Malaya's Mom

She Earned It!!

2008-07-28T19:10:00.001-07:00

We had a special day today!! Malaya got her ears pierced!! She has to earn it this summer and she has worked hard!

This was right before she and her friend, Ryleigh went in for the pierce!!

Above she is ready to go in the chair...

I love this above picture. Here eyes are so intense. She is fighting so hard!

And the happy girls after!!!

My beautiful one...she picked out the April birthstone, which is diamonds but these were the "$20 diamonds;)"

What a special day it was for us!! My little girl is growing up faster than I wish but I praise God for precious memories like today!!

Yeh...

2008-07-11T15:27:00.000-07:00

So the past few months have been filled with tons of fun! Here is a quick run down:

1) Finished up SECOND grade!! Just typing that statement seems so surreal!! We will be attending yet another new school next year so third grade here we come!

2) My nephew Truitt turned 1!!! I am LOVING this aunt thing!!

3. Jed turned 2 just a few days after...

4) My neice, Jocelyn Brooke was born!!! She is so precious!! Malaya is so happy to have a girl cousin on the Ross side!!

5) Josh, Kayci and Truitt became Tennessians. This is the night before they made their trip!!

6)After this, pictures stopped. Haven't taken another picture this summer!! I know, I am horrible!

We hit Celebrate Freedom full throttle mode FAST!! It was June 27 and 28th. We (KidStand, a team of 7 people!! God does work miracles:) were in charge of the Family Fun Zone!! We had inflatables, constant entertainment, gospel messages, and Tons more. We did have to shut down early due to a bad storm so that was quite a let down and the time but God is so good!! The festival life is hard but so rewarding!! For people, that discount what God can do through mass evangelism, I dare you to experience it one time as one that prays with people and hear their confessions of faith. It is such a gift. KidStand works very hard on follow up and guiding people in "what to do next" in their journey of faith. Festivals are also a place that all "kinds" of Christian churches come together for one goal. God began developing a passion in me the past 15 years about the unifying of Christians. I know it seems an impossible thing to happen especially when I read blogs and sorts that do nothing but divide Christians and throw hateful words back and forth to ANYONE that doesn't agree exactly the way one does. I pray we can become a body that can work in "the streets" together, that can do outreaches together, that can do mission trips together, that can do youth rallies together, that can truly be the hands and feet of Jesus TOGETHER. So there goes my naive, dreaming rant:) God is faithful and graceful! Festivals allow people to come together as a FULL body of Christ and not under a specific church name. I LOVE it!!

7) So today I have been married for 10 years. In fact, 10 years ago right now I was exchanging vows with a wonderful man of God, surrounded by family and friends. It was a great and joyful day!! Happy Anniversary, David!!

I hope the rest of the summer is full of days at the pool, time with friends and family and experiences of renewal and refreshment through Jesus!! Live on...

My Papa

2008-04-30T06:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was one of those days that your rational mind always knew would come but your heart never thought it would. My Papa's flesh died yesterday. I have been trying hard to remind myself that only his flesh is gone. He is with Jesus, exactly where is desired to be for the past few years. He has told us all on numerous occasions that he was ready to go! Papa will be missed by so many. He was such a kind, witty man. Yesterday, before they could even get his body out the door, the neighbors were packed in the front yard wondering what had happened to Billie. One man immediately started mowing his yard, people brought food over all day and there was not a minute of the day that there was not a visitor over telling my grandmother how much they loved him. There are so many wonderful things about Papa. I have shared before, the majority of my childhood memories are with my B and Papa. I could have lived at their house when I was little if my parents had let me. They spoiled me rotten! But most importantly, Papa and B began a faith foundation for our family for generations to come. Because of their faith and devtion to Jesus, I have faith... and Papa's favorite day of the week was his "visiting day" when he and another elder would go around visit people that didn't know Jesus. He put together a revival 2 years ago in Crockett, Texas where many people came to Jesus.

Our family will not be the same without him. Please pray for my grandmother. They were married almost 59 years!!

8.....Really????

2008-04-10T11:36:00.001-07:00

I'm sure I have no readers left...but I have to shout out for Malaya's birthday! My daughter turns 8 YEARS OLD today!!! 8 years ago right now I was in a deep sleep, after recieving the greatest gift known to women (an epidural), while my labor increased with petocin. At 3:00, a nurse came in and told me it was time to push!! I was a little shocked but I was ready to have this baby in my arms. At 4:20 pm on a Monday afternoon, my life changed forever!!! I wish I had documented more of my feelings and how I felt b/c I had no clue that I wouldn't experience those heavenly feelings again, and for all you optimist out there, at least for a very long time!! Only God knows...
I was in pretty bad shape after giving birth to an 8 lb. 12 oz. baby (I know babies that have been born much bigger but for us Rosses this was a BIG baby!) so I didn't get to hold her for about an hour. I remember hearing her scream and cry and my Mom went straight to her and talked to her the whole time. My sweet hubby didn't leave my side. Malaya nursed really well but sleep..not so much!! And still to this day, she requires very little sleep, unlike her momma!! :)
I never knew what a joy being a mommy would be. Last week my parents and I were getting out Malaya's baby clothes to give to my niece that will be here in June!! and as I looked at those clothes every outfit brought back memories. And then to think to the present to her playing basketball, being in 2nd grade, talking on the phone, doing power point presentations at school!! How did we get 8 years later??!! I took everything super serious as a mom. I was telling Malaya last night that everyone would laugh at me b/c when you were just weeks old, I would rock you and read the bible to you. It did feel kind of silly but oh well, I had fun. And now you are eight and you read the bible each morning on your own. It seems surreal!!
I know all of us mommies hear all the time that they grow up so fast but let me just say these past 8 years have flown!!! I have grown closer to my Lord b/c of Malaya's existence. She has taught me about joy, love, laughter, and bizaillion's of other things. And I have loved getting to know God better with her. We have walked 8 years of life together.
I am so proud of her!!!
If you get a chance after reading this blog, will you just say a quick prayer over Malaya and her next year of life--that she will continue to have a hunger for God's word, that she will have a deepening desire to have relationship with Jesus, that she will be bold in her faith and continue to witness to kids at school, that she will have a devotion to Jesus and his calling and she will commit to living her life for Him! Thank you so much!!
And Malaya, precious one, Happy Birthday! You are such a treasure. I cannot imagine my life without being your mom!!! I love you the most:)

Daddy/Daughter Fun

2008-02-01T17:21:00.000-08:00

Please forgive my lack of blogging. My laptop has been broken so I don't have my favorites and I only have use when David brings his laptop home!! AAGGHH!! Major withdrawals!
So many fun pictures from the last couple of months. Maybe I will catch up slowly. So Malaya and David left a few minutes ago for a 50's Soc Hop/ Daddy, Daughter dance at school. We have another Daddy/ Daughter dance next Friday so we didn't do the poodle skirt but I think she looked so cute.

So crick your neck a bit. Aren't they cute??! We watched a video on You Tube on how to Jitterbug so they are ready to swing!!

I can't wait for them to get home to hear all about it!

Better Late Than Never

2007-11-12T17:43:00.000-08:00

So Halloween was 2 weeks ago but here are some fun memories from our day. Malaya had a field trip and my mom came along. IT was a lot of fun! Here they are on the bus on the way out there.
So you will not get this if you have never seen the Hannah Montana show but Malaya's great friend, Ryleigh was Hannah Montana and Malaya was Hannah's sidekick, Lola. They were so cute and really played up their roles. We had trunk or treat at church and so fittingly, our truck had a Hannah theme. We had a hula dance off!

Here's me and Jessie. She was of course, Candi Cotton and I was Candi's friend, Brandi. We had so much fun!

The fam...

We had a great time with our church family and having fun with people from the community.

Great memories!!

My Fall Update

2007-10-30T08:59:00.000-07:00

I think I am going to be a seasonal blogger :) so here are some fall updates from the Biz's.

Second grade is underway... Malaya's teacher had a baby but was back today. She took a very short maternity leave. Malaya is loving school. I can see more than ever before God's activity in her life. Her character is being developed and refined and I praise God that I get to witness his activity in her. I am realizing more than ever about my intentionality as a parent. Last night I was trying so hard to go to sleep and I just was so restless. I could feel the Spirit pulling me to get up and pray. I went into Malaya's room and just gave it to Him. I stared into her sleeping face and was once again reminded of how short my time is with her. I still remember so detailed the day she was born. It that was almost 8 years ago. I really wasn't going to get emotional. Onto something else... :)

A few months ago, God began really changing my life. Several habits have been broken. Several new habits have been put into place. Several habits He is still trying to break:) It's a work in progress, right?? I have never been more dedicated though, to my role as wife and mom. I am taking it so much more seriously than ever. I could never have imagined how busy I would be when I got serious about the role God has given me. I prayed and prayed for so many years for God to show me if I should get a job, go back to school, etc. etc. but when I finally submitted to His will and jumped in with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, I know it is right for me to be dedicated to my family for this season. A few weeks ago, in our Wednesday night parenting class we made a list of characteristics that we desire our children to have one day. And then we brainstormed and discussed what we are doing in our day to day, hohum life to put those characteristics in place for our children. I realized how passive I have been with so much instead of thinking intenionally about every action and word! That's a work in progress for the next 10 years!!

God is so GOOD! He has blessed our family of three beyond what I could have hoped. Though my human nature wants to everyday align myself with MY will, I know I have pledged my life to something different and that means MY will does not exist.

This blog has gotten way too serious so here are some FUN pictures!!

Malaya adores her Grammy. This was before breakfast with grandparents at school.

Malaya had a day out of school a few weeks ago and we were going to go to the fair but after sitting in traffic for over an hour we exited off, had some lunch at Landry's and then went to the Dallas Aquarium which is amazing!! We also celebrated my dad's b-day all day which was fun!

Okay, this picture is a big deal b/c I have always been REALLY afraid of sharks (even if they are in aquariums) I have always been fascinated by them. I LOVE shark week on Discovery and all but yet very afraid. So it was a HUGE deal for me to sit UP AGAINST THE GLASS with these monsters swimming inches behind me with just a think layer of glass between us. I couldn't stop thinking about Jaws 3 when the aquarium glass breaks and all the sharks go loose!!Still gives me the heeber-jeevers but I did it! My dad took this picture of me so I could show off that I did it! :)

The next week we took Malaya out of school early and we did go to the fair!! It was a great day! Some Bizaillion relatives (whom we have never met nor know) sent us Flat Stanley so here is a picture of Malaya holding up Flat Stan with Big Tex!

We went to pumpkin patch right here by our house. The girls had so much fun!

It is drug free week at school and they have been doing silly themed things each day. This was "keep your friends accountable day" so you had to be "twins" with some one. Malaya asked our neighbor to dress alike so here are the cuties!

Malaya was out of school last Friday so we went to our favorite place, Glen Rose!! We went to Fossil Rim. We had the greatest time!! At the very end of the day we came to the giraffes and this one stood in front of my car and stretched its neck over the top of my car and then came INTO my car through the sunroof!! It ate food right out of our hands!! It was the greatest! To be able to see such an amazing animal right in our face! I even touched her eyelashes! She was beautiful! And as you can see the sky was beautiful! It was so awesome to be surrounded by God's beautiful creation all day!

I hope your fall season is off to a fun kick! We will be trunk or treating tomorrow!

Maybe I will aim for 2 blogs in one season and post for Thanksgiving!! :)

Okay, okay...

2007-09-10T09:46:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I will roll with this thing. :) We'll see what happens!!
Here are the rules:
1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.
2. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write a post on their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules. (if you don’t have a blog, email me)
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

1. I have never gone one night in my life without a bath ( if I must, a shower) but I definitely prefer the bath. Baths are the closest thing to heaven on earth!

2. To go with #1, I always go through all 3 steps of my Beauti Control EVERY morning and night. My day does not begin until my teeth are brushed, my contacts are in and my face is clean.

3. (This habit has developed in the past 3 years.) I can not STAND for my finger nails to be long. I have to cut them at least once a week. I will say, I am not a nail biter, just a cutter.

4. I LOVE wheat thins. They are my new favorite snack. They must be the simple original kind.

5. I get pretty addicted to reality television (Bachelor, American Idol, The Hills, etc.)

6. I get car sick very easily. One jerky turn, one slam on the brakes and my equllibrium (sp??) is thrown. I have never actually vomited from it but I can get pretty sick. That is why you will see me driving most of the time instead of David!

7. I LOVE to work puzzles! In fact there is a 1,000 piece puzzle out on our card table in the living room now. Malaya has got on to my love!

8. I am a verge Obsessive compulsive as you can see by some of my list but I think this one tops the cake. I am quite sentimental...Let me see if I can articulate this...Each day I think, for example, "This is the only 10th of September of 2007 I will ever live." "This is the only 4th day of second grade Malaya will ever have." etc...I know, a little depressing.

So there are some of my surface interesting facts. :) If I go deeper you will think I am a nut case.

Now, i tag anyone who is reading this and hasn't made their list yet.

I SURVIVED!

2007-09-05T11:59:00.000-07:00

I lived through the first day of 2nd grade. I cried off and on all day but I made it. We had prayed over this school year all summer and the anticipation was BIG! (OF course, not for Malaya but for me:) Her teacher is once again a Christian and another ACU grad. Malaya LOVES her. I trust God is going to do wonderful things in Malaya's life this year. I know God will use her at school to be a light to her school. Here is my little 2nd grader on the first day.

My Papa turned 80 last week! He is such an amazing man of faith! Some of my greatest childhood memories are with him. He is a firecracker and has the cutest wit!

Malaya enjoyed some time with Cousin Truitt.

At Papa's party Malaya stole my camera for a bit so I thought I would share some of the pics she got. Enjoy... (This might result in some major payback:)
Cousin Tabitha, who I must give a proud shout out b/c she is a freshman and she is paying Varsity volleyball!!
Brother Josh, need I say more...So, I'll throw myself under the bus too!

And Josh again...I love this kid :)

And I have been tagged several times so I will be sharing my interesting things about myself tomorrow. I need some time to think:)

Summer Vacation

2007-08-14T18:34:00.000-07:00

Well, we are still recovering from our family vacation. Our family added 2 additions this past year so vacation was SOOO much more exciting. A stomach bug got passed around a bit especially for Josh and Kayci. I missed getting to hang out with them more. Here are quite a few pics of some of our favorite memories.

As soon as we got there we all jumped in the lake. It took us a while to get Malaya in. The idea of swimming with snakes and fish was not appealing to her. We got this picture and she did not stay in too much longer!

We had a huge deck. We had dinner each night on the deck. This was the sunset the first night! So beautiful and of course an even beautiful site is the little girl posing in front! God created the perfect backdrop!

Grampy and Grammy with their grandkiddos.

Two of my loves!

The one of 2 days I actually put make up on:)
The three Ross cousins!

One day David had the greatest idea to go to an Orchard to pick strawberries, blueberries, figs, etc. Well, the orchard was deserted. We were the only ones there. No workers, no other visitors, NOTHING, NOBODY!! BUT... we still had fun. We found a few berries that were alive and we got a few tomatoes. Malaya and Jed enjoyed just walking around. It was TOASTING hot so most of the fam spent time under the shade. On top of the heat, when it was time to leave I realized (out of my excitement to be there) that I had locked my keys in the truck. My "can do anything", sexy hubbie, was able to open the sliding door on the back of the truck and we got in!! I LOVE HIM!!

The Chillin Trio

Well, Malaya rode on the boat for about 2 minutes. She was the flag raiser for when someone fell off the inner tube. She did it a couple of times until she started claiming that she was "seasick". I had another picture that did show Malaya's face but it also showed a little more of David than the blog world needs to see;) So this will be my blog memory of Malaya on the boat.

Some inner tube fun! This was my favorite day!! I got thrown around like a ragdoll back there but it was so much fun! I have bruises and cuts to prove my determined self! Every muscle in my body hurt for a few days.

Jenn and I had a great time. (Kayci was sick this day. :(

Dad and Josh

The Ross children decided to take a ride together! I laughed so hard! They graciously gave me the middle. I can say I was the last one off. Ha!

Jed wasn't too sure about the ride. I think next year he will be a pro.

David got Jed and Truitt matching, reversible Astros hats. Mom also got them matching shirts. Aren't they handsome boys!

Josh teaching his son the important things of life early on...

On the last day, Malaya went fishing and as soon as she put the pole in she caught a catfish. That would be in the exact same spot that we had been swimming all week. No wonder she didn't want to swim:) We were very proud of her catch but after that one fish she was done :)

I love you, Kayci! Next year you will be back in the saddle to play again!!!;)

We had a great vacation. I loved getting to love on my nephews. They are both so precious!

We have some great memories and I look forward to next year's also.

I am sad summer is almost over:( Hopefully some great 2nd grade memories are coming!!

Summer Fun

2007-08-02T12:42:00.000-07:00

Okay, so the gift of a new blog header has inspired me to update, if I even have any readers left. Don't you love the header???? If you are interested in knowing who took those great pictures, email me and I will brag on her gift! :)

This summer has been so wonderful!! Here are a few highlights.

Malaya and I have done tons of swimming and hence the picture that reflects most of our comings and goings this summer. When I just downloaded my pictures, this one came up along with a few others. Not quite sure who I am talking to, but I sure seem intense!

Malaya got to attend 3 VBS's this summer! She had so much fun at all of them!! Here is her and a friend at the LCC Marketplace.

David and I celebrated 9 years of marriage last month! He is such a hottie and gets more and more so each year! Malaya adores him! He has been working his tail off this summer but God has really blessed his business. It is growing!!!! YAY!!

Jen and Jed came and spent a few days up here and we spent a day at the zoo. Malaya loves Jed so much. He is such a fun kid!!

More highlights that lack pictures:

We got to go see John Mayer in concert. We had a great time with friends and the concert was amazing. John Mayer is such a fabulous musician. I now own each of his cd's. :)

I have gotten to lead a bible study on Wednesday mornings. I don't know all of the people very well but it has been such a gift to get to know these women in a spiritual sense b/c that is our genuine essence.

Malaya and I went and registered for second grade today. I can not believe I am a mother of a second grader!! She is so precious to me. I am really going to miss her when school starts:(

And now for the biggest highlight of this summer.......

THE PREMIERE OF HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am so excited!! I think even more than Malaya!! And now I am going to close this blog to watch them on the View!!

Enjoy the rest of your summer!!

It's Been a Whirlwind!!

2007-06-13T16:48:00.000-07:00

Well, we finished first grade and we have been off and running!! Here are some fun pics...Malaya at field day!

This past weekend we went down to Houston for Jed's 1st birthday party! We got to have fun time with Josh and Kayci and Truitt as well. We got there just in time on Friday to watch my brothers sky dive! I could NEVER do this but these 2 guys have always stretched themselves with danger:) My SIL, Kayci wants to go next time and David might go along too.

Malaya bought an MP3 player with her birthday money. I thought this picture was so cute. Jonathan and Jennifer each had an earpiece in their ear listening to a song that Malaya wanted them to listen to.

Mom and Dad enjoying their 3 grandkids at Jed's b-day party.
Truitt's first time to take a dive:) (No, we were not baptizing babies at the party:)
Enjoying his 1st birthday cake! Jen made the cakes from scratch and they were delicious!!

A few more updates:
The day we got out of school my SIL (David's sister), her 4 kids, and my MIL all stayed with us for 5 days!!! We had the best time. Have I mentioned before how much how love Dina! She is amazing!! I praise God for her friendship, her Godly wisdom/example and her conversation!
Malaya went home with them for 4 days. It was a little rough on me and Malaya but we made it through. I bawled for a few hours after she left but made it through with some entertainment from a friend. :) Malaya is going to 2 VBS's this week and is loving it, though she had to miss yesterday b/c I think her body just wore down!

We have a rally next Thursday at the Potter's House for anyone that is close that would like to come check out KidStand, Have some fun, and worship God with 1500 kids! Is there anything better??? If anything, please pray for the night!

We are looking forward to the rest of our summer. Hope you are having a great one!!

Blessings in Nephews

2007-05-14T19:15:00.000-07:00

I am an aunt who is totally in love with her 2 nephews! The three of us made a trip down to H-town to see my newest nephew Truitt. He is PRECIOUS!! I also got to spend some fun playtime with Jed. He is one of the silliest kids!! He cracks me up! He and Truitt are going to have some good times ahead! Here are some fun pics from the weekend!

Isn't he beautifully handsome!!!

Such a weird ( in a good way:) stage of life to watch my brothers transition to being daddys! What a blessing it is to see them love their sons so passionately! Kayci and Jennifer are amazing moms! I can't wait to watch their families develop! I tell them both ALL the time (probably annoyingly too much:) that Malaya and I can not wait to babysit!!

Jed just keeps me in stitches (just like his dad). As you can see, his new game is peekaboo. He is one precious kiddo. I can not believe he is about to be the big ONE!!!

I LOVE being an auntie!! Next week 3 of my neices and one other nephew will be coming in town! Malaya is so excited to have her cousins come stay!! There will be lots of great memories to share!

We had a great Mother's Day! Good family time!Here is the precious miracle that gave me the title of mommy 8 years ago!! She makes my heart burst! Speaking of her...she is almost a stinkin' 2nd grader!!!!!!!!!!!!! Where does the time go???? I LOVE being her mom! I am excited about our summer together!

We passed through a major milestone tonight and I survived!! Every night since the day she was born (with the exception of a few nights when she was a new born and I was too tired:) I have read to her. As I was doing the dishes tonight I started thinking that one day she is not going to want me to read to her anymore, she will want to read by herself. It wasn't 10 minutes later and she came into the kitchen and said she would like to read on her own tonight!!! I think God put it on my heart to prepare me for the heart break. :(:(:(:( As we did bedtime I told her I would make a deal that she could start reading on her own but I still wanted one night a week! Is that selfish?? Don't tell me if you think it is:) Let me grovel in my own selfishness for as long as she will let me.

Pray for me....:)

MY SECOND NEPHEW IS BORN!!!

2007-05-05T19:32:00.000-07:00

Well, Truitt arrived early!! He was born at about 3:30 today! Check out the handsome new Ross boy at www.truittross.blogspot.com
We will be waiting VERY impatiently till we get to see him next weekend! Please say a prayer over him!!
YAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!!

I'm Alive!!

2007-05-03T10:08:00.000-07:00

I really have gotten bad with this blogging thing! Thought I would fill you friends and fam in on what has been going on in our world. It has been a busy, busy month. I feel like I am just now recovering from the weekend! I was wiped!!!

Continued from the last blog...Malaya wanted a slumber party this year so we had 8 little girls over for some pizza, dancing and no sleep:)

2 girls had to leave early so here is the all night crew. We had a dance contest which the girls took very seriously. There were some future KidStand back up dancers in the mix:) I will just show Malaya to not embarrass any of the girls! The party started right about the time tornado sirens started going off and it began down pouring! Another mom stayed b/c of hail so I calmly gathered all the girls and we sat in my bathtub for 30 minutes. Many funny times from that!

My cousin Hutt is graduating this year. A few ladies from their church threw Hutt a party. It was so nice! I can not believe he is graduating. He is one of the smartest people I know. He is an amazing baseball player! He has an amazing singing voice! He is a great leader in his youth group. I am so proud of him!
Another SUPER exciting thing is that my brother and sister in law will become parents next Monday the 7th!!!! She is being induced that day so hopefully he will come fast!! His name is Joshua Truitt Ross and we will call him Truitt!! I can not wait to meet him! These little nephews are going to be so much fun!! Jed and he will be good buddies and I am sure Malaya is ready to teach them all the ropes! Here is a pic from her shower a few weeks ago. Doesn't she look beautiful!! I love my girls!! I have such amazing sister in laws.!!Malaya is so blessed to have such great aunts. Almost every time we are with them Malaya wants to "dress them up" by either doing their make up or hair. Jenn is always so patient and lets Malaya do pretty much anything she wants. She allows Malaya to practice her "creativity":)
I wasn't able to get a great picture but Malaya signed up for a speaking part in their 1st grade play. I was so proud of her. We practiced her lines for weeks and she whipped them out like a pro! You may not be able to see but she is the pig! I cannot believe this year is almost over!!

This past weekend, the whole KidStand team went to Fort Lauderdale, Florida to do the children's area at a huge Christian festival! We worked our tails off but it was SOOO much fun and God was so good! When we first got there Satan tried his attack hard but we prayed and fought and God revealed his glory in some powerful ways!! 80 kids signed up to know more about Jesus and wanted to dedicate their lives to Him!! ( 26 of them never went to church before) Each child was individually counseled by our team and were encouraged to find a church home, Christian friends, to be baptized, and to start reading the Bible. It was an amazing experience to be a part of. Our team consists of some AMAZING people that I learn so much from. Because we were ministers at the festival we were allowed backstage access. On Friday night Jeremy Camp was the headliner! He led us through a powerful time of worship! I am such a huge fan of him and his wives music. The lyrics to their songs have meant so much to me at different phases in my life. "This is My Desire" is still one of my fav songs of all time! He is an amazing writer! So we were able hang out with him backstage for a bit and get a pic with our team! My friend, Liz got a pic so as soon as she sends it me I will post it!

On the last day the festival got finished about 6:00 so we took off to spend a few hours at the beach!! Considering the only beach I have ever been to is Galveston, I was stunned at the beauty of the beach! It was beautiful to be there with my friends and KidStand family! I love each one of them!!

Liz is taking the pic. But here is the line up: Joe - does our marketing and carrying equipment:), his wife Kim - does fundraising and lots of other stuff:), me - KidStand assitant (I dab a little in it all.) bottom is Marissa, KidStand dancer, Jessie - Kidstand visionary, founder, president, Valarie- KidStand dancer and actress, and Solrun (KidStand dancer).

Life is such an adventure! God is still working through a lot of junk in me but I hope He is being able to use the parts of my heart that do belong to Him. ("I pray that he continues his good work in me.") At least I hope it is good:):) I am learning a lot lately about the broad community of faith and it exists WAY outside of my little box. He is so much bigger than I have ever known and I know He will continue to amaze me right up to the point I look into His face of glory. It is a blessing to have people in my life that continuously point me to that moment and encourage me to live me life with that moment in mind!

Blessings on you until next month when I update:):)

Yep-She's 7

2007-04-10T19:27:00.000-07:00

I can not believe it! I am the mother of a seven year old. The joy she has brought me is indescribable. She is a "precious one". As I prayed over her at bedtime tonight, fresh, new prayers were being put on my heart. I love this little girl beyond all understanding. Praise God for her birth, life and eternal existence. My life is forever changed b/c of the events of this day, 7 years ago! I love you, little Biz!!

Malaya's school took a field trip to the Dallas Arboretum. Mom and I went along for the fun! They had a class and learned about the metamorphisis of a butterfly. Here is Malaya demonstrating the stages. Feel free to use these pics for your children's learning pleasure:)

They also put on wings after they came out of their 'cocoon' but Malaya would not be still enought for me to get a good pic.

Fun b-day pics-

David went and got donuts for our birthday, breakfast in bed. Malaya got new goggles for this upcoming swimming season:)

Emaline and I took Malaya Mc Donald's for lunch today!

For some reason Malaya decided to revert back to being 1 and ate her molten cake and ice cream with her hands. What kind of mother would I be to stop her:)

Fun family game time ahead!

This day 7 years ago, God placed in my hands a little girl. A new perspective into heaven became a little more visible that day. I look forward to this 7th year of her life and seeing more of Him through her.

Easter fun!

2007-04-08T17:01:00.000-07:00

We had a great Easter weekend. We built up to today and tried to think through the week as what Jesus would have been doing each day a little less than 2000 years ago. We got to spend some time with great friends at LCC. Rhonda did (as always) a great job with the Easter Eggstravaganza. Malaya had a blast getting to catch up with all her LCC friends. We got to have a celebration of Jesus' resurrection last night. We got to worship with my parents and grandmother with the Christians at Decatur. That was a blessing to be there with them today!

Dying Easter eggs last night was fun. We "marbelized" them this year.

My prissy almost 7 year old! (B-day will happen on Tuesday. Pray for me:)

Man, I have a good lookin Husband!!! And a beautiful daughter! WOW!!

My precious mom has made this cake every Easter since I was a little girl. It gets yummier every year! Thanks mom for making it again!
Malaya's mouth is full of a roll but we thought her smile was too cute with these chipmuck cheeks!
We had a great day! The Savior of men and Lord of our hearts ROSE AND IS LIVING!! Still blows my mind!!
Have a great week!!

Philly and New York

2007-04-08T16:07:00.000-07:00

We have had a fast and furious last few weeks! I had the HUGE blessing of traveling with KidStand to Philadelphia last weekend. Jessie taught 4 workshops and we put on a rally on Friday night. It was neat to see the Lord work through the rally and see people get pumped up to teach kids about Jesus. The workshop got finished Saturday afternoon and we had a few hours to do some "sight seeing". We decided to be very spontaneous and we took a train into New York! This WILL go down as one of the highlights of my life. It was all so overwhelming and just like the movies. I tried sushi for the first time ever and probably will not be eating it again:) Here is Jess leading the adults and a few kids in worship. This was an interactive workshop to teach children's leaders some motions to children's songs! We had a blast!

On the train to New York! (Man, sitting between these 2 I desperately need a tan and some highlights :)I made a great new friend, Susan Gray on the right. She challenged me spiritually in some major ways. She is a worship leader and has a praise and worship CD out. I loved getting to know her. And then of course Jessie is on the left. I praise God for her friendship this past year. She has taught me so much and is faithful in prayer and seeking God's will for her. Talk about using her talents for God! I love these friends! My first sushi experience!When we walked up stairs from the train station this was my sight! I was just in awe!! New York is an interesting city. I saw some things that I have never seen and probably will never see again! We definitely were not in Texas anymore:)

I DID!!

2007-03-19T12:20:00.000-07:00

I cried this morning when I took Malaya back to school!! I LOVED having her home last week. This past week made me so ready for the summer! We had lots of special time together and we really didn't do "much". We played and enjoyed being together all week. She was in very joyous and mature spirits all week so that helped:) I love watching God continue his beautiful work in her! There are very specific things that I prayed for her when she was in my womb and I am beginning to see God fulfill those prayers with approval. Even though some of those qualities have been torturous to see God develop. :) Very hard lessons for me and her.

We closed out our week with a day at our new favorite family get away, GlenRose. We picnic'd in Dinosaur Valley. We then hiked for about 4 hours in the hills. It was BEAUTIFUL!!

Only 9 more weeks until summer vacation!!!!:)

Fun Family Time

2007-02-25T17:08:00.000-08:00

We decided this afternoon to go check out Grapevine Lake. We have never been out there before!! We had a great time!! We did some hiking, fishing and lot's of laughing. (Our laughs are mostly when one of us falls or trips or something. I know it's weird. We owe this to Grammy.:)

Here some pics from our day.

Malaya LOVES to climb. She is quite adventurous in nature. She climbed this cliff in the pic on the left. I skipped out on that adventure!

I love this picture. They were in deep conversation about "influence".

Malaya has always been into ladybugs. It was her "pet" for the day. By the way, that is cranberry juice/dirt on her lip not facial hair:)

No, this is not Jesus walking on water!! :) He is standing on a rock but I thought it looked pretty neat!

We had a great day!! We will be going out there again soon for some more memories!

Highlights of the week

2007-02-15T09:35:00.000-08:00

As I said in the earlier post David and Malaya went to their very first Daddy/Daughter dance. I picked Malaya up early from school to go to Sweet N Sassy to get her hair and nails done. We met some of our friends there that were also going to the dance. We weren't too sure about their picks of hair styles but it was their night!! So we decided this was not a battle either of us mom's were going to fight. This friend, Ryleigh, and Malaya have dreamed up that they are going to open a store one day called Sassy Trends. They have drawn up their designs and everything so keep your eyes open for this great store in about 15 years:)

They had a great time! Then we boogied home to get dressed and ready to go. Here are some pics from the evening. David was so good to capture the evening for me. He kept me updated through text messages all evening.

They enjoyed a carriage ride, a limo ride, LOTS of dancing, and great daddy/daughter time. I was so excited for them! This will be a life long memory for Malaya.

I also got to enjoy dinner with my college roomies. Man, these girls always amaze me with their spiritual depth, their passions and the way they can make me laugh! We have some great memories together! It was so great to catch up with them!

From left to right - Summer, me of course :), Holly, and Kayla. Kayla is expecting her first baby in April! So, we are all wives and mommies! I LOVE these girls. Thanks Kayla for flying in to have dinner with us!! I LOVED catching up with you! Can't wait to meet Baby Cansler!!

To wrap up my highlights - Valentine's Day. I got home very late from dinner with my roomies. I came home to a rose on the floor at the front door. It had a note on top of it that led me on a scavenger hunt around the house to find a total of 12 roses!! The last one was yellow from Malaya. So fun!! The next morning started with breakfast in bed fixed by David and Malaya (Waffles and kolaches, b/c Malaya knew those were my 2 favs!). Then starting at 7 am, I began getting "love" emails at the top of each hour all day. It made my day!!

Malaya's Valentine's Party was yesterday. I was going to blog some pics of her and some friends but not so sure how legal that is???? (to post other kids, especially when I don't know them well! ) Who knows! I will be safe! So here is a pic of my "precious one", that's what Malaya means in Hawaiian, don't know if I have shared that before:)

Have a great weekend!!

1st Valentine's

2007-02-13T09:14:00.000-08:00

Well, Malaya got her first Valentine yesterday ( not one that was given as a group). Here is the contents of the Valentine's:
"You have really nice hair. You are so so so so sweet.
drawing of 2 hearts

To: Malaya
happy Valentine's Day"

Gratefully, Malaya thought it was a really nice thing for a friend to do.
Hopefully, things will stay this innocent until she is about 30:)

David asked another lady on a date Friday night - Malaya! He took her to their first Father/Daughter dance. More details and pics on that to come. They had a blast. I know Malaya will remember it forever! He made her feel very special!!
Happy early Valentine's day!!

Just some stuff...

2007-01-31T17:36:00.000-08:00

I have gotten really bad with this blogger thing. I am sitting here with my hub and daughter watching a movie we have seen a billion times so I thought I can blog and still "be with the family". :)
Here is 13 things I have experienced/learned the past few weeks:
1. God offers us such undescribable peace if we just accept it.
2. Romance truly does exist and it's fun!! (even it is help from a silly book) No comments here, family.
3. Daily, devoted, heart pouring and open prayer TRULY does change my life.
4. Malaya learned her first "cuss"word at school. Thank goodness she is still at an age she isn't scared to ask us about it and we could tell her what it means. No, I am not telling you what the word is:)
5. I am obsessed with doing laundry.
6. I said last year in a blog that "all I have to do is be still and let God do the work on me." Though I still find this to be true sometimes, I do not believe this is true for a lifetime. I believe there will be seasons that I can rest in God's peace but there are times that takes some activity on my part. Sorry, if I misled anyone. Maybe I should add a disclaimer to my blog stating that the contents in my blog are not always factual and are J. Biz's seasonal opinions based on her growth! That's a mouthful!
7. I am a LITTLE dog person:)
8. I do not know how to style hair. I know some of you are thinking, "she is just now realizing this???" . I really do not know how!! That is why 98% of the time you will see me with my hair up. The little I do know how to style my hair, I am too lazy to spend the 2 hours getting it "right"!
9. I think about bad things happening to my family too much. Too much of a worrier!
10. Working out releases major chemicals in my body. Days I don't work out I feel depressed, sluggish, lazy, and ready to check out of life. Days I do, I have energy, joy, endurance! It's amazing the way God made our bodies!
11. I LOVE the music of John Mayer. I got a CD from my brother and sister in law for Christmas and I am hooked. I love his sound and that he writes his own stuff (that's a big deal to me!)
12. I have a desire to travel more!
13. David and I volunteered together for malaya's class last week. He worked with them on Math and I worked on Reading. David was a big hit. I think having a dad up there was unique and some of the little boys really hooked on to him.

I leave you with a quote that I love.
"If our petitions are in accordance with His will, and if we seek His glory in the asking, the answers will come in ways that will astonish us and fill our hearts with songs of thanksgiving." J.K. Maclean
"I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving." Psalm 69:30

Blessings to you, blog readers!

Okay, so I'm a HORRIBLE blogger...

2007-01-10T20:13:00.000-08:00

Everything got a little out of order so just go with it please!! My computer has been a whip tonight!! Sometimes technology is my biggest enemy!!

I know this is very dark!! But... I must share this!! I was doing dishes tonight when the doorbell rang. I opened the door to this which if you look closely you can see a heart made by Hershey's kisses and 2 roses in the middle!! The hershey's kisses continued on in a path that led out to our driveway, around the cars, down the sidewalk, and up the path to our neighbor's porch ( no one has lived there for a few months. As I turned towards their front door there stood my incredibly hot husband with a rose in his mouth (if your husbands are my hubbie's friends please no teasing;) and he asked if he could "kiss me" and of course I said YES!! I love him!! This was so much fun!! (The funny thing is I thought David was in the office working the whole time so I never knew he snuck out!)

Malaya giving me some beautiful earrings!! You also see here Mom and Dad's new dog that is getting a lot of talk lately. There's little Molly!

(This was my opening paragraph to this blog before everything got messed up) Sorry readers for the confusion!

But I do have some fun (at least to me:) stuff to share. Here are some fun Christmas memories. We celebrated with the Biz's down in Kerrville this year. It is so beautiful down there. We stayed in David's great aunt's ranch house. Malaya got to feed deer out of her hand. The antelope roam freely ( sounds like a song:). All the kids went out in the morning to have all this fun while I helped make breakfast so there are no pics. Bummer...

Here is Malaya and 2 of her cousins, Chloe and Annette. They are the closest in age of all the cousins.

To the right is David's youngest sister, Mandy and her husband, Jace. We love them!!

This picture makes me laugh!! This is David's oldest sister, Dina, her hubby, Mark and BABY KATLYN, who just got her first taste of a lemon. Dina is laughing one of those laughs as if she can't believe she just did that and Mark is coming over to the rescue to help his tortured daughter:) We love these guys!! Constant laughs!!

Here is Malaya on Christmas Eve night with her letter to Santa and her plate of cookies and an apple b/c our Santa is pretty health conscious:) Somehow in true Bizaillion fashion-it has become a tradition to leave Santa a chewed piece of gum so if you look close you will see that disgusting eye sore:)

My Mom and Dad spent the night with us on Christmas Eve so Mom and Malaya slept on the blow up mattress in the office so they wouldn't see or hear Santa;) Here's the eager girl on Christmas morning. We wouldn't let her come out till everyone had their teeth brushed (now that's a Ross thing;)

Though we have not done "official" Christmas with my fam yet (yes, you heard that correctly but we are still Christmassing it this weekend:) . Malaya and Jed did open up some gifts that Santa left at "Grammy and Grampy's" house. And they opened up most of their gifts over there. They had a great time.

Here is my precious 6 and a HALF, which she will make sure and tell you!! She got this new robe from Grammy and Grampy for Christmas. She wanted me to put her hair up like I do so here we are. She looks WAY to big!

Hope you all had a great holiday! I will have more fun to share I am sure after this weekend! Blessings!!

We've been up to bunches!

2006-12-18T10:42:00.000-08:00

We have been partying like crazy around our house! The past few weeks have been pretty constant with tons of fun!!

Two weeks ago we had a reindeer run at school. Malaya had so much fun! She made it around the "path" 5 times! I was very proud of her. I attempted to walk with her but I thought my little friend and I were going to get trampled so we chose to sit on the sidelines and cheer on her and her class.

A few days after that we went to Nordstrom's Breakfast With Santa with our friends Stephanie and Rainey. I HIGHLY recommend this for anyone who has never been. There were probably 100-150 there. They open up the whole store for ticket holders only. The tickets were very cheap!! We ate a yummy breakfast of french toast, eggs, sausage, fruit and a few other things and any juice imaginable. While we ate, magicians came around to each table and there were elves walking around on stilts. After breakfast you got free pictures with Santa ( no line I might add). Though Malaya informed me this year that she was too big to still sit on Santa's lap. I informed her that she has at least 6 more years she must still do this. No questions asked!! :) There was a station that the kids could write a letter to Santa. (Malaya already got a return letter from Santa.) There was face-painting. And a goodie bag for all the children with lots of fun crafts in it. I was very impressed!

This past week I took Malaya out of school for a day and we made a fast trip to Houston to see the Rockettes! My mother in law asked for her 50th birthday present to take all the girls in the family to see them. We had a blast!! Malaya and I both LOVED the Rockettes. Their show is spectacular! And of course, Malaya was in heaven getting to spend time with her cousins who she adores!!

From left to right is obviously Malaya :), Alyssa and Baby Katlyn (isn't she precious; everytime I look at her I amazed at God's miraculous way to heal!) and her big sister Alyssa (Malaya LOVES her!! ) They are both Dina's (David's sister ) daughters. Next is Chloe (Jon's daughter). And then Annette, Dina's middle daughter!

We had to wait a while to get in the doors so we were playing lots of games to keep these ancy girls occupied!

We headed back to Keller after we had dinner at an amazingly, nice restaurant that I can not remember the name of :)!

I came back home and began to clean, clean, clean and bake, bake, bake!! We had our KidStand staff over for a Christmas party last night! We had such a good time! I made 4 appetizers and 3 desserts!! I don't mean to brag but anyone who knows me very well knows that this does not come out of Jenny B very often! David make fajitas and his famous salsa! He was such a great help this weekend! I could not have done it without him. He made (what seems like) 6 trips to the store for me:) Malaya loved entertaining! God has blessed KidStand this past year. David lead us in a challenge for 2007 and we had a time of prayer over KidStand! It was so much fun!

We just recently got the contract to be in charge of the whole kid's area at Celebrate Freedom!! Our theme is beach party!! Mark your calendars and come see us on June 29 and 30. Celebrate Freedom has teamed up with the Luis Palau Festivals so it will now be a 2 day event!! We are so excited and we are in full planning mode! We are also having a fundraising dinner at Texas Motor Speedway in March. We have got some potential, maj. celebrities. I will post more on that when we have confirmation!! I am very excited! So there is all the KidStand updates!!:)

Tomorrow is Malaya's school party so I must go work on that stuff but...

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Being that my blogging time has dimished I will post more next week!

Blessings!!!!

Thanksgiving continued...

2006-11-26T19:12:00.000-08:00

They are working!! I will try to keep adding but here is some more highlights!:)

6. ONE of my favorite parts of the past few days was getting to spend time with Jed. I even got to spend a couple of hours alone with him on Friday while Jenn went out for a bit. We had a great time.

7. I also loved getting to hang out with my brothers and SIL's. My SIL's are such wonderful women. They are kind, compasstionate women. My brothers could not have chosen better life partners. My brothers always keep me laughing! I was attacked a few times with some tickling monsters. And we even brought back old memories of a game we used to play when we were traveling. We would take turns putting our heads behind each others backs and we would push on each other's head until we the person surrendered. We used to think it was the greatest game but as adults we realized that it really hurts. No comments please about that being what is wrong with us Ross kids:) Here is a pic of my brother Jonathan proving he is still the baby of the family!

8. Jed is being introduced to baby foods. When I kept him on Friday I was feeding him and I could not stop laughing at his funny faces! This wasn't the funniest but it still made me laugh!

9. Malaya was WIPED by the end of the week. We were sitting around talking REALLY late one night and Malaya just could not go any more! She found her perfect spot in Grammy's lap where blissful peace is experienced! :) She has been asleep the past two nights by 8:00!

10. On Saturday we got down and dirty with Christmas decor!! Malaya and I turned up some Christmas CD's VERY loud and went to work. I made my FIRST Christmas wreath EVER! Though it needs some work, I was excited that I tried something new, which is not very often for me. Today we went back to Mom and Dad's and David helped my dad hang up their Christmas lights. Malaya and I helped in the house with Mom though I did take about an hour break to nap:) I enjoyed spending time with my Mom this past week too. She did such a great job cooking delicious food. She prepared quite a spread. We will be eating on the food for weeks to come! She works so hard for our family. She is a wonderful Matriarch!

11. I bought Malaya a little tree for her room which she is very proud of.

12. David is hanging Chirstmas lights on people's houses for a side job this season. He did this last year also. Both years I have waited to get that phone call that he has fallen off a roof or been injured! It happened yesterday! Though he did not call...When he walked in the house last night after work, I saw a face covered in blood. He had fallen off an 8 foot ladder. He has a scraped up cheek and very swollen eye. It could have been much worse. My "dare devil husband" has no fear. I am grateful for his hard work to provide for our family and I will be excited when Christmas tree lights are all hung up on all houses within a 30 mile radius!

13. Malaya reminded me earlier that I have never posted a pic of Princess so I just took one of our black lab pet. She has been a great pet. Though her tail is a weapon of mass destruction and knocks over anything that gets in it's way! We love her!

I am so excited about this upcoming season!! I have made a vow to try some more new crafty things and to do a lot of attempted baking this season! I am going to attempt to be as healthy as possible being that my doc keeps close tabs on my diet:) I borrowed a few cookbooks and craft ideas from my Mom. I can't wait to get started!! Last night as we were saying our prayers together I had to remind myself and Malaya about what this season is truly about. I so easily get caught up in all this fun, seasonal stuff that I too easily forget about what it must have been like for God to make the decision to send his precious son down to this earth and to know from the get go what Jesus's purpose and goal was! I hope God will teach me ways this season to refocus and be remind me and my famiy about what and why we celebrate!! Happy Holidays to you all!!

Thanksgiving 2006!

2006-11-26T18:40:00.000-08:00

Well, we have had a great last few days! We enjoyed being together. Here is some highlights!
1) Here is a picture of the whole Ross clan. We are growing!! Jed was our wonderful, miraculous miracle this year! And Ross the Boss Junior is on his/her way! Kayci is a beautiful mother to be! And of course, Josh can not wait to be a daddy!
2. As you can see, Mom and Dad made another new addition, Molly, a long-haired chihua (sp?). She is Malaya's new toy! The dog as been held and pulled in every way imaginable!
3. We had a huge blessing!! Right to the last minute, we were not sure if my grandparents, B and Papa were going to be able to come. Jonathan and Jenn brought them up. And it was so good to have them there! We had some late night talks and they have found a house in Decatur that they LOVE!! They have put a bid on the house. Hopefully we will get them up here very soon!

4. Malaya's favorite part of the day was getting to play with her cousin, Tabitha who she adores!! Tabby and I have always been very close. David and I kept for a week after we had only been married 2 weeks. She slept right on the middle of us! She was about to start Kinder. Now she is in 7th grade and is a wonderful example and friend to Malaya. It is neat the way God cycles His blessings through generations!

5. It was also great to spend time with my other 2 cousins. Tiffany is a Junior and A&M and Hutt is a senior in high school and is hoping to go there on a baseball scholarship!

Thursday Thirteen

2006-11-16T14:55:00.000-08:00

Thirteen things Malaya and I love about Thanksgiving:
1) Giving thanks
2) eating pie
3) the food
4) watching girlie movies (American girl movies, Cutting Edge, Sabrina, these seem to always make it out during the holidays)
5) spending time with family
6) listening to the men yell at the tv over football
7) no school
8) being at the table with full plates of delicious, "hard worked on" food and having to wait to eat it while the generations before me take a BIZAILLION pictures
9) playing with cousins, Tabitha, Hutt, Tiffany, Jed, Alyssa, Marky, Annette, Chloe, Katlyn, and the list is growing!
10) playing with nieces and nephews :)
11) playing games
12) playing "Mofia"; The Biz's are addicted to this game. We are all quite good! That may not be a good thing:)
13) Loving each other.

We can't wait! Happy Thanksgiving!

Thursday Thirteen!

2006-11-02T19:44:00.000-08:00

13 things I love about kids:
1. Their laughter and the way they make me laugh:)
2. Their genuine hugs and kisses
3. Their innocence/purity
4. Their dependency
5. Their quickness to forgive
6. Their quickness to love and to love unconditionally
7. Their toughness
8. Their endurance/perseverence
9. The way that ANY spritual question has the answer of "JESUS"!! Isn't that really the answer to all things!!
10. Their eagerness to learn and be challenged.
11. Their willingness to try new things and be adventurous.
12. Their "radar"/sixth sense to know what people are truly about.
13. The unexplainable way they just simply make my heart melt!

Bad Blogger

2006-10-31T20:17:00.000-08:00

Okay, I am a bad blogger! I have such fun things to blog about but my pics won't work. Hopefully I will have them ready to go for Thursday!
Papa is back in the hospital. Please say a prayer for him and my grandmother.

Just wanted to say hi to the blog world! I must go to bed. I have been cutting out Flat Stanley's tonight. If you have ever worked in a public school you know what that little thing is! We did it in Kinder too!

Out...

13 Updates From the Biz's

2006-10-19T18:31:00.000-07:00

I will try and be creative next week and think of something more interesting. :) But for now you are left with some family updates!
1. My detox was over Monday!! :) I really can not believe I did it! I could not have done it without divine intervention. It was such a blessing to have my sister in law do it with me. We were in prayer for each other and knew what each other's battle was. The even weirder thing is that I have had veggies for lunch the past 3 days. I have actually WANTED them!!
2. To fill some readers in---I went to see a holistic doctor. She is also a Christian! I loved visiting with her. She is passionate about getting her patients to their utmost health potential. She immediately put me on a fruit/veggie diet for 21 days. On day 11 I could add in 4 oz. of meat, 2 times a day. My main goal in seeing her was to get my body more healthy. And of course, another reason was to make another attempt to see why my womb remains closed. I also was doing saliva testing every 3 days to test hormones. I got those mailed off and I should have the results of those in a few weeks. We shall see... No high hopes on this end. Been there, done that, results in depression and major lack of motivation.
3. The first night of the detox I was having such bad reactions to lack of caffeine and my blood sugar plummented I passed out in the bathroom floor. Hubbie was not home so Malaya called her dad and grammy. She did a great job of handling it. I could hear her and what she was doing, I just could not respond. I just felt like it was a dream. David returned home quickly, got some Advil down me and sipped some Coke and was up and about after about an hour of laying there. Advice for future detoxers--SLOWLY WEEN yourself off the caffeine. Cold turkey is not real good for the body:)
4. My Papa is doing really well!! He just keeps us on a roller coaster! They have their house on the market and are hoping to move to Decatur with my parents ASAP! They are a little sad about that b/c they have so much history in East Texas but they need to be closer to Mom so that she can take care of them. And selfishly I am excited to have more babysitters!!:)
5. KidStand is going really well. Jessie just returned from Africa where she visited many schools and night shelters in Uganda. Thousands of kids and adults heard the message of Jessie through her and the group she was with. She taught the kids some of the songs off her CD, Pump Up the Praise and she dressed up as her characters and the African children loved that! She has some amazing stories. We will be in Houston on November 12th for a concert! I am looking forward to that. We had a meeting a few nights ago and the KidStand team is building. We all went away from the meeting so pumped and excited about the future of this ministry!
6. Malaya is such a great reader. She really has a passion for reading. She is also quite an artist. She LOVES to draw and paint. I really see her gifts beginning to be developed and see where her niches are.
7. Malaya is taking gymnastics at Texas Tumblers. She has really improved with her skills. The last few weeks, on nights David is home, our living room becomes a gym. They do stunts, practice cartwheels, backbends, flips, etc. I attempt skills occasionally. Why can I not do a backbend and Malaya can. I truly cannot get my head off the ground. David just stared at me and said, "Are you kidding?" At first I thought this might hurt my feelings but then I could not stop laughing! Oh well. Sometimes you got it, sometimes you don't. :) It is neat seeing them have so much fun together and it brings my heart joy to see them have such a special bond.
8. Malaya is quite the dancer too! As she always has been. But she really has special rhythm. Last Friday night we had on the new gospel network channel, which is amazing by the way. They had Christian videos on for 3 hours straight. We took turns with each video making up choreography. She was really good and serious about her skills. She really impressed me by her moves. I on the other hand....well....:):)
Sometimes in church she will get to going and I have to gently put my hand on her shoulder to calm her down a bit. Why do I feel the need to do that? Another topic, for another day:)
9. Business is going well. Still making LOTS of transitions as a family. There have been some tough times but we have to start each day fresh and be resilient. David has hired 2 new workers so that has helped so that he can be more of a supervisor and not the actual labor guy. We are just praying for steady business, especially with the holidays approaching or family members may be receiving candy bars for Christmas:)
10. I am finding joy in my day to day life. I love the activity that comes my way each day. God has been so good to give me gifts of His love every day through people, opportunities, and activity. Surprisingly I have found joy in victory over my sin. A couple of years ago I started praying that God would make me aware of the sin in my heart. He has been constantly, faithful to do so. ;) The ugliness is ugly and He still redeems me and loves me so perfectly. Absolutely astounding to me!
11. Malaya just came in to me and told me that she did something today that would "not have made God happy". She told me what it was, which was not a big deal at all. But she was broken hearted over it. I love her sensitivity but yet she still has such a boldness and confidence about her that is an example to me. I pray that God sustains that in her...
12. I find myself pleading with God for Malaya's purity of body and her spirit. Our world has already begun to strip her of it and truly prayer is the only weapon I have to fight it...so frustrating and overwhelming at times but I am also very grateful that we have the option of prayer.
13. God has been stirring in me for quite a while now about some changes I need to make in my life. When am I going to choose to be obedient? Why am I such a stubborn soul?

Until next week... or maybe I will actually blog before next Thursday??!! Love to ya'!

Thirteen Random Thoughts!

2006-10-12T20:58:00.000-07:00

1. These pasts few days I have become obsessed with The Lord of the Rings trilogy. I had never seen them before and really was never quite interested in them AT ALL. My sister in law talked me into watching the first one and after 10 minutes I was addicted and I have stayed up the last 3 nights till 2 and 3 am to watch them!!
2. I plan on staying up tonight watching the behind the scenes of Lord of the Rings!! I won't give my opinion of these movies but if you haven't seen them I really recommend them!!
3. Malaya, Mom and Dad enjoyed a day at the fair today. I chose to back out this year b/c of lack of being able to eat ANY of the delicious, sinful food there!
4. I have 4 AMAZING sister in laws. David's youngest sister came to stay the weekend with us and I loved hanging out with her. I got to spend 3 days with David's other sister. She challenges me and her conversation focuses on God. I got to eat a dinner with another SIL and loved watching her mother and wife my brother and nephew. She is a beautiful woman. I missed getting to see 4th SIL but I love her very much and can't wait to hold the Ross baby that she is carrying!
5. Both of David's sisters have gone through this "Detoxing" thing with me! I am so grateful for their committment, accountability and dedication.
6. Speaking of this detoxing thing, I have grown to really enjoy eating squash and zucchini. I have not developed a taste for eggplant or mushrooms. I just can't bring myself to enjoy them.
7. Baby Katlyn is almost 4 months old and is precious! It still amazes me to see her now! She is beautiful!
8. Baby Jed is 4 months old!! He has developed some thickness to him and I love it!! He is so cute! He loves staring at his Mom and Dad. And he is rolling over and starting to scoot!
9. My CD player in my truck has been out for a few months now and I am really missing my CD's. I really need to take it in to get fixed. Just need to make it a higher priority.
10. It has been funny listening to Terrell Owens defend their loss to the Eagles. Poor guy!
11. I love the crisp weather outside tonight. It is so nice and refreshing!
12. Malaya LOVES to read. She is reading chapter books. We love to play school together! She loves spending time with her cousins! She loves cuddling up with her daddy. She loves giving her uncles a hard time. She is a joy to watch grow.
13. Did I mention that Lord of the Rings is awesome!!!!! :)

Thirteen Things I Loved About Our Trip to Glen Rose!

2006-09-21T19:14:00.000-07:00

First off----My Papa goes home tomorrow!! To think, a week ago, we weren't sure if was going to make it through the day! Praise God!!

Now for my list:
1. Getting to be with my 2 most favorite people in the whole world!!
2. Getting to stay in a fun cabin/bed and breakfast with them!
3. Getting to go to Fossil Rim Wildlife with them! This was such an amazing experience!! I HIGHLY recommend this for your family! It is pricey but SOOOO worth it!

As you can see the animals get right into your car with you:) Malaya thinks these pics of me are so funny! David and Malaya were much more "friendly" on their side. I was a little more apprehensive especially when the animals are so close to your face they could kiss you!

4.Going hiking and biking in Dinosaur Valley. We had so much fun! We have determined we want to try to more of a nature family:) We loved it!

5. In the back yard of our cabin we had a 1/4 mile walking trail with dinosaur replicas everywhere. We walked this at least a hundred times. Here are some pics--

6. A Christian couple owns this set of cabins and she makes breakfast for all the guests each morning. First morning we had quiche and fresh fruit and fresh orange juice. The second morning we had a breakfast cinnamon cake and a breakfast casserole. It was so yummy. She also had gifts each morning for Malaya. One was the mask you can see in the above pics, which we all enjoyed:)

7. We enjoyed so much just getting away and relaxing.

Not quite sure who needed to relax most:)

8. Malaya and David wrote out a worship service for us to do Sunday morning. Malaya designated herself as the worship leader (don't worry, we won't let her do it any more after she is 10:). David was the preacher and I filled in when needed with prayers and communion thoughts and family announcements. We worshipped in the garden behind our cabin.

Here is Malaya leading us in worship!

We used crackers left from dinner the night before and purple Gatorade represented Jesus' blood. Hey, it's the thought, right:)

9. It was so amazing getting to see hundreds of REAL dinosaur tracks in the river bed. The water was very low so God gave us a great gift and we were able to walk and follow the paths of several dinosaurs. We followed their dragged tail tracks. It was just so amazing to imagine ourselves walking RIGHT WHERE DINOSAURS walked! This was really cool!

10. Watching Malaya and David climb some really steep walls of some of the hills! It freaked me out but they had a blast, the little dare devils!

11. Getting to snuggle as a family at night!

12. Not watching any tv. We played gamed and worked puzzles. Our cabin had an old record player with records. So at night we played those and danced. Malaya is a really good dancer in case you didn't know:)

13. MY FAV thing of the whole trip was on Sunday afternoon! We decided to go hike the biggest mountain. 3 miles!! We talked, sang songs, encouraged each other to keep going, helped each other up and down tough parts! It was great! And the best part was when we got to the very top of this hill it started to POUR rain. I don't just mean sprinkle. I mean POUR!! It was beautiful. I had never experienced something so wonderful but it did make things extra slippery! We tried to pick up the speed a bit b/c of the rain. We got to a cliff that was a straight drop down that we had to climb down. David got Malaya down safely and he was telling me step by step where to put my feet, my hands, my rear, etc. I missed one of the footings and slipped and fell quite a ways onto my rear and scraped up my back and rear. I only stopped b/c David caught me. I was scared at first and then started dying laughing as the rain poured over us. I really don't know why I found such joy in that fall. Maybe b/c I have painful reminders of our great time. But it was so great. To hear Malaya's sweet giggle as the rain just drenched down her face. Or seeing David look so hot and sexy all soaked :). I don't know, it was just fun!! We did make it down after a couple of hours and we were soaked!!

We got back to the truck. Put on dry clothes in the truck. Drove out of the park. And drove straight to the best place you can after a good hard day of hiking--Subway. And then got home right in time for bed!

It was a weekend I will never forget! I feel like I have left out so many great details! Oh well! It was refreshing in many ways and such a blessing for all 3 of us!! Maybe there will be more Bizaillion hiking stories to come!!

Update on Papa

2006-09-17T18:57:00.000-07:00

Thanks again blogfriends for your prayers for Papa! What a miracle in him this weekend! On Friday, we were told at one point that he had kidney failure,was in ICU with cong. heart failure and a few other "not so hopeful" things. Today he is off his ventilator, kidneys are fine, no fever and in a normal room!! I am so grateful that he is doing well! The docs do think he had a slight heart attack and we are waiting for results about that. I can't wait to give him a huge hug myself!! Thanks so much for lifting him up to the Lord!!

On a much lighter note--we just had the greatest weekend EVER!! We have never been on a trip (vacation that is, okay maybe mini vacation) just the three of us! We had such a fabulous time!!!!!! We went to Glen Rose for the weekend. We had such a great time just being together in nature and enjoying creation/rain:) We were relaxed and revived in many ways. I feel like I am thanking David with every breath! I can not wait to give details and show pics but that will have to come tomorrow!! I can not wait to share our trip with you!
Hope your weekend was good!

My Papa

2006-09-15T10:58:00.000-07:00

Will you please lift some prayers up for my Papa today? I got a call from my Mom about 8:30 this morning that they were calling an ambulance to come get him. About an hour after that, they lifeflighted him to Tyler where he would have better care. They have determined that he has pnemonia (sp?) and he is running a temperature. His blood pressure is 80/50! (Which he always has bad blood pressure.)
He is coherent now and is joking with the doctors and nurses. I am sure he has found someone to talk politics with:)
Please pray that he will be stabalized.
My Papa is a very special man. Us kids spent most of our summers at B and Papa's house. The majority of our childhood memories have them in it. He is a man full of wit and a devoted love for God.
Just please pray for him.

Thirteen things that make me laugh!

2006-09-14T20:02:00.000-07:00

Okay, so my creative brain is dead so here goes...
Thirteen things that make me laugh: (in a very random order!!)

1) Malaya's giggle (It is just so cute! I love her belly laugh!)
2) David's silly jokes (you just got to laugh sometimes)
3) A good Wayan brothers interview or acting.
4) The movies Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers (I roll everytime I see these movies!)
5) When my grand mother clips my grandfathers toe nails and Malaya gets so giggled as the nails fly threw the air.
6) A baby giggling!
7) My brother Josh! He just cracks me up with his impressions, his humor, his "Amy" role, and so many other things. He is just a funny guy!
8) My brother Jonathan! He has the funniest wit. He cracks me up even though I am the front of most of his jokes. He just cracks me up!!
9) When people get hurt. Okay, I inherited this from my mother. Serious injuries are NOT funny!! But.... every once in a while a good fall or slip or bumping into things is just funny. I can share a million family and friends stories here but I will refrain:)
10) Hearing stories about funny things kids do! They just make me giggle!
11) Morning talk radio can get a pretty good belly roll out of me:)
12) Listening to family and friends laugh. Sometimes you have no choice but just to join in.
And lastly...13) the person I laugh at the most is myself!! Sometimes I will think a thought or do something really stupid and just die laughing at myself!! I just amaze myself at the silly things I think, say, and do.
Sometimes you just got to laugh. Now, finish reading your other blogs that will have much more meaningful content:)

Thursday Thirteen and a Fun Surprise!

2006-09-07T11:16:00.000-07:00

First thing's first!!! We have another cousin on the way!! My middle bro and sister in law are expecting their first baby in May!! They will be such great parents!! I can not wait to share some more auntie love!! Congrats to Josh and Kayci and little baby "Boss"!! Love you already!

My 13 most favorite tv shows/movies when I was growing up:
1. Reading Rainbow - It was really good when it first came out.

2. Little House on the Prairie

3. Jem - I know there are other fans out there for this one!

4. Dukes of Hazzard - Friday nights spending the night at my great-g-parents we would watch Dukes, then Falcon Crest, then 20/20 (and sometimes Dallas).

5. Saved by the Bell - Yes, I was one of the millions of little girls that was going to marry Zack. I did cry though when Zack and Kelly broke up.

6. Happy Days and later Joni Loves Chachi

7. Speed Racer

8. The Cosby Show (I think we have seen every episode. Every Thursday night after brothers baseball we would go to Mr. Gatti's with friends and watch it on the big screen.)

Movies I liked to watch with Mom

9. Kramer vs. Kramer

10. Rock in Roll Mom (We watched this so many times!!)

11. All the Beach Party movies with Frankie Avalon and Annette ??? (don't know how to spell her last name)

12. Adam ( when our country went on high alert about kidnappings this movie was very popular)

13. Jaws ( I know a little rough, but I was very fascinated with sharks for a stage of my life. After I watched the movies though I was terrified to take a bath, thinking that a great white would somehow squeeze it's huge body through the pipes and into my bath water. So weird!! :)

That just made me want to look up the Beach Party movies on Netflix and make David watch them with me. Please, do not warn him, I will surprise him!! :)

Thursday Thirteen

2006-09-01T15:02:00.000-07:00

Thirteen jobs/careers I have had or dreamed of having:

Had:

1) Secretary at corporate office of Action Rent to Own. LOVED this job. I saved up my money to buy my first car, a white Chevy Cavalier. I made tons of great friends and those women shared in a very important part of my life! Due to desiring to murder one of my brothers ex-girlfriends who worked there I chose to quit this job. I should probably repent of this...;)

2) Worked in the library of Amberton University for 2 summers. A little boring but it was good.

3) Worked in the ACU library. Greatest job ever. Those people walked with me as I got engaged, married and found out I was having Malaya!! They will always be special people in my life. I loved the late night shifts working with a great lifetime friend. I loved getting to see everybody. My fav was when my cutie husband would come in and bring me a snack or dinner. I was really obsessive about shelving books. In fact, one summer I volunteered to reshelf the whole library and loved every minute of it!! :)

4) Worked at Mesquite dayschool as nursery person, PE teacher (I know my family is cracking up right now! Stop it!! ) and the coordinators assistant! Great job and Malaya loved it.

5)Southlake preschool as nursery teacher!! Oh, how I loved those babies and watching them grow throughout those 2 years.

Jobs I have dreamed of having:

6)Being a mom was always first and foremost. On all my elementary school papers they would ask "What do you want to be when you grow up." I always put, "A Mom, just like my Mom." This dream came true on April 10, 2000.

7) I then always dreamed of being a teacher but my plan was to do that after my kids were in school. Well, obviously I didn't finish college (I know some of you are cringing...) and really don't desire to go back to school at this time so I don't see this one happening any time soon. I was a few hours away from having my degree in Elem. Ed.

8) I also dreamed of being a marine biologist. I LOVE ocean animals. One of my fav places is Sea World!! But I realized that I probably needed to be able to swim without holding my nose so this was put on the back burner:) (My brothers are so laughing at me right now!)

9) I dreamed of being a child's psychologist but WAY too much school for this one!

10) I would love to go back to working in a library some day! I love shelving books, checking in and books, etc. I also love the quiet, I know I am weird!

11) I would LOVE to work in a post office sorting mail or having a route. I know this is weird too! But to me this would be so much fun! Sorting and throwing that mail into piles of zip codes is heaven to me!

12) I have considered working at a grocery store but I am not so good with technology and I think I would panic if I messed up while checking someone out. Same with a bank, considered it but something about dealing with people's money freaks me out!

13) I also had dreams of being a Children's Minister but due to almost everyone in my life working for churches, I think I will steer away from this challenge:)

My Word Cloud

2006-08-30T21:24:00.000-07:00

This was fun!! Go to www.snapshirts.com/custom to create your own!!

Thursday Thirteen

2006-08-24T14:24:00.000-07:00

Thirteen things we loved about having Jed with us this weekend (and Jonathan and Jennifer too:):

1. We loved watching him turnover on his left side. It made him very angry but it was great entertainment:)
2. We loved sitting on the floor and watching him coo and talk.
3. He knows how to copy the "O" sound. Especially when Jonathan does it. I am sure he is going to be a great singer!
4. Malaya loved holding him (as you can see!)
5. I LOVED putting him to sleep and as you can see he put me to sleep also!! I fell asleep 3 different times holding him!! This pic was during a Matthew McConaughey movie!! There is really nothing more peaceful than holding a sleeping baby! You can tell by the hair that it was a gradual falling asleep as I gradually slid down the chair:)
6. We loved watching him smile.
7. I loved watching him recognize his mama.
8. I enjoyed visiting with Jennifer. We had a great few days together!
9. I enjoyed hanging out with Jonathan. He makes me laugh so hard! Even though he loves making fun of me, it still makes me laugh!
10. I loved watching him take a bath. He loved it!
11. I loved the way it killed Malaya that she had to be quiet so much!! She and I have laughed about it!
12. I loved hearing Malaya laugh at his gas. And he had a LOT and they did NOT sound like baby tooties:)
13. We love our little nephew. Jonathan and Jennifer are great parents! Thanks for spending some time with us! I am so glad Mom and Dad were out of town:):)

Thursday Thirteen

2006-08-17T19:22:00.000-07:00

13 things I love about San Antonio: (so you're sick of hearing about San Antonio from me, sorry:)

1.Mexican food
2. Fun music (which we bought a CD of a band playing in the Market if anyone wants to borrow and pretend they are there:)
3. the Riverwalk
4. The Riverwalk mall
5. The Market
6. being with my husband on the Riverwalk at night
7. the hotels on the riverwalk
8. the Alamo (I love the history of that place)
9. snowcones by the Alamo
10. fun shops
11. boat rides on the river
12. Sea World
13. the trollies

I wish I were going there again tomorrow! Love that place! :)

One more update...

2006-08-16T08:14:00.000-07:00

I ran out of room I guess on that last blog b/c it wouldn't let me post another pic!! So please read that one first and read about Malaya!!

I am LOVING doing the work for KidStand. It has been such a blessing to me. Here is a pic of Jessie and 2 of her dancers. We were at a Back To School event in Cleburne. It was a lot of fun. It was great for Malaya and Jessie's daughter to get to experience a different culture and how they praise God. We were all rapping to Jesus by the end of the night:)

Jessie is such a talented woman who is ON FIRE for the Lord. Her passion amazed me. She is determined and confident of her mission. She has such a huge heart for children and their love for Jesus. She has been such an example to me and to my faith. I love working with her but I am also grateful for her friendship. She seeks the Lord daily and his will for her and doesn't mind challenging the Lord to use her:) Pray for her as she leaves for Africa in a couple of weeks to minister to the kids there for 10n days!

Check our our website www.kidstand .org

Let me know if I can get you a CD!! It is rockin'!!

I am loving being Malaya's mom. She makes me laugh, cry, smirk, and many other things. She is growing up soooo fast. I love being David's wife. He makes me laugh, cry, smirk and many other things too! :):):) I love being a daughter of the King! He makes me laugh, cry, smirk, and many, many other things! :):) Blessings on all of you, my friends!!

Bizaillion Family Updates!

2006-08-16T07:50:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since I have updated just about what is going on in our family! So here are a few recaps!

Malaya started FIRST grade!! (being the reason my blog is now named Malaya's mom and not Kindermommy! Malaya had me change it of course:) This is on the way to the first day of school! But thankfully we haven't seen this sad face since! She LOVES school! She has a great teacher who is fun, outgoing and really connects with Malaya. Malaya loves going to P.E., art, music and of course being a BIG kid and eating in the cafeteria. I am so glad God has blessed her with such a great environment to go to school! We are excited about the upcoming year!

Here is Malaya and Matthew and Ethan at Meet the Teacher night. Malaya loves having Matthew around school. They are just right across the hall from each other.

Here is Malaya with 2 of her great buddies. These girls are HUGE fans of the Winx club. (Visit winx.com to find out more:) We got to meet their fav character at the mall one day. Her name is Blum.

Malaya is losing teeth like crazy! She is now missing both of her 2 front teeth. She looks SOO cute. This pic was after her first front tooth came out. The second came out this weekend with Grammy.

David and I got to go on an anniversary trip to San Antonio this past weekend! We had a blast! He is my absolute FAVORITE person to hang out with! We had a great time visiting, developing parenting strategies:), eating TONS of Mexican food and lots of shopping. We stayed in a great hotel on the Riverwalk. I LOVE SAN ANTONIO. It is my fav vacation place. David and I went there on our honeymoon, 8 YEARS ago!!

David's floor business is going well. He now has a blog about floors. Check out the link to the right. He is working really hard. This past year has been challenging for our family in some ways but the Lord has been faithful (as always:). If you are ever in need of floor work or know someone who is please call us:)

Thursday Thirteen or Fourteen (better late than never:)

2006-08-04T11:09:00.000-07:00

Thirteen Fun Things About this Past Week:

1) I got to see my new nephew, Jed, new niece, Katlyn, lots of other nices and nephews, brothers, BIL's and SIL's, and grandparents ALL in one weekend!! That was great!

2) Got home on Sunday night to my hubby who said that he was taking me out to eat because my b-day celebrations were going to begin early!!!!! :)

3) He took me to Joe's Crabshack! We ate outside (we always love to eat outside b/c it makes us feel like we are on vacation!

4) At dinner he slipped me an envelope with reservations for a surprise anniversary trip to San Antonio! My Fav place!! I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited!!

5) Did some Mall shopping (got new earrings and a pair of new sunglasses) with hubby, BIL, and daughter.

6) Got taken to Sonic for ice cream by BIL.

7) Got taken to Razzoo's for some fried pickles!!! :) (via gift certificates)

8) Wednesday I was taken to lunch by some great new friends to Cheesecake Factory ( had appetizers, yummy entree AND cheesecake) . We got to have all our girls with us! Much fun!

9) Had a delivery of the BEST cupcakes EVER by another fab friend and family!!

10) Thursday, Had light lunch at Cheddar's to enjoy some queso and chips!!

11) Spent day at Six Flags with hubby and daughter. Very HOT but oh so fun!!

12) Enjoyed family and friend's b-day wishes through phone calls and emails and singing on answering machine (Thanks A.C.- just beautiful:)

13) Topped the week off with a dinner at Joe T. Garcias with hubby, daughter and Mom and Dad ( who made it possible for me to have a b-day. Thanks Mom and Dad!)

(14. (I'm not done yet so I am adding more!) Came home to gifts from hubby an daughter. Got to blow out candles and have cupcakes AND cake!

Okay--I confess and admit I am WAY SPOILED! It was such a great week! My hubby made me feel so special and loved!! Thanks friends and family! I went to bed thanking God for all of you and praying that the next 28 years will be His. And now I am posting this so that I can go work out...

Pics of Katlyn!

2006-08-01T20:04:00.000-07:00

BABY KATLYN!! Katlyn looks so much like her daddy! I was shocked! You can see her little strawberry kiss that developed about 2 weeks after her surgery right over her heart!
I got to watch her smile, cry, sleep, eat, and be taken care of by a house-full of loving famly members!

Just wanted everyone to see a visual image of a miracle (though all babies are:) But...Katlyn has many miracles that can be listed for her :)
Thanks again for all the prayers over her!

My Fav Restaurants

2006-07-27T13:23:00.000-07:00

1) Rosa's - Love their sopapillas

2) Taco Bueno - for their tacos

3) Abuelo's - enchiladas

4) Taco Casa - I know, I know some readers recently were very sick from their food BUT usually it is very yummy and SOOOOO stinkin' cheap.

5) Razoo's - fried pickles

6) Red Lobster - fried shrimp

7) Laundry's - fried catfish

8) Babe's - chicken, tators and rolls

9) Sonic - drinks

10) Panera Bread - sandwiches and fresh fruit

11) Cheddar's - queso and chips

12) Joe T. Garcias - enchiladas

13) La Margarita - (San Antonio marketplace) - everything!!

And now I post this as I go dream of all these places...

Miracle Katlyn!

2006-07-24T15:29:00.000-07:00

Once again, thank you all that have been praying for Katlyn. Out of a joyful yell I shout that she is home with her family today!! She is nursing prefectly! She has no tubes! AND is breathing without any help from machines or technology! Praise God for the countless miracles in her little body! Dina told me that all that is physically on her to represent the past few weeks is a scar from her surgery over her heart. Right next to her scar she has developed a little angel kiss. Dina says that will be their forever reminder of God's miraculous work in Katlyn!
Thanks again for your prayers, blog friends!

Thirteen Things I Love About My Hubbie!

2006-07-12T07:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday David and I celebrated 8 years of being married!! YES, before you start doing the math, yes, I was a baby!! The Lord has done some miraculous things in us as indivduals over tha past years. He has taught us about a love that can ONLY can come through Him and NOT us. So anyway--here's to you BABY. You may not want to read on because there is a potential for things to get a little hot and heavy:) JK!!

13 things I love about David:

1)I love going out to eat with you.

2) I love that you can always refocus me on what is righteous.

3)I love that you are so smart. You can find a way to do anything.

4) I love that you don't allow me to stay in a "pitty" place.

5) I love that you care about your health. Even though it is annoying sometimes, I do appreicate it.

6) I get to reap the benefits of #5. I LOVE your muscular physique!!

7) I love your smile.

8) I love that we have secret sign language for when we are in public and in social settings to communicate! ;) Don't even try, I will not reveal our secrets.

9) I love the way you are a committed sport's fan. I love getting into the Astros and Mavs with you. A great date night for us is sitting in the living room with tuna sandwiches, sweet tea, and yelling words at the refs/umps, bad calls, etc.

10) I love going on walks with you.

11) I love going to concerts with you.

12) I love playing Skip-Bo with you. ( I won't even mention what the score is at this point :)

13) I love your kisses ;)

I love you, David Bizaillion. I am excited about our next 8 years together! Thanks for fighting this life with me and for forcing me to be something different than I was yesterday. Thanks for being such a great dad to Malaya. Thank you for constantly seeking ways to be a better parent and allowing God to challenge you. You are such a gift to me! I love you!

Thursday Thirteen

2006-07-05T21:31:00.000-07:00

Thirteen things I love about my bath time: (which I am about to go enjoy:)

1) The scalding hot water on my skin. It is truly one of the greatest feelings in the world. AND it IS NOT hot enough unless my skin has 3rd degree burns when I get out:)

2)Cleaning my face with my BC cleanser.

3) Having time to reflect on my day.

4)Praying

5) Thinking and dreaming.

6) Singing at the top of my lungs. (I turn the vent on so it isn't quite so loud for the fam. )

7) Sometimes listening to music

8) Sticking my head under water to get my hair wet. But keeping my ears under EXTRA long so that I can't hear anything else:)

9) Sometimes I will give up my selfishness and Malaya will come in and talk to me. This is very rare b/c I covet my bath time but the older Malaya gets the more fun it is to have conversations with her.

10) Sometimes enjoying a relaxing bubble bath (this is also rare but I LOVE it when I take time out to do it.!

11) I love taking baths when I am getting ready to "dress up" to go out with my hubby! Also very rare but one of my fav things to do!! I have been known to spend up to an hour in the tub. Even letting water out and running it a second, sometimes even 3 times. Ask ANYONE in my family. Brothers hated this growing up!! Mom and I would compete for the hot water.

12) I think my baths is what yogo is to some people. It is my time to relax, calm myself, relax all my muscles, and go into my own peaceful place with God.

13) I think I have passed the obsession on to my daughter. Malaya has grown to covet her bathtime too. She hasn't always been a bath lover but the older she gets it the more she likes it. She has learned to appreciate the relaxation of it, the girlyness of it, and she loves it when I go in and talk to her about her day.

Now I am off to go enjoy all these things...Take time out this next week to enjoy a bath. It could potentially be lifechanging:)

Katlyn

2006-07-05T09:16:00.000-07:00

Katlyn had her breathing tube taken out yesterday!!! YEA!! They are going to try to start giving her momma's milk today through a tube. So that is one thing to pray--that her body will take to that well.
Mark and Dina sound very encouraged. Mark and Dina switched places yesterday b/c Dina hadn't been able to see Katlyn for a whole week! Mark got to come home and be with her other 3 kiddos and Dina got to HOLD Katlyn for the first time yesterday!

Thank you all again for your prayers and please continue to pray for them as Katlyn still has a tough road ahead of her. Mark talked to me yesterday and just listed off miracle after miracle that God has performed through Katlyn!

Update on Baby Katlyn

2006-06-29T19:55:00.000-07:00

I can not thank you all enough for your prayers and concern for Katlyn and her family. I can not wait to tell her one day about all the people that have prayed for her that she will probably never meet until she gets to heaven.
The doctors met with Mark, her daddy today (since I last blogged, Dina, her mom got sick so they had to send her home until she is well. Pray for her healing as well.) The docs told him that Katlyn is doing well but she has a long road ahead of her and to be prepared for some ups and downs in her condition.
Things to praise God for... She took a few breaths on her own today. Her fever has gone down. YEA!!

Docs are going to start trying to wean her off the oxygen very slowly so please pray that goes well.

Please continue to pray for her healing. I will continue to update! Thanks again friends and family for your prayers. It is so encouraging to Mark and Dina to know that so many are praying for them!

Please Pray!

2006-06-26T16:32:00.000-07:00

Please continue to pray for Katlyn, my niece. She is fighting for her life right now. Here is the run down of the last few days.She was born at 7:45 Friday night. The doctors were very grim all day about their chances. There were a team of about 10 specialists that were surrounding the birth and took Katlyn the second she was born. They did not want her to even attempt to breath on her own. They immediately put 2 tubesdown her throat and put an IV in her umbilical cord. She was rushed to Texas Children's Hospital which was right next door to St. Lukes's where shewas born. Mark, her daddy went with her. The doctors came in about an hourlater to tell us the status of Katlyn: her heart is on the right side of her body, her stomach is up in the left part of her chest, along with some of her intestines, one lung is squished up against the stomach making it notfunctionable and the other lung is by the heart and has some working ability. The doctors did determine some good news that we had been praying for: She does not have heart failure and her oxygen level has been taken down to 25 %.She is a beautiful baby. She has a head full of dark black hair. She has beautiful dark skin. I got to go in and see her several times over the weekend. She is on a high dose of morphine to keep her from fighting on allthe tubes and of course to keep her out of pain. Every once and a while shewill open her eyes and would look right into mine. She knows her mommy's and daddy's voice. I got to go in once with just Dina (katlyn's mom) and myself. As soon as Dina started talking, her heart rate went up and she started trying to move around. I fell in love with her the minute I saw her. We were able to pray and sing over her. My heart will never be the same...Katlyn will have surgery in the morning to put all of her organs back into place. It will not fix what damage has already been done but the surgery isnecessary. After the surgery, the fight continues.PLEASE pray for her and her family. Mark (dad), Dina (mom), Alyssa (sister,10), Mark (brother, 6), Annette (sister, 4). As of last night they are staying in a Ronald Mc Donald suite just one hall away from the NICU unit.Pray for their strength. Especially Mark and Dina. They are exhausted in every way imaginable. And pray for their sadness.Thanks so much friends and I apologize for all the details. Please just prayfor them...

Happy Birthday, Jonathan

2006-06-26T10:29:00.000-07:00

After such a sad weekend we got to have dinner last night with my brother on his birthday!
23 years ago today I was one proud big sister. I still remember the day he was born. I immediately felt my big sister instincts. As a toddler, he had the biggest, bluest eyes you have ever seen. He had beautiful long blond eyelashes that everyone loved. Even at 2 and 3 years old he was the socialite of our church. He would walk up and down the aisles greeting the elderly people and shaking their hands. I prided myself in being his protector. But there were times when he got the brunt of being the little brother. Josh and I skyrocketed him through the air once on a mattress and he landed on his dresser. That was fun. And then there were the many times that I dressed him up like a doll. One time a friend of mine and I decided Jonathan had chicken pox and we put lipstick dots ALL over his body. Mom was not too happy and we had to scrub the hundreds of dots off.
As with Josh, I was always very protective when it came to girls. If they did not meet "my standards" life was not going to be fun for him or the girl. The only times in my life I have yelled or spoken hatefully to people is to my brother's girlfriends. I didn't mind telling them their shorts were too short or their tops were too low. :)

I loved watching Jonathan play sports. I was one of his biggest fans. I loved watching him in the school play of Grease. I loved when Jonathan began to develop a love for music. I loved watching him worship and pray and be a strong leader in his youth group.

It was one of the greatest joys of my life to get to record music with him. He is my favorite person to sit by in church when we are all together. He is a great worship leader. I love that Jonathan has no problem telling people the truth and being blunt and honest. He is genuine and humble. I have watched him shed tears over his sin and rise up again stronger and more dependent on the Lord. He is an amazing example of Jesus to me, David, and Malaya.

I love watching him be an "unkie". He loves teasing Malaya. I think he is getting me back for some of the teasing and stuff we did to him as a kid. We love to wrestle. Just a few weeks ago in the presence of his new son, I pinned him down. :)

And now, he is a husband with a wonderful, beautiful wife and a daddy to our precious miracle, Jed! He is a great daddy. Jed has his gorgeous blue eyes.

Jonathan, Happy Birthday and may God bless your next year of life. I love being your big sis!

2006-06-15T08:46:00.000-07:00

This blog is done by Malaya!!
Thirteen things I like about MY new cousin, Jed.
1) He sucks his thumb. I want to add this - I can't believe that he sleeps on Grampy's lap just like I did when I was a baby.
2)He's cute.
3) He's adorable.
4) He cries a lot!
5) He's cuter than anything that I know of.
6) He will probably like to ride horses.
7) I like to ASSIST in changing his diaper.
8) I like to hold him.
9) I like to kiss him.
10) He's cuter than anything :)
11) I can't wait for him to play with the toys I gave him.
12) I love him.
13) I LOVE him to wear his cute Cousin shirt that Mrs. Kelli made him. My mommy will post pictures when we get back.

Baby Jed Has Arrived!!

2006-06-06T08:10:00.000-07:00

My brother is a daddy!! Jedidiah David Ross was born at 1:24 a.m. on June 6th. He weighed 6"11 and is 18 1/2 inches long!!
We can not wait to go see them!! Malaya is very excited (finally).

Jennifer delivered in the emergency room triage. She didn't make it to a room. 2 e.r. nurses delivered him. Very fun story for a first baby:)

I am so excited to have a precious nephew. May his heart already belong to the Lord!! I pray he is a bold, committed man of God!!

Can't wait to see you Jonathan, Jennifer and Jed!!

Thirteen things I love about summer!

2006-06-02T08:37:00.000-07:00

I DID it (with lot's of help!!) Thanks friends!

Thirteen Things I love about summer:
1)Of course going to the pool.
2)Eating Watermelon
3) Sleeping late.
4) Staying up late
5) Going on trips to visit friends and family
6) Eating Snow Cones
7) Now that Malaya is in school I have learned this past week to appreciate summer more than ever. I loved her being in school but I also love the break!
8) Celebrating my anniversary with the man I love!! 8 years we will chime in this year. I can not believe it!! Did I mention that I think he is SO hot!! ;) When we are 80 I will be the one in the nursing home saying, "Have you met my hot husband? Yeah, he's the one in the nursing home gym with a dumbbell in one hand and drinking his protein shake in the other." I love him! :)
9) Celebrating lots of family b-days. The summer festivities begin tonight!
10) Going to the zoo, park, and other outside fun.
11) Going to Celebrate Freedom. ( Though our Cel. Freedom buddies have moved, we might brave it out this year. Wiggies, would you like to join us? :)
12) Most summers I would be saying going to the beach but we did the mountains instead over Spring Break. But now my bros live close to Galveston so maybe we can still catch a day of the ocean.
13) Fourth of July!! I love watching Fireworks!

Hope you all have a great summer and it brings a season of change and draws you even nearer to God. Makes me think of a Nichole Nordeman song. I'll share later...

Thursday Thirteen (still just a wanna be:)

2006-05-25T13:12:00.000-07:00

You are probably sick of hearing about Kindergarten but hang in there for one more post and then you can hear about 1st grade for a whole year:) Just get ready you moms of preschoolers. It is rough!
Starting Monday the tears started flowing! Wednesday was the whip at graduation. I was the Mom that was having to take deep breaths to keep from making snorting noises b/c I was crying so stinkin' hard. Malaya was up on the risers in her beautiful curls. She looked so big. She sang her little songs with such energy and passion. We yelled and screamed for her when she got her certificate. I was so proud of her. I just can not believe she is 6 years old and just finished Kinder! Malaya's teacher has been such a special person for me and Malaya. She and I grew very close and we became great friends. We refused to say goodbye today b/c we couldn't stop crying! Yes, I tend to be a sap at times:)

Okay, I will move on with it...Keeping with the crying theme...

13 songs that make me cry:
1) "Let Them Be Little" - by Billy Dean (This song was the culprit of a lot of my tears yesterday! This is a must have song for all moms! Look it up and see if you don't cry!)

2) "I Will Remember You" - Sarah McGlothlin (Second song that made me cry yesterday and makes me cry on our Senior Kojie video!)

3) Any song my brother Jonathan sings. (His voice is so pure!)

4) "It is Well With My Soul" - I cry for one of two reasons: In gratefulness and praise that Jesus has made "it" well OR in repentence and disgust that the devil has made my heart NOT well with "It".

5) Whatever song they play on GH when it is a Jason/Sam scene. (Not even a big JaSam fan, but just the melody of the song makes me tear up.)

6) "Make You Proud" - New American Idol, Taylor Hicks (I know I just heard it last night, but I still cried!)

7) "A Bridge Over Troubled Waters" - Michael W. Smith version (don't know why it makes me cry??)

8) "I Will Be Here" - Steven Curtis Chapman - Once again, when my bro. Jonathan sings this it makes me cry.

9) Hearing Malaya sing. "I Am a Promise", " Jesus, Be the Center", "Jesus is Able" and on and on....

10) "It's All About You" - Passion

11) "This is My Desire" - Jeremy Camp

12) Almost every Phantom of the Opera song

13) Drum Roll Please... And don't laugh, The Last song in Grease, "Always Be Together"; When Olivia Newton John turns around and waves to all her friends, the tears well up.

Maybe I am more of a sap than I thought!!

Thursday Thirteen "want- a- be"

2006-05-19T11:49:00.000-07:00

Okay, I have been wanting to try and be cool like my friends and join the Thursday Thirteen. But since I am not cool and have not been successful:) I have not been able to figure out how to post the graphic. So I am going to post but without a fun, cute graphic title. So I still will not totally consider myself a part of "the gang" until I figure it all out but until then I will stick to the words and still have some "Thirteen" fun!!

Thirteen Things I Have Loved About Having a Kindergartener:
1) Watching Malaya make new friends and making some great new friends for me too!
2) I never realized how much I LOVE making copies, cutting out laminating, hanging bulletin boards, decorating the Kinder hall. SO FUN to me!!!!!
3) Getting up early and starting my day. (You see before kinder. I was quite a late sleeper.)
4) Coming home and going on walks by myself and having lots of self reflecting time.
5) Getting to spend time with David on his off days.
6) Being room Mom, I loved planning the parties and special things for her teacher.
7) Malaya having such a FABULOUS kinder teacher. It was such a blessing to have a Christian teacher. We even got to go to church with her once and worship with her! What a blessing for Malaya and me to get to see and hear her teacher worship God.
8) Having Malaya's friends over to play. There were not many days when someone has not come home with us. Malaya loves it!!
9) Watching Malaya progressively learn to read.
10) Getting to watch Malaya tell friends about Jesus or ask about church. Malaya never knew that there are some people that actually DO NOT believe in God till this year. Great faith building for her!!
11) Learning how to be a better parent and seek some MAJOR wisdom while dealing with a few "new" and "exciting" situations.
12) Getting to watch Malaya in programs sing and do her choreography so proudly and confidently!!
13) Simply just knowing that we made it through the first year of school!!!! YEA!! The weeks leading up to Kinder were full or tears and fear (much more for me than Malaya). So knowing that we conquered the year!!

Now we push ahead to First grade. Maybe next week I will post about the things I am looking forward to about 1st grade!!

Stalking Thought

2006-04-19T07:16:00.000-07:00

At a conference I went to a couple of weekends ago the key speaker kept saying a quote over and over that is stalking me.
"God loves it when people speak well of His Son."
I love that!! What Father doesn't want accolades and encouragements and praises and positive talk about their children. What Father doesn't love it when others even think to simply just talk to others about his children and let others know how much they love and appreciate his children.

The gift of Jesus is so miraculous and so praiseworthy why am I so stinkin' timid and sometimes even unthoughtful about talking to others about Him. Not in a presuasive, convincing way but just sharing in conversation about what Jesus' blood has done for me, how it daily transforms me, how He has forgiven me, how it seems so superntaural yet you can literally feel His activity in Your life.
Sometimes I just want to slap myself:) A new friend of mine is constantly telling me and others that this message that Jesus has annointed us to tell is URGENT!! Some people literally can not live another day without knowing Jesus. They will die of loss of hope, they will die of feelings of destruction, etc. Sometimes there is time to build relationships and gain people's trust before we need to share but sometimes it is URGENT! It is life or death.

I say these words empty b/c I have not acted on them more than I can count on one hand but I feel in a way that God is speaking to my heart and saying "Get with it daughter." "Are you who you say you are?" "There is work to be done."
My frustration comes because I don't know where to begin so yesterday I started praying that I want God to kill Jenny Bizaillion and Him just do it in me. I felt kind of relieved after that saying the words b/c it took the pressure off of myself. But now will I truly die and let Him do what He will do???
That is the question!!

Where has the time gone??

2006-04-10T15:04:00.000-07:00

SIX years ago today I gained the title of "Mommy". I would have never dreamed in a million years how much I would love being a mom.
This day six years ago, I experienced a joy and a love and a protection that I didn't even know existed. I don't think I stopped staring at her for months. The minute she was born she exuberated "Bizaillion". She looked just like her daddy and still does:) I used to love to sit and sing her the ABC's even though she was only a few days old:) I loved dressing her up in cute clothes. I loved reading to her and sleeping with her:) Every age and stage has had it's joys and it's frustrations. I look back now and I already see things that I could have done so much better but praise God that he can clean all that up:)
Malaya has also become one of my closest friends. I love hanging out with her-shopping, going out to eat just the two of us, singing together, reading her books, working puzzles, making up skits together, and watching movies with her. I love talking to her about life and about things in her 6 year old. I love watching her worship God and hear her in the bath tub bust out the praise to her Creator:) I love it when I lay down with her at night and she puts her hand on my cheek. I love singing her to sleep and I love hearing her pray. It is so interesting the things that a six year old has to share with God. It has definitely caused for some late night giggles between me and David. She loves hanging out with her Grammy and Grampy and uncles and aunts and cousins. She loves playing big sister to all the younger kids at church:)
I never would have imagined that being a mom would teach me how to be more like Jesus but it does. She challenges me on my thinking, on my patience:), on my committments, etc.
Malaya has blessed our lives in a bizaillion more ways. I truly can not imagine my life without her in it!
We celebrate you today, Malaya! It is the biggest blessing in my life to be your mom. I can not wait to see what the Lord is going to do through you, my precious daughter! I love you!

Happy Birthday to our special friends who celebrate birthdays close to us:
Matthew who turned 5 yesterday!
And Ashlyn who turns 5 today!
Bizaillion's wish you both a Happy Birthday!

Thoughts on Prayer

2006-03-28T14:58:00.000-08:00

Here are a few quotes I have been compiling about prayer. Of course most of them are thoughts of humans but there is still something to learned by the words. I hope some of them touch you in some way:)

"It is not prayer which draws Jesus into our hearts. Nor is it our prayer which moves Jesus to come in to us. All He needs is access. He enters in of His own accord, because he desires to come in. And He enters in wherever he is not denied admittance." O. Hallesby

"If our petitions are in accordance with His will, and if we seek His glory in the asking, the answers will come in ways that will astonish us and fill our hearts with songs of thanksgiving." J.K. Maclean (I love the part about that the answers will astonish us. AMEN AND AMEN!!)

"Our faith in prayer can be no passing attitude that changes with the wind or with our own feelings and circumstances; it must be a faact that God hears and answers, that His ear is ever open to the cry of His children, and that the power to do what is asked of Him is commensurate with His willingness." E.M. Bounds

"In God's name, I beseech you, let prayer nourish your soul as your meals nourish your body. Let your fixed seasons of prayer keep you in God's presence through the day, and His presence frequently remembered though it be an ever-fresh spring of prayer." E.M. Bounds

"One night alone in prayer might make us new men, changed from poverty of soul to spiritual wealth, from trembling to triumphing." C.H. Spurgeon

"If I am a Christian, I am not set on saving my own skin, but on seeing that the salvation of God comes through me to others, and the great way is by intercession." Oswald Chambers

"You will find when you search for me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:13

"In the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee." Psalm 5:3

"If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in." Revelation 3:20

"We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers." I Thessalonians 1:2

Well, that is probably enough for now. God has really been teaching me through many ways just how powerful prayer is. I am in the "preschool" stages of learning. So bring on the learning:)

Have a great week, blog friends!

Life is Rockin' and Rollin' Along

2006-03-21T13:31:00.000-08:00

Well, I just got home from a meeting with 10 people that I will be working in ministry with for a phase of my life. We met for 4 hours and hearing hearts that are on fire for the Lord and His service has fired me up!! I am going to be doing administrative work for a company called Kidstand. If you are interested check out the website, www.kidstand.org And if anything, just say a prayer for this ministry. The website explains many more details. I am just so excited to get to be part of a team that is passionate about sharing Jesus with children. Our team has been asked to come to Africa in September and I am highly considering that trip. Much more prayer on that front!! I am sure I will be blogging about this more in the future...

We got back from Ruidoso on Friday night. We had a wonderful trip with our family, (mom, dad, both brothers and sister in laws, and of course my sexy hubby and beautiful daughter). Here is a run down of our 5 day trip:
Monday: Left Keller at 6:00P.M. and arrived in Ruidoso, NM at 3:00 a.m. (yes, we are crazy:)

Tuesday: woke up at 9:00 a.m., went for a drive through the mountains, saw the Ski Resort, did a little hiking to a mountain that had a breathtaking view. The clan sat and we were all speechless for a few minutes and then we worshipped our amazing creator together as a family. It was a blessing!! Then coming off of an intimate time with God, my brothers proceded to... no I won't tell the blogworld about it:) Malaya started feeling sick so I hiked while carrying a 60 pound child back to the car. I finally sat down on a rock and waited for the testosterone in our family to catch up. See my dad's blog for a cute story about this, www.rross.blogspot.com

Wednesday: woke up at 7:00 to head to Ski Apache! We had a great day. Malaya loved her little ski school and I was so impressed with how good she was. David had a blast and is ready to go back. I hung out with my 7 month pregnant sister in law for the day. After dinner we headed back to the house and watched American Idol and worked a 500 piece puzzle. My favorite thing--EVER!! "Amy" (aka Josh) came to visit. (I really hope I can figure out how to post some pictures. Our time with "Amy" is always one of the highlights of our trips. It is during that time that I laugh the hardest of the whole year!! She, I mean he, cracks me up!!

Thursday: All the guys except Jonathan went golfing. The girls headed out for some shopping and ice cream/fudge eating. We had a great time!! Josh and Kayci cooked dinner for us (it was delicious!!) and we watched a movie and worked 3 more puzzles.

Friday: We gathered things together and headed home. Arrived back in Keller about 10:30.

We had such a great trip. I have not spent much time in the mountains. It was just beautiful!! I loved the trees, the animals, the smell, the scenery!
Thanks Mom and Dad for a great trip!!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

2006-03-06T19:24:00.000-08:00

Well, tomorrow is my mom's birthday! We get to celebrate the birth of Beverly Joann (Jones) Ross. The world has never been the same:) Here are some of my prized memories and things I love and appreciate about my mom!
One of my favorite things to do with my mom when I was little was work puzzles. My mom had me working 100 piece puzzles at a very early age. When my brothers took naps, working puzzles was our special time together. I loved seeing my mom be involved at my school. Mom never missed a field trip, concert, recital, etc. I loved that she taught my Bible classes, VBS and more. I remember listening to her with her friends as she would laugh with them, cry with them, listen to them, pray with them, etc. Her mama claws whipped out very seldom but when they did-watch out!! I rode the bus ONE time when I was in Kinder. I wanted the bus driver to look at my work I had done that day. She wouldn't look at my work and told me to go sit down. I NEVER rode the bus again:) My mom had firm yet stable and consistent discipline. There was never much question what was accepted in our home and what wasn't. I loved reading books with my mom. I think we read Go Dog, Go at least a million times in my lifetime. Mom challenged us academically to always do our best. She encouraged me to be a reader, which is one of my favorite things to do to this day!
When my first boyfriend broke up with me of course I was devestated!! My mom slept right beside me that night. She knew my little heart would mend but she let me know I was not alone. She always encouraged us to stand up for what was right and pure. Before we ever went out on dates or out with friends her last words would be, "Remember WHO'S you are!!" And of course many times we forgot who's we were but Mom was always there to forgive, accept and encourage us on our journey. She encouraged us to never stop seeking God. Her heart and arms were always full of love. My friends and boyfriends loved coming to my house just to visit with her. She could encourage and find a gift in the scummiest of scum. I mean that in a nice way:) I remember a few friends who came in our home (mine and brothers included) who were making horribles decisions in their life and living their lives in junky ways and after a time with Mom, they would feel convicted and sorry yet be so rejuvenated about their life. She believed in them. She has gerat vision of looking past people's dirt and seeing the beauty of God.
As I went off to college, my mom and I developed a real friendship. She was the one I would call and gush about David. I brought home a few stinkin' boys but Mom loved David from the first minute. She and David had a connection immediately. She and I worked so hard on our wedding. We made so many great memories during those 6 months. (She has a notebook about 4 inches thick if anyone needs any research for caterers, decorators, florists, bakers, etc.)
David and I called she and Dad first to tell them we were pregnant with Malaya. We made up a little riddle and it took them a minute to let it sink in that they were going to be grandparents. And so began her role as Grammy. She is a great Grammy!! She was in the room when she was born. I LOVED her presence there. I even was okay with the fact that the second Malaya was born she dropped my hand and went to grab her granddaughter. I never saw her again for the next few hours:) The nurse kept telling her nicely to let go of Malaya's hand but Mom would just so very confidently say, "She needs me." And of course did not let go:) Malaya and her have a very special bond. They "get each other". They are very similar in a lot of ways, ways I am not. They are both social butterflies. They love to talk. I LOVE it when I am in the car with the 2 of them and they want to play the Quiet game. Bottom's up, I win every time. I think the longest game ever has been about 5 seconds. They like to be prissy together. They just love being together.
Thank you Mom for always being a source of strength. Thank you for being bold. Thank you for not being afraid of confrontation and standing for the truth.
Thanks Mom for also battling for us kids in prayer since the time we were conceived. God has blessed your faithfulness in many ways. Thank you for praying for our future mates (we all got gifts from those devoted prayers.) Thank you for praying for our souls. Thank your for praying dangerous prayers and asking God to do whatever it takes in our lives to make us like Him. Thanks for spending hours on your knees for us. Thanks for your bold teaching and example. Thanks for your constant redirection to God's word. Thanks for setting us on a path to Jesus even when at times you had to snap our heads into that direction. Thanks for always letting me cry and whine to you about life. Thank you for sacrificing my heart to the Lord. Thanks for reminders of our focus and our goal. Thanks for teaching us about purity, holiness, love, forgiveness, devotion, and perseverence. Thanks for being my friend and one of my closest confidants. Thanks for being a loyal friend to so many over the years. I have seen people become closer to Jesus because of your listening ear, your compassion, your teaching, your prayer and your counsel. Thank you for being a willing vessel of Jesus. Thank you for living your life so selflessly. Thank you for letting me continue to learn and grow from you. You are a constant source of advice and counsel in marriage, parenting, relationships, and life in general.
Thank you Mom for living your life to please Jesus. Thank you for living your life to smell like him, to look like him and to sound like him. Thank you for being one of the biggest blessings in my life.
Happy Birthday Mom. Thanks for being you!!

Captivated Heart

2006-02-27T13:56:00.000-08:00

Well, I am finishing up with a powerful book, Captivating by Staci Eldridge. This book has spoken to me in some strong, "in your face" ways. I love when I can be slammed in the face with truthful teaching. There is one part that focuses on God's romance with us. I always knew that God loved me and I had heard about this "romance thing" before but through this book I was able to understand a little more. I am still blown away by the fact that God desperately wants me (us) to be imtimately, dedicatedly, head over heals in love with him. The word "intimate" used to scare me, especially thinking about me and God. But he wants to have a romantic relationship with us. He wants to "date" us. He wants to bring us "gifts" of His love. Wow! I will probably blog about that more later but here is another excerpt from the book that also meant a lot to me.

"Living in true beauty can require much waiting, much time, much tenacity of spirit. We must constantly direct our gazes toward the face of God, even in the presence of longing and sorrow. It is in the waiting that our hearts are enlarged. The waiting does not diminish us. As a pregnant woman is enlarged in her waiting, so are our hearts. God does not always rescue us out of a painful season. You know that he does not always give to us what we so desperately want when we want it. He is after something much more valuable than our happiness. Much more substantive than our health. He is restoring and growing in us an eternal weight of glory. And somtimes...it hurts."

WOW!! That so speaks right to the depths of my soul!!!!! This journey requires passion, determination, grueling battle...The Bible talks so many times about that it is in waiting and silence when we find Him and recognize Him. Most of the time, I forget that focus!

I desire that "weight of glory".
______________________________________

On a lighter note----
-I am SOOOOOO glad that Drew won Dancing with the Stars. He was my favorite the whole time.
-David is almost finished with the court house job. The final days are touchable!!:)
-I had to wake Malaya up for school this morning. (Usually she gets up on her own) I thought that it was going to be a whip of a morning. But she shocked me. She had a great attitude. She busted her rear to get ready and jumped in the car. So as we were walking in to school I told her that I was so proud of the decision she had made to have such a great attitude even though she was still tired. She looked up into my eyes with the most confident look a little 5 year old girl can give and said very bluntly, "Mom, we DID pray about my attitude last night, remember!!" I was busted!! Sometimes I forget that God really does listen to all of our "jibberish":) Malaya reminds me so much about the simplicity of our walk!

College Roomies!

2006-02-09T07:34:00.000-08:00

I got to spend some time this week with my college roomates. Not only were these girls my college roomies but we also went to high school together. We had the best time!! We talked about old boyfriends and old high school experiences. We have so many great memories from Poteet High School and MCoC youth group. Then we went to ACU together. We gained the Freshman 15 together. We exercised together to lose the freshman 15. We were together daily (when one of us wasn't out with a boy:) We pledged together. We were in each other's weddings. They dropped to the floor (literally) when I told them I was expecting Malaya. I have recently gotten to celebrate with them as they welcomed their sweet boys into this world.
We talked about "mommyhood". We talked about God's activity in our lives. We talked about what we desire Him to do in our lives.
Through all this conversation I was reminded what a HUGE impression these women made in my life. They have represented Jesus to me in so many ways.
We have laughed together, cried together, celebrated together, had many sleepless nights daydreaming and talking about what our lives were going to be like one day:). We have prayed together, worshipped together, encouraged each other in our walks, and so many other things!!
I can't wait to tell Malaya about some (not all:) of our memories and watch her as she one day develops these life long friends! Love you, roomies!!

Realization!

2006-02-07T06:55:00.000-08:00

Last night I had one of those moments as a parent when you realize that time is so fleeting. As David and I were praying last night he worded something in his prayer that hit home. He was praising God that Malaya so much desires to spend time and have relationship with he and I. (This was coming off of the fact that Malaya had been begging David for weeks to take her to Cabela's and walk around.) Last night he took her out and they spent some special time at Cabela's. And then he said the heart piercing thing - That there will come a day or phase when she we will not be the first people at the top of her list to spend time with or if she desires it at all. The words took my breath away for a second as I remembered how many times that day Malaya had asked me to play Barbie's with her. It took me forever to sit down with her. So as of today I am going to be much more intentional about spending as much special time as possible with my daughter so that one day when her life does involve a lot of other people, I will still have the memories of working puzzles, reading books, watching movies, playing Barbies, Polly Pockets, dressing dolls, playing house and school, dancing with her, riding bikes, going to the park, etc.

And then I remind myself--she is 5 (about to be 6). I think I still have a few more years in the bag:)

It's a Boy!!

2006-02-01T08:09:00.000-08:00

Just got a call from my little brother and they are having a little boy!! I am so excited and there is no one here to share the news with so I am sharing with blog world!! Malaya told me yesterday that even if it is a boy she is still going to put makeup on him and play dress up so look out Jonathan and Jennifer and especially little Jedidiah. That will be his name! They may not call him that but that will be his official name!! I love it!
2 Samuel 12:24 and 25 - "She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The Lord loved him; and because the Lord loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah. " In my side notes it says The giving of this name suggests that the Lord's favor rested on Solomon from his birth. And since the name also contained an echo of David's name, it provided assurance to David that the Lord also loved him and would continue his dynasty.
WOW!! I pray that Jedidiah along with Malaya will continue to pass down for generations to come the name and spirit of Jesus.
"And we must tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord"!! Amen!
I am a proud aunt!! Congrats Jon and Jen!!

I'm Lonely and Some Kinder Updates!

2006-01-31T07:54:00.000-08:00

I HATE when David is gone! I miss visiting with him every night about our day. I simply miss his presence in our home. I quickly forget the comfort, the protection, the companionship and the laughter that he offers. And of course I miss his hugs and kisses:) I am so ready for him to get home!!

On another note-I can not believe we are getting closer to the end of the year. Malaya has grown so much this year. Yes, she has gotten taller and more beautiful:) but her brain just amazes me!! Her knowledge has just exploded this year. She is reading and she knows how to add and subtract. (she counts mostly with her fingers which drives me crazy but I am constantly assured that is normal and okay)! She has loved learning about animals, indians, farmers, and so many other things. I applaud her teacher. She has been a fabulous teacher. I began praying many years ago for her future teachers. Last year Malaya and I prayed about it every night. God answered that prayer with precious Miss Rhodes. She is a Christian. She loves the children. She has just an amazing heart. I have loved being her Room Mom. God has also taught Malaya a lot this year about being a friend. As you could see in early kinder year blogs we had a few bumps in this area. But I have seen significant improvement. I am so proud of her. She is having a friend over to our house today and then she is going to another friend's house tomorrow! I have heard her ask kids in her class before if they believe in Jesus and if they go to church. I think it was a shock to her at first that not everyone did but I am trying to hammer her with the fact that it is those kids that God wants you to love. It has been such a lesson and example to me to attempt to teach her about her "mission field". She is a leader in her class. She likes to be in charge and have all the ideas of what to play and how to direct the other kids. That will be a continual thing that we are practicing on balancing:)
Another issue that has been interesting for me to deal with this year is Malaya's sense of style. I have watched another Godly friend deal with her daughter on this issue and b/c of her great example, I have attempted to be a little more linient than I have been in the past. Let me say I am the farthest thing from being a stylish/trendy person but having a daughter, you do want them to look cute and yes I'll say it- trendy! But this past year or so Malaya's idea of this and my idea of this is quite different. The past few months Malaya has taken charge of her own "hair care"-washing of, brushing of, STYLING of...It is always quite interesting. In the beginning I felt the need to explain to others of "the look" but I have quit that. It is always interesting to say the least.
She loves to wear jewelry which is not me AT ALL!! Putting a simple t-shirt on or a sweat shirt (my daily attire) is just horrible.
I know in later years some moral issues will enter in to this subject of dressing but for now I like to see her personality bloom through her sense of style. She makes me laugh!
I am anxious to see what else God has in store for our kindergarten year. He truly never fails to make me laugh at the marvelous way He works!!

She Cracks Me Up!

2006-01-18T19:42:00.000-08:00

I must journal this so that I don't forget it.
I just went in to check on Malaya. (Which I do WAY too many times after she has gone asleep!) I noticed this HUGE bulge from under her sheets! Malaya had stuffed about 6 stuffed animals in her gown. I think she has been around a few pregnancies and babies!! Which by the way, she is eating up all these new babies. She is lovin' it!
We are so excited for all our new spiritual family members:)

Thank you Malaya for reminding me how precious you are. Thanks for making me smile:)

Does God.........?

2006-01-16T10:53:00.000-08:00

Malaya is on a "kick" right now of asking questions that begin with Does God...? Here are some examples:
"Does God make hurricanes?"
"Did God make Papa have back surgery?"
"Does God get mad at us?"
"Does God not want you to have more babies?" (I know, I know... boo-hoo but really I kind of giggled-no melt down:)
"Is God mean?"
"Can God stop the devil?"

Heavy, huh?? Maybe some of you have great answers to the above and if you do please leave your advice but I find myself stumbling over my words. We have always taught Malaya that their are 2 powers fighting for her life, God and Satan. When she was very little we disciplined her often by asking her, "Who are you pleasing with that choice, God or the devil." And we love making God happy and we still stomp our feet when we please the devil and say "Oh, man. Let's not make him happy again. "She has always been very aware of Satan's activity and God's activity in her life and she is pretty good at distinguishing the two in her day to day life as far as when she does good and when she does bad- but as she is getting older the questions are becoming bigger and heavier as you see. Some are easier to answer than others and I have become pretty good at saying, "I just don't know but I know God is perfect!" or "Malaya, I will pray and think about that question and get back to you." (Sometimes in the back of my head hoping she'll forget, which she never does, so I know I have to keep my word. What a challenge!

God teaches us so much about faith through our children. Sometimes just knowing that God IS and that He DOES and that He has already won the victory over the devil has to be good enough.
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Malaya started dance today!! It was so much fun to watch her! She has always danced around the house and put on shows for me and David but I didn't know how she would act with strangers and room of peers. She was in heaven. She loved the tap and ballet. But I think her favorite part was when they got to do an interpretive dance to a story. It was the cutest thing ever. All shyness was out the door. She was floating and shaking her...no not that:)... streamers in the air. I am waiting to hear, "Mom, I was made to dance."

God-I have a problem!

2006-01-11T10:39:00.000-08:00

When we got home today, Malaya asked if she could watch cartoons. I told her we would eat lunch and then she could watch a cartoon. Then she asked if she could eat lunch in the living room. I told her that we were not going to eat lunch in the living room. We were going to have lunch at the table (as usual) and THEN she could watch a cartoon. As I was getting lunch ready she came walking in the kitchen with her ever so grown up walk and her hands on her hips and she said in a very "16 year oldish" way, "Mom, I was BORN to watch t.v." I thought in my head, WHAT in the world. I start to ramble off all the typical things like, "Oh yeah, little missy-You were BORN to live your life for Jesus, to be a servant and to NOT talk back to your mother." But I didn't rattle off those things. I just giggled to myself b/c I heard Beverly Ross (my mother) in her "I was born to (insert whatever she is doing at the moment)" I have heard my mom say this so many times: I was born to make tea. I was born to work puzzles. I was born to lay on the beach and read books all day. etc. etc. etc. Cracks me up!
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My grandfather came out of his surgery well. We are so grateful. The doctor prayed over the surgery and my grandfather before they went in so that was very comforting to family that the surgeon was a Jesus follower. Prase God for that and I pray his recovery is quick!
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Special shout out to Kelli Fletcher today! Happy Birthday Kelli!! Hope you are partying your day away:)

Random Nothings

2006-01-09T13:34:00.000-08:00

Well, since it has been almost a week since I have blogged I figure I should journal something about my life so that I don't look back on this day and think "Man, Jenny! Your life was really boring in Jan. of 2006."
So here's just a bunch of random hoo-haw!

Christmas is put up and back in the attic. I do have a few Christmas dishes left but hey the majority is done.

We are having a hard time getting back in good sleeping schedule after the holiday. Since starting Kinder, Malaya has been up and ready to go to school most mornings but this last week I have pulled her out of bed at 7:50. (We leave for school at 8:10.) Thankfully we pick out what she is going to wear the night before so that is ready to go. I brush my teeth, throw on my daily attire of sweats, throw the hair in my normal hair-do (ponytail), I grab breakfast that she eats in the car, and we are running into our day. I really don't enjoy starting our days that way. Hopefully tomorrow will be better!

Our ocean of babies began being born today. The Ayers baby was born today. This is a very exciting and changing time for many of our friends! Can't wait to hold them all and remember when Malaya was that little (or not so little). It is amazing to look into the face of a newborn baby and wonder about what they are going to be, what role they are going to play in life, church, ministry, etc. So moldable, yet God's fingerprints are marked all over their new little bodies. I need to stop typing this stuff before I start snort crying:)

Brother and sister in law (Jonathan and Jennifer) are starting a new job. He will be the worship leader for Bamel Road Church of Christ in Houston. I am very excited for them. They start March 1st.They are both so talented and will be HUGE servants in the church there. It is just weird to think about little bro' being a professional, working MAN! And on top of that about to be a Dad. WOW!!

Other brother Josh and Kayci are on the prowl for a Pulpit position. I can't wait to see what God ends up doing with their willing spirits. They are seeking His will whole-heartedly and I know whereever they go that God's word will be preached and people's hearts will be challenged to be more like Jesus!

Do you ever have those conversations with God that go something like this--

Jenny: WIll, you please just do something with my life??
God: I am at work and you will see someday.
Jenny: Could I have a result now please.
God: Not done yet (as you can just picture God just chipping and hammering and pushing your heart into place)
Jenny: God, I truly am ready.
God: Not today
Jenny: Tomorrow??
God: (laughing at my stubborn, immature spirit)
Jenny: (stomping my feet) WHEN??????
God: make it all about ME, my daughter, make it all about me

Those words have been going through my head on a consistent basis for a few weeks now--It's not about me (jenny), It's all about you (God). It's not about me, It's all about you. It's not about me. It's all about you.........

Will I ever get it?? I am so grateful He is so patient with me.

On that note-off to go play Strawberry Shortcake with Malaya!

Happy New Year!

2006-01-03T06:46:00.000-08:00

Well, Malaya is back at school after being home for 2 and a half weeks. David is working back at the courthouse. I am sitting in our big chair wondering where I should begin with holiday clean-up. Toys are everywhere, laundry is in need of being done, and many other things but...it can all wait a little longer. We got back from Houston last night and we had a great time with our family down there. The environment down there is fast-paced! We are constantly going! Malaya loves being with her cousins and it is so neat to watch her play with them and develop relationships with them. I always love being with my sister in law. She is 4 months pregnant so we did a lot of visiting on the couch:) I also enjoyed being with my other sister in law and her new husband. It makes David and I giggle as we watch them deal with a lot of the same things we did! She and I beat the whole family in a game of Mafia. The victory was sweet! We had a really good time with them!
We went as a family to see Chronicles of Narnia! HIGHLY recommend this movie if you have not seen it. We did not take the kids. They saw Chicken Little. We will wait a year or so to let Malaya watch it but I really can not wait to watch it with her. It was amazing to see how well this movie was made. The graphics were outstanding! But the story was the best. I had read these stories as a kid but I had forgotten all the details. It was such a beautiful story and the symbolism was just amazing! I will not share too many details in case you haven't seen it.

I am excited about 2006! 2005 began with anger, bitterness, instability for our family, and lots of other feelings that we were more of Satan than of God-that's for sure! I have learned so much about God's redemption, His love, and so many other things. He has been at grueling work within my heart and even though his work has been hard, I truly pray that he continues His work in me and that He will go to even deeper parts of my heart to reveal the things in me that are not of Him. 2006 is not going to be about Jenny Bizaillion. There will definitely be times daily that I will sin and try to make it about me again but I am devoted to being intentional about not keeping my focus inward. What a waste of life if I allow myself to stay there!
I have made several goals for 2006. I am passionate and determined to fulfill those goals.

Hope your 2006 is off to a great beginning!

Great Days!

2005-12-27T19:49:00.000-08:00

Well, we had a great past few days (with the exception of me getting sick Christmas Eve night and ALL day Christmas day)! It was great being with family! Malaya had a blast with her special aunts and uncles. They make her feel so special and shower her with so much attention. Jennifer and Kayci played American Girl with her for hours!! What blessings they are for her!
Our Chrismas is still not complete--we still have Christmas with the Biz's this weekend! Malaya is excited to see her cousins.
Malaya lost her second tooth yesterday!! I feel like she is growing so fast-I wish I could just push pause!
Well, I am off to read my toothless one a book and put her too bed!
More Christmas memories too come--

SHOPPING IS DONE!!

2005-12-21T15:38:00.000-08:00

SSSSIIIIGGGGHHHH!!

My 2005 Christmas shopping is complete! I am taking a blogging break before I jump into a few hours of wrapping! I am so excited about being with family the next week or so. Family starts coming in tomorrow! YEA!!

As I was driving to run some errands Monday morning I got this overwhelming realization of the enormous things God has done in my life this past year. He has taught me so much, my heart truly does not feel the same. His forgiveness, love, patience, pleading, comfort (and many more things) has showered over me in miraculous, unexplainable ways. And it truly is unexplainable. Have you ever tried to explain it?? I truly can not even put it into words except just to say God is amazing...He is true...He is steady...He works miracles...He loves EVERYONE unconditionally...He is full of grace...His blood never runs out...He is the Judger--NOT ME (as much as I try to be:)...Him revealing himself to me is endless...He is so full of characteristics that I could spend a life time and never know the depth of Him.
This past year I have fallen so much deeper in love with him! I always thought it was kind of weird when people said that, but it is so true.
I will save my goals and dreams for this next year in a New Year's post.

Bringing this back to Christmas :)--Can you truly believe that God sent His son (himself in flesh) to be "us". It amazes me. I think about Mary and how her heart must have felt when that angel told her that she was carrying the Savior/her son would save the world from eternal damnation!! What a deep love she must have had for Jesus. It truly is a miracle. The devil had to have been throwing a fit the day of his birth. Absolutely amazing!!

I hope you all have a great season of giving and I hope you have some time of reflection of what God has done in your life this past year.

Room Mom Update and Christmas Tag!

2005-12-15T12:30:00.001-08:00

What a relief!! My first BIG duty as "Room Mom" is complete! I have been so nervous all week but it is finally completed! We had our Christmas (I mean Winter) Party today. It was a lot of fun! The kids seemed to have a great time and I had great parents that were tons of help!!
Have I said before how much I LOVE being up at Malaya's school. I am that dork who LOVES volunteering-I LOVE cutting, running copies, running school errands, etc. and I have LOVED being Room Mom. I am such a nerd!!
Anyway--
Here is a FUN little Christmas "quiz" tag that I got from Paige!! EVERYONE who is reading this, consider yourself tagged!!

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? We wrap gifts to each other but on Christmas morning, the gifts Santa leaves are not wrapped.
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? Absolutely WHITE and I do love the icicle ones!
4. Do you hang mistletoe? No, but I should! I 'll take a kiss (from David of course) whenever I can get it:)
5. When do you put your decorations up? As soon as possible after Thanksgiving!
6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Hot rolls and Peanut Butter/Fudge candy
7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? opening gifts as our little family and then going to Groveton to do Christmas with Hutson's and grandparents.
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? Not sure, I think I knew early but I still "pretend" that he really does exist!
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? No way!!
10. What kind of cookies does Santa get set out for him? Usually sugar but we always leave candies too.
11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? LOVE IT
12. Can you ice skate? Are you kidding!! No way!
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Any time I get new clothes it is exciting but I can't pin down a favorite!
14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Being with family and giving gifts.
15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Fudges, candies, etc.
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? There are many!! Shopping with Mom, reading the Night Before Christmas, the night before Christmas:) We always read it when I was little and I have read it to Malaya every year whether she listened or not!
17. What tops your tree? a silver star
18. Which do you prefer Giving or Receiving? for sure giving
19. What is your favorite Christmas Carol? O Holy Night or I Saw Mama Kissing Santa Claus
20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? In the middle-they are okay!

How fun!! Now it is your turn--

Wintery Day!

2005-12-07T14:00:00.000-08:00

Don't you just love days that you are forced to not leave the house!! David has been home today and I LOVE having him home. I could sit on the couch cuddled up with him ALL day and be in heaven!
As you can see, Malaya and David decided to go play outside in this weather and being the thrillseekers both of them are--David spun Malaya in the wagon while she went sliding down the street on the ice. Princess even got in on the action. David would throw her the ball and she would go sliding at extremely high speed down the street! David busted it a couple of times and I attempted to get that on camera but I think with my laughing I could not keep the camera still. They had a great time!!
David drove with me and Malaya to take her to school b/c I hate driving in this weather and we slipped quite a few times. When we picked her up, we got slammed in the face with ice as we ran back to the truck!! Good times:)
Hope everyone in our area is enjoying their day indoors. If you did drive or travel, I hope you were safe.

Speechless!

2005-12-03T13:19:00.000-08:00

This post is way past due--
My words cannot express the outpouring of encouragement and prayers that I received through this blog the past few days. Thanks to my sweet Dad who was desperate for intervention for a hurting daughter. Thanks to my mom for her plea through her blog for prayers for me, David, and Malaya. Thanks to my wonderful brothers and sister in laws-Thank you for being God's instruments. You each are amazing! Thanks to my irreplaceable friends - Kelli, Paige, Jami, Valerie, Amber, Summer, Joel and Kim, your visits, phone calls, and prayerful intervention have been such strength.
And to the many friends that I have never even met or have only met a few times. What a gift all of your comments were. I have read many of them numerous times. I feel God drawing me nearer to Him every time I read your words. Thank each of you for taking time out to comment on my blog and leave words of hope, encouragement and testimonies of God's faithfulness through your stories. My heart is overflowing with gratitude for you. Thank you also for being God's instruments. You were used!
We continue to live because of the breath that God offers. Thank you for those that are praying and those that committed through this blog to pray for our family. My gratefulness is immeasurable!
I have learned more than ever this week about the greatness of the body of Christ. Thank you for extending His hands and feet to me.

I am committed to seeking the Lord more every day as he continues to mold me into what He desires for me to be. May my life be a reflection of Him...

Warning: Depressing Blog

2005-11-30T19:04:00.000-08:00

One of my uses of this blog is to sometimes vent emotionally. If you click away from this blog right now that is fine. It is depressing and not encouraging at all! Writing this out is for my benefit, really....I write this over shed tears wondering what in the world God is doing. I get tired of being patient. I get tired of reading over and over his promises. Blah, blah,blah...
I have already had a very emotional day. Satan hit me hard in a few areas today. I just put my precious 5 year old to bed and for the second time EVER she shed tears over not having a brother or sister. This is so painful for me! She confessed that this week she started lying to the kids in her class. They had made fun of her a few weeks ago for not having any siblings. So this week she decided that she was going to start lying about it. She even told them their names: She has 2 sisters named Haley and Darla and a brother named Colton. She told me that she had been lying. She said that she doesn't want to have any of her friends over any more b/c they will "find out" that she really does not have any brothers or sisters!

If I don't come close to understanding this, how in the world is my 5 year old supposed to wrap her brain around this. She asked me, "What is wrong with you Mommy, that you can't have a baby in your tummy. " Shattered heart again as I explained to her that I just don't know. My heart breaks for her. In some part of my heart I wanted to tell her to keep lying to make it easy for her but I didn't of course. I told her that I don't understand either but that it is very important that she start telling the truth.

I left her to go pray and opened up the Word to Psalm 84:11. It says, "For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does God withhold from those whose walk is blameless." Oh, have I wrestled with this verse the last few years. I know that I do not define "what is a good thing", God does. But Satan loves to tease me with these words and rip God's perfect Word to shreds in my mind. Sometimes I feel withheld from, sometimes I don't feel favored and honored and my walk is definitely not blameless.

I hate that my daughter is starting to experience my pain. I want to point her towards the truth and to God's faithfulness but tonight I feel weak and speechless.

I confess my selfishness and will attempt to continue to lay this down where it belongs.

(Thank you Kayci for your sweet prayer just now! You are a jewel! Your phone call was perfect timing! Thank you for letting me shed tears with you and just for listening!)

More Pictures!

2005-11-26T18:12:00.000-08:00

Is this a sign of things to come?? This is the phone my grandparents had growing up. My grandmother said that my mom spent most of her time on this thing. I think Grammy and Malaya have quite a few things in common:)
Finishing a yummy meal!!
Here is my Papa, Malaya, and B.

Okay, I think I ran out of picture room so here is a few more! Sorry so many but I had to work really hard to even it down to these!

Memories from Thanksgiving 2005

2005-11-26T17:55:00.000-08:00

Grampy trimmed Papa's tree limbs for him. While he was doing it, he found a bird's nest for Malaya. She was so excited!!
Malaya and her sweet teacher!!
Malaya had a speaking part in their program. She did GREAT!! We were so proud of her!

What a GREAT week we have had.
Malaya's program/feast/shopping/eating/visiting/traveling/eating/being with family/eating some more!! It has been a fun week. We loved spending time with my grandparents. My grandmother's (we call her B) cooking was out of this world. My grandfather's (Papa) wit was funnier than ever. They are such wonderful, Godly people and have meant so much to my foundation of faith. It has been such a blessing for Malaya to get to have a relationship with her Great-Grandparents.
Thanks so much to my precious Dad who made Thanksgiving lunch so special by his blessing and encouragement he gave each person! I will never forget that!

I am still learning how to put pictures on here. They are in backwards time order. Sorry about the confusion!

Hope everyone had a Great Thanksgiving!! What a fun time of year!!

Now Let Me Explain...........

2005-11-22T20:49:00.000-08:00

My precious sister in law, Kayci sent me this picture yesterday and I couldn't wait to blog about it. I have actually spent HOURS trying to get it to work. David sat down for 2 minutes and had it working! Don't cha' hate that!
Malaya loves both of her uncles very much! But a special tradition (sacrifice) that Uncle Josh does every year on vacation is this....
Josh pretends to be "Amy". She "comes out" periodically, on random nights on vacation. She tries to scrounge whatever outfit will fit around his muscles:), puts on some sort of wig ( some year's it's panty hose, one year it was a blonde hula skirt and this year it was a shirt (I think). Josh tries to convince Malaya that "Amy" dies her hair from year to year. This past year was the BEST!! "Amy" performed a concert for Malaya which consisted of "choreograhy" and everything. This picture was a pose after the concert. Malaya thinks this is the best thing all year. "Amy" calls our house from time to time to visit with Malaya.

Now let me give this disclaimer for anyone who does not know Josh! He is married to a wonderful WOMAN named Kayci! He is a minister and a grad student at Abilene Christian University. He enjoys working out, is a huge Huskers, Mav's, Rangers, and Barry Bonds fan (that should explain it all:) This is just one of those funny "uncle" things!

Malaya went to dayschool last year and told her teachers that she has an uncle that is a preacher that dresses up like a woman at night. There were some eyebrows raised at that one but I was very quick to explain!!

Thanks Uncle Josh for being an Uncle who is willing to do anything to make your neice laugh!!

Can I Just Shout (or whisper) a Wow!!

2005-11-14T07:11:00.000-08:00

WOW!! We went to the Jeremy Camp concert Saturday night ( this was David's birthday present) and I must say (or whisper b/c I have no voice:) that it ties for 1st place of the best concert I have ever been to. It ties with Nichole Nordeman, though they are in quite different playing fields! His lyrics take you right to the throne room of God. They are so intimate. Even his "hard" songs have powerful lyrics! Camp is so gifted and I am so glad that he shares that gift with so many people. We had so much fun!! I did keep taking little peeks back at Trooper Paige. I was just making sure that labor was not being spurred on by the bass and rocking of the building:) So glad the Fletch's got to go even in the event of sick kiddos. Praise God for quick healing!!
David and I got home about 11:30 and we then continued our night with Jeremy as we watched his acoustic concert on DVD. Great times!! Great times!!

My mom is home from Germany! We missed her so much! We got to meet and say hi last night for a minute and when I pick Malaya up from school today we are going to head to Decatur to hang out, visit, and unpack more boxes. The unpacking was put on hold while Mom was gone. So glad she's back!!

Hope everyone is gearing up for the holidays!! I heard my first Christmas song on KLTY this morning. The season is upon us!!

Tooth Fairy Visit Tonight!

2005-11-11T16:39:00.000-08:00

Well, we finally did it! The tooth fairy will be visiting our house tonight!! The Grampy tooth fairy already made a very significant visit! We are so excited. This tooth has been trying to come out for a long time. Malaya is the cutest "missing a tooth girl" I have ever seen

Sleepless Night:(/ Strong Words

2005-11-09T07:22:00.000-08:00

I had one of those nights that I just had so "much" swiming in my brain I could not relax. The Holy Spirit was putting so many things on my heart to pray about. I had so much to talk to the Lord about, I couldn't get it all out fast enough. The Lord once again convicted me of some things that were in my heart that were not of Him. Through confession and tears and asking God questions, I felt Him cleansing me and molding me.
Anyway, through those hours of "wrestling" the lyrics of one of Jeremy Camp's songs (who I have come to find such blessing in his music) kept coming to my head and I prayed these words. May these words bless you today as you are searching...

"You want to be real
You want to be emptied inside
You want to be someone laying down your pride
You want to be someone someday
Then lay it all down before the King
You want to be whole
You want to have purpose inside
You want to have virtue and purify your mind
You want to be set free today
Then lay it all down before the King

This is my desire
This is my return
This is my desire to be used by you.

You want to be real
You want to be emptied inside
And I know my heart is to feel you near
And I know my life
It's to do your will
It's to do your will

This is my desire
This is my return
This is my desire to be used by you.

All my life I have seen where you've taken me
Beyond all I have hoped and there's more left unseen
There's not much I can do repay all you've done
So I give my hands to use

This is my desire
This is my return
This is my desire to be used by you."

I have been dared by the Lord to seek him even deeper. I am taking him on His challenge!
"Seek me and you WILL find me" says the Lord. I give You my hands to use.........

Great Saturday!

2005-11-05T11:22:00.000-08:00

This morning we had a great brunch at Kelli's house. We had so much fun! The food was great! It was so joyful to be together! I am excited about sending out my gratitude card.

I am off to clean the house which is always very exciting to me to have done! Then we are going to clean out the garage!
Is there a better Saturday??:)

Germany update: Mom is safely in Germany! It is nighttime there so they are off to bed. I am so grateful that they arrived safely!

Moving on In Life

2005-11-03T06:54:00.000-08:00

Well, I am about to head over to Mom and Dad's old house to clean and as of today they can close that chapter of their lives. My heart is full of joy for them! Their new house in Decatur is beautiful. They live right on one of the main streets there. We were over there all day yesterday. We ate out for lunch and dinner. It reminds me so much of our days in Crockett. We walked in and Mom and Dad already knew almost everyone in the restaurant and they even knew the owner of the restaurant. Fun, fun days!! They are gonna' love it there!

Please keep Mom in your prayers. She leaves tomorrow for Germany for about 2 weeks. She is going with a group of about 20 women to minister over there. I am excited for her but it is a little anxious too knowing she will be overseas. We pray God's protection and that God will use Mom in amazing ways while she is there which I have no doubt about:) Also, just pray that she won't think too much about her "newly moved into house that is in a whirlwind". And that she will be able to lay that stress down while she on her trip.
It would probably be good to pray for Dad too. He always hates it when Mom is gone. He will be on pins and needles ready for her to get home!
Thanks for everyone's prayers for Mom and Dad over the past year or so. They are off to a great new beginning and it will be exciting to see what God will do through them there.

Baby J update-Baby J is 18 mm!! Growing like a weed:) They got pictures and saw the heart beating! Jennifer didn't even pass out once!! She got really dizzy at one point and thought she was going to pass out and the nurse quickly turned the sonogram screen around and when Jennifer saw their baby, she was fine:) Wow, the draw of a mother:) We can't wait till June!

Happy Birthday, David!

2005-11-01T18:20:00.000-08:00

Man, I have been waiting all day to get on the computer for any long length of time so that I can write a birthday shout out to my hubby. He has worked ALL day, on his birthday for goodness sakes! Isn't everyone supposed to take off from any sort of work on their birthday?? I guess not too many people do and especially my David:) He did let us celebrate and spend a little bit of money to take him to Keller Pizza. Everyone's first b-day dinner choice:)
David is truly my deepest friend. Anyone that is married will know that marriage is not always easy. We have sure had our share of hard times and times of doubt and times that were full of Satan's lies and activity. Praise God that He uses those times to deepen our faith, to make us rely on Him, and teach us what "wrestling with the Lord" means through prayer. And most importantly to deepen our love for Him and each other.
Through those times I have gained a "mountain" of respect for my husband. He is so loyal and tender hearted! He teaches me daily how to be more like Jesus. He deepens my walk, he challenges me and my shallow thinking. He makes me think outside the box. You see, I have always been one that was perfectly comfortable right inside my box. David dares me to step out. He challenges me to see what is beyond "my box". What a gift he has given me through that dare!
When Malaya was in my womb he would talk to her, he would tickle her (or me I suppose), he was precious! When she was born he would get very insulted when my Mom or I would try to tell him how to do things. You see he was the oldest of 5 and was much more of a pro at all of that than I was. There were nights when he would take his "shift" and he would fall asleep on the floor in the nursery, just to make sure I would sleep and know he was "taking care of her".

He has been my light so many times in my life when I was blinded by satan's darkness. He has prayed me through and physically held me when I could not lift my own head from sadness. God worked through him to help me feel my victory. David helps me daily deal with reality. He is a constant amongst my mental chaos.
He always has a unique perspective on life. I have 100% confidence that I can ask his opinion at any time and he will give me an honest answer. He is a devoted man of God's word. He is faithful in being a man of prayer. So many times I will catch David walking around the house or driving in the car and his lips will be moving. It is the cutest thing and I know that he is having some serious conversations with the Lord and I dare not interrupt. I just quietly giggle to myself.
David is a fighter (not physically but in every other way) He never gives up on a good challenge. He is the MOST resourceful person I have ever known. Do not EVER tell him he can't do anything!! He will do it and do it well!
David is a terrific, magnificent, fun-loving, loyal, prayerful, wise Dad!! That is not nearly enough words to describe him! Malaya and David have always had such a special bond. She knows her daddy is full of fun and adventure but yet she knows his rules, she respects his discipline, and listens to him so much more than me:) Sometimes I am jealous of the way he can interact with her. He is amazing with her. He is patient with her. He always attempts to see things from her perspective and see life through her eyes. He prays over his discipline. He is so very interested in her life. It fills my heart with joy to watch them together! The only down side to this is now that Malaya has started school, if I am not home to make sure Malaya gets to bed, Malaya does not get put to bed. I will come home from a night out and there have been times when they have built ramps to race her Barbie cars, they have built campsites, they have had reading marathons, they have cartoon-a-thons, they have cooked things, they have made the house a zoo (literally)with all her animals, played dress up, had tea parties, and David has taught Malaya every kind of flip and cheerleading stunt you can imagine!
As any couple, there are some things (okay a lot of things) that really annoy me. Here is a short list of things.... no, I won't go there. This is a time of edification:) and honestly I wouldn't trade even those horrible habits.

I can not close this out and not mention David's incredibly good looks. He is a hottie in my book. I am in love with his bulging biceps and wish every woman had a set like that to hold on to. I will not go any further on that topic...;)

David has blessed so many peoples lives. He is absolutely an amazing person! I am so glad that we crossed paths at Abilene Christian University so that we could be partners.
I love loving you, David Bizaillion and thank you for being you!

Feeling Blessed!

2005-10-31T08:23:00.000-08:00

Well, this morning I woke up feeling so blessed. As I shared in Bible class yesterday, so many new beginnings!
I took Malaya to school this morning and as I walked back to my car, the Lord reminded how blessed I am that SHE is my daughter. Every night during our bedtime ritual, I tell her that out of ALL the little girls in the whole wide world I am so glad God sent HER to be my little girl. She is such a gift! She is a passionate, loyal little girl!

I then headed to Wal-Mart and I was praising God as I shopped (is that possible:) for the great friends that God has put in my life. Supportive, encouraging, forgiving, caring, Godly friends!

Then I got home and I had one of those moments when you look at your husband and think "Man, he is sexy:)" I will not elaborate on that anymore:) Our neighbor came by and asked to talk to David. I was reminded again of what a kindhearted, giving, selfless individual he is. (More tribute to David will come tomorrow because tomorrow we celebrate his 31st b-day!!)

It has not rained in Texas since Sept. 26th!! And as I set typing this I am listening to the rain hit my window! That is a blessing!

We begin this week by moving my parents to Decatur! What an exciting time for our family! Decatur is the cutest town! We also kick this week off with David's b-day. This week Jonathan and Jennifer get to hear my neice/nephew's heartbeat for the first time! What a gift!

And lastly and most importantly, I am grateful today that I am a child of God! HE IS AMAZING! He never stops shocking me with his faithfulness. He is ALWAYS what I need. And that he loves me enough that he has blessed ME with all of the things I talked about above! WOW!

Have a great day and bathe in your blessings today!

New Skill and Supernatural Strength

2005-10-28T10:44:00.000-07:00

Well, the training wheels came off about a month ago. She is now riding a bike without them!! She is doing a really good job with the exception of a few times she forgets to brake and she rides right into the truck:) No horrible injuries yet.

The Power Team(a team that travels around to churches and schools and talks to kids about drugs and making good choices. Why Kindergarteners were learning about that, not quite sure. I questioned her teacher about it and she really wasn't sure:) came to Malaya's school yesterday. She came home from school so excited about them so David took her to a local church to see them again last night. She came home and said, "Mom, I don't want to be a Rock and Roll singer anymore. I want to be on the Power Team!" So the daughter I thought I was raising to be a sweet, little lady might truly grow up to be a muscle bound power lifter.

Day After:(

2005-10-27T11:15:00.000-07:00

This is where the Astros hat landed after the last pitch was thrown last night. Sad game:( They got swept! The hat did not leave it's little home here under my bed-side table until today when David decided to suck in his pride and wear it to SAM'S.

We will hang the banner high!

Too bad Andy Pettitte and the Rocket couldn't do it for us in Game 1 and 2:(

Malaya wanted to pose in David's Astros hat. I was trying to get a before and after picture but the pictures posted in the wrong sequence and I could not fix it. It has taken me a while just to put these pictures on.

All this to say--it was a rough night, a rough World series BUT.......

It was great to have the 'Stros in the World Series!! Congrats to them and I hope we will go again next year!! May the Bees get to rest and be ready to sting in the Spring!

Those Stinkers!

2005-10-24T06:38:00.000-07:00

OOPS, they did it again!! They lost it in extra innings!! Numerous errors in 3rd inning. Grand Slam from White Sox. And once again our good pal Lidge gives up a homer to a guy that has never hit a home run before!!! What in the world!!
Well, I hate to say it but I am thinkin' that the 'Stros are gonna' have to tip their hats to the White Sox and be thankful that they made it to the World Series.
They must win the next few at home!!

Gonna' be an aunt!

2005-10-23T20:47:00.000-07:00

Well, the word is out... I am going to be an aunt. (I already am one with the Biz's but this is blood.) My youngest brother Jonathan and his wife Jennifer are expecting a little precious one on June 9th!! I am so excited, I have been about to wet my pants for the past 4 days!! They are going to be GREAT parents!! Jennifer has always been so wonderful with Malaya. She is a patient, gentle and kind woman. Jonathan is going to be a fun, witty dad. You can see the glow on both of their faces!! I am adsolutely thrilled for them!! Such fun, exciting days ahead!! It is going to be so much fun to watch this baby grow and watch my baby brother be a dad!!
Congrats, Jonathan and Jennifer!!

Evening with my Homegirls!

2005-10-20T21:41:00.000-07:00

Wow!! Tonight was a highlight for me!! We went to the Nichole Nordeman concert! She is amazing!! I have heard all her songs millions of times and they are fresh every time I hear them. Every time they speak to my heart! I have said before, her music has played a huge part in my spiritual journey!
Another special part of my evening was getting to be with my friends! Jami, Staci, Paige, and Kelli are ALL beautiful, spectacular women of God. They each have shown me Jesus in numerous ways. They have served as HUGE blessings in my life! It was such a gift to sit with all of them tonight and worship and praise God for what He has done in each of our lives. It is such a blessing to have such wonderful women walking this life journey with you!
I go to bed tonight blessed and refreshed!

And we are off to the World Series!!

2005-10-19T20:28:00.000-07:00

YYYYYYEEEEESSSSSS!! Oswalt did it!! Way to go Jason Lane. The Killer Bees are gonna' keep buzzin'. This is awesome!!
They redeemed it!!
WE ARE PUMPED!!!

Saturday in Chicago......

Slightly Disappointed!

2005-10-18T08:02:00.000-07:00

Well, well, well.........The Biz's house is interesting this morning. We can't stop talking baseball. I don't consider myself to be a huge sports fan but the past couple of years when the Astros have made the playoffs, my childhood rears it's head. Growing up we lived, ate, and breathed sports. Memories of family vacations was listening to the Astros and if they weren't playing ESPN radio was always on. I can remember as a kid drifting off to sleep to the tune of ESPN. So me and the Astros go all the way back to the 1986 Astros. The sweet and very "good-looking" days of the Astros-Billy Doran, Mike Davis, Nolan Ryan, Mike Scott, Craig Reynolds, Kevin Bass, Alan Ashby, Billy Hatcher. I had crushes on them all as a little girl:)
Anyway----this morning I am SOOOO MAD!! Berkman brought the game back with his home run bringing the score to 4-2. Petite pitched a great game. All Lidge had to do was work ONE inning!! That's it!!
1 stinkin' strike away from their first EVER world series and Lidge walks Edmonds and gives up a 3 scoring home run to Pujols. Why didn't he walk Pujols???? Why did he walk Edmonds???? All Lidge needed to do was throw one more strike and they were off on their merry way to the WORLD SERIES!!!! I can' t believe it!! God has made me an extremely passionate person. And this moring I am passionate that I:
1) needed to be the manager of the Astros to set things up a little bit better in the 9th, 2) I REALLY need to have a little talk with Lidge!! All he can say about his stupidity is that "Tomorrow is a new day!" Well tomorrow is a new day stinker but today is the day you lost the biggest game of your life. Redemption needs to come Wednesday night!! He better be ready!!
Hopefully Oswalt can redeem it, leave Lidge at home!!!
We will be okay. David and I keep hitting our fists. We keep asking the "What if" questions. The girly side of me wants to cry from frustration. (Here we go again--) David and I were ready to celebrate. We were already jumping up and down, high fivin', I had an "out to eat" in the bag if/ when they won---AAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

And one more thing---why do Athletes point up to God when they do something successful in a game. I mean-COME ON--God DOES NOT give a whip that Pujols hit a homer to win the game!!

Back to more important things of life after this series is done!!

Fair Day!!

2005-10-15T08:15:00.000-07:00

We had a great day yesterday! We made our annual trip to the State Fair. Mom, Dad, David, Me and Malaya walked the state fair from about 12:30 till 9:00 last night. As soon as we got there we found some "eatin'". Some grabbed Flectcher's corn dog's while some did hamburgers and fries. We walked... We saw a butterfly exhibit. Malaya got to release a butterfly after she got to tag it. She loved that. We walked....We saw the pig races. We walked some more.....It was snack time! I had sausage on a stick. We walked some more.....We went to the Elvis exhibit and to the car show! We rode the Swan boats. We saw the Fair parade. That is one of Malaya's favorites! We ate Pizza and had fresh squeezed lemonade. We saw an old friend! We then had one last snack before leaving. Mom and I had potato skins!! They are the best b/c we load them with salt. Yummy!! We did lots of other things but I am trying to hurry b/c I am off to help Mom and Dad pack:) (Yes, for those that didn't know--they sold their house!! They are so excited!! )
It was also a very interesting night after about 6:00. It was DISD night. About a hundred "gang unit" officers were walking around along with the tons of police and DISD security! That was fun! I was definitely put back in the Crockett, East Texas days.
It was a great day! We walked A LOT. But it is worth it for the fun time with family, the GREAT food, and fun entertainment!
If you haven't been yet this year, the fair is opened for 9 more days!! Get to the fair with your family!! You will be glad you went!! I can tell you where to get $6 parking!

Cleaning House and a "First"

2005-10-12T13:05:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning in a mood to clean my house. You know, not the kind where you just vacuum, sweep and pick up a little. I mean CLEAN. And no, I am not about to give birth. I bleached the bathrooms, dusted the baseboards, swept, mopped, vacuumed under all the furniture, washed all the rugs, washed all the windows, and a huge thing - wiped out the microwave!! I feel so good right now! I am off to the garage to paint shelves for Malaya's room.

As I was about to vacuum the carpet against the wall, I opened the tube and stuff flew and fell out everywhere!! I realized, huh, maybe the bag needs to be changed, being I have never changed it!! It did get changed about a year and a half ago but I didn't do it. Paige did! I opened the vacuum and the bag was so full it was about to burst!
So today I had a "first". I changed the vacuum cleaner bag!! It was rather easy and even a little fun to know it was clean and fresh in there. Boy, did my vacuum work good after that!!
So if you are needing a little extra suck from your vacuum cleaner you might want to try changing the bag! It worked!

My Hero!

2005-10-10T14:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my dad's birthday! My dad is my hero!! I celebrate him!
I can remember my dad rocking me to sleep everynight until I was about 12 (just kidding, really about 6). After my mom washed my hair I used to sit with my dad and he would blow dry and brush my hair. He did it way more gentle than Mom. And now Malaya's favorite person to blowdry and brush her hair is Grampy!! I remember watching in awe as a little girl as we watched "Jesus of Nazareth" and looking back at my dad as tears fell down his face when Christ was crucified. I remember going to and watching numerous Astros games. I remember Dad recording us as kids talking, singing, singing the books of the Bible on audio cassettes. I remember when Dad bought me a wrist corsage to wear to my piano recital. I still to this day have that corsage. I remember Dad's spankings always followed with an "I love you". I remember working in the garden with Dad pulling vegetables and helping him "dig". I remember helping Dad clean the church building. I remember as Dad would lead Bible studies at church and as people would accept Jesus as their Lord b/c of Dad's example and teaching.
I remember when Dad decided to answer the Lord's calling to become a minister/teacher/mentor and we moved to Crockett. I remember being so proud of him as he would get up to preach each Sunday. I remember our Thursday night Bible Studies and again as more people came to know Jesus through his teaching. I remember him picking me up from school in a pick up truck with a huge rust hole in the middle of it. And I could here Dad coming as I was sitting in my last class:) I remember Dad's teasing about my first "boyfriend", Chad Reminakjsdhfakjsdhlf (I never could spell his last name:) I remember going to visit elderly people from church with Dad and love getting to watch as he handed Jesus' compassion and love and respect to them. I remember when I walked down the aisle to be baptized and my dad reached his hand out to me. I remember looking into his eyes as he was about to baptize me and feeling his love and fatherly pride. I remember when a boy hugged me a little too long in front of my dad and I thought my dad was going to have a heart attack and his eyes pop out of his head:)
I remember getting my first real boyfriends. One became known as "The Dude". It didn't take boyfriends long to respect my dad and to become familiar with "Dad's chair". I remember picking out my first car with Dad. I remember when Dad spoke at my 5A high school's Baccalaureate and I remember being so proud of him.
I remember when Dad took me to college day. I was so nervous but felt so "taken care of" by my dad. I remember when Dad and Mom took me to ACU to stay. I loved hearing Dad pray over me as they were leaving me.
I remember when David asked Dad if he could marry me. Dad said yes and asked one thing of David. He said, "Her mom and I have protected her heart from the minute she was born and now I ask that you do the same." I remember Dad walking me down the aisle and performing the most beautiful marriage ceremony I have ever seen. I felt so blessed to have him play that part in my day. I remember the night before Malaya was born and him calling the family around me and he led our family in prayer as we welcomed in the next generation. I remember the joy he radiated as he became "Grampy". And again, a few hours after Malaya was born he had everyone circle around in our hospital room as we rejoiced and lifted up a prayer of joy and gratitude for Malaya's safe arrival. I remember that Dad could put Malaya to sleep like no one else.
I remember as our familiy went through an extremely rough year. And as that year evolved Dad still remained strong, confident, and Godly. He never lowered himself or gave up his convictions to suit others. He held his integrity. He held his boldness. He held his devotion to a committed situation even though it stunk. He held our family together and encouraged us even though he was the one being attacked and treated in ungodly ways. I watched on Jan. 9th in utmost admiration and respect as he held his honor and composure in a situation that seemed hopeless, pitiful and sick. He was my mom's rock and our family's rock during that storm in our lives. And Christ still redeemed our family through grace.
I remember as people from Decatur started calling Dad. I was thrilled when Dad accepted the job there. I love watching the people there love on my parents, listen in respect to his teaching, accept him as a man of God, and encourage him.

Thanks Dad for being you! Thanks for your guidance, your discipline, your countless prayers over us three kids, your love for our mom, your devotion, your loyalty, your encouragement, your leadership, your forgiveness, your wisdom, your example of Jesus, you being a student of God's word, your committment to ministry, your example of friendship, your untradable "Grampy-ness", and your testimony of a life of faith. The people that you have blessed, encouraged, brought to know the Lord, and led into deeper relationship with the Lord are countless!!

I love you, Dad and we celebrate your life!!

I've also been tagged!!

2005-10-08T08:45:00.000-07:00

I have also been tagged.......
First Memory: I know this is sad but truly the first true memoryI have was when I almost drowned when I was 3. I have mental images of being in the hospital and talking to my 'B' on the phone!
First Kiss: First real one was....... I can't share. There are people that read this that know him to this day. Way too embarrassing.
First Concert: Acapella
First Love: My mom and my 'B'
First thing I think in the Morning: "NOT YET"
First Book I remember loving: Go, Dog Go!
First Pet: Roxy (I just remember her throwing up a lot!
First Question when I get to Heaven: OOOH! I am sure you all know what that will be: Why didn't he give me more babies! (People always say we won't care when we get there so maybe I won't ask that but my more humanly self wants to ask that:)
First word I think of for Vacation: Fun
First Best Friend: Devin Picha
Last Time I dressed up: Wednesday night church (That's about as good as it gets:) I will be getting dressed up today.
Last thing I ate: Sausage Biscuit from McDonald's
Last CD I bought: Jesse McCartney
Last time I cried: Stupid me watched Baby Story this past week. Not smart.
Last time I told someone I loved them: Through gritted teeth to my husband on the phone a few minutes ago after him telling me that he won't be back to the hotel for a few more hours:(
Last really fun thing I did: Sitting on a hotel bed eating Subway sandwiches with David and Malaya at 9:00 last night.
Last thing I watched on TV: Angels and Yankees game
Last Halloween Costume: Little Bo Peep
Last Concert- Chris Tomlin, Casting Crowns, and Stephen Curtis Chapman, awesome concert (Thanks Jeff and Valerie:)
Okay... I tag Dad, Mom, and Melanie and anyone else who reads!! (Just copy and paste)