Tough Mudder 2011!

Beaver Creek, Co Tough Mudder June 2011. Brady and I met Jason and Mary our dear Texan friends from Medical school and residency to participate in this extreme competition. Jason had our t-shirts made with Psalm 119:32, "I run the path of Your commands for You have set my heart free" on the back of our shirts. Two Brudderz and Two Mudderz was our team name!Running through water over hay bales through dangling wires charged with 10,000 volts of electricity! I can proudly boast no one in our team uttered one profane word!!
Brady and I's calves flexing before the 10 mile, 4000 ft elevation change British Special Force designed obstacle course. BTW, when I agreed to join their team the race was only going to be seven miles and I can say those last three miles were TOUGH!!

This is one of our favorite pictures from the whole trip. Check out the guy in the back on the left. There were some fanatics all dressed up and barely dressed. However the point of this picture is a salute to Mary. She has inspired me in so many ways... to be a better mother, wife, friend and to start running! Over the years she has said many wise things to me but, I think my favorite is... "everyone should just scrub their own toilette". So thankful for this sweet friend!

These two wild stallions can't be tamed! They are officially the President of each others fan clubs!!

Homecoming 2011 Middle of Nowhere, MT

Snake Dance Parade from the High School to the Football Field!

Sweet friends!
Please forgive me! I haven't posted in so long that I didn't now if I should go back in time or just pretend that the last 6 months didn't happen. I think I will just post as the mood strikes and tonight Homecoming is striking me.

I had a very proud mom moment as Riley was nominated for Homecoming Queen this year. The highlight for me personally was getting to take Riley to Bozeman for the weekend to look for a dress and to look at the University.

Prom Night

Riley was asked by a Senior to Prom her Sophomore year. Charlie and Sir Isaac Newton were not okay with that.
Brady was so sweet about Riley going to Prom. He had picked out his shirt to match her dress. He had just run to the store for me and was a bit late getting back in time to get a pic with Riley before she left for the big night. His "transisitions" glasses had not had time to transition to the proper look for this picture so he look a little scary. (Kinda Mofiaish) Maybe that was the look he was going for to intimidate her date. Anyways, this pic was not deemed face-book worthy but, I wanted to document it for posterity's sake.
To Brady and I's chagrin, there was a boy involved in the evening's festivities. He was very nice and she was home by 1o:55 p.m. and that is all I'm gonna say about that.
I'm sorry, but there will never be anyone good enough for my girls or my boys.
I will say Prom Night for a parent is scarier than the old Prom Night Movies!

Happy 10th Birthday Bailee!

A few highlights from your 9th year!
Bailee is usually the first smiling face I see in the mornings. She is the first one ready for school and after she downs her glass of OJ she sweetly goes out to Riley's car and warms it up.
Not only is today Bailee's 10th Birthday but, yesterday Bailee received a Citizenship Award. Her sweet teacher nominated her with the nicest letter... "Bailee adds to the support and learning in our classroom every day. She demonstrates careful listening, accurate work, and active participation. She takes ownership of her own learning and strives to produce quality work on all assignments.
She works well in groups or with a partner, planning and carrying out activities and projects. Her caring attitude and respectful manners are present at all times. She is a model citizen of fourth grade!" Please excuse me while I have a proud Mama moment!!
When she and Riley and Hallie get bored in the summer they love to have photo-shoots!
She caught a Catfish and several Skip-jacks that day!
She has her green belt in Tae Kwon Do now!Bailee Grace Banta, Daddy and I love you so very much and are extremely proud of your accomplishments!

Another Favorite Devo

OBEY Devo

This is one of my personal favorite Devotionals because it gets the kids to clean up while we are having Devo and they are having fun at the same time! This is how it usually goes... before bedtime Brady and I come into the living room or go down to the basement whichever was the messier room. Brady and I plop ourselves down in the middle of the room and call out "devo time" whichever kids weren't already in the room would come running. Have them sit down and happily tell them we are going to talk about how important it is to obey.

Scriptures we like to read:

Ephesians 6:1 Children obey your parents in everything for this is right.

Col. 3:20 Children, obey your parents in everything for this pleases the Lord.

Deuteronomy 4:16 Honor your mother and father, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the Lord your God is giving you. ( It is the only one of the ten commandments that contains a promise.)

Then we play our "obey game" have them individually obey a quick little command. For some reason they really love doing this, maybe because they have an audience. "Charlie show us you know how to obey by putting three of the toys into the toy box. Jay can you show us you know how to obey? Please put the pillows back on the couch. Bailee will you please put all the wii games and equipment away!" ect. We praise them and thank them for quickly obeying. Close out Devo time with a prayer asking God to help all of us to always obey, even Mommy and Daddy!

Then the next day or the next week, when it is time for them to get out of the bath tub or time to go to bed and they are less than eager to obey, I remind them of our Obey game and how pleased the Lord is when they quickly obey. It is so frustrating and humiliating to have a disobedient child out in public, speaking from much experience here. Again, I think the audience comes into play when it turns into a power struggle. This has been the most effective way to positively teach obedience as opposed to discipline for disobedience. Although, discipline for disobedience works too!

The reason why we believe it is so important for our children to obey us is because we ultimately want them to obey God. We want them to follow the commands God so lovingly designed for us to follow so that they will love life and see good days. We also want them to quickly obey what their heavenly Father asks them to do when they are making their own life decisions.

L-O-V-E

When I was younger, umm actually I still do this... I cover up my written mistakes with a heart. Like when I was writing a note and I would misspell something which is quite often I would just turn that into a cute heart. (BTW, I must thank you kids for so faithfully correcting my grocery lists. Of course, I L-O-V-E and depend heavily on spell check!) Anyway, Bailee has been working on a time-line of her life thus far. She has been putting plenty of time and energy into this important 4th grade project and unfortunately last night she misspelled February with a Sharpie. (I always thought February was a tricky one.) Panic almost set in until she remembered the little trick I taught her. A darling little heart fit right on top of that mistake. Especially since she was born the day after Valentine's Day. Last night when she came up to kiss me we were talking about it and the Holy Spirit reminded me of a scripture hidden in my heart. 1 Peter 4:8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Thank you Jesus that your sacrificial act of the deepest love covers my sins.