Beautiful Lengths from a Beautiful Girl

Many of you already know, but Ashlyn has been growing out her hair for a good year and a half in order to donate it to make a wig for a woman who has last her hair due to cancer treatments.  We searched out L*cks of Love and P*ntene's Beautiful Lengths, and decided to go with Beautiful Lengths.  Well, today those pretty locks of hers got cut.  Here are a couple before shots:

 A couple in process pics:

And the beautiful finished product:



Sweet girl, you are beyond beautiful on the outside!  However, your heart is true gold and has a beauty that only your Heavenly Daddy can give you.  I am so proud of you and love you to the moon and back!

Home Sweet Home

After living with Jason's parents for 6 months (we never would have guessed when we moved that it would have been that long), we moved into our own home here in Rogers, Arkansas almost 2 months ago.  We were thankful for David and Melody's kindness, but also so excited to be in our own place and begin truly settling in here.

We love our house, but I have to say...even if our house were a 6X6 foot shack we'd still love being here because of the wonderful neigbors God has blessed us with.  So, without further ado...some pictures:

Happy, happy birthday, Laney!

I truly can't believe that my middle child is now 6 years old.  It's amazing how quickly time passes, and honestly, this momma's heart is having a hard time with it.  It's true though, our Laney-bear is 6 years old!

On her actual birthday night we went to Shogun for her dinner.  It took over an hour to get seated but this sweet girl is worth every minute of it!

We opened some great gifts and then waited until Saturday for her party.  She chose to invite a bunch of her friends from school and go to a local art studio, Imagine.  They made purses, sang Justin Be*ber songs, and laughed like crazy.  It was too cute!

My dearest Laney Hope, I never cease to be amazed at how quickly people are drawn to you.  Yet, I'm not surprised at why they desire to be around you...you are a tender heart, sweet, fun, ready to laugh, and always ready to make a new friend.  As your love for Jesus grows, I pray that your friends' love for Jesus grows too because they see Him so brightly in you.  You are an amazing blessing in our lives, Laney-lou.  And we love you as high as the moon and back!

Easter 2011

I'm sorry.  What did you say?  Easter was a month ago?  I'm behind?  Yes, I know.  It seems to be the world I live in.  Am I comfortable with that?  Not really, but it's my life right now.  And while I may be constantly behind, I am constantly blessed as well.  So that is what I am trying to allow my heart to focus on rather than my messy house, the friends and family I am missing, and the fact that my thighs seem to be growing as wide as the Red Sea parted (age...gotta love it).

My biggest girl continues to get bigger.

My middle one is another year older, and the youngest of the bunch no longer is a baby...sigh.

But my hope...tried, true and eternal Hope...is found in nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.  However many years pass, and as things shift and change over time (including this body of mine), I am reminded that this world is not my home.  And because of that glorious Easter day a couple of thousand years ago, I do have Hope!

Spring Break...Part II (Sweet Friends)

After visitng my brother's we drove to Arlington, TX to stay the night with some of our closest friends, the Stehr family. We became friends through LifeGroup at church and even when they moved to Arlington have remained close. They are simply people we have such deep heart connections with (okay, maybe Audrey and I have a deep heart connection and Rusty and Jason bond deeply over Jimmy Buffet concerts...ha).

In any case, our girls also have the sweetest friendships and play so incredibly well together. It was a short visit but sweet none-the-less.

Can't you just picture this crew a few years down the road as teenagers?Rusty, Audrey, Meagan and Olivia,

We are so thankful for the friendship God has blessed us with, and we love you dearly. Come visit soon!

Spring Break...Part I

The first part of Spring Break we headed down to Georgetown, TX to visit my brother, Andy, sister-in-law, Kelly and their 2 kiddos. They just moved there in December and it was our first time to see their new, beautiful home in person. We were so excited to spend time with them! And so excited to meet our sweet new neice/cousin, Ainsley Keane. Ooooh, I just wanted to pack her up and bring her home with us! Plus, it was triple the excitement, because we got to be a part of Drew's 3rd birthday! They decided to have a woman bring her ponies, donkey and goats to their house. The kids loved it and Drew couldn't get enough of the baby goats. So much so, that even the momma goat tried head butting him a few times...ha!

We also got to head out to the Austin rodeo on Monday. Just mentioning the word rodeo brings a smile to my girls faces so they were pumped to actually be there. I believe the pig races were their favorite for the day.

And Gampa, this picture is just for you...all 5 grandkids!

We are so thankful for the family God has blessed us with! Now, we're ready for them to come visit us in our new home!

It's like riding a bike

The weekend before we left for Spring Break, we decided to take Laney's training wheels off. I knew that she was ready and would be riding in a matter of seconds....IF SHE DIDN'T SYKE HERSELF OUT! Jase wheeling her out. What will the verdict be? And she's off! It literally took her less than a minute and she was out on her own. So proud of our Laney-loo!

Can you tell she's a second child? Poor girl gets hand-me-downs on most things, including the helmet which cute top came undone a few minutes before the ride. Oh well, it might not be fashionable, but at least it's safe.