Her name.

She has a name.

And I'm so in love with it.

Story.

She's God's story.

Written in the secret places of His heart.

Every chapter of her life dreamed into being.

Even now, in my womb, God's graceful fingers are creating her small form,

like a character leaping to life on the pages of a book.

tank top: forever 21  skirt, belt, shoes, and head scarf:  all thrifted

It's been 22 weeks of feeling that mystical energy of God creating inside me.

The due date we've been given is October 31st and my babies (unlike their mama) are always very punctual.

I'm an October baby as well and I'm hoping to share that month with my little Story.

My kids adore babies and they are so looking forward to another one of their very own.

Legend keeps looking down my shirt, expecting to see a baby hiding there, and Astair has been informing me that her tummy is "getting bigger, too".

Just us, a tropical storm, an island, and a few fish

It was crazy.

We nearly drowned. Twice.

I almost crashed our boat.

We outran thunderstorms and massive waves and tropical storm weather.

We waded through a foot of water to get to our cabin.

Changed two flat tires.

Almost lost an anchor, broke a fishing pole (his favorite), and were tossed about like a toy boat in a bathtub full of splashing toddlers.

But...we did catch some fish.
And we ate them and they were delicious.

Even more miraculous than that, we still love each other madly (you have to be a little mad to be us).

We determined to make the best of it.

Because marriage, like life, isn't always easy, but when the going gets hard you just gotta love harder.

going somewhere with you

It was an old no name guitar we found in my attic at the ranch.  Perfect size for me to learn on, you told me, and I was eager to play.  It came with me when I moved to Louisiana, all my possessions loaded to the top of a ranch pickup from Nebraska.  Our first year of marriage you tried to teach me.  We bought a wood burning kit and carved designs into the body.  We create well together.  Always have.  It's usually spontaneous, but somehow it turns out to be what we envisioned.

I got blisters.  Then forgot to practice.  And practice is everything, you would remind me.  Just when I'd get the itch to try my hand at playing guitar once again, I'd get pregnant.  And it's awkward holding a guitar over a pregnant belly.  You wouldn't know, though, would you?  You may get pregnancy cravings, baby, but you ain't never had the belly.  So for now I'm content to sit and watch you play.  While the kids dance and the sunlight grows hazy.  You strum the guitar and I smile in my soul.  How is it possible to fall a little more in love with you every day?

We're getting away this weekend, going on an adventure, just you and me.  Celebrating our 9th anniversary.  And I can hardly wait.  I never know with you what's going to happen.  But it's almost always memorable.

So, here's to memories and to making them last forever.

Thad's Super Spy Birthday

This is an official announcement from the Dicharry Spy Agency:  

Thad is Seven!

His birthday mystery mission was successfully solved by him and his fellow Agents.

  

Once the Super Sleuths arrived at the Agency, they were given their Spy Kits, fingerprinted, and then sent to the Decoding Station to decode a clue they received in their Kits.  The clue led them across the street where they recovered the stolen birthday present and surprised the suspect with water balloons.

All agents were rewarded with treats and a bomb cake that was successfully defused in time to sing Happy Birthday.

Every agent had R & R at the pool and presents were opened.

Mission Accomplished.

Well done, Agent Thaddeus.

The Dicharry Spy Agency is proud to have such a smart sleuth on our team.

Here are the pictures we recovered from the evening:

Here's to another year of great accomplishments, Agent Thaddeus!

P.S. From your parents:  You are loved tremendously!

P.S. #2 Much thanks to Pinterest for inspiration for the spy theme and the bomb cake.

our daddy and a sunset picnic on the water

Dear Love,

It was really pretty wonderful.

We haven't seen you for so many days

and we were all missing each other.

It was a gift that is even more precious

because now I know that it would carry 

us through another long weekend of you

having to work even longer hours.

And through your Father's Day, too.

I cried that the day wasn't as special as

you deserved.

But it's these kind of stolen moments that

we hold on to, isn't it?

You, me, all the kids and a boat on the water.

At sunset.

The sky aflame and the water glowing.

All of us together and feeling so happy.

Floating on a calm lake.

Spreading out a picnic and laying on our backs.

Holding each other while the waves rock us gently.

Loving every minute with you.

You are our favorite person.

We love everything about you.

All your sacrifices, all your devotion to us,

all the memories you make for us, all your love and

constancy.

To you, family is everything and we're the lucky ones.

You're the best daddy this world over.

a few of my thankful things

Are you on instagram?

Follow me here:                        

                                  

Whenever I need a reminder of my blessings,

 a quick browse through instagram always does the trick.

There's just something about thankfulness and recognizing God's bountiful gifts in the everyday

that brings a lightness to my soul. 

The more I'm thankful for, the more I start to feel truly blessed and all those other emotions competing for my attention suddenly seem less important.

As much as my life is always changing, those two things remain constant:

God is good to me.

And His faithful love endures forever.