A Slice of Lewis Life! Not Our Life to Live...

Pondering all these things....

2012-02-01T18:20:00.000-08:00

It's quiet.

I'm rocking Laine in her room.

No, not yet in my arms, but in my womb for the last night.

The last night that I get to know her sweet movements that no one else knows.

The last night that I get to have her all to myself before I have to share her with the world.

She is calm and still...just like my heart.

Because, YOU oh Lord are Supreme, King, Creator, Sustainer, Ruler over All things!

Psalm 1oo:3 says, "Know that the Lord, He is God! It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of HIS PASTURE."

I rejoice tonight that You My Great Shepherd are already in the tomorrow. It is Your pasture that I am walking in, therefore You know everything about the "land" I'm journeying in.

And even though the land includes "shadow cast" valleys at times, I don't have to be afraid.

For you know it ALL!

You Orchestrate it ALL!

You Purpose it ALL!

You are in the next, Your Holiness, therefore your goodness is already there;

Therefore...I REST!

I rest that YOU have been Laine's birthday planner from the foundation!

I can't wait to attend...what a glorious day it will be!

My Mouth and Lips WILL declare Your praises!

My sweet sweet Lily, oh how I am thinking so much about you too tonight and missing you like crazy. You are with your Nonni and Papa tonight so mommy and daddy can rise early in the morning without you being disturbed. I want you to know how much I have cherished and treasure these last few nights we have had together as a family of 3! You bring so much life and joy to this family. I loved our one-on-one time of playing candy land and the fact that you drew the "cinnamon roll" card every time taking yourself straight to the top of the candy castle and leaving me in the dust. Watching your grins surpass your ears always warms my heart! Our family breakfast for dinner was such a sweet time around the table. We love how the syrup always makes you silly and crazy! You always bless us as you "belt" out to the Lord in thanksgiving. As we rallied around the Word that night, our story fell on the birth of our Savior. So beautiful and appropriate as we are preparing to celebrate Laine's birth. Your affection for her even while in the womb has been incredible! There's not a day that goes by that you don't say..."I love you Lainey!" I trust that her heart has felt every one of your tummy rubs and kisses. I have to say, our last night of putting you to bed was priceless as you stood at the foot of the bed singing as loud as you could, marching in a circle, and of course shaking your hiney...you are soo funny! It also melts my heart to hear you say, "Sissy, I can't wait to meet you!" Well, guess what...tomorrow is the day.

I can hardly wait to see you walk in the room with your "big sister" shirt on, watch you your expression as you look at her for the first time, and hear you say her name!

We are beyond excited about you two girls...what beautiful gifts from our God!

Candid Journal - A Beautiful Mess!

2012-01-02T17:58:00.001-08:00

Oh how I like my sleep, but I'm definitely not getting much of it these days (a lot of tossing and turning with uncomfortableness) as I'm only a few short weeks (or days) away of us anticipating the arrival of our gift from God - Laine Claire!

She is usually the culprit, the one who is giving me a good early morning punch that causes my "alarm clock" to go off a lot earlier than I would choose. This morning though, as I stare at the clock that reads 4:39 am she is still and calm. It's the Holy Spirit that is stirring within me and has caused me to rise. HE is dealing with my heart. It's good though...hard truth that makes me not stay the same...it's a break through!

Feelings and emotions that I have been wrestling in my head, but He's connecting them to my heart.

Ahhh! There she goes with all her rolling and tumbling now that I've been up for an hour...sweet thing! :)

Pieces...coming together! This is what I am reflecting upon...

We are actually in FL right now on our last little get-a-way at my parents river house before we have to hunker down! Even though we are here, I'm picturing myself standing in our bathroom back in Valdosta looking outside the window as I blow dry my hair. Yes, probably only in South GA at the end of December would you find trees still displaying their fall foliage. The one outside my bathroom window is just now at it's peak change and gorgeous! I'm definitely not complaining, because fall is my favorite time of the year. I will say though, it does cause for some holiday emotional confusion as we have our manger scene displayed, tree up, and cutting our "count down" chain to Jesus' birthday.

Just last year in OK I was looking out my window at trees that were heavy with snow! A white Christmas...ahh!

It's the fall colors for this extended season though that has reminded me once again of the process that the leaves are undergoing to show off such beauty...they are dying...getting ready to fall off the tree and shed old growth...leaving the tree left naked and exposed for a season only with the purpose for new growth to be able to push through! It's a visual process of you and me! What sweetness from the Lord to make it so tangible and touchable! HIS WORD...fleshed out!

A visual I love to rejoice in because it's so beautiful to the eye, but to "OWN" the truth it's screaming is the struggle...YOU ARE TO DIE...YOUR LIFE IS NOT YOUR OWN! I am calling you to lay down your life and STOP LIVING!

This death that He is calling me to is NOT bondage, it's FREEDOM, it's so that I may actually know life and have it abundantly...So HE may Live!

So why such an overwhelming anxious heart at times? a weak faith?...it's my flesh...it's gross and I realize just what a MESS I am.

I've been in one of those places where I haven't felt much for the past week or two. One of those "disconnect" seasons (cloudy of the mind). I call them the "survival" seasons. You know where you have to "fake it till you make it" (if you know what I mean). All feelings are removed, but the Truth is still what you cling to, what you counsel your heart with just longing for the feelings to catch up.

The Move, a New Ministry, a Temporary House, a New Baby on the way..

Change is not always easy for me...it's stretching, it causes me to venture out from comfort, it exposes real attitudes of my heart.

Such a racing mind at times...anxiousness!

Then I'm confronted with a verse that I am so familiar with. Oh, but what danger can come with familiarity...simply knowledge. It doesn't require much work, and it doesn't transcend the heart unless you "own" it!

I am so thankful He is causing me to wrestle through this truth.

Philippians 4:4

"Rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS and again I say Rejoice!" - the author, Paul, is not sitting on white sandy beaches in the Bahamas sipping on a coke as he writes this, nor is he on the top of a mountain. No!, these words are being pinned down to the church of Philipi as he is sitting in prison.

Bleak depressing circumstances...an anxious heart...right!? NO,...JOY abounding! Joy because his eyes were not fixed on the "change" of his circumstances, or his physical location, but on the ALMIGHTY who is SOVEREIGN over his circumstances. He knew and trusted that his Place and Position had Purpose that was greater than he, but for THEE! Paul is teaching us that our inward attitude does not have to match our outward circumstances.

v. 5 - "The Lord is near."

v. 6 - "Do NOT be Anxious about ANYTHING...DON'T WORRY!

WHY?

"Worry is Toxic! Unchecked worry seeps into our thoughts, poisoning our joy, and convincing us to give up on solutions before we've even tried them. A life filled with fear has little room left for faith. Without faith we can neither please God nor draw near to Him for the comfort and guidance we need to face the cares and affairs of everyday life. Worry is allowing problems and distress to come between us and the heart of God."

anxiety and worry: looks to self or others people for answers

concern: looks to God for answers

(taken from a chapter in the book: Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World)

I hear the still small whisper..."What are your eyes fixed on, your gaze, your stare?" I am constantly needing a shift of focus...upward...eternal...THE CROSS...THE GOSPEL! Never allowing myself to move past it. Remembering that nothing gets deeper than the Gospel. How am I allowing it to intersect the big and small moments in the everyday?

Works, perfectionism, approval...is what my flesh seeks,but the Spirit says to find all your approval, satisfaction, and desires in Him!...to live, rest, and abide in the words our Savior declared..."IT IS FINISHED!"

v. 6 "But in everything with prayer and supplication with THANKSGIVING let your request be made known to God. AND THEN the PEACE of GOD which transcends all understanding will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus."

PEACE...a product of proper order! To seek First, to allow the things and thoughts that consume me to be shaped by prayer (confession, repentance) and praise! Resulting in a yielded heart that is then accessible for peace to flood immeasurably . Not understanding, but resting in knowing that God is Holy! Therefore, all that is allowed in my life is good!

Yes, I am a MESS, but that is why the MESSiah came so that He could "mess" me up, redeem me, and rescue me from ME! Ultimately so that my life may be wrecked for His Glory!

LORD!

BE GLORIFIED!

WORSHIP!

2011-12-08T19:28:00.000-08:00

L.I.F.E...

it is in me

abundant

grace abounding

freely given

sustaining

saving power

eternal, everlasting

BUT...

it is NOT about me, none of it...it is about HE, The Life Giver

His response, Job's...this is what my heart has been challenged with and what my mind has been meditating on for the past few days. NO matter what the circumstance, my heart aches and longs to respond with the same prostrate heart of WORSHIP!!! For is this not what we have been created to do? Isn't safe to say that this very "verb" is our Purpose?

In the first chapter of Job we find Almighty God sovereignty giving satan permission to strip job of all that he had other than his very breath. It is what he does with his breath that drives me to repentance...he falls to the ground in WORSHIP! Job understood that everything was given by God and therefore belonged to God. Job passed the test and proved that people can love God for WHO He is, not for what He gives! His greatest concern was not about his circumstances or what his eyes could see, but instead his heart burned with a desire to see the Name of the Lord be PRAISED!

When we do God's will we are not guaranteed a comfortable life, but we are promised that EVERYTHING, even our Discomfort, has Meaning and Purpose!!! Purpose to point to and magnify King JESUS!

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!

Growing & Grateful!

2011-11-13T07:53:00.001-08:00

For all my begging belly friends...here's a little growth tracker of our sweet Laine! :)

14 Weeks!

18 Weeks!

22 Weeks!

30 Weeks!

Yes, we have a name! Not a middle, but at least a first...LAINE! It's the name we prayed for! We also found out that it was my great-grandmothers middle name, so that's kinda neat!

I actually don't remember Lily being quite as active as this sweet one is! She can literally take my breath away with some of her kicks and punches! It would be nice if we could give them a little "labeling" lesson on all the organs they're sharing space with, so they at least know the bladder is off limits! :) In the same breath, I say kick away sweet girl because I love feeling every move you make!

I've been able to share with a few of you our Laine praise! At our last dr. appointment we had an ultrasound and it showed that my placenta has moved up and is in the exact place it needs to be! I've been given permission to no longer be restricted on my activities! ALL praise to the ONE who is the giver and sustainer of Life! We were also blessed with a surprise free 4D ultrasound. We got to lay eyes on her precious face! Michael and I both looked at each other at the same time and said, "that looks like our little Lily!" She and her sister definitely both share the same button nose and chubby cheeks! There are truly no words, but to be left with a heart that is awe struck to be able to get a glimpse of God's masterpiece...and oh how we can't wait for Laine's perfectly knit self to be in our arms in less than 2 1/2 months!

The sweetest thing right now is to watch God grow Lily's little heart of love for her sister. Laine is usually the first person she wants to greet in the morning with her lips pressed against my belly yelling cocka-doodle-dooooooo!!! She makes us laugh so hard and then melts our hearts when she tells her, "you're my Laine and I love you sooooo much!" I can always count on my belly getting a good rub down several times a day from the sweetest 3 year old hands I know!

The Lessons from the Lord during this pregnancy journey have been spiritually stretching! I am incredibly grateful that God continues not to leave me the same! I have been reminded over and over again that circumstances are uncertain to man and can either be tightly anchored to happiness or JOY! In Philippians, Paul reminds us that our happiness will either be rocked by happenings or our JOY will be rooted in the ONE who orchestrates every happening for HIS ultimate glory! JOY is having QUIET CONFIDENT ASSURANCE of who God is, His love, and work in our lives whether we feel it or not.

The enemy loves to "blind" us with our present conditions, but God sees the grand picture! So whatever circumstance you find yourself in today, He is after strengthening your Faith and TRUST! Let me encourage you and leave you with a powerful acrostic for TRUST: To Rest Under Severe Testing or Trials! HE IS TRUSTWORTHY!!!

Dancing!

2011-11-13T04:45:00.000-08:00

I almost can't remember a time when our sweet girl hasn't been kicking up her legs, twirling, and bowing in the the feminine ballerina way! Her feet are definitely "happy" and she can make a "stage" anywhere! We have officially put her in her 1st dance class. She is "eating it up," and I could in return "eat" her cuteness self up in her dance outfit!

Kicking off Fall!

2011-11-12T13:04:00.000-08:00

Fall is by far my most favorite time of the year! From the cool crisp air, smells, pumpkins, fall food, baking, craft sells, craft making, trees changing...I become one giddy girl with an extra pep in my step!! I was a little sad to have to delay some of our Fall fun due to our move being in the middle of October. So, guess what our first GA weekend called for...pumpkin patch picking and a little mum shopping! It didn't matter if our house wasn't completely settled, I just couldn't wait to add a little fall "welcome" to our front steps...makes for one happy momma!

We told Lily she was the official pumpkin picker outer! We told her she could pick out a big, medium, and small pumpkin. It didn't take her long to claim the big pumpkins! When it came to the small one, she definitely exceeded her limit and got a little "small pumpkin happy!"Thankful they were the super cheapos, so we ended up bringing home about 5 of the little guys! Our side steps are a little "pumpkified" this year and I love it!

Before.After.Now

2011-11-07T17:31:00.000-08:00

...just feel like writing a little bit about everything now that we have an Internet connection again and have surfaced for "air"...or should I say from being buried 10 feet under in boxes! Oh is it a glorious feeling to be able to pull your clothes off a hanger in a closet as opposed to a suitcase or a box!

We are settled...

For those of you who don't know, the Lord has moved us from serving in a church in OK back to our home turf to serve on staff of our former college church in GEORGIA! Those of you who have faithfully prayed for us, we are so appreciative! We are BLESSED!

I've had some time to reflect back over the last month of transitioning and it has been medicine to the soul to be reminded of His sweetness and care in the smallest of details. It makes me want to testify, smile, rejoice, and simply rest knowing that God is always going before us. When our sight is limited to see the "now" His infinite wisdom, care, love, and goodness is already in the "next!" We have been taken great care of from the beginning. We were blessed to have movers. Friends have shared horror stories about their moving company experiences, so I was preparing myself to have to be a "momma hawk!" Instead, we ended up with a team of packers and movers who were the nicest and most thoughtful from the beginning to the end. So, I guess you could say this is also a little plug for North American Van Lines for anyone out there who may need a moving company in the future. Oh, and the best mover and packer I could have asked for was my mom! She came a week before the actual movers and served us well!

We prayed so much for Lily and her little transition! We knew the 17 hour car ride (or should we tack on a few hours for the prego lady stops) across 4 states could cause some "waters" to be tested! Can I tell you, she was definitely more of a trooper than all of us combined! We were blessed with sweet friends to think of her and bring her travel gifts the day we pulled out. One of the gifts was a set of four little dolls! Let's just say that the car ride proved that she doesn't lack an imagination or the ability to talk, talk, talk! Those little girls got a 17 hour ear full! Mom and I were blessed with the sweetest entertainment! She traveled beautifully!

One of our travel goals was to make it to Birmingham, AL by Saturday evening so we could worship with the church body at The Church at Brooks Hills on Sunday morning. It was incredibly refreshing to sit under David Platt as he always so faithfully divides the Word! He finished up a series out of 1 Timothy 6:17-19 titled The Gospel & Materialism in the first half of the service. The second half consisted of a special interview with a young girl by the name of Katie Davis who is a missionary in Uganda! She is 21 and has adopted 13 girls who she is now a mother to! Her testimony definitely sounds radical, but this is her response, "People tell me I am brave. People tell me I am strong. People tell me good job. Well here is the truth of it. I am really not that brave, I am not really that strong, and I am not doing anything spectacular. I am just doing what God called me to do as a follower of Him. Feed His sheep, do unto the least of His people." Check out her blog and be challenged to live obedient in the day to day things that God puts before you...www.kissfromkatie.blogspot.com

We were also sweetly surprised to run into several seminary friends. We were left fueled physically and spiritually to make that last leg into GA that afternoon!

We were able to have a few down days at my parents to rest up before the moving truck arrived.

Days later we found ourselves moving into our very first home! No, not ours, but a mission home that is owned by the church. The church is graciously allowing us to live here temporiarily until we can buy a house of our own. Despite it not being ours, the Lewis' are giddy and full of thankfulness! In our 10 years of marriage, the Lord has never allowed us to buy a home, because He forsaw the many transitions that would occur in our lives and bring us to this point. Our apartment kitchens in the past were deemed with the nickname a one "hiney" kitchen, so we are beyond thankful for the extra "hiney's that can now fit in our kitchen! We are loving all of our new space! I have to pause here and interject a quick story about Lily.

Just before we left OK, a friend of mine had Lily over one morning to play with her girls so I could tackle some of the packing. When I went to pick her up, Lily's friend Olivia had a huge scrape across her face. My friend Ashley proceeded to tell me that Olivia got her scratch from climbing trees in their backyard all morning as my little "girly girl" stood back and watched in amazement! It hit me at that moment that our overlooking "parking lot yard" apartments never provided opportunities for her to explore her adventurous side. Well, I am now thrilled to say that our sweet Lily has her pick of trees now in our backyard. Not that I would encourage her to become a tree climber, but we are just beyond excited that she now has a yard of her own. I can't keep shoes on this girl to save my life, so I'm sure the face scrape will be in the near future!

We are beyond grateful for this God-given home and have dedicated it to Him to use for His glory!

We are now in the midst of diving in and getting to know, love, and serve our new church family! More stories of His goodness and faithfulness to come...

What's Fresh!

2011-10-04T14:07:00.000-07:00

So much to catch up on...

But for now what's fresh on my mind stems from a conversation I just had with a dear friend! I've actually been meaning to do a follow-up post on this anyway. Previously, I mentioned a parenting book I was reading in an earlier blog titled: Give Them Grace by: Elyse Fitzpatrick. I was only in chapter 5 at the time of the first post. I can testify now that the last page has been turned, that my heart has been hammered so hard with the Truth! As a result, change has occurred in so many areas of my life! It has totally made me seek the Lord considering the motivations of my heart and how I view parenting.

Obviously now is the time to follow-up since this recent conversation made me go back to the book once again to read and re-read all the sentences/paragraphs I underlined (yes, this is one of those books. Before you know it you've changed the whole page to yellow with your highlighter, because the Truth is so rich on every page). It's the Powerful Gospel-centered Truth that saturates each page that has once again stopped me dead in my tracks! Once again TODAY I have been reminded that my GREATEST need is the Gospel!

I. AM. CHANGED

MY. PARENTING.HAS.CHANGED

MY.MARRIAGE.HAS.CHANGED

Simply because the Gospel message through this book has wrecked my "moral ism"... forcing all of my "weight" to lean on GRACE!

Back to my conversation with my friend...

We were talking about the "terrific" 2's! If you're a mom, you know what I mean. Even if you're 2's weren't terrific, just change the number because that extra special "terrific" season will eventually come!

Why!?...simply because our kids have absolutely nothing "good" within them that drives them to obey from the heart, because they can't! Just to make it clear, neither can I and neither can you! That's why Jesus had to die!

My conversation was very transparent with my friend as we shared all of our fleshly thoughts when our children act out in public/home...have you had any of these?

What have we done wrong in our parenting?
Their children would never act this way (comparison).
What kind of mom do they think that I am (approval)?
I am a terrible mom. My child is ruined.
I'm just going to act like I didn't see that behavior, because I am just simply exhausted in the correcting department.

I am learning though that God's design of parenting is NOT to show off or display our STRENGTHS as parents, but the complete opposite...to MAGNIFY OUR WEAKNESSES.

No, not something that I beg to be magnified. But oh how humbling to understand that my performance is meant to be crushed. I am not to be praised, but only Christ who can only transform the heart.

2 paragraphs from the book that I want to leave you with. I hope they not only challenge your heart, but bring freedom as well.

You're a Christian Parent, but Is Your Parenting Christian?

"Grace, or the free favor that has been lavished on us through Christ, ought to make our parenting radically different from what unbelievers do. That's because the good news of God's grace is meant to permeate and transform every relationship we have, including our relationship with our children. All the typical ways we construct to get things done and get others to do our bidding are simply obliterated by a gospel message that tells us that we are all (parents and children) both radically sinful and radically loved. At the deepest level of what we do as parents, we should hear the heartbeat of a loving, grace-giving Father who freely adopts rebels and transforms them into loving sons and daughters. If this is not the message that your children hear from you, if the message that you send them on a daily basis is about being good so that you won't be disappointed, then the gospel needs to transform your parenting too."

"Raising good kids is utterly impossible unless they are drawn by the Holy Spirit to put their faith in the goodness of another. You can not raise good kids, because you are not a good parent. There is only one good Parent, and He had only One good Son. Together, this Father and Son accomplished everything that needed to be done to rescue us and our children from certain destruction. When we put our faith in Him, He bestows the benediction upon us: "These are my children, within whom I am well pleased." (Matt. 3:17) Give this grace to your children. Tell them who they really are, tell them what they need to do, and then tell them to taste and see that the Lord is good. Give this grace to yourself, too!"

BABY LEWIS IS A............!!!

2011-08-27T11:27:00.000-07:00

A funny story...

Monday, the day before our Dr. appointment I was telling Lily that we were going to go to the Dr. for a special appointment.

ME: Lily, tomorrow the Dr. is going to look inside mommy's tummy and tell us if we are having a baby boy or girl.

LILY: So we get to see if it has a "tee-tee" or "wee-wee?"

ME: Yes, you're right!

LILY: Oh it has a "tee-tee!" (with such confidence)

ME: Well honey what if God wants to give us a baby boy?

LILY: No thank you, it's a girl! :)

Most people were saying, "You're definitely having a boy!" I guess when you hear something so much you start to believe it. So I have to say that I was the only one in the family that was a bit surprised. Michael kept saying it was another girl all along, and of course I guess Miss Lily had her mind made up that she was going to give it back if it was a boy!

We are thrilled that God has blessed us with another girl and sister! :)

Almost 5 Months & FAITHFUL!

2011-08-24T23:09:00.000-07:00

When Michael was in seminary, I jumped in and took a few classes myself while we were awaiting the arrival of Lily.

I'll never forget an illustration my Old Testament professor shared. He said, "Life is like a horse and cart...the horse representing God and the cart representing man." We so often put the cart before the horse and get ahead of God. Meaning, when we are going down life's journey and hit a "bump" in the road (which is inevitable) with the cart leading, it will (we) always will hit the bump and spiral out of control and ditch every time! But if the horse (God) is leading, the cart will still feel the effects of the bumps, but the horse (God) will steady the cart every time and by Grace it will miss the ditch!

I share this because we have experienced a few "bumps" in the road with this pregnancy. I was told early on that there was a large amount of blood built up behind my placenta, which could cause me to miscarry. Later, around 14 weeks my ultrasound showed that my placenta was starting to tear away from the lining of my uterus, causing a greater alert for a possible miscarriage.

I simply share all of this so the Greatness of God is penned down and proclaimed! God IS GOOD in ALL HE does and He is also PURPOSEFUL in ALL HE permits! He promises in Romans 5 that if we are born again that we CAN "rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope will not disappoint us."

I am learning that it doesn't matter what the suffering or the circumstance label may be (big or small), but that the unified purpose is for my sanctification and Ultimately so that I may KNOW HIM more (Philipians 3:10)!

Let me be the first to say that I am the weak one and can't claim to be super spiritual in and of myself. Both times the news was shared, yes the tears flowed privately and my mind's first reaction was to spiral into anxiousness and worry. But the beauty is that it's in moments like these that my heart is gripped to remember that with every breath that I take, my greatest need is HIM! I am so thankful for His Grace to reveal my true heart and that it is always prone to wander. This truth profoundly reminds me that I am a weakling and He is All Powerful and Strong. I am powerless and He is SUPERIOR over ALL and SOVEREIGN in ALL! The Lord couldn't have allowed me to study the book of Colossians at more perfect time!

So I just paused for a moment to regain my thoughts. I have to admit that I've had to fight the flesh even in those few moments. My flesh said, "How silly of you to write about this and make it such a big deal, you should delete all you've just shared. Women around the world deal with alarming things in their pregnancy every day and some far greater than you have every experienced." But then the spirit whispers, "I care about the big & small, because it's about the work and transformation of your heart and for My Glory!"

I praise Him that His Word is True and the order in which He has designed things to work...WORKS! I have learned more deeply about the true defense weapon that PRAISE is after I had Lily. I struggled with some postpartum depression and simply wasn't motivated to read anything, but I did ask God for one verse to meditate on. He gave me Psalm 34:1 "I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall continually be in my mouth." Daily I am reminded that God commands our praise whether the feelings are there or not! After meditating on the this truth for 3 years now it has changed me and has brought health to my soul! Why? Because when we give God praise it causes us to seek His face and be reminded that He alone can satisfy our hearts. Only then can our heart be aligned to Him to Trust Him! The beautiful result is that peace can once again reign!

So many of you have faithfully prayed for us and we are beyond grateful! I can honestly say this has been a sweet time of drawing closer to the Lord. He alone has kept my mind in perfect peace!

Just Tuesday we received the most recent results... GOD has mended my placenta and uterus...PTL!!! So I wanted to share some ultrasound pics of this sweet miracle baby so far!

Butter bean @ 6 weeks - heart rate 134

10 weeks and 2 days - heart rate 178

13 weeks 4 days - heart rate 166

17 weeks 3 days - heart rate 157

Happy 3rd Birthday Lily!

2011-08-24T21:53:00.001-07:00

We are So BLESSED to call this beautiful 3 year old our daughter! My heart is melted at the start of everyday by her sweet little face as she faithfully greets me EARLY every morning with a great big smile and some crazy hair (we are convinced that she has little "rat" friends that make her hair their nest at night)! She always taps me on the shoulder and says, "Mommy, the suns up...it's a beautiful day!"(even though sometimes I wish my little sun/rooster alarm clock would snooze a little longer) Then in some sense my heart sometimes hurts to realize how fast she's growing and that she's only getting older.

Three is hard ya know! Realizing that she is no longer really seen as a toddler, and then for it to sink in that 3 is only a year away from from pre-K! Is it ok to say...I just don't like it! :) But in the same breathe I can truly say that every passing moment of watching her mature is only sweeter and funner than the one before! Oh how she makes me smile, because in her book everything is "wonderful" and "awesome"!

I am so thankful for the discipline she has brought to my life and how her little life is constantly pointing me to JESUS! She challenges me to make my time count in striving to obey Duet. 6! Realizing that 3 was the number I was saying just yesterday when she was 3 months...wow how time is fleeting!

We are so thankful to the Lord for giving her a tender heart for those who are hurt, sad, or sick. It blesses us every time we hear here tell them that she will pray for them, because Jesus will make it better! We are also thankful for her deep belly laughs that are simply medicine to the soul! Her dancing feet also keeps us smiling. She has become quite the professional twirler these days. We love how when she really gets into her dance routine, her eye close and she "gets in the zone!" She takes her dancing very serious! :)

This year we opted just to celebrate with our families. She asked my mom for a Strawberry Shortcake party and Michael's mom for a Dora party...to be honest I think she fared better this way and her mommy loved the stress-free planning!

We ended up having a little mini party a day before her b-day in the Bahamas, so Michael could get in on the celebration before he had to fly back to OK.

Her second party was in Nashville at her Nonni and Papa's with an extended Strawberry Shortcake theme. Uncle Clint and Aunt Sarah gave her a singing princes card. She thought that was the coolest thing and had the song memorized by the next morning!

The third party for the 3 year old girl was at her Granny and Ooo-Ooo's! We laid down to take a nap after church and woke up to a completely transformed kitchen all decked out in Dora!

I documented all of her many faces of surprise and excitement as she took it all in!

Some of the youngest party guest! Lily loved loving on her new baby cousins, Lexi & Brycen!

We love you Birthday Girl!

Bahama Pictures Galore!

2011-08-24T19:58:00.000-07:00

A mom who is already bad at making decisions + prego brain on top of that = stress free just to post almost all the pics! :)

Here's our little boating beauty! Lily has such an adventures heart. She loves to ride on the boat and "go faster!" We island hopped the first weekend we were there and came back to the condo with lots of treasures!

Lily struck it rich when she discovered that a coral rock on one of the islands was covered with snails. If they were in her reach they were pulled off...poor snails!

Okay so talk about adventures, let me also add absolutely NO fear to describe our little sweetness. Michael and I love to snorkel some of the reefs that are between a few of the islands. We geared up and jumped in not knowing that our three year old would be sailing off the boat right behind us into 30 feet of water!!! I'm telling you, I'm always having to keep a close watch on this girl. I thought, if she only knew that "Bruce" from Nemo was lurking in these waters she probably would have thought twice!

It's tradition to always find a starfish! The picture doesn't do it's beauty justice. They are such a brilliant red color.

Michael ended up finding two and this one was more of a mustard color. It was almost to heavy for Lily to hold.

Just call them "The Lobster Slayers!" Lobster season was in while we were there and our men definitely didn't let us down. We had our fill almost every night and even brought back 60!

Supervising the Lobster Slayers!

Lily loves the beach, but she always couldn't wait to get that "white snowy stuff" off her feet! :) The pool is where she spent most of her time.

Give Them GRACE

2011-08-03T18:46:00.000-07:00

I can't even say that I have finished reading this book. I am actually only on chapter 5! I thought 2 or 3 days reading on the beach and I would be done! Instead I have found myself having to take lengthy breaks after each chapter and chew deeply! The Truth has pierced my heart in a convicting, cleansing, and purifying way. Oh how I stumble and fall as a parent so often, but I rejoice in my weakness knowing His strength carries me! Tears of repentance have flowed once again over my own goodness, but so have tears of joy knowing how deep and wide His grace is!

Friends or Moms, this is a MUST read! If you have read it, I would love to know!

There is soo much more I could say. I'm sure I'll be doing a follow-up blog on this as soon as I am done, but until then I am going to leave you with a few quotes from the book.

"For the most part we aren't teaching the gospel at all as we parent, but moralism...keeping the law (good behavior) instead of teaching the gospel of grace."

"morality is deadlier to the soul than immorality."

Breathing in His Beauty!

2011-08-01T22:10:00.000-07:00

I think I could sit on this beach for the rest of my days and never through my human eye be able to truly comprehend God's incredible beauty on display here! It is truly breath-taking! Just to be able to breathe it in renews and refreshes my soul!

In one second my eyes are staring at clear turqoise water, and in the very next second I feel like my eyes are playing tricks on me, because the sun's reflection makes it look emerald green! Does it blow your mind like it blows mine to be able to delight in The God who Never changes, but who takes great joy in the changing of seasons, the changing of cloud patterns, and even the simplicity of the suns rays hitting water at a slightly diffent angle to reflect a change of color...

Even more than the color, I am always shaken by God's strong power and might that screams forth from the ocean that halts at His demand. I can always hear God questioning Job in Job 38: "Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst forth out from the womb, when I made clouds it's garment and thick clouds it's swaddling band, and prescribed limits for it and set bars and doors, and said, "Thus far shall you come and no farther, and here is where your proud waves be stayed?"

To know that His massive mercy of GRACE is the only thing that holds back this deep body of water from overflowing it's boundaries and completely sweeping over the entire earth is overwhelming and causes everything within me to be stirred to praise!

Just a few of other pictures of His beauty that makes me smile!

Miss Co-Pilot!

2011-08-01T10:46:00.000-07:00

So a little back tracking to the beginning of our trip before I get to all those beautiful bathing Bahama beauty pics (say that 10x really fast).

All of our excitement (Lily's) actually started a couple of weeks too early because mom and dad made a big mistake of saying the "GA" and "beach" word where her little ears could hear. She put 2-and-2 together and that's all it took for her to eat, breath, and sleep GA for at least two weeks. Camps kept her pretty occupied, but I promise you there wasn't one person there that didn't know that she was going to the beach and then to GA! The 4 days home in between took all we had to convince her that the air plane wasn't going to leave her and that it would pick us up on Thursday. I have no doubt that if she could read a map she would have started her trek walking the day we got home from camp.

Georgia or Bust! :)

We never put away our suitcases while we were home, just traded out the clothes. So one of the four days while we were home, she ran in the room where I was and said with such a proud voice, "Mom, come here! I want to show you someping." She took me into our bedroom where the suitcase was on the floor and said, "Seeeee, I packed!" The only thing in the suitcase was her beloved bumper! I guess you could call her a light packer! :) Then she proceeded to crawl into the suitcase, crouched down and told me to zip it up so she wouldn't miss the plane to GA!

I am so blessed to be a mom and have days full of moments like this! I am in love with this sweet thing! :)

Ok, so Thursday is finally here and we had to wake up before the roosters @ 3:30 to be able to catch our 6:00 flight out. I really didn't know how well and how happy Lily would be having to crawl out of bed that early. She tends to be a very slow waker upper! I thought, well maybe she'll get up a whole lot easier than she normally does from her naps if I tell her that the plane is picking us up to take us to GA.

I had time to get that one sentence out of my mouth and you would have thought I gave her a shot of Mountain Dew! I've never seen her act so fast! Let's just say her hair do matched her excitement!

We had a smooth sailing flight to Orlando where we met my parents so we could join them in dad's plane for the last leg of the flight over to the islands!

I'm sure if you asked Lily which plane is her favorite, hands down she would say her Papa's! It may be small and without drink service, but she gets to invade the cockpit!

To be honest Miss co-pilot made her Nonni and momma a little nervous up there knowing that her little arms and legs are never still and there are A LOT of button up there that could accidentally be pressed!

Papa ended up becoming "too cool for school" when he distracted her with his pilot window. He showed her how his window opened up to the outside. Then he showed her how she could stick her hand out the window and watch it as it got sucked backwards faster than you could blink!

I think Papa thought this would be a one time cool trick to show, but it turned out to be a "game" that she wanted to play all the way there! The good thing is that it did keep her little hands off all the controls!

The only thing I'm dreading now is when we fly back commercial and she ask the plane lady to open up her window like her papa does (so she can be entertained by her hand being sucked through the wind). Preparing for tears to fall when she tells her the windows don't open. :(

On a praise note, this prego lady made it a full 2 hours without having to use the bathroom. Remember, dad's plane is cool, but without drink service or bathrooms! For a prego lady that could get very interesting. I asked the Lord to seal off my bladder believing that He could and He did! :)

M.I.C.A

2011-08-01T07:35:00.000-07:00

"He is jealous for me

loves like a hurricane, I am a tree

bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy...."

David Crowder's song, Oh How He Loves has been been playing in my head for the past two weeks. The words are a great expression of what my heart has been feeling too! I have been broken, overwhelmed, or more like "beat-up" by the Gospel in a good and convicting way . Team Lewis has been M.I.C.A -missing in some "camp" action! Our time has been consumed as we have been away at various camps focusing on the Truth of the Gospel with students from the ages of 3rd grade to seniors in high school.

I really thought this post would be loaded with tons of pictures of students doing crazy things, making funny faces, rallying around the word, because all of that did happen. We just ended up staying so busy and running off such little precious sleep that I didn't even have time to think about breaking out my camera. So, I'm just going to document it from the heart! :)

Even though our camps didn't consist of actually roughing it, I will be honest and say that I was a much happier girl once my tattered mattress in our cabin was covered with my sheets from home. Some things just make you function better when they are "out of sight, out of mind!"

At the same time, isn't that what the Lord is after...to strip away those things that would be "insulating" and comfortable so that HE alone is the one that our gaze is set upon. Maybe a silly example, but even through an old worn out mattress set before me that I would call my bed for a week, I saw how my flesh was challenged by completely shifting my focus on the things that are seen. I am thankful to the Lord for little lessons like this that speak to my heart and remind me once again that it's not about MY personal preference, but that it's about the GREATER of being purified and sanctified of self!

*On a little side note, this was the definition of purity that was given this past week @ youth camp.

PURITY - NO competing loyalties...oh how my heart cries out for that to be true.

We spent our last week at youth camp in Missouri where Paul Washer was our main speaker. The topic was "The Cross-Centered Life!" Just like the song says, "If the gospel of grace was an ocean we would have drowned!" We were immersed!!!

I know that the proclaimer is merely a vessel used as an instrument of grace, but I am so very thankful for this brother in Christ who preaches the Truth without any reservation, compromise, and holds nothing back! For he even said, "I am and there are No great men of God, but little weak feeble men with a GREAT and MERCIFUL GOD!" Oh may I only boast in my weakness so that His strength is made perfect!

As a result, our faith has increased because our ears heard challenging Truth that magnified the Father!

Oh how I am tempted to type out word for word all of my notes just because they are so rich, but I won't just because this post would end up turning into a mini-book.

In summary though: YOU weren't made for you! If you are saved, you are saved because GOD did it for HIS SON! It's all out the Glory of the Father and Son! His death was not to save you from your sin, but from the wrath of God!

I love the illustration that visualizes this: It's as if you and I were standing in front of a million mile wide and million mile deep damn that breaks and ALL the water is rushing towards us with the purpose of destroying our life, but then seconds before it reaches the tips of your toes the ground opens up and drinks in every last drop! PRAISE GOD the Wrath of God was satisfied by the prefect life of His Sons death.

Death is not just to "fix" you, it's been given so that you would give EVERYTHING to HIM! So our style of life must show that we are daily reorienting our lives in order to live a cross-centered life!

Probably the one thing that was said that gripped my heart more than anything is when Paul gave the definition of faith.

FAITH - to not only repent of your sin, but to repent of your GOOD WORKS! It breaks my heart to know how blinded I can be to think I'm ok, but in reality my heart is full of filthy self-righteousness.

For the sake of His name, our prayers were answered in many of our students lives as we asked God to remove hearts of stone and give them a heart of flesh (Ecc. 36:26) so that they will follow Him for the rest of their days! Couldn't help but to give a praise report for all that God has done and continues to do!

After camp we had a 4 day pit-stop at home to wash, wash, and wash more clothes before taking off once again. I finally feel like I have time to play a little bit of catch-up since we are in a place where the demands of being a wife and mother aren't as great since I'm not having to manage our home. We flew out this past Thursday to join my parents for a family vacation in the Bahamas! My soul loves this place because the pace of life is slllloooowww! I am able to chew and meditate on the word with a lot less distractions. Oh how my soul was needing a quiet place to debrief.

I will probably turn into a daily or at least an every other day blogger while we're down here. Not because I'm striving to receive a blogger award, but simply because my heart is soo full of things God is showing me and of course I can't resist updating pictures of my little beach beauty!

Just a little sneak peak until then...

Yay for friends....

2011-07-08T14:55:00.000-07:00

...who have pools! :) We have a community apartment pool, but it's just yucky this summer for some reason. To be honest, not the greatest of company either with the cleanest of mouths for little ears. So we are grateful God provided a more family friendly option. The Jeter's see us A LOT! If we have any free time, this is where we live!

Mid-June Lily started her First swim lessons at the YMCA. I was hoping she would make it into a class where I could just be a sideline cheerleader, because when I'm in the pool she usually likes to be REALLY close...LEACHED to my side! She gets squealing excited about the thought of being in the pool, but placing her faith in any floaty...nope...mom will do!

We ended up having to be in a mommy-n-me program because she was 2 months shy of being 3 for the independent class. The class itself didn't end up being very instructional. It was more of a come and adjust to the water kind of class, so I was really curious about the progress she would make.

It ended up that we were blessed with a "teacher" who was a lot younger than I thought she would be! Yay for Maddie, a four year old that was way more advanced, but just ended up getting in the wrong class. Lily ended up watching her like a hawk and of course was determined to swim mommy free just like Mattie!

The real teacher got the class started by teaching us a really cool trick. She showed us that you could tie a noodle in the shape of a "pretzel" and use it as a ring float...who would have thunk it! It works great and keeps them straight up and down.

The first thing Maddie did was jump off the side of the pool to her mom wearing her noodle float. Of course Lily wanted to follow in her foot steps. Daddy was there the first day and was her swimming buddy, so mom could catch it all on camera.

"Count dad...1,2,3...jump!" She started out with a death grip on his fingers, but somehow he managed to pull away when she hit the water. When she bobbed back up and realized that there was no daddy attachment and her head was still above water...oh the sheer excitement! Literally, this was all it took! Her first words, I should probably say, her first announcment was "Hey everybody, look at me!" I can't begin to tell you how crazy her parents went...so embarrasing! :)

Over the next week in a half, we watched her turn into a little independent water bug! She now loves to show off by going under water, blowing bubbles, and kicking herself crazy all around the pool BY HERSELF!

Her are a few documented pictures to show off her new tricks!

Lily's News!!!

2011-06-19T11:50:00.000-07:00

Lily is all excited about showing off her new shirt now that it's Dr. official!!! That's right, our almost 3 year old is going to be a BIG SISTER!!!

The only part of the "sharing" that we're going to have to continue to work on is that the baby is in Mommy's belly and not hers! She's telling everyone that she has a baby in her belly and her name is Ella!

Oh, and boy does "Ella" demand a lot of attention! Lily is constantly telling us that her baby is hungry and that she needs to eat. "Ella" seems to have one preference...fruit snacks! Hmmm, the sugar craving, I would have NO idea who she would get that from! :) I guess in about 50 years (according to her daddy :) ) she'll know exactly how to play that craving prego part!

Many of you read my previous post and have been faithfully praying and I THANK YOU! I got a call from the Dr. two days ago saying that my blood work shows that ALMIGHTY GOD has made my body IMMUNE to the virus! We rejoice greatly over His sweet grace that He has poured out on us and blessing us with a healthy little life!

At my first appointment our little sweet peas heart beat was 120 and measured @ 6 weeks 2 days. I am now 8 weeks today!

We are truly beyond excited over this Miracle, God's timing, God's wisdom, and God being the Masterpiece designer of this life that is HIS!

We will welcome baby Lewis into the world sometime around January 3o, 2012!

Let the NESTING begin! :) I learned with the first that it can never start too early!

Despite, we WILL Praise!!!

2011-06-04T14:37:00.000-07:00

Of course my flesh never screams, "examine me!", but I'm thankful that the Holy Spirit that dwells within me demands it!

I usually don't share such stories in such detail and not even quite sure what God would have me even say at this point, but what I do know is that HE wants to speak!

This past Monday night, right before Lily's bedtime routine we noticed that both of her cheeks had broken out in a rash. Michael and I started racking our brains of where we had been or possibly some different foods she might have eaten that day. We couldn't come up with anything out of the ordinary! Well, it's not like this sweet girl has an extensive food list anyway...we have a picky one on our hands (a little side note, I am super proud to say though that we just became a fan of carrots a few days ago! I think the whole they're good for your eyes spill worked)! We asked all the questions...are you hurting, does it itch, do you feel hot, but none of the above! So, I decided to give her some Tylenol, we prayed over her, and then tucked her in for the night.

Tuesday morning and her little cheeks were still a little splotchy, but had faded significantly in redness than they were the night before. I was hoping by the looks of it we were getting better and that Tuesday could hopefully be a NORMAL day. You know, a day with minimal drama, where we can get everything done that is usually in the Tuesday routine or that is scheduled according to mommy (me, my plans)!

So, in all honesty, the revealed attitude of my heart was saying, "Lord, I really don't need any interruptions right now, no "bumps in the road" I have a lot that needs to get done today"!

Oh how I hate the attitude of the flesh and how it can raise it's ugly head so quickly! This may all sound a little over kill to you for this little scenario, but for me it's the very thing and area that God has been doing some serious chiseling in! Not just having knowledge of but living out... in ALL things BIG & small, whether the attitude of my heart, thoughts that are or are not spoken, my schedule, circumstances, plans, desires, my marriage, & Lily are NOT my own!

Crazily by simply learning to ask God to INTERRUPT my plans in the mundane day-to-day and small little moments brings beautiful FREEDOM!!!

I'll definitely come back to this later and expand, so just bare with me...

But for now, do you know where this is going!?? Yes, you're right...this mommas NORMAL Tuesday plans were interrupted quickly! It seemed like the very moment after loading up into the jeep so we could go to the Y, her rash intensified! It was now all up and down her little arms, looking like they were on fire! I truly have never seen a rash that bad. My first thought was, oh no what if her throat closes up due to having an allergic reaction?

We drove straight to her Pediatrician and they assigned us to an "isolated" room. Dr. Singe only looked at Lily for a few seconds and said very confidently, "little Lily has Fifths disease!" I'm glad she quickly followed up by saying it's JUST a VIRUS (because can we say mind whirl)! Disease is just one of those words you never want to hear as a diagnoses and especially dealing with your child. For a split second I thought she had been plagued with something horrible and life threatening! They really should do moms a favor and change the name to at least Fifths virus, just makes a whole lot more sense and easier on the nerves!

Okay, I know some of you moms who are reading this "have been there and done that" and are probably getting a good laugh right about now, because you've already learned that "it's" name is a whole lot "bigger" than it's "bite!" I learned that the worst part about this virus in a child is the ugly rash that pops up showing they are no longer contagious! Basically, Lily was never phased and she is doing just fine...I am so very thankful!

One of the last questions I asked while we were in the Dr. office was, "Are there any other precautions I should take?" Looking down as she was filling out some paper work Dr. Singe said casually, "only if you knew you were pregnant!"

I never thought I would ever feel hesitant to answer, "YES, I am pregnant" like I did at that very moment.

She then proceeded to tell me that being exposed to the virus could possibly cause harm to the unborn baby or a miscarriage and that I needed to have blood work requested at my first OB appointment.

For a split second I felt like I was standing at the oceans edge facing the largest title wave of fear, anxiousness, doubt, & discouragement. Such a large ball of human emotions that could have drowned me, but then GOD...He was there and on the scene the whole time! He so graciously captured my thoughts and anchored me to the very Truth that He has had me meditating on.

In Job 38, God speaks with Great Authority to Job as he confronts his nievness of just how GREAT and MIGHTY He is...despite Job's human feelings!

Just like Job, the Holy Spirit was asking me, "Do you have a God gaze? Do you believe and fully Trust that He is in ALL things and through Him ALL things hold together?"

"where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me if you have understanding. Who determined it's measurements - surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were it's bases sunk, or who laid it's cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy..."

There are 41 verses in Job 38 and all of them are worthy to be typed out, but for the sake of trying not to write a book...go read the rest of them!

I never felt like I left the ocean edge, but instead of drowning in my fleshly emotions, I was immersed in a sea of His INFINITE WISDOM, GREATNESS, SOVEREIGN CONTROLNESS, & HUGENESS!!!

Oh how greatful I am that He gives strength to the weak and power to the powerless!

Recalling this truth welled up within me an attitude of ADORATION! An area that I didn't realize how weak I was in the past. I am not saying by any means that I have arrived or that this has been perfected in me...hardly! But what I am learning and He is teaching me is that ADORATION (getting lost in HIM and I discipline myself to meditate on Him in the mundane and verbalize everything that His name says He is) should be the most important piece of my relationship with HIM!

It's easy for me to enter into my time of conversation with Him anxious to want to voice the heaviness on my heart, or the burdens I may carry for others and in result end my conversation just as heavy laden as I did when I started.

Through studying God's model of prayer, studiying the Word, and other books such as Desiring God, it is like God has been hammering the word ADORATION into my heart...will you just get it!?
This is the true equation for: God + nothing =EVERYTHING! Learning to get lost in just Him is when I am most satisfied and He is most glorified!

When ADORING Me drives your relationship, then I am MAGNIFIED, EXALTED, BIG...and you and the trials, circumstances, and hardships I told you that you would have to face in this world....SMALL in comparison to my HOLINESS!

This is when the true heart of rejoicing comes into play, when you can trust that I only permit what I have purposed and NOTHING happens outside of my sovereign plan!

Therefore, in the midst of uncertainties and heart aches you can see those "trench" times not as how the enemy would love for it to be... destructive, but your heart can be comforted and rejoice in the greater plan! The Great I AM is bringing about detoxification of self instead of destruction. Putting the flesh to death and sanctifying us to mirror His reflection!

I have my first OB appointment on Wed., where we will hopefully get to see our sweet pea for the first time, but also follow through with getting blood work done to see if there may be any complications.

When my flesh is in complete contradiction to the word, I will choose to fight and ADORE HIM! He is on His throne and NOTHING can thwart His plans. For He promises to ALWAYS work out ALL things together for His good and Glory!!!

Oh how this promise brings FREEDOM when my plans are interrupted by the Very ONE who has conquered ALL sin and brokeness in this world, knowing that His ultimate GLORY PLAN WILL previal !

Knowing that it is He alone who is in the "secret place" floods my heart with so much peace!

Father, this unborn baby is yours and my life is yours... For my strive is NOT I, but Christ who lives within me (Galatians 2:20)

Are we in Kansas!?

2011-06-04T14:35:00.000-07:00

We may not be in Kansas, but being neighboring states is thrilling enough!
The highly anticipated OK tornado season is finally here...and I almost pulled a "Dorothy" and slept straight through it!
The Lewis ladies are big on taking naps these days, especially with momma Lewis being with child!
It was around 3:30 when I woke up to my dear friend Keo calling! "Are ya'll okay? Are you getting ready to leave? Do you have somewhere to go?"
I was clueless and thought we were doing just fine all snuggled up in bed.
I knew we were suppose to have some ugly weather and possibly some tornadoes in surrounding counties, but not A STREET OVER!!!
Keo said they were already in their church basement taking shelter because there was an F5 heading our way!
Oh heavens to Betsy! A "brain tornado" of my own started whirling through my head...
Get up Lily, pictures, oh I need to get dressed, turn on news, what should I pack, Michael, where's my husband, pictures! Just a few calm and collective thoughts I had in all of about 1 second!
So yes, since this South GA girl has humored so many oklahomians with my first tornado "response", I didn't want to leave you out!

Now when you think tornado, I know you think exactly what I think of...the movie Twister!
I just knew that we were coming back to nothing! God can do whatever He wants to in order to bring about His purposes and if that was to level us, then I was going to be somewhat prepared.
I grabbed our largest beach bag and began to clear walls of all of our picture frames, but not just walls, dressers, and side tables!
Yes, every picture was stuffed into an over sized bag and waiting by the door for Michael to carry with us to our friends storm cellar...so I thought!
The moment Michael walked into the door and almost tripped over my "special memory keepsakes bag," he said, "What is this?"
"Well honey, I'm not attached to much else, but all our pictures and photo books are such special memories. I thought since I had a little bit of time before you came home I would "save" them and take them with us!"
Laughing, he said, "babe, I'm sorry but we are not showing up on Mrs. Meleta's door steep dragging behind us a beach bag full of picture frames!
Over reacting?....I didn't think so ,until Michael reminded me that we do live in a technology world and it's not like we can't print more copies online.
Okay, so I parted with the beach bag and then we loaded up to drive to Mrs. Meleta Stevens house to take shelter in her storm cellar.
Just minutes before we got to their house the tornado siren started sounding. I just knew the F5 was going to drop out of the sky hot on our trail!
In the meantime, out daughter is in the back seat not phased at all that the sky is completely dark at 4:30 in the afternoon and is whoo hooing like we're having a lot of fun!
To let you in on a little secret...even though my panic button had definitely been set off, there is also a vein of dare that runs through me that would love the title as a "tornado chaser!"
I don't think Rookies qualify, so I'll take shelter underground instead!
We were underground around 45 minutes until we got the clear. We came up to everything in tact. The tornado ended up missing us by 2 miles.
We truly praise The maker of heaven and earth for His Almighty protection when others were affected greatly!
Our prayer is that is the midst of some people loosing everything they poses, that God would open their eyes to see that their greatest need can be met and found in HIM!!!
I didn't deserve to be able to go back home, empty my beach bag and redecorate! I'm thankful for His GRACE!

GA Trip!

2011-06-03T12:53:00.000-07:00

About a month ago now, Lily and I flew to GA for a few weeks while Michael took off with the college students to Dallas, TX for the Passion Conference. Our GA trips always call for a lot of fun with family and great memories are guaranteed to be made! Of course I was looking forward to soaking up time with family, but I was also looking forward to just "being"! Since we live in an apartment (or tower as lily cals it...makes it sound so grand huh!) and don't have the freedom to just walk out our back door into a yard of our own, I couldn't wait for just that! Even weeks before our trip my heart would smile just thinking about getting to watch Lily roam around the grandparents yards, play in the dirt, gather rocks, pick flowers, examine bugs (some I like and some I don't like), and soak in EVERY ounce of the days sunlight until her heart was content...and she did just that and this mommas heart was warmed! Even though, yes there was a lot of the time we were "doing" things, but overall in the midst of the "doing" and the watching I got to be still, breath in a little deeper, and Know that GOD IS GOD...ahhh!!!

Of course as you know from previous post I'm really good at only taking a "few" (wink, wink) pictures on our GA trips! Some need an explanation, but for the most part I'm just going to let the pictures speak of our incredible fun for themselves! :)

The first set of pictures would definitely get the title: Lily & Leroy...BFF's!

Yes grandparents, don't worry, you are always at the top of the list of highly anticipated people Lily wants to see, but in a very close second is the beloved Leroy...the plantaion dog! My child is an animal lover! To be honest if she knew about those heart BFF necklaces, she would probably give the "best" part of her necklace to Leroy! But on the other hand, I am confident that Leroy would give his "best" half of his necklace to Lily! :) Leroy loves to fetch (which can drive an adult crazy to have a ball spit out on top of their feet every 5 seconds) and Lily gets so much joy over throwing the ball constantly...so ya see, they go together like "peas & carrots"! Just in the past few trips, Lily discovered that if she throws the balls on top of Granny's bushes that it's a whole lot funnier and entertaing to watch Leroy sail off the porch and land ontop of the bushes, so this has become her new favorite...throwing Leroy's ball in the bushes! Poor bushes and Poor Leroy! :)

THE bushes are just below the rail!

GA FIRST...Fishing!

2011-06-03T12:46:00.000-07:00

Oh and fishing in style that is! The Barbie fishing pole sure didn't let us down! In South GA we say...we sure did catch a MESS of fish! :) I guess Miss Lily knew how to "hold her mouth right!" I grew up with my Papa telling me that was the key to catchin the biggins! She squeeled evertime she got one!

Fishing with Unky "T"!

2011-06-03T12:44:00.000-07:00

Would rather examine it from a distance! :)

Ooo-Ooo (granddaddy) told Lily that she had to kiss at least one fish! Can't you hear what she's thinking, "That's all the love this fish is going to get!" :)

2011-06-03T12:43:00.000-07:00

Supervising!

Like mother, like daughter...I decided to kick off the flops and stand in the water while I fished and of course Miss Lily thought that was an excellent idea!

Until her feet slipped out from underneath her and she fell in! To be honest I thought she would go in voluntarily before involuntary! :)

2011-06-03T12:41:00.000-07:00

It didn't take her long to figure out that a big hole filled with lots of water = lots of mud to take a mud bath in!

2011-06-03T12:31:00.000-07:00

Granny surprised Lily with several gifts and the tea set was one of them! She literally could serve up tea and coffe for hours. I knew I wanted to take advantage of the beautiful plantation scenery for a photo shoot while we were there, but wasn't sure what I was going to do until seeing how much she enjoyed playing tea time. Perfect, a plantation tea time photo shoot = southern & super girlie! These pictures actually include some special memory props. The crochet tabel cloth was made by MaMa, michael's grandmother. The wooden rockin chair was Michael's when he was a little boy.

2011-06-03T12:30:00.000-07:00

2011-06-03T12:21:00.000-07:00

A change of location with a different dress!

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The 3 Grand girls

2011-06-03T12:00:00.000-07:00

I had fun doing a photo shoot with my nieces, Brittany and Haley.

2011-06-03T11:54:00.000-07:00

Michael's dad was in the middle of burning off all the plantation land while we were there. One evening he came home with a very special surprise for Lily in his front shirt pocket! He ended up rescuing the most adorable baby bunny from the fire.

2011-06-03T11:49:00.000-07:00

God has richly blessed my sweet sister-n-law Carole with TWINS! One of each, a boy and girl! We were so excited that her school shower was scheduled the day before we left so we could be there to celebrate with her. We love our sweet Lexi and Brycen soo much already!

Oh how we love us some baby shower food!

Granny & Haley

2011-06-03T11:48:00.000-07:00

Lily loves her Granny!

Momma to be at 22 weeks!

GA stop #2...Nonni and Papa's house!

2011-06-03T11:37:00.000-07:00

Lily got to have her second fishing experience at the Georgia giant hole out on the farm.

Lily said Mr. Catfish was scary!

2011-06-03T11:22:00.000-07:00

Lily had her own personal Easter egg hunt at her Nonni's. We learned that she was all about quality and not quantity. Every time she found an egg she had to open it immediately before putting it in her basked! She decided they were all keepers! :)

2011-06-03T11:21:00.000-07:00

As soon as the egg hunt was over we loaded up to head down to the Lily Pad (river house) in FL down on the Suwanee River. On our way we made a lunch stop at our favorite...chicka-fil-a! The Easter bunny was there waiting for us!

2011-06-03T11:13:00.000-07:00

Our favorite place to be at the river house...yep, on the river! Lily had such a blast and was constantly saying, "Move over capin Papa, it's my turn to drive!"

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Lily Moments!

2011-05-16T12:44:00.000-07:00

This is definitely one of those moments that I wish I had a built in recorder that caught every sweet thought Lily said from that little 2 year old brain. Oh, to be a child!

There are two recent conversations that I want to share, simply because I never want to forget them and just because I think they are sweet and funny.

Both of them stem from the incredibly Huge responsibility the Lord has so graciously entrusted us with as parents and commanded us to teach and train up our children in the ways of the Lord...to sow seeds of Truth into their lives Constantly!!

My prayer is that our lives will Teach the gospel, Show the gospel, and Live the gospel in all that we do...not from a distance, but up close as I make Lily a part of my daily love relationship with the Lord. I just recently started including her in on being clothed with the Full Armor of God...we call it our God clothes! We talk about how we are very weak in our own strength and need to clothe ourselves with God's strength.

Moment #1
We were in the bathroom after getting dressed and I told Lily that we now needed to put on our God clothes...of course it makes it so much more fun if you act it out, so here we go......................
Me: Let's put on our shoes of peace
Lily: (bent over) choocka choocka... you have to make sounds, it adds to all the fun :)
Me: Put on our belt of Truth
Lily: (pretending she's putting on a belt) choocka choocka
Me: Put on our breast plate of righteousness
Lily: (hitting her chest) choocka choocka
Me: Put on our helmet of salvation
Lily:(pats her head) choocka choocka
Me: Hold up the sword of the spirit
Lily: (makes a fist)choocka choocka
Me: Hold up the shield of faith
Lily: (holding out 5 fingers) Choocka Choocka
Me: Okay Lily, now we are ready to walk in God's power and strength today.
Lily: (with a very confused look) No mommy, we're not clothed, we forgot to put on our big girl panties!!! :)
Me: laughing hysterically

Later when Michael got home I shared this with him and he said, "I guess it wouldn't hurt to add the panties of purity huh?!!" Love it babe!

Moment #2
Okay, so there are certain cartoons that we have taught Lily that mommy and daddy don't like because they don't honor Jesus. Isn't it so sad that there are cartoons today that we have to tell our kids that they are not God honoring...breaks my heart!

The other evening I turned on the TV in an attempt to watch something that was NOT animated. I ended up turning to the game show Minute To Win It. Lily came running into the Living room and sat down in her little chair. She watched a few seconds of it and then said, "Mommy, I don't like this. It doesn't honor Jesus!"

Okay, so we see that we're going to have to work on the Personal Preference factor and how that is Not linked to what does and doesn't honor Jesus! :)

Love this sweetness to Pieces!

A Beautiful Day...

2011-03-29T14:05:00.000-07:00

We'll a few sentences into reading this you will probably be scratching your head and saying to yourself...I think she miss-titled this post! Believe me, I probably wouldn't even be writing about this and much less seen any beauty in it at all, if it was left up to me! The suiting title would have been something more like Mommy 911!!! if it wasn't for the perspective of my 2 year old! It was 3:30 when my bedroom door slowly opened up to a sheepish two year old on the other side who had only be laying down for about 30 minutes. I looked at her from the bed and simply motioned for her to come here, because I was in the middle of listening to a sermon. She usually runs full blast, but instead she stood there with her legs crossed and said, "I squeeze out!" O-kay, so i knew it was coming because of all that tummy complaining earlier and the fact that it took us an extra 20 minutes to get comfortable and down for our nap. Simple, we'll change your diaper (still working on the whole poo pooing in the potty thing) and everything will be fine and then you can lay down for a little longer. Until I thought...oh stink! I forgot to bring your diapers in from our shopping trip today! The fact that I was about to walk outside to the car without her sent her into crocodile crying...so I threw her on my hip and did the "I don't want to squish anything in your diaper hold" and ran down the stairs. It was THERE...at the bottom of the stairs and at the edge of the parking lot that my greatest fear happened...YES, BOTH Ends! In a matter of seconds her hair, outfit, face, my entire left side, jeans, and boots had been cristened and covered in throw up! This whole scene repeated itself 2 more times before we could even get to the car. I don't know about you, but I'm the biggest baby when I throw up! It's one of those "things" that I hate the most, but let me just tell you that my sweet girl didn't shed a tear...Wow! When I stood her up on the concrete beside the jeep just waiting for another episode, I got a sweet look from her instead as her eyes peered through her matted hair she said, "My tummy feel better now!" "I need new dress!" Yes, you do sweet girl! This time I didn't throw her on my hip but opted for the extended arm armpit hold as I rushed her back up to the top of the stairs. I stripped her of her dress and told her to run straight to mommy's bathtub. I opened the door and off she ran as I pulled my newly stained boots off and left them by the door! Instead of running straight to my bathtub she ran to her room. I asked her, "Lily why didn't you go to mommy's tub?" She said two words, "new one." Oh stink again!!! I had completely forgotten that she had pooped. Greeaaattt, I was thinking now I'm going to have to lay your stinky sticky self down first and change you. I decided to lay her down on our laminate floor in our bathroom for an easy clean up. Okay, so I got a little a head of myself after laying her down because all at the same time I was trying to strip My shirt off to throw it into the sink (remember this "nice" smell had been under my nose the entire time & I simply couldn't take it longer) while ripping her pull-up off too. Only when I didn't think things could get anymore interesting, I found myself watching a large solid poop ball roll out of her diaper and across the bathroom floor! Grrrooosss! It was in this moment that I said, "Oh shoot!" (a word that we Don't say in our house) and was at the verge of wanting to have my own crocodile tear moment. Then my daughter interrupts all the chaos as she's laying flat on her back, looking up at me with a smile on her face and says, "It's beautiful day mommy!" :) :) No, thinking about a beautiful day was not exactly what was on this mommy's mind at the moment, but I am so thankful to the Lord that He allowed the lips of my two year old to utter those words! I don't want to loose sight now matter how hard, gross, or difficult things may get, that I am to Praise Him at ALL times!

Shop Shop!

2011-03-22T12:19:00.000-07:00

Anytime I tell Lily that we need to go shopping, she always says, "I go shop shop with YOOOUU mommy!"Yes, YOU is always said in a few shrill octaves higher and said with so much excitement! I.LOVE.IT! The best little lady shopping friend a mommy could ask for!

I'll admit it though, we can both be a little double trouble when it comes to staying focused, you know, sticking to "the list"....if you know what I mean! We're girls, what do you expect...well, that's at least what daddy hears when he comes home to something crazy that we bought that day! :)

Just like, well, yesterday for example! We were on a mission to go to Big Lots to pick up a plastic tub. We're making the winter/summer clothes exchange and I needed something to store her winter clothes in. Well of course what aisle would the storage containers be stored by but the Princess toy aisle! AND how can a female with any girlie blood at all running through her veins NOT go down THAT aisle...almost a sin, right!? Well, if not in anyone elses book it would be for a 2 1/2 year old named Lily! But of course this momma didn't steer her away from it either. It makes me smile to see her light up as she slowly walks mesmerized down the aisle pointing and saying the name to EVERYTHING as she goes.

I can usually have a "tough" heart and make my no, no because those kind of aisles usually have the same things on them in every store. Which we are proud owners of most of it anyway! But, lets just say the heart was softened when we got to the very end of the aisle where there we're not just princess dress up clothes, but.... Princess WIGS!!! OH YES, this takes dress up to a whole new level! :)
Our choices were Belle, Snow White, or Cinderella! Without hesitation Lily said, "Mommy, I want long curly one."

So yes, our list extended from a tub, to a tub and wig! A MUST have for any princess wardrobe collection! And you know when you where little and the excitement was just to much to have to wait till home to take out that special something. So, as soon as we made it to the car, in a matter of minutes my daughter went from short haired Lily to long curly locks PRINCESS BELLE!

My cheeks hurt so bad by the time we got home, because I couldn't stop laughing and smiling as I looked in the rear view mirror and would see her sweet little face surrounded by mounds of hair! She was on Princess cloud 9!

Now it's just getting her to understand that the wig doesn't do well during naps, bath time, eating, and well.... :)

JUST LILY! :)

2011-03-07T18:35:00.000-08:00

We are celebrating our sweet Lily pie's 31 months of life today! God's grace is just soo good!

Michael and I were looking at her tiny self the other night all sprawled out on the floor and found ourselves looking at each other at the same time just shaking our heads in disbelief over how long she's gotten... so quick!

Oh how I wish I could slow down this "blinking" too fast thing.

Even now she's making me smile so big as I'm listening to her talk to her mermaids while she's in the tub. Ooops, just lost a tail... :)

Okay other mothers, isn't it sad how we can't trust our memory? I feel like half the time I need to warn people that they will be playing a conversation game of fill-in-the-blank with me. It seems that my brain "fluffs" are only getting worse. So this post is to document all of those fun things that she likes, is saying, and doing, because I never want to forget!

Oatmeal used to be the morning favorite, but now yogurt and cereal have taken it's place.
The girl has a built in alarm system that never fails to go off at 6:50. She's sooo good about opening and closing our bedroom door sooo quietly. Sneaking around our bed to my side sooo quietly, but then at this point the silence is broken when she hollers so excitedly, "MOMMMYYY, Lily got up!" She's great at suspense! Then she says, "Mommy, you wake?"
Lily is a huge Curious George, Dora, Diego, Mickey Mouse, and Syd the Science Kid cartoon fan.
Everyday she says that it's Lily's birthday and that we need to have a party!
I love when I give her something like a piece of candy or someone else like when the Chick-fil-A people give her a balloon...she always takes it and says. "for MeeEEE, (in a progressively high octave) it's my favorite! She hugs everything and says it's her favorite!
She is definitely our girlie girl. Her favorite colors are pink, pink, and pink!!! A while back she assigned us colors. Mommy is green and orange, daddy is blue. As we drive around she always makes the announcement that the BLUE sky is daddy's and the GREEN grass is mommies. :)
It was in the car when she first said, "Mommy, Lily's awesome!" Don't you just love conversations in the car. I don't know what it is about the car, but those creative juices flow like no other place.
She melts my heart when she stops in the middle of doing something and looks up at me and say, "Mommy, you're soooo beautiful!" "Mommy, you're sooo gorgeous!"
Her favorite "big" word to use is...dangerous! If anything is scary or she's see something that she doesn't like then it's dangerooouuss!
The other day I was wearing a shirt that had sequins at the top and she said, "Mommy, you're wearing sprinkles!"
After getting back into the car after eating our Valentine meal at Cheese Cake Factory, Michael leaned over and gave me a kiss. Lily started saying, "NO Daddy, nooo!" Michael told Lily that daddy can kiss mommy because we are married. Lily quickly came back with NO, Lily's married to mommy! :)
Just two weeks ago Lily became obsessed with wearing her princess crown (but according to Lily it's her princess CRAYON) 24/7.
We are living on the second floor of an apartment complex. Every time we drive up from being out she says, "Mommy, it's my Tower!"
She loves to play doctor and listen to us breathe. She tells us to breathe, again, again. After the 3rd time she gives us "medicine, candy, and tootsie rolls!"
She thinks it's hilarious to call her daddy a "popcorn or chicken nugget!"
Before she goes to bed we always sing praise songs. When we ask her what praise songs she wants to sing, the song line up is ALWAYS the same...Praise Him, ABC's, Jesus Love Me, and Father Abraham. Yes, the ABC's have somehow made their way into the praise song list! :)

Her are a few shoots that I caught of her just being Lily and doing what she loves to do. She loves to pull down her hairband basket off her dresser and "do" hair Lily style!

We love you our sweet scooter roots, doodles, stinker winks, punkin, sweetums, precious, lily pieness! Just a few names of enderment that your mommy and daddy love to call you by! :)

ROAD TRIP!!!

2011-02-22T15:45:00.000-08:00

Lily was truly the only one who was road trip ready for where we were headed with her pink cowgirl boots packed! Can you guess? That's right, Team Lewis was headed to The Heart Land! We got to be Texans for 3 days as we visited some dear friends of ours and their kiddos!

This was a blessed and extra special visit for several reasons! It was sweet to see Lily and "E", our friends little girl, reunited after 8 months. They were best buds (better known as partners in crime) while we were in seminary. We also soaked up our time as couples since our friends residence will only be Canyon, TX for only another short month. They will no longer be living state side, but will have a new address across the "pond" in Asia. What is their purpose? Simply an act of obedience to where God has called them to advance the Gospel to people who have never heard.

I actually just finished listening to a sermon by David Platt reminding the body of believers that if you are in Christ, the purpose of ALL of OUR lives is to advance the Gospel to the ends of the earth! So where has God planted you here on this planet called Earth? Wherever that may be, be encouraged that the focus is not on your PLACE of service, but on your POSITION in Christ! "I (Christ) am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I (Christ) in him, he WILL bear much fruit; apart from me you can do NOTHING!"

I am simply sharing Truth that I have been meditating upon. The Lord is reminding me that the health of my christian life has everything to do with my discipline of taking in His word (internalizing it). I am either walking around healthy or unhealthy. Therefore, if I want people to see Jesus instead of me then I must ask Him for His strength and discipline to not only read His Truth, but meditate upon it for the purpose of godliness (1 Tim. 4:7) Then no matter where I am on this earth, the fruit that He will produce as a result of being "plugged" into the proper nourishment of His word, will give off an aroma that will be powerful enough to be far reaching to the ends of the world!

We love you"C" family & are so thankful for our friendship & partnership in the Gospel!

____________________________________________________

Better than packing our own lunch, we let subway pack it for us and headed to the Palo Duro Canyon (the second largest canyon in the US) for a picnic. It was an absolutely gorgeous day and breathtaking backdrop!

Check out our two "twinkies" wearing matching outfits.

Our 3 little explorers looking for "treasure!"

Palo Duro Canyon

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That afternoon we visited "A's" parents so the kiddos could feed the horses!

Lily and "E" were given the job of preparing the horsey snack!

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What's a good farm without a tractor ride. Lily wasn't feeling herself, so she was a little cranky pants and didn't want to ride.

I love this picture of my friend and all the kiddos running away from the barn toward the house.

Whoo Hoo!!! It's always a treat to have an adult date night especially when your babysitter is free! That is rare for us these days since our closest grandparents are 17 hours away. :(

2011-02-22T15:32:00.000-08:00

Can you tell that our little "twinkies" missed us terrribly while we were gone! They were serving late night desert coffee when we went to go pick them up...mmm, mmm good!

Last morning having couch time in their PJ's!

Two years from now, it's our goal to visit the "C" family on their turf across the "pond." We're already counting down the days! :)

Valentine Suprises Part 2!

2011-02-19T16:59:00.000-08:00

Yay for mail! Especially when you open up your mail box and find a key inside! Meaning that your package was too large to fit in your small mail box and was left in a larger box for you to be able to claim with the key!

The receiver of these large packages are usually Miss Lily, and you know who the spoiling senders are...GRANDPARENTS!!!

Michael's parents, Granny and Ooo-Ooo, surprised Lily with a valentine package and I think the pictures say just how excited she was!

The first thing she pulled out of the box was a heart shaped owl that said...whooooo loves you? Jesus loves you! She squueeezzeed and held Mr. Owl very tight and said, "Mommy, it's my favorite!" It's been a snuggle buddy in her bed ever since. She also got heart bracelets, heart suckers, and silly bands! Thank you Granny and Ooo-Ooo for my valentines!

2011-02-19T16:57:00.000-08:00

The next surprise of the day was definitely a true surprise!!!

Lily and I had a lunch date with a few high school girls that day, so we didn't get back home until 1:30. When we drove up we saw Michael's (daddy's) car. We always love when daddy comes home from work, but we weren't expecting him that day.

We walked through the door and the entire house was dark! My first thought was he must be laying down since his back had been bothering him for the past several days. But, I quickly discovered that wasn't the case at all as soon as I flipped a switch! The first thing that my eyes saw were the most beautiful bouquet of flowers surrounded with chocolate and lots of it...oh he's a good man! Mr. sneaky himself was hiding around the corner in the kitchen with a big smile on his face!

I am such a hard person to surprise because I'm so inquisitive and usually figure things out before they happen, but this time he truly got me! Thank you for blessing me with a few of my favorite things babe!

Here's the gorgeous bouquet! I'm a wild bouquet kind of girl, b/c I simply love them all!

ahhhh...sigh :):)!

This is also a beautiful sight to behold...chocolate!

Okay, so speaking of chocolate I'll let you in on a little Lewis secret...shhh!

My sweet husband was anti-chocolate when I first met him, which was actually fine with me because I've never been a real good chocolate sharer. But see, I diagnosed his chocolate problem early on!

The problem was simply that he didn't know the best kind to eat and how to eat it! We'll, I guess when it comes to what kind and how to eat it, I need to give credit where credit is due...my mom! Yes, you could diagnose this woman as a chocoholic! Growing up she would buy bags of chocolate morsels (the kind you cook with). Did she cook with them...well sometimes, but usually...no! Why cook with them? That takes way to much time to get get your chocolate fix...right!? So instead just cut a hole in the bag and turn them up! Yes, that's right, she made a good chocolate addict out of me!

I brought this addiction into my marriage and it didn't take long before my husband realized what he was missing out on. The only bad thing now is that I have to share now b/c he doesn't give me a choice. So there are days he forces me to hide the chocolate morsel bag...shhhh!

So one thing the Lewis pantry will not be without is a bag of milk chocolate morsels...speaking of, I feel them calling my name (a perfect time to take a chocolate break)!

Okay, I'm good to go now, back to the flower and chocolate surprise. While Michael was home he told us (his girls) to be ready by 5:00 for a date. I thought, smart man beating the valentine crowd.

I told Lily we had to get fancy-fied for our date, so we had a fun afternoon doing all of those girlie preparations! Here we are, all ready for our hot date!

2011-02-19T16:56:00.000-08:00

Michael ended up taking us to one of our favorites!!!!

Can you believe that we still had a 15 minute wait at 5:15! We ended up waiting outside because it was so beautiful! I snapped some shots of how Lily past the time with running around, twirling, and doing a little bit of snooping!

Oh and in the midst of all of that, a young guy offered to take a family shot!

2011-02-19T16:54:00.000-08:00

2011-02-19T16:51:00.000-08:00

Our dinner was excellen-te! Our little valentine was too for the exception of using the butter as hand lotion! :)

I don't care how stuffed you are, you can always make room for this!!! My all time favorite...the new reese peanut butter!

Lily was brought out her own personal chocolate parfait!

Valentine Extended!

2011-02-19T16:43:00.000-08:00

We had a women's night of fellowship at our church Tuesday night.

Decorating committee: Me, Tara, and Ginger

I love working with these ladies!

We had quite the spread! Women just know how to do it right! And oh am I thankful that calories don't count when you're with your girlfriends! :)

Tuesday Lily got her valentine from her Nonni and Papa! When she opened it up she yelled, "$5!" I don't know why, but everything is $5 to her. Thank you Papa and Nonni for her generous $5..wink, wink! :)

Wednesday youth night!

2011-02-19T16:40:00.000-08:00

What studs huh, holding pink carnations! A few of our college guys, Sam, Andrew, and Chase were quite the gentlemen to pass out carnations to each of our youth girls Wednesday night after our bible teaching!

Surprise!!! Happy Valentines girls!

Valentine Surprises!

2011-02-15T14:31:00.000-08:00

FOR.GOD.SO.LOVED.THE.WORLD.THAT.HE.GAVE.HIS.ONE.AND.ONLY.SON!

To bad I can't add the music to the background, because you would be singing with me instead of just reading it! Lily and I are STILL jamming out and praising along with our SEEDS cd that we popped into her cd player over 2 weeks ago...oh, I just love singing scripture! (that's non-cheesy ) :) Couldn't think of a better song to be singing as I am posting a valentines post.

The John 3:16 song is the one that I have walked around singing all day today and can't get it out of my head...and I don't want to! Isn't it funny that when we get a line or secular song stuck in our heads it becomes annoying and we try to do anything to get our minds to switch gears and think on something different...ANYTHING, because that ONE thing is driving.us.craazzy!

Such great proof that dwelling on anything outside of scripture is shallow, empty, and gets old really quick, but NOT so with the Word! It is everything opposite of those things, it's...nourishing,healing,invigorating, and life to our very bones!

okay, so as I was just typing that last sentence, the Lord brought to mind an article that was sent to me just days ago about the power of what we dwell on. I didn't start this post with this article in mind and didn't have the intentions of sharing it. Simply because I didn't know this is where this post was going.

I'm staring at my computer clock right now that reads 12:27 A.M. and thinking to myself, you titled this valentine surprises! Yes, there are lots of pictures below to document a whole day of the many surprises which I guess I will eventually get to, but for now I trust the Lord on this little detour.

Whoever might be reading this today I trust will need this reminder like I did the day I read it.

Article -

One of the greatest enemies of hope is forgetting God's promises. Reminding is a great ministry. Peter and Paul wrote for this reason (2Peter 1:13; Romans 15:15). The Main reminder is the Holy Spirit (John 14:26). But don't be passive. You are responsible only for your own ministry of reminding . And the first one in need of reminding by you is you. The mind has this great power: It can talk to itself by way of reminder. The mind can "call to mind." For example, "But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases" (Lamentations 3:21-22). If we don't "call to mind" what God has said about Himself and about us, we languish. O how I know this from painful experience! Don't wallow in the mire of godless messages. I mean the messages in your own head. " I can't..." She won't...." They never..." "It has never worked..."

The point is not that these are true or false. Your mind will ALWAYS find a way to make them true, unless you "call to mind" something greater. God is the God of the impossible. Reasoning your way out of an impossible situation is not as effective as reminding your way out of it.

Without reminding ourselves of the greatest and grace and power and wisdom of God, we sink into brutish pessimism. "I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you" (Ps 73:22). The great turn from despair to hope in Psalm 77 comes with these words: "I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds" (Ps 77:11-12). This is the great battle of my life. I assume yours too. The battle to remind! Myself. Then others.

I am reminded once again of John 3:16. He LOVED and GAVE! If you are in Christ, aren't you beyond thankful that we can give and love with purpose because the gift of our Father's Son that He lavished upon us as His children.

Speaking of children, now that I am a mom, I receive such joy to be able to give Lily gifts! Valentines morning we suprised her with a gift bag full of goodies. The reaction of sheer exictment and surprise is what blesses me soo much! (okay, so the rest of the day will have to wait, because this momma is tired. Check back later for the rest of our day of valentine surprises)

Our 2 1/2 year old sweet valentine opening up her little valentine.

Valentine Truth!

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YOUR DIVINE VALENTINE

A valentine may play a love song for you, but God sings you the sweetest love song in the universe.

"The Lord your God...will rejoice over you with gladness, He will keep you quiet with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing." Zephaniah 3:17

A valentine may give you flowers but God sent you the most beautiful rose of all, Jesus

"I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valley." Song of Solomon 2:1

A valentine may take you out to dinner, but God has invited you to the most amazing feast ever given

"Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!" Revelation 19:9

A valentine may bring you chocolate, but God provides you with something even sweeter, His Word.

"How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth" Psalm 119:103

A valentine may be far away, but God is always with you.

"I am with you always." Matthew 28:20

A valentine may give you something, but God has given you everything.

"God gives us richly all things to enjoy." 1 Timothy 6:17

A valentine may love you for a lifetime, but God loved you before you were born and will love you for all eternity!

"Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love...with loving kindness I have drawn you." Jeremiah 31:3

Thankful Thursday!

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Today I am thankful for NON-cheesy children's praise and worship music! You know the cheesy I'm talking about right!? When the entire cd is sung in one octave, and that would be Soprano...yikes!

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that shrill soprano sung songs don't honor Jesus, but this momma just prefers some variation if you know what I mean!

So have I discovered an awesome, amazing, scripture teaching, worshipful acoustical children's praise and worship cd with variation??? I'm so glad you asked...YES!!!

Before I put a plug in for this cd, for some of you this this will be old school, but hopefully for others of you I will be able to introduce something new!

The Cd is called SEEDS of Faith! I think we've actually had this cd for over a year now, so it's not new. I was just reminded today of it's awesomeness! :)

With being hit not only with ono, but dos snow storms back to back, let's just say we've gotten very familiar with the inside of our home and have done our share of praise and worship cd cycling...ya with me!?

Out of all the cd's we have, I find myself truly worshipping the Lord as Lily and I jam out and sing along to the SEEDS cd. Why?...because every song is scripture put to acoustical music, so you are speaking that which is alive and active(His Word) and proclaiming the Truth of who He IS!!!

The awesome bonus is that it comes with scripture memory cards that go along with each song. Scripture memory...this strikes a cord in my heart which I will blog about soon.

To know that as parents God has commanded us in Deuteronomy 5:21 "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates."

Wow! To read God's word reminds me that this is not optional, but an awesome and humbling responsibility to sow seeds of the Truth in our little one's lives!

So, I have to say I think this is an awesome tool! You get tons of repetition and isn't that what we need. Of course you and I both know that if you put anything to music, it just sticks! And just to add a testimonial, you can find yourself singing it in a random place and not get that strange look!

There ya have it, my plug for SEEDS! I ordered ours through Amazon, but I'm sure any local Christan book store should have it. If you don't have it, I hope you'll invited this awesome children's/adult worship cd that speaks Truth into your home and be BLESSED!

Bitten by...

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Cabin Fever Bug + Snow Storm # 2 = I feel the need to destroy my room!

Warning: * Objects in pictures don't appear as messy as in real life*

But pictures do prove how much fun she's having and that's all that matters! :)

Happy Wordless Wednesday!

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First OKC Blizzard of 2011!

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Reporting live!!!...Snug as a bug as I sit all toasty in our leather recliner, I am happy to say that YES we have survived our first OK blizzard of 2011! But sad to say that I have gained a few cabin fever snow pounds as we've done a good job of keeping our bellies full!

Prior to all the whipping winds and snow setting in Monday evening, flashback with me to Sunday evening...yes Sunday evening of grocery store panic! After church I found myself joining in on all the madness at our local Crest Market...simply craziness!

My first stop I found myself congregating at the deli with a gazillion other people for the next 25-30 minutes as I waited on a pound of deli meat. I ended up getting into a conversation with an older gentleman who began to warn me of how harsh the weather was going to get and that he could guarantee that we were at least going to get 10-12 inches of snow and that it was going to be bad, reallly baaaddd!

Keep in mind that we just had our record high temps just days before ( upper 70's) & I'm learning just how unpredictable OK weather can be, so I came back with (with a big smile on my face) or we'll wake up to a sunny 50 degree day & we all will have gotten a head start on our grocery shopping for the month! :) Ha, Ha right...Oh no, Mr. older gentleman was not happy with my response. I didn't realize how serious he took his weather predicting! It was like you could see sheer panic written all over his face.

In that moment I found myself internally rejoicing & praising God for being Creator of ALL things and therefore Sovereign over ALL things! God has called us to prepare, but not to panic and I am sooo Thankful for His Grace poured out upon me daily (hourly, moment by moment) and that He has opened my eyes to see how paralyzing fear can be, but how mobilizing it is to walk by Faith!

Yes, I did prepare smartly and bought 2 of all the basic necessities and then we hunkered down! Tuesday morning we found ourselves waking up to now our record lows (-17 degrees & 3-4 ft. snow drifts) for the week! I have to be honest, when you get a taste of spring weather and then have to pull out the poundage of winter clothes only days later, a case of the "grouchy pants" can set in!

UNTIL...God stills your heart as your eyes get fixed on the individual snowflakes falling and your heart is reminded that His ways are perfect! He alone is the author of the weather! I am so thankful that He knows exactly what we need! He caused us to have to be Still so we could KNOW Him as GOD & also receive the blessing of catching up on some much needed rest!

My prayer is that I will stay constantly in awe of God as my eyes look upon Him through nature as He displays Himself so Mightly! The snow this week has been such a beautiful picture and reminder to me of His Might, sinless life, purity, provision & unity!

Pictures of our first peaks out the window on Tuesday morning!

Being snowed in meant that we must pull out all the "stops" and make it a fun and entertaining day! So how better to start the day than to beautify ourselves with a crazy hair do, which would eventually represent how we all felt by the end of the day! :)

One things for sure, I am crazy about this crazy hair girl...pure joy!!!

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Okay, so believe it or not I did a terrible job of documenting all our in between fun because we kept so busy! Even though I am absent of pictures I'll try to recap our activities until the afternoon. After breakfast we ended up breaking out the Princess tent which ended up taking up half our living room! Lets just say it was well worth the maneuvering around, because it was the happening place! We watched a movie (of course not a new one. It has to be one that you can quote every line and sing every song...don't ya know), made PB&J's and used cookie cutters to make fun shape sandwiches...they always taste extra delicious that way, and of course ole faithful...playdo fun!

Now, I think we're all caught up! This was our last major activity for the day...finger painting or lily would rename it as hand painting! :) Oh and the hair do tells you that we were definitely feeling a little crazy after being cooped in all day, but at the same time loosing some of our spunkiness!

I learned quickly that Miss Lily would rather have her paint pallet in her hand than on the paper plate!

Sooo, do you think the floor is getting more paint or the paper!?

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Intensley preparing for some masterpieces!

Little Miss Picasa deliberating over her color schemes!

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Just like the saying, "It's not good unless you wear it,"....I guess in the art world, this would prove that she is a very talented artist!

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One last hand dip...

a smearing of the two...

and wha lah, my masterpieces are finished!

I'm afraid to get paint on the floor (ha) so look at me...no hands!

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A very pleased and happy Miss Picasa at what she sees!

All smiles after all that hard work!

Now I must go and get in the bathtub...my mommy said so!!! :)

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On Wednesday (day 2) a little after lunch we decided to layer up and take on the snow! We were determined to breath in some fresh frigid -17 below air! Oh, that is Michael and I were and Miss Lily was just out numbered! :)

Funny story, that morning I pulled back the blinds and called her over to show her how much more snow had accumulated thinking she would jump up & down in excitement...not the response! So I said, "Lily we're going to go out and play in the snow today are you excited?" Lily: "NO!"

I just laughed realizing that she has lived through several harsh winters and lots of snow in her two and half years of life. I think she no longer hears do you want to go PLAY in the snow, but do you want to bubble yourself up like a stiff marshmallow and stand in the snow while your tears freeze to your face!!! So her no meant...it's a whole lot prettier looking at it from the inside all warm!

But like I said, she was outnumbered and we were sure to get a smile out of her pulling her on the sled!

Michael's car all snowed in!

See, all smiles because her daddy is pulling her...

Fast! Whoo hoo!

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Snow drift knee deep!

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Happy face...

freezing face...

and then there's the sad face! I'm ready to go in now!

The Craft's!

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Yippee skippie, whaaa hoo, whoo hoo, yea, hooray the Crafts were on OK grounds for 3 days! Oh how I love this beautiful sister friend of mine! What a treat to have friends come to visit in our neck of the wood! (or more like plains) Joey, her husband was asked to come and be a part of a church planting conference. So while he was tied up with preparing and presenting, we took advantage of almost spending 24/7 with each other every day (and if there were more hours in the day I would have soaked those up too)! It was just soo fun to be girls getting in a good jaw and ear workout! But more importantly we received a spiritually fit workout as we praised and prayed all weekend! I love you dear friend and am praying for God to show Himself Mighty to the Nations in DC!

My only regret is not taking more pictures, but we were just having way too much fun!

Lily Loo & Sayde Lady

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So, so, fun to get to watch our girls play together...Miss Sayde Lady & Lily Lou! Here they are wrapping up the weekend with a farewell tea party!

As you can tell in the picture below who truly lives up to her ladiness, while on the other hand my sweet girl says forget the daintiness when you can just turn it up and guzzle it!!! Oh my, this cracks me up!

I love you my beautiful Sayde Lady friend,

love,

Lily :)

Before & After

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Okay so I'm not usually a pot posting kinda girl, but I have to say that this is blog worthy and possibly the best new trick I've learned! Hopefully you'll be like me & think this is the greatest thing since sliced bread too!

Okay, I know, this burnt pot calls for a testimonial...

All I was doing was trying to do what every other good mom does and that is multi-task. So in a nut shell that is how I fried the spaghetti noodles to the bottom of the pot! But sadly, this was on a Thursday night and then on Friday I was cooking for our Sunday school leaders and scorched the potato soup I was making.

So how does this incredible trick that I'm about to introduce to you come into the picture...actually very embarrassingly on my part. So like I said, I cooked a pot of potato soup and took it over to the Rosson's for our youth leadership prayer night. When I noticed that Michelle was about to stir it, I leaned over and whispered," it might be best if you don't stir it all way down to the bottom, I realized I scorched the bottom earlier."

She did a good job of trying to make me feel better about myself and said, "I'll just transfer it over to one of my pots." Okay, so I thought I was feeling better until the soup had been transferred and I saw the damage done...are ya with me!?

So for all of you concerned about the rest of the soup, I'm happy to say that it turned out rather tasty!

After dinner Michelle said lets try a old trick on your pot a friend of mine showed me years ago...and here you have it...the miraculous pot burning recover back to it's shininess trick!

# 1. The first thing you need is a burnt pot, which I have plenty to supply if you have an itch to try it out!

#2. Granulated dish detergent. If you have the packets like I do, just cut a slit in the granulated detergent side and empty it into your pot. It works better if you use 2 to 3 packets.

#3. One of my pictures wouldn't upload, but then you simply fill the pot with a few inches of water and BOIL... my area of expertise! :)

Take a wooden spoon and scrape over the burnt spots as it boils. You should slowly see the burnt spots lift off the pot.

#4. WHAAA LAAA!!! A happy shiny pot!

Which I have to say that I don't think this pot has ever been sooo shiny in all of its pot life!

So doing this post has caused me to search deep down within and I have realized that I have a HIGH cooking problem and a short-term cooking memory when I try to start another project with anything on the stove. But I will say that this comes honestly and is in the genes (passed down from my dad's side).

Here's the PROOF! My Moma Dot (grandmother) gave all the grandchildren a cookbook of all of her favorite recipes and this is her Bisquit recipe (I'm going to copy it down just as it is the cookbook)....

BISQUITS

2 CUPS S.R. FLOUR

1 TSP. SUGAR

1 TSP. BAKING POWDER

1/3 CUP COOKING OIL

1 CUP OF BUTTER MILK

MIX ALL INGREDIENTS & DROP IN MUFFIN TINS SPRAYED WITH PAM. BRUSH TOPS WITH MELTED BUTTER.

BAKE 375

THEN GO OUTSIDE IN THE YARD & WORK IN FLOWER BEDS. WHEN YOU SEE SMOKE COMING OUT THE WINDOWS, TAKE THEM OUT OF OVEN AND THROW INTO GARBAGE. CALL PAINTER TO COME PAINT KITCHEN! :)

Our 2nd Big girl haircut!

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I was thinking that Lily was going to have her momma's thick hair, but the longer it gets it looks like she may have her daddy's fine hair. We have discovered that all it takes is a head full of fine hair & one gust of the OK wind to = matted up knotty hair ALL the time!

So, this momma bit the bullet and told the lady to bob it off...did I really say that!? It wasn't until after the first cut that I couldn't believe I said that word...Bob!

All you have to do is give my Lily Loo a sucker and she doesn't flinch an inch! So here goes...BEFORE and....

here...

is...

the...

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much...

anticipated...

big...

girl...

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finished...

blow...

dried...

REVEAL!!! :)

She is soo stinkin cute! But it also makes me sad that taking off a few inches of hair makes my little girl look so much older. :( But I do love how it showcases her little petite face! :)

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Michael, me, Lily, & three other families took off to Keystone, CO just after Christmas with about 25 youth and college students for some fun on the slopes!

A really sweet surprise was that my mom flew out to join us...yay for Nonni!

Two of the guys, Zack & Christian had to end up bunking with us in our condo. They had no complaints about the couch and said it slept great...I'm just sure that waking up to Twinkle, twinkle little star sung at the top of Lily's little lungs every morning was not their idea of a wake-up call and surely not the time they would have requested either! :) They were great sports though and Lily loved having them around.

Christian actually got his leg slammed in the church bus door one evening. When Lily found out he was hurt, she looked at him and said, "Awww, Zack can kiss it!" We all just laughed! She is soo funny!

Okay, so I was thinking youth trip, budget = cheap condos...Wroonngg! Our place ended up being beautiful! There were days I was tempted to snuggled up with a good book and just stay inside all day, but the thrill of being on top of the mountain always won out!

Geared up and ready to hit the slopes with my mom on the first day!

The view from our balcony!

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Lily & I with some of our Graceway girls at the bottom of the slopes!

We struck the jackpot and found a free wagon just waiting for a little girl to jump in it! It was awesome when you could find one of these laying around in the village because that meant we got a break from carrying all of our skies to the base of the gondola...yay for wagons!

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Almost there!

On the last day we decided to take Lily on the gondola, so she could go to the top of the mountain. Their was a snow house built at the top that children could play in and I knew she would love it!

Here she is walking in the gondola line!

Our love birds...Ashely and Sam (affectionately known as Nancy :) We love them!

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My sweet little pink marshmallow is 29 months today and on her first gondola ride...up, up, & away! She loved every minute of it!

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Beautiful Nonni!

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She had so much fun watching the skiers below!

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Lily is standing in the entrance of the snow house at the top of the mountain!

A Lily snow angel!

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Have I ever told you before that my daughter has no fear and is definitely not scared of edges or heights! She didn't just want to stand at the edge of the the mountain, but fell to her bottom and tried to slide down it...oh dear!

I have to say that I think this is one of my most pictures! How Great is our God!

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There she goes! So thankful Nonni was there to get her!

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Fun was had at the top of the mountian and now its time to head back to the gondola for a ride back down to the bottom!

The View from the top!

Psalm 95

"Come let us sing for joy to the Lord, let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before Him with thanksgiving and extol Him with music and song. For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all the gods. In His hands are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to Him."

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View as we were coming down the mountain in the gondola!

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Alex, one of our youth girls would watch Lily while we went skiing. This is what I came back to one afternoon...sleepy snuggle bugs!

The Village at night all lit up!

Christmas Morning in OKC!

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY KING JESUS!

For 31 years we always found ourselves waking up in GA with our families on Christmas morning, but this year it was just the three of us starting our own family Christmas traditions and celebrating the birth of our Savior in OK! We missed everyone tremendously and it was definitely quieter than normal, but special in its own way being just the 3 of us!

But the blessing of Internet did allow us to invite the grandparents to join in on our morning fun for a little bit!

Giving Nonni and Papa hugs...

and kisses!

Tearing into the first present of the morning...

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a miniture Cinderella doll for her doll house she will open up last...shhhh!

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Daddy lovin!

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Now she's really styling with her new belt... you go Miss fashionista!