I'm Now One of FL's Newest Notaries Public

Yes, it's true. I completed my course and passed my test. I am now officially and legally a notary public for the state of FL. I am just awaiting the arrival of my official seal and rubber stamp. Some of you might be wondernig how and why I chose to become a notary public in the first place. Well, for the major activities that we do with the youth (i.e. winter/summer camp, overnight events, etc.), it is necessary for the teens to get notarized permission slips. Sometimes getting documents notarized becomes an issue for parents, so we thought that this would help things run a little more smoothly in that area.
I learned something interesting throughout this process. The state of Florida is one of only three states in the country that allows a notary public to perform marriage ceremonies. So, hey, if anybody out there is thinking about getting married, just come on down to Florida and I'll perform the ceremony. I'll even provide the rice AND throw it at you after it's all over! :)

The Boys & Santa

We took the boys to the mall last night to see Santa. They both did really well and sat right on his lap with no problems. Cael was a little unsure at first, but he did great, he didn't cry or complain once! Greyson told Santa a couple items on his Christmas wish list and Cael...well, he just sat there and posed for a picture.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...at our house

Yesterday we went into our attic and got our Christmas Tree and all of our Christmas decorations. Within a few hours, our house was transformed into the spirit of Christmas. My favorite part of the Christmas decorating process is getting out the ornaments and placing them on the tree.
We have so many ornaments that are sentimental for one reason or another. We have an ornament labled, "Our First Christmas Together" that we received just after we were married. We have an ornament with a picture and date of each of our kids' first Christmas. There are so many other ornaments and decorations that are meaningful to us and bring back memories. I love to pull out each ornament and/or decoration and just sit and reflect on it's meaning for a moment before doing anything with it. As you might imagine, it takes me quite awhile to get my house completely decorated for Christmas, but that's okay. There is something about Christmas decorations that just makes me smile everytime I look at them. I love to go out at night into different neighborhoods and just look at the Christmas lights on all of the many houses.
After our house was completely decorated yesterday, we watched 'Charlie Brown's Christmas'...such a cute movie!! Cael fell asleep after the first half but Greyson watched it almost all the way through. Watching Christmas movies is also on my list of favorite things to do during the season...and I plan to watch ALL the classics again this season! :)

Our Week At A Glance

As of Sunday afternoon, we have almost an entire week, work free! We didn't have a service this past Sunday night in church because we had a Thanksgiving dinner after the morning service. We won't be having a service Wednesday night because of Thanksgiving AND the church office is closed for most of the week. We are looking forward to being able to kick back and relax this week!
This past Sunday was quite a busy day for us. I woke up at 6 a.m. to go to church and help out in the kitchen with the Thanksgiving dinner that was to be served later in the day. Immediately after my kitchen duty, I scrambled to the bathroom, changed into my dress and headed to the auditorium for the morning service. I had been asked to share a personal testimony during the service. Not long after my testimony, I raced back into the kitchen to set up and organize the holiday dessert auction we were hosting as a youth fundraiser. We had a live auctioneer come to our church that day to do the auction for us. Our goal was to raise money to help the teens out with winter camp. The auction was so much fun and we raised quite a bit of money too! The auctioneer was so wonderful, he did the entire event for FREE!
Now, our big plans for Thanksgiving...since it will just be our immediate family together, we made reservations at a hotel down the street that has a pool and a hot tub. Hotel prices are incredibly cheap this time of year...I'm guessing those prices will start getting higher within the next month or so down here. We will be staying in a hotel Wednesday night and Thursday night and we are going to eat our Thanksgiving meal at either Cracker Barrell (if the wait is reasonable) or Denny's. I'm actually really looking forward to it! Greyson is so excited, he loves staying in a hotel with a swimming pool. My mom will be flying down Friday to stay with us for a little while and she and I will cook a traditional Thanksgiving dinner together sometime this weekend. Lots to look forward too! :)

Shaving Cream Obsession

This is my absolute favorite picture of Greyson. He has recently decided that taking showers is more enjoyable than taking baths. If we would let him and if the water stayed hot, he would stay in that shower until his entire body was completely pruned. Greyson's favorite thing to do in the shower is "shave" with shaving cream. He has seen daddy shaving in the shower many times and thinks it's the coolest thing ever! Greyson likes to lather up his face (and arms, legs, head, etc.) with shaving cream and pretend the side of his hand is a razor (he knows better than to use a real razor). We have decided that we need to buy him his very own 'Dollar Store' shaving cream just for this purpose. One day I happened to have my camera handy and I just had to take this picture.

We Will Miss You, Tim

Tim Christensen, 07/01/1988 - 11/08/2006

Tim's memory will forever live on in the hearts of those who loved him. For those of us who know Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Savior, we have hope. One day we will be reunited with Tim again in the presence of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I pray that all of us may find peace in knowing that Tim is now rejoicing in heaven with the King of Kings. Tim is free from all pain and bondage and has a brand new body. What an awesome thought! Tim, we love you and we will truly miss you...until we meet again.

A Reflection on the Tragedy

There's no way to prepare for such a tragedy as suicide. It's one of those things that we just can't comprehend or explain. Many people look to God at a time like this and ask, "why?"
This is when we have to claim Deuteronomy 29:29, 'The secret things belong to the Lord.' This tragedy is definitely a secret thing. Nobody will ever know, this side of heaven, the reason this young man chose to take his life.
I know that many people are struggling with feelings of guilt, anger, sorrow, etc. I believe that these feelings are completely normal. Many people want to blame themselves when something like this happens to somebody they care about. We need to find peace in the fact that this young man went to heaven to meet a just and a loving God. Only God knows the answers. We can't blame ourselves or be overtaken with guilt for what others do. There is no responsibility or control when it comes to suicide. Whenever we start to blame ourselves or point the finger of blame in somebody elses direction, we need to pray and ask God to gently cover our hands with His and restore us in His peaceful presence.

Tragedy Strikes

We received word recently that a guy in our youth group took his life yesterday afternoon. He had been struggling with so many issues and shown definite suicidal tendencies for quite awhile. Steve just got off the phone with his mom. As you can imagine, she is just heart broken. They haven't made any funeral arrangements for him as of yet but they will be doing so before too long. Please be in prayer for Tim's family as they are hurting so much right now.

Our Crazy Weekend

This past weekend was absolutely crazy! We had an overnight youth outing in Orlando on Friday night. The event was called Superbowl and it was through Word of Life (www.wol.org). We went to an Orlando Magic Basketball game at the TD Waterhouse in Orlando. After the game, all of the youth groups came together in the lower sections of the Waterhouse for a youth ralley. They played games, gave out prizes and listened to a speaker who did a wonderful job presenting the gospel. Four of our teens got saved at the ralley. The four who accepted Christ came forward and Steve had an opportunity to sit and talk with each one of them. This was absolutely the best part of the evening. We then took the teens to Disney Quest for a few hours (by this time it was almost 1:00 a.m.), then on to the Sports Plex from 3:00 - 6:00 a.m. There was no time or place for sleeping the entire evening.
We came home at about 8:30 a.m. and I had to rush to take a shower and get ready for our Ladies Tea at church at 10:00 a.m. I was hosting a table so I HAD to be there! The tea was actually very lovely. Brunch was served and we were entertained by a really wonderful group of ladies who came out to sing for us. By the time the tea was over, everything was cleaned up and I left to go home, it was after 1:00 p.m. I have never gone that long without sleep before in my life and I can't figure out how I was able to do it! Poor Steve didn't get to sleep either because he had to babysit the kids while I was at the tea. Luckily, my mom was down visiting, so she took care of the boys after we got home and Steve and I were able to sleep for a few hours. I had never been so happy to see my bed and my pillow! Overall, it was a good weekend, but I sure am glad that it's over.

My Baby is Growing Up!

Last night, Cael took 10 steps ALL by himself for the first time ever!! He has been walking around furniture for a couple weeks or so but he had never walked by himself until last night. Greyson was almost 15 months old before he started walking without any help, so I just assumed that Cael would be a late bloomer there too. Just a few minutes ago, he took a few more steps by himself. I think he is still a ways off from walking more than a few steps or so with no help but it probably won't be much longer. He just needs to build up his confidence a little bit. What's really awesome is that we got his first steps on tape. We just happened to have the video camera on him at the time that he decided to take off. It was so cool! Cael is just growing up way too fast!

80's Night at the Coffee House

Once a month we have a coffee house at the church for the teens and we always have a different theme. This past month the theme was 'the eighties'. Steve and I both decked out in full 80's gear, from head to toe. The teens participated in a mullet contest (using yarn, two sided tape and shower caps), a breakdancing contest, a 'Name that Eighties Tune' contest, etc. It was a night of great fun, everybody really seemed to enjoyed themselves (teens and adults alike). This is a picture of Steve and I in our 'eighties get ups'.

Pictures from Greyson's Birthday Party