Inspirational....

I follow a few blogs now. I'm not even sure how I stumbled upon my favorite, but it is www.mundanefaithfulness.com It is the blog of Kara Tippetts. She is battling cancer and she is so open and honest and her strength and faith are so inspiring to me. Her family is soooo beautiful and the way she describes them all you feel as if you know them. Like you are a part of her story. Today in part of her post she said "The regrets of the past, the fears of the future, the longing for more time- it all can steal now." I find myself doing just that all the time. In little things and in big. I am going to try to remind myself to live in the moment. When you have some time, go over and read her story. I promise you that you will be inspired. Please pray for her and her sweet family as they fight this battle. Our God is an awesome God and I know he can heal her. If for reasons unknown he doesn't heal her please pray for her to be free from pain and for comfort and strength for her and her family and friends. God Bless, Danielle

Weekend in Review

Not a whole lot happened this weekend. We didn't see much of Logan. He was to busy running around w/friends. Came home a few times to eat and shower and he was off and running again. Madison spent the weekend in Branson w/Charlie and his family. His grandparents were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. :) She said they had a great time. Good food and even went on a helicopter tour. Friday, Randy and I ran the military park (well, he ran and I walked/jogged). I did however, run a mile non-stop during that time. I was pretty proud of myself. Randy worked all day Saturday and I met my dear ole friend Billie Jean at the movies. We went to see Blended. It was about the same as all of Adam Sandler movies but parts of it were really funny. After I got home Randy and I went out to eat at the Rail (one of our fav places) and then went to see the new Transformers Movie. It was good just really long. If they would have shortened the fight scenes just a bit it would have been better. Sunday we had nursery duty and got to love on the little ones in the toddler nursery. Always so much fun. Tiring, but fun. I fell asleep when we got home and then Sunday evening Randy and I went back to the military park. I didn't have as much energy. Just felt really tired so I only got in 5 miles. I walked 2 1/2 miles and then jogged about a mile and walked the rest of the way back. Normally, I go all the way around which is 6 1/2 miles and probably run 2-3 miles of it. Not last night. Just didn't have it in me. I did get some really great news this weekend though. Every time we have been on vacation I have asked my brother, Kevin, and his family to go w/us. They have never said yes....well, he told me on Saturday night that they are coming w/us this year! Yay!!! I love him so and I am soooooo excited that they are coming w/us.

27 days out....

In 27 days Logan will be reporting to Lyon College. He moves in and reports in for football on August 13th. I feel like I've been ok w/it. Trying to stay positive and excited for him and Madison (She is starting her second year at UAFS. She moves back on Aug 16th). I feel like I am doing ok, but for the last several days I've felt off kilter. Like my universe is not as it should be. I'm feeling crabby and blue. I hate this feeling. I don't know that it is the fact that the kids will be moving out. I'm just not sure what else it could be. I can see having a bad day but a bad week? When nothing to out of the ordinary seems to happen?! There are good things to look forward to I know...cleaner house, more time w/Randy, not having 10 kids at the house at all times, lower utility bills..you get the picture. Not to mention, how EXCITING for my kids. Logan will be back in football which has been his most fav sport since he was a baby. He is going to a great Christian School. He already has friends there and I can only imagine the friendships he is going to make playing football again. Madison will be living in an apartment on campus this year instead of in a dorm. She is going to have her own room and her and Kasey have already started buying cute stuff to fix it up. She is really excited about decorating it cute and she's off to a good start. She has become way more independent this year and it's been really good for her. My wish for her this year is to still work as hard as she does but to try and not stress as much. She is a MAJOR planner and she studies so hard and I'm afraid she misses out on enjoying it as much as she should because she really stresses a lot about the stuff that is beyond her control. My wish for Logan is that he buckles down w/studies and doesn't stress to much about being out of his comfort zone. When he gets out of his box sometimes he shuts down a bit. This first year is going to be a good growing experience for him and I hope he loves it. I pray they always keep close to God and that God watches over them and protects them along the way.... now, as for me. I pray that God brings me a comforting peace in knowing that Randy and I raised 2 beautiful humans. Now we get to sit back and watch them do great things in this world.

Catching up.....

Summer 2013 our regular vacation crew went back to PCB only this year we talked my parents into coming too. I know Danny did not appreciate the long drive but I think overall he had a good time. We are not taking a family vacation this year (lack of funds) but we are already in the process of planning next year and I hope we can talk them into going again. It was good time, great memories!!

The new Blackhawk Stadium opened just in time. The JH got to play on it first but Logan made the first touchdown for the HS team in the new stadium and luckily Russ Wilson (Wilson's Sports Photography) got the picture...it was awesome!

NWA KURM Dream Team - Logan Rose, Shane Ivy, Seth Brumley & Will Klein. So proud of them for being selected. What an honor. Logan also received an award for being the National Guard Scholar Athlete of the week. He even had an awkward interview on tv:)

Logan signs to play football for Lyon College in Batesville, AR...

Sr Night for Basketball...all the seasons went by way to fast.

Scholarship Night (Big shout out to LaDonna Penner for all she does for our kids -she works so hard to get as many scholarships for as many kids as possible.)

Track season...I think it might have been the fastest season.

Prom 2014 - (Photo creds: by Kim Beauchamp)

Our outgoing fun-lovin son has graduated high school!! He kept up w/all his studies on top of playing 3 sports a year. Lots of hard work has paid off and we are so proud of him.

Prom 2013, Madi's Sr Pics/Graduation/Move to UAFS

Some of my favorite pics of prom 2013. I wish I had some of them at prom but they would not have appreciated me showing up to take pictures (even though as a school employee I was invited. ;)) Madison's Sr pictures turned out really well. She is just so beautiful and fun. My sweet cousin, Tanya, did them for us. If you need her contact info just let me know. She is afforable and good :). She graduated w/honors :)Our sweet sassy baby girl is a HS graduate! So proud!! We moved her to UAFS where she lived in the Lion's Den her first year. I did so good not crying during graduation...not crying moving her in..it was getting onto the highway when I felt as if I was leaving half of me there. The emptiness and sorrow were overwhelming. I didn't just cry all the way home..I cried for days and then weeks. It was terrible. I'm hoping I handle it a little better this year when she leaves but w/Logan moving away to attend Lyon I'm afraid it might be worse. Pray for me, for us (Randy had a rough go of it last year as well).