Jib Jab

in honor of one of my best friends birthday (Shannon Wilson Hartman) Our best friend Gretch came up with this..I had to share...

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Nolan's 2nd Birthday!

On Nolan's actually birthday August 10th when I went to take pictures of him opening his "baby" his blue care bear I could not find my photo card..come to find the boys took it downstairs and it was thrown in the trash when they cleaned the basement..lovely..luckily we figured it and Jim dug threw the trash..LOL Praise the Lord! So we re-enacted his birthday party at my grandparents house and my parents and brother and neice just happen to be there as well.

This is my younger brother, Jason.
Ladies~~He is single and up for bids!!! Anyone? LOL

Nolan's cake I bought for him..it looked yummy but it was AWEFUL! At least it was good for the pictures...

I do not have many of Nolan that turned out well..he was tired and grumpy that day..but this one..is so FUNNY..this is totally him and how he eats..when he is trying to eat Sugar...

My dad was so excited about the cake he took 2 slices..LOL
I have no idea why i am in love with this picture but it is something special to me..at one point Landon was touching my grandm's skin (she is 90) and she said to him this is what happens to your skin when you get old....

The kids playing my grandma's birdbath and Hannah was loving spraying the boys with the hose..it was a hot day!

Nolan was trying to tell me something that day!

Ian

I love this one of Hannah!

I love this one..a care free day on the farm!

Can you answer these questions?

My girlfriends and I have started our own private blog..it has been so much fun every day we try to post something that is going on with our lives.....we also attended Women of Faith together in early August. We are working on helping each other be accountable too. So here are the first set of questions we are all working on...it is really good! Thought I would just share and see what you think......

Women of Faith Questions

Patsy Clairmont
1.If you could do anything, knowing with certainty that you could not fail (and would not die!) in the attempt, what would it be?

Do you know what holds you back from making the attempt?

What steps might you take to overcome those things that are standing in your way?

As we grow up, many of us seem to lose our ability to dream with utter abandon. We begin to question whether our dreams are valid. We begin to feel hesitant about doing things that seem like flying.
You may be thinking, Im not sure my dream is Gods will. But are you sure that it isnt? Does Gods Word support it? Has God called or equipped you for it? Do you sense Him opening the door? Whats holding you back?

2. What did Jesus tell His disciples in John 16:23-24 about the things we ask of God the Father in Jesus name?

3. What does Ephesians 3:20 tell us about the degree to which God is able and desires to help us succeed in realizing our dreams?

The Bible teaches that many things we do not have in this life, we do not have because we simply dont ask God for them. James 4:2 says clearly, You do not have because you do not ask. God desires that we ask Him for help in all thingsasking Him to give us His desires and dreams, and then give us the courage to pursue them.

4. The Bible presents a clear balance between what we are to ask and how we are to ask it. What do the verses below reveal about the dreams God desires to fill in our lives?Matthew 21:22John 15:7-8James 4:3

But, you may be thinking, I simply dont know what to dream. I dont seem to have any real goals, any unfulfilled desires. Ask God to give you a dream! There are things He is dreaming for you. Start dreaming His dreams for your life.

5. What do the verses below challenge you to do?1 Corinthians 2:9-10Proverbs 3:5-6
Jeremiah 42:2-3

Digging DeeperHow important is it to write down what you dream of doing or being? What does Habakkuk 2:2 offer as encouragement? Write down a dream that you feel God may be calling you to pursue. If you dont fee that God has given you a specific dream yet, spend some time in prayer, asking Him to reveal it to you.

Ponder and PrayIs it possible that you are not living your dream life because you have been too afraid or overwhelmed to ask God to help you discover His dream for your life? How might the Lord be inviting you to pray about this today?

Laura's new hair!

I went to the ever famous Jess' house today for a new cut and color!! I love it. This is her best work ever!! Considering she has been doing my hair for the last 12 years..can you believe it! Anyway..here it is please keep in mind that I have NO make-up on..yuck but I love the fun hair. Thank you once again Jess! I love you!!

God Reveals Our Future!

I will try not to make this to long and detailed...last weekend was my breaking point. I cried all weekend. I was so sad I could not stop crying. Jim was beside himself because those who know me..I am always so happy and I love to smile! I really did not know what was causing me to cry all weekend..you see I am not very emotional...I never have PMS so what was happening? I was not sure where Jim and I were heading..I was sad to think that my desire for Jim to be retired by now has not happened, I was sad that my parents do not seem to interestd in our boys, etc..

Here is what God revealed to me today at church because of Steve Somerlot's message..if you did not hear it go to www.rivchurch.com it was amazing! You can actually download it to your ipod somehow....(I am still old school and do not own one..yet!)Steve was talking about Moses and his life and how Moses' was there for such a huge moment in time that it turned history...listen to the message..anyway he said God will show us opportunities in our life on how he will use us but he will only reveal those times to us when we know just how BIG he is..Our opportunities will get bigger and bigger the more we are ready to handle them and the bigger God is to us..(the more we know about him, have a relationship with him, etc...) This HIT me hard.

You see....2 years ago God was really starting to lay it on my heart about going up north and doing a church plant with Riverview. I actually spoke with Steve about this then..but was not sure of our future and when Jim was going to retire.....needless to say 2 years have past and WOW, have those 2 years been busy...when I talked with Steve we did not even have a clue about getting our 3 boys that came a few months later...we had no clue on where God would want us to live, or anything..it just fell into our laps! Since moving to Holt I have really enjoyed it but have sensed that we will not stay here for long..I could never picture the boys attending the HUGE high school (since we grew up in hickville)..I just never felt like we would be here long..I now know why!

Just last night I was telling Jim how I still want to move north to do that church plant...Today Steve talked about opportunities to serve..one of those was church plants!! God told me that we are almost ready to go on that church plant..just a little while longer here in Holt to finish some things up! Jim will be retired by the time we go in the next couple of years and that is what we are called to DO! I am so excited. My heart is SO HAPPY! I feel like everything has been lifted off my shoulders and I am FREE!

There is a reason why Jim and I became involved with a leadership development business 4 years ago. I am so proud of him for the man he has become over the last 4 years. His leadership skills are amazing and I am in awe of him every time he speaks! The way he leads people to be the best they can be and you can tell he really loves people. As a recovering engineer this is huge! He was never a people person...he has developed in so many ways I am so proud to be his wife and I love him dearly! I can not wait to see where he takes our family!!!

oh and guess what? My mom even called me on Saturday asking us to get together with them so they could see our boys! Jim and I were in shock!!! God is working...

It was the perfect day for a flat tire.

This is what I told the guy who changed my tire that AAA hired for me to change it.LOL Yesterday I did a mom swap for my boys so I could attend a doctors appointment. I dropped them off and drove out to Laingsburg (yes we are crazy and drive that far because we love them) and when I was getting off 69 I heard something odd and thought great a tire is flat...I called my doc office and they were very sweet and rescheduled me for a time that worked in Jim's schedule..late afternoon. I called Jim "stressing" like I always call him when in panic mode..he of course says call AAA..of course I know to do that but I have to call Jim first for everything..LOL I called AAA and they got it all taken care of and within an hour I had my tire changed and I headed back to pick up the boys...Luckily it was the perfect weather for a flat tire..it was not too hot, not too cold and not raining and there was no snow! Plus I did not have my 4 boys with me...thank God! Can you imagine the pleasure that would have brought...I did thankfully, have a great book I am reading right now! There are still wonderful people in this world to stop and help..I had 3 men stop and ask if I was ok and needed help..awesome uh? God is good and it worked out fine..Jim took my van and got me 2 new front tires last night!! Once again..I love AAA and I will never leave them nor forsake them...Amen. LOL

what do you think?

Devin

Landon

Ian

Nolan...the one from below is my favorite...

All 4!

Picture Snob? Or Practical?

So I am a picture snob...or something..maybe just practical? I am not sure what you call it. Ever since investing in priceless pictures from the one and only Marybeth from www.simplylifephotography.com it is hard to go to cheap places to get my boys pictures done...So the problem is I have not taken the boys in a year for their pictures..poor Nolan...considering I used to take Devin and Landon to cheap places all the time..now that Jim bought me a really nice camera 1 1/2 years ago..I tend to think I could take my boys pictures until I can save up for another investment from Marybeth. You know it is a problem when you go to a picture place and you tell them what kind of background you want...plain and simple and when you are the one who wants to be behind the camera instead of the picture girl...that is an issue..LOL
So just playing around here are few of Nolan I took...Jim is going to help me take some tonight to play around and make up their Adoption notice soon...more to be continued...


my favorite one of him!!

Riverview Church Camping Trip

Jim took Devin and Landon camping. I am not fond of camping so I had an "excuse" not to go because of my 2 younger ones...LOL Jim took a few pictures of the boys..he says I am lucky I got what I did because he would have never rembered to take any..when I asked where is the picture of the tent and the boys? LOL..So here the few he took..I do like them..at the beach.

They did kids games


Devin and Landon helping the Moore Family build a sandle castle

Devin with Rod..looks like Rod was getting some sun white boy!!!LOL