David

Over the passing months the outpour of love, support and courage by those involved with David or simply following his story were amazing. Jenny started a CaringBridge Website for David and it became such a wonderful tool for her to share her emotions and any updates they recieved on David medically. More importantly, Jenny used this blog to share the Word of God to thousands of people reading it daily. God spoke through her and I know many were changed from reading the words she typed. Several events were organized in David's honor and it was truly amazing to see God working through each event. I have no doubt that through David's story so many people came to know God and were changed forever.

Crawfish Boil

We went to the Crawfish Boil with Chase and Lauren for the first time. I had fun, but it was really hot, crowded, and stinky. Dare I say I'm getting too old for things like this?





Chase loving the camera as usual

Carnival

Evan and I took Kyleigh and Kole to Helena and met Lauren and the kids for a spring festival. We had such a wonderful time and the kids really enjoyed it! Evan is terrifed of rides so watching him ride the Tilt-A-Whirl with the kids was hysterical.

Baby Kole taking a break from dancing...


Lauren and Kole


Evan and Connor


Me and Kole


Evan being a brave and riding with the girls...


Evan and Kole


Baby Connor bundled up


BFFs

One Of Our Toughest Struggles

In March, Evan's cousin David was diagnosed with t-cell lymphoma. He was 27 with a beautiful family- a wife, two boys, and a tiny baby on the way. Processing something like this was almost unbearable for me. I realized, however, that there was nothing to process. God held David in his hands and there was nothing to worry over, because His plans are always perfect. This began a battle that David and the whole family would fight for the next few months. I just wanted to post this in chronological order and will elaborate more as the months go on.

Easter

Yes, you wonder, I'm really posting my Easter update in August. First behold my perfect Easter cross Evan made me to go in our yard. Of course I change it's drape on Easter to a white one:


Evan had to work this year on Easter but got off for a couple of hours to join us for lunch at the Winfrey. Thanks to Nana Faye for a wonderful time! I didn't get a pic of Evan's Easter Basket, but it turned out cute! I had Power Bars in it, and he brought it in the basement, and shut the door. When I came downstairs, Maddie and was shut in there accidentally and had eaten two Power Bars- double fudge ones at that! She was SOOOO hyper, but never got sick!

Happy Birthday To Me!

We had my birthday this year at Logan's. We had such a good time, until Evan told them it was my birthday and they made me stand up in front of the entire restaurant. If you know me well you know that I am VERY self-concious about my height and the waitress who made me stand up was about 4 feet tall, hence the slouching standing photo.....



An amusing thing about your birthday being during Tornado Season: The Windblown Effect!




This is what happens when you take my brother out in public:


Us with Blake and Kelsi


Me and my sister-in-law Melissa


Me and My Pop


It was a great 25th. I feel like 25 is so old, but when I'm 85, I probably won't feel that way! Evan got me some Reebok EasyTone shoes which I love, Some Bath&Body, A sunlight filter for my camera, A funny t-shirt, a staple in my wardrobe I get for every holiday: PINK sweatpants, and iTunes giftcard, and to be honest with you, that's all I remember! Wow I need to keep up with my blog better!

Landscape Day

So my friend Lauren o-so-innocently admits to me that she enjoys yard work, so you guessed it: I roped her into helping Evan and I completely uproot and redo our flower beds! You'll see in the pictures that we had a rather small helper that made a BIG difference. Thank you Lauren, Kaylee, and Connor for making our yard look so nice!

Who else could rock this...

And make it look this good! (She had to borrow MY clothes to ride four wheelers in!)

If I Have Any Followers Left....

please hang in there! I know I haven't posted in a while, but concious efforts are being made to catch up! I have excuses all ready for you though: I have started a new job, Evan has bought a landscaping business from his brother on top of his "real" job, I'm planning a tool/gadget party at our house, we are doing home improvements, we have a family wedding coming up, one of my foster dogs has ran away and we are desperately trying to find her, we're making furniture, we went on vacation, we had a couple of weddings and some funerals too....

It's a....

Girl! Yes, we have been blessed again with our third and FINAL furry baby! We are going to continue to foster, so if you see a strange dog on my blog, know that three are all we are making permanent! As our other two dogs have came into our lives, number three is no exception: a rescue.

First, meet our new sweet baby (or should I say lady)... Maddie Nelson!



As mentioned in my last post, I spend most of March trying to find our foster Bianca a home, and finally did- New Hampshire! I had to take her to Arab one day after work and leave her to be picked up by a transport to go up north to her new home. Bianca was a wild woman and I was very ready for a much needed break! This was April 7th. The following Saturday- the 10th, my coordinator called and was in desperate need for a foster home for a golden that needed a place to stay. I don't know why, but with all of my exhaustion I immediatly said yes without even thinking about it (or asking my husband first! Needless to say he was not too happy!) My coordinator forwarded me an email from a sweet couple in Decatur reguarding Maddie. They adopted her from an animal shelter to be an outside companion to their dog. They fell in love with Maddie and bragged so much on how sweet she was and how loving she was, but they slowly discovered something about her: Maddie had spent her whole life living indoors and absolutely hated being outside. They said she would stand at the door and cry and scratch until she could come inside. Her Mommy told us that Maddie could not stay inside at all times because of her severe pet allergies and didn't think it was fair to Maddie to make her change her lifestyle just because of her allergies. They were heartbroken to give Maddie up, but in the end did a wonderful and selfless thing by giving her to an organization that would place her comfortably in a home that she would love. I picked Maddie up on April 12th and the first thing that went through my head, was "Uh Oh." Maddie was gorgeous. The first time I saw her, she was sitting up pretty and calm and let me pet her head and just sat still and sweet. She hopped in my car and sat like a big girl the whole way to the firestation to visit Evan. When Evan saw Maddie he wasn't mad about me fostering her anymore... he loved her! Evan had a Golden name Jake for around 13 years and Maddie could be his twin! He was a big curly boy just like Maddie! So after about a month of delaying the inevitable, we finally decided that we didn't think we could let Maddie go to a new home, that she had found her place at ours! She is an angel... we leave her unattended in our house all day when we are at work and she just sleeps and plays with her toys... she is the perfect dog and will be a wonderful companion to our family for years to come.. Miss Maddie is seven years old, but has the playfulness of a puppy! We love her so very much!