Carter's Birthday Parties

I am a little late with this post, but I couldn't find the new cord for the camera. We had two birthday parties for Carter this year because of the weather and his birthday being so close to Christmas. I tried to do one earlier in December but the weather didn't cooperate. He had fun and loved his cupcake! Caden made sure we all wore our party hats and sang Happy Birthday the right way...whatever that is! It was a fun time had by all!

Here are the boys and me getting ready to party at my parents' house.

Carter liked his hat!

The birthday boy with Mommy and Daddy, we can't believe he is one!
The entire clan (minus me of course, someone had to take the picture!)

Carter is starting in on the cupcake...we forgot his booster chair for my mom's table so Cory had to hold him! We tried to warn Cory!

This is the aftermath of the cupcake!
Birthday party part two: this is the Guymon crew!
Carter wanted to grab the candle I think...
Carter kept trying to chase Brooklyn and that was not making her happy!

Caden is making Mommy get her exercise

The title says it all. I now have no excuse to not get my exercise! Caden has been bugging us like crazy to get that bike out and take it for a spin. Well the snow finally melted off the streets so we bundled up and went for a ride. My bike has flat tires, so I am just walking, but I am definitely getting a workout! He is fast on that thing! Cory took a quick video of Caden on the driveway then we headed off around the block. We went around twice, then came into go potty, now we are off again! Jack and I are going to get skinny whether we want to or not!

Happy 1st Birthday Carter!

One year ago today, my little man was born! He has changed so much in this year. He is walking almost running everywhere and eating everything in sight by himself! He is growing up too quickly! Happy Birthday my sweet little man!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Here are a couple of things I found today about the true meaning of Christmas! Happy Birthday Jesus, thank you God for sending your son to be born today and saving us from our sins!

Jesus Born on This Day - Avalon
Today a child is born on earth
Today a childis born on earth
Today the glory of God shines everywhere
For all of the world
Jesus born on this day
He is our light and salvation
Oh, Jesus born on this day
He is the King of all nations
Behold the Lamb of God has come
Behold the Savior is born
Sing of His love to everyone
Jesus born on this day
Heavenly child in a manger
Oh, Jesus born on this day
He is our Lord and our Savior
Today our hearts rejoice in Him
Today the light of His birth
Fills us with hope and brings peace on earth
Jesus born on this day heis our light and savation
Oh, Jesus born on this day He is the King of all nations
Today a child is born on earth
Today the glory of God shines everywhere
For allof the world
He is light, He is love, He is grace
Born on Christmas day


The Perfect Gift~Emily Ulm
Some may think it's presents,
Others family.
Some may think it's all aboutPutting up the tree.
But what I believe, I know is true:
He died for me and for you.
God sent his Son on Christmas Day,
To later leave, and take our sins away.
How could a Father give up His Son?,
Even though He became the Holy One.
His love so great and so true,
There's nothing He wouldn't do for you.
So when we celebrate this year,
Give plenty of love and joy and cheer.
But there's one thing we mustn't forget,
Jesus is the perfect Gift.

Try to remember the true meaning for this day while you are opening presents and celebrating with family! Christmas Blessings from our house to yours!

Christmas Part III

Merry Christmas! The kids got up bright and early, well 4 out of the 5 did, so we began our day before the sun came up! The kids had a great time and got lots and lots of stuff! They aren't quite sure what to play with and are very impatient when it comes to waiting for batteries to go in!

Santa Claus came to town!

The boys woke up this morning and were pretty excited to see what Santa brought them! Carter got a ride on lion and Caden got a Thomas bike! Thanks Santa, we love it!

Christmas Eve Chaos

Last night we read our Christmas book, put cookies and milk out for Santa, then got all the kiddos in bed. I read to them a book by Max Lucado, called "The Crippled Lamb". It is a beautiful story about how God has a special place for all of us and ties in the birth of Jesus. It is great!

We were cooking, getting tables set for Christmas dinner, moving presents up to the living room, then BAM...all the lights went out. We thought we blew a breaker but no the entire neighborhood was out. So we dug around for some flashlights and candles and then lit both fireplaces. After about an hour we got a little bored and decided that all the adults should open presents while the kids were asleep so we can actually watch the kids in the morning. So we put all the candles in the living room and sorted stuff and got started.

This is a picture of the room, with no flash, so it is a little blurry!

Kayla and Kaci ready to open gifts.

Mom had to shine flashlights on the gifts so we could see what we were opening.

Ryan was trying to creep me out!

The lights finally came back on about 3 1/2 hours later. We had a great time just being with the adults and might make this a Christmas Eve tradition!

GAP Product RED

My sister got all of us stuff from GAP (Product) Red. This program is about making a difference in Africa. Gap contributes half the profit of all the products to help women and children affected by aids in Africa.

Here are the boys in their clothes! Thanks Jana for making us aware of the cause and for supporting something you believe in! You are inspiring!

Christmas Part II

Yesterday we headed down to see my side of the family for Christmas. We arrived around 5pm and Caden began begging to open presents. We had to convince him to eat dinner first then the madness started! We made Caden help hand out presents to everyone while Carter started by ripping everyone's bows off the packages! We let the boys go first so we could watch! It was kind of crazy, they just kept opening and opening and not waiting for us to get the toys out of the package!

Once we did get the toys out of the package, they started to fight over the toys, of course! Here are a few pictures of the night. These are all from my parent's camera, so I will post later with the entire Christmas album in shutterfly!

Here is the clan minus Gigi for dinner (she is taking the picture)

The chaos of opening toys...they really package them too well!
Grammy Flo loved her calendar of the boys, I made it on shutterfly.com
Pops and his cool Bass Pro shirt from Caden and Carter (who wouldn't pose)
Jana got THE PURSE she wanted from my parents! She was exstatic!A real John Deere Tractor that drives....Caden asked and Pops bought! Surprise, surprise!
Carter's favorite so far! The bounce and spin zebra!

Christmas Part I

We were supposed to do Christmas with my family the weekend of the 15th, but the weather didn't cooperate and people were sick so we couldn't. But Caden had his heart set on opening presents so we gave in! We didn't want to take the gifts we bought him to Guymon anyway so it all worked out!

We got Caden a cleaning set and he went crazy...who knew my kid would love to clean!

Caden getting to work, we actually have him on video saying he love to clean all the time...we will get that out in his teenage years to prove he once enjoyed cleaning the house!

Obeying God's Great Commission

Dear Friends and Family,

I have some exciting news to share with all of you. Cory’s sister and her husband have accepted God’s call on their lives to go and be missionaries in Albania. Kaci and Ryan felt God calling them this summer to the mission field. They have been on an amazing journey of trusting Him completely for all the answers since then! From our vantage point we will miss them dearly while they are gone, but we are so exciting God is using them in such a mighty way!

I want to share some of the facts of their journey with you so that you can first and foremost be in PRAYER for them! Also if you would like to give, I wanted to allow you to do that. They will leave sometime in January or February as soon as their support is raised. Kaci and Ryan will be taking Tate (4) and Mya (2) with them. Please pray for all four of them daily. They will be moving to Albania for about 7 months. They don’t know the language or customs so they are relying totally on God to show them what He has planned. They will live on the outer edge of the capital city of Tirana in a small apartment. Kaci will be a nurse in a free clinic they are starting in the back of a church. Ryan will be a “Mr. Fix-it” by helping the churches there with any repairs. He will also use his business skills to help with the district church office. There is one other mission family there and they have 3 small children, so the kids will have some American friends.

Albania is south of Hungary, Romania, Serbia, and Bulgaria and just north of Greece, and close to Italy. There are 3.6 million people that live there and the country is only about 11,100 square miles. This is smaller than Rhode Island. 70% of the country is Muslim while only 1% is Evangelical Christian. There are 3 Nazarene churches established there that they will be working with. There are a total of 140 in attendance on average each week.

Kaci and Ryan need abut $17,000 for the entire time they are there plus any extra for incidents that arise while there. If you want more information about what they are doing please call or email us and I can get you in touch with them. If you want to give, it will be tax deductible.

Thank you for taking time to read about what our family members are doing. Thank you also in advance for the many prayers and support that will come their way! If you have any questions, please let me know!

My Candidate For President

Here is who is getting my vote! Take some time to research the candidates and support the one of your choice 100%!! GET OUT AND VOTE!!!

Here is the new ad from Huckabee's website...


And another video from the website created by a supporter...too cool I thought...


Just some food for thought!

KNOW YOUR FRIENDS CHRISTMAS STYLE....

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Wrapping Paper. Each side of the family has coordinating paper so I can tell them apart under the tree. The boys also get to pick their wrapping paper for the year. Caden picked Cars this year, but realized we had Thomas leftover from last year so they got a little of both. Carter is too little to pick!
2. Real or artificial tree?
Artificial, we used to have a real growing up, but Cory changed me and I am so glad he did!
3. When do you put up the tree?
Try to the first weekend in December. So we can enjoy it the entire month!
4. When do you take the tree down?
New Years Day, Cory is home and can help:)
5. Do you like eggnog?
Not really, although I might have to try this chocolate egg nog Becky and Mandy are raving about!
6. Favorite gift received as a child?
I remember pictures of my Strawberry Shortcake Kitchen, it looked so fun! I remember always being so excited about what I received, but I only really recall one gift - getting New Kids on the Block tickets...that was so awesome!!!
7. Do you have a nativity scene?
yes, my mother in law got it for me our first Christmas, I love it! But I really want the Little People Nativity so the kids can have one too!
8. Hardest person to buy for?
Cory and his Dad, they just buy what they want throughout the year anyway, and when you ask them what they don't know what to tell you!
9. Easiest person to buy for?
Everyone else, we have lists we pass around! That is so much better than guessing!
10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
Sorry Cory to bring it up again, but that grease splatter screen our first year married was pretty bad!
11. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Definitely mail, I love getting everyone's pictures and letters. It is one of my favorite things about the holidays.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie?
White Christmas (Tradition with my mom and sister), The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (with Cory), and Polar Express (I can still hear the bell, how about you?)
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
Early November so I can get it over with.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
yes, we do dirty santas often!
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
Turkey and Dressing and Grammy's Pecan Pie
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree?
clear on the tree, colored outside
17. Favorite Christmas song?
Natalie Grant's "I Believe"
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
It depends on whose Christmas it is.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?
Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and of course Rudolph
20. Angel on the tree top or a star?
Star
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas morning?
Both
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year?
The hustle and bustle, I like to just be and enjoy time with my family.
23. Do you decorate your tree in any specific theme or color?
Sort of...there are clear lights and gold, green, and red ribbon with Joy on it, then random ornaments that I have collected since we have been married.
24. What do/did you leave for Santa?
Depends on who is playing Santa - if it is at my house a piece of pie and milk , with a note...if it is at Cory's house, cookie or candy, milk, and a note.

YOUR TURN!!!!