Celebrating Life

Happy Birthday, to my sweet Husband!  He is so handsome and funny and serious and loving and gentle and a protector and my best friend.  I am thankful for his life.

He is a protector and a provider.  Some of that was probably learned, but I believe that God created him to be this way.  To fight for those who can't protect themselves.  To stand up for what is right.  He has a heart for the broken and the unwanted.  And, the courage and bravery of any man or woman fighting for our freedom can bring tears to his eyes.  He honors others more than anyone I have ever met.

He is funny!  He has a crazy sense of humor.  Most of his jokes I hear on a daily basis...but I always laugh when someone hears one for the first time.  I laugh like I heard it for the first time.  He makes my days easier and knows just what I need to hear to bring a smile to my face...even when I don't want to smile.  Sometimes Ruger has to help make me laugh and they "raise the roof".

I love that he is gentle and kind.  I could not have asked for a more tender-hearted, loving husband.  He has seen many things in his life and to be able to separate reality from our life at home is a gift and blessing from God.

He loves to have fun!! While "fun" is different to every person, we compliment each other pretty well.  He gives me courage and strength to try things that are new and I remind him that not every situation needs tactics. :)  We love people and socialize every chance we get.  We love to travel.  We love to be with each other and just be quiet at home.  We love to play with our dogs.  We love walks and being outside.  And, yes, we might even like to shop together.

He's a dreamer.  And, thankfully, so am I.  We dream big!!!  Sometimes that means big let-downs, but he definitely goes after what he wants.  He's a fighter.  He doesn't give up and he doesn't back down.  When God closes a door, he accepts it, but he's looking for the next one to open.  He's determined.  No matter what life brings, he will give his all to it.  God has blessed him with a new career and while it might have surprised some, it didn't me.  He went after it with all he has.  He's good at what he does because he loves to help people and solve problems.  But above all, whatever God calls him to, he will succeed in Jesus name!

I'm blessed to be able to walk side-by-side with him.  To celebrate his life today is celebrating one of God's most beautiful creations, which we all are.  We stand together in our journey.  There are times we agree to disagree, but we will always stand united and fight for one another.  We share a strong foundation in our faith that we build upon each day.



My best friend celebrates another year today.  I'm humbled and honored to do life with him.  To celebrate the ups and the downs. The laughter and the tears.  The celebrations and the battles. 

Happy Birthday, Baby.  It only gets better from here.  Loveyou!

Evi

Happy 1st Birthday, Sweet Evi!!!!

I honestly cannot believe its been one year since my phone rang early in the morning to hear best sister's voice saying, "its time!". I got up and showered knowing I had time before your arrival b/c your mom had just gotten into her room.

I was JUST leaving my house when the 2nd call came....its almost time!!! WHAT?!?!??

I was FLYING!!!

Once I got to Guthrie, I started to worry. Not only was I praying I wouldn't miss your arrival, but I was praying for safety. It started raining HARD. And, we were under tornado watches. It was a scary view of the sky and I was just hoping to get past the storm.

I pulled into the hospital and got up to your momma's room as fast as I could. Thankfully, I made it in time.

It was a crazy time waiting for you. Your mom's epidural didn't take and the doctor almost missed getting there. I remember the nurses going to the window looking for Dr. W's car. (And, I have to say she was taking her time showering and getting ready as well b/c she didn't think you'd come as quickly as you did).

You had your own agenda and were ready no matter who was there.

Despite the intensity in the room, you finally came and brought a smile to everyone's face. You looked like your daddy and were just beautiful and perfect!

You are one of the happiest babies I've known. You have a smile that is contagious and lights up the room.

I can already see your strong independence, which will bring tears to your momma's eyes and drive her crazy at the same time. However, that will can be a beautiful trait as long as you give to the Lord.

I'm so thankful for your precious life. Your momma hoped and prayed for you...and I was right along side of her in those prayers.

I know you will not remember this day, but for me, May 1st is more beautiful now than ever!!!

Love you, Evi!
~Aunt Beth

Holiday!

Its a holiday in our house today. Not because its a long weekend or because its season opener of my alma mater. Today is one of my favorite holidays b/c I get to celebrate the life of my sister. Michelle was a God-send. I know that God puts all people in our life, but this relationship has truly been one that I continue to see the "why" of it. I'm so thankful that it wasn't a friendship that was "seasonal", but one for our lifetime because I honestly couldn't do life without her. :)

Two years ago, I blogged 5 things I love most about her and then last year I wrote our top 10 inside "stuff". So, in honor of her birthday, I'll continue with the lists.

She thought of and started our Annual Girls Trips, so here is a list of the trips we've taken and just a few memories from them:
     1. Eureka Springs, 2007. Listening to The Fray the entire time! This is the ONLY trip we've taken that she hasn't been pregnant or had a baby! hahaha! I JUST realized that when writing! :)
     2. Marco Island, FL, 2008. She loved me through a really hard season that just happened to peak at this trip. However, we bonded on this trip as well and we had some AMAZING seafood!
     3. Dallas, TX, 2009. Traveled with a baby for the first time. Shopped for my wedding! Enjoyed AWESOME food...Fogo de Chao, Bucca de Beppo and sushi.
     4. Fort Worth, TX, 2010. Took the train ride there. Walked everywhere! Had great food and lots of fun!!! This was probably my favorite trip we've taken, but I can't speak for her.
     5. Eureka Springs, 2011. In honor of our 5th trip we returned to where we started. Stayed on the lake. Watched HOURS of Dawson's Creek and talked like we hadn't seen each other in years. Yummy food and unforgettable experiences with Jude.
     6. Tulsa/OKC, 2012. This year, we did something a little different. With the AWESOME surprise that little Evi was, we stayed close to home and took in some women's conferences: Extraordinary Women in Tulsa and Girlfriends Weekend in OKC. It was fun, but we learned that we don't like having a schedule, so we're ready to hit the road again in 2013.

For everyone else, here are 10 things you may not know about Michelle:
1. She never has to work out and she always looks like she has. Ridiculous!
2. She never liked cats until she met Dexter (the cat I had after college). Dexter changed her life.
3. She's was "Pulp"
4. She's a master-crafter. She can make ANYTHING!
5. She has the gift of encouragement. She will help you implement any idea you have and will do the footwork with you.
6. She has a magic finger, but its been broken for as long as I've known her :)
7. She's an incredible party planner. Not just kids parties, but anything!!!
8. She's an awesome cook - my favorites are her ginger rice and her garlic chicken. OH MY GOSH! So good!!!
9. She loves to clean! Not kidding. Vacuuming is her favorite, but cleaning is like a stress-relief to her.
10. She's the strongest woman I know. Seriously.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, sweet Sister! I love you more than you know!!! I pray your birthday is filled with blessings and is better than any you've ever had! :)

Texas Birthday

My hubs so sweetly took me to Texas, my favorite place, for my birthday weekend. We had so much fun visiting friends, having date night, yummy food, an awesome church service and getting to spend time with my family. So here's our trip in iPhone photos :)

Catching Up

We've had a pretty eventful Spring. Here's what been going on...and I'd love to say its brief, but I just can't. :)

I completely fell in love with yoga! I've been doing it since January and continued to get better and stronger. It was so awesome to me to see my physical strength changing. I got so excited when I achieved something new. My biggest accomplishment was the headstand...by myself!

Rossi! She has definitely become one of our new favorite things. :)

Friday nights on the deck with dinner and wine. We both love this!!! God has really blessed us with a beautiful Spring and we have taken advantage of every single moment we can! We bought a new table for the deck and its been amazing. We enjoy dinners, breakfast, reading, entertaining friends, or a nice glass of wine.

Dinners with Michelle resumed at Roma's in Guthrie!!! Plus, I get to see Miss Evi!!!

We found a new church. We felt at home the first Sunday we went. The people are awesome! We both know this is exactly where God has placed us. They have some incredible ministries and we are excited to have church family again!

Date nights! These are always my favorites. Anytime I can spend one-on-one time with husband is a perfect night for me! Most of the time we spend our date nights in our own town. But there have been a few we've been able to go to OKC or Tulsa. Our favorite in-town spots are Louie's, Zannoti's Wine Bar, Palamino's, and Brooklyn's. When we go to OKC and Tulsa, we like to try new places. The past few months, we've gone to El Guapo's (Tulsa), Swaddley's BBQ (OKC), Roosters (Hennessey), Johnnie's Grill (El Reno), Momma Roja's (OKC), Mutt's Amazing Dogs (OKC), and In The Raw (OKC or Tulsa). One of our most fun date nights was going to OKC for Ken's induction into the Honor Society at his Alma Mater, then drinks at Red.

 

Speaking of Roosters - this is one of our favorite fried chicken joints. I'm not a huge "fried" fan, but I do love their chicken. Its a little bar in Hennesey, OK and they have GREAT chicken and lots of sides!!! We stopped here for lunch on our way to trade in my truck.

 

I never thought the day would come where I knew it was time to get a more "grown up" car. I definitely thought it would be b/c of kids. And, I guess for us, it was for the kids. We swapped in the old truck for a "crossover" vehicle, the Ford Edge. The truck just wasn't working for our family anymore now that we don't have a big dog, but added another little dog. They can't ride in the bed and we have to travel with Rossi's crate now. Plus, when we thought about Christmas and other holidays where we are carting the dogs, bags gifts, and food, having two trucks just wasn't cutting it anymore. 

 

Life with these two is always entertaining!!! Ruger hasn't been in a crate since he was under a year old. He either thought he wanted to try it out since Rossi was in there so much, or he missed the blanket we used to leave on the couch and decided to nap on it. :)

 

My hubs took a little trip to Colorado with a buddy that owns a Longhorn ranch. They went to drop some cattle off and made a 24-hour trip of it. It was definitely a treat for KP because he absolutely LOVES Colorado!

 

Every year in the Spring I have to mention how much I love where we live! Its so gorgeous!! This year, Spring has been amazing! warm days and cool nights. I've had to leave my sweaters out longer than usual. And, we've had many more deck-nights than we've had in the past.

 

We love the sunsets!

 

And, Rossi got to experience her first bonfire...

 

While its an "old hat" to Ruger, he LOVES sitting by the fire and being warm!

 

Speaking of Ruger, we celebrated his 7th birthday in May! He got his special card from Jenny (and the non-furry C family as well). Plus, I took off early and we spent some quality one-on-one time together....something that's hard to come by now with Rossi jumping in my face every second.

 

He also enjoyed his version of a birthday cake with treats from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.

 

The reason that Ruger and I were able to have that one-on-one time was b/c Miss Rossi had surgery. We were planning to have her spayed closer to her 1st birthday, but it just worked out that it happened earlier...and on Ruger's b-day.

 

I just love this man :) Just had to throw that in the middle!

 

In May, KP's mom, sister and her two boys made their way to Oklahoma from Minnesota. We had so much fun with them! They were only here for an afternoon and overnight, but it was so great! We pretty much stayed outside the entire time. The boys loved being on Uncle Kenny's tractor...especially when they were chasing there momma on it (see the pictures below).

 

All the boys together...Ruger was definitely not going to be left out of the fun!

 

I love this picture b/c Tyler is laughing hysterically....

 

Because he was chasing his mom through the yard!!!

 

We enjoyed wine and grilled burgers! And, lots of talking and fellowship!

 

Tyler became my photog side-kick! :)

Memorial Day weekend around our house is usually uneventful, so we were THRILLED when our friends decided to make a weekend trip. They stayed with us Friday night and then we all went to OKC on Saturday. We enjoyed being outside and making our way through downtown. The Devon Corp has done a beautiful job on the new landscaping of downtown around their new skyscraper building. Its just gorgeous! We had a great time playing with Miss Avery and definitely rekindling an old friendship and building a new one. I love seeing God move and provide in different seasons of our lives!

 

And, I'll end with our favorite four-legged kids. These two bring so much joy and laughter to our home! We have become "those" people who constantly tell stories about their kids and never shut up! But, we do have the funniest kids alive!!!! :)