Jenny

This is from my friend Leah, at Bouncing Baby Balls blog, I think she says it perfectly...

Loss. Pain. Devastation. Heartache. Sickness. Disease. Hurt. Death. Unfortunately, these are things that we all have to go through in this life. This wasn't the way it was supposed to be, but we live in a fallen world where conditions are far from perfect. I long for the day when Jesus steps in to wipe all the tears from our eyes and redeem all that Satan has attempted to steal from us! What a glorious day that will be!

Two and a half weeks ago, I learned through Facebook that a friend of ours from our old church had been admitted to a local ICU after struggling with the flu for almost a week. We were involved in the same home group as she and her husband and, although we did not get to know them too well personally in the short time we were involved, we know enough about them to know they are a wonderful Christian family with a beautiful nine-year-old daughter and a passion to see kids come to Christ.

Unfortunately, her flu had advanced to the point of pneumonia and she began to have all sorts of complications because of it. Her family quickly started a Care Pages website for her to get the word out and build a massive army of prayer warriors on her behalf. Within just a couple of weeks, her site had grown to almost 10,000 visitors! People from all over the nation and world have been praying for this precious woman... it has been absolutely awe-inspiring to watch. Without going into all the unpleasant details of her trial, God did some amazing, unexplainable things during her courageous fight.

This past Monday, after two and a half weeks of fighting, the Lord called her home... the gruesome battle was over and she could finally rest with her Savior. Jenny was only 31, with a bright future still ahead of her, leaving behind a wonderful, loving husband and nine-year-old daughter, not to mention an awesome family and countless friends that loved her dearly. I cannot begin to imagine that kind of grief. A man left a widower in the prime of his life. A precious girl facing a future without her mommy. It breaks my heart in two!





It boggles my mind to think that just two-and-a-half weeks ago, she was at home with the flu, having to miss a day of subbing. How fragile and fleeting life is!!!

Tomorrow, we will gather to celebrate Jenny's beautiful life and grieve alongside her family and friends. I'm sure it will be hard but I know it will also be beautiful because she loved the Lord with everything and her life touched so many. Please pray for the Bizaillion family as they face the long road ahead.

One of her closest friends said this week on Facebook that one of the last times she prayed with Jenny, she remembers her expressing her longing for heaven and eternity. Sounds like Jenny really lived out this verse: "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." (Philippians 1:21)

I want to live that way. Thank you for your example, Jenny.




(Jenny and her family have no medical insurance. If you feel led to help this precious family, please go to www.greggpearson.org and make a donation. So far, more than $51,000 has been raised! The Gregg Pearson Foundation is a 501C3. Please contact your tax advisor about deductibility.)

Shopaholic Sunday

OK, so I admit, I'm a little bit of a shopaholic, but I LOOOOOVE a good bargain, and have been spoiled by some of my favorite stores like Marshalls, TJMaxx, and HomeGoods almost to the point where I can't justify buying anything that's over $14.99. Seriously. But...I have been inspired by my good friend Jenny, who does a Fashion Friday post at ranchinthecity.com to start blogging about my fun and mostly frugal finds. So...I will blog on Sundays about my shopping adventures and fantastic finds! I don't know about ya'll but Sunday afternoons after lunch, I just get the urge to shop for some reason!!! Today I'll start with a website I found on Kelly's Korner blog called Shabby Apple. There are some FANTASTIC dresses on this website, like the one above, which I just might have to splurge on for my Easter dress this year! While it is NOT $14.99, it's still a decent price on a dress that I would wear the heck out of! And the turquoise shoes just send me over the edge!!! Tell me, what are your favorite stores where you like to find sweet bargains? Or, what have you found lately that you just couldn't pass up? Here are some Shopaholic Sunday posts that are to come:

**My sweet sis Jae's line Flair: lovely clips and headbands for your hair!
**Kirklands: MAN - the bargains on home items in this store! - I'll share with you what I bought today:)
**Marshalls: Don't know what I'll post about this, but I shop there ALL the time, so I'm sure there's more to come!
**Crazy 8: A kids store with precious finds for your little ones
**Dollar Tree and the $ bins at various stores like Target/Michaels/Etc.: always finding stuff here, I'm kinda a $$ bin junkie!

Anyway, I look forward to sharing with you what I find, and who knows, hopefully it will help a sista' out from time to time!

Valentines Weekend/Christmas Part 3

This past Valentines weekend my sister Jayna, her hubby Steve, and their kids Makenna, Madison, and Colton were FINALLY able to make it to Texas to celebrate Christmas with us!!! We actually ended up combining a few holidays and just had one HUGE FUN weekend - a little Christmas, Valentines, and Birthdays all together! Here's the boys doing what they do best!

Jayna with Kai opening her Christmas present!

Jayna bought all the girls these precious Valentine pajamas!

Mom and Jae opening their Valentines from us!

Jayna with her Valentine!

Dad with two of the four granddaughters!

Kinsley and Kai had matching heart bootys!!! Sooo cute!

All the granddaughters!!!

We made heart cookies and Valentine gingerbread houses (to make up for the kiddos missing the annual Christmas gingerbread house making this year)!!!

Here's all our tools!!!

Kinsley and me working on her cookie!

Kaden and Madison, working hard!

All of us enjoying the hard work!!!

Me with my love on Love Day!

Here we all are at Sweet Tomato the night before they all left to go back! I think the words in the top right corner kinda sum up the weekend!!! I wonder if the waiter taking the pic meant to do that? Full of LOVE!!!!

If All The Snowflakes Were Candy Bars and Milk Shakes...

Oh what a snow it would be!!!! We had record snow here in Texas this last week and took the opportunity to thoroughly enjoy it!!! It was the most perfect snow I've seen in my lifetime, wet, sticky, yet just the right temperature outside to be able to go out and enjoy it!!! Here's Kinsley making memories!

And Kaden, I can't help but think of Barney, "Standin' outside with my mouth open wide, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, AH!!!!"

My little snow angels!!!

Here's Kinsley and Kaden with Frosty!!!! Pretty good for some Texas folk dontcha' think??? Thanks to Sarah, my Kansas sis-in-law for teaching me how to officially make a snowman a few years back:) - it finally came in handy!!!

packing down the snow for a snow fort

Happy little snow bunnies!

Our beautiful street! Somebody pinch me!!!!

Our back yard!!!

Front yard

Took this pic so you could see just how high it had piled up on the side of our house!!!! We had a blast!!!!

Sarah's Painting

My friend Angie has a little girl named Sarah, and not too long ago she rearranged her room into a BIG GIRL room! Her bedding is pink and brown with these flowers on it, and I was honored to paint her this painting to go with it:)!!! I wish this could be my day job - I love doing paintings for friends!

Warmth

We've been having a pretty cold winter here in Texas this year - don't laugh, I'm serious, and on those cold days I just like to cozy up with some of this...

and a little of this!!!! That's how I get my warmth!!!!

Buddy Breakfast and 100's Day!!!

Kaden had a big day at school yesterday! First he had "Buddy Breakfast"! We were invited to come share a homemade donut with him before school - YUM!

awwww!

Then, at the end of the day, he had his 100's day celebration and parade, complete with a special 100's day snack! He was sooo proud because his class was first and he was only the second person in line so, "everyone saw him"!:) He held that sign with pride!!!! (It was 100 cookie crisps for those of you wondering:))

Super Bowl 2010

Here's some things you might find going on during the Super Bowl around our house! Kai Kai getting a bath!!!

Our good friends Mande and Brent with their girls, Eisley and Ashtyn enjoying the game!

Curtis and my dad front and center in front of the TV!!!

John, my bro-in-law chiming in:)!

Three cute boys - Josiah, Kaden, and Isaiah, playing Wii upstairs

Two cute girls, Ashtyn and Kinsley playing Nintendo DS

And me, Kai, mom, and Jae just enjoying ourselves and everyone's company!

Oh yeah, and GO SAINTS!!!! Whoooo HOOOO!

Daddy/Daughter Dance and Date with Kaden!

Kinsley had a fabulous date with her daddy this past Saturday at our community's Daddy/Daughter dance!
They host this every year and its a special day for little girls to have one on one time with their dads, enjoy themselves, get pampered, and dance the night away! She woke up early this morning and the first thing out of her mouth was, "Is today the Daddy/Daughter Dance?" and "When do I get to go get my hair done?"

Sooooo...we went to this little place offering "glittery up-dos" and...

Got her

HAIR

DONE!!!!!!

Then we came home to do her mani/pedi:) She picked glittery purple/silver to match her dress, of course!

And off they went, a princess and her hero!!!! She had a blast and Curtis said she was "giddy" the whole time!!!

Oh, and I took advantage of the situation and had a date with this handsome fella! We went to see The Tooth Fairy at the movies, and then to Wendy's for a Frosty! He said on our way home that, "This was the best night ever!!!" How precious!!!