I had the privilege of taking some christmas photos the other day for our very dear friends. They are poor medical students too so I offered my amateur photographic abilities to hopefully get them a few shots for their christmas cards and for family. Here are some of the best ones....

They were such good sports and I had so much fun trying to capture them and their darling little guy!!

It's crazy how dependant we can become on something that only a few years ago was obsolete!! And yet here I am just fresh from dancing a jig 'cause our internet is back up and running after been out for nearly 2 weeks!!  LOL! What a silly thing and yet brings so much joy! Wow, I've missed you guys! My heart is overflowing with all the kind well wishes on my wedding anniversary from all you dear friends! Marriage should be celebrated but especially when you get to the point of outlasting today's failing marriage rate. But even more, it is just so incredibly encouraging to have friends in the trenches with you fighting for marriage and to maintain beauty and excitement were the world sees only a "ball and chain". Each year is another chance to rejoice. Another opportunity to remind each other why we fell in love and how God brought us to this person. Each story is beautiful and so unique; just like each of you! I just feel so blessed by this wonderful group of bloggers and the joy and challenge that you bring to my life each time I read my subscriptions. Thanks for being real, guys! I cherish your authenticity; your heart for your family; and the joy you find in the mundane! In other words....

It's Good To Be Back!

Today marks the beginning of my tenth year of marriage to the man of my dreams! I know that sounds cliched but I have had the rare privilege of falling in love with only one man and he turned out to be more than my dreams could ever have prepared me for! Am I lucky? Extra special? Especially good? Nope. Just blessed beyond measure!!!!

This is Todd when I first met him in June of 1995. (My dad took this picture. And I will love him forever for it!!!)

I was barely 17 year old but I was head-over-heels! Todd, a mature 23, barely noticed me. You can see why here.....

Yikes! But oh, isn't he cute?!?! Ok, moving right along....

Fully 2 years later, Todd finally noticed me and everything happened very fast....

Here we are after his parents had finally visited and given their blessing. Good 'ol fashioned family involvement!

Next came the wedding plans during a short engagement...... And finally....

9 years and 5 kids later.... I love you, Babe!!

My beautiful and sweet oldest daughter has turned 7!! I just can't believe she is so big! She has been such a shy and darling little 'Budgie' ever since she was born! She was the girliest infant I ever saw! Her name means, "Pure Love" and she personifies pure love in nearly every way!

Happy Birthday, to our Trina Love!

Katie Scofield, my new friend from right here on Xanga, spent the second half of the day with us yesterday and it was such a special time of fun and fellowship! She met us at the Kansas City Zoo first.....

The kids just love her!!

Zoo Fun!

Master of the Wild Beasts!

After that she came home with us and we ate supper together and talked and then Katie and I went and got a movie. We have all been so blessed by our friendship with Katie and hearing more about her heart for missions and her call to Paris! We look forward to watching and hearing about all that God does through her ministry to the people of France! Thanks for sharing a fun day with us, Katie!!

My wonderful son, Trenton, adds so much joy and warmth to our family! Today at church the teacher of the K through 3rd grade Sunday School class told me that Trenton really impresses him with his heart for his sisters. He said that he takes care of them --making sure that they are treated right and have everything they need. This teacher mentioned that he has several sibling groups in his class but none of the brothers treat their sisters as well as Trenton does. I was so encouraged!! We work so hard on this at home and it is so good to hear that he rises to the occasion when we aren't watching!

This evening Todd has been studying downstairs for a test tomorrow so after I put Tegan down for the night and I fed the children in the diningroom, I then took Todd's food down to him. I ate with him so we could talk for a bit before he had to hit the books again. Well... we got to talking.... so Trenton saw the time and figured he should get the children to bed since Mommy hadn't come up yet to put them down.  A little while later I came upstairs to find them climbing into bed and eagerly asking if I "got their note"? I was confused. "No..." I said. "We taped it to your door..." I turned and looked. Sure enough, down about knee height, this was taped to the door.....

Translated: "We have gone to bed. Don't worry"

I hugged Trenton tight! "We were afraid that you would come up here and not see us and get in the car and go looking for us! So we left you at note so you wouldn't worry."

Kids are just so precious!! What would we do without these moments!

With the way my life is at present often it seems there are just a precious few quiet moments. But this weekend Todd took the oldest three kids with him down to see his parents again and I got to stay home and enjoy a much simpler life with only 2 babies. Nap times were golden!! I just sat often times and enjoyed the quiet.... I decided to grab my camera and capture the moment. What bliss! Thanks, Todd!

We spent last weekend at Todd's parents place in Humboldt, KS. We still have our farm not far from there and we wanted to get a few small projects done on the Farmhouse and enjoy the crisp Fall weather. Todd had finally finished the biggest (and hardest) section of his classes this year (Neurology) and was totally studied out!!  Neuro is a 10 week section instead of the normal 6 and had just about killed him!! He needed a break and the farm is his favorite place to go after a long week of classes. SE Kansas is in the middle of a really bad drought and the trees down there have nearly lost all their leaves even before Fall set in so I couldn't find any spectacular foliage for Fall photos but Todd's parents place is just covered with old buildings, ancient tractors, and all kinds of cool junk but I only found time for a few shots...  Here are some highlights:

This is my favorite shot of the day:

Poor Tegan has been fighting a cold as you can see but if it wasn't for that I would probably frame this one! And I just stumbled into this shot. She was just sitting on Granma's little stool right near the sliding glass door by the kitchen table. Granma was talking to her and I just caught her expression. I didn't mess with it since I just love it as it is! What a dolly!

These are the black and white ones:

And a few color...

Daddy: Well, what do you think a ghost is?

Trenton: Hmmm [long pause] I don't know. ['nother pause] But it looks kinda like a blanket.

Us: (holding back laughter....) WHAT?

Trenton: Yeah, with eyes.

We had to hold our hands over our mouths for several moments to contain our laughter!! That was the beginning of a long conversation about the theory of spirits remaining after death instead of immediately going into the afterlife. Whew! That one wasn't easy to explain! Half an hour later we got all the way back around to the original question. He had overheard us discussing the "death" of a small rural Kansas town and the comment being made that is was a "Ghost Town" (something SE Kansas seems to have an abundance of ).... Anyway, had to share! Too cute; too cute!!

In other news, this 'one tracker' has been trying for the past few weeks to really focus on school and healthy meals for our family so, inadvertently, things have fallen through the cracks. Ya know, little mundane stuff like laundry and vacuuming.  Anyway, my just turned 3 year old helped me move the laundry pile up to top priority yesterday. Unbeknownst to me, she went downstairs, turned on the sink, and COMPLETELY flooded our fully finished basement!! Even with an extremely absorbent laundry pile down there we had an inch of water standing all over on our tile floor!! ARrrrrrrrrrg!!  Sooo, I'm off to tackle more laundry......

~TTFN

Ok, I have never done one of these before but here goes.....

Five Things in my Freezer:

1. Juice
2. Beef roast
3. Bread
4. Ice cream
5. Ice packs

Five Things in my Car:
1. Wipes
2. Diapers
3. My hand gun
4. Childrens Books
5. Books on tape

Five Things in my Closet:

1. Dresses
2. A mountain of shoes
3. Todd's guns
4. Todd's clothes - all of 'em
5. Boxes of pictures I should have in albums

Five Things in my Purse:

1. Kid's insurance cards
2. All my make up
3. Cell phone
4. Tons of receipts (ok, time to clean out my purse again...)
5. Tampons

Five Things in my Wallet:

1. Drivers License
2. Price Copper Card
3. Pet Co. Card
4. Ratty old picture of Todd
5. Insurance company card

Ok, that was really NOT exciting! I must be a really boring person... At least judging by my freezer/car/closet/purse/wallet! If it's alright with everyone else I don't think I'm going to tag anyone else. I mean, what can you say about your freezer that would interest anyone??? Humm..