A Little Clarity?

I have to admit I hate the tracking devices some of you have installed on your blogs. My oldest daughter and my husband and I check the blogs on my link list so, some days it might appear that I have nothing better to do than read everyone's blog three times a day!! I bet you are thinking poor thing way up there in Montana has nothing better to do than check my blog three times a day. And you might be right but I don't want you thinking that! So quit!

The other issue I'd like to bring out of the closet is why why why hasn't Jeanine added me to her link list. I didn't even notice it until someone pointed it out. Just tell me the truth and I can handle it. By the way, I'm holding your link hostage until you add Tara and I to your list.

Another thing that drives me crazy about this blog is the whole reason I started the blog was for my mom and dad to keep up with what the kids are doing and neither of them READ THE BLOG!!! Maybe I should install a tracking device on mine and see if they are secretly visiting!

Sometimes I think I don't completely understand this whole blogging thing. Is it a competition to see who has the most comments? Are people voting for you if they leave a comment? Are they not voting for you if they visit you and don't leave a comment?

One more thing while I'm venting like I've had a Venti. Tara and I were talking about how we wish we could give the complete picture of our lives on the blog. But, we can't. We need to be encouraging and uplifting. Just reporting on the highlights. After all, we don't even know who is looking into the window of our lives. So, sweet readers who think I'm presenting my life to be perfect. Please forgive me. I have lots of challenges and heartbreaks I just haven't figured out how to appropriately blog them.

I got Tagged by Etta!

Okay, Etta I'll play your little game. I think it's called "What are you doing right now?" Well, It's 11:00 a.m. I just changed Charlie's stinky diaper and put him down for a long winter's nap. It is -1 degrees F and feels like - 24 degrees F with light snow according to the weatherchannel.com(according to me it looks like a blizzard). I was repairing a scrapbook I made for Brady for Father's Day. Charlie thought it would be fun to rip off the cover and rip out some pages. I needed a break (because I can't figure out how to get the cover back on) So, of course I went to the computer to see what my friends were up to. And Etta gave me a little assignment to take my mind off my "SCRAP" (should I throw it away) BOOK. Jay is playing with his ROBOT and watching the Backyardigans. I also tried to get Jay to take a picture of me at the computer but he needed my help (until I can figure out how to be in two places at once) you just get the computer. I'd love to tag Adrian, Jeanine, and Tara. Thanks sweet Etta, I thought it was crazy that I happen to be scrapbooking today because I NEVER do and you are the Scrapbooking Queen! I humbly bow before you!

Which is better Sledding or Sonic Ice?

Finally, we got some snow to play in. Here in Eastern Montana we don't get very much rain or snow. We do get lots of cold! The outside winter stuff is fun, but I'd give anything to have a Target, Starbucks (I get my coffee from "Mud and Suds" a drive thru coffee shop and laundromat), Krispy Kreme (there is no doughnut shop), and a Mexican Food Resturant (we have Taco John's which is a couple of steps down from Taco Bell) Oh and how I miss SONIC. Up here, they tell stories of Sonic about this place where the waitresses bring the food to your car on roller skates. To them it is an urban legend. I am here to tell you it is real and it is wonderful!!!

Careful, it's Slippedy!

We have an irrigation canal that floods our fields in the spring, right behind our house. They drain it in the winter but there is just enough water left in it for us to ice skate on. We can skate down the ravine for about a mile. It's been quite fun even though I earned a fantastic bruise from a funny fall. If you look real hard you can see it on my right hip from my vacation pics.

Going to Extremes...

Brady and I were extremely blessed this past week. We took the opportunity to go and visit one of my sweet Christian friends from Galveston who recently moved to Grand Cayman. Her husband is an "annointed business man" with a great sense of humor and Tara a genuine woman after God's own heart.

We had a wonderful time appreciating the warm tropical weather, fantastic food, and the heart to heart conversation was the best part! She drug me to boot camp at 5:30 in the morning, I got to stand beside her and worship with her and her sweet girls at church. We spent a day on a boat snorkeling and feeding stingrays. It was truly a welcomed change of pace. We drove home from the airport in -21 degree weather. But there was nothing we experienced in Cayman as warm as the welcome we got from our five cuties. Thanks to Mimi, as well as my sweet friends Leah and Adrian for standing in the gap while we took a much needed break! Thank you Lord for going to extremes to show us how much you love us!

Going to Extremes

The Girls Got Baptized!

I have wrestled with this for at least four years. I know it seems like I would be rushing all my kids down the aisle to get them baptized. However, Brady and I have been putting it off and praying about it for a long time. Riley accepted Christ as her savior several years ago. Hallie this summer. Bailee this December. Did she say putting it off?? Yes! Here's why...

I was baptized in the seventh grade. Unfortunately, I did not choose to follow Christ completely until I was 29. I worry that at their young age they won't feel the weight of their own sin, and as a result can't grasp the magnitude of what Christ did for us on the cross. Therefore, not falling in love with Him and living for Him (YET). I know it isn't the baptism that saves them, but that they asked Jesus to be their Saviour. But, it symbolizes the decision.

They have all been begging Brady and I for months to be baptized. I wanted to make sure it wasn't just so they could have a "snack" of juice and crackers when communion was passed by their little noses. I wanted them to know that things aren't going to be perfect from now on! Most of all, I want them to follow Christ completely from this day on!!!! But, I also know this is their decision and not mine. It is their spiritual walk and not mine. I know my ramblings might be confusing. Why do I make things more complicated than they need to be. Thank you Jesus for making things simple. "Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them."

So now that it has been done... It was a wonderful moment. The girls were giddy, giggling, and so excited. It was a wonderful day, with a gorgeous sunset just to remind us how much He loves us.

The Girls Got Baptized!

I just threw a marshmallow down into the basement so Charlie would go get it. That should buy me a couple of minutes to tell y'all some exciting news!!! The girls were baptized this morning along with our preacher's daughter (she is also Bailee's best friend). As you can see Jay was very excited! He wanted to join the party too (his exact words, yet he was crying). I will go into greater detail of each of their individual stories later as Charlie is coming back for more marshmallows!!!!

Words to Live by..... "Jay"isms

Bungly (bun galee) adj. 1. A sense of messiness; disorderly 2. Being unattractive Ex. Charlie's hair was bungly this morning!

Sploot (Spl oot) verb 1. To be shot out with great force
Ex. The lava will sploot out of the volcano.

Slippedy (Slip eddie) adj. 1. Slick; slippery 2. Causing one to fall
Ex. The sidewalk was slippedy because of the ice.

Jay has been memorizing scriptures for his cubbies class at AWANA. One of the first ones he understood completely was "all have sinned." Whenever his siblings would get in "trouble" he would say "is that all have sinned?" Yes Jay Whenever he would get in "trouble" he would say "is that all have sinned?" Yes Jay. He gets it and thus the rest of us are reminded of our sin as well.

The above picture is Jay experimenting with a Sharpie. (Why do I even have those in my house?) Jay, What were you doing? "I wanted to make you smile!" He Did!

Skating Lessons

Hallie and Bailee are taking skating lessons on Monday and Friday nights. The season is suprisingly short. Just the end of December thru Feburary (I think it has to be below freezing). They are loving it. Riley already does pretty well without lessons, she and I like to go when they open the rink for public skate.