Montana

Matthew 11:28-29

English Standard Version (ESV)

²⁸  Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Maezie and I got to go to Montana and go spend some time with Lashae and Chaney and bring Lashae home for Kole's graduation.  We had many many blessings and fun at every stop along the way.  The drive was beautiful  and LONGGGGGG and actually quite fun.  Maezie was the MOST amazing traveler.

We got to go to see my grand baby perform on screen.  Lashae had an ulta-sound and baby was perfectly healthy and quite busy in there.

Kate was Maezie's baby sitter.  Maezie was not sure what to think of her at first, but quickly  became thrilled with her new friend.

I got to watch a Montana branding.  It was at the ranch that Chaney works at.   It was a beautiful day.

Here is the sweet little Bowen family.  These rock formations are right outside their  front door.  It was truly something to see.

This is my cousin's daughter, Brittany.  She lived with us for a time right after she graduated and I FELL IN LOVE with this girl.  Our families hung out together  A LOT when the kids were all young and we have many memories together.   Then my cousin and her family moved and we rarely get to see them now....so it was extra special for Lashae and I to get to be there for a very special day.  :)

This is Tiffani and Lashae...the pregos.  Tiffani was having a baby shower while we were there, so we got to join in on the celebration.

This is my cousin Debbie.  Love this girl.  We are going to be Grandma's together.  Yippee!

These are the Auntie's to be.  haha.

We call Maezie Aunt Moo.

Here's the girls!!!

The last night of our travels we got to stay with our really good friends in Cheney, Washington. 

 It was so comfy and restful.

  They have a beautiful home and treated us to some YUMMY food.  I got to go for a great run in the morning with Terri, my old running partner when we lived close to each other.  I have missed her and our runs and our talks very much.

  I have missed her sweet hubby too, so we got to visit and drink coffee and eat cookies, which was one of our favorite traditions when they lived right down the road from us.

This trip was very restful to me, I was disconnected from everything,  and I feel like I have my second wind.  

It sounds funny to think that 24 hrs of DRIVING in 4 days was restful, but it really was.  

Charsie kept the household going and she did a wonderful job!!!  I could NOT have left and relaxed the way I did if it wasn't for that girl.

BRING ON GRADUATION.  :)

Life is Good

Life is good!!!! 

We are home from Montana.

 We had a great trip. 

 We got good good news on the trip about Dawson! 

 And today all my chicks are in my nest.

 Happy Mama!!!

Helping Dawson

   

                                                            

I am writing on behalf of my nephew.    He is a precious treasure that captures every heart the very second you meet this kid. 

 He is having some major health issues at the moment.  It happened suddenly and it is very serious.

  His mom, Shauna, my little sister :) has kept everybody updated as much as possible on her blog :

 Vaughan Family.  

We are all waiting for results from their recent trip to Stanford where they did some intense testing on Dawson. 
 We are praying for a miracle that God will just heal this precious love. 

This is Dawson being baptized by Justin, his dad.  

As we are praying and believing and knowing God is in control of every detail, there is mounting costs of Dr. visits and hospital stays, and labs and and and.......

Justin has a great job, PRAISE JESUS, and has good insurance. 

 We are very thankful for this.  But, as they are treading in these new waters, and facing the most difficult times of their lives, we know the LAST thing we want them to worry about is money and bills. 

 Shauna and Justin need to be together during this time, and focused on their family and their son.

 They need to be strong and courageous, for eachother and for their family and especially for Dawson.  

They have tremendous faith and they have a great prayer life and prayer support from family and friends.

We would love to blow their minds and hearts with an outpouring of love and support not only prayerfully, but monetarily. 

Matthew 6:21

English Standard Version (ESV)

²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

So, if the Lord lays it on your heart....you can help this amazing family by just clicking on that yellow donate button and just know that every single dime will be helping a wonderful family as they are getting medical care for Dawson. 

At this point we do not know what they are facing as far as treatment, but we do know they will have more travel, more Dr. visits, more hospitals.  We are thankful to the Lord that He is leading them and ever present and faithful.

We have NO DOUBT that God will provide EVERYTHING this family needs!  E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G.

If you want to be a part of that provision....just click and send...and most importantly  PRAY!!!  Pray for this family.  Pray for Dawson.  

We are expecting a beautiful testimony of God's Glory shining bright in this.

Acts 2:42-47

English Standard Version (ESV)

The Fellowship of the Believers

⁴² And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. ⁴³ And awe^[a] came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.⁴⁴ And all who believed were together and had all things in common. ⁴⁵ And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. ⁴⁶ And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their foodwith glad and generous hearts, ⁴⁷ praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

(emphasis added)

Thankful Thursday - Family

We are a big family. 

This is our family, but we are missing one of the sisters and her whole family in this picture because she was due to have a baby and add MORE. :)

 I come from a family of 4 girls...we all married boys in big families...we all have big families of our own. 

 There are 22 kids (so far) between us 4 girls.

We have a big family with lots.

Lots of love.

Lots of feelings.

Lots of joy and lots of sorrow.

Lots of talking. (some listening).

Lots and lots of energy. (we all have very active children)

Lots of opinions and passions.

 We are a big family that is close, but spread out,  so our reach is far and wide.

 When one of us is rejoicing we are all celebrating, even when we are not together.

  We celebrate together when we can, and sometimes, over the phone, sometimes over the computer, and sometimes, just in our hearts.

When one of us is hurting, we all suffer.  The distance doesn't matter, when a family member hurts, the pain is felt family wide.

When one of us is sick we are all in pain.

We have had tremendous joy and sorrow...just like all people, but when you are a big family there is just MORE!

More praises.

More prayers.

 More to celebrate, more to rejoice over, more to pray over.

Our family continues to grow and move and change and with ALL that growth comes growing pains.

  I've never seen "growth" of ANY kind without "growing pains".

  It's always worth it,  it's always greater and bigger and MORE than ever, and the process of change and growth is hard and difficult, but it is ALWAYS GOOD.

1 John 4:7-8

English Standard Version (ESV)

God Is Love

⁷ Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸ Anyone who does not love does not know God, becauseGod is love.

 This big family KNOWS the LORD.  

We are all on different journeys, but we are on it together as a family spread out and feeling each other's joy and sorrow, and growing pains.


It is not always pretty, sometimes it even gets a little ugly, but it is all part of the process of growth.

2 Thessalonians 1:3-4

The Message (MSG)

 ^3-4You need to know, friends, that thanking God over and over for you is not only a pleasure; it's a must. We have to do it. Your faith is growing phenomenally; your love for each other is developing wonderfully. Why, it's only right that we give thanks. We're so proud of you; you're so steady and determined in your faith despite all the hard times that have come down on you. We tell everyone we meet in the churches all about you.

Thanking God for my family today.

Mom and Grace

Mother's Day is one of  my favorite days of the year.  I LOVE celebrating being a mom.  

"Mom" is my second favorite title in the world.  "Christian" is my most favorite.

Mom and Christian have a LOT in common. 

They are both a GIFT straight from God.   

This is my beautiful Mom!  I'm so blessed to have her as my mom!!!
Happy Mother's day Mom.

Being a mom is the best  and the hardest.

 It's the  gift that gives the most joy and the most tears, usually at the same exact time.

This is Charlie's mom.  She is an angel.  

 I think being a mom has taught me the most about grace.


God gives Grace....us as moms give grace, and our kids give us moms grace. 

 I know that no matter what my kids do or don't do...I will ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS love them. 

 They can not DO one thing to make me love them more or less, but when they show their love for me, it makes my heart explode.

  I loved them before they could SHOW any signs of loving me back.  

I loved them when they were just a peanut in my belly making me sick actually, or in Esther's case...when they were in another country giving me heart-ache instead of heart-burn waiting for her arrival!

Now my baby is going to have a baby and THAT is just crazy good.  

God is GOOD and gives GOOD GOOD gifts!!!

Kole :)

I just have to post this...tell me if you see what I see when you look at these pictures.

Oh my goodness.  We (mainly me) have laughed ourselves silly about how much Kole and I are alike. 

 I have known from day one that me and Kole were very much alike.  I can tell you how that kid is feeling before he feels it and I can tell you how he is thinking before he thinks it.  I have always been able to read him very well, and HE HATES IT.   It drives him crazy!!! 

 He saw these pictures and was mortified.

 He keeps asking Charlie where his genetics are? I tell him, that he should be grateful he has mine, that's where he gets his height. :)  He's not amused.

So maybe he will forgive me for posting this post...I thought I would add a picture of him and Abby going to their Senior Prom.  Abby is a TROUPER!!!  Kole did not tell her (or me), because he had not thought about it....(so much like his mother)...that they were even going to prom.  She pulled her beautiful dress together in only a few short days.

This is a few pictures of Kole at Winter Formal.  He and a friend wore morph suits.   This, I can tell you is NOT NOT NOT like his mother.  

Again, I have to say what a trouper Abby is....she is the only person I know that can figure out what to wear to go with a morph suit.  

This is super funny, but as I was saying how much the morph suit was NOT like me....I remembered my Senior Prom...dressed like a Genie.  Oh, Kole is just gonna have a fit when he sees this.  hehehe

Praying for Dawson

Requesting prayers for my nephew Dawson.  You can read about his recent diagnosis, here on my sister's http://theevergrowingvaughanfamily.blogspot.com/2012/05/stunned.html .  

This family is amazing!!! 

 They are not only family on this earth, they are brothers and sisters in Christ.

They are warriors for His Kingdom.

They love love love the Lord and they love one another.

Their family testimony is already amazing and I know God is just working up another part to their testimony to 

GLORIFY HIS NAME!!!!

Go God and Go Vaughans!!!!   

This picture is missing their littlest guy, but I loved the picture. 

 Shows they are fun and loving and dorky.  hehe...told ya they were family.