A Missouri Thanksgiving

We spent EJ's 1st Thanksgiving in Missouri with Aaron's family. We got there late Tuesday night, the boys did really well on the flights but were exhausted upon arrival. Wednesday we slept in, ate and then Aaron and I went downtown while the boys took naps. While downtown, we bought a few things for Christmas, had a Dr Pepper float at a cute little 50s type diner, talked with some people from Missouri and Arkansas, and admired the beautiful courthouse! The Carthage square is comparable to the Granbury square if you have ever been there, but without all of the entertainment and not as many restaurants and shops. We had a blast, it was like a mini-date, which are pretty rare these days!

On Thursday we basically had 2 Thanksgiving dinners with 2 different sides of the family. I ate way too much and am looking foward to Fit Camp Monday! We had lunch with the Jennings side and dinner with the Franklin side. Due to illness in the family, both dinners were at Aaron's parents' house, which made the day fun but a little crazy! Anderson and EJ had a great time playing with all of their cousins! We were sad that the Aggies got blasted, but all in all, it was a good day! I forgot my camera, oops! So I will have to post more pictures when Aaron's family sends them to me! This one is a picture of some of Aaron's family sitting around watching EJ and Parker (his newest cousin, born in July, about a month after EJ) check each other out for the 1st time!

On Friday we slept in, opened Christmas presents (or should I say Anderson opened them all!) since we will not see them at Christmas, ate lunch and left for the airport. The travel home did not go as smoothly since both boys (and Aaron and I) were exhausted! It made for a long day and we were glad to be back home in Austin! All in all, Anderson and EJ had a great time visiting Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Leslie!

Here are some of the pictures that Aaron's family sent to me:

On Daddy's old John Deere tractor...

Playing the piano with Daddy...

Helping Grandma open presents...

Now...on to Christmas! I could not wait to get back so that I could put out my new Christmas decorations! We got back late last night so the decorating began early this morning! It was the perfect day too since it was a little dreary and cold outside. The only thing left to do is decorate the tree. When the boys wake up from their naps, we are headed to the ranch for a cookout with my family so we will probably decorate the tree tomorrow. I will post pictures when we finish.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with loved ones!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Be joyful always; pray continually;

give thanks in all circumstances,

for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus!

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

30 1/2

This past weekend I celebrated my 30 1/2 birthday by going to San Marcos with several of my girlfriends! I actually turned 30 on May 16th but EJ was born May 28th so I never really got to celebrate. I could not just let this major milestone go by without the recognition it deserves so I planned a girls-get-away weekend in the hill country!

The weekend started out with my sister Sarah coming down to spend the night on Thursday night. The 2 of us went to the AMBC craft fair on Friday morning and ended up buying out the place! There were so many cute things for such reasonable prices! Mostly we bought Christmas decorations but I also bought a few things for the boys and other holiday items. My favorite purchase however were the 2 beautiful handmade baskets I bought. These baskets were made by women in Bangladesh who need the money to take care of their families. They are brought over by a mission organization to be sold in America for them. Here is a picture of the 2 I bought: As soon as everyone got off work, we headed to San Marcos, dropped off our stuff at the hotel and then drove out to Gruene for dinner at the Gristmill (awesome onion rings!) and then to hear Roger Creager (awesome band!) perform at Gruene Hall. After the concert, we went back to the hotel for cookie cake, dr pepper and bed! Here is a picture of us at Gruene Hall:
Saturday morning we slept in, had breakfast at the hotel and then hit the outlet malls! Everyone bought alot of great stuff and found really good deals! We had a blast and I am sure bought way too much stuff, but it was too good to pass up! Here is a picture of all of our purchases in the back of Kristen's tahoe: After we were shopped out, we headed back to Austin for dinner at the Melting Pot. We had a 3 course dinner of cheese fondue, salads, and chocolate fondue. It was so much fun tasting all of the unique blends of fondue and the different foods you dip in it! It was delicious! We ate way too much but it was worth it! Here is a picture of the tray of food that you dip into the chocolate:
After dinner we went home, wiped out, but so glad we went!We have decided that we need to have a girls-get-away in the hill country at least once, if not twice, a year from now on! Thank you Jessica, Sarah, Meredith, Karen, Melissa, Kelli, Kristen, and Amy for making my 30 1/2 birthday trip a blast!

Be My Cupcake

Today EJ and I met Daddy at the mall for lunch while Anderson was at preschool. While we were there, we discovered a wonderful surprise, called Be My Cupcake! It is the same concept as The Cupcakery but it has more cupcake flavor choices and I actually think the cupcakes were better, although I got different flavors than I did at The Cupcakery. Today Aaron and I had a chocolate peanut butter flavor (rich but delicious!) and we bought Anderson a strawberry cream cheese flavor (also delicious!). In Frisco I had a chocolate gnoche flavor and a red velvet flavor, and Kristen had red velvet flavor and a raspberry flavor. I will have to get Kristen's opinion on the place but I think I liked these cupcakes better than the ones in Frisco. Although I must say that my all time favorite cupcake is still the red velvet one from the Red Oven in Arlington! I don't think it will ever get surpassed! The best part of the day was that Anderson got to have his pink cupcake! I am glad to know that we have a cupcake shop nearby for those times when I just have to have one and I would definitely recommend it, but I don't plan to go there often since I am trying to lose weight, not gain it!

Cupcakes for Christmas

Today's conversation with Anderson:

Mommy: Anderson, what do you want for Christmas?
Anderson: Want cupcakes for Christmas!
Mommy: You want cupcakes for Christmas? What kind of cupcakes?
Anderson: Want pink cupcakes!


I don't know where this kid gets this stuff, but he is all about FOOD! Looks like we will be heading back to the Cupcakery sooner than I thought!

Turkey Thanks

After having our week of Halloween fun, we decided that it would be fun to do something in the spirit of Thanksgiving. So...Anderson helped Mommy make a little turkey to hang on the refrigerator that would remind us of all that we have to be thankful for this year. Each day we will add new things that we are thankful for to the feathers and I will update the list as we go. So far we have the following things to be thankful for in 2008:

1. The arrival of Baby EJ

2. Big Brother Anderson

3. 5 1/2 wonderful years of marriage

The next 3 are what Anderson said when I asked him today what he is thankful for:

4. Mommy & Daddy

5. Amy

6. Dot & Gary (His SS teachers)

(He also said EJ & Anderson but we already have them on the list!)

Other things we are thankful for...

7. Family

8. Friends

9. AMBC

Enter His gates with Thanksgiving and His courts with praise; Give Thanks to Him and praise His name! (Psalm 100:4)

Holiday Magic

My friend Kristen and I drove to Arlington this weekend to go to Holiday Magic, a charity event put on by the Junior League. We had an absolute blast! First, we went to the luncheon/style show, which included a silent and live auction. There we got to sit at a table with my mom and sisters, my friend Amy, as well as my mom's best friend Brenda and a few of her friends. Lunch was delicious, the fashion show was awesome (saw lots of things we wanted!) and the company was so much FUN, including our fabulous waiter Kevin!

After lunch, we shopped in the market. Basically, we bought way too much stuff and spent way too much money...but who cares?!!? We had a good time and got some great things! And by the way, we did pass up some stuff...we could have bought more! Here is a picture of the Christmas decorations that I bought. I wanted ALL of the Christmas decorations in this one booth but I settled on these (I think Amy and Sarah bought them out anyways!). I can't wait to put them out, but I don't decorate until after Thanksgiving...I like to give Thanksgiving the recognition it deserves! So as soon as we return from Missouri...the decorating begins!After shopping, Kristen and I drove to Frisco to spend the night at Amy's new house, which is beautiful, I am glad I FINALLY got to see it! When we got there, we visited with Amy's roommate Dusti for a little while and then went out to eat at Scotty P's (great burgers and onion rings!), got dessert at the Cupcakery (glad we do not have one by my house because I would gain all my weight back eating those delicious little cupcakes!) and stopped by to visit with Mike and Amanda (Amy's brother and sister-in-law) and see their new house, which is right around the corner from Amy's!

Somewhere along the way, I discovered that I forgot to pack my jeans so we stopped off at the Gap to buy a new pair (I got to buy a size smaller...yeah!) and while we were there, we all bought matching purses (like we needed to buy anything else!). We returned to Amy's to watch Baby Mama (very cute!) and then went to sleep. We headed back to Austin this morning, tired but so glad we went! Kristen fell in love with Frisco and wants to move there now...and I fell in love with it all over again...it brought back alot of great memories of the fun I had living with Amy!

All in all, it was a GREAT trip and we plan to make this an annual event! So....all of you AMBC ladies, put it on your calendar!

Give Me Jesus

Another song that God keeps bringing to my attention is called "Give Me Jesus." Jeremy Camp sings it on his newest album "Beyond Measure." Jeremy Camp is another of my favorite artists, by the way. Vince Gill also sang it on the Grand Ole Opry Live cd "How Great Thou Art."

For some reason God keeps reminding me of that song. First, Aaron sang it in church a few months ago. Then we saw Vince Gill perform it at the Grand Ole Opry (we saw it on TV not in person!). Then today I told my dad about it when he was asking for song ideas for him and a friend to sing at church. And then just now I was looking up another Jeremy Camp song when I realized that he also sings this one. I am sure that it is his version that Aaron sang at church. It's funny how God speaks to you. So I thought I would share it with you since I share many of my song inspirations with you.

The lyrics are simple, the music is beautiful, the message is powerful, it goes like this:

In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise
Give me Jesus

Chorus:
Give me Jesus
Give me Jesus
You can have all this world
Just give me Jesus

When I am alone
When I am alone
Oh, when I am alone
Give me Jesus

Chorus

Jesus
Give me Jesus

When I come to die
When I come to die
Oh, when I come to die
Give me Jesus

Chorus

Give me Jesus
Give me Jesus
You can have all this world
You can have all this world
You can have all this world
Just give me Jesus

Jesus

You really need to hear it to get the full effect because it is such a beautiful song, so click here to hear it. I really wanted you to hear the Vince Gill voice we all know and love but this is the only version I could find for the time being, but it is still good! Enjoy!

The point of all this is that in light of uncertain days, Jesus is all we need. And praise God for his wondrous grace, all we have to do is "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."(Matthew 7:7,8)

For "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved!" (Romans 10:9)