Sleepfest 2016

Last night my soul was fed.  God knows exactly what we need at the time we need it.  I have been blessed enough to have a group of friends that I know I can turn to no matter what.  We all met in various roles at various times over the last 10 years in Klein ISD.  Although we all live in various cities and states, we make it a commitment once a year to get as many of us together as we can.  This year we had 9 total and when we get together, it feels like no time has ever passed.  I laugh harder than I thought possible and we always have a theme.  This year, we celebrated the Roaring 20's theme, made shirts as usual, had a cooking activity, gift exchange, and so much more.  Of course details cannot be fully shared...but it it was a great time by all.  I post this on our family blog because I want Cade and Caelin to both know how important friends are.  Life has so many twists and turns, and family and friends make the difference in how you handle rocky roads and how quickly you bounce back up.  Thanks to all my girls for the laughs, hugs, and confidence.  I LOVE YOU ALL!

Love my babies!

Making breakfast this morning and Cade decided to pay me with a penny and 5 kisses. Then, Caelin said she was doubling that and gave me 10 kisses. I would have bought steak for their eggs if I knew this was going down!

7 days of LOVE

Facebook will probably not even be a "thing" once Cade and Caelin read this, but I wanted to have it documented so that they do know how special their Daddy is.  So... I was challenged on FB to post daily for 7 days of why I love your Daddy and here they are!

Day 1: This picture was from June 2004 right after we got Baylor. My childhood dog Yogi is also pictured. Ps- we did NOT plan our outfits and yes, Charles has amazing hair.

Day 2 of the love your spouse challenge: This was from fall of 2014 at a Baylor game. I thought it was fitting since we met at Baylor University and we do love our Baylor Bears!

Day 3 of the love your spouse challenge: This pic is where we got engaged. It is a small fishing hole behind a dam in Grapeland, TX. My parents, Charles' parents and Charles' Grandparents all helped with the surprise. We were dressed up to go to dinner and Charles drove me down here saying he left some fishing stuff from earlier. When we got there, the entire walk down to this bench was lined with candles and rose petals. He read a Bible verse and asked me to marry him. The rest is history!

Day 4 of the love your spouse challenge: These are just some of the countless memories of Charles with our kiddos. Not only is he the perfect husband that God made for me, but he is an amazing Father as well. There is no greater gift that makes my heart smile than to see him love on our children.

Day 5 of the love your spouse challenge: We just finished a great family reunion on Charles' side in Gruene, TX. I adore how much Charles values family and the importance of always putting family first.

Day 6 of the love your spouse challenge: This is probably the best trait about Charles. He is a selfless and does acts of service with a grateful heart. So far this morning, he has helped my Mom by doing hours of yard work, cutting trees away from the house, fixing stuff on her list of "to-do" and so much more. I love how he loves my Mom and helps her! This is a pic of the tree he cut away from the house today.

Day 7 of the love your spouse challenge! This is long and mushy, so here is your warning!

To wrap up the week, here is a pic from our wedding where our married journey began. I love this man more than anything on Earth. God knew what he was doing when he made Charles and our story has been pure serendipity from the day we first met as strangers in the street outside my Mom and Dad's house. He was on a mission trip from Baylor to my home church in Round Rock and was doing yardwork for our elderly neighbor. I was home from Baylor for the weekend and they called needing garbage bags and supplies. My Dad and I walked out some supplies and we noticed each other because I had a Baylor FB shirt on (Charles played FB) and he was wearing an AXO shirt (my sorority). We talked briefly in driveway and then as we walked away, my Dad said, "You need to dump that bozo you are with and get a guy like that". Ha...Daddy always did know best! Fast forward about a year later and we wound up in the same class in the education dept with the best teacher ever, Pat Arredondo.  The rest is history! I pray everyone who reads this has a love for their spouse like I do.

The Riverwalk and Reunion

After a few days at Sea World, we adventured down to the San Antonio Riverwalk today before heading to T Bar M tonight to join the McCharen family reunion.  We spent the day walking the river, taking in the sights, do a tour tour on the River, ate lunch at the Rainforest Cafe, had dessert at Charles' favorite restaurant called Ritas, and then headed to the family dinner in New Braunfels.  After dinner, we went to the T Bar M to play games and visit with more family members.  It had been a long day, but great to see family!  Saturday our day was filled with shopping in Gruene, TX and then my favorite restaurant...the GRISTMILL!  Uncle Christopher, Aunt Heather, Jacob, and Andrew joined us for the live music, lunch, and then we all had ice cream at the "General Store" in Gruene. The rest of the day was filled with family games, visiting, pinata, auction items, family photos and a family BBQ dinner.  Sunday, we ate a quick breakfast before heading out to Nana's to pick up Baylor.  These last few weeks have been quite to traveling adventures and we are forever grateful for God allowing us to have these times together.