I love him more...

8 years ago today I married the absolute LOVE.of.my.life! I can not even believe 8 years has already passed us by. I am way more in love with you today than I was the day I married you and I did not know that was possible! We were talking this morning about what all has happened in our lives in the past 8 years and God has sure done a lot!

We have:

moved 3 times

had 2 kids

been all over the world together

laughed A LOT

cried together

rejoiced together

stressed together

waited on the Lord....together

grew up together. We met when we were 18 and married at 20. So YES we have grown up together:)

fallen in love over and over and over again

planned our future (but we know that is pointless because it's all God's plan not our own)

become completely debt free together...Praise God! Thank you Dave:)

grew in our relationship with the Lord.

I literally could go on and on at what all we have been through and done in the past 8 years but...God has been good, and so faithful to us. I can't imagine a greater man for me to be married to and to walk through life with. I don't want to just be married to him. I want us to have the best relationship possible. A marriage that our girls know is of the Lord. A marriage that is STRONG. That no matter what Alyssa and Bella know that we love each other and we are committed to the lord and to one another for a life time!

Matt you are the Rock of our family and I absolutely adore you. I am so thankful the Lord brought you in my life 10 years ago. I look forward to where the lord will lead us throughout our lifetime. I love you Matt!!!!

What a Dad...

I know it's a day late, but we have had the craziest weekend! It started on Friday and has not stopped since. It's been great...just busy!

So...I can not go without giving my amazing hubby a shout out! Matt basically ROCKS! He is the best dad to our girls. He is so involved in their lives and loves spending time with them. He has always taken over the minute he walks through the door and continues until they go to bed. They wrestle when he walks in, the laugh in the bath tub, and they drift off to sleep listening to him pray. He is so hands on and I can not imagine what I would do without him. The girls ADORE him and can't wait for him to be home. Not sure if that's because they are so totally over me by that point, or if they really do love him!! HAHA JK!! They think he hung the moon...I would agree with his greatness. He is the leader of our home and he shows our children Christ each and every day. For that I am so very thankful!

Matt we love you more than you could imagine. You are amazing and I am so thankful for you in my life and the girls.

Birthday Girl!!!

We have a 5 year old on our hands! WHAT?!?! How. DId. This. Happen? Yep that's pretty much what I have been asking myself for the past month? Kindergarten? Really? Oh. my. word.

This momma is not at all ready for her to start school. I feel like everything about these past 5 years of Alyssa's life have made a screeching halt to the front of my memory and it's making me:

Sad...at how fast it has flown by....Cliche I know, but true!!

Happy...because of all the sweet memories we have made with this amazing little girl!

Proud...of the girl she is becoming. I could go on and on about how great she is.

Thankful...As we prayed with Alyssa last night, Matt and I both thanked God for the time He has given us and prayed He would grant us many more years. After all, He is the Giver of Life.

So Happy 5th Birthday to our sweet little Alyssa! You are so full of life and such an amazing blessing to your daddy and I! We love you more than you could ever imagine and are so incredibly proud of you!

What gifts we have been given.

Man do I love our girls! God has been so good to us and we are so thankful for these little sweeties. I try to never take them for granted as I know there are so many out there that can not have children or are struggling to have their own. I don't want a day to go by that I don't thank the Lord for the blessing that they are to us!

They are growing entirely too fast for my liking. I am trying to soak every. single. bit of Alyssa Lauren in this summer. Kindergarten is coming on like a freight train and I can not believe it! It really has flown by so fast!

She is one special girl.

She loves to:

Sing

Swim

Dance

Get her nails done!:)

Go to breakfast on Saturday mornings. I do too!!:)

Has a WILD imagination and loves to play pretend.

Color and draw pictures.

Write and do math!

She is very funny.

She acts Just.Like.Me!! :)

She can be very outgoing...yet very shy.

She LOVES her sister and comes RUNNING when she is hurt or crying.

She loves her best friend Maddie. She and Maddie are TIGHT! It really is so sweet!:)

She would eat chick fil a or Geno's pizza everyday. literally!

She can cry at the drop of a hat!! Never. Seen. Anything. Like. It!!

She is loyal.

She is kind hearted.

She has mercy.

She is loving.

She is Smart.

She is a leader.

She loves to learn.

She loves Jesus.

She has a heart for Haiti and the orphans.

She cares for others.

She is learning what it means to "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves” Philippians 2:3.

I could go on and on and on about this kid. She is great. She is a blessing. She is so precious and I love her more and more every day! We are so proud of her and we KNOW God has amazing plans for this little girl. We pray we will always show her what Jesus looks like and lead her in the direction of Him! What a privilege we have to raise her up in Christ...But what a task it is. May we be found faithful!

We love you sweet Alyssa!

Our Favorite Place!!

Our Sweet little family!

A couple weeks ago we took a family vacation to Grand Cayman. The Cayman's are one of our favorite places to go. There is just no place like it. It's one of those places you can go to and completely turn off everything you have going on back home. I almost forgot we had a life here!!:) It is soooo relaxing and so quiet and just so fun! We had a great time and did not want to come home. It took me a good week to get back in the groove of things here.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the week! This could get long so bear with me!!:)

Bella Grace:)

Chelsea (Matt's sister) and Jonathon (her hubby).

Before Date night!

I sure do love this man!

I will have to post again with some of my favorite shots of the week with the girls! They were SOOO good and just had a great time!!

Easy Breezy and so yummy!

Baked Chicken Nuggets

Ingredients:

3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 tablespoon dried basil

1/2 cup butter, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

2. Cut chicken breasts into 1 1/2 inch size pieces.

3. In a medium bowl, mix together the bread crumbs, cheese, salt, thyme and basil. Mix well.

4. Put melted butter/margarine in a bowl or dish for dipping.

5. Dip chicken pieces into the melted butter/margarine first, then coat with the breadcrumb mixture.

6. Place well coated chicken pieces on a lightly greased cookie sheet in a single layer, and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.

These are great with mashed potatoes! So yummy and super easy to make. They are always a hit with my girls and that is a big plus!!:)

I love any kind of baked bread! Especially anything with a good crunch on the top! This looks sooo yummy!

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans, toasted

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 cup sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1 cup milk

1/3 cup cooking oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray the bottom and sides of a 9″x5″x3″ loaf pan. Combine 1/3 cup of sugar, pecans, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside.

Combine 1 cup of sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, beat egg. Then, stir in milk and oil. Make a well in the flour mixture and add the egg mixture. Stir just until mixed. Do not overmix.

Pour half of the batter into loaf pan. Sprinkle with half of the cinnamon mixture. Repeat. With a wide rubber scraper or spatula, swirl mixtures together with a down and up circular motion.

Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until done. Cool in pan for about 10 minutes. Then, cool completely on a wire rack.

Enjoy a slice of bread (or 2 or 3) loaded with butter and a cup or coffee! Yes I love butter....so what? :)