1/10/2010

As promised...our Branson trip!

The last week of October we met my parents in Branson for a week long vacation. Everyone we told that we were going to Branson would laugh because when most people think of Branson they see images of elderly people attending cheesy shows. We grew up spending time each summer at Big Cedar, a resort outside Branson on Table Rock Lake, after my parents picked Jeffrey and I up from camp. It's an amazing place and it was a special treat to be able to take Currey to a place that held so many memories for my family!

I can honestly say it's the most relaxing vacation I've ever been on. We spent time reading, working on a puzzle, walking, cooking, eating and shopping. Currey and my dad even took a day trip to go fly fishing together. My mom and I got to spend that day shopping which was a blast as we had found out a week earlier that our sweet baby is a girl.

When we arrived at Big Cedar the leaves were beginning to change and the colors were amazing. Here's a look at the week in pictures. It's several pictures but I promise I narrowed it down!

It's a beautiful property that we enjoyed walking around every day. It's HUGE and has great views which we took advantage of by enjoying lots of picture opportunities.

Everything was beautifully decorated for fall.

This is the skunk that lived outside our rooms. We saw him everyday and my dad got his picture. We were convinced my dad was going to get sprayed on his quest but thankfully that was NOT the case.


There are several restaurants on the property that we took advantage of. We enjoyed lunch on the outdoor patio at Truman Coffee and Cafe....


And an outstanding dinner at the Worman House.


The boys didn't take any pictures while fishing so we had them take this with a truck from the White River.

And like I said, we relaxed a lot!

And I just love this picture so it's getting put in!

It was a wonderful trip and we enjoyed it so much we are talking about making it an annual event. More overdue posts to come!

1/1/2010

I can't believe that it's already 2010! This year will be huge for us as we await the arrival of our sweet baby girl but before we look forward I thought that it would be fun look back at all 2009 held for our little family. This is bound to be a lengthy post, but we have been talking a lot recently about reflecting on God's goodness in our lives. Looking back at the milestones of the last year we can see God's hand in our lives guiding and directing each step along the way.

January was a big month for us as we decided that we would be staying in Illinois and moving into a greater role within the church we had been attending for a year and a half. We were leading a small group with our best buddies, Devin and Andrea, and spent a lot of time celebrating life with the sweet friends Life Church has brought us.


Moose also had leg surgery that month. We realize that we are insane for paying for surgery for our dog but it was the best choice for us and he is a much healthier and happier puppy.



In February I decided to leave my job without having a plan as to where I would begin working. It was a season were our faith was grown and we trusted in the Lord's provision. It was a scary experience but we are so glad that is the decision that we made. I was able to begin my current job after getting 2 weeks off, one to enjoy with Currey while he was on Spring Break and the following with my mom. It was a blast and a precious time of rest and restoration for me.

At Easter, my brother Jeffrey came for a visit. I love his visits! I love that he and Currey love to be together and we make precious memories and have interesting adventures with each visit. This year he got to be a part of our Seder Supper at church.


May held several milestones for us, the most significant being Currey's graduation from Wheaton. He worked ridiculously hard for 3 years for both of his degrees and it was such a treat to celebrate that accomplishment with friends and family!






Another event for us was Currey being the guest speaker at the All Church Retreat for the youth. What no one else knew at the time was that we would be taking over as the youth pastors at Life Church. We had a summer full of fun events and loved growing in relationships with all the students in the youth group.



In July we celebrated 4 years of wedded bliss. At our wonderful anniversary dinner, my sickness prompted the purchase of a pregnancy test. Our anniversary gift this year was finding out we were expecting our first child. Probably the most exciting anniversary gift that anyone could ever receive!

In August, we went to South Carolina to watch Kristine and Ryan get married. It was a wonderful vacation and such a special wedding to be a part of.



In September, Jeffrey and his girlfriend Megan came up for a visit. It was our first time to meet Megan and we had so much fun with them. We love Megan and enjoyed getting to explore Chicago with she and Jeffrey. (These pictures are from Megan's facebook. She takes great pictures and captured so many of the fun moments of the trip!) Jeffrey and Currey even tried chicken feet while were in Chinatown!





In October we found out that we would be having a baby girl! We were thrilled with the news and continue to anxiously await her arrival. We also went to Big Cedar Lodge with my parents. It was the most relaxing vacation that I remember being on and it was good to spend a week relaxing. (This trip will get it's own post SOON! As will November and December! I promise that they are coming!)



November was wonderful as we got to go home to have a baby shower and celebrate Thanksgiving with all of our family and friends. We were showered with sweet blessings for Blythe and enjoyed getting to spend time with our families. As always our time at home went by way to fast but we treasured each moment we were there.



December has flown by. We had a quiet Christmas just Currey and I and have enjoyed having my parents here for the past week. They have helped us get the nursery all put together and of course there will be a post coming soon revealing the finished project! What a great year we've had. We look forward to more adventures and life changes as we enter 2010.

12/24/2009

Although we miss not being home with family, Currey and I have had a wonderful Christmas Eve. We both had to work this morning but made it home in time to have lunch, read and watch TV. We have been so busy it's been so nice to spend an entire afternoon relaxing. I made a roast for dinner and then we went to look at Christmas lights. It's my favorite part of the holiday season and we have not been able to go yet this year. My precious husband drove me all over Chicago land to find a neighborhood with lights. We'll just say that they don't decorate here like they do in Texas. A great end to a great day!

And sweet Blythe got me a present. Currey and I don't do Christmas gifts for each other. We haven't since our first year of dating. Instead we pick a project together to do and use the money we would have spent on each other to help another cause. I've been talking a lot with Currey about missing cooking and he knew he couldn't break our no gift rule, so "Blythe" got me a cookbook. Sneaky, but such a pleasant surprise. You may or may not have noticed a serious lack of recipes on the blog these days. (Ok...I acknowledge that there is a lack of posting over all as well!) My job does not always allow me to cook like I used to and I'm hoping to return to lots of cooking in the near future! So I got Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking". I am thrilled. I was joking with Currey that most wives would be offended if they received a cookbook for Christmas but I've already spent a couple of hours reading through it. Hopefully we'll try something from it soon! Hope you are all enjoying time with family and friends. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

12/5/09

While on vacation with my parents in October (that post will be written one day!) my mom mentioned that a family friend was starting a photography business and would be doing pictures during Thanksgiving. Currey and I decided that we wanted to remember this season of life so we asked my mom to arrange for the pictures to be taken. Jennifer Jenkins is an Amarillo girl and we decided that I hadn't seen her since she was in middle school. It was crazy to see her in her element and all grown up but as the pictures show, she is really talented! Our Christmas card displays our favorite picture but here are some of the other ones that we love.

This one may be my favorite

We love all of the pictures because we feel like she really captured us.


My mom was able to come for the end of our session. I LOVE this picture of us!

We were SO pleased with her work! If you live in the Amarillo area or will be around at Christmas and are interested in pictures let me know and I'll get you her info. I'm working at being better at updating...we'll see how it goes!

11/28/09

I know it's been awhile since I've blogged. There's lots to write about but for now I wanted to share this unbelievable deal! You can read all the details here on Money Saving Mom's blog. For the price of shipping ($3.19 per order of 50) you can get FREE Christmas cards! And I can attest that it works! There are 2 different codes so you can order 50 twice, pay shipping twice and get 100 Christmas card for $6.38. I guarantee you won't find a better deal anywhere. I have been meaning to order ours as this deal ends Monday November 30th but knew we would get cute pictures while we were home. We got maternity pictures taken and I LOVE how they turned out but more on that later! I love the card we made. I can't wait to send them out. I love when the Christmas cards start rolling in. Checking the mail every day is a treat! Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Now go order those cheap Christmas cards!

11/7/2009

One of the strangest things about being pregnant away from friends and family is that no one gets to watch my belly grow. We recently returned from vacation with my parents and it was so weird for them to see me. Currey and I have obviously watched my belly grow but my parents saw me for the first time at 22 weeks. So for the rest of you, here's what I look like these days. Please disregard the outfits and hair in these pictures! My original idea was to take a picture every 2 weeks but that has not worked out so well. We normally remember late at night so I'm not looking my best.

This was at 16 weeks
At this point in time our baby was as big as a lemon hence the lemon.


This was at 20 weeks

So there you have it! Baby is growing like crazy. More pictures and updates coming soon!

GIRL!!!

Although by this point in time, I realize that most of you readers know our exciting news, I wanted to officially announce our sweet baby's gender. Honestly, we were so surprised! Although everyone we know believed that baby was a girl, Currey and I have thought our baby was a boy. Of course we are thrilled and loved getting to see her at our last doctor appointment. Modern medicine is AMAZING! We were able to see her face, hands and feet as well as the tiny details like her ears. We were totally awe struck. And thankful, as our doctor reported that everything about her looks perfect. We are thrilled that everything looks right on track. I've been feeling her move a lot lately and can't wait until Currey gets to experience that milestone as well. Hopefully I'll be back soon to write about the vacation we just returned from. We continue to be amazed at how faithful God is in his provision and our enthusiasm grows as we get closer to the day that we get to meet our sweet daughter.