The pumpkin patch

On Saturday it warmed up to about 70 degrees so we decided to head out to a nearby pumpkin patch. After we filled up the van with gas (at 2.12 a gallon...yeah!) and drove past Oral Roberts University (man, the place is weird looking!) we went down a bouncy slide, climbed a hay mountain, and tried to pick up really giant pumpkins. It was a lot of fun.
Uncle Rusty and his family came with us. Gatlin and the boys were all over the place...this was heaven for energetic little boys. Gage and Aubri were content to stay in their stroller for most of the visit. Uncle Tommy, Aunt Deanna, and cousin Jordan also drove up from OKC to spend the day with us. It was such a fun treat to have them with us...we don't get to see them nearly enough. We are grateful to have another visit already scheduled at Thanksgiving.
After the Pumpkin patch we ate at Ruby Tuesdays and then went to the Gunn's house to watch Oklahoma State play Texas. The babies napped, the boys ran wild in the back yard, and the adults sat glued to the TV as OSU played a mighty game and did a grand job. Then it was off to the revival...boy did we all sleep good that night!


Uncle Rusty keeping guard as Gatlin and Nathan play

Cousin Jordan is getting so big! She was sure to touch every pumpkin in the patch!

Racing to the top of the hay mountain...no fair...Daddy's legs are the longest!

My little men...how cute are they???

Nothing sweeter in all the world than that little grin!

The Oklahoma Aquariam

We had a wonderful trip to Oklahoma. We needed some time away, and this really was the shot in the arm we needed! Here are some pictures from the trip to the Aquarium. It was fantastic. Some of the highlights include...
-a tunnel you walk through where sharks swim all around you...it would have helped had I not seen Jaws...I feared slightly for the lives of my children as we walked around in that tunnel
-finding a tank that had Dori and Nemo in it...I can only imagine how much more popular that tank has become in the last 5 years!
-Getting to pet sting rays and sharks...the boys said that the sting rays felt like "goo"
-Aubri screaming like someone was stabbing her as we entered the shark tunnel...she did NOT like that place
-Aubri trying to swim with the sting rays...she would have I am sure!
- playing on the pretend alligator outside the aquarium
-everyone falling asleep in the car before we hit the highway (a personal favorite of mine)

Enjoy the pictures!

Oklahoma...

We are here in Oklahoma. I am sitting in the hotel lobby...enjoying the wireless internet connection while the rest of my family naps contently in our hotel room. You see, we had a BIG day. We ventured out to the Oklahoma Aquarium this morning. And boy did we have a ball. We saw an octopus, jellyfish, otters, stingrays, sharks, starfish, and all kinds of other sea life. Nathan may be able to tell you more of the names because he literally just ran tank to tank shouting, "what's this one called daddy?" I am not sure he actually SAW a fish at all...but he certainly heard a lot of scientific-sounding names. If that kid retains only a tenth of the knowledge he encounters we will be looking at Ivy League schools for sure! He is a question-generating machine!

I don't have any pictures to post from the Aquarium yet because we are not home to load them on the family computer. But stay tuned...cute photos are on there way.

The excitement will continue tonight at the revival service. Services start at 7. I can't wait to hear Rayden preach tonight. The man is no doubt anointed by God to preach and teach. I am blessed to hear almost every sermon he delivers. I have now listed his personal blog on our site so you can check it out...he posts a lot of his sermons on there. You will be blessed as you read and listen to the insight into Scripture that God gives Him.

Tomorrow we will spend the morning at a local pumpkin patch (hopefully...if the GPS will tell us how to get there accurately) and then Rayden's brother, Tommy, and his family are coming to join us for lunch, an afternoon at the park, and then together we will plant ourselves in front of a tv for the Oklahoma State vs Texas game. Go Cowboys!

Check back soon for photos and more updates from our week in Tulsa. Love to you all!

exciting times...

Aubri is learning to walk. It is just about the cutest thing you have ever seen. She still chooses to crawl most of the time, but she is walking more and more each day. She is so precious!

My sweet little Nathan

This morning I have been blessed by the conversations I have had with little Nathan. I can tell that Jesus is working in Him and already molding Him so that he loves the things of God. First, at breakfast this morning Kaleb gave us his definition of salvation. The start of this conversation was out of left field but, hey, we went with it. Kaleb said that salvation is when you can't see someone's body...when they have to go away and die. Rayden and I gently corrected him by saying that slavation is something that happens before you die...it's when you ask Jesus into your heart. Then, as the light bulb went off in Kaleb's head, he added "so that you can live with Jesus in Heaven." Hooray...he got it. Then, so sweetly, Nathan added, "I wish I could be with Jesus in Heaven...when do I get to go live with Him." Fighting back the tears at the mere thought of it, I told him that God gets to pick when it's our turn to be with Him...but our job is to have Him in our heart and be ready. End of conversation.

Then, later we were on our way to Walmart to get some flannel sheets for the boys beds (their room gets very cold at night and their cotton sheets feel "cold" to them so they won't use them and then they wake up at 5 am freezing...mommy and daddy are willing to try anything to keep them in bed til 6:30) So, again, Kaleb starts the conversation. He says, "Jesus can't do bad things because he is just a baby." After a muffled giggle I proceed to remind the kids that Jesus did grow up and become a man...then he died on the cross to forgive our sins. But, he never ever made any bad choices. Again I see the evidence of the Lord's work in Nathan's life as he says, "I wish I could be just like God and Jesus. But I make too many bad choices." I told him that it's our job to try as hard as we can to be just like Jesus. Then when we make a bad choice we have to say we are sorry and then just keep trying. In the way only a 3yr old can he replies, "all this trying is really hard work" All I could do was simply agree and praise the Lord for his patience and the work that He is already doing in my sweet babies!

so far so good

Abour a year ago I was prompted to get Kaleb involved in AWANA. WHile I was never in it as a child, my brothers were and I remember it seeming really cool. And, at that point I was welcoming a chance to drop off my angels in someone else's care for an hour of quiet and Bible study. We found a nearby church that had the program and we enrolled. All the while I was wishing our own church had AWANA. I instantly fell in love with this programs ability to motivate kiddos to hide God's Word in their hearts and I was completely amazed at my children's ability to memorize Scripture (they put their momma to shame for sure!) Little did I know that God was preparing me to meet a sweet friend at my church named Karen. God had also placed in her heart a love for AWANA and the first time we talked we were in tears as we realized that GOd had given us a shared dream. We shared that dream with our mutual friend Nikki, who runs our kids day out program, and then the ball began to roll. THis August we launched the AWANA program at our church. It has been amazing.

We have over 20 volunteers who serve our 87 registered kids each week. I am in charge of the preschool part of AWANA, called Cubbies. It is for 3 and 4 year olds. I have 16 of each for a grand total of 32 CUbbies! It is AWESOME. I, of course, have 2 favorites. They are pictured above!

A typical Wednesday

Wednesdays are long days for us. For starters, it is youth group night...so daddy is certainly busy. He has two meetings every wednesday and then he doesn't come home until about 10pm. THe rest of us keep pretty busy as well. We have preschool...where mommy teaches gym class and get thoroughly exhausted. The boys have pretty much stopped napping at school. They do require them to lay on mats for about an hour...but my kids never fall asleep anymore. So, after school we head home and watch a movie because in just a short hour and a half we head back to church for AWANA. Normally, this is what happens while we watch our movie...