Birthday Girl...how beautiful she is!

Madelyn turned 3 on Saturday...WOW!  I really have no idea where this beautiful little girl appeared from...maybe it was in the middle of the night, our toddler disappeared and a little girl woke up!

Collin and I watched her this weekend and she looks 10 to us!  She's longer and leaner, more vocal, has NUMEROUS imaginary friends, loves God and is so much fun.

She had a great day...she woke me up at 6:45am (on Saturday, mind you) saying 'Mommy, it's my birthday!'  :)  Followed quickly by 'Let's make cupcakes.  Pink cupcakes!'  and we did.  We had pink cupcakes in the oven before we discussed breakfast and she was delighted.

The first picture of the day...she was delighted to be making PINK cupcakes!

Daddy joined us shortly and we had breakfast together, after presents!  She was excited and then Daddy needed her help unloading his truck from his trip to WalMart the night before...

Madelyn had phone calls from family and friends.  Text messages and facebook wishes too...how she enjoyed each.  She got to skype with some family too.  :)  And got a video from her one and only cousin...she was so excited and LOVED it!  How wonderful it is to see the delight in her face.

After the sandbox discovery, we loaded up to gather sand at a local place and then she got to play in it!  What a trooper she was all day...working hard and then playing hard to enjoy her sandbox.  What a treasure and blessing she is.

Since turning 3 (you know, two days ago), Madelyn has climbed into and out of her wagon...with the sides on, gone to the potty on her own with no announcement and washing hands thoroughly, and something else...can't remember it at the moment.  All of these things we noted and she told us, 'I am 3 now!' and that's her explanation.

So blessed we are to have her with us.  What a wonderful day!
Thank you God for this incredible miracle!

Off to make more memories with my three year old!  :)

10 years...already?!

Collin and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary last Thursday.  Wow!  10 years...in one thought, it seems like yesterday and in the same thought 1000 years ago!

We had a wonderfully normal and 'us' day!  Collin picked up lunch and we got to each lunch together, a VERY rare treat at our house.  :)  We had a great steak salad for dinner that we all took part in...yummy!  

And a banana cheesecake for dessert.  Madelyn helped make this great recipe from Aunt Alice & Fabia...easy and delicious!  

Recipe post to come soon...yummy!
Best of all, it's BEEF!  

Collin and I talked about the wonderful events 10 years ago and how we still LOVE our wedding!  We also talked about how amazing it is that God has changed us SO MUCH in 10 years.  Who knew that we would be happy in Colorado...while still missing Texas dearly and daily.  

We didn't discuss this list, but here's what God has led us through (that I am coming up with right now)...

-Married and I moved to Dalhart with a suitcase, went on our honeymoon to Taos, NM.  We got my car and May (our now 10 year old yellow lab) a week later and some more stuff too!

- Lived in Dalhart for just over 5 years, thinking that was where we were supposed to be until we learned God had a place called Yuma, CO for us!  

In Dalhart, we made great friends, missed 'home' (East Texas), worked, I went back to school and finished an MBA, we bought our first home (incredible home), bought my current ride, went through several company trucks, spent LOTS of time and money in Amarillo, played LOTS of golf, bought the Jeep (Collin's '79 CJ-7), I had a new ACL in my knee thanks to a not so great skiing trip to CO (thanks Mom and Dad...or is it the Franks' family since they recommended the place?), had a great church home and people that loved us and cared for us.  We also had lots of ups and downs...growing every step of the way!  :)  And I thank God we grew closer together through it all!

- Checked out an AGM job in CO and MOVED!  WHAT?!  To Colorado?!  Most of you know, it wasn't our ideal but the best decision for us at the time.  Well, not our 'ideal' turned out to be so much more!  It's wonderful how allowing God's plan to happen and following it is so much more rewarding than we could have ever imagined our plan to be.  (Not without hardships, of course.  We are human and live in an earthly world).  We have made wonderful friends, found a fantastic church home (funny thing happens when you change your attitude...more on that in another post), drive an hour to WalMart, spend a lot of time on the Front Range, discovered the Rocky Mountains, brought MADELYN home, found out how important our family is and how nothing else matters and COMPLETELY shifted our priorities, focus and cares.  Added a new yellow lab, Maggie, to our family.  And oh, how we know that God has us right where He wants us.  What a blessing!

Most of you may know this verse, but here is something special to my heart thinking of our anniversary...

'Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 

does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 

does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with truth; 

bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  

Love never fails...'

I Corinthians 13:4-8

Wow!  How amazing our life together has been.  That young man I met 15 years ago is still in love with me and I with him...and we love our family!  

It's late and I MUST get some sleep...according to everyone that I have skyped with lately!  I think they are politely telling me I look bad!  Love you MOM and DAD!  :)  So, I will leave you with this incredible picture of our family of three last weekend at my cousin, Jessica's beautiful wedding in the Hill Country of Texas...Kerrville, Texas to be exact!  

Good night for now...more soon!

You are a 'Child of God'

We typically listen to Christian music on satellite radio on the television during the day.  Saturday was no different, except during lunch Madelyn wanted to know what all the words to the songs were.  So I took the opportunity to talk about the words of the songs, what they meant and how much God loves us.

One particular song...cannot find it now but will and post it here...talked about being a 'Child of God'.  So we discussed how she was a child of God and that concept was easy as she knows she is a child.  Then we talked about how I was a child of God and that was harder until I explained that Daddy was too.  So were grandparents, aunts, uncles and her cousin, etc.  Once she got the concept, she was so excited!

My CHILD of GOD!

'I am a CHILD OF GOD!' she exclaimed.  'You are a child of God too mommy!' and Daddy was out of town traveling home but we needed to call him and tell him he is a child of God too!  So we did!  And he loved it!

How incredible is it that at almost 3 she can understand this and knows that we serve and are loved by one awesome God!  The wonderful simplicity of a child's understanding and knowledge of God!  Makes a Mommy's heart sing!  :)

After lunch, we printed some postcards for a 'save the date' effort for our church's participation in the Living Proof Live simulcast with Beth Moore on September 10.  She was so helpful and joyful...makes me take note of my attitude when serving Christ.  She sat at the computer and caught every page of postcards and let me know when they stopped so I could print more.  :)

Gotta go make more memories!