A call to prayer

Hello faithful readers! My sister's dear friend Karri has kept her in the loop on a situation with her sister in law and in turn, Stacie has kept me in the loop. Her experience has weighed very heavily on my heart this week and the Lord has been faithful to remind me to pray for her, but today I felt it was time to involve all of you. As you may have noticed, I have some links on the sidebar for people who need ongoing prayer (don't we all, really? but these folks are facing some extenuating circumstances at this point in their lives and could use all the prayer they can get!) I wanted to add a new link and highlight it here in a post so you could all read her story and pray for her. Karri's sis in law's name is Shelli Ward. Briefly, she has been battling breast cancer for over a year and has had some huge victories. Recently she had a setback in that a lesion was found on her brain and she underwent surgery to remove that. She is an amazing person and her strength, faith and courage in the face to this terrible trial has been an inspiration to me. Please check her link out and read up on her situation as you can but mostly pray for her complete recovery! And while you are over there surfing the links, don't forget to read up and pray for the others on the list. Thank you so much for your prayers!

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/shelliward

Happy Father's Day!

We had a wonderful day at the ballpark for Father's Day. Can't imagine a better way to spend the day for this family's dad! (unless of course, we could have won the first place trophy instead of the runner up one) We played in our old neck of the woods on a field right next to our high school ball field so the entire family was able to come out and support Casey and spend the afternoon together.

Special time with Pops and Grandad...

All the Ryan cousins in one place at one time!

Two sticky, dirty boys....

And fun times with the Barnhart(Ildebrando) cousins as well....


Hope everyone was able to enjoy your day and appreciate your dads !

Summer Berry-Pickin'

In a valiant effort to keep the gang entertained, we all loaded in the burb today and went to a local orchard where you can pick seasonable fruits and veggies! Some of our neighbors had the great idea and invited us along. Even the quick little rain that fell on us as we drove over was not enough to cool down the berry orchard. It was crazy hot. But we all had a great time and we have some delicious "fruit" to show for our efforts! I was even able to pick a few salmonella-free tomatoes, though they were not quite yet ripe. Guess in a few days we can enjoy a half recipe of the fresh salsa we're used to around here!!

Blackberries and Blueberries.....YUM!!

The Last Day of School!

I really love the blogs that some of you did with the nice photos showing how your kids have grown over the course of the school year. You know, the first day of school shot alongside the last day of school shot. I just set out to copycat you and realized that I, supermom herself, do not have a shot of my boys on the first day of school this year. I was running behind (you're all shocked, I know) and did not have time to capture the moment. Oh, I fully intended on reenacting it for the camera a day or so later. It would appear that I forgot.

So these shots are just of the last day...take my word for it, they've grown and changed a whole bunch! We are anticipating a great summer ahead of us...stay tuned!

Go 'Stros!

We had a blast at the Astros game courtesy of a generous friend! We were the winners that night if you were asking the boys who got to eat hotdogs, cheese pizza, cracker jacks, ice-cream and drink dr. pepper. (if you know me well, you understand what a special occasion that had to be!) However, the Astros were not the winners that night. Oh well, we got to see some good baseball!

Field Day Fun

Field day is always a special memory when I think back on childhood days. My boys were by the luck of the draw in the classes that were assigned the colors pink and purple for their shirts. I never dreamed I'd see those clothes laying out on a school morning at my house!

The ABC's of ME

I have been officially tagged for the first time in my blogging history by my friend Sarah. Many thanks to her, I think this stuff is fun and I have not blogged in sooooo long...so this will break my dry streak! (Okay, I admittedly once took a tag upon myself on a Holiday Quiz, but that was last year!)

A- Attached or single: Forever attached.

B- Best Friend(s): Chris, many old, tried and true, and some new from different parts of life.

C- Cake or Pie: coconut cream PIE

D- Day of Choice: believe it or not, Mondays since they are Chris' day off!

E- Essential Item (s): Cell phone, computer, moisturizer, and white noise to sleep by.

F-Favorite type of music: not sure what the exact genre is, but like Robbie Seay Band

and David Crowder, Mercy Me, Third Day

G- Gummy Bears or Worms: only Haribo bears will do for me

H- Hometown: Cypress, TX originally...now The Woodlands, TX

I-Indulgence(s): extra sleep, pajama days, iced chai tea

J- January or July: July (independence day, my first baby's birth, my mom's birthday and

good old sunshine!)

K- Kids: 3 and counting (hopefully)

L- Last movie: We all watched "RUDY" (how many times will I watch this movie before I stop

bawling when the crowd begins to chant...?) And I DVRed the Lifetime movie, The Memory

Keeper's Daughter since we read it in book club...so it will be my next when I get the chance.

M- Marriage Date: December 18

N- Number of Siblings: 1 sister, and a few brothers and sisters in law.

O- Oranges or Apples: Both, Clementines and Braeburns.

P- Phobias or Fears: major germaphobic, and I try to avoid fear, but when it hits it usually

pertains to life and death issues concerning my kids or Chris. (the bad stuff, kidnappers,

cancer, auto accidents, stuff I can't control)

Q- Quote(s): from a song....it goes something like "I will praise you in this storm....for YOU

are who You are, no matter where I am." (lots of extended family trials this past year)

R- Reason To Smile: The people in my life. And baseball.

S- Season: Summer, my kids are home and our days are less scheduled.

T- Tag : any of you on my sidebar who want to, I am a terrible decision maker...I wouldn't want

to leave anyone out, or make someone feel obligated, but then I personally was so happy to

be tagged specifically that maybe I should....oh, you see what I mean?

U- Unknown Fact About Me: I like to watch the history channel. (yes, I love studying history)

V-Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animals: is 'oppressor of animals' the opposite of vegetarian?.

How could I keep my figure without eating meat for protein? Call me an oppressor.

W-Worst Habit: I almost stole Sarah's about being a pack rat, but my heart has changed on that

to where I actually want to clean stuff out but don't have the time. So I will go with thinking

I can do more with a block of time than is humanly possible. (especially for someone who is

a dilly-dallier like myself)

X- X-Rays or Ultrasounds: I'd prefer neither, but at least an ultrasound has usually meant a

pregnancy for me, so that would be good.

Y- Your Favorite Food: Chips and Salsa.

Z- Zodiac: Pisces, I think.