Better late than never!

I finally found the cord for my camera! YEA!! So, these pics are a little old but since no one has seen them yet, they are new to you!!

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My dad and sister came to visit a few weeks ago and we had a great time! We traveled to Rockport and explored the town...it was a neat place and now that we know what is there, we can plan out next trip better.

Group picture in our dining room!

Mike, Christy, and I went out on a pier. It was neat to be that far off the land...we watched some jellyfish floating around! I am fascinated by jellyfish!

Christy being herself!

Us on the pier.

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A few weeks ago, we had a visitor at the Children's Home...a bunny!

Jacque (lady I work with) and I were watching it through the window when we realized it was licking the water from the sprinkler off the grass! How sad that it is so dry here!!

Introducing...Baby Bryant!

We had our first appointment yesterday at Victoria Women's Clinic and everything went well! They confirmed that I am 10 weeks and was even able to do a sonogram! Seeing the pictures and knowing this little creation was inside me growing was an amazing experience! I though I would get emotional the first time I saw our baby but I was just amazed! My camera is dead (long story of why I haven't charged it! Hopefully tonight!) so Mike took a picture of the print out with his phone, texted it to my sis, and had her email me from her blackberry. All that said, the picture isn't great but it shows you our little blessing!! We go back in two weeks!!

Green Olives

We made it back safely from Youth Camp!! We had such a great week...it was a different experience being at camp pregnant though! I had to rest a bit more than I planned! God did some amazing things through our youth!! Three youth began their walks with God and one finally gave in and surrendered to the ministry! He has been struggling with that for some time now. We are so excited to see him follow God's calling on his life. And we are SUPER excited for the 3 that decided to follow God with their lives! There were MANY that felt God speaking to them regarding different things and we are so grateful for the week and what was learned during our time away.

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Mike and Stacy (one of our youth's mom) leave with 11 youth on Saturday for a mission trip in Corpus through the World Changers organization. They will be participating in construction work Monday-Friday. I was supposed to join them but with the pregnancy, we decided I shouldn't go! I'm disappointed that I don't get to be a part of the mission work our youth will be doing but know it is not safe for me or Baby Bryant. With it being in Corpus, I will go down a few times to join them for nightly worship. I'm SO excited to hear what our youth will learn next week! If you'd like to pray for them by name, there is a list on the Youth's blog. http://www.groundedstudentministries.blogspot.com/

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Speaking of Baby Bryant, we have our first appointment tomorrow!! I can't wait! I feel like we've waited FOREVER for this appointment...it has only been 5 weeks! I don't expect much out of the first visit. A friend of mine goes to the same clinic and said her 1st visit was very uneventful...but, I have to get the first one out of the way to get to the 2nd, 3rd, etc. Oh--and Baby Bryant is the size of a green olive this week! I wouldn't think a green olive was bigger than a raspberry but I guess so! My book also said it was the size of a grape...my question is, what type of grape?? There are tons of different sizes! Oh well, I stick with the olive!

Youth Camp

We leave for camp on Monday!! Please join us in prayer for all the campers and sponsors!
We have MANY campers going that are not regulars or even attenders at the church...please pray that they will be impacted by this week at camp! Also, it is SUPER hot in South Texas right now!! Please pray that the heat will let up just a tad so it is an enjoyable week. I'll be going as a sponsor and am a little nervous about the heat. The heat tends to make me feel sick so hopefully I'll be able to stay in enough.

Thanks for all your prayers! We appreciate them all!!

Raspberries

Baby Bryant is the size of a raspberry this week!!
I love getting the updates of the size in relation to fruit! I think it puts it in perspective for me how much the baby is growing!
Angela says everytime I send her a fruit update, she has eaten that fruit that day! Last week was a blueberry...wonder what next week will be!

Finally!

I'm so excited to finally be blogging about being pregnant! I'm not sure why I was so hesitant on announcing it online...maybe because I've always shared EVERYTHING and wanted to keep this to myself for a little bit. But, Mike and my sister were going CRAZY! They wanted to post things on Facebook so bad! I'm glad they held on until I was ready.

I've felt pretty good until this weekend. I had a hard time with feeling queasy but I think it was due to a hectic schedule. Maybe hectic isn't the right word, but unroutine (if that is even a word)! We went home Father's Day weekend to visit friends and family in West Texas and then had the pleasure of my mom and sister visiting last weekend for Wicked. This weekend, my dad and sister came down Thursday-Sunday so things have been a bit different than normal lately. I'm trying to get rested up before next week--YOUTH CAMP!

I'm excited about Youth Camp but a little nervous. It is so hot down here and I hope I feel well enough to get out and do some things with the youth. But, the majority of them know about Baby Bryant so I'm sure they won't hold it against me! HA!

I hope to have some pictures up soon of this weekend. I always misplace my camera cord so once I find it, I'll upload the pics!

Thanks Sarah Beth!


The rules are:
1. List 10 honest things about yourself that your blogging friends do not know about you.
2. Give the award away to 7 bloggers.
3. Let them know they've received the award.

Let's see......most of you know a lot about me so I'll try and be creative!

1. I love that our 2 cats are on the fat side...I think it makes them super cute!

2. I resisted texting until 2005 because I didn't want it to take over my life! There have been times but overall, it was a great addition to my life!

3. I can't go to sleep at night without a sitcom (Friends, Wings, Home Improvement, etc.) playing. I'll stay awake and think of a million things. As soon as the sitcom is on, I'm OUT!

4. I could drink Skim Milk with every meal! LOVE IT!

5. I still enjoy teenager movies and TV shows. Good thing we're in youth ministry...I can always say it helps me keep in touch with the youth!

6. I'll begin taking courses in the Fall to complete my teacher certification - 8-12 English Language Arts and Reading!

7. I'll pick purple over pink in almost anything if given the choice.

8. I LOVE creative photography...not that I am a creative photographer...but I enjoy looking at it!

9. I have been getting my eyebrows waxed since the 5th grade!!

10. I'm 7 weeks pregnant!! Not many people know about this but I'm making the online announcements this week/weekend!! The "10 things about me" was a good way! I have my first appointment July 21 and according to an online source, I'm due February 18!!

Now...I'm passing this award on to...

Kate

Molly

Tamisha

Jacey

Amber

Wicked Weekend

My mom and sister came down for the weekend!!

We saw the Broadway musical Wicked in San Antonio and it was AMAZING!

Of course, we had to stop by Chuy's first!

Even though I saw them last weekend, we had a great time.
I'll take any time I can get with my family these days!!

My sister gets to make the trip one more time this weekend!!

She's coming with my dad to visit for 4th of July...

Mike went with us to see Wicked and I'm so glad he did. He isn't much on theater but he was surprised at how much he enjoyed the play! I'm glad he was able to experience Wicked with us!

Where do I start????

We had such a great time in West Texas...although we were happy to be home and in our own bed Tuesday night!

I planned to document the entire trip with pictures but got caught up in visiting everyone that I didn't take any until our last night. My Nana got to see every one of her grandkids in one weekend, which doesn't happen very often! All of us other than my cousin Rani who lives in Dallas had dinner on Monday night and I had to get a picture!! Here are a few:

Tamisha, Lindsey, and Angela stopped by to visit!
I LOVE that Angela and Mike act like siblings...LOL

We got back just in time to take the youth to a Corpus Christi Hooks game (same league as the Midland Rockhounds). We had a great time but were ready for bed when we got home!

West Texas, here we come!!

In less than 72 hours, we'll be home!!!

We are both SOOOOO excited to get to take a trip back to West Texas for several days. It has been a while since we were home. Things here have been super busy! VBS is over but Mike has lots of activities for the youth! Monday nights he has an open gym for those that enjoy playing basketball, dodgeball, etc...needless to say, I am sitting that out! Friday afternoons, he has Fridays with Mike...this is a time of crazy games, movies, or just hanging out. Last week, they played water games against another youth group in the area. I heard it was a lot of fun...I stayed dry at work! LOL... July is just around the corner and it is jammed packed with youth activities! CAMP! MISSION TRIP!

Other than youth stuff, Mike and I have enjoyed spending time together in our house...with the change of seasons, we are reminded that we are home owners...we're reminded of the joys that come with that, as well as the responsibilities. Mike has a pretty good system of keeping up with the yard, although it is dying as we speak. We need another good rain to come along! We have gotten to swim a few times this summer! Some members of our church that we've become friends with have a pool they don't use very much. They've told us anytime we want to use it, we are welcome to it! We are SO THANKFUL to them!!

I hope summer is treating everyone well! I'll have tons of pictures to share next week of our trip home! Stay tuned...

Slime, slime, and more slime!

VBS has come to an end!

It was such a great week and a great time

for Mike and I to get to know some of the kids

and other adults that we never get a chance to be around.

Tuesday night he wore a Skidmore shirt (Skidmore is about 15 miles from Beeville and we have some kids that attend school there.) This was the only purple picture we got!

Wednesday night he wore a Pettus shirt (same as Skidmore but in a different direction)

Last night, he went back to the basics with his VBS shirt!

and the multi-colored hair.

The question of the day everyday was "What color is Mike's hair??"

Just talking...

Pre-Slime...Coach Bryant vs. Professor Wordsmart

The kids brought money each night to go towards a project that is hoping to provide a New Testament for every person in the state of Texas by 2010. The girls money went towards sliming Coach Bryant and the boys went towards sliming Prof. Wordsmart. Overall, the kids raised over $800.00!!! We were all so impressed and blessed!

Nancy got slimed first but they couldn't leave Mike nice and clean!!

Just a side note: Our Pastor (Greg) slimed Mike and my boss (Todd) slimed Nancy!

They were both such good sports!

We wanted a picture but I didn't want to get slimed...

He tried getting me slimy and I told him if I was getting slime on me, I was getting a kiss out of it!

Orange day of VBS

I can't remember what color his socks were this day...LOL

The kids LOVE his changing hair color.

Last night it was purple!

The VBS theme this year is Studio Go!

It is centered around a game show and the regular contestants are:
Coach Bryant and Professor Wordsmart

aka Mike and Nancy (pastor's wife)

These pics are from Sunday night. I'll get some from last night (Monday) soon. Each day, some stuff is different. Last night's service project did not go as smoothly as the first one (see previous post) but it was still a great time! The kids made trail mix to take to someone who takes risks for God. We talked about how taking a risk doesn't always mean doing something dangerous, just something that may scare you. Risking being teased by not making fun of someone when your friends do...praying for your lunch at school when no one else does...etc.

VBS

VBS started last night and it is going to be a great week! A friend (Meaghan) and I are in charge of the Service room where the kids learn about service projects. Each night we have a different project for them that enables them to serve others. Last night, we washed car windows for the VBS workers. I was so impressed with the kids' attitudes! They were so excited to get to go clean the windows! I didn't hear one complaint or negative comment! And the youth helpers were great too!!

Mike has been transformed into Coach Bryant for the opening and closing sessions! I hope to have a picture for you soon...I can't find my camera cord. Plus, my camera died before the closing session which is when he gets to take the stage the most, but Todd said he'd get some pictures of him. We got him all dressed for the part: tube socks, t-shirt tucked into his shorts, sweat band, whistle...we even spray painted his hair green last night (with hair paint of course). The kids loved it! Even the youth were calling him Coach and commenting on his green hair!

Exciting news! We have a new music minister! Bob Grainger was voted on yesterday during the morning service and will be joining the staff the beginning of July. We are excited for the church to have a full staff. The last music minister left last May so it has been a year without a full time worship leader.

Up

We went with some of the youth to see the new Disney/Pixar movie Up on Sunday night and it is such a good movie! I think it hits home more with adults than kids, but it is definitely cute and funny enough for kids/youth to enjoy it also! It had such a great message of living your life now! And the wilderness kid (Russell) was SOOOOOOOOOOO cute! You just want to hug him, and squeeze him, and take him home! (If you couldn't tell, I suggest seeing it!)

Wish I had a green thumb

My mom has been wanting a picture of the bush in front of our porch for a while. I finally took one as I was leaving work one day. These flowers only bloom in the morning and are closed up by the time I get home. I wish they were open all day. They really add a lot to our porch area.

I've tried to be better about having plants around. I love having plants but tend to kill them. Mike has helped me remember to water but we have to revive them every so often. I have 3 indoor plants, one outdoor pot of flowers, and this bush. We have a lot of greenery and other plants around outside but they don't require much attention.

One of our youth brought over one of those 5-in-1 game sets with volleyball, bad mitten (no idea how to spell), etc. that he will not be using. We plan to set it up in the backyard and start doing things outside with the youth when they are over. We have a good size yard and need to take advantage of it.

If you want to see what we've been up to, visit the Grounded Student Ministries blog (link to your right). We've been busy with World Changers Mission Team Training and other activities. We played water balloon baseball last Wednesday in honor of the last week of school. It was a lot of fun...and yes, I got wet!! It wasn't too bad until we gave them a free for all at the end. I got an ice chest of water poured on me!! Good times...

We had to bypass a storm on our way to Corpus Saturday. We were traveling and saw the black clouds, things swirling ahead, and just nastiness...so, we turned around and went another direction. I caught a a few pictures of the clouds. I am fascinated by the grandness of God through storms.

Friday...

5 years ago Friday Mike and I spent the day preparing to be married.

We had no idea what the Lord had in store for us during the first years of our marriage.

We knew we loved each other.

We knew God created us for each other.

We knew we were ready to begin our journey as husband and wife.

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I love remembering when Mike and I first met, started dating, got engaged, became husband and wife, and all the other things we've shared together. As we celebrate with friends who expereince those things, I think back to that point in my life.

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Brad Paisley has a new song and it has such a great lyrics for remembering those times!

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I Thought I Loved You Then

Brad Paisley

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I remember trying not to stare the night that I first met you

You had me mesmerized

3 weeks later in the front porch light taking 45 min to kiss you goodnight

I hadn’t told you yet but I thought I loved you then

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Now you’re my whole life

now you’re my whole world

I just can’t believe the way I feel about you girl

Like a river meets the sea

Stronger than it’s ever been

We’ve come so far since that day

And I thought I loved you then.

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I remember taking you back to right where I first met you

You were so surprised

There were people around But I didn’t care

I got down on one knee right there

And once again I thought I loved you then

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Now you’re my whole life

now you’re my whole world

I just can’t believe the way I feel about you girl

Like a river meets the sea

Stronger than it’s ever been

We’ve come so far since that day

And I thought I loved you then.

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I can just see you with a baby on the way

I can just see you when your hair is turning gray

What I can’t see is how I’m ever gonna love you more

But I’ve said that before.

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Now you’re my whole life

now you’re my whole world

I just can’t believe the way I feel about you girl

Well look back some day at this moment that we’re in

And I'll look at you and say I thought I loved you then

And I thought I loved you then...

I wanted to share some pictures from my office.

I work in the middle of the country and it is so pretty out here!

Also, there is always exciting stuff going on!

I get to watch/listen to the sprinkler almost everyday...

There's nothing like a sprinkler and green grass to make you

feel like a kid again and daydream about playing in the water!

These are the 3 new horses to the Children's Home.

Heather and I took a quick trip out to the stables with Jake one day to check them out.

Heather is very much a city girl so it is fun to see her around horses.

We had a little friend on our porch today!

This racoon was either sick or trying to find a place to die.

It kept walking around really lethargic. We stayed away! lol

I took this a month or so ago when we got a HEAVY downpour!

It was so nice to stand on the porch and watch the rain.

In West Texas, the wind blows so much when it storms that you get pelted if you step outside!

Have a blessed day!!

Check it out...

Just a few quick notes!!

Check out the Specs and Wings blog (listed to the right under "Good Stuff") for a fun option for your summer! Molly will be having online summer art classes...and let me tell ya, her creations are awesome! I am very excited about these classes...I'm thinking of them more like little workshops...because I've been trying to use my creativity more. Gina and I began to use our creativity but it soon fizzled. Maybe this will spruce it up! and...the topics are right where I need to be! So, check it out and I hope some of you will be blessed by this!

Check out the Grounded Student Ministries blog to see our amazing new logos. (Courtesy of Kate!!) She did an amazing job and the youth that have seen the logos are so excited about them!!

Mike and I are going on a double-date tonight to see The Sound of Music!! I'm so excited! I'm sure some of you are wondering how I convinced him to go...but I didn't have to work very hard! One of our youth plays Liesl...the girl that sings "Sixteen Going on Seventeen"!!! I am so excited!!