Eternal Trophies

We recently had our Awana Grand Prix, which is racing pinewood derby cars. It was a fun day. Our girl's cars actually did pretty good, thanks to Papa the mechanic! They each won a trophy in speed! While Papa & I are handing out trophies, there are events unfolding that we were unaware of. In the older boy's club there were three boys who came together and raced their cars. Well, two out of the three each got two trophies, while the third boy got nothing. The boys were celebrating their victory and Papa & I are moving on to handing out more awards. Abbie noticed the third boy sat all by himself and had tears in his eyes. She went to her Papa, who is announcing all the awards and wanted him to "help him". Papa explained that he couldn't , he had no control over who got the trophies. She then came to Mama and pointed the boy out and explained what she saw. I, too, knew I didn't have control over who got trophies. But the mama in me went over to console the boy, which lead to more tears. My heart is just breaking at this point. Then the next thing I see is two angels (named Abbie & Hopie) handing this little boy their trophies. The boy just lit up. He was so thankful to these two little girls. He jumped up and joined his friends in celebrating. My girls were celebrating inside too. I am choked up at this point, as I am trying to keep it together. We still are in the middle of an awards ceremony. Abbie turns to me and tells me, "Mama, I feel good in here", as she touches her heart! I just start crying and told her "I know Baby, that is Jesus telling you that you did good"! It is a true gift to see the Holy Spirit work in and through your children. We went out for ice cream later that afternoon and Abbie lending over and whispered to me, "Mama, I still feel good in here." I just have to say "Thank you Jesus!"

Praise Ye the Lord

Luke has done the cutest thing, for a season. He would just throw those arms up in the air and give us the best grin. So we decided that he was just charismatic. We would sing "Praise ye the Lord" every time he did it. He would just laugh and keep doing it. We loved it. Then when he starting dropping food off his tray and we would say "no Luke", he would throw those arms up in the air and grin!
Man ~ he already knows my button!
Praise ye the Lord!!!

Solids!

Luke is venturing into the world of solid foods! Just a quick picture of him expressing his joy over coffee cake & milk. Not to mention Bentley, our dog, loves his new job on the clean up crew.I know my girlfriends can hear me saying it.........

"he is so stinkin' cute!!!!!"

Boots

It is crazy sometimes how the smallest thing can grab you just like that. As I was going around picking up the house the other night, and all was quiet, I was caught off guard. It happened when I went to go put my stable boots up in one hand and grab Luke's boots in the other. The flood of thoughts and images returned of this past year & the future. The fun this incredible baby boy has been watching him smile, crawl, and get vocal. To "wow, he will someday fill & follow in these boots". This journey of mothering is so incredibly humbling, especially since I fall so short of my desires. But I have been so very blessed to see His hand of grace in my children's lives. Thank you Jesus! Be with this little man. May I point him to You and he walk after You, Lord.Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

Jesus goes to lunch

As I was tucking girls into bed the other night, I found Hopie snuggling with a figurine of Jesus. I told her I would put it up for her. She informed me that I needed to pack Jesus in her lunch pale that next day, that He was going to the park with her. So, yes, Jesus went to lunch and the park with Hope on Friday. I have a feeling Jesus loves being at the park with little children.

Hopie Makover

We had a beautiful vow renewal ceremony to attend for some dear friends of ours a couple of weeks ago. My friend across the street is a beautician. How handy is that with two girls? Well, she got a hold of Hopie to do her hair for this ceremony. Wow! I had to take a double take when she walked in. My curly headed little baby girl look like a young lady! It took my a while to get use to that. Fortunately for Mama, you can take the curl out of the hair BUT you can't take the spunk out of my baby girl! She is fabulous! As you can see, in a mere two hours Hopie can go from sweet looking young lady to Hopie "Rambo" style. She was chasing boys, did I just type that? As you can see from her nose, a little boy chased back and caught her. This game of chase did not end peacefully. Opportunities for forgiveness are all around us. For Hopie, she had to forgive her buddy Brady. We just had to show you photos of Hope all done up.

Teethville - Comin' & Goin'

There is excitement & craziness around the Abshire home this week. The craziness ~ Luke Josiah is cutting some new teeth and all the joy that goes with that. I am a firm believer that the Lord has an excellent plan for teeth coming in ~ we are too young to remember. I feel for my baby boy as he has the pain of cutting new teeth. He still is pleasant even in his present state. He is amazing!

Then the excitement of my baby girl, Hopie, losing her first tooth. This is just wrong! Somebody tell her she is just too young because she is not listening to her Mama. Surprise - surprise! She was sooooo excited when she discovered her loose tooth last Thursday night and has had a fun week playing around with it. She was adamant that no one was to touch it. So several days & meals later it was the bagel that did her in. She just got tired of it bothering her and she pulled her loose tooth out. She came screamin' like she was dying ~ only to find her scream was of excitement. How could I not know that difference?!? I joined in her excitement as she held her first lost tooth. This is crazy!

Well, everyone is asleep, as we wait for the "Tooth Fairy" to come and leave the famous $2 bill in the tooth pillow. May that "Tooth Fairy" not forget! They won't want the wrath of Hopie for running late!

Good Night!

Teethville ~ Comin' & Goin'

There is excitement & craziness around the Abshire home this week. The craziness ~ Luke Josiah is cutting some new teeth and all the joy that goes with that. I am a firm believer that the Lord has an excellent plan for teeth coming in ~ we are too young to remember. I feel for my baby boy as he has the pain of cutting new teeth. He still is pleasant even in his present state. He is amazing!

Then the excitement of my baby girl, Hopie, losing her first tooth. This is just wrong! Somebody tell her she is just too young because she is not listening to her Mama. Surprise - surprise! She was sooooo excited when she discovered her loose tooth last Thursday night and has had a fun week playing around with it. She was adamant that no one was to touch it. So several days & meals later it was the bagel that did her in. She just got tired of it bothering her and she pulled her loose tooth out. She came screamin' like she was dying ~ only to find her scream was of excitement. How could I not know that difference?!? I joined in her excitement as she held her first lost tooth. This is crazy!

Well, everyone is asleep, as we wait for the "Tooth Fairy" to come and leave the famous $2 bill in the tooth pillow. May that "Tooth Fairy" not forget! They won't want the wrath of Hopie for running late!
Good Night!

Joyner Ranch Branding

Today we had so much fun at a branding that Mom & Bill had. Their last name is Joyner, so it is called ~ Joyner Ranch. Bill has a registered brand for his cattle and held a fine branding. Benny, our cowboy with a sweet tooth, joined us to help. I (Liz) was excited as it was my first time to gather cattle. Although the cattle were already gathered together there wasn't much of a challenge! The experience was still great. But we did have to ride the fence line of 80+ acres to check for holes in the fence or needed repairs. That was fun! We were in the foothills versus the orchards we are use to riding in. I am totally addicted now. Baby Girl, my horse (that Bill gave me), did fabulous today. I was so proud of her.
The children had a blast driving Grandma's golfcart (hence no pictures of them) and playing in the dirt. It was a great day with food, fun, & family.

Luke having a blast in the dirt.

Benny, our buddy, came to help us.

Let me introduce you to Baby Girl. She is having fun in the arena.

The Birthday Duo

Papa & Abbie have the same birthday which is really quite fun for them. We had two sets of our close friends over with their children and just enjoyed their company and fellowship as we celebrated Papa & Abbie's life.

Shmily was Aaron's theme this year. I got him a couple of these cool stickers that I had made and stuck them on places he would see everyday. Shmily stands for "See How Much I Love You". It shows up in some fun places.

We had a horse theme again this year ~ I do believe that cake resembles "Baby Girl"!

Abbie got this great horse alarm clock that neighs when it goes off.
Aaron is showing off some great art work from the twins!