7 years later....

Today my wonderful hubby and I are celebrating our 7 year anniversary! WOW!! Where has the time gone? I can honestly say this has been the greatest 7 years. I couldn't possibly list all that we have done in the past 7 years but I am going to try!

Not in any particular order!!

We have:

laughed together

cried together

shared in the birth of our 2 daughters

grown up together

become the best of friends

traveled to: Antigua, Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Colorado, Cancun, Jamaica, Dallas, St. Louis, Branson, Scottsdale AZ, Alabama, Florida, and hopefully by the end of the year New York City!

Moved 2 times

fought

made up

met new friends

fallen more in love with each other

fallen more in love with our Savior

prayed together

fallen in love with people more

have more a world vision for reaching the lost

made our house and home

made some bad decisions

made some great decisions

hiked a 27 mile trail at the Buffalo (with some great friends)

fished

spent lots of time at the lake

shared many dates together

grabbed coffee together

eaten lots of marble slab

Called the Hogs

Obsessed about the Hogs

Tailgated together

Camped together

talked a lot

shared a whole lot of "life" together

These are just some of the things I could think of off the top of my head! I am sure there are tons more and something big I have left out!

Matt you are amazing. Nothing less. Much more. I feel unbelievable blessed to call you mine and that the lord chose you for me and me for you! What a great combination we are. The balance He created between the two of us is nothing short of perfection. You love me and I NEVER have to doubt it. For that I am so thankful. You are trustworthy. You are faithful. You are such a hard worker. YOu want nothing but the best for your family and you work so hard for that. You are the best dad. our girls adore you! You make them feel special and loved the second you walk through that door. No matter what kind of day you have had. You are always going out of your way to make me feel beautiful and special. You are a Godsend helpmate. you help with the house, the girls, the dishes, the trash, you give almost all the baths and have since the girls were born. You pray with us and for us. You love others more than yourself. You are not selfish. You are thoughtful. You are a STUD and I have am more attracted to you every day. You love to spend time with me and there is NO ONE I would rather spend my time with than you. You are a perfectionist. I love that about you. You support me in all I do! You love to fish and hunt and be outside. You are a mans man and that is HOT! You are silly. You are funny. You still tuck me in every night. :) You are one of the Godliest men I know and you help me to be a better Christian everyday. You never "know everything." You long to be a life long learner. That is so admirable. You learn something from everyone and every situation. You are a great leader of our family. You love the Lord and I love that we have grown in Him together. I know the Lord has great things in store for us. I can't wait to see it all unfold.

I love you Matty!

Happy 7 year anniversary!

Oh Alyssa...

Alyssa is one funny kid. She says the funniest things that just keep Matt and I laughing our heads off. I try to write down all she says but it is so constant that I just can't collect it all! This is what she said to me today!!

"Hey Mom!" "I think I have itchy-back-itis!" I was laughing so hard! Where in the world does she come up with these things?

She also said she is going to wear her braids forever. "Till she gets to heaven!"

I love the innocence of children! I am thankful she is still innocent. She is still sheltered under our wing and watch care. I am mostly thankful she is under the Lords care and protection. He loves her more than she will ever understand. He loves us all!!

Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble.

Proverbs 3:23

As I promised:)

Here are some pictures from our trip! Like I said, it was a blast.

We went to Cancun and stayed at the Moon Palace Resort. This place was huge and had something for everyone. There were about 20 restaurants with about any kind of food you could imagine. They had a great breakfast buffet where they would make you omelets, pancakes, french toast, waffles, mexican tacos, and just about anything else you could think of. It was great. We ate and ate and ate and I loved every second of it!:) I will just walk you through our trip through all the pics!

Enjoy. We sure did:)

This is where we spent most of our time. We loved this area. So relaxing and quite.

This was the kids area of the pool. So much fun stuff for Alyssa to do!

My beautiful mom, Jody (sister in law), Paige (niece), and Megan my sis.

We had a blast together! love you all!

View from our room. Amazing!

Alyssa enjoying her strawberry slush. She thought she was something:)

This is the building our room was in.

After dinner one night!

Some of the pool

more...

Love this man. We had a date night!

I could really go on and on with pictures. If you want to see more check out my facebook. there are tons there!

Out of the loop..

We have been out of the country for the past week and it feels like we have been gone FOREVER!! I love to travel. Love the beach. But there is no place like home. I was actually looking forward to getting home and doing the "normal" day to day things. Even cooking and cleaning!! We went to Cancun for the week along with 10 other family members and we had nothing short of a wonderful relaxing time! We took Alyssa and Bella Boo stayed here with her nana Sue. She had a great time and we did too so it worked out perfectly!

I have tons of "stuff" to do so I am going to get off here and get to it!

I will post pictures and more about our trip later tonight!!

Alyssa's Birthday Bash!

This past weekend we had Alyssa's 4th birthday party! Check it out here!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Ours was super relaxing and productive all at the same time!!:)

We leave for Mexico on Friday so the countdown is one!!

Blessing after Blessing

These girls just melt my heart and I am so overwhelmed at the happiness they bring Matt and I! We adore these girls and pray that the Lord will use them to increase HIS kingdom! I know the Lord has great plans for these two little girls. We pray daily that they will be leaders for Him. We love you Alyssa and Bella Grace! God blessed us greatly when he gave you two girls to us and continues to bless us each day we have with you.

Proverbs 7:1-3 My son, keep my words and treasure up my commandments with you; keep my commandments and live; keep my teaching as the apple of your eye; bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.

VBS

This week has been extremely busy with VBS. It has been every day from 8:30 to noon. I have had 14 four year old little ones and they have been absolutely wonderful! We are learning about Joseph and his journey to egypt! It has been fun but super tiring! I, along with my kids, have came home and crashed every day! It's been nice! I am looking forward to the weekend and just being home with my sweet family! The Lord is good. He is so faithful and He is so worthy of all my praise!

Hopefully I will have something somewhat interesting to blog about soon!!:)

Check it out!!

Lauren Grace Boutique got a makeover and I am dying to know what you think! Please leave me a comment and please add my button to your blog!!

Hope you are having a great Monday!!

www.laurengraceboutique.blogspot.com

More like Jesus...

This little girl steals my heart and makes me melt multiple times a day, BUT there is nothing more exciting than when she talks about Jesus. I know God has great plans for her because he promises us (Jeremiah 29:11) and because she has such a love for Him and constantly reminds me of his undying love for us.

Here are a couple of conversations from the past few weeks!

Alyssa: "Mommy you and daddy don't have to use the wooden spoon much anymore do you?"

Me: "No Alyssa we haven't!"

Alyssa: "That's because I don't do sins no more." "I'm trying to be more like Jesus."

This was a conversation that Alyssa and I had while driving to school one day last week. She was watching a movie and just out of no where began asking me this:

Alyssa: "Mommy why does Jesus allow some people to have a lot, and some to have nothing at all?" "Is it so that those with many things can give to those without?"

Alyssa has such a soft spot for those in need and those hurting. I'm glad she does and I pray she always will.

Oh how I long to be more like Jesus everyday. I fail far too often, but my greatest desire is to know Him more, and to tells other about Him. He is more than worth it. I want the Lord to use my hands and my feet to make His Kingdom come, and I want to look to others needs far more than my own. I love when God uses my innocent child to remind me of his love and his graciousness!