Grandma, Grandpa, Mom, Dad, Tim, Val, Taylor, Harrison, Garrett, Landry, and Tay's friend Alisha, Kin, Myself, Grant, Grayson, and Greta, Whoo... there were 16 of us!! We stayed in a big house with plenty of room for us all, and a pool that was amazing!
The pool went from 10 inches to 6 feet, so even Greta and Landry LOVED the pool. Grayson learned how to swim! He could go under water without holding his nose, so Garrett took it from there! He had him swimming to the water fall in the middle of the pool by the second day! They were best buddies all week, I am so glad they have each other! Grant and Harrison made a friend at the pool.. Nick, who just happened to be "cute" and caught the eye of Taylor and Alisha as well. Ironically he and his family were staying across the street from us so they "all" had a great time.(Oh,and did I mention the girls exchanged phone numbers with Nick - Oh, to be 12 again!) We went to the beach a couple of days, but the kids prefer the pool to the beach. They do not like to get sand everywhere, I tend to feel the same way, but we just had to go to the beach a couple times while we were there!
Tuesday was Kin's birthday, so he got to pick the restaurant, and he picked Jim and Nicks BBQ at Baytowne Wharf. It happened to be "Mini Gras" as well, which is a huge party for the kids, they hand out "Marti Gras" beads, and they had jumpies galore! They all jumped to there hearts content, Grayson climbed this huge tree and repelled down, Tay and Alisha jumped and flipped on the trampoline, and they had fireworks at the end of the night!
The guys played golf twice while they were there, and both times I think they had a good time. They of course could have played more, but they opted to spend time with the family - (how kind), we appreciated it!
It was a great week, and a vacation that was long overdue! I enjoyed getting to spend time with everyone. It had been a long time since we had "all" been together on vacation, and who knows when the next time could be... until then!

Happy Fathers Day!

God has truly blessed our family with wonderful husbands and fathers! Starting with my Grandpa... words can not express what a hard working man he is. He would do anything and I do mean anything to help anyone, and not only would he help but he will be there early to do so! He is such a man of God and loves his family so much. It almost brings a tears to my eyes when I see how excited both he and Grandma get to see my kids. My Grayson is a carbon copy of him, he walks exactly like him, they both love being outside exploring they love to be in the dirt getting dirty. If I can raise my boys to be 1/2 the man Grandpa is then I will have succeeded in life!
Next, my dad... what to say about my sweet Daddy. He loves Timmy and I so much, and he is such an awesome Grandad to all of his grand kids! I can call my dad anytime I need something he will do whatever needs to be done to help me out. My kids adore him,Grandad can do no wrong in their eyes! We have always had a special bond, and it is one I will cherish always!
Timmy... he is a hard worker as well,whether it be working outside at his house, tending to the horses, or at his job, he is just so good at what he does!His family means the world to him, he loves Valerie and his sweet children so much!
My kids think he is so cool, especially Grayson because when he is at Timmy's house he is truly in his element! For instance on Father's day while we were at Timmy's house, we were riding horses, and Grayson found a DEAD baby snake, yes dead!
The snake now has a name - Slither, and is considered to be our newest family pet! He thanked Timmy and Val for letting him come over, this was truly a monumental day for Gray. Timmy,you are a blessing to our family, you are a wonderful brother to me and the coolest uncle to my kiddos - thank you!
My husband Kin... thank you for loving me even when you don't want to even like me! Thank you for taking such good care of our children, and me. Thank you for going to work everyday and dealing with all you have to deal with so that we can have and do all that we have! Thank you for the delicious meals you prepare for us, for all the times you let me have shopping therapy at Target or wherever without asking any questions! Thank you for the countless ballgames you coach, or wiffle ball games you have in the backyard with the kids after a long day at work! Most importantly, thank you for just being the man that you are! I love you!

Happy 5th Birthday Greta!!

I can not believe my baby girl is 5 years old! Yes, she got an IPOD... I told her 5 year olds could not have them and she seemed to be ok with that answer.My grandparents bought it for her (with our permission) and when she opened it she screamed "Bravo!! Mommy said I could not have an IPOD and I got one!! OK, the word brat does come to mind, but she loves it and she is quiet while listening to it. Quiet... that is not something you hear a lot of when Greta is around! My mom made the dress she has on- so cute! Mom and dad also gave her the Hannah Montana guitar - HUGE hit! Her friend Lily gave her the wig, and she truly thinks she is SOOO cool with it on, and she can put on a good show!
It truly seems like only yesterday I was in the hospital having my long awaited baby girl! Wow, time flies when your having fun, and boy do we ever have fun together. She is a true joy in my life, I can not imagine what our family would be without her. Yes, she is a spitfire, and a bit challenging a times, but the joy she brings my heart is such a blessing! She is such a girl, yet she can hang with her brothers just like she is "one of the boys". We had her party Wednesday evening, and she had so much fun!She asked for a princess jumpy for the backyard, and she jumped and played all day!Greta girl mommy loves you,Jesus gave me a special blessing when He gave me you!!!
Happy Birthday sweet girl, I love you!

A Heavenly Mothers Day!

I sit here tonight on Mothers Day,I feel both blessed and saddened.
May 1st, was the three year anniversary of my best friends mothers death. The memories of that day are still so fresh in my mind... the 5:45am phone call with the news that would change the lives of so many people. As I layed there that morning I thought this must be a horrible nightmare?
The next hours proved to be a nightmare, but one that became all too real! As I stood later that day and watched Lori take her final breath, my heart was so full of sadness, but yet joy! Sadness because this should have never happened to someone who brought so many people so much happiness. Someone who was so loved, but just did not realize just how much! Joy, because Lori would never feel a sense of hopelessness again, never feel the need for someone to fullfill her...she was now being held in the arms of the only one that can truly fulfill her!
The next days proved to be some of the most difficult of my life. How would I comfort someone whose life as she knew it had just been changed forever. What do you do without your mother? How do you go on? This was an awakening moment for me! I found myself wanting my own mother to hold Amber like she would hold me, and tell her it was going to be ok. There is something about a mothers arms that allow you to somehow find peace..somehow!
My life will be forever changed by Lori... most importantly by the most perfect thing she ever did - Amber, one of my greatest joys in life!
I will never forget all the times the three of us spent together... talking about boys, girl stuff or just laughing together. I remeber at my wedding she took me aside and told me how proud she was of me, and shared some precious memories of Amber and I she would never forget. She was always a first to come to the hospital to see my babies, those are memories I will cherish always!
Oh, Lori... why did you have to go so soon? Three years removed, you are missed, and loved so much. The empty place in my heart will never be filled my any other, and I can not wait to see you again in heaven, Happy Mothers Day!

The 134th Kentucky Oaks!!

We started our day off with breakfast at
Lynn's Paradise Cafe, which could not have been more fun, and it was sooo delicious! Once we arrived at Churchill Downs we met Brent and Laura and found our wonderful seats. Timmy you are a rock star... thank you for insisting we needed to get covered seats!! We had only been there for a short time when the black clouds started rolling in and the rain began to fall, and fall and fall!!! I think our local weather people got paid really well for dodging that bullet!! The rain did not stop us, we all had a great time. Unfortunately nobody won big, but Brent did win $88.00 - yea for you Brent!! When it was time to leave we had to venture out into the rain for the first time, and it was NOT fun. We were all trying to stay together, but due to the large crowds leaving, and the rain this proved to be impossible! WE LOST BRENT AND LAURA!!!! Their cell phones were both dead, and we could not find them anywhere. Eventually we did find them and they were both drenched from the rain, and were ready to call it a night. Tim, Val, Matt, Buffie, Kin and myself went to dinner at a restaurant Kin has been dying to go to - 60 West Bistro and Martini Bar. The food was good, the martinis were yummy, but the service not so much. We waited for a very long time for our food, but the company was good, and we all enjoyed ourselves. Then... are you ready for this? Nick Lachey was hosting a party downtown at Club Felt, and I just couldn't go home without at least trying to get a glimpse of him so we went. When we got there I ran in to a friend who had purchased a VIP table and Walter McCartey (former UK player, played for the Celtics, and now coaches at UofL) was with them. Adriane Griener from Entourage walked in right next to us, and just as we were leaving Nick, and his brother Drew came in. I did get a small glimpse of him, but there were so many people it was hard to see, and impossible to get close to them! We all had a great time, we will have to make it an annual event...until next year, here are some of our pictures. Enjoy!!