Our Newest Addition!

Meet Samson....are newest family member. After 8 months of Katie's nightly prayers asking God for a puppy...it was finally answered. She was so excited when we went to pick him up. She had no idea when we got to the house and when our friend Tyler brought him in she got the biggest smile on her face. It brought so much joy to my heart to see her so happy.

Samson and Katie on his ride home...she was so excited that we let her hold him on the way home. Bree was happy as long as he stayed on her side which he did.

You think she is happy with her new little friend?

He has the cutest little face.

Some Pretty Awesome Kids!

I wanted to take a few moments to post on here a news article link about some pretty awesome kids. Not talking about Katie and Bree this time, I am actually talking about the youth at our church. Normally during spring break the youth take a ski trip to Colorado, but for the past two years they have decided to not go skiing but to go to Galevston TX and help those who have been devasted by Hurrican Katrina. We went last year to help a community just outside Galveston and they wanted to go back again this year seeing that there is still so many that need help in repairs. This year they were actually in Galevston. The article link below is a recap of their week, but I was told that they did have a typo in the artical. They stated the kids worked on 3 projects all week, but it was more like 7. That is what makes me so proud of these kids, they work so hard while they are there. They had 62 youth and 10 adults go on this trip. These kids could have easily stayed home and slept in all week for their spring break, but they didn't. They decided to go and serve others and to show God's love. Chris and I went last year with the kids and I can say that this is the hardest I have worked in a long time. It is an early to rise and late to bed, work muscle you didn't even know you had type of week. It is truly exhausting but so rewarding. To see the gratitude people have for the help we give is worth all of it. We hated that we couldn't go this year, but I am so looking foward to hearing all the stories Wednesday night.

Here is the link: http://crystalbeachlocalnews.com/

Update on the Girls

I have no pictures to post cause the girls are still with Nana and Papaw, but they have been having a blast. We talk on the phone each night and we have skyped with them also. It is so much fun to listen to them tell me about their day.

Katie is a talker and she will tell you everything. She has been so silly on the phone with us. She keeps calling us "sweetheart" in this funny accent. When she gets on the phone she says "Well, hello mommy sweetheart" if I ask her a questions she reply "oh, of course mommy sweetheart" She makes me laugh. I have no idea where all the sweetheart stuff came from but she is one of kind. She goes on to tell us all about going shopping, helping Papaw feed the dogs and taking them for walks. She even told me how one of the dogs Max was licking her in the face and she said she was laughing. This floored me because Katie is normally terrified of animals, but made me excited because Chris and I have pretty much decided that we are going to let them get a dog in the summer once we get back from Disney. She also tells us about how she gets to ride with Papaw each day to go and pick Matthew up from school. I think this is her favorite part of the day, not only to see Matthew but Papaw usually takes them to get a snack or icee. Once Katie has finished the recap of the days events we talk to Bree. Bree is the complete opposite of Katie, she gets on the phone and says what she has to say and then she is done, kind of like her daddy. I have really been surprised on how much she has talked on the phone to us and she will tells about her day, but it more about the movie she watched, what toy she played with or what snack she is eating but none the less it is so cute to hear her little voice on the phone. She actually picked up Katie's think of calling us sweetheart, which I think is cute. Bree is always following her big sister.

Needless to say Chris and I do miss our girls and are ready to see them on Saturday and have them back home, but I know they have truly enjoyed the their time with my parents and I am so thankful they can go and spend time with them. The break is nice for us as well, but I just don't remember what to do when you don't have kids. You become very much aware of how much they fill up your day when they are not around.

New Blog!!!

I have decided to start another blog. I will still be blogging here about the family, but I wanted a different blog to write about other things. If you want to check it out here is the new blog link.



http://reneaulovingchrist.blogspot.com/



Hope you enjoy it.

What's Been Going On???

Last Friday night our church had their free child care night, so our community group decided to have a group date night. We all went to a place called Ghengis Grill, it is a Mongolian BBQ grill. We had a big group for this outing we had about 24 couples, which was great. Most of the time we when have group socials about half of our group is able to be there but this time almost everyone was there. It was great to get to talk with everyone and catch up on life. It is so nice to have the free child care also.

The next day we loaded up our car and had a road trip to Memphis. The girls are going to my parents for the next two weeks. They love their visits with Nana and Papaw and were so looking forward to going. Even though Chris and I miss the heck out of them when they are gone. We do enjoy our time. On our trip back on Sunday I started coming down with a cold so for the past three days I haven't felt so good, but it has been nice to be able to rest and take care of myself knowing the girls are well loved. It is so hard to rest when you are sick and a momma, because you just feel so guilty not taking care of the kids. So it has been nice to be guilt free of just laying around and resting. Chris and I have plans over the next week or so to have a few date nights, spend some good quality time together, take care of some things around the house and Chris has plenty of time to work on his school work. I know the girls will come back home with lots of stories from their time with Nana and Papaw.