more than the lilies of the fields

Catch Up......

2009-01-02T16:53:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Birthday and Happy Anniversary! WHEW...December is very busy for us. Laruen had her 4th birthday on the 8th. Aaron had his 6th birthday October 30th.

Scott and I celebrated our 6th anniversary on the 20th. We actually got away to a B&B. It was our first time to stay at a B&B, it was awesome. We were only gone for one night, but it was just what we needed. It was very peaceful!

We had a great Christmas! My dad got to come home for a week, it was really great to spend some time with him. The kids loved it, they got to spend the night with their Gammie & Papa & Aaron got to go for a ride on Papa's motorcycle. Even though it is hard with my dad being gone all the time, it has taught me to appreciate him more and make the most of the time we all have together. It is teaching me to slow down...I am still learning though.

I am looking forward to an awesome new year. 2008 has been a crazy year. Lots and lots of changes....change is hard. They have all been good changes, but still hard. It is very easy to get comfortable. I hope you have an awesome new year and learn lots of new things!

One more thing....WE ARE HAVING A BABY BOY!

Number 3!

2008-11-03T11:23:00.000-08:00

Ok, most of you know, but for those of you who don't, we are having another baby. Yea, I think we were more shocked than you. We had talked about having another baby, we just didn't know if it would happen. Now we know! We are excited and nervous at the same time. I had a sonogram a week ago, everything is good. I got to hear the heart beat, so awesome. I am almost nine weeks now, the due date is June 10th. We need lots of prayers for this pregnancy please. We are excited to see God working in our lives and the lives of those around us.

And I know you can't tell much from the picture, but as Matt Cook said, "It looks just like us."

Jessica

I'm the Winner!

2008-10-02T18:28:00.000-07:00

I, I (me, Jessica, not Scott) won tickets to the Project 86 & Spoken concert! I had already tried to win them two other times. With no success. This time though I was the WINNER! I had to be caller 15. The first time I got through I was caller 7, I hung up and kept trying. Then a guy answered saying "power fm" I said " am I the winner" he said "your the winner". I thought he was joking with me cause he didn't say I was caller 15 and he wasn't asking me for my name. So I asked him "am I caller 15" he said "no". Now I am thinking ok, this not a very funny joke at all! But he said "you are the caller after 15, 15 hung up and when they did you were on the line, so you are the winner." So awesome! We get to go to a free show! We have never seen Project 86 before, so we are so thrilled! It's gonna ROCK!

Jessica

Frogs, 4 Wheelers & Fun!

2008-09-14T18:53:00.000-07:00

We went to some friend's house for dinner and Aaron & Micah were outside catching frogs in a box. They came in the house to show us the frogs they had caught and there was about five fat frogs piled into the tiny box. It was hilarious! Another kid let them out of the box later that night, fortunately Aaron & Micah were not upset. They just went back to catching more. Then we rode 4 wheelers. Aaron was afraid to even sit on one. He wanted nothing to do with them! We spent a very very long time explaining to him that it was fun and he would really like it. He told us he could fall off, and he wasn't going to get on it. Finally, finally he said he would go, but only if he could ride with Micah at the same time. So I took Micah and Aaron together. As soon as we took off Aaron said " I like this!", he didn't want to get off. All he talked about the next day was how we NEED to get a 4 wheeler. That will be a while before that happens!

Bad things gone Good

2008-09-06T20:07:00.000-07:00

Scott & I attended the MADD National Conference this past Thursday. I wasn't exactly thrilled about going, I had to get dressed up and pretend I knew which fork was for my salad and my dinner. None of that really mattered. But I didn't really see past that until the speakers started to share their stories with all of us. As usual I can't see past what is right in front of me, but God has something Bigger than that. As I listened to their stories most of them sounded the same, not exactly, but one common thing that brought them together. They had lost someone they loved to a drunk driver. They had come together to fight for something greater, to make this world better. They are trying to stop people from drinking and driving. Who knew. Who knew that one day I would marry a man who would be employed at a non-profit organization that is trying to put an end to the very thing I used to do, drink and drive. This is something I am not proud of, but this was one of many stupid choices I made. I thank God often that nothing happened to me or someone else. God is truly amazing. He takes something bad and makes it good! So as I listened to the different people speak I knew we were here for something, something good, a reason, a plan. God has a plan & I am honored to be part of it!

Jessica

We got a puppy!

2008-09-02T17:10:00.000-07:00

Yea that's right. I said I wouldn't get another one, but she is sooooo cute! We were shopping at Walmart and when we left we saw a truck with puppies (free puppies). So I said lets go look. And you now know the rest. I couldn't resist. The kids named her Coco. She is 7 weeks old and adjusting really well to us.

First day of Kindergarten

2008-08-25T11:03:00.000-07:00

"Uh, I'm not so sure about this" Aaron was excited about school when he woke up this morning. But when we got there he seemed a little nervous. He did good though, it was a quick "listen to your teacher, we love you, see you after school" and we were out the door. No crying(from me or him)& no clinging to my leg! It was a lot better then I thought.

End of Summer

2008-08-23T20:43:00.000-07:00

There's only one day of summer left. It has been an awesome summer. We got to go on a family vacation for the first time. We have done a whole lot of swimming. We have hung out with good friends. Made new ones. This has been a really good summer, though I am kinda sad to see it end, I can't wait to see what God is going to do this next season.

Game Night

2008-08-23T19:54:00.000-07:00

It was a fun night rocking out & playing games! I think Rock Band was a favorite for many!

The Promise

2008-08-13T14:39:00.000-07:00

A year and a half ago our family took a step of faith. You could say we "got out of the boat". I quit my job. Scott worked during the day and I worked at night so we would not have to put our children in day care. One of us had been working nights since Aaron was born, first Scott, then me. So we hardly saw each other as a family. I had been working for the past two years. I liked it at first, I thought it would be "my time", "time for myself". But then it got old. It was straining my marriage and my family. We needed the money though. The second income helped feed us. I didn't know how much longer I could take living like this. It just didn't seem right to leave my family at night to go to work. I had been asking God for a new job for Scott for a long time. Praying and crying, praying and crying. Finally I told God I was not going to come to Him and complain about this anymore. I wasn't going to say another word about it until He showed me what to do. About a month prior to this I heard " If you believe I am going to give your husband a better job then you step out in faith and leave your job." I said "I can't do that, we won't make it." This wasn't an audible voice, it was a voice in my spirit. I knew it was God and I didn't think we could do it. Back to when I said I wasn't going to complain anymore (yea right), the day after that I heard the same thing I heard a month before. This time it was so strong in me, and I was so tired of our situation, that I listened. The next day I turned in my two week notice. February 8, 2007 was my last day. We stepped out, we were believing God for a new job for Scott and it was going to be "soon". Well, our "soon" and God's "soon" are not the same. I have to say it was a crazy year and a half. Through it all God provided everything we needed. He says He will. He had people bring us food, give us money, and help us in ways we couldn't have imagined. He is good and faithful. Scott applied for 40-50 jobs, and nothing. He finally had a lead in December. The job was in Missouri. He accepted. The training was in Arkansas for 4-6 weeks. After he started they told him he would have to do some training in Ohio for 5 weeks. He quit that job right before he was supposed to start the training in Ohio. He was jobless only about a week though. He got a job with Mothers Against Drunk Driving. And just this July he got a job offer for something closer to home and paid a little more, so he accepted it. He turned in his notice at MADD and they asked him how much money he would need to stay. He told them what we needed and they approved it. He is still working at MADD and we are now making more than what we were when I was working! We can see the promise now. We could see it in the beginning, but in the middle we had a hard time seeing it. We wondered if we really heard God, we wondered if God was really going to do what He said, we had doubt and fear. But God is faithful, we are not, He is. And if I wouldn't have gone through this trial, I wouldn't know how good God really is.

2008-08-12T19:59:00.000-07:00

These are some cars that I like, and some misc. NASCAR pics from TMS. Check out that 2009 Challenger!!

Scott

Scott's Professional Photography

2008-08-12T19:05:00.000-07:00

Copy & Paste, Copy & Paste! That's it, then you're a professional!

Rock Band

2008-08-12T18:47:00.000-07:00

We thought Guitar Hero was cool, then we played Rock Band! We had a blast with James & Lisa playing Rock Band. We all took turns rocking out. Scott sang Roxanne, which was hilarious! Hopefully in the near future we will get it!

Vacation

2008-06-26T12:50:00.000-07:00

So we finally got to go on a vacation, the whole family together, in a hotel for a week. I am not sure if it was a good idea, it got a little nutty with 2 kids jumping from bed to bed in the hotel! Aside from playing referee as usual we had a great time. We went to San Antonio & Corpus Christi. We went to Sea World, which was awesome. Did a lot of swimming. We went to the beach in Corpus. That was pretty cool. Saw some Jelly Fish & some Man of War, after that we left! The trip was great, but the best part, other then feeding the dolphins, was experiencing new things together as a family.

FINALLY

2008-06-26T12:35:00.000-07:00

Ok...Here we go...This is for those people who are tired of looking at our blank blog (you know who you are). I thought our blog looked great the way it was, but whatever. Just kidding! I am gonna give this a try and see if I can figure out this blog thing! I was hoping Scott would do it since he is the computer tech, but no.