A little inspiration

I'm not exactly sure what it is, but something has caused me to think about my time in FOCUS. It might be that this past January marks the first National Conference that I've missed since 2003, but that's just a guess ;) Over 3500 college students came together in Orlando FL to praise Christ and His Church! How amazing, how inspirational, I'm in awe!!! Take a quick moment and watch the video above of this post, it will inspire you, this is the next generation and Thank God they are stepping up! For those of you who don't know much about me, I was blessed to be a missionary for The Fellowship of Catholic University Students. I served 3yrs, 1 at the Air Force Academy and 2 at our National Headquarters and The University of Northern Colorado.

It was such an amazing experience for me, and I wasn't trying to do it for me - but through those three years I came to know Christ and His Church more than I realized I could! I also got the chance to meet and become friends with some of the holiest people I know, women who taught me what it is to truly be a woman, what it means to truly love, and how to give love.

My students, disciples, peers all taught me the Love of Jesus! They are amazing people who have taken their experiences and have continued to spread the Gospel in all that they do

I miss them all, every single person I encountered taught me something, and I hope and pray that through God I was able to be an instrument in some form to them also. If nothing else, my time as a missionary formed into the woman that Alan fell in love with, and the woman that is raising these two amazing children of mine!

Praise be to God for all those who traveled to Orlando, please pray for all college students, that their hearts may be open to Christ and that they may come to truly know Him and love Him and His Church!

Who Dat???

A little background for you - I've lived in a lot of places; not as much as some, but compared to Alan I have! So when it comes to football I've always rooted for whatever team was from one of the towns I lived in (Except the Bronco's I never liked them at all!) - sorry Nikki But Alan, nope this guys been a die hard Saints fan since he came out of the womb - it's like a drug on the coast, especially where he comes from. So this season has been one amazing ride for Alan!

I can honestly say that one day during a game Stephen yelled out Who Dat? and I said - Alan why does he keep saying that? I never knew that was a common War cry for the Saints, but it is, and my boys scream it often! And now were going to Super bowl!!! (Well, the saints are) So this Super Bowl, instead of rooting for the Colts (I was born in Indy) I will stay true to my husband and cheer for the Saints all the way!! Sorry Payton :(

A great weekend!

It has been such a great weekend! I have to say, it's hard having the house on the market, but there is something so wonderful about looking at Alan and saying - "the house is clean, there's nothing for you to work on, why don't we do something!" That's something that for a few years that just couldn't be said - not that I didn't have the house clean, but there were so many projects and the statement "we have to work on the house" was often said.

But now, the house is done, and it's best for us to stay out of it as much as possible - so weekend fun here we come!

A day on the coast, hiking, playing, now that was a great day! :)

Reason #2220 why we're moving

Football should not be played in the kitchen! I mean really, it's cute to watch Stephen try and catch the ball, but it's the "throwing" it back that I'm having a problem with

So I think it's safe to say that we need to move, we need a BIG back yard - this kid likes to move, and if his little sister keeps up at the pace she's at, then she'll be right behind him. (Actually don't tell Stephen, but Abby might be ahead of him when it comes to catching a ball - she can already catch a rolling ball and send it back!)

So please, say a prayer - St. Joseph pray for us!

Lucky me!

I have a very good lookin husband! :) I just thought you should all know that...He looks good first thing in the morning, still in his pj's and on the phone with his best bud from Arkansas

He looks really good holding a newborn, just hours after birth

And well, no need for words here :)

But it's not his good looks that sweep me away, my husband is an amazing man. In the most gentle ways he leads me closer to Christ - he will truly guide me to Heaven and that is why I fall deeper in love with him everyday!

Swimming with snowbirds

As many of you know we spent a wonderful, relaxing week at the beach after Christmas! We had so much fun, and let me tell you Stephen had the time of his life! So why is he so joyful here?? Well, Stephen has learned to swim! That's right, he can officially swim under water to us, and get his head above water to breath!! We are so proud of him, and as you can tell he is rather proud of himself! :)

Everyday at least twice a day we were down at the pool enjoying the warm water and the random snowbirds.

I just kept thinking to myself, I am actually going to miss our neighborhood pool when we move, b/c I know how much Stephen loves swimming, but I'm sure I can convince Alan at some point that we will need our own pool :)
I keep looking back at these pictures and thinking to myself how amazing it is that Stephen is growing up so quickly and becoming such a big boy right before my eyes! I just can't get over it, he is such an amazing little boy, that was just a baby a few months ago - God is amazing!
Just a side note - I also would like to convince Alan to get an indoor pool (although I know that will never happen) b/c after all that swimming all day I honestly don't remember Stephen having enough energy to throw a temper-tantrum! I guess we'll just have to start running laps together! :) Stephen saying buy, buy to his new snowbird buddy!

A good night's sleep

As all moms know, you just never know what to expect in the middle of the night! We've been experiencing some long rough night's with Abby since her ear infections and then just being on vacation, but now that we're home things are looking up for her....she's still sleeping now!

So at 2:25am when Alan and I were woken up I never would have guessed what was about to happen; an absolute first for us. Stephen wakes up in the middle of the night on occasion, but usually by screaming from his room - not last night......

Nope last night at 2:25am I heard Alan say "Stephen?" and I looked up, mumbled his name in what sounded like German and saw him standing at our door - then before I could figure out what was going on he was in my bed, then snuggled up next to me! :) It was actually so cute and cozy with him there, but Stephen is a bit of a wiggle worm and I just couldn't go back to sleep. Though I would have loved to have him stay with us, back to his room he went, where we had to check for "monsters" before he would go back to sleep.

I feel like he is becoming this big boy right before my eyes, and I am really experiencing how babies grow up right before your eyes without realizing it!

La, la, la, my mind is blank

So on my last post I mentioned I was on a blog vacation - well I was! Sorry for those 2 readers that were wondering :) but here I'm here, back from vacation, and my mind is mush - is it b/c I had two great weeks with my husband, family, and an opportunity to take a nice rush free shower every day??? I think so!

So what exactly did we do these past two weeks?? You name it we did it, we saw it, we swam in it.....well not really

But we did spend the first week at Grandma's, riding Stephen's tractor, playing, running around, seeing Aunt's, Uncle's, cousins - tons of fun!

Then off to the beach we went with my family, Mimi, Popi, Memere, and our cousins (Stephen's god parent's)

Stephen had such a blast playing with his cousins for a week - non stop playing, swimming, I mean I don't think we could have gotten better naps out of him this past two week!

All that being said, we're back, today was day one, hence my brain is mush......hopefully next post I will have more to say - or at least I will be able to say it better! :)