Rainy Day

The Most Incredible Song....

My days have been a constant struggle lately but this song,which I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE helps puts things back into perspective for me...

The splendor of a King, clothed in majesty

Let all the earth rejoice

All the earth rejoice

He wraps himself in Light, and darkness tries to hide

And trembles at His voice

Trembles at His voice

How great is our God, sing with me

How great is our God, and all will see

How great, how great is our God

Age to age He stands

And time is in His hands

Beginning and the end

Beginning and the end

The Godhead Three in One

Father Spirit Son

The Lion and the Lamb

The Lion and the Lamb

Name above all names

Worthy of our praise

My heart will sing

How great is our God

How great is our God, sing with me

How great is our God, and all will see

How great, how great is our God

(artist: Chris Tomlin)

Expectations

So, I just thought I'd let y'all know that we are expecting! Yep, we are hoping that Daisy, our sweet dog, will be having puppies toward the end of March. If she is pregnant, she will be delivering some Labradoodle puppies. More about them later. I'll find out in about 3 weeks or so if she is in fact prego and will give you info to her web site, etc.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that I am pregnant as well!! Yep, the third little Long baby is growing healthy inside me and is currently 8 1/2 weeks. We had our first ultrasound yesterday and saw the baby and heartbeat. The baby is measuring about a week behind, but the doctor is going to stick with the 8 1/2 mark since I'm positive about that date. The due date is Sept 8th and, no, this one was not a surprise. Exciting stuff!! Click on the small link "comments" and drop me a line sometime. =)

My Dear Husband

Today is my sweet, handsome, skinny and crazy husband's 28th b-day (he's a youngin') HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! We can't do too much celebrating in the way of eating because John started a crazy 21 day "detox" diet today where you only eat organic fruits and veggies and protein shakes. He's also taking sooo many vitamins (something like 30 pills in one day...??). CRAZY! Sounds good, huh? But it's all through a doctor so it's a legite thing. I'm not sure what I think about the whole "detoxing your body" so it will be good to see how he feels when he's done. We did go out to dinner with our good friends on Tuesday for a great steak at Flemings and tomorrow John & I are going to some bike thing...not sure what it is....bike race or something, I don't know...anyway, that's how we are celebrating his special day!

John....you are an incredible husband and father and we are all so blessed to have you in our lives. Thank you for loving us, loving the Lord and being the amazing provider that you are. I hope your day is as special as you deserve...even though you can only eat veggies!! =)

LOVE YOU!! Maddy, Davis & Me

Pretty Pink Party

Today is Madelyn's 3rd Birthday!! We've pretty much had a 3 day celebration for her and have made some wonderful memories. On Monday we drove down to Disneyland and went to their newest park, California Adventures. We spent the night at the Disneyland Hotel and then went to Disneyland on Tuesday. It was great!! We had breakfast with the characters (which Davis was terrified of!) and went on most of the rides. Today, her official b-day, we had a little party for her, complete with pizza, a pink cake and pink ice cream.....all of her requests! Grandma Ann and Aunt Traci come over, as well as Brian, Sarah & Lincoln, and Nate, Becky, Collin and Samantha. It was a very special day! Here are a few pics to share....

My Favorite Pic

3 of my very favorite people....

We're back...gobble, gobble!

So we got back from Yosemite 2 weeks ago and I just haven't felt too motivated to update the ol' blog. Yosemite was great. Very beautiful and very peaceful. If you're going to camp, a motorhome is definitely the way to go. I wasn't able to move around and play with the kids the way I had hoped, as I get car sick pretty easily. Of course the best part was just having John around for a few days of uninterrupted time. The kids always love it when daddy's home. =)

We didn't do too much in Yosemite.....we took daily walks and/or bike rides and just appreciated the quiestness and God's glorious creation. There were 6 families total, all with kids, which made it very nice. The couples we went with go every year for Thanksgiving and have a whole little system down. They all bring easy-ups, put them together, throw a gigantic tarp over all the easy-ups, make a door, add a bunch of tables and a couple heaters and it's a warm, cozy little common area. It's so warm with the heaters, that you can be in a t-shirt and be fine. I thought I'd loose weight...camping and all...but with a motorhome you still eat soooo good. We saw a bear from a distance and several deer. In fact, a couple of times, we came VERY close to the deer. They didn't seem to mind us too much. I'm sure they are very used to having lots of people around. =) Anyhow, it was a good time. Fun memories forever.

Thanksgiving was fun too. We spent time at my sister-in-laws home and ate and ate and ate. So hard to believe that Thanksgiving has come and gone and Christmas is literally a few weeks away. It has actually been cold here the last couple days, but it still doesn't seem like it's even near the Christmas season. It's my favorite holiday, but I think it would be hard for me to get into the spirit of things if it wasn't for the kids. All I really want to be is in the Spirit of things. If you know what I mean.

That's about it for now. Here's a few pics of our trip to share....

Okay...so the pics won't post. I'll try again later.

Augh..no pictures!

So my parents came out for a visit this past week (Friday-Tuesday) and the time FLEW by. I seriously felt like they were here one day. I can't even remember what we did, it went so fast. And, as always, it's hard to see them off and Maddy misses them so much when they leave. It's a bummer that I won't get to see them for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Distance stinks. What's a real bummer is that I didn't get one....yes 1...picture of them with the kids. I'm so sad about that! Augh!

Tomorrow we get to pick up the motorhome we rented and pack up our stuff. We'll probably spend the night in it (parked in front of our house) and leave early, early (4-5am) on Thursday. I can't wait!! We are off to Yosemite for 4 days with 6-8 other families and it's going to be a BLAST! I'm excited to go in the motorhome (our first trip), just be together as a family, spend time with my mother-in-law & good friends and enjoy God's beautiful creation. We've been busy getting everything together, making meals, etc. and I'm glad it's finally arrived. Kinda like the feeling you got when you were a kid waiting for Christmas to come. Take care! =)

Happy Fall!

"Come and meet the animals on the farm...."

Last night we went to our church's Fall Festival and had so much fun! They put on a little concert for the kids, have kettle corn, cotton candy, a cake walk, chili contest, "trunk or treating", hamburgers/hotdogs, "box city" (mazes made out of cardboard boxes), jumpers, and games. It's a blast and the 2 hours goes by very quickly. John and I have helped with the Trunk or Treat for the past 4 years or so, but this year he helped cook the hamburgers while I took the kids around to the activities. The trunk or treat is a section where people back their cars up together, open up their trunks and the kids go from car to car "trick or treating." There's no tricks though, the kids have to answer an age appropriate Bible question and get candy, regardless if they answer the question right or not. It's great fun and a great outreach to the community. The kids have a blast and so do the adults! Happy Fall!

Kiddies

Today both kids had a visit with the doctor. Maddy had one shot in her arm for hepatitis (?) and Davis had his 1 year check-up, with 3 shots. Maddy weighs about 32 lbs and Davis weighs 24 1/2 lbs (75-90% for his age), is 31" long (95% for his age). Getting big!

Birthdays, Anniversaries and Fun Stuff

BIRTHDAY:

Just a quick HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my wonderful dad! Dad....you are the most amazing father anyone could ever have and I'm so blessed to have you in my life. Thank you for your unconditional love, fun memories and my "inheritance" (aka...my faith). I wish I could be celebrating your day with you, but I hope it is as special as you deserve. I DO, I DO! JB =)

ANNIVERSARY:

John and I celebrated our 4th anniversary last Thursday (5th) and I haven't updated my blog in a while. John, every day I think God for blessing me with such an amazing husband, who loves me despite my many faults. I'm more in love with you now than I was 4 years ago, and I didn't think that would be possible! Thank you for being the man that you are and for putting our family's needs before your own. You are my treasure and I love you!

FUN STUFF:

Yesterday Davis ate, um....dog poo. Yes, I think it was dog poo. Of course, it could have been dirt, but it sure didn't look like it. Maybe it was rabbit.....we have lots of rabbits around. But it was kinda big to be rabbit doo. Big rabbit maybe? Or, just Daisy Doo Doo. =)

At 4:30 this morning, Maddy woke up crying. I found her, bottom up, in bed. Window was open, so she was shivering. But she was shivering because she had no covers on. No covers on. No PJ's on. Oh, and no diaper on. Ahh...and surrounded by a pool of pee pee. =)

Baby News!!

Congrats to our dear friends Nate & Becky for the birth of their BEAUTIFUL daughter, Samantha Mae (May?) born around 6:15pm this evening, weighing in at 7 lbs 1 oz and 19" long. We're so glad you're finally here Samantha!













Here's an updated pic of Lincoln at 1 month:

Arrrrr! My blog wouldn't post more pictures and I don't want to spend anymore time on it, but here is a picture of Mads & Davis a year ago and yesterday afternoon.

Happy 1st Birthday!!

Yesterday was Davis's 1st Birthday! You hear so much about how fast time goes, but it really does. We don't do huge birthday parties for their 1st, but had fun celebrating as a family with pizza, presents and, of course, cake! And I'm sure by now Davis doesn't even remember. =)

So here are a few fun things about Davis.....

* He's ticklish

* He looks just like his daddy

* He inherited curly hair from mommy and daddy

* He loves to be held and cuddled (which is a fun change since Maddy didn't like to be held)

* He's a softie, but tough at the same time.

* He's a happy, smiley boy most of the time

* He's a boy of few words, but likes to make strange noises

* He's quirkey

* He's rough and loves to throw things. Not in a defiant way, but seems to think everything is a ball. He can't just gentle set something down, he tosses it away. =) That's right....future football/baseball player. Watch out world!

* He adores his daddy and big sister

* He weighs around 25 lbs

The End

You must watch this video. And if you don't know what it's about, or if you're not sure you know where you are going after you die, then you need to ask someone that you know has a personal, genuine relationship with Christ. You never know when it can happen. Don't wait until it's too late.

http://www.youtube.com/v/SmLhyPjHVes

Pics

I couldn't post pics from our trip earlier, so here are a few....

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Welcome baby Lincoln! A special congratulations to our dear friends Brian and Sarah for the birth of their adorable (and I mean adorable!) baby boy Lincoln Vance D. tonight (Aug 28th) around 5:45pm, weighing in at 7 lbs 6 oz. and 20" long. Lincoln, we have been awaiting your arrival for a long time now and are so blessed that you came to us so healthy! Love the hair too! B. and Sarah, we are SO happy for you and love you so much! CONGRATULATIONS!

Vacation

We're back! We just got home yesterday after visiting my family for 10 days in Kansas City. We had a great time and saw lots of family! My sister, brother-in-law and kids drove down from Canada too so we were able to be together the whole time. The day after we arrived, we all drove down to Wichita to visit my Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt, Uncle and cousins from my dads side. It was so nice to see them again!

On the 19th, we had a surprise party for my mom's b-day. It was great getting her because she's a hard one to surprise! Lots of family came from all over, many of whom I haven't seen in YEARS! My sister and I put together a scrapbook of pictures and letters that people had sent us beforehand. It turned out much better than I had hoped and my mom loved it! A big THANK YOU to all of you who sent us stuff for the scrapbook and/or drove many hours to come to the party. It wouldn't have turned out the way it did if it wasn't for each and everyone of you! The 20th was my mom's official b-day and we spent the day with family who spent the night and celebrating my mom.

On the 21st, Davis turned 11 months old! He's quite the happy guy and is continuing to learn more each day. His 3rd and 4th teeth are still coming in, plus a few that are getting ready to break through. His walking is really improving and he's getting more and more stable.

On the 22nd, Maddy fell down while horsin' around with her cousins and broke her arm, just above her elbow. It wasn't bad, but they still had to put it in a cast. Thankfully you can now get cast material that's waterproof! She should only have to wear the cast for about 3 weeks. They are hoping it will be healed by then. =)

On the 23rd, we drove about 4 hours to a "wilderness resort" called Big Cedar Lodge by Tablerock Lake. It was SO beautiful and peaceful and was wonderful being there with my family. My entire family, include parents, sisters family and aunt/uncle spent3 nights there. We stayed in their cute log cabins and swam, rode horses, went boating, etc. And we celebrated my nieces birthdays on the 25th! Yes, they do share the same day. =) Emily turned 7 and Natalie turned 4. It was great! I have so many pictures and it's hard to decide which ones to post, but I'll post a few favorites. Okay...so maybe later because it doesn't seem to want to post the pictures right now!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

Mom....HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I won't tell anyone how old you are, even though you don't look a bit of 60. =) Haha...Seriously though, you don't! I hope you've had a great day today and it's been wonderful being able to celebrate your special day with you. I hope you were genuinely surprised at your party and realize just how much we all love you! If you ever are feeling blue, you can read over your scrapbook we made you to remind yourself how cherished you are. Thank you for being the most incredible wife, mom, grandma and friend. Love you so much!

Thank you too for everyone who came to mom's party and/or helped with pictures & letters for the scrapbook. None of it would have worked out so great if it hadn't been for each and every one of you. I think we got her...yeah! Thanks again!

Beach Day

Maddy and Daddy Playing

Maddy and Daddy playing....

Davis Learning to Walk

On Friday the 28th, Davis took several steps in a row. =)