Cramming All My Blog Posts Into One!

We have had quite an eventful month! Lily's birthday, Thanksgiving at my house with my entire family, Christmas program, not to mention the shopping and decorating, and on top of it all.......our little one taking up residence in my body. We are blessed and just wanted to share some pics of our crazy little life! Enjoy...and have a wonderful Christmas!

Growing Into Our New House

For those of you who have not heard yet, we are expecting a new addition to our family next July. Lily is finally going to be a big sister and she is very excited. Just a few moments ago we were watching a movie and a baby was in it and she said, "hey that's MY baby sister!" It is very entertaining to hear all the cute things she says especially considering she's the one who knew I was pregnant. Two weeks ago we were at Target and she told me that I had a baby in my tummy. I kind of brushed it off thinking I was just having a "fat" day but she insisted about the baby. So, I followed her instincts (her spirit hearing from God) and she was right! Now we can start filling the new house with our expanding family. I think we are still in shock having barely lived here for 6 weeks and all we can say is God is faithful. We haven't been very faithful but it's not up to us it is all about who HE is. God is good and HIS LOVE is ever so extravagant!

Birthday Week Is Over!

Well, as most of you know "birthday week" begins with Amy and ends with me. We are exactly 7 days apart so we have a perfect week of celebrating that has come to an end as of today! We spent Friday and Saturday in Amarillo and all I can say is it was way too short. We have a lot of loved ones and not a lot of time. We had my birthday dinner with my most beloved friends and it was a night you do your best to savor yet it slips away too quickly. I cannot do the night any justice by describing it in words so I will just say that if my friends party on earth like it is in Heaven then come Lord Jesus quickly! I have been extravagantly loved by Him and my friends and family are such a great picture of His LOVE! So, thank you my dear ones for receiving the fullness of His love because you sure know how to pour it out.......

Treasured Days.....

Well, the weekend we have been looking forward to has come and gone. Amy's birthday was Friday and we all had fun-filled days with our families. Friday afternoon we snacked on cheese and crackers and sandwiches trying to prepare our tummies for burgers, fries, and cherry pies later that night. The Harris family went to eat with us to celebrate Amy and then back to our house to hang out and let all the kids play. Saturday morning I kept the kids while Ben took the birthday girl to breakfast and then later, Amy and I went to lunch. We discovered a great little treasure by way of an Amarillo friend, called Manna! Actually, it's Manna Bread and Wine. We had a fabulous time laughing, talking, and enjoying Heavenly food. I treasure my time with my beloved best friend and that was an experience for the books! Saturday night was Amy's actual birthday dinner as Ben (super-husband) had ordered lobster from Maine! An actual live lobster that had arrived on my doorstep the day before. Ben had taken care of that lobster doing his best to keep him alive right until it was time to eat and we all said goodbye! It was quite an experience. The title of this blog sums up this weekend and my favorite part of the entire 3 days? Sunday morning breakfast with my "family" in our pajamas just living life together (documented with the pics).
The Martinez family is beyond blessed to have the Thoennes family be such a huge part of our lives. So, to my friend who is closer than a sister....I love you and know that you are known and treasured from Lubbock, Tx!

Finally, A Real Blog Post!

OK! As you well know life has been turned upside down for us so in lieu of that blogging has taken a back seat. Well, life has somewhat returned to a glimpse of what it used to be.....I finally found my camera, charged the batteries, downloaded the pics, and am so excited to show you some of our new house! So enjoy.......and I will blog more in a couple of days. Some of these pics are of the whole process from moving out of our house in Amarillo and then our new one in Lubbock. I wanted you all to feel included in our crazy chaos! Love to all..........

LIFE IN LUBBOCK

Well, it has been a while since my last post due to my computer being in storage and my living situation. The back and forth from Amarillo to Lubbock has ended as we have finally moved into our house and life may soon contain some consistency! We are working on unpacking and realizing it may take weeks or months for our new place to feel like home but we are enjoying it nonetheless. Our new house is a dream come true and am continually taken aback at the lavishness of God. This morning was mine and Lily's first to wake up with no one else in the house even Jay as he left for work super early. I still find myself asking, "do I really live here?". Feels a bit like we are house sitting for a family who will soon return from their vacation. Well, there you have it for now. Please pray for our family as we continue to adjust to our new life! I will send pics of the house when I find my camera ( somewhere in one of these boxes :).......Love to all!

What Are You Gonna Do With a God Like This?

All of you know what God is doing in our lives right now. What some of you may not know is HOW HE is doing it all. I cannot tell you all the things that have transpired in the last 2 weeks but I do want to share how faithful and gracious and good our heavenly Father is. Knowing and feeling the hand of Abba on our situation is an unexplainable experience. Here are some fun details about what God has done:
1. He spoke very plainly when He asked us to move to Lubbock ( in other words I did not have to see "GO TO LUBBOCK" spelled out in lightning bolts in the sky!
2. He prepared the hearts of our family and our friends to receive the news and even speaking to them about it personally.
3. He sold our house in 3 days ( with our asking price and actually we were offered over our asking price) and the blessings of smooth transactions is still in progress. Thank you JESUS!
4. He has poured out double portions of His grace on Lily and I as Jason is living in Lubbock and coming home one day a week.
5. He has given me the 2 greatest sets of parents. Bill and Nancy and my parents, Rex and Barbara, have babysit Lily, vacuumed my house, dusted furniture, cleaned bathtubs, and touched up paint, AND hooked the computer back up after the new carpet was laid! Thank you, Lord for blessing me with your beloveds who have laid down their lives for me and my family!
6. He has given Jason a great staff in Lubbock who are excited to get the store on track.
7. He has spoken to me that He has prepared a place for us and we are prayerfully looking at houses.

God is so good, not because we are deserving , because we are loved! So, here we go off to Lubbock forging ahead in HIS kingdom to do HIS work. We are so loved by Him and thank Him for leading us as we obey by His grace. Not by might, not by power, but by MY SPIRT says the LORD!

THE 4TH!

July 4th is a BIG holiday for us. It is our Christmas in July! I cannot tell you how it became such a big deal maybe growing up in Canyon where it is an all day event. There's the pancake breakfast in the morning followed by a parade and of course the fair on the square complete with corn dogs and funnelcakes. Tradition follows us every year as we celebrate with our other family, the Hairs (Amy's parents). We have a cookout at their home in Canyon and then journey to Conner Park to enjoy fireworks. Every time is a thrill as it seems to be coming sooner and sooner each year. I love stirring the anticipation in Lily as it approaches, telling her about the fireworks, parade, and homemade ice cream! This year was no exception to all the fun, I just cannot believe it has come and gone......

Summer Fun

We haven't been to the pool much this year but we did cram in several pool days in the week my sister's in-laws were out of town. They have a huge yard with trampoline and pool and lots of running room. Lily's cousin, Loni, taught her to hold her breath and go under water. To my suprise, she did it and kept doing it! She also loved going down the slide and got such a thrill that it led to my going home and "seriously" talking to Jason that we must have a pool!

One of Those Days........

You know the days when everything seems to go just right? It is a beautiful day, the house is clean, you feel organized and prepared whatever might come your way. Jason has been out of town and doesn't return until tomorrow night and somehow we have made it thru the week minus any major catastrophe. God has been teaching me about His grace and I must say that when I learn to be obedient and heed His words, I find LIFE! Days like this seem to be few and far between but is it possible that I am now learning to truly flow with Him? Not that every day I will wake up to a clean and organized house and a two year old who is so pleasant to be with all day but that in the midst of those others days and today I may be full of His peace and presence. To joyfully cooperate with the Holy Spirit? This week (by anyone standards) may have been a difficult one, playing mommmy and daddy roles. But, this is my testimony......that His grace is more than enough and His peace despite what is going on around you truly does carry you through. God is relentless with His goodness towards me, this is what I have found to be true.........

Biting Off More Than I Can Chew!

Well, I have done it again. Thinking I can do it all and then in the midst crying out to God, "why did I start this?" I am mainly speaking about home improvement projects, all of the sudden thinking our home needs some serious changes. Then, in the midst of all the chaos realizing (by way of the Holy Spirit) maybe I'm the one that needs the changes and I am just taking it out on my house! Could this be the truth? I am in the cycle of needing to accomplish. Am I alone out here? Feeling like the Lord has shown and given me so much, I'm feeling stuck. Like He has spoken really wonderful things and I got so excited when we were on the lauching pad but now that we are in "orbit" going around in circles, I'm thinking, "let's go back where everything is fresh and exciting!

This is where submitting comes in handy, to let Him complete the work in me that He has begun......oh, the edurance........GRACE, GRACE, and more GRACE. Thank Him for His wonderful and sufficient grace. Flowing in His grace and not against it. Did someone just turn on the light? To let myself go and flow in the current of His spirit. All is accomplished (even home improvements) by the Spirit of the Lord. Anyway, He is the ultimate designer/decorator.......have you taken a look at the earth lately?

Refreshing Rain

Well, let me start off by saying that the Lord is so faithful and knows what I need before I do. I have not been spending time in His presence lately. Just busy, preoccupied, and most of all lazy. I just didn't feel like putting the time in. I felt I didn't not have time to sit and be still and receive. Being impatient, my cry to God was "I don't have time to dwell can You just give me a quick shot." But then today came and my dear friend and I were on the phone gabbing away as usual and she said "let's go spend time with the Lord instead of talking about it." GREAT IDEA(inspired by HIM of course). So I grabbed my Bible and retreated to my patio before naptime was over. Immediately it began to sprinkle and then came a soft rain. REFRESHMENT! The Lord set the whole thing up. I think HE was waiting with anticipation all day for that very moment. He began to talk about how He loves to LAVISH on me. He has been waiting to refresh me and breathe Life into me and He needed me to settle down, be still and receive. He is not obsessed with the last few days and weeks. He is obsessed with LIFE - and HIS PRESENCE brings life! HE is the LIVING WATER. Come and drink! Take HIM in! He desires to breathe life into your spirit. HE is BEAUTIFUL...............

The Way to Spend Sunday Afternoon

After church, we made our way to Jeff and Saundra's Lake Tanglewood retreat to have lunch and lots of fun. Sy & Lily enjoyed the watermelon as you can see and then we headed down to the water for some fishing and lots of laughs. The kids loved touching the fish and Lily tried to kiss a few of them. She really has no inhibitions........much like her Daddy. I am still wondering what traits of mine she has! There was lots of adventure that day including Lily's shoes getting lost in the lake. Have no fear, Daddy to the rescue. I had a blast watching Jason(waist deep in the water) trying to feel around for those shoes. Almost ready to give up(after 20 minutes) he finds them right under the ladder he used to climb down into the water. Oh the relief that I wouldn't have to go trekking thru the mall for replacement sandals!! Now that's the way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Lake Days!

Well, Jason got me to do it.........Go camping! I am not much of a wilderness girl (my idea of "roughing it" being the Holiday Inn. Nevertheless, here we are at the lake. Some of these pics are Jason's birthday when the Thoennes family was with us. That day on our way out we stopped to use the restrooms and discovered our flat tire. Thank the Lord that Ben was with us and helped J change that tire! We arrived home safe to hot showers and good nights rest. The other pics are of Memorial weekend when we ventured out to sleep in a tent and commune with all sorts of insects. We did have a lot of fun watching Lily play in the dirt and the lake without the consequences of a bath at night. Jason did all the cooking (he is quite the chef) and me?....well, I laid around on the lawn chair enjoying watching my daughter get filthy right after every time I cleaned her up.

My 1st Blog!

I got this idea from my best friend and decided to try it out. I really have no idea what I am doing so bare with me as I try and figure it out! We have had a crazy last few months as we have entered the "terrible twos" as I have heard others say. Lily just turned 2 and a half and we are really experiencing her personality. She has the fire for life to match her fiery red hair. She is so busy and always looking to the next thing even before she finishes the present thing(a trait she definitely got from her Daddy). She is praying every night, asking Jesus to help her to pee-pee in the potty and not her panties. Potty training went really well but we still have the occasional accident(like today at the mall in the middle of center court). Not a little drip but a full on puddle right out in the middle of the mall on a Saturday afternoon!

Life continues almost as if it was the next episode of some sit-com.......please stay tuned.