Now this is the shot I was hoping for! Not perfect but much better than the first one.

Family Beach Picture

I can't stop laughing about this picture I had to post it. This is the one attempt to get a family beach photo. Right after this my camera fell in the sand and the lense got stuck open, and I gave up. Anyway I thought it was funny enough to blog.

Best Vacation Ever

We made it to Destin! It's beautiful here. The resort is the best one we've ever stayed in and we got it for about the same price as a cheap hotel. Can't beat that!

I can't believe how clear the water is here. I told Jon I think it's a little too clear! I don't think I like to see all the fish swimming around me. We found a jellyfish washed up on the beach. It was about the size of a guys fist! Scary! While the kids were playing in the sand Jon went across the street and got a Domino's pizza for us to eat on the beach. Picnics at the beach are the best.

We've eaten out two nights now and one place was okay. I actually tried tuna tartare for the first time by accident. I thought it would be at least seared but nope it was raw! It was actually pretty good, but I couldn't get over the fact that it was raw. The second meal out was to The Back Porch. It was on the beach and our table had a beautiful view of the ocean. The food at The Back Porch was delicious! I don't know if we will be able to top it, but we'll sure try.

Will and Rachel's Visit

Will and Rachel had to come back to the U.S. for a few weeks because of all the political problems in Honduras. They were able to stay with us a few nights. We loved having a chance to visit with them and hear of all the work they are doing there. They are heading back Saturday. Things seem to be calm there now. Please pray it stays that way so they can continue their work there.

First Bubbles

Joel is getting so big. He started blowing bubbles a few nights ago and is quite good at it. I can't believe he will be four in a couple of weeks! He's getting so big.

Latest Diaper Cakes

Something about going on vacation and diaper cakes seem to go hand in hand for me. This is the second year I've had to make a rushed diaper cakes before leaving for vacation. This year I had two to make. I think the pink one is one of my favorites. The turtle cake isn't quite finished I still need to give the turtle a little blanket to hold to complete it, but I won't have a chance to take another picture of it. I sure enjoy making these. I know at some point they will be out of style, or are they already? Oh well, I think they're cute!

Jennah's Musical and Football Update

Last week Jennah had Music Camp at church. She had already auditioned for a solo several weeks before so she knew she had one but didn't find out until Wednesday which one she had. She was also a ribbon dancer. I don't know if I'll ever be able to watch her sing without crying. She just has the sweetest little voice. Her little friend Zoe came with us. She is one of our neighbors that comes down to play with Jennah. Her family had asked a week or so ago about our church and said they would like to visit with us sometime. We invited Zoe to come with us to see the musical and she got to meet our children's minister and told him she wanted to come next year with Jennah. You never know what an influence you have on people. We have never talked to them about church, but they knew we went because they see us leaving for church all the time. This last picture is Jennah signing autographs after the performance. On the back of the programs they have a page for all the kids to sign autographs for everyone. The kids love this and I think it is a really fun idea. Also, thanks to everyone that came to see Jennah. I know she loved having you all there.

Football update: Jack is no longer playing tackle football. We were able to find a used helmet and shoulder pads on craigslist (thanks for the suggestion Annie). So we ended up paying about $100 instead of $225 on equipment. That is on top of the other $350 we've already paid (that we thought included everything) silly us! We thought we were well on our way until the coach called at 10:00 Sunday night and informed us this was NOT a recreational league it was a competitive league. This team had been together for the past five years and Jack was already an outsider. They had practices four days a week and Jack would be missing the first four because of our vacation, and we would miss the parents meeting. The coach was not happy about this and let me know that by reinforcing that this was a competitive league. This has been the biggest nightmare! Jack wants to play so bad, but we were really afraid all it would do is discourage him and be a huge let down. After several hours of panic and stress over what would be the best thing for Jack, I decided at 12:30 a.m. to see if there were any flag football leagues in Tulsa. I came across Upward. It is a faith based league I had heard about their basketball league before, but I didn't know they had football! I think this is the answer we've been looking for. So we went yesterday and signed him up!

Also, my baby Joel will start Park Plaza Pre-K in September. It makes my heart hurt to think about! I'll post on that later.

First Year of Camp!

My goodness I can't believe two of the three of my children are old enough for church camp. Some of my favorite memories growing up is all the time I spent at camp. Not to mention that's where Jonathan and I met. Being the over protective mother I am, I decided they needed me to go with them to camp. I know Jack could have managed by himself, but Jennah I think would have come home with just the clothes on her back. She may like to clean and look just like her Grandma Janet but she has some me in her too.

Jack seemed to have a great time with all his old friends from Ft. Gibson. It made us really miss our church family there. He didn't hang around me at all and really took to the independence. One thing I found funny and reminded me of Jonathan is every day at every meal Jack would sit in the same spot. I guess he likes routine like his dad. Jack had just returned from football camp the day before we left for camp so he was still a little tired from that, but was so proud of the dog tag Uncle Brian had made for him. Apparently he told everyone at camp he was going to be in the army because the award he got at the end of camp was the "Rambo Award".

I was in the cabin with Jennah and we had some good bonding time together. I hope someday when she's a teen she will still want me around to share in these fun camp times with her. I know that's probably not going to happen but I can dream can't I. I love to watch her socialize. She is friends with everyone. Her camp award was "Best All Around Camper" One thing I thought reaffirmed me going with Jennah to camp was when we were eating lunch she got a brownie for dessert and asked me if she could eat it before her hamburger. I asked her if I hadn't come with her to camp what would she do. She got a big grin on her face and said I would eat the brownie first. So funny and just like Jennah!

I was so proud of both Jack and Jennah. It brings tears to my eyes thinking about how much camp can influence their Christian walk, if they let it. For now it's just lots of fun and making new friends!

These two girls are from Ft. Gibson and are Jack's age. Can you believe that? They look so much older than him. I secretly hope Jack marries one of them some day. Is that bad?

All Things Football

Jack has an overnight obsession with football. He has been talking about playing football for the past year. I thought it would just fade away and he wouldn't really want to do it, but I don't know why I would think this from the child who doesn't forget ANYTHING. So the time finally comes around for sign ups and he is still pumped about playing. It's tackle football and they are pretty serious about it here in Jenks. They even have a draft for teams. Adding to his already obsessive behavior he got to go to Adrian Peterson's Football Camp (thanks to Uncle Brian, Aunt Jenny, and the Army) He came back from camp with an even greater love for the game. We will see if it lasts. I have a feeling the first time he gets hit in a game he might change his mind. I am happy for him though. I think it's every little boys dream at some point to play football. He starts practice in mid August so we will see how it goes. If nothing else he is making memories that will last a lifetime.

Family Reunion Through Jennah's Eyes

We had Jonathan's annual family reunion this weekend. It's always fun to see everyone and I learned what a small world it is. One of the elderly women Ila introduced me to knew my family from Home Gardens Church of Christ. Jennah had a hard time at the reunion. One of the boy cousins was not being nice to her and she came whining to me about it so I sent her to the car to get my camera and capture some of the reunion on film. She LOVES taking pictures and it was hilarious to see the shots she got. So here it is! Enjoy!

Looks like these ladies were really excited about Jennah taking their photo. She even got a close up of them.

Locks of Love

Jennah has been planning on donating her hair to Locks of Love for about the past six months. We've always said as soon as school is out it would be long enough. About once a week for the past six months we have measured it to see if it was long enough. Finally, today was the first day of summer for us and we did it. I didn't want to deal with a bad cut and having to cut it again myself like the last time we took her somewhere so we went to Ihloff Salon where I knew she would get a good cut and they do all the paperwork and send the hair off there so it was a pleasant experience and she is happy with the cut. They straightened it for her and she LOVED it!

Jennah's Turn

We have been waiting very patiently for Jennah's first school musical. Every time Jack has one I think oh Jennah is just going to LOVE doing the school musical. She did and it was so much fun to watch her in her element. Thank you to Grandma Janet, Nana Tamara, Papa David, and Nana Ila for coming and making it an extra special day for her. She loves being the center of attention and this was perfect for her. That afternoon I worked and my mom got the kids off the bus and I was on the phone with my mom when they got off and I heard Jennah tell my mom thank you for coming to my musical. So I know it meant a lot to her. I tried to control my tears but they just kept coming. I don't know why these things make me cry like a baby. I know other parents think I'm crazy I just can't help it. I'm just so proud!

Update

I know it's been too long since my last blog entree so I'm going to update a little. I started a new job last week. I love it so far! I'm a manicurist and pedicurist for The Woodhouse Day Spa in Brookside. I have been thinking about trying the working thing out for a while now. I knew I didn't want to be in retail again after the seasonal work I did at Bath and Body Works at Christmas. On a whim, Friday before last I sent my resume to Woodhouse and Ihloff just to see what would happen and I got calls back from them that same day to set up interviews. I really loved the atmosphere at Woodhouse and it seemed to fit me better than Ihloff so I canceled my second interview with Ihloff and started at Woodhouse last Monday. Having a brother that lives in Honduras and the other one in Florida I figured I needed to do something to help us get to go and visit them both.

The kids have two weeks of school left and are so excited about summer break. We are already starting to fill up our summer calendar with camp, vbs, reunions, camp outs, music camp, and so on. It should be a fun summer break.

Jennah has her school musical tomorrow. I can't wait to see her perform!

Jonathan has MONO! He has been fighting other health issues for the past few months and we thought it was a combination of those things causing his fatigue and weight loss but had tests ran to be sure and it turned out to be mono as well as all his other issues. Poor guy! Anyway we are just glad it wasn't something more serious. We are thanking God!

Sweet Love of God

As a mom one of my favorite things is when the kids surprise me and come up with something together without me telling them to do it or even teaching them anything. Yesterday in the car on the way home from Wal-Mart Jack and Jennah started singing this song. I guess they've been singing it in Bible class on Wednesday nights. It was the sweetest thing I've heard them do in a while. They both knew their parts exactly. It made me cry it was so cute and sweet. They taught it to Joel and then performed it on our "stage" in the back yard. I don't know what Lita intended for the little deck in our back yard but the kids think it was definitely designed for a stage. Enjoy!

We had a really nice Easter this year. Saturday we went to Aunt Amy and Uncle John's new house for lunch and an Easter egg hunt. The kids had a great time with all their cousins and the egg hunt was the highlight of the weekend. The weather was perfect and the company was great.

Sunday we went to Bristow for a yummy Easter dinner of roast. It was a small group of us and although this wasn't our first holiday without Will and Rachel we sure all missed them. The weather wasn't great, it stormed all day long! It was a laid back day that was much needed and enjoyed.

These are some of my favorite pictures of the egg hunt on Saturday. I have no idea where Jack was in all these pictures I didn't get a single shot of him.

Field Trip

Jennah's first grade field trip was to the zoo last week. She was so excited to go and was very happy that I was going with her. She pointed out several times that siblings were not invited. At first I didn't know if she was just not wanting Joel to go or if her teacher had really told them no siblings. Finally a note was sent home with her saying that in fact siblings were not allowed for security reasons. I don't really understand this rule, but I thought it was a great opportunity to spend some one on one time with Jennah. It turned out to be a wonderful day. Jennah seemed most impressed by the blue and yellow frogs in the rain forest.

This week was the annual Tulsa Workshop. I look forward to it every year. It's always a great way to see old friends and get a recharge. This year I was very excited to get to volunteer at Workshop Central, and I thought it would be a great chance to see if some of the other young moms in our Bible class wanted to volunteer with me and we would have a chance to get to know each other better and maybe have lunch together or something. Well, no one signed up with me and Thursday morning I was feeling sorry for myself and missing some of my old friends in Ft. Gibson that would go with me anywhere any time I asked them to. Side note: I went to the doctor the day before and I have a sinus infection so I wasn't really feeling great to begin with.

I decided to suck it up and enjoy the days ahead with or without friends along side me. It turned out to be better than I ever expected it to. Both days that I volunteered I got to visit with some older Christians that I attend church with but have never had the chance to meet or talk with. It made me miss my Grandma Kelley and all the wisdom and quiet faith she had, and how after every visit with her I had such a peaceful feeling. Visiting with these older Christians left me feeling refreshed and new and made me see things from a different perspective.

Jonathan and I were talking about my experiences over the past few days and we got to talking about how much we, as young Christians, need the guidance and wisdom of older generations. Maybe even just the quiet and peacefulness they seem to have. We talked about the way classes are set up these days everyone grouped together by ages we miss out on so much that the older Christians could and should be teaching us. I wonder how we can correct this? I understand the importance of meeting together with others our own age, but I need the guidance from those older and wiser than me. Maybe it's just me, but I feel I would be a much better Christian if I had that.

Our Weekend

This weekend was one of the busiest weekends we've had in quite some time. I had signed up to fix a meal for Celebrate Recovery at our church with my cousin Jenny Friday night, we had a wedding to attend in OKC. Saturday night, our involvement minister at church signed our Bible class up to prepare and serve a meal for Contact Church for 125 people, oh and a birthday party Sunday afternoon at 2:30(normally we would have just skipped a party but this was a special one)! I knew not many in our class had the time or the experience of cooking for such a large group so I decided to head it up. I feel like God has blessed us with so many church experiences in the past and cooking for a large group of people is one of them. I really enjoy the excitement and hospitality involved in it and I think it is something not everyone can do. This weekend was exceptionally hard because I usually really depend on Jonathan for a lot of help when we are involved in so much like this. I knew with how busy and stressed he has been at work I couldn't depend on him much at all. He even had to work all day Saturday! So, organized I had to become. I had a schedule of events down to five minute increments for the weekend. I had every detail taken care of. I felt like my sil Jenny:) Everything went so well and we had no surprises. We really enjoyed the wedding thanks to cousin Annie and Chris who kept Jennah and Joel for us while we attended, and also Aunt Amy and Uncle John for keeping the kids Sunday morning for us while we prepared the meal for Contact. We have such a great family!

Joel has the Snaps

Joel's newest trick is snapping. He said Mr. Will (our children's minister) taught him how. That was last Wednesday night after church and he hasn't stopped since. It's so cute and reminds me of my youngest brother when we were little.

Time with Dad

Since I had Muffins with Mom this morning Jonathan took Joel to work with him. He wasn't real excited about it. He seems to be like his mom with mornings. The only way we enjoy mornings is if we get to sleep through them! Anyway after we finally got him up and around I think he was a little excited. Jonathan had taken his picture the night before and told him he would have it on his computer in the morning so Joel was looking forward to that and of course the sucker that he always gets when we visit Dad at work. He was also very happy to get this clown nose from Jonathan's office. Speaking of the clown nose I need to ask Jonathan where that came from kind of strange thing to have in a bank office. They were so cute together so I snapped a few pictures to share. This second picture is Joel sitting at Jonathan's table playing while Jonathan was trying to get some work done.