Sunrise

Did anyone see the beautiful sunrise this morning??

It was really amazing!

When Luke saw it, he said, "Wow...if I was God, I would have made a sunrise as pretty as that one too!!"

Psalm 19:1 -- The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.

Praying this . . .

My Lord God
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think I am following
your will does not mean
that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that my desire to please you
does in fact please you.
And I hope that I have that desire
in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything
apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this
you will lead me by the right road
though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always
though I may seem to be lost
and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear,
for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me
to face my perils alone.

- Thomas Merton (1915-1968)

More Snow???

For the third time this winter, it is SNOWING!! This is getting a little crazy!!

Today we woke up to snow, drove to school in the snow, worked in the snow, ran into Walmart in the snow, picked up the kids at noon in the snow, drove home in the snow, built snowmen in the snow, and now, late in the day, it is STILL snowing!!

Here's the latest measurement --

We went out after we got home and stayed out for 2 stinkin' hours!! I was seriously contemplating Googling the symptoms of frostbite when we came in!! It didn't seem that cold while we were out in it until the end.....then it was way cold!!

The boys had a blast and I was determined to make the best snowman ever. We strategized and planned and I quickly realized that my dream of the perfect snowman probably wasn't going to happen!! It was harder than it looked to make it just right!! The thought might have crossed my mind that I should have done a little research to figure out just the best way to make it work!! (I can take the fun out of just about anything!!!) :)

Anyway, here are our best attempts --

Me...trying to get the rolling action down!!

Landry is delighted at the progress we're making!!

And here are the finished products --

I've learned that we aren't a very crafty family (which I already knew) and that we were going to have to get creative with what to put on these guys! I ended up in the produce drawer of the fridge and used carrots for his eyes, a shriveling jalapeno for his nose, and some celery that was on its last legs for his smile. I'm guessing fresh celery wouldn't bend into a smile??!?

We then got a little over-ambitious and decided to make a snow family! From left to right, they are Scott, Alex, Parker, Luke, Landry, and me. Yes, I did make myself a little taller and thinner than I probably actually am, but I was the one creating!!

At first, the ideas for decorating were just a-flowing. You can't really tell, but Parker's guy has legos for his eyes and mouth because Parker loves Legos! My girl has blue marble eyes because my eyes are blue (which ironically, one of the marbles kept falling out....I'm sure that's a metaphor of my life in some weird way!!), and I'm holding a mini-back-scratcher which doubles as a broom!! How clever, I thought!! My mouth is actually a snake (which I hope is NOT a metaphor of my life!) that is from some Indiana Jones Lego thing!!

We went downhill after that!! Scott and Luke have pretzel eyes...no correlation at all....and out of sheer desperation, I grabbed some bark from the flower bed and made Alex and Landry's eyes!! Everyone has a carrot nose and we threw out some balls because we play a lot of ball!! This is the point where I cannot feel my fingers or toes!!

The saddest part of this little tale is that I looked out the window just a few minutes ago and our big snowman has already lost his top 2 layers!! WHAT???! All that work?? So much for the perfect snowman!! :(

A very little bit about Christmas!

Christmas of 2009 was a good one, though a different one!

It seems kinda weird now that it's mid-February to go back and post a pic of everything that got opened! So, here are a couple of highlights from the times when I actually had my camera. Of course, Christmas Day, the time spent with family that you only see once a year.....my camera decided not to make the journey!! :(

Christmas morning . . . . Santa actually came?? Impressive!!!

Apparently, that was the only official Christmas pic I uploaded!! Maybe I'll go back and revisit the pictures and add some more!

This is something that Parker got from Nana and Poppy. . . . the Lego Agents Command Center. This bad boy had over 1000 pieces in it and Parker pretty much sat down and got busy on it immediately. A couple days later, here are the results --

Parker is definitely a builder!! Yay!!

And a funny from Christmas. . . . when we got all the decorations down from the attic, we started to hang up the stockings and Luke's felt a little funny. I was a little nervous because of my issues with mice in the attic once, so I peeked into his stocking and found this - -

A little 3 Musketeer from last Christmas!! It's the gift that keeps on giving!!

Landry wanted to know if he could eat it!! :)

Alex is a ...... teenager????

Can it possibly be that my sweet, little, giant of a newborn baby is already 13 years old??

Sadly, it is possible!!

Alex turned 13 on December 16. He opted for a family party instead of a big, crazy party, so we went to Chili's to have the fun! Nana and Poppy, BigPa and Grandma, Reagan and Ms. Estes were on the guest list and here's how it happened:

The table ...

Opening up a gift....I have no idea what it is but Luke thinks it's hilarious!!

Reagan and Alex showing off a common 13-year-old gift this year....the ipod touch! Reagan had managed to score one of these for his birthday also!

Here are the goofy boys as they sang Happy Birthday! Alex was adamant that he did NOT want to be sung to but, of course, they knew we were celebrating a birthday. It worked out perfectly because we said it was Reagan's birthday too, which it pretty much was, and being embarrassed together is not nearly as bad as doing it alone!!

Reagan was totally getting into swinging his napkin until he saw me with my camera! He then covered up his eyes as though we wouldn't be able to tell who he was!!! Silly boy!!!

All in all, it was a very fun get-together and not having to clean up was an added bonus!!

Alex is an amazing young man with a deep, thoughtful side and a carefree, clueless side!! He is a huge help to me when I need him and can usually be counted on for a good laugh. Things have certainly changed since the doctor handed me that heavy baby over 13 years ago, but I wouldn't change any of it! Love you Alex!!

Thanksgiving 2009

Thanksgiving......let me think.....what were we thankful for???

We were thankful that Meagan and Lexie were here and we got to spend lots of quality time together!!! We took lots of pics of the kids together and my plan was to use something from those to send as Christmas cards. Since that didn't happen, here are the pics and just imagine them on a cute Christmas-y card with the words..... Merry Christmas .... from the Bagg Family .... Scott, Kristy, Alex, Parker, Luke, and Landry

This was our attempt at taking a picture while looking into the sun!! I think Lexie's face shows how that worked out!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!! :)

Our Loss....Heaven's Gain

Due to my very severe lack of blogging lately, I'm going to attempt to get semi-caught up.....starting back in November.

November 13, 2009

As I was dropping off Luke at school, I got a call from Scott , his voice heavy with emotion and the words, "My Mom died."

At first, I thought I must have misunderstood. Bernadine, though fighting gallbladder cancer, was doing well. She had done amazingly well. But I hadn't misunderstood. Bernadine had indeed, gone to Heaven and while it was sudden and unexpected for us, we know that it wasn't a surprise at all to the God of the universe.

Bernadine was an amazing person, wife, mom, and grandma. She juggled many hats throughout her life and managed them all well. It was a true honor to know her and to feel her love for our family.

Scott and I went to New York to spend time with the family and attend the services in her honor. The funeral was beautiful and was a really neat tribute to her life. It was a great time with the family and a huge shout-out to everyone that helped us out with the kids....my Mom and Dad, Emily, and the Rothenbergers. We could not have done it without you....thanks!!