bsmiles and sunny days

You thought I was kidding?  I kept trying to capture the sweetness of the birthday girl,and this is what kept taking over!    Last May, Grams came to Emporia to celebrate her birthday with the crew.  It was quite a party!  The is my Uncle Bubba next to her.  It's strange to watch him age.  He has crazy Hook eyebrows and a bald head, but he's still just as charming as ever.  I have always adored him. Jon and Cara blew us away when they showed up just about the right time for the party.  No one knew they were coming FROM NEW MEXICO!  I love surprises, and they are rare for me because no one in my house can keep a secret.  But this time we are all in shock.  I know it freaked Cara out that I kept hugging her over and over, but it was like a dream!  When we were in California she was a lifeline for me.  We spent lots of time on the phone feeling stranded and far away from the rest of the world, but somehow together.  Seeing them was just amazing.  Here's Cara with Stephanie.  M

Maybe I forgot to mention Deisha's birthday... did I?  I just loaded all the photos from my camera and did a quick run through this years blog posts.  For some reason I failed to mention her birthday and a few others... so here we go. My apologies if this is a repeat. Today, Deisha. This cake was super fun to make and sooooo simple.  The terets and columns are made from ice cream cones, melted almond bark, and cherry chips.  The bricks are marshmellows.  The rest is pretty obvious.  I found a picture online that morning and voila!  We had a castle!  I feel bad when I am the lazy mom that makes a box cake and lets the kids decorate it with M & Ms.  Sometimes that's just what they want, though, so I don't feel bad for long.  Dale's grandparents hadn't had a chance to come visit our new house until this weekend so we were thrilled to have them join our party.  This is Grandpa Welker.  Also you can see Nana and Cousin Luke in the background blowing up the balloons. 

It may not officially be fall, but oh my stars... I am in love!  This weather makes everything better; it's like the cherry on top of every blessing in my life.  The mornings are so crisp and fresh, I just can't get enough of it.  If there are anymore pregnancies in my future, I must pray that they encompass the fall. It curbs the edge brought on by my wacky hormones. We are spending this weekend in town with our Nana and Papa and Aunt Sarah.  Nana and the boys are making plastic canvas boxes, the girls are watching Sleeping Beauty and napping after a late night of movies and giggling, and Papa is putting the floor down in the basement.  It's John Wayne Saturday on AMC; our lives our full.  Dale is headed out for a weekend with Marty who is in town for a speaking engagement, so he didn't get to join our fall festivities in Emporia.  I'm not too worried about him though.  I'm sure he'll manage juuuuust fine. So anywaysss.... I hope you are all revelling in th

I've just finished one of the most motivating books I've read in a long time.  Have you heard of this? I can honestly say this was a wake up call for me.  A lot of my life I have worked hard to please God; constantly trying: trying to read my Bible more, trying to pray more fervently and consistently, trying to force my character to behave like His.  In these pages I found that what God wants is not the trying, He just wants me- all of me.  It seemed a bit of a conundrum at first because how can I give Him more of me without trying?  But what it comes down to is this.  If I pursue Him out of a heart of love instead of some sense of moral duty, I am giving Him all of me, moment by moment.  That in itself reciprocates a deeper love and longing for Him which returns a produce of the fruit that I have begged Him to grow in me for so long. In this book there are stories of people that are obsessed with loving God and how that love manifests itself in the world in tangible ways.  Tha