Congratulations !!!!

Thursday was my Grandma's last night in OK before flying back to Oregon. I was glad to have one last goodbye with her before leaving. It has been nice having her here and I look forward to going to visit her, maybe this year.

My Sisters and I with my Grandma

My oldest sister graduated on Friday night from college with her Bachelors in Education. She is going to make a superb teacher! You should see all the posters, prep work, visual aids, and so many other things she has made to use as she worked on projects and did her student teaching. She is very creative and talented and I cannot wait to see what school and grade she teaches.

My new glasses came in Thursday and I wanted to wear them but I didn't even think of the glare they would put in pictures. On Thursday night, I dreamed the lenses fell out!!! In my dream I was stressed that my brand new glasses broke but excited I wouldn't have white lights in pictures! I'm a crazy girl!! :-) What is it about Bryan and I? We cannot find a good balance in picture taking!!

I am so proud of Jennifer! She has accomplished a lot!! She received her Bachelors of Science while being a wife and mother to 3 great kids!!

I was thrilled to sit with my oldest niece and her friend! I felt like I was so cool! It is so fun being with my nieces and nephew. I've said it before...I feel young and old all at the same time.

We had fun! After graduation we went out to eat and I got to sit at the kids table!!! I actually wanted to!

The food was delicious!!! I had chicken fried steak with double gravy (yes, I have issues). Check out the size of these chicken fingers. They were huge!!!

I hope you have a great week!!! Bryan and I are very busy and may have some excitement in the next few weeks I hope to share. If I'm out of touch with you, know it is because we are working hard. Just so you aren't stuck wondering or hoping....it does not have to do with an adoption.

Easter 2009

Bryan and I attended a Good Friday service at our church. It was the first time we did this, but I'm so glad we did. We had a previous pastor of Emmaus bring the sermon. He preached from John 18 and the last 24 hours of Jesus life before dying on the cross. It was an amazing sermon. The worship time was amazing and I loved singing (although I'm sure I sounded hidious). After the sermon, we observed the Lord's Supper. It was the best way to spend Good Friday. I hope our church does it again next year.

Easter Sunday was cold and rainy. My dress was sleeveless but luckily I was able to find this little half sweater (I'm not sure what the proper fashion word is because it is less than a cardigan. It's shorter than a cardigan.). There is at least one family I know of at church that always tries to coordinate colors at Easter and I decided a few years ago to do that with Bryan and I. Some may think it is dorky, who knows.

After church on Sunday we made a very quick trip to Ada to eat lunch with Bryan's family. It was a great trip. We were able to see Bryan's parents, grandma, aunts/uncles, and cousins. A great way to cover seeing all the family quickly.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Kickin' It

Last Thursday was my birthday and I was so blessed to have my Grandma stay at my house for a few days. She is in from Oregon and is taking a few days to stay at each family members' house. I was thrilled to have her on my birthday!! On Thursday the 3 of us went to Lakeside Grill to eat some great Oyster nachos and Seafood enchiladas! Yummy!My grandma doesn't even know what a blog was so I think she thought it odd that I wanted a picture at a restaurant! :-)

I took Thursday and Friday off to spend with Grandma.

We had such a great time! On Friday, we visited her sister, ate lunch at the place that is catering Bryan's graduation reception (I had to make sure the food tasted good!), and then did some speed shopping in Norman! I loved shopping with Grandma. I was able to find 2 dresses for myself and I bought her a dress for her birthday/Easter! It was a wonderful memory I will not forget! Plus it was just so rewarding to find dresses for myself. I'm trying to build up my dress inventory and finding cute, decent dresses is often challenging for me!

Friday night we zoomed out to my sisters since my niece was going to the prom. My grandma wanted to see her in her dress. She was 4 years old when we got married. That 4 year old is growing up before our eyes!!

I felt so old in this picture!!

She is a doll! I was her size at one time!!! :-( What happened to my metabolism!!??

Bryan went to a HUGE gun show on Saturday and I was blessed to get to go to our friends' first soccer game! We are so blessed to have our friends "share" their children with us and we love it, love it when they include us and invite us to their functions. Here are 2 of the stars of the game!!
Steven

Jackson

Believe it or not, these two are best buds. Steven was just trying to turn Jackson's head for the picture. After the game, we ate at Chickfila and I was honored to sit at their table! I love to hear these two talk!! They give me high fives and ask all kinds of questions. I love it when they give me hugs!!
Their parents are doing a great job raising these boys!

Healing

The word "healing" can cover more areas than one would think.

My grandfather (on my dad's side) passed away March 21st and he is in heaven now healed of pneumonia and Alzheimer's.

My grandparents lived in Oregon. My grandfather was flown back to OK and my grandmother flew in for a small memorial service we had in Western OK on Saturday. She has sons on the West coast and then two in OK. It was good to see my uncle and his family.

My Uncle Isaac and I

The "Oklahoma" Crawford Family

My Grandma with her Oklahoma grand kids

My Grandma with her Oklahoma great-grand kids. Bryan and I hope to add to this picture someday!!

My dad and Bryan


I ask for your prayers this week. I am taking off 2 days from work so that I can spend some time with my grandma. I do not have as strong a relationship as I would like and I have really wanted to change that. Please pray we have a sweet time together and we get to know each other over again. Please pray I can overcome obstacles that have been placed in this endeavor.

We were a little anxious getting to Western OK due to the weather. This is what greeted Bryan and I as we got closer to Custer City but a lot of it melted later in the afternoon.

Healing can envelope the process of recovering from hurts by individuals. Have you ever experienced a time when someone hurt you and that person knew, really knew, their actions would hurt yet they did it anyway? It seems I have experienced this numerous times over the past week. God (and Bryan) is working on me to look past myself, be the bigger person, and display the fruit of the spirit. Let the past be in the past. Remember who I represent...Jesus Christ!! Work toward the future. I'm so glad I have Bryan who helps me keep balanced, let's me cry uncontrollably when I need to, and still loves me despite all the jibberish.

And of course, healing covers recovering from a horrible cold and infection. Over the past week, I have been to the doctor twice and finally got some antibiotics and other meds that are working. I think I'm on the road to recovery. I spent all day Sunday in bed sick and missed a day of work last week. Bryan later asked me how many times I died (this is something we do every time I'm sick. Call us dorks, I know!). I told him 772.5 times!! :-) I'm not a great sick person!

Spiritual healing can come from a great study of God's word. This past Monday, we finished our Beth Moore study on Esther. This is the sweet group I led. I will be lost on Mondays for a while without them.

Sherry Parker, Carla Young, Freddi Booth, and myself

Carla's (in the purple shirt) home was the host home. I love her!! She is like a mom and a friend to me. Everyone of these ladies have lifted prayer after prayer up for me, my family, and my family to come. They are so special to me and I am honored they are in my life!

They were crackin me up. They were working to make their faces skinnier before we took a picture of the 4 of us!! I warned them I would post it on the World Wide Web!!

I hope you are all having a great week!