Fun pics

Swimming at the Ogles

He looks so big!

Bite...anyone?

Why?

Nathan started asking "why" this week.

Nate: I want a bar (granola bar).

Me: You can't have a bar, but you can have a banana.

Nate: Why?

Me: Because I want you to eat something healthy.

Nate: Why?....

I think one reason God gives us children is to give us a visual on what our relationship with him looks like. So many times I will ask God for something and He will want to provide in a different way. I start asking why.... Why not this way? Why not now? Just like I want the best for Nate, God wants the best for me (even more so). If I believe that God wants the best for me than why do I fight so much for something else?

I am reminded today to keep my eyes on Jesus so that he can allow me to see his perspective on my life. I can only see what is right in front of me, but God can see the whole picture...what's coming up ahead.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

State Fair

We went to the State Fair on Thursday and Nate had a blast! Our first stop was the petting zoo. I wasn't sure if Nate would like feeding the animals, but I think this was his favorite.

Next, we were off to the pig races!

These little guys are fast!

Finally, we went to the kids area where they have all kinds of bugs to look at and animals that you can pet.

FYI, if you poke the rabbit in the eye, you lose your turn!

Labor Day...

...So I'm a little late. We went to Wichita for Labor Day and had a great time with Matt's parents. We enjoyed good food, good weather, and spent a lot of time in the water. Nate had a blast too. Saturday, he spent several hours playing in the water. Here's some fun pics:

Who needs pool toys when you've got a cup?

Goggles...too cute!

He liked swimming with Mimi and Papa! Funny story: At one point, Nate was walking around the pool and noticed the raft at the side. So, he jumped in and landed on it. He's cracking up. I'm freaking out because he wasn't wearing a life jacket!

Matt and I were not in agreement on this one, but you can see who won.

Notice the big boy haircut.

Home Improvements

When I came home from Tulsa a couple weeks ago, Matt surprised me by painting our room! In eight years, we have never painted our room. He painted three walls light blue and the the accent wall is a darker blue. So pretty! He chose the colors and I think he did a great job. I think the blue bedding looks ok, but we are thinking about going with something that has light blue and brown in it. Now we just need to put something on the walls!


Matt has been working hard on scraping paint off the house so he can paint in a couple weeks. Look what color our house use to be!! I'm thinking we will go a different direction. I can't wait to have our ouse painted! We are also getting a new glass door and putting up black shutters. Too cute.

T-Town

I spent all of last week in Tulsa. My Grandmother has been in the hospital with pneumonia. While she was there, the doctors ran some tests and discovered that she has lung cancer. I enjoyed every moment I got to spend with her. She loved seeing Nate. Here's a precious story I'll be able to share with Nate some day. When I first arrived, my Grandmother was pretty out of it. I had a difficult time understanding her, but I finally realized that she was asking me to put Nate in front of her so she could look at him. Her eyes just lit up. I'm amazed at what the presence of a child will do for people.

I wanted to be sure to get a picture of Nate with is Great HoHo!

Nate enjoyed more cousin time. Here he is with Parker and Bella.

Nate thinks Parker's the MAN and wanted to do whatever he did.

Fun With Cousins

A few weekends ago, Jewel and Easton came to stay with us. Nate loved spending time with his cousins. We enjoyed swimming, movies, pizza, and going to the park.

Jewel, Easton, and Nate watching a movie. Nathan always wanted to sit next to Jewel.

Easton making a silly face!

Happy Anniversary!

9 years ago today, I was running around trying to make sure all was perfect for our wedding that night. I can't believe it's been 9 years! Life has been great with Matt. God has blessed me with a man who far exceeds any of my expectations. Last year, for our eight year anniversary, Matt bought me 8 gifts that described what he loved about me. So, here's my list of 9 things I love about Matt (there are much more of course):

1. He has a heart for the LORD and a desire to know him more.
2. Servant attitude
3. Generous heart
4. Leads our family well
5. Kind spirit
6. Great daddy
7. Works hard so that I can stay home
8. Makes me laugh
9. A faith that's strong

Matt, Happy Anniversary! I love you so much and love being your wife. Thank you for how you love and lead your family in the ways of the LORD.

Jamie

Nate's 2!

Nate had a great time at his birthday party. I know he especially enjoyed seeing his mimis and papas.


The birthday boy...not too excited here.


Since Nate was turning two, he had two friends at his party. Jill might possibly be our future daughter-in-law and Jett is a buddy from church.


Nate loves trains. I didn't want a Thomas cake so I decided to make one. I think it turned out pretty good. Matt helped with the icing. We're thinking about doing this every year.


blowing out candles.

Nate enjoyed opening gifts.

Here are some of his presents. Others not pictured are: bubble train bank, slide, BIG dump truck, elmo sprinkler, bubble gun blower, sandbox, picnic table with umbrella, and money. (The KU football is not one of the gifts)

Eating cake at his new table.

Here are some pics of him playing with his friends.

Before and After

Here's some pics of the old and new roofs. We love our new roof! Soon we will be painting and putting up shutters.

God Box

We are starting a God Box. In this box, we will store items/letters of what God has done for our family in order to share with our children. Yesterday I had Matt grab a shingle for me to put in the box (I still need to find the perfect box). Along with the shingle, we will have a letter telling of how this new roof came about.

THE STORY:

We were planning on replacing our roof by the end of the year because it was pretty old. One morning, I just felt the urge to pray that if God would desire to have insurance help with a new roof that he would use the sustained winds we were experiencing that morning. I just went along with my day. Matt came home for lunch and we looked outside and there were shingles in our yard!! I was pretty pumped not only b/c we were getting a new roof, but also because this was one of my first times to have a prayer answered this way and so quickly. We began what we called "shingle hunting" for the remainder of the day.

We called our insurance company and two roofers. One company said that insurance would cover the damage, but the other company (the one we wanted to use) said no and that they would not be able to fight for us. We were discouraged, but still believed that they were the company we were to use. The adjuster called and said that he was too busy to come out. He gave Matt a list of questions to ask the roofer and then Matt was to call him back. Matt called back with the information and the adjuster sent a check. Now, here is the amazing part: the adjuster never asked to speak with the roofer, he never asked to see an estimate (but Matt did tell him what we were quoted), and he never even asked for the name of the company we were using. We were surprised at the amount he gave us...around 5900 minus 1000 deductible equals 4900. This surprised us because remember Matt had given him the estimate of 3900!! Through this process, we prayed for a generous adjuster. God answered!

We pray that one day this story will cause our children to worship their Heavenly Father.

The roofers are here!!

We were surprised this morning when the doorbell rang and even more surprised that the workers were here to start on our roof. Matt had just talked with someone yesterday who told him they would be starting our roof on Monday. We are so excited about our roof and how the LORD provided for us.

The guys seem to be doing a great job. They have also been recipients of Matt's generosity. He supplied them with a cooler of drinks and bought them pizza for lunch!! I absolutely love my husbands giving heart. He has taught me so much in this area.

I will update later with before and after pics.

Bloggin'

Well, we are officially bloggers. We thought this would be a fun way to keep people updated on what's going on in our lives, but we also thought it would be fun, for our family, to have a place to document ways the LORD is moving in our lives. As Nathan gets older, we want to share with him the stories of Gods faithfulness to our family. We thought this might be a good way to do just that.

With that said, hopefully I will keep up with this and not burn out in a month! :)

We'll leave you with a few cute pics of our boy.



Drinking out of the water hose like the dogs!


Watching Elmo on the iPod. Is this bad on his ears?