MERRY CHRISTMAS from US!

Thanksgiving at the Ranch

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving out at my parents ranch. Here are a few commemorative pictures of the event:






Mom and I looked out the window while cooking and saw my Dad, aka "Poppa" or "PaPa", driving about 4 mph with Gabe in his lap, just pointing at everything and showing him the ropes. We were pretty much crying into the gravy...



Here's the fam, chowing down.



We all have the glazed-over-I'm-ridiculously-full-of-food look in our eyes.



Gabe and I out by the tractors in Papa's shed. (Gabe LOVES it out there!)



The guys hanging out with the old jeep.



Story time is the best. (Notice the pile of tractors and trucks on Papa's lap!)



The little laddie looking quite content.



It was a great holiday. We have so very much to be thankful for!

Few house pics

I've been a poor picture taker lately, but since being hounded about posting about our new house (...ahem, COLLEEN!), I figured I'd put a few up here.

This is the lovely kitchen. We have since removed the gorgeous golden glass and will soon be painting the cabinets white.

We are really excited about our "second" Pecan house. The more we are there, the more we are so totally blown away at the handiwork of the Lord in preparing us such a sweet home. Pray with us that we'll be in it by Christmas! That's what we're really hoping for.


This pic is of the Smurfy Cat Carpet that we joyfully ripped out. Can't wait to see something new and clean in its place!!!!
We're enjoying the whole process (sometimes) but are ready to wrap it up...

And on a totally separate note, here is Gabe, trying his hand out at drumming....He seems to enjoy it. Our dream of a family band is coming to pass...THE GOSS-TONES!

I love it.

Sorry for the randomness, but it's rather late...

Life has gotten the best of me...

Okay, fellow bloggers. Once again, I've been a victim of life, which means that superfluous activities like blogging, reading magazines, and sleeping have been put on the back-burner. But, I am determined to at least write a puny post!

There is so much I want to write, but, suffice it to say, we have been pretty swamped getting our new house in order...We have a few weeks before we'll get new carpet put down, so we're using this time to clean and paint and fix up. The previous owners were OCO's - Obsessive Cat Owners. Barf.

Here is a little known fact about me. I HATE FAT CATS - and more that that, I HATE IT WHEN PEOPLE ARE OBSESSED WITH THEIR FAT CATS.

Don't think I'm a monster. When I was a little girl, I loved cats like all my friends. Heck, I even had a ceramic cat lamp in my room, for crying out loud. But somewhere between there and adulthood I began to meet people who were obsessed with their cats, and, frankly, it totally weirds me out. (See pictures below...)

I always have to be careful when I air out this opinion, because there are inevitably people nearby who are OCO's. If that's you, I'm sorry and please get help.




I think the two cats that lived in the house we just bought must have been the two pictured above. 159 pound mammoth cats. That's the only explanation I can come up with for the disgusting amount of cat hair that is EVERYWHERE. Not to mention that lovely smell of cat pee. Ahh....Home ownership!

Anyway, my computer is being slow, but I'll post pictures soon of the new house. We're really excited about it and can't wait to be in, but before that happens there is still a lot of work to be done. Just remember, we'll have a guest room so please come and visit! And I promise not to have any obese kitties around!

OFFICIALLY SOLD!!!!

WOO-HOO!!!!!!!

We have OFFICIALLY CLOSED on our house in Kerrville! The buyers wanted to push the closing date up as quickly as possible, so Jeff and I headed to the bank today to sign off on the deed and get it notarized before sending it away forever...

WE'RE FREE!

One month without a mortgage payment. Sweetness. I guess we could continue living with my parents indefinitely and save a ton of money...people do that all over the world...

Nah.

I think it's time to hit the road!

Corn Casserole

It's true. McDonald's Happy Meals keep kids happy in more ways than you'd think...

Gabe discovered the many utilitarian functions of the Happy Meal box, but his favorite use was to wear it as a hat for long periods of time during our recent road trip to Kerrville. I don't know who was more entertained - Gabe or us!

We made a super-fast trip to Kerrville last weekend to pick up the last of our stuff from the house. I was surprised how emotional it was for me to walk into our empty home for the last time. It was like a tidal wave of emotions hit me when I thought of all the special memories we'd made there. I gues it hit me the most when I walked into Gabe's room. Wow. But, at the same time, I am getting so excited about finding a new house in Temple and seeing it be transformed from just a house into a real HOME. I think that's what we are all longing for. To find our new HOME.

On a totally different note, my friend Colleen asked me to post my recipe for Corn Casserole. This has become one of my favorites, and I have to thank my sister-in-law, Crystal, for introducing it to me. Here it is:



CORN CASSEROLE

1 Can Cream Style Corn
1 Can Kernel Corn
2 Eggs
1 8 oz. Sour Cream
1 Box Jiffy Cornbread Mix
6 Tbs. Butter
1/2 c. Cheddar Cheese

Mix all ingredients except cheese. Pour into 13x9 pan (or 9x9 pan for a thicker casserole - I like it this way, though you'll have to bake it a bit longer). Top with the cheese. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes or until cheese is browned a bit and the casserole is set.

Enjoy!

SOLD! (well, almost...)

Hooray! It looks like we may FINALLY have a buyer for our Kerrville house. It's only been a little over three months, but I guess when you're not living in the house that you're still paying the mortgage payment on - any amount of time seems too long. But, after back and forth negotiations about the price and closing costs, we finally reached a point of agreement. The scheduled closing date will be the end of this month. Pray all goes smoothly!

We found out about the offer this past Sunday, which was the same day as the grand opening of Harvest Church's new building. To me, the timing was significant. It was as if the last chapter to one story was closing, and the commencement of another exciting chapter was just beginning. I guess Solomon was right. To everything there is a season.

And speaking of the seasons, I am SO READY FOR FALL! The weather has been so cool and crisp in the mornings, and I love it! We decided to take full advantage of the beautiful Saturday by going to the park with our friends, the Allerkamps. And, as if planned, our boys wore the exact same outfit! (I promise, we do not coordinate our sons' outfits...)

Gabriel and Evan in their coordinating stripey-ness..
.

Well, needless to say, Al and I had a great time in San Antonio...

It was a whirlwind trip, but worth every minute of it.

The Beth Moore conference was wonderful, and her message was so timely for me. Not only was it timely, but she taught over Psalm 16, which is a rhema passage to Jeff and I. For almost a year, he read Ps. 16 over our family every night, so it is one of those psalms that is deep inside me. Needless to say, when she started teaching about how the Lord is our Portion - I was just eating it up. She was speaking my language completely. But one of the things that totally blew my socks off was when she started expounding on Deutoronomy 32:9, which teaches us that the Lord has an inheritance, as well. The King of the Universe, Lord of Lords, has an inheritance? I'd never grasped the magnitude of it before, but the word says that WE are HIS inheritance...
"For the Lord's portion is His people..." - Deut. 32:9

We are His inheritance?!?!!!! People. His people. That's what He desires, that is His portion. I never cease to be amazed at the depth of His love. He really is passionate about relationship with us.

I also was so encouraged by the realization that I am an Heir of God. There is so much I learned about inheritance, so much about my lot and my portion, that it will take a while to process. But, suffice it to say, I am praising God for a weekend where I could just sit under anointed teaching and get a fresh word from God. (Plus, getting to have girl time with Al was just icing on the cake!)

I'll wrap this up with a few pics of Gabe and his first encounter with bubbles. It was a fun time!

Can't wait for tomorrow...

I can't remember the last time I had a "girl's night out" - so, obviously, it's been a while. But, tomorrow will put an end to that!

My dear BFF, Allison, got us some tickets to a Beth Moore conference in San Antonio, and WE ARE GOING! I'll drop the Gabester off at his Grammy's house, then Al and I are off to a quick trip to SA. I can't believe I'm actually getting to do this! Wow! An entire 24 hour period where I don't have to tend to anyone else - should be great! Although, I will miss the boys.

But, I think I'll be able to comfort myself as I stroll along the Riverwalk, free from the incumbrances of strollers and diaper bags. Woo hoo!

When the Hubby gets sick...

I think this huge bottle pretty well sums up my day.

A few pics and ramblings on Saturday night

My apologies for not blogging sooner...As many of you know, I am completely OBSESSED with the Olympics - and in order to watch most of the gymnastic events, we headed out to my parents' ranch in Adamsville to get our fill of the Beijing games.

Sadly, I don't get cell phone service out there - or not so sadly... :) So, I decided to make my sensory deprivation complete by not getting online much either. (Plus, their Internet is slower than watching hair grow.) So, I totally immersed myself in watching the Olympics at night and relaxing in the country with the Gabester.

Here's a pic of him getting to be pals with Gus, the ranch dog. Please note, he is discovering Gus' tail, which provided lots of entertainment! (Gus also makes a great chair...) We also found Gabe's first frog, visited with our dear neighbors and friends, the McIlroys, ate tons of chocolate chip cookies - or "chocolate chippers" as we like to call them, and looked through tons of family recipes, but I didn't have the camera handy for any of those other exciting events.





And here's a fun pic of me and my boy!




I tried, in vain, to post a video of Gabe dancing. I was just trying to upload a 50 second video from my digital camera onto this site and it took so long, that I think my computer finally gave up. Does anyone have any advice of a more practical way to upload videos???

In other news...We've dropped the price yet again on our house and are praying for a buyer to come sooner rather than later. It's been really fun to look at houses up here in Temple, but at the same time, I don't want to get too set on anything until we could really make an offer...But, it sure is helpful to look around.

And who knew that this weekend was Tax-Free Weekend?!?!?!?!? I totally DID NOT get that memo!

We were so excited to have a fun day off today, and Jeff needed some new jeans, so we headed out to do some shopping and have a meal out. Old Navy was like a jungle, and when we went to Target, I noticed that they had conveniently removed ALL of their sale and clearance racks in order to make room for all the full priced items...Sneaky.

But, we're home safely now and it is finally time for the nightly ritual of Oreos and milk.

Transition

I suppose life is full of them. Transitions, I mean.

Yesterday, I had a long talk with a dear friend of mine (ahem...Colleen...) about how it feels to move to a new place and start over from scratch. She recently moved to a large city with no family nearby. My brother and his family just moved to a different state, started a new job, and bought a house. I know so many people who are in transition. Even Jeff and I decided to join the transition club and move to Temple, TX. I've heard it prophesied many times that "2008 will be the year of NEW BEGINNINGS," - I just didn't realize until recently how true that is.

Granted, some transitions are more drastic than others - but, I think that any time you are in transition, whether it be starting a new job or moving to a foreign country, the tendency is to get stuck in comparison. And comparison often leads to complaining...

One of my personal goals is to, as I say it, "be wherever I am 110%." Meaning, if I'm in a conversation with someone, I try my hardest to focus on the person and what they're saying. I obviously have a long way to go on this, but that's why it is a goal. If any of you have worked with youth or college, you know how challenging that can be! (If any of you have ever had a toddler you understand even better!)

We live in such a multi-tasking society. We can drive to the mall, listen to the radio, send out a few dozen texts, corral the kids, and still somehow manage to function.

But, the challenge I'm striving for is that I can be 110% engaged in whatever I'm focusing on. Be 110% devoted to the situation I'm in. Whether that means really getting to know the 75 year old grandmother in my church, who is rather difficult to understand, but brimming over with wisdom and humor or simply settling it in my heart that I AM in the midst of a transition and I might as well work each day with what I've been given, instead of wishing things were as they were, or just wishing things would move a bit faster. 110%. Philippians describes it as "being content whatever the circumstances." I think Paul was onto something there.

Sometimes it's easy to focus so much on the transition, and totally lose sight of the joys of each day. To focus on what is seen, rather than on what is unseen and have a heavenly mindset and "heart-set." So, I'll keep working on the 110% goal. I guess that means I should wrap this up now and focus 110% on starting dinner...

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And for those of you who haven't seen the swanky brown hair metamorphosis, here's a somewhat clear pic of it:



And, today is a very special day for my nephew...
HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY LUKE!!!! Here are a few pictures for you!

Jumping In!

After much deliberation, we decided it was time to get ourselves a Blogspot. We keep up with lots of people through this site, so I guess it's time we jump in to the blogspot pool ourselves! I'm not the best at posting pictures, but I'll try to work on that. If anyone has any tips for us about the world of Blogspotting, please fill us in.

Thanks so much!

Jeff, Kelli, and Gabe