A Hero Gone to Heaven

Our Pastor has finally gone to be with the Lord whom he loved and served for the past 30+ years. He's battled with a very rare, genetic disease that only handful of Doctors in America had ever even heard of before. In the past 2 1/2 years, he took a turn for the worse and several times they thought he was in his last hours. He was on and off dialysis, in and out of the hospital, saw over 30 different doctors, both traditional and natural. None of them could get his body to accept protein and he slowly lost weight and strength. In February of 2008, he moved to NM in hopes of recovering there. An amazing doctor took his case and a wonderful hospital and staff treated him like royalty, charging him nothing for the care he received. They were able to administer high doses of a special protein that wasn't available here. Basically they were keeping him alive.

For the past few months, we knew it would only be a matter of time. He decreased rapidly. He could no longer counsel over the phone. His bad days were far more than his good. His life that he loved--a fireball, energetic preacher--was over and he occupied two places: an easy chair or his bed. Several weeks ago he was placed in ICU, and a few weeks after that put in hospice for his last days or weeks alive. They took him off of dialysis and all other medication and he got worse even quicker, as you can imagine. This whole time his wife would not leave his side. He couldn't do anything for himself and she did it all. She has stuck by him all these years, reading new books and research on how she could possibly make his condition better. God had other plans.

Pastor's wish always was to die preaching in the pulpit on the Lords day. Physically, he had to stop preaching months ago, but I bet that in his dreams he was preaching for his last time on earth before he went to meet his Lord on his day. January 25th, 2009 at 7pm. He was 56 years old. What sorrow for his family and church and yet what rejoicing for him! No more pain! No more suffering! No more dialysis! Only an eternity of worshiping at the feet of Jesus in a perfect, brand new body!

Caleb, one of his sons in prison, was able to call and talk the day before his daddy died. Because he was incoherent, he was able to talk to his Mom. This sort of thing doesn't happen in the prison system, so Praise the Lord for working it out! Please pray for Josh and Caleb who had to sit in prison through all this. The last time they saw their dad they never knew it would be the last time. They never got to say goodbye, although I'm sure in letters they have.

Please continue to pray especially for Mrs. Thompson, their 7 children, spouses and their 16 grandchildren and our church family. This is a time of sorrow, but the rejoicing for him masks much of that grief. Mrs. T. will have a huge void in her life as she has lived for taking care of her husband tirelessly for the past several years.

Please pray for my father-in-law who has been his assistant for 30 years, following him faithfully like no man I have ever seen.

His oldest son Adam is now our Pastor and we are very excited to see what the Lord will do through him to bring our church to it's full potential.

Pastor, you will be missed. We love you and are so thankful for the impact you have had on hundreds of lives. We will see you soon!

A Mommy Survey

Hollie tagged me to do this survey. I cheated and removed some questions as it was very long and left in the ones I thought meant more to me! :)


How long have you been a Mom? 20 months tomorrow!

How old were you when you became a Mom? 20 years old

How many children call you Mommy? One (although she calls me "Jenna" a lot, too :)

Girl? Boy? or both? One precious little girl!

How did you find out you were pregnant? My sister-in-law convinced me that I was, so I took a test in the middle of the day. Since it was so early it took about 20 minutes to show up a tiny second pink line

What were your reactions? Totally shocked, tears, going crazy inside.

Who did you tell first? My Sis-in-law! She lived next door and was waiting for me to tell her, so I ran over screaming, "IT WAS POSITIVE!!!!!" She gave me a big hug and I just kept saying, "I can't believe it, oh my word, I can't believe it".

Was abortion an option for you? You mean murder? No, it was NEVER and option.

Did you have morning sickness? I was very nauseous all the time for the first 3 months but never threw up.

What did you crave? Guacamole for a few days, other than that I would have sporadic cravings, like a krispy kreme doughnut or a hot dog. Then I would eat it and be fine. :)

Who/what irritated you the most? Haha! I was pretty emotional but can't think of one thing imparticular.

Favorite place to buy maternity clothes? Thrift stores! :) They have the good brands for cheap and always had an awesome selection. (They have the BEST thrift stores here)

Did you have a baby shower? Yes, 2 of them! One in NY and one here after Brookie was born.

How did you know when it was time to go to hospital? I was induced, so I wasn't in labor yet.

Who drove you to the hospital? Nate, with my Mommy in the back seat.

How long were you in labor? 6 hours, from the time my doctor broke my water to the time she was in my arms!

Was it natural or C-section? Natural-- I was very blessed to have no complications.

Did you take medicine to ease the pain? I was very determined not to, and I stuck with it! I had it totally drug free and would definitely do it again that way.

Time of birth? 3:56pm

Who was in the room when baby was born? My husband, so loving and supportive, my Mom ( Could not have done it without her!), my AMAZING doctor and nurse (Erin! I still remember her, she was incredible) some technicians, and a black man whom I did not know.

Weight? 6 pounds, 13 ounces

Length? 20.5 inches

Any hair? yes, brown hair!

How much weight did you gain during pregnancy? 40 pounds :(

Was baby early or late? 8 days early

What's your favorite thing about being a Mom? Someone to be with all day long when I'm home! The new things that she does every day, the way she makes me laugh and the way she loves me so much.

How did you come up with the name? I loved the name Brooke but wanted it to be a little longer. So I added "Lynne" to the end of Brooke. We named her middle name, Nicole, after my Mom. Thus, Brooklynne Nicole!

One thing you will not give up just because you're a mom? Partying and staying up late! :) I keep Brooke on a very good schedule when we are at home, but I REFUSE to leave somewhere early just because my child has to go to bed.

When the kid is napping, you are: WORKING OUT!! IT'S ME TIME! On the computer, reading my Bible, cleaning.

When did baby start sleeping through the night? 5 weeks old.

What’s your favorite activity with baby? Everything, really. I love reading to her, I love dancing and laughing with her (yes, we are quite the sight dancing together :) I LOVE when she sucks her thumb and lays on my shoulder. Being a Mom is the best thing in the world!

What Really Matters

My house is not spotless. I have a pile of folded (surprise!) laundry sitting on my couch. There are a few dishes in the sink and there are some toys laying around. It's not a total disaster, but I'm not really satisfied with it, either. I feel like I have a million things to do.
And yet I am sitting on the couch reading my daughter a book. It's, "Are you my Mother?", a classic for sure. One of her favorites. She loves squealing and pointing out the dogie every time she sees it. We are learning to recognize the cow, chicken and cat. She knows what each of them "say", just needs a little prompting sometimes. :)
I am doing this because the Lord is teaching me what is important in life. He's teaching me how to be a better Mother. Every day I am obsessed with how my house looks. I am almost constantly doing dishes, straighting up, wiping counters, cleaning bathrooms or vacuuming. Through all the flurry, Brookie plays by herself, following me around, making me laugh or frustrating me, depending on what she is doing. Yet I overlook her much too often. She is such a good baby and I really do not spend as much time with her as I should, hence the reading of books. We do it every day. It's a simple thing, something that every Mother does with her children and there is something so special about taking a break, sitting down and reading a book with your child. Or playing a game of memory, playing peek-a-boo, teaching them where their eyes and nose are. Because that is what really matters--being a Mommy to your kids--not being a maid to your house! (although that's important too, just in a different way)

My clean house will not be at my bedside when I am dying telling me what I great housekeeper I was and how I gave it a great life while I lived in it. Just the thought of that makes me laugh! However, my children (Lord willing) will be there. I pray that they will rise up and call me blessed and remember the little things that I did with them, because the Lord helped me to remember that my job in life is to be the best Mother that I can be.

I am aiming to do just that.

My Birthday!

On Saturday, I turned the ripe old age of 22! :) I have to say that I think I had the best birthday so far. My wonderful husband woke me up singing "Happy Birthday" with a plate of yummy breakfast-in-bed. Of course Brookie had to help me eat it! :)

Later on we went here for dinner! Oh my I was so excited the entire time because I LOVE this place and hadn't been there for a few years. Nate was laughing at how crazy and excited I was :).
The best thing about Carraba's: The BREAD and Oil. OOhhh my goodness we ate over 2 loaves! It's amazing!

O.K. I understand that this is a weird picture of me but you have to see this awesome calamari that we got for an appetizer. Nothing in the world like it. The birthday just keeps getting better!

Octopus anyone??? It's delicious. Brookie is, as always, a true Italian baby and gobbled it right up!

Thankfully they did not make a scene by singing "Happy Birthday". they just brought me out this ice cream with Carmel topping. After we had eaten all that, plus Lobster Ravioli for our entree', I couldn't even eat one bite of my dessert. :)

We had such a great time! And afterwards, my AWESOME husband (once again) surprised me with a NEW CAMERA!!! It's amazing! I've been taking pictures like crazy. That will be another post in itself. :)

I made it through another year with God's grace. The Lord has given me such a special little family of my own and I am so thankful!

The New Year

We celebrated New Years Eve with a church service Wedensday evening and then came home to party and eat! Marks Pizza makes the best pizza ever and we ordered that which I was pretty happy about because I never get it here! :)

Claire and I at church with Claire showing off her new engagement ring :)

I LOOK AWFUL!! But this was the only picture we got of us on New Years Eve 2008!

Chowing Down on Marks.

Felicia and me right after church


My Mom and Cola didn't last the whole night, but neither did I. Nate had to wake me up at 11:59pm so that I would be up for the New Year. Then I went straight to bed! I was such a party pooper!

My friend Jess came over on New Years Day because our husbands went snowboarding and we did a new work out video she got. It was so awesome! This is her little girl sitting with my dad and watching Pooh! So cute!
Later on New Years, we went to Katie's house (there is a link for her blog on the right). We couldn't stay very long but we played games while we were there and took pictures in our matching sweaters .

Walking out to the car to go to our next party...I have such beautiful sisters!

Our next party was at my Aunt's house. Brookie has bugles on the ends of her fingers. She loved them!

We ended the day with $90.00 worth of Chinese food!!! What a better way to start off the New Year! Look at it all....oh it was SO GOOD. For some reason Chinese is so much better up there than it is here.

To end this post, I want to leave you with some memories of 2008. It was such a great year for me! Arianna tagged me to do this so I thought it would be a good opportunity!

Remembering 2008

A good book I read: Although I LOVE to read, I just don't have much time for that anymore. However, I did read " Shiloh August", a wonderful book about the great depression and how a few farmers and their families survived it.

A great film/movie I watched: I have to say that the movie "Fireproof" was probably the best movie I have ever seen. Although the acting was not the best (though it was good), the message of the movie has stuck with me!

A new place I visited: Breckenridge, Colorado! We went with Nate's family back in August. The scenery was breathtaking. I loved it there!

An inspiring verse or quote I read: Many inspiring verses in the Bible, but here's a funny one I learned this year. "Somewhere inside me there is a thin person longing to get out. I can usually sedate him with 2 or 3 cupcakes." :)

A discovery I made: How much fun it is to have a toddler! How much easier it is than having a newborn! :)

A new skill I acquired: Sadly, I can't think of a specific one that comes to mind. Although I did become a much better housekeeper this year, that's not a skill!

A lesson I learned: What a true friend is. I've had some talk about me and my family behind my back and I know that it's hard to learn to really trust anyone, especially when they smile and act so nice to your face and do otherwise behind your back.

A few moments I will always remember: This was only supposed to be one thing, but I changed it so that I can list some highlights of 2008.

1) When my sister started courting. She'd had a rough year and I was so happy that she had found someone that would make her fulfilled and happy!

2) When my little girl turned One. Such a big moment in every child's life! We had a big party with pasta and meatballs and of course cake and ice cream! Other moments: when she started walking, when she cut her first tooth and when she noticed her first "baby" and has loved them ever since!

3) When Nate and I went on our 2 year anniversary trip for 4 whole days! It was heaven! Our first anniversary we only got to go over-night because Brooke was only 6 weeks old and I couldn't really stay away for more than a day and a half. Anyway, this year we went to San Antonio, stayed in a gorgeous hotel and had an amazing time on the river-walk, shopping, eating and laying around in our hotel room watching TV! :) It was so relaxing!

4) The day we left, my friend Jessica was waiting at home knowing that her baby was dead in her womb and she would deliver a few days later. I will never forget when I got the call that little JoLynn had gone home to be with Jesus at 7 months along. She weighed a little over 1 pound and was about 12 inches long, sweet, tiny and beautiful. It's been a long year for Jess but the Lord has given her grace and she's doing very well.

The list could go on and on! I'm just thankful for another great year that the Lord has brought us through and for the opportunity to do more for him in this coming year!

Happy 2009!!!

Little Princess

I had to show off this cute little picture of my little princess. This is mainly for her Nonnie and Aunts back home. :) She loves you and misses you!

After Christmas Celebration!

The day after Christmas my Aunt Deb, Uncle Terry, Cousins Jayson and Melissa with their son Luke came over to celebrate Christmas. Another day filled with lots of eating and laughing, especially with Aunt Debbi around! :)

Brooklynne surrounded by presents once again. She became quite the pro at opening them!

My beautiful baby sisters playing princess'!

Brooke and her cousin, Luke, are only 2 weeks apart

I think she was in a daze from all the sweets :)

I am having trouble rotating this. My Aunt Debbi made homemade biolies (those little pizza's) and several large pizza's. She makes the best! She could open a resturuant!


Greg and Claire, my beautiful and newly engaged sister! Greg was hamming it up as usual!

So for these posts, I've made it to the December 26th. Hmmm I've got a lot more to go! There are more pictures to come! :)

My walk with the LORD

I am overwhelmed with happiness and I want to share it with you all. This year has already been so wonderful. God is so good!

I started a reading through your Bible in year program that has been so awesome. A pastor at my dad's church was handing out these nice calender booklets with what you are supposed to read written on each day. There is room for notes on the bottom of every month so you can write sermon notes or anything the Lord speaks to you about.

So each day I've been reading 2 chapters in the OT, 1 chapter in Psalms, 1 chapter in Proverbs and 1 chapter in the NT. I have to tell you that I've never read the Bible this way before and I LOVE IT! Because of the variety in each different book I read, I feel as though I'm overflowing with God's goodness by the time I'm done. But not only that, I'm convicted about some area in my life that I'm lacking and I'm also thinking about where I'm headed and if I want to be like that person that I just read about. Here's some things I've been reading:



The other day in Gen., I read about Lot. I was literally sickened reading how he offered the men of Soddom his daughters and told them that they could do whatever they wanted. These girls were pure and yet in Lot's mind it didn't seem to matter. It left me thinking about how far sin can really take you if you let it. He had lived in Soddom for so long that his thinking was literally changed. His senses were dulled and things that would have mattered to him a few years ago no longer even caused him to bat an eye! It caused me to think about what my own conscience has been dulled to in this world that we live today where evil is so readily accepted.



In Mathew I was blessed to read the account once again of the 5 loaves and 2 fishes. What the Lord can do with the little that we have if we only offer it to him. Since moving here and becoming a part of my husband's church, the Lord has used the little talent that I have in so many ways. I have been able to sing, play the piano on Wednesday nights and Sunday's if my MIL is out of town. My brother-in-law just started a new singing group and asked me to be the piano player since they will be doing a lot by ear or using songs without much accompaniment written for it. Everyone knows that this is my specialty because I get so stressed out when I have to sight ready harder pieces of music in front of other people! So the Lord has taken the little that I had--playing by ear-- and is using it for his glory.



In Psalms I was filled with hope as I read of the Lord's mercies and long suffering to the righteous. My friend Jessica lost her baby girl at 7 months along in her pregnancy. If she does get pregnant again, it will be a very high risk pregnancy. She will have to give herself shots in the stomach 2-3 times a day. Her anemia will be worse. She has ulcerative colitis so that only adds to everything. At the time she lost her girl, JoLynn she had only gained 5 pounds. Reading verses of hope in the Psalms shows me that God has a great plan for her. We just have to wait and see what it is!



In Proverbs I've been convicted about being a gracious woman. I don't know if people would describe me as that. I doubt it and I definitely wouldn't say it about myself! As a woman, the Lord requires many things of me. I'm just hoping to live up to some of them!

I just had to share that with you. I'm so excited about what the Lord has done in my life already. I feel so much closer to him that I did last year! I'm so thankful for what he's shown me!

Christmas Day

Here is my first post of a few that I'm going to write about our trip home for Christmas. This one is all on Christmas Day! It was the best Christmas I've ever had for sure!

Brookie in her new Christmas outfit from Nonnie.

I love spending time with my beautiful sisters!

The hat came with the outfit too--so adorable!

I absolutely LOVE this picture! They were going to kiss under the mistletoe and then she looked up. I just love the way it came out!

What good is mistletoe if you can't enjoy it??!! :)

L to R: Fiona (second cousin), Nicolea (sissy), Brookie, Lydia (sissy) holding Alexis (second cousin)

Cola proudly showing off her puppy

The AFTERMATH!!!

I took many more pictures but here's just a sample! Hope you enjoyed them.

Background

Well, I was finally able to change my background! I'll be keeping it wintery for a while now. I don't ever get to see snow so I thought I would like my blog to look like a cooler climate than the one I live in. :)
I started uploading some Christmas pictures, but got a little overwhelemd seeing that there are about 300 of them! So, in the next few days I will try to post different things that we did instead of doing them all in one post. I will do Christmas day, day after Christmas, New Years, sledding and different events like that. So look forward to lots of pictures soon! :)

A little Update

** I tried to change my layout before this post but something is wrong with the website so I can't! I realize that it's no longer Christmas :)**

**I left my camera at my parents house. It should be here in a few days, but for now I can't post any pictures**

Hello Everyone!
I realize it's been a while since I posted. I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Years just like me! As you know I was able to go home for the Holidays this year and I have to say it was in the top couple Christmas' I've ever had. We had no delays on our flights and arrived at my parents house around 7pm for their Christmas Eve open house. There were about 100 people there so it was a little overwhelming! :) It was so much fun that night, spending time with friends, opening gifts, eating and seeing people that I hadn't seen in a while.
That night lasted until about 3am, but who can sleep in on Christmas morning? Not us! :) My Mom really went all out and the tree was mounded with presents for all of us! We exchanged gifts for over an hour I think! Brookie of course was spoiled with a ton of clothes, toys and books from Nonnie and Poppy, her 7 aunts and 1 Uncle.
The rest of the day was spent at my Grandma's house where we had a big brunch along with a deep fried turkey! I've never had one before and it was delicious! My aunt's new husband is an amazing cook and he was the one who did it, faithfully standing outside in the snow to cook it!

The rest of the trip was spent shopping (several times of course), bowling, partying, eating, talking and playing ping pong. Nate also got to go snowboarding with my brother and soon to be brother-in-law! My sister got engaged the day before Christmas Eve! :) Her ring is so pretty and of course I will post pictures of it when I get my camera. One night her and her bridesmaids (me included :) stayed up late watching a girly movie and talking and being VERY weird :) . The next morning my dad made us the BEST breakfast ever, then we left to go to Joann's to look at material, patterns and flowers. It was a fun day of wedding planning and we finished it off by eating at Burger King at the mall. I know...we are cheap. We could have eaten at a nice girly place but that is where we ended up because some of us don't like spending money! :) (And it's not me)

Well, I don't want to bore you too much. I prefer pictures over a journal of what happened anyway, so I will let the pictures do the talking when I get them. Happy New Year!