So Much Fun!!!

Well I have just finished one of the most fun things I have done in a long time….Cake Decorating!!! I am officially not a professional but I had a blast anyways and plan on practicing more and having a great time being an amateur! Recently I met a new friend at church. Her name is Sarah. After meeting I became her facebook friend. While browsing her facebook I noticed she makes amazing cakes! So when Brandon and I had her and her husband over a couple weeks ago I asked her about using fondant. While we were talking about it she informed me you can make fondant out of marshmallows and powdered sugar. Who knew?! I took her up on the offer when she said she would come over and show me a few things. I invited my sister Amy to join in on the fun. (Even though I think we might be having cake wars now.)
So here are the finished products of the day! What do you think? (Ignore all of the flaws. :)

Notice my cooking skills of making a mess! My clothes are covered in powdered sugar.

So like I mentioned I was a total blast making the icing and learning how to do it and Sarah was a fabulous teacher and showed me how to do it and then she would mess it up again so I could do it. Awesome! Yay for cake decorating!

On to the family update- Things are going well. Katie-Kate has become a somewhat common nickname around her for the cutie patootie Katherine Faith. Nicknames just are so not predictable! She is barely crawling and when she does she has horrible form. I would describe it as looking somewhat like a crippled crawler as she drags one leg behind her while limping along with the other. It manages to get her to the place she really wants to be however, which is on her feet! She always goes to the nearest place she can attempt to pull up. Unfortunately those things are not always sturdy things! I do wonder if she might take her first steps early. The bumps and bruises have already begun and she begins her great adventures of motion!

Fourth of July was a lot of fun. We celebrated at the church picnic on the third. It was super hot and so I sent Katherine home with my mom. She would not have enjoyed the heat and it would have been nap and then bed time for her anyway. I was grateful for the Nana option so I could enjoy the picnic with Lizzy. After the picnic we went out to Tuterville and stayed the night there. Brandon’s parents and brothers came out too so that was a super great time! Liz didn’t much care for the home fireworks and went to bed after only a short time. She LOVED the big fireworks display we saw at Crossroads church on the 5th. They also had lots of moon bounces and cool animals and such. Again we were accompanied by my parents and Brandon’s family so it was lots of fun. Sorry but all of the good pictures (besides this one) are on our parents cameras.

Sweet Dreams

I walked by the girls room during nap time the other day. When I
peaked into the room I saw Lizzy sleeping like this!

Around our house we LOVE hand me downs. I have been wearing hand me downs/second hand store clothes for as long as I can remember and have been enjoying every minute of it. Recently a friend of mine gave me some clothes for the girls. Lucky for us she also had two girls spaced about the same distance as mine. This morning I put these adorable outfits on the girls and snagged a few pics before we left for church.



At church this morning was baby dedication. We publicly dedicated Katherine. It was a special time for us.


Saturday was Jonathan’s High school graduation. It was right during the girls nap so I planned on arriving early. Laying then down and then watching the graduation. However, they decided that wasn’t going to happen. So for about an hour and forty-five minutes I spanked, laid down again, took to potty and at last gave up and went home. I was very disappointed because I didn’t get to see any of the graduation or see any of the seniors tables in the reception hall. Ahhh, motherhood! The girls did enjoy the evening when we celebrated by swimming at Uncle Cecil’s. Elizabeth LOVES to swim!

Sorry I don’t have time for a long update but I thought you would at least enjoy a new picture to look at! Katherine Faith is almost 7 months old!!! Crazy, I know. She is setting up by herself and is eating baby food now. She is doing very well! For those of you who don’t know she looks a lot like her Uncle Justin’s baby pictures

Doubly Blessed!

It’s truly a shame that there are not enough words in the English language to adequately express how blessed I feel to have the Mothers that I do!

My mom is so many things…sweet, thoughtful, hospitable, SELFLESS, quiet spirited, supporter of Dad, and yet she is also, strong. Simply put she is unbelievably incredible! My role model in so many ways and I strive to be like her. If I can love my husband the way she loves hers and love my children the way she has then I will have accomplished a great task. There are many memories I have with my mom. Almost all include her serving in some way. I was so glad to hear that we were having another girl at Katherine’s ultrasound. It was my honor to name her after such a great woman of God and prayer warrior. Just as I hope to live a fraction of the character and godliness you demonstrate each day I pray each of my girls will also follow in your footsteps.

But that is not all…

I am a double blessed woman with not only an amazing mother but I also have an incredible mother-in-law. When I was a young teenager, around 16, I wrote a paper about the people outside of my family that I looked up to. A lady at my church was on that list. Fortunate for me she later became my mother-in-law! In the paper I wrote how I respected her for the way she loved her husband and was always hospitable. How many people get married and have the dreaded “mother-in-law”? I can hardly imagine how it would be to pour my life into a son, sweat and blood, labor and delivery, and then in a moment let another woman be his priority. It must be a challenge, but that is what my mother-in-law did. She allowed me, and all my imperfections, to become her son’s best friend, soul mate, secret keeper, spouse. She doesn’t pry or overpower, but instead she supports and encourages. She has become a great friend to me and I value her knowledge and experience. She is a counselor to me (after all she raised the man!). Yes, I am blessed…very blessed!



So on this Mother’s day I celebrate the blessing of both of my Mothers. Each special and needed in their own unique way!



The support they offer during the birth (and after!) of our children is not replaceable!


Moms, I love you both so much! You will never know what you each mean to me. Only now that I have entered into the Mother role do I slightly understand how much hard work, love ,paryer, and sacrifice you have invested into us. I hope we honor you through our lives and may our children continue on the amazing heritage you have given us! Thank you for the role models you've been by loving the Lord, your husbands, and then your children. You have given us the greatest gift of all....example!

Happy Mother's Day!

Elizabeth is TWO!!!

Elizabeth Grace is TWO!!!!! Crazy, I know. She is getting so big and is even learning to help mommy do some things. A couple mornings ago after I had gotten the girls dressed Elizabeth, without help, put Katherine's cereal bowl in the sink, put the diapers in the trash, and put the dirty laundry in the clothes hamper. I was so excited as I began to catch a glimmer of hope...I am going to make it! :) Actually, although being a full time Mom is a very hard job I do enjoy it and it isn't all that bad. It is fun to do mommy things and make lots of memories. I enjoy doing things like the girls birthday parties! The day before Elizabeth's birthday we had a small birthday party for her at our house. It was fun.
Here are a few shots I took of Elizabeth at the Myriad Gardens downtown.

Elizabeth is getting so big! Here are some of her favorite things to do as well as some of the milestones we have crossed:
1. Read - although she can't actually read she has many book nearly memorized and loves for mommy to read to her.
2. Sing - we sing all the time. She knows LOTS of songs. Some of the greatest are ones we make up.
3. Liz is potty trained! She did a great job. She does still wear a diaper at night and nap time.
4. She is super close to being able to spell her name. The last three letters sometimes stump her. (A song we sing taught her this.)
5. Knows her colors
6. She really likes watching cartoons. This is something her and daddy like to do together. :)
Elizabeth is a very active little girl and just seems to love life. No worries, no stress, little responsibility....it really effects your attitude and how cute you are. :)



Thank you to everyone who got Elizabeth a gift. They were all wonderful. She got some great new clothes, book, craft things, and other toys.

I made Elizabeth a moon and stars Birthday cake because she LOVES the moon!


One of her favorite gifts was the tea set she got from Nanny and Papa. She plays with it almost every day! The weather was beautiful the day of the party so Papa took the tea stuff outside and had a small water cooler filled with water so they could fill the cups. Elizabeth and Jasmine LOVED this!!! I greatly enjoy them playing pretend. It is so cute! I am amazed at how much they already are so girly.

NYC Trip

Awww, vacation! It was so wonderful to get away for awhile with my hubby! Although I must admit once you are a parent and your kids aren’t with you part of your heart and mind remains where they are. I was ready to kiss on my babies but I survived just fine without them and I did enjoy the break.
Brandon and I flew out Wednesday morning. All flights went well and we even arrived about 30mins early to Philadelphia, which was a really good thing because it was an hour and a half train ride from Philly to Atlantic City. I found it so much fun to figure out how all the transportation worked there. All of the trains, subways, buses and taxies are taboo to me but for many of them it is just a daily thing. It was neat getting a feel for “their culture”. Strange isn’t it, how we all live in the same country and yet many times I felt as if I were in a different country- different pace, different method of transportation, different housing situations, and many times even many different languages. I wonder if it would feel that way if you actually did live there. Or could you "be in the city but not of it." hehe. But seriously, certainly it doesn't seem so crazy if you live there.
We were excited to be one the 30th floor of our hotel (which is about equal to the tallest “skyscraper” in OKC). Our room was nice and upon looking out our window at the beautiful city lights realized we were extra blessed to have an OCEAN view! I was so excited; I do believe I squealed with joy!
It was rainy the day after we got there but we had to go see the ocean anyway. Brandon had been to the gulf but had never seen the real ocean. At night it was neat to look out over the land. The city lights were bright and went out as far as I could see. Some places the lights weren’t as thick as others but regardless they were endless. Yet as I looked to the ocean side it was an endless darkness. The vast ocean waters quickly swallowed up the lights. Our God is SO amazing! What an amazing beautiful world He created!
We went to see Philadelphia on Friday and it was awesome! The history there is…WOW. Independence Hall was so neat to see and Christ’s Church was soooo cool. That is the church where George Washington attended along with Betsy Ross and Ben Franklin, among others. We even sat in the pew George Washington and his family sat in. I was amazed to find out that they still hold worship in that church every Sunday. The day in Philadelphia was a lot of walking but worth every step! We even got to try a Philly Cheese Steak! I would love to go back there and keep soaking in the history. It is such a neat place.

On Saturday we caught a bus to New York City! It was cloudy and raining on the way there so we couldn’t see a very good skyline but I was grateful the rain let up and the sun even peeked through the clouds by the time we got out into the city. Two out of the three days there were cloudy and misty/rainy but nothing to bad. Brandon’s iphone was amazing and helped us find our way around the city using the subway systems. It made it a piece of cake! It saved us tons of time figuring things out and walking. We saw all of the great major things to see in the city. We passed on the Broadway show though. I thought that even the discounted tickets were really expensive but now I wonder if we should have done it anyway. Oh well, maybe there will be a next time. I really enjoyed staying in the city it made our touring really leisurely.





Once we got back we just chilled out and walked the boardwalk. In Atlantic City they have every outlet store imaginable. It was fun to window shop. Tuesday was nice weather. The ocean water was freezing but Brandon splashed around in it anyway. I got my feet in it but was happy to deem myself the picture person and stay dry.



I was ready to get home to the girls and other than a rather turbulent landing in Chicago the flights were great and on time!
There’s no place like home! Now back to life and the normal schedule. The only downer to vacation is the getting back into the swing of things. With little ones it usually means at least one day of reviewing the boundaries. We had a great great time!

A friend is someone who knows all about you, and loves you just the same. Proverb


Psalm 150:6: Let everything that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.



The ordination service went very well. I will try to post pictures as soon as I can get them.
Have a GREAT day! Rachael