Happy 2nd BD Jax!

Happy BD to our sweet Nephew Jaxson Bentlee!  We have loved watching you grow and you add so much fun to our family.  Can't believe you are already 2 years old little man!
To celebrate Jax' BD, we spent the evening at their house playing like monkeys and eating a nacho bar.  The best part was the "Milk and Cookies" theme where we all got to dig in on a big cookie!

Waco, TX: where ranked teams go to lose!

Hhhheeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyyyy Sic 'em BEARS!  Baylor Nation has NEVER been this excited and pumped up as the game Saturday night against No. 1 ranked Kansas St.  While we of course were not picked to win (except by one broadcaster for ESPN), we knew our boys could do it.  With our defense rising up, we dominated K-State with a 52-24 win!  For the first time in program history, Baylor took down the No. 1 team in the nation.  We are so proud of our boys, proud to be a bear, and proud to be with Baylor nation to experience the joy.
Note: the video was taken during the beginning of the 4th quarter when we hadn't even really secured the win yet.  The stadium was just that excited throughout the entire game.  It was one big 4 quarter party!

Just the 3 of us

Saturday night we went to the Baylor game vs Kansas St.  Gamee/Grampee blessed us YET AGAIN and kept both the kids AND baby Andrew!  So, for the first time, they enjoyed spending time with all 3 grandchildren (ages: 3, 1, and 6 weeks).  Here are some cute pics...I love how you can see their personalities in the pics, and poor baby Andrew just wanted to be snuggled by Gamee again.

Are you in the Lord's Army?

                               

Forgive me if you are used to all my pictures and such on the blog.  This will be more of a blog on my thoughts on Patriotism mixed with my notes from an amazing sermon on Veteran's Day by Pastor Fleming.  I was inspired by a blog my sister wrote around election time and then the sermon for Veteran's Day just hit home.  I basically want my kids to know how important our  country is and how blessed we are to have what we have. 

I consider myself a patriotic person.  I love my country, I support our troops, and most importantly I pray for our brothers and sisters fighting for us.  I still cry when our flag goes up, and it always makes me smile when I see our flags flying in multitudes on patriotic days.  I love the great US of A!  

My favorite Patriotic memory was when I was over seas in Australia student teaching.  It was not too long after Sept 11 and we were home sick.  We had heard that President Bush would be speaking to our nation that day, but we were busy teaching and made plans to call home that night to get the news.  To our surprise, the Head Master at Camp Hill Primary where we were teaching came and got us out of class.  He took us to a private room with a TV tuned in and waiting for our President to speak.  I remember him saying that he knew us Americans loved our country and he wanted to respect the fact that our leader would be addressing us soon...even if we were across the ocean.  I remember feeling alone and missing my family, but blessed to love my country as he described.  Not long after, President Bush came on the TV and delivered the message that we were declaring war.  Tears were streaming down all our faces.  A few weeks passed and on our last morning at Camp Hill, they honored us 7 Americans in a way I will never forget.  For 6 weeks we had heard their national anthem play every morning and watched their flag raise as their children saluted.  This morning, we were SHOCKED when we heard our anthem start playing.  Immediately, we held our hearts and watched as they raised OUR flag first.  The children saluted as they had been taught and cheered so loud when it was at the top of the flag pole.  Later we learned that the head master had contacted the US Embassy and borrowed a flag for this special occasion.  It was something I will never forget, and I have never been so proud of our country and what we stand for. 

I have often thought about what soldiers think and pray while they are serving us.  Do they know that we are over here praying for them?  Do they know that God is with them?  Are they in the Lord's Army?

2 Tim 2:3-4 

"Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.  Soldiers don't get tied up  in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them." 

A few things that Pastor Fleming noted during our Veteran's Day sermon:

1- know what side you are on

2- always be ready and prepared.  Put on the armor of God and stand against evil.

3- the greatest weapon for warfare is on our knees

4- be motivated by your mission.  Know why you do what you do, what your purpose is and   why.

5- be ready to hear "well done my good and faithful servant"

6- be prepared to pay the price for victory

One of the first messages from the US Seal team after the night they took out Bin Laden was "Charlie Mike".  This message means more than a name, it was code for continue mission.  This is a good reminder to us that even after a great victory, there is always more work to be done.  Our lives should be living for a "Charlie Mike".  

Here are a few things I want to pass on to Cade/Caelin for them to always remember.

1- Be a good soldier for the Lord.  Do what is right and work hard for it.  This is where I hear      the country song singing "You've got to stand for something or you'll fall for anything.  You've got to be your own man, not a puppet  on a string.  Never compromise what's right, never forge your family name.  You've got to stand for something or you'll fall for anything."

2- Be patriotic and love/support your country.  There are sure to be times when our leaders   may disappoint us,   but be that American that never speaks wrong about our country.  You can most certainly voice your concerns to this close to you, but never turn your back on OUR team.  This includes any team, group, or community you are a part of.  Be a good soldier and a team player at all cost.

3- VOTE! Your family has fought for this right and it is an honor to do so.  When you vote, be  educated and know why you are voting the way you are.

4- Be proud knowing your heritage and where you came from.  Our family has several members that have served our country and fought for what we have today.  

·         Rex Parks (Grandfather) served in the Army 

·         Barney Lee Watts (Great Grandpa) fighting in 4 overseas theaters as a Medic during the most horrific battles of WWII

·         Charles Harvey Hall (Great Grandfather) fought in WWII

·         Charlie Parks (Your Great Uncle) was a captured POW during WWII and was              released at the end of the war from a German prison

·         Mack McCharen (great Uncle) flew a medical helicopter

·         Donald Earl LeCour (your Great Grandpa) and his twin Doyle were in the Navy

·         Charles Bailey (your Great Uncle) was in the Army

5- ALWAYS soldier on.  Our mission is never over, just soldier on.

Baylor Homecoming

I know all our readers are thinking, "not another BAYLOR Blog"...but to be honest, we are proud Bears because Baylor University molded us into the adults we are.  Everyone has their time frame in life, and ours both came in college.  We learned more about life, love and friendships that one could imagine.  My best friends are all from Baylor, our friendship/marriage started at Baylor, and we still keep in touch with one Professor who means the world to us (WE LOVE YOU Mrs. Arredondo and missed you this weekend!).  As cliche as it sounds, we bleed green/gold because our Alma Matter means that much to us!  So, that being said, we love returning every year for homecoming.
Cade/Caelin both love watching the parade (Cade for the marching bands and Candy, and Caelin for the people watching and lollipops).  My favorite part of parade was when the Nose Brothers came by and one was dressed in a certain sorority jersey while "smoking in letters".  Any Sorority gals from Baylor will laugh at this (well except for the sorority whose jersey it was!).  This year several floats broke down on the route, so the parade lasted a little longer than expected, but the kids didn't seem to mind as they got extra candy time!  We happened to see our friends from church now and were able to watch the parade with them and their family.  After the parade, we walked through the line of sorority/Fraternity floats.  Cade insisted on climbing on a particular float and then when I wanted a picture he gave me his angry look.  Nice, thanks pal.  So, I made sure to put the pic below so that we can always remember how quickly a 3year old can go from happy to sad to happy.  I had a good laugh taking a pic with the Nose Brothers.  Caelin kept looking at them with wrinkled eyebrows trying to figure out what was going on.  We also walked around campus enjoying the weather and showing the kids some of our favorite places.  We walked the path toward Pat Neff, explored Draper (where most of our classes in Education Dept were held), and of course the Bear Pit.  I had to take a picture of Draper room #116.  This is the class where Alpha Chi Omega met for weekly meetings while the Panhellenic building was being built.  This was the room where I had my candle passing to announce to my sisters that I was engaged!  The only two people who knew (I keep good secrets!) until the candle passing was my BFF Lizzy and our Chapter Advisor, Sherri Walker.  Both of them participated in the ceremony and everyone was so surprised when they found out it was me!  Thus, I love seeing that room.  After running around on the lawn outside of Draper, we saw my roomie from Australia (we student taught abroad together), Bree.  We got to meet her three kids and see her husband Kyle.  It is just so nice to know you will run into familiar people all over campus.  After that we ventured to the Bear Pit.  Both kids loved that and Cade kept asking if they could "get out and scratch people on accident".  I replied no, that Baylor Bears are always friendly...and then muttered unless they come across an aggie, longhorn, etc.  After the pit, we were able to catch up with my old roomie Britni for a few minutes.  I was so happy I got to see her cute little belly due in Jan/Nov (this is where I mention that we missed our other roomie Carolyn in St. Louis).
As if we had not had a busy enough day, we then headed to get some lunch and go to the game.  Of course, as luck would have it, both kids fell asleep in the truck 20 min before kickoff.  To avoid not having two screaming children, we missed the first 30 min of the game to get some short naps in.  Once in the game things were a little hectic due to the weather with rain and lightening delays.  Luckily the kids and I just hung out inside the Letterman's Lounge where they found some friends...saved yet again by the lounge!  Once the rain and all passed, we were able to all watch the end of the 4th quarter outside, but since Baylor was up over Kansas 41-14, most fans had left due to the weather.  That didn't damper our spirits though and Cade even had his bear claw up during "That good ole Baylor line".  We enjoyed time on the field after the game before heading to Round Rock to Nana/Papa's.  Sad to think that we only have 8 more home games in our stadium before the new one is ready!  All in all, great Baylor Homecoming this year and we look forward to next year!  Heeeeeeeyyyyyy SIC 'EM BEARS!