The Kirkpatrick's

Brotherly Love

2011-02-17T14:57:00.000-08:00

I took these pictures back in December thinking I would send out Christmas cards, and well that just didn't happen.

Eighteen Months.

2010-10-12T17:58:00.000-07:00

Today Warren is 18 months old. It is so weird because it feels as if he has been part of our family forever, but when I look at these sweet pictures of him as a baby it seems like it was just last week or something.

So much has gone on in our lives since he was born I think his development and growth has just snuck up on me.

A few days old.

18 months old.

So he is in the cheeeeeese mode of smiling anytime you put anything that remotely looks like a camera in his face. Sure makes for some funny pictures such as this one.

My little man. What a ball of energy he is.

I love this little guy. He is a handful right now, but he is so sweet at the same time. Of course he gets into EVERYTHING, but man he gives hugs and kisses so freely. The boy loves to cuddle. On tuesdays Wyatt goes to school and I get to spend the day with just Warren. It is really great to be able to hear Warren talk more and spend some one on one time with him.

The two things Warren loves most, balls and shoes. I really think he loves shoes because it is usually followed by going outside. He is a smart guy. 'If I can get mom to put my shoes on we can go outside.' He also loves balls any kind, but preferably a football.

There is a lot of wrestling that goes on at our house these days and has been for that matter since Wyatt was this age.

Warren has had a few battles with ear issues and allergies, but we are so thankful that God has blessed us with two healthy boys.

2010-10-06T13:58:00.000-07:00

Well....my blog has been ignored for a while now. I just have not had time to mess with updating. So much I need to update, but for now just couple little clips of our little guy playing his first season of soccer. This was his second game from this past Saturday and I am still figuring out how to share video.

You also might want to make sure you sound is turned down a little before playing this....Russell gets a little loud. : )

Good times.

2010-08-07T06:40:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we enjoyed a spontaneous visit from my brother, his wife, and two boys. While talking on the phone we realized we both had a free weekend and no plans so they loaded up that night drove four hours and bunked up with us for a couple days. We had lots of fun. It is always a treat to see my nephews since they live 4 hours away. It is also great to see my boys playing with them. Of course there was a good share of arguing, but hopefully they will outgrow that as they mature.

These are some sweet boys...only missing two other boys (Brandon and Taylor) to complete the group, but here are a few pics from the weekend.

Warren's Camera Face.

2010-08-04T14:55:00.000-07:00

When you put a camera in Warren's face this is what you get right now.

Sooo cute, but I still like those big toothy smiles every once and a while so we are working on it.

This is how we have spent much of our summer days we have been home. Just playing in the back yard with some sort of water play to beat the Texas heat. :)

Aww...look at cute little Boaz in the back there.

Wyatt's smiles have to be caught on the run.

Museum of Living Art

2010-06-13T11:46:00.000-07:00

Museum of Living Art is the Theme right now for the Fort Worth Zoo and I think it is great. Love going to the zoo and being reminded of just how creative our God is.

The boys of course just loved the zoo. Wyatt really learned alot this trip. He is really loving to learn what different animals eat. Warren was pretty into it too. He just kept pointing and saying "da" which is his way of saying dog.

They had Gorilla's! We loved watching the Gorillas, I had never saw one in a zoo before.

The beautiful Giraffes.

Now to my cute little monkeys!

Wyatt getting to touch a snake. Don't worry we I brought the germ-x and we used it quite often.

Warren spotting the brown bear and calling it a dog.

Wyatt being goofy.

Camping and Fishing

2010-06-09T20:43:00.000-07:00

I am a little behind on posting stuff. We have just been pretty busy.

We took the boys out camping for the first time on Memorial Day weekend and had a great time. I remember spending many vacations this way growing up and just loving it. I didn't really remember to take alot of pictures, I was pretty busy just trying to keep Warren from eating something that might hurt him :). Pretty sure he ate quite a bit of dirt on this trip though.

As you can see Warren just loved this little adventure because we were OUTSIDE! He truly is a happy camper when he is outside.

Our little campground.

While we were camping Wyatt's little body decided to alert us that he was allergic to something. We had noticed he was itching on Thursday and tried to treat him with Benedryl, but woke up Friday morning to a really bad rash all over and he was still itching real bad. We opted to run into Sulphur Springs and see our Doctor friend that practices there. Thank goodness he worked us in. A steriod shot and some meds to take with us took care of it all.
We are pretty sure it was a reaction to strawberries.

These pictures are actually from earlier the week before. We took both the boys out and all went fishing. We just happened upon some fish and were catching them like crazy. The boys were soooo good. Wyatt just fished and fished. Warren was content as long as there were Cherrios in his bowl. We caught a ton of fish. I think we ended up with 23 Hybrids. Big ones too!
Russell helping Wyatt reel in a big one.

Wyatt working the Spiderman rod!

Our Family is growing...

2010-05-01T20:04:00.000-07:00

By four feet!!! Russell is such a push over when it comes to dogs and evidently I didn't stand my ground very firm either. :)

Meet Boaz.

We went to visit some friends in Sulphur Springs friday night not knowing they had puppies, but were greeted by 7 cute little furry creatures. I can easily say no to Russell and I can easily say no to Wyatt, but man....when they team up on you and beg for this adorable little puppy, what can I say. I caved. Wyatt absolutely loves him and is sleeping with him in his bed with his daddy's permission. Of course they could not have picked out a girl dog, I am completely outnumbered.

Our friends live out with lots of land and have several dogs. They are not for sure what the daddy was. Glad we could give this puppy a home and hopefully a couple friends for life.

The Boy and Boaz enjoying some relax time watching cartoons together.

Puppy love.

What a difference!

2010-03-31T12:45:00.000-07:00

This is what the swing set in our backyard looked like when we first moved in.

This is what it looks like now. It is amazing the difference a little stain will do! We also put up a new slide, tarp, and bought a new swing. Everything else we had left from our other swing set.

This is what we look out at from the kitchen/dining room. It makes for a much better view.

These next two pictures make for an even better view! :)

Some good ones.

2010-03-19T07:47:00.000-07:00

These were taken a couple weeks ago by Russell's dad. They turned out pretty good.

11 Months.

2010-03-16T19:44:00.001-07:00

Seriously? It is crazy to think about just how different our lives were just 11 months ago. Hmmph. I hadn't even met this little man of mine 11 months ago. We were living in an entire different town, going to an entire different church, living in an entire different house, well you get the point. We have made some major life changes in this last year, all which have been great for our family, especially the birth of Warren.

Warren is into everything. It would be safe to say that he is much like Wyatt was at this age as far as being busy. Some of his favorite activities are too pull every book he can reach off of the bookshelf onto the floor. Guess that is where he thinks they should go. I pick them up, he pulls them off. He also enjoys the kitchen and the many exciting wonders of clanking pans and bowls and such. :) Since Wyatt is using the potty these days we are having a little trouble with Warren playing in the toilet since Wyatt doesn't always remember to close the lid. I have even found a few swimming toys in the potty already. Nice.04.

The only thing that beats all of those other activities for Warren is outside. The little guy just wants to be outside. He is absolutely content to be outside. I love that because I love to be outside too.

On the verge of walking. He is currently mastering the whole balance thing. I have watched him stand alone for minutes at a time. He is taking steps by himself, but quickly looses his balance and resorts to crawling. He'll get it when he is ready.

He is looking more like a handsome little boy and less like a baby :(. He has this adorable big toothy grin. He has 8 teeth now!! His hair still wins the prize for the most comments. At first it was just the sheer volume of his hair, but now people just can't get over the coloring. He has a dark stripe of hair down the middle of his head and the sides are turning lighter everyday. People think I color his hair on purpose. Really? Do people really do that to babies?

After 5 months of constant ear infections we opted to have tubes put in his ears two weeks ago. He seems to be doing much better. When I think of the last few months I honestly think about Dr. visits, antibiotics, thermometers, and our comfy recliner as my bed. But I am happy to say I have been able to sleep in my bed ALL night long for the last two weeks! Sleep does a body and mind good. He had a little bit of hearing loss at our first visit to the ENT specialist, but we are hoping that his hearing will be next to normal next time we go back. He seems to hear more stuff now as well as he makes more noise. He jabbers all the time. The only words he can say is "mama". Ha! Wyatt said "dada" first so I am pretty excited about that.

He is so much fun and we are so thankful for such a happy little guy. Warren will be one this next month. What an adventure this next year is gonna be.

Training An Olympic Ice Skater.

2010-03-06T15:41:00.001-08:00

Last week we took Wyatt ice skating in the Galleria Mall in Dallas. Of course this was something we had been watching on TV some during the Olympics and had been asking to go for a while. So with great anticipation on his part we made it to the Ice Skating rink.

Cute little bity skates :).

Can you see the excitement on his face. Don't think Russell could have put those skates on him fast enough.

This is how he spent his time on the rink. Russell would hold his hands and he would lift his feet up and try to do some crazy "trick". Pretty sure he thought he would be able to skate exactly like those people he saw on tv the first time he hit the ice. It was seriously funny.

If Russell wasn't holding on to him he didn't mind to just hold on to the side and skate around holding on for dear life. He would have been there for hours and hours if we would have let him.

Of course I had to man the baby. Who seemed pretty content to watch Daddy and Brother while eating an enormous amount of Cheerios.

It was a great day and a fun experience. Cant wait till Warren is big enough and we can all skate.

Rocking Baby

2010-02-13T19:40:00.000-08:00

Yesterday while Russell was in the office room and I was in the kitchen we heard Warren laughing and screaming and this is what we found when we came into the living room. He somehow figured out how to crawl in the swing by himself and to make it swing. The swing motor was not on in this video...the swinging is all him.

Major Milestones.

2010-01-12T19:07:00.000-08:00

Okay....so maybe not major, but important to this mom. Today Wyatt started a little mother's day out program which is "school" and you cannot tell him any different. It is also Warren's nine month birthday. One of these days I might get around to a Christmas post...but there is just so much to cover it is overwhelming.

Wyatt went to a brand new place and walked right into his classroom without even telling Russell and I bye. He was ready for more social interaction than he was getting at home. It is only one day a week, but Wyatt thinks this is big stuff. The boy loves to be around people. This is the same place he will start an actual preschool this fall.

9 months...really? I am trying not to blink...but it really does just fly by. This month Warren got his top two teeth in, had his first christmas, saw snow for the first time, and is getting very close to walking. We have had some battles with ear infections this last month as well as the couple before that. He is very happy inquisitive little guy. He thinks it is really fun to put things in the toilet and pull over the trash can on himself. He is always into something and loves it when we all get down and wrestle. He really thinks silly things are funny...Wyatt is pretty good at getting a really big "cackle" out of him. These are good times.

Wyatt and Warren this morning before we took Wyatt to "school"

God knew what he was doing when he gave me these two.

Cookies for Santa

2009-12-27T19:13:00.000-08:00

Just testing them out....and no I did not let Warren eat one. He wanted to so badly.

Christmas kisses.

2009-12-24T07:43:00.000-08:00

Sweet kisses from our boys.

Yes. Boo is one of our boys.

8 Months.

2009-12-17T06:49:00.000-08:00

Dear Warren,

Saturday you turned 8 months old. So much has changed for you in the last few months. You are ALL over the place. When you turned 6 months old you were rocking back and forth up on all fours just trying to figure out how in the world to get moving. Well after a few weeks of rocking on your hands and knees you got the hang of it and were crawling by the first of November. Since then you have just gotten faster, started pulling, up and taking steps along the furniture. You are very determined. You keep trying everything over and over till you get it. I love that about you. You don't cry when you don't get it, just keep trying.

You are still a very happy baby and I couldn't ask for anything better. You have had some trouble with some ear infections the last couple months, so during those times you were a understandably a little fussy. I also know you are teething because you feel the need to put everything in your mouth and just gnaw on it.

Your daddy and I love to hear your belly laugh. You get a big kick out of watching your brother do silly stuff and he loves to make you laugh. Bath time is your absolute favorite though. You and your brother will play forever in there just laughing and splashing. You two make huge mess every night at bath time....but it is worth it to me to hear you two cackling together. I love it.

You would really prefer us to just hold you all night while you slept which I love to hold you when you sleep, but we are working on getting you to sleep better on your own. You usually fall asleep around 9:30 or 10 in my arms. That is "our time". It is when Wyatt is in bed and we just get to cuddle. That is my favorite time of the day. You usually wake up around 6:30 0r 7 with a 2 2hr naps during the day. (10ish and 3ish) You eat oatmeal for breakfast, baby food for lunch, and rice cereal for dinner.

Oh and your vocabulary....is pretty much "bah" and some other undefinable noised. The only sound you are saying consistently is "bah".

Love,

Mom

A Visit with Santa

2009-12-10T18:23:00.000-08:00

This Santa must have been a little grouchy...he never smiled. Although Wyatt was pretty excited to see Santa and went without even looking back. Warren was just happy to be held.

Its Christmas Time

2009-12-07T18:58:00.000-08:00

I absolutely love this time of year and sharing this season with our boys makes it even more enjoyable. I have to admit I am struggling with getting Jesus' birth importance across to Wyatt...we battle so much in the marketing of Christmas. We are trying to establish some family traditions for our family that will help teach that. I love that we get to celebrate Jesus' birth the whole month of December, but I feel responsible to make sure the boys (well Wyatt at this point) knows WHAT we are celebrating. Anyways...enough of that.

We put the tree up almost two weeks ago. Celebrating Jesus' birthday is much fun with little ones....it is also interesting while trying to decorate the tree. At least they are cute little helpers though.

Warren so badly wants to eat all the ornaments.

I bribed him with a candy cane to get a good smile.

And here is the beginning of our tree decorating....Warren wanted to unravel the ribbon and lick it.

After a few tries we got the ribbon up.

Wyatt got to put the star on the tree this year....I know he is rarely ever fully dressed.

The finished product...with a few ornaments missing. I keep finding them all over the house. Matter of fact if you look real close in this picture you can see one under our dining room table. I don't know if it is Warren or Wyatt doing this...but is quite funny.

Weekend Project

2009-11-17T07:30:00.000-08:00

Our New Backyard(well 1/2 of it anyway.)

We have had some storage issues since we moved to our house in Greenville. So we decided to put up a storage shed. This is how we spent our weekend.

Wyatt had to get in there and show them how to do it....

Following the instructions like a real man.

fThe finished product....great job guys. Thank you Jason!!! We couldn't have done it with out you! You too Rebecca!

Just a little trim for Warren

2009-11-16T13:08:00.000-08:00

Is what I thought I was going into the beauty salon for today. I think he got a lot more than that. I am not going to go into the whole story, but let's just say the beautician's idea of a little shorter and my idea of a little shorter were MUCH different. She was in the middle of her first swipe with the buzzers before I even knew she had started cutting. I have shed a few tears today, I feel like I just cut off his defining characteristic. We will be growing this boy's hair back out to as close as it was before, but I know it will probably never be the same.

Here is my baby boy before he was attacked by the buzzers.
Yep all that beautiful long hair is now in a little ziploc bag.

Warren's new look

Wyatt making Warren smile for me.

5 months

2009-09-19T06:56:00.000-07:00

I took these pictures a couple weeks ago and just haven't had a chance to update my blog. Here is our littlest man at 5 months old. He is so very precious. He almost always will flash his big beautiful smile anytime anyone looks at him. He is growing so very fast and trying so very hard to crawl. He is not crawling, but can manage to get clear across a room via...scooting, pushing, and rolling. He is also sleeping through the night on most nights that is. He is loves to be held and requires lots of attention that we are more than willing to give. One of the things we love about Warren is just how he takes everything in. He always looks at every thing like "woa...that is soo cool." His eyes are always so wide open as he explores this world.

When things get quiet at our house...

2009-09-17T08:17:00.000-07:00

you know Wyatt is doing something he probably is not supposed to be doing.

This is where I found him...totally in his element. He is naked ( a personal preference of Wyatt's), drinking milk (an addiction I think), and twirling Warren's hair (a comforting habit). Life is good. I am just super thankful he didn't decide that Warren wanted out of the crib!!!

Pictures by Papaw

2009-08-27T08:45:00.000-07:00

During our visit to Oklahoma last month Russell's dad took some pictures of the boys for me. He did a great job. Taking pictures of a two year old and a 3 month old is NOT easy. It requires a great deal of patience...thanks Rick! This first one is my favorite of them together even though Warren isn't looking. don't know why I like it so much, I just do. He took a ton, and narrowing them down to my favorites is hard, but here are my favorites!
Wyatt is 2 1/2 and Warren was 3 months in these pics.

This one really captures a little bit of Wyatt's personality...I love it!

What a pretty boy he is!

He is still flashes that beautiful smile of his ALL the time. He is such a happy boy!

A Trip to the Tulsa Zoo

2009-08-19T04:18:00.000-07:00

Me and the boys before our day at the zoo. Warren was in the middle of a sneeze!

Wyatt was excited about seeing the lions.

Don't remember what they were looking at, but it is a cute picture.

My monkeys!

The best part of the whole day was the train ride. We waited till the end to ride it....he was sooo excited as you can tell in these pics:

Family Update--It's a long one!

2009-08-11T19:39:00.001-07:00

There have been a lot of changes in our family’s life that I have not really had the time to update on here. Russell and I have felt God moving us on from our ministry at Central. After a chance meeting with a pastor of a church in Greenville, TX and an invitation to come candidate for a position we felt led to resign our position at Central to seek God’s direction in our lives. We resigned not knowing for sure what the future had for us…but just trusting God. After a couple weeks of visiting Family Fellowship in Greenvile Russell accepted the High School youth pastor position. We are very excited about what God is doing! Saying Goodbye to our students at Central was difficult, but knowing this is all part of God’s plan seems to make things a little easier. His plan is always better than mine. So as far as the details we are trying to sell our house and Russell is commuting to Greenville everyday. We will be living in staff house that will not be available for a couple of months so having our house is a blessing right now. Our last Sunday at Central was actually July 12…so we have had some time off to enjoy together as a family. We have tried to make the most of our time by visiting family in Oklahoma, and spending time with the boys, and lets just say Russell has had his share of fishing this last month. I am really behind on my posts….so I am going to try and play catch up this week. So here are a few pictures of a little day trip we made to Splash Kingdom in Canton, TX:
(these are in the opposite order I meant to put them in)

Hair Cut!

2009-07-11T17:11:00.000-07:00

Yes. I broke down and did it. It was just getting out of control and always looked so uhh....messy or is that even the word? My best friend, Audra, who is a hair dresser in Oklahoma cut his hair for me and she did a great job. He was not even three months old yet, but it looks SO much better. We measured it on top and it was 3 inches long! Everyone has given me a hard time about cutting his hair so young, but hey it's my kid right? I had this done about two weeks ago and think he could already use another one.

Come on tell me it didn't need to be cut!

Wyatt and Audra after his first haircut....so handsome!! oh yes and she is adorable as well!

Hooked!

2009-06-25T12:22:00.001-07:00

While trying to get the hook out of a fish's mouth Russell hooked himself this morning. I am so very proud of him....He didn't pass out! Thanks to Dr. Pierce we didn't have to wait for hours in the waiting room. He just took care of it in his office.

He had to cut off the hook from the lure. This picture shows a the broken off hook still in his thumb.

It's out!
I think Russell will be okay....Wyatt is taking care of him by kissing his "owie" quite frequently. I am so glad he can take such good care of his daddy! :)

I think being hook is a right of passage for fishermen. It happens if you do it enough I guess. Here is a picture from a couple weeks ago. Two of my favorite fishermen!

Smiles and melting hearts.

2009-06-17T13:20:00.000-07:00

This is just half of the heart melting smile we have enjoyed seeing so much of the past few weeks. The whole smile...it really gets ya. He is such a little charmer.

What are you looking at? Let me guess, my hair??

Warren was dressed in overalls one day so Wyatt decided he wanted to to wear his too.
Oh...by the way. Wyatt is learning faces lately and this is what he calls his "dancing face".

My little rock star!

This pool is probably way to little for Wyatt, but he has been begging us to get it out and it entertains him for hours.

Doesn't Warren look funny without his poofy hair??

I don't know Wyatt has named this face yet, but it looks pretty mischievous to me!

For You Mommy ....For You!

2009-05-20T13:59:00.000-07:00

For You Mommy...For You!

That's what Wyatt said as he carried these in to me today after running around with Russell this morning. I thought it was pretty sweet. It's been a pretty crazy week with caring for a 5 week old who has discovered being held is much better than laying or swinging alone and potty training the two year old. I feel like am very busy and never getter anything accomplished, other than loving and caring for two precious little guys oh yeah....and Russell too.

Russell said Wyatt picked these out.

Warren is now almost 6 weeks and is staying awake more and more. We have really got into the swing of things and developed a routine that seems to work well for both of us. He loves to look at you and study your face while you talked to him. Sometimes just holding him isn't enough....he wants to be talked to. He is really doing well holding his head up and obviously he is eating well as you can see.

These are from last night after his bath:

His hair is curly when it's wet....I love it.

Wanted a picture to document just how long his hair is....and I think it is still growing. Right now it is about 2 1/2 inches on top.

Wyatt really has become such a loving big brother....which honestly kinda surprises me. I really thought he would act a lot more jealous. He hasn't ever shown much jealousy over the time I spend nursing, changing, or bathing Warren. He always tries to comfort Warren when he cries saying...."I know...I know" or "It's okay buddy..it's okay" or singing Jesus Loves Me. I hear him whisper stuff to him all the time....but not for sure what he is saying. He still loves to twirl Warren hair too. I am so thankful Wyatt has made this adjustment well.

Here is Wyatt and Jayden the little boy I have been keeping a couple hours everyday.

So....this is pretty much my week so far right here. I have probably spent half of my days looking at this very sight. We have gotten serious about potty training this week. We are not there yet...but making progress. This is the way he prefers to sit on the potty. I have no idea where he got this idea. Altough this method does get the job done, we are working on him sitting the proper way. :)

Three Weeks

2009-05-03T16:47:00.000-07:00

Happy Three Week Birthday Warren!

Here is our sweet little man at 3 weeks old.
Mmmmm...

Russell getting some Warren time.

A Few New Pics

2009-04-29T13:45:00.000-07:00

It is funny how much more I am able to enjoy Warren's as a newborn since I am not so nervous all the time. We are loving every minute of this sweet time.....I try and cuddle him up every minute that I can without making Wyatt too jealous.
Just can't get enough of this little guy!!

Warren sporting the "messy" hair.

Our youth band played at an outdoor youth rally in Sulphur Bluff so we all went to support them.

Warren is changing sooo fast. Here are a few of my most recent pictures of him.

Wyatt loves to play with Warren's hair. In this picture he was just laying there twirling his hair for like 20 minutes.

Brotherly Love

2009-04-26T10:32:00.000-07:00

Russell's mom and dad came down for the week when we had Warren to help out with everything. It was great to have so much help with the cooking, cleaning, and Wyatt. Rick also took some great pictures for us. Here are a few he took when Warren was about 1 week old.

Wyatt absolutely loves his little brother. He is so very proud of him. He tells everyone, "I have a new baby brother". When Warren cries Wyatt says, "I know, I know" as he gently pats his head. He also wants to hold him quite often, which requires much supervision.

Warren is doing great. He is growing oh so fast. I will post some recent pics as soon as I get them loaded to the computer. These are from a week ago.

Warren Aidan

2009-04-23T16:43:00.000-07:00

Yes...I know it is over a week late, but I've been pretty busy healing and adjusting to life with another little one to love.

My contractions started early Sunday morning but were pretty far apart. They were enough to keep me and Wyatt home from church on Easter though. We went into the hospital Sunday evening around 6 thinking my water may have ruptured. When they saw my blood pressure was pretty elevated my doctor wanted to speed things up. So he broke my water and started the oxytocin around 6:30. The contractions were coming on really strong after that. Got an epidural finally around 8:00 after three attempts. Around 9:30 I was fully dialated and sent the nurses running to get everything ready. After about 5 minutes of pushing we had our little Warren in our arms.

Warren Aidan Kirkpatrick
April 12, 2009
8 lbs. 6 oz
20 1/2 inches

Here are a few pictures of our new little man. I will try and not overload you with pictures, but I have a ton to post. I will be posting more later!

Warren shortly after his big entrance!

After being cleaned up a bit.

Me and my boys!

Wyatt meets Warren. Since Warren was born late in the evening, we decided not to bring Wyatt up to the hospital till the next morning. So here is there first meeting.

Too sweet.

First bath.

His first day at home.

Father Son Bonding

I just love this picture!!

Tons more to post.

It has almost been two weeks and we are getting pretty adjusted. Wyatt had a pretty rough first week, but this past week has been much better. He absolutely loves Warren, so much he wants to squeeze him REALLY hard....so we have to make sure he is gentle. Warren is a great baby so far, I couldn't ask for more. We are so thankful for two healthy boys!

Update

2009-04-03T14:30:00.000-07:00

We are still here awaiting the arrival of the newest addition to our family. For the last several weeks the doctor had thought the baby was in a breech position so he scheduled an ultrasound for this week's visit to confirm the baby's position and make decisions. Of course there is a good chance we would have had to have a cesarean if the baby didn't flip. So we prayed all week that the little guy would just get in the right position and he did just that! Today's ultrasound showed he is head down in the right position. Of course that is a relief for us......we would really rather avoid a cesarean if possible. Anyways, we are so thankful for this answered prayer. Our doctor says he shouldn't move anymore now. Everything else looks good...he measures about 7lbs 5 oz. right now. Oh...and I wasn't for sure it was a boy up until today. We got a "good" look at that area today in the ultrasound and yes...it is for sure a boy! Also we have decided on a name, Warren Aidan Kirkpatrick. Can't wait to meet the little guy!

That's My Boy!

2009-03-05T11:43:00.000-08:00

"That's my boy!" has become a frequently used phrase around our house since it is just the cutest thing to hear Wyatt say. There are so many things he has just picked up on and has started saying that are just too cute. He will call me "sweetheart" if there is something he is wanting. That just started this week. Not just any "sweetheart" it is the softest sweetest sounding way of saying sweetheart.....man he knows how to work you. He is a very busy little boy, always getting into something. I have to try and keep his attention focused on doing something or else he will find something to do....which usually results in me cleaning up a mess or someone getting hurt. Here a few pictures of the last few weeks:

I hope no one is offended by these....but everything is covered up. One night we had done all the wrestling we could take, so this is how we diverted his attention. This kid loves to be naked.....we can't keep clothes on him!

One night some Bull riding rodeo was on TV and Wyatt decided to pretend he was riding too. He saw they all had on cowboy hats and asked to wear his.

The Big Catch

2009-02-11T06:39:00.000-08:00

After returning from our weekend without Wyatt we still had some daylight left on Saturday so we took him over to another church member's pond to fish. Of course Wyatt fell in the pond once and threw his fishing rod in a number of times, but he had a blast. Russell was still able to catch a pretty nice little bass. Here is Wyatt kissing the bass! He makes his Daddy very proud. Of course this kinda grosses me out so, don't worry I was washing his hands and face right after this picture. Look at our dog Boo in the corner....he really wants a kiss too!

Birthday Weekend

2009-02-10T11:30:00.000-08:00

I had my 26th birthday last week and Russell and I were able to enjoy a weekend in Dallas without little man (Wyatt). Russell had made arrangements with a super sweet family in our church to keep Wyatt overnight on Friday so we could spend a couple days in Dallas. I feel like I am always having to ask for help with Wyatt for youth events, doctors appts, funerals, etc. So I am not very good at asking for people to watch Wyatt just for an evening out....so last weekend was a treat for us. We enjoyed dinner at a REAL restaurant and actually got to talk without wrestling a toddler. We went shopping....just for fun no strollers, snacks, or diaper bags. Our camera recently died, so Russell took me to pick out a new camera. We also got Wyatt some furniture for his new room except a bed, which Russell's dad is building for us. It is amazing how much more you can get done with a toddler in tow. So thank you to the West's for keeping our little man last weekend. For a few pictures of Wyatt's weekend at the West's check out Terri's blog on my sidebar! I should be back to posting a little more frequently since I have a new camera!!

As much as I needed the break from this little face, I sure was glad to see it when we got back!

Overdue!

2009-01-29T10:56:00.000-08:00

It's been a while.....things have been a little crazy since Christmas. Seems one thing after another. We just finished a great week of revival at our church where we saw many people give their lives to the Lord. So exciting.....and our speaker really challenged us all in the area of evangelism. We had a youth night that Saturday and about 400 students showed up for the service. It was a great night....we ended up with about 50 students coming for salvation. This week Wyatt and I have been a little sick...not so sure what it is. I am taking Wyatt to the doctor today.
I never did post any pictures from Christmas because due to some camera issues we really didn't get very many good pics, but I did get these that are pretty cute. These were taken on Christmas Eve as we were setting the milk and cookies out for Santa.

The Wildcats Win the Title!!

2008-12-21T19:48:00.000-08:00

That's right, our very own Sulphur Springs Wildcats won the State Championship in Class 4A football. These last couple of months have been really neat to watch 0ur small little Texas town back their hometown team and support them as they worked toward this state title. They have been in the playoffs for the last 4 weeks so it has been really exciting to keep up with our Wildcats....going to games, listening intently to games on the radio, and on t.v! The state Championship was yesterday in San Antonio at the Alamo Dome. We already had planned take the kids to Holiday in the Park, but Six Flags can wait....state championship games can't. So we took a group of 35 down to San Antonio for the game yesterday and had a great time. At first I thought we might be crazy. We left the church at 4 a.m. and didn't return home until a little after midnight. San Antonio is about a 5-6 hour drive, plus....remember traveling with 35 people....ya know eating and bathroom stops all take much longer! But we were so glad we went. I was told that our town pre-sold 15,000 tickets to the game, which blows my mind because our population sign say like 14,000. Needless to say....there were a lot of blue and gold in San Antonio yesterday! And thank goodness God provided us with safety and good travels. Congratulations Wildcats!

Wyatt Meets Santa

2008-12-17T12:19:00.001-08:00

Tagged

2008-12-17T11:52:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I was tagged by Cindy Kirkpatrick! Ladies you know how this works, so here goes....

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Definitely Hot Chocolate! I actually kinda like Egg Nog, but Hot Chocolate is way better.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? This is a big dillemma this year. We are really wondering what Santa will do with Wyatt presents this year because when I was little Santa always wrapped his presents in matching paper but Russell says that Santa always just sat his presents under the tree. I am thinking Santa should wrap the small ones and set out the big ones.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? White on the tree for sure and this year we don't have lights on the house, but I really like the lights with just red and white.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Nope......but we always did when I was little and that brings back so many memories!

5. When do you put your decorations up? The weekend after Thanksgiving. I like to have them up as long as possible.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Ham and chocolate pie

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? Hearing my parents up on Christmas morning and running to wake up my brother and sister.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I don't know, but I think it later than most!

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? I always did presents with my grandparents on Christmas eve so yes.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Well...it WAS decorated in red and gold ornaments and many ornaments we've been given that are special, but it seems to look more and more bare every day. I keep finding ornaments in many places throughout the house, so many of our ornaments are on the kitchen counter for safe keeping.

11. Snow, Love it or dread it? I love it! Some of my favorite memories are of snow days playing with my family and friends.

12. Can you ice skate? Yes..it's lots of fun!

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Kinda funny the only one I really remember is a little indoor basketball goal, I always got presents but I just can't remember specifics. I remember the basketball goal because we all played with it together that day.

14. What is the most important thing about the holidays for you? Keeping things in perspective of whole reason for Christmas and enjoying season of reflecting on what Jesus did for us that first Christmas morning.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? Chocolate pie

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Decorating the tree together as a family with a christmas movie or music on. That isn't exactly Russell's idea....but he endures.

17. What tops your tree? A Star

18. Which do you prefer - giving or receiving? Definitely giving!

19. What is your favorite Christmas song? Joy to The World

20. Candy Canes. Yum or Yuck? They are okay

21. What do you want for Christmas? Too see Wyatt open his gifts!

22. Do you attend an annual Christmas party? Yes...usually 2 or 3.

23. Do you dress up for Christmas Eve or wear PJ's? Dress up for Christmas Eve services then home to PJ's

24. Do you own a Santa hat? No.

25. Who do you normally spend Christmas with? We will spend Christmas morning with just us at home. We will go to Oklahoma that afternoon for Christmas with my family and then Christmas with Russell's family the next day.

Publish Post

Christmas Card Rejects!

2008-12-16T14:47:00.000-08:00

Wow! This month is literally flying by! The last couple of months have been pretty busy with Thanksgiving, watching the Sooner's win the Big 12, and all the Christmas festivities that come along with this season. I love this time of year, but just wish the there was a little more time in every day.
We are past halfway in this pregnancy....and doctor says it's gonna be a boy! We've known this for a while, I just haven't posted it. I am now 22 weeks and have started feeling the little guy move quite often. We have kinda joked that since Wyatt is such an "active" little boy that maybe it would be nice if this one was just a little bit more "laid back". Just kidding....I love Wyatt's spunk and wouldn't want him any other way. He is a lot of fun and always keeps us laughing.
Last week I took some pictures of Wyatt for our Christmas Card and got some pretty cute pictures.....here are a few that we didn't use.

Tractor Birthday!

2008-12-03T06:49:00.000-08:00

Okay...I know it was like a month ago. But....I just can't go on with other posts until I have posted about this boy's tractor birthday. He is still talking about his tractor birthday today.
We had some family come down for the party which made it lots of fun. My sister and her son and my sister in law (my brother's wife) and her two boys came down for the big day. So we had a very busy house for a couple days. Wyatt doesn't get to be around them very often so it was pretty special to have them here and get to play .
We also had some surprise guests, who we were sooo excited to see. Russell's brother Robert and wife Cindy came with their two kids Logan and Macey. It just made Wyatt's day...he asks to see Logan and Macey just about everyday now.
Of course Mamaw and Papaw were here as well as some good friends from church.
Here are some pics of the party....sorry for the overload.

Tractor Birthday Cake....Yes I made it myself. Note to self: writing with icing is very hard!
Wyatt loved his cake!

Logan and Macey with Birthday Boy!

Presents!

What is it??

Yea...it makes lots of noise!

Here are a few pictures of our time with my nephews before Wyatt's party....it got pretty crazy at times....but was so much fun!

1st Real Halloween

2008-12-03T06:44:00.001-08:00

Last year was Wyatt's first Halloween, but since we had church that night we decided not to dress him up. So this year made for the big man's first Halloween to dress up.
My dad sent Wyatt a cute little monkey costume which he wore for a little while, but it did get a little warm, so we happened to have a few items on hand to throw together a cowboy costume.
We went to a local school carnival with some friends and their two daughters. We did stop at one house...to see baby Cameron who was an adorable monkey!

Wyatt's Fun Day!

2008-10-25T12:17:00.000-07:00

Wyatt literally had a "hay day" today! We had a free morning this morning before the OU game so we decided to try and take Wyatt to a pumpkin patch. I had no idea what to expect and didn't know if it would even be fun for Wyatt. Well....turns out this is like a dream come true for an for a lover of outside, animals, and TRACTORS!

Wyatt started the adventure by picking out his own pumpkin to paint. It was a tough decision. Evidently the best way to pick a good pumpkin is to pick a few up and drop them to see which one is just right.
Wyatt and his pick.

Then he got to paint his pumpkin....and this is kinda a tough thing for a almost 2 yr old....so Daddy helped. (I think Russell enjoyed painting the pumpkin more than Wyatt)

Then it was on the climb up the mountain of hay bails.

He made it with a little help from Daddy.

On top of the world!

The adventure included a face painting. I can't believe he sat still long enough to get one.

Next was the hayride...which was pulled by a tractor. If you know Wyatt very well....then you know he is pretty obsessed with tractors.
He is having a tractor birthday here a few weeks.

Nothing like ending the trip with petting a few cows.

This was a great day for Wyatt. Of course he did not want to leave and threw a pretty big fit, but we had to get home in time to see the OU game.

Tonight we will be chaperones on a trip to Dallas in a red charger limo. We just had a big Friend Day at church and had a drawing for a limo ride to Dallas. We had 760 people at our church that Sunday....which is great for us. Our youth ministry had about 90 in Sunday School and a few more came to church. So we had about 100 students at church that day and one was saved that morning....it was a great day.

Chocolate Milk!

2008-10-17T13:23:00.000-07:00

This little incident actually happened about three weeks ago, but I just haven't had a chance to put it on here yet.
I was taking my shower and realized everything was just a little too quiet and I was not being bothered every 5 seconds by a very active almost 2 year old. So I decided I had better go and check on Wyatt and this is what I found.

When I found him sucking down this bottle of hershey's syrup I said,
"Wyatt...what are you doing?"
he simply replied,
"Mama...chocate milk"
He says chocolate soo cute, of course I couldn't hold back from laughing.

I just love the fact that he can now "help himself" to what he needs out of the fridge.

Fall Festival Fun

2008-10-07T08:42:00.000-07:00

Well it's been a few weeks, but we recently had our annual Hopkins County Fall Festival here in Sulphur Springs. It is a pretty big deal, just craziness actually. This is when the whole stew contest takes place. We spent pretty much all day out at the festival, our church was passing our free bottles of water from one of the stew sites. Oh and also, the stew contest champions this year are from our church and happened to be whose stew site we were passing water out from. They won it a couple of years ago too, yea it's pretty good.
It was a great weekend other than Wyatt running into this river/creek thing and
Russell running in after him leaving them both soaking wet. It wasn't very deep, but there was a pretty good little current and thank goodness Russell caught him.
After the stew contest we went and let Wyatt ride a couple of the little carnival rides they had there:

A little peek at the world champion of chicken stew.

Wyatt had a blast on this flying elephant???

Waving at Daddy

I have a picture of me and my mom just like this!

I think he was trying to put a move on the girl next to him.

Pregnant!

2008-09-26T09:07:00.000-07:00

Having one child has been such a blessing we decided to start thinking about a second. We always knew we wanted another one, but when was always the question. Well...evidently now is the time for a second. We found out we were expecting the second week in August, although I knew well before then from the symptoms I was having. We are thrilled and can't wait to meet this little one. I am particularly thrilled because I did not want to have to miss church camp, and if all goes to plan I won't have to.

Wyatt is not really old enough to get excited about this, but he does say he wants a sister. Now we really do not care either way. I think having two boys would be a lot of fun and possibly keep our life a little more simple, but then again I just wonder what RussellandCassie girl would be like. So I am totally trusting God's call on this one. Russell says he wants a boy, but that is only because he is scared of being whipped by a little girl. But if you ask Wyatt if he wants a brother or sister, he always says, "baby sister".

I am 10 weeks and we had our first ultrasound done yesterday. I was very surprised at how much has already taken place in this baby's development just at 10 weeks. It was moving all over the place. We could see it arms, legs, eyes, even it's little fingers. I am so amazed at the developments of babies. I am a nerd and I like to read about my baby's development as it grows, but it just amazes me.

So until April 23 (my due date) we are soaking up all of the time we have with Wyatt before this adjustment. Our main concern is how he will do, it may kinda rock his world at first! I know he will be a great big brother though.

Here are a few of the ultrasound pics from yesterday.This is a pretty good one....it kinda looks like a little teddy bear to me.

In this one you can actually see it's little fingers. That is the top of the baby's head with his hands out if front if you can' tell.

I LOVE FALL!

2008-09-20T16:18:00.000-07:00

Well...this is my absolute favorite time of year...FALL. I love the cool weather and when the leaves change colors. I think I might even like the pretty fall decorations as much as I like Christmas decorations. Plus...fall usually means it is time to start listening to Christmas music.
But the #1 one reason I love fall is because it means FOOTBALL.
I love football and probably would have tried to play if my dad would have allowed it. I have grown up watching my brother's football games on Friday nights and then on Saturday watching the Sooners play. When I was in high school I was not able to go to many of Russell's football games because I had commitments to my school, but I got my way out of many of our games just so I could go see Russell in those tight pants. :)
Last night we took Wyatt to a Sulphur Springs HS football game. He loved it...he was way excited. Clapping along with the band, trying to kick like the cheerleaders (i know that concerned me too.), and kept saying "Get em boys". I really hope he continues to like football all of his life.....sure I like other sports...but football is the most fun to watch.
I forgot the camera at this game....so sorry no pictures.

Playing In Ike!

2008-09-14T13:55:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we did absolutely nothing. Well, I take that back. We did go to the Fall Festival parade, then went to buy gas and groceries to make our preparations for Hurricane Ike. We made all the preparations...so when it hit...we did nothing. Well Wyatt wasn't too big on this nothing deal he kept asking to go outside. We decided why not.....it was just a lot of rain and a little wind....no lightning or anything. So we let the kid be a kid and play in the rain. We made his day. He was sooo excited to explore in the rain.
The news people made it sound like it was just gonna tear through Sulphur Springs so we were expecting much more than Ike brought us..which we are grateful for. It did bring a nice relaxing do nothing Saturday afternoon. Here is Wyatt out in the "storm".

It's a Major Award!

2008-09-11T21:02:00.000-07:00

Yea..that's right. I have received my first major blogging award. My sweet sister in law Cindy www.cindykirkpatrick.blogspot.com has given me this honor. :) We live in different states, but through her blog we have been able to keep up with their lives better. Logan and Macey are just adorable and I love to see their pictures of all they are doing. We just wish we were closer and able to be more involved! Thanks Cindy.

After reading a my friend Sherri's blog for several months I was inspired to start my own. Sherri was a good friend I made while living in MO. We don't talk often but are able to keep up with each other's life through our blog. She has recently adopted a little boy and I love to see pictures of his cute face. So first I must give this award to Sherri. Second, this award will have to go to the funniest person I think I have ever met, Jaime. We met Jaime and her beautiful family here at our church and just think they are great. It helps that she is a SOONERS fan too. She also talks alot about this red haired girl that is Wyatt's age whom he spends a lot of time with in the nursery. Third, this award goes to Krista an arm of our church living in Austria. Her and her husband are missionaries from our church serving in Austria. We have been able see them here in the states a few times. I always enjoy reading her posts about their daily lives and how the Lord is working in Austria!

Oh...by the way. I was going to give the award to my mother in law Marilyn. This is defintately Wyatt's favorite blog. Every time I sit down at the computer Wyatt says "Mamaw...Papaw...picture" There is a picture of them on their blog and he loves to see it. But after reading Pam's post I agreed that maybe it would be too much! So let's just say we give Marilyn the honorary Wyatt's pick award!

www.timandsherri.blogspot.com

www.brewerj4.wordpress.com

http://blog.caldwelljourney.net

Now, for you recipients of this award, here's the deal:

* Display your award.

* Link back to the person who gave you the award.

* Nominate 3 other blogs.

* Put links to those blogs on yours.

* Leave a message on the blogs of the people you have nominated.

* Enjoy your award!

Fishies!

2008-08-27T10:43:00.000-07:00

Wyatt loves fishies and tractors......he talks about them everyday. So last week we took him to Doyle and Helens ( a very sweet couple in our church) to fish at the pond. He had a blast...he even got to ride the tractor. Russell caught a bass and oh man....Wyatt was pretty excited!

This is Wyatt's new favorite toy. Russell's grandma gave it to him a few weeks ago. I guess it is kinda a lamp, but it looks like a tv that just has fishies scrolling along the screen. He wants to watch them every night before bed.

Water Wars

2008-08-12T06:32:00.000-07:00

This weekend we had a youth activity....and Wyatt got to come and play too. We just had a day of water games. It was sooo much fun. We play a lot of these games at church camp....and just can't get enough of them. Wyatt had a blast....as you can tell.

Wyatt and some of his girls.

Going down our giant slip and slide. Yea he's in there somewhere.

Fun with Cousins

2008-08-11T11:15:00.000-07:00

While we were in town for the party Wyatt got to spend quite a bit of time with his cousins: Logan and Macey are Russell's brother's kids. Garrett is my brother's son.

Logan and Wyatt

Macey (also known as Pacey), Wyatt, and Garrett
Wyatt and Garrett are only 15 days apart.

Surprise Party!

2008-08-11T10:57:00.000-07:00

My sister turned the big 30 last week....so we had a little surprise party for her. The party was fun....but the fact that we pulled one off on her was even more fun. All of our family was there along with her husbands family. Wyatt and I made special trip up there just for this. Since I don't get to see my family too often it is always a special time for me to spend with the family.
Hope you had a good birthday Mya!

Here are just a few pictures of my family. I didn't get everybody's picture though.

Mya being surprised. (yea I know the pictures blurry...)

My sister's son Brandon

My grandma whom Wyatt calls Nona.

These are my grandparents on my mom's side.

My Daddy!

God's Majesty!

2008-08-01T08:47:00.000-07:00

On Monday we took Wyatt to the zoo in Tyler, TX. It is a pretty small zoo, but we thought it would be great for Wyatt's first trip to the zoo. It was HOT...who's idea was it to go to the zoo in July????
One of the highlights of the trip for Wyatt was seeing a Rhino go poo poo. He even recognized what he was doing and said "big big poo poo". We were so proud of him! :)
I seriously do enjoy going to the zoo...I am always reminded of God's majesty. I just love to look at all the birds and fish and just how much detail is in their creation.

Wyatt on sensory overload. You know all the sights, the sounds, and the SMELLS of the zoo. Oh the wonderful smells of the zoo!

Russell helping Wyatt spot the animals. Wyatt kept saying "bam, bam" when he saw anything that looked like a deer.

Story Time with Daddy

2008-07-29T06:24:00.000-07:00

We have always had a nightly routine that we have done every night since Wyatt was just a few months old. Russell is really big on Wyatt learning to read well, so we've added reading to our night time routine. He NEVER forgets about it either, sometimes if it is late I will try to sneak out of the room without a story, and of course he cries "Booooook" over and over until we read a story. He has become quite the Daddy's boy and would always rather Daddy read the story if he is home.

Wyatt...officially a big boy.

2008-07-24T13:21:00.000-07:00

This morning I heard the back door open and came to figure out that Wyatt had decided to let himself outside to play. He was in a t-shirt, a sopping wet diaper, and of course no shoes. I decided to just go with it. I decided to let him try out the big boy swing since it has been a while since we tried it. Last time I tried it things didn't go so well....he decided to let go and I barely caught him. That was like 6 months ago though so I think we're good now. Anyways, he can do it now, I just gotta watch him like a hawk. We took a few pictures this morning:

Church Camp

2008-07-24T11:03:00.000-07:00

LiFT 20008
Central Baptist Church
LeTournea Univeristy
Longview, TX

So Sr. High Camp was pretty awesome. We took a group of 46 students plus 7 adults. God was definately at work in our lives. Our kids just grew closer together as a youth group and more importantly they grew closer to God. We had 7 students accept Jesus as their Savior, several students rededicated their lives, and a few surrendered to full-time ministry.
There was very little drama .....matter of fact....I can't even think of any at all. It was just a great week at camp with a great group of teenagers.

Our guys being manly I guess.

Our girls being as beautiful as ever. Notice the shirts....yea I know they are cute aren't they. Yea....that was a little more work than I anticipated. We had 30 girls going and I thought it would be fun to hand make shirts for camp. You can't tell from the picture, but they have letters ironed on the front and back. They loved them and it was totally worth it, plus we had fun making them. These are our girls and they are precious!

Autumn...Me

This is during God and I time...a devotional time for the kids.

I just loved seeing our kids come together and praying together.

Pictures with Monkey

2008-07-24T09:57:00.000-07:00

For mother's day my mother in law gave me this adorable little monkey picture frame. In case you didn't know....I love monkeys and have done Wyatt room in Safari...mainly monkey's though. Wyatt has become attached to his stuffed monkey whom he calls "key". He also is very attached to a stuffed bear he simply calls "bear".

Spaghetti Anyone?

2008-07-24T09:46:00.001-07:00

This was from Sunday's lunch, we are trying to let Wyatt learn to feed himself. Too often I end up feeding him myself so I don't have to clean up the mess. So here is what happens when I let him do it, but he's gotta learn right? Any suggestions or this the only way??

Craziness!?!?

2008-07-24T08:40:00.000-07:00

Well...the last two months seems to have just flown by. Things have just been crazy busy. I think things are finally starting to slow down a bit now that all our camps are over. So I am a little behind on my posts. I know...I need to get in gear huh! Well I am gonna try to do a little catch up.

Year Five.

2008-07-21T14:03:00.000-07:00

Russell and I have recently celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. It has been five amazing years. Here is something I gave Russell for our anniversary this year....I thought I would share it for you to read as well. It is just a little jog down memory lane of our marriage.

Five Years of Marriage
1st year: So young, so fresh. Love. First place together, apartment 107 B. College. Work@Mardels. Work @ the bank. Learning to cook. Shooting your bow off our apartment patio. Spontaneous trips. Sweet memories.

2nd year: First ministry job. Life in the church parsonage. College still. Long drives to Springfield everyday. First dog—sweet Boo. Love. Playing ball in the yard beside the parsonage. Lake of the Ozarks. Life lessons.

3rd Year: Hurts. Clinging to each other in midst of trials. Growth. Love. Support of family. Finding our we’re pregnant…(how did that happen?) Learning to trust God completely. Seeing God’s plan is better than our own. Learning what love is.

4th Year: New Job. New Town. New Church. New friends. Purchased our first home. Healing. Love. Birth of our first son. Falling in love on a whole new level through becoming parents.

5th Year: Ministry growth. Investing our lives in our students. Developing deeper relationships with students. Going fishing. "You’re gonna miss this.” Love. Wrestling with Wyatt. Love. Seeing life in a whole new way...through the eyes of a child.

Jr. High Church Camp

2008-06-29T16:59:00.001-07:00

We spent this last week in Chester, TX (close to Lufkin, TX) at Camp Takula. We only take our students that are going into 7th and 8th grades to this camp. We took 15 students and could not have asked for a better group. Lots of laughing, lots of pranks, lots of water games, lots of scripture memorizing, lots of worshiping, and lots of preaching, and lots of prayer. I think that pretty much sums up the week.
One thing I love about camp is just getting to know each one of the kids on a personal level. I have really enjoyed this group of kids...they are precious!

CENTRAL BAPTIST CHURCH
JR. HIGH
CAMP TAKULA 2008

Here are a few pictures of our week!
Russell and a couple of our boys.

A few of our girls waiting in line for dinner.

Yea. We were the leaders of the red team....and Russell was pretty into it.

I love this game.

Russell and Justus. On Tuesday Justus was saved. Yeah!

Me and one of my girls.

I just love this kid!! I didn't know him at all before camp....he is so sweet.

Ha.Ha. We finally got him. He was pranking on us all week. Revenge is sweet!

We had lots of fun this week, but the week is not about all the fun we had. This week would be pointless if these kids were not being challenged from God's word. We had a great speaker this year, Sean Sears. It is simply about these students getting away from everyday life for a week and focusing on their relationship with God.

It been a while!

2008-06-29T16:42:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I have made any posts, but things have just been pretty crazy. It is summer and of course that just means busy times for youth ministry. It is camp season and we have been very busy trying to get all these kids to camp. Many kids are not able to pay for their camp and we try our best to find a way for every student to go that wants to. So we have been doing a lot of yard work, painting, and cleaning. It is a lot of work....but is totally worth it for those students to get to go to camp. We just returned from Jr. High camp this last week and will post more about that later with some pictures.
Wyatt spent the week with the Grandparents in Oklahoma. He spent the weekend with my dad and the week with Russell's parents and all of his cousins.
After we dropped Wyatt off last weekend Russell and I had some alone time which was great, we even got to go fishing together. I have gone before, but have always had Wyatt, so this time I actually got to fish. We only caught a couple of fish, but had a great time. It is just good to have some alone time sometimes.

Gettin Some Sun

2008-05-27T17:47:00.000-07:00

Our church offices were closed yesterday for Memorial Day so we had a great day together. After doing some work around we headed to the pool. Wyatt loves the water and did great. He has no fear of water, which is kinda scary!

Like Father Like Son

2008-05-20T13:01:00.001-07:00

Wyatt is like his daddy in so many ways. He looks just like Russell but also loves to talk about the Bible, boats, and fish. I am sure it is mostly because that is just what is he hears and sees. Here are a couple of pictures Russell's dad took:

Home at Last!

2008-05-20T12:30:00.000-07:00

We spent this past week at Fellowship Week in Springfield, MO and had a great time. It was such a blessing to just be able to be at the meetings as well as talk to and share ideas with other youth pastors and pastors. We were encouraged by the time we spent with other youth pastors and their wives.

Although we enjoyed our time there...we were ready to get home. We missed Sulphur Springs, TX...really we did!

We were also able to spend some time with our family on our way back home. Russell's dad has become quite the photographer and here are a few of the shots from our visit:

Weeee!!

Pretty Serious Stuff!

2008-05-10T14:18:00.000-07:00

Well the last few weeks seem to have flown by! We have been pretty busy and have been taking every opportunity to enjoy the beautiful weather we have been having.
All Wyatt wants to do is go outside or play in the boat.
Here a few pictures from the other day:

Hi Mom!

Papaw Rick made these chairs for us and Wyatt and Boo seem to enjoy them too.

Don't you just wonder what they are thinking?

Boo got a booboo :(

2008-04-24T12:45:00.000-07:00

While we were outside working on the flower beds Boo did something to his paw. We don't really know what he did, but it was bleeding and he did not want us to touch it.

We thought it might just heal itself, but it didn't. So we had to take him to the vet today and he had to remove his nail (0r claw...whatever you call it)

They had to sedate him and he has a little bandage....now if we could just keep Wyatt's hands away from Boo's bandage maybe it will heal!

Our First Gardening Attempt!

2008-04-24T10:34:00.000-07:00

So we decided to "spruce up" the flower bed in the front of our house this week.

We really didn't have a clue about gardening, so we are just hoping these plants live!!

It was a lot of fun...I really enjoyed it.

Wyatt even got to help...he loved just getting to play in the dirt.

Just like a little kid!

2008-04-22T15:30:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday they had the Toyota Bass Classic fishing tournament here at Lake Fork. They had just about every professional fisherman that Russell knew here. Russell was just like a little kid, carrying his hat for all of them to sign. So that is how we spent our saturday, it was actually a lot of fun. Considering we were outside practically all day long, Wyatt loved it! We all got a little sun and Russell got to meet the legend Kevin Van Dam, along with many others.

Russell, Wyatt, and Kevin Van Dam

We are really starting him early on fishing!

As you can tell, he is a pretty happy boy!

The Strike King (fishing lure brand) vendors hooked Wyatt up with some free stuff! So Wyatt is sporting his new polarized Strike King fishing glasses!

Third Day Concert

2008-04-18T07:43:00.001-07:00

Last weekend Russell and I took a group of teenagers to see Third Day and a Rangers Game. Since Russell had us all leave like 50 hours before the concert started we were in the front. It was great. Russell wasn't able to hear for like three days, so that was kinda funny.

Here are a few pictures from the concert:

I'm gonna try this out...

2008-04-10T12:53:00.000-07:00

Well I have recently started a blog for our student ministry and was really surprised how easy it was. So I decided to make a blog for us. So here it is. I have no idea how often I will add to it, but I will try to keep it updated.

Last week we took a group of kids to Springfield, MO and Wyatt stayed with Mamaw and Papaw (Russell's Parents) and here are a few pictures of his stay.

Wyatt Snoozing in the motor home.

He is all boy.

Looks like they are on a mission.

I love this picture!