His Masterpiece

"For we are God's masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

Ephesians 2:10

A Letter to My Son

Dear Thomas,

Countless heartbreaking stories are in the news today. Sometimes the evil around us can fill me with an overwhelming sense of grief and anger.  No one is certain of what tomorrow holds for us, but I know one thing that I must share with you today.  The bible tells us in Romans 12:11, "Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord". God gave you life and wants you to live with zeal and passion for him.

Even at 18 months, I see that you were born with a lively spirit.  God gave you that quality and he asked that you use it for His purpose.  Yes, I do feel like God created you with a naturally free spirit, strong will and bubblyness- right now you have lots of that. 

I pray that you grow to love and serve those around you with passion and zeal. I pray that with everyday you are gifted with you are encouraging and uplifting to others. I pray that God bless you with deep, close friendships that will bless you and your family for a lifetime.  God has a divine plan for you son.  I can't wait to see it unfold.

Thomas, God wants you to live a life full of passion and love despite the everyday experience that can give us grief, sadness, and heartache.

I pray you love passionately; love people, love God, and love life passionately.

I pray you serve passionately.

I pray you give passionately.

"God loves a cheerful giver." Paul says in 2 Corinthians 9:7

I pray you worship passionately.

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." God tells us in John 10:10

SKYPE

For those of you who live away from your family and friends, Skype has got to be the most fantastic invention in a very long time.  Thomas has really been enjoying Skype visits from Pop and Bette.

Check it out NOW!

82

We celebrated Pappaw's 82nd year last night.

In honor of this milestone, he wore a goofy hat.

While Brian took some pictures....

I got to snuggle up with our new baby Ryan.

Happy  82nd Birthday Pappaw!

Some Day

I'm gonna ride....

and he's gonna push.

But right now,

He really likes riding.

HAPPY TUESDAY FRIENDS!

Pop and Bette Came to Town

and Thomas got some much needed attention.

A little "Itsy Bitsy Spider",

This should definitely have a name because it is all the rage these days.... We'll call it "Follow Me",

and a tad bit of story time.

Thomas didn't mind it one smidge.

Come back soon!

That's Us

On a small table in Thomas's playroom there is a picture of Brian and me (is that right? me not I? can someone tell me?) shortly after we were married. Out of the blue last week Thomas walked up to it and pointed to me, "MaaaaMMMMeeeeee", and then to Brian "DaaaDDDeeee".

I'm so proud. He knows us!

Look Closely

We have a sick baby.

Brian's out of town and my Mom and Dad are on their way here now.

Being sick is no fun.

Will you say a prayer for us please?

Or as Thomas would say, "Pweeeeeese"

St. Louis

Several weeks ago, I'm so behind I'm sorry, a friend and I took our boys to St. Louis for the night.  The ride up looked a little like this...

Aren't they such good riders? We thought so.

As soon as we got there, we took the boys to a gelato shop down the street from our hotel.

They LOVED it!

When we got back to the hotel, we let the boys unwind for a little while.

Aiden's favorite thing was playing with the toilet paper rolls.

We attempted a group picture, with the camera on timer.

That's the very best we could do.

We took the boys to the zoo.

Everyone loves the zoo, right?

Aiden especially.

Thomas sometimes, not really.

He did scope out a jeep though. Jeeps are always a hit, and I did not once rub germx all over it although I most definitely should have.

Everyone loved the train ride.

Thomas really studied every detail about the ride.

After the zoo, we took the boys to one of my favorite St. Louis destinations, The Galleria.

Needless to say, it was not a favorite of the boys.

We had a QUICK dinner at The Cheesecake Factory.

I just love being with these two!

Beaming

Several weeks ago Brian had agreed to teach our Sunday School.   The Sunday before Brian is scheduled to teach one of our dear friends, Scott, gets up and teaches the EXACT same lesson Brian had prepared; Almost word for word.

Brian prayed, studied, regrouped and ended up teaching on Joseph. Joseph from the Old Testament.... Not Joseph father of Jesus.  He did a fantastic job. I'm so very proud of him, I'm just beaming.  Our classmates are a tad older than us and most are extraordinary bible scholars.
Funny story, Scott took Brian's lesson and when Brian got up, John Gardner laughed..... Brian had taken his.
(I included this picture because this is most of our SS class.)

Ladies Lunch

Last week I got a babysitter and hit the town with two of my most favorite people.

Dont let their calm, prim and proper looks fool ya; they are as rowdy as they come. Miss Sarah, 87, being the rowdiest.