Merry Christmas

 

I hope you all had a wonderful day!

 

 

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

20 WhAt?!?!?

I turned 26 last week and as I have gotten older my birthday has slowly turned into not just a one day thing, but a week long celebration. Nothing big or crazy, it's not like I'm expecting Chris to have a gift for me each day of the week or anything, I just like getting together with my friends and family and since most of the time they can't all get together on the same day it just turns into a Birthday Week. :)

Last week was a pretty great week!

Before the week started I treated myself to a mani and pedi.

My actual birthday fell on a Monday and it started off with a birthday sticker from the principle, which I wore proudly all day and got lots of hugs and birthday wished from all the kiddos. My awesome team at work got me a Starbucks gift card and we had a little party at work during lunch!

Monday evening my parents, grandpa, sister, nephew, and Chris' grandparents came over. 

My mom brought my all time favorite meal, ChIcKeN and DuMpLiNs which she makes for me each year on my birthday and Chris' grandma made me a Neapolitan birthday cake, Yumm!

My nephew Levi wore this shirt just for me! I love his tough guy face in this picture! 

I couldn't get him to smile.

Tuesday evening Chris and I went out to dinner with some friends of ours, Chris and Heather! We had my other favorite, Mexican, and for dessert they treated us to Cold Stone Creamery Birthday Cake Ice Cream!!

Wednesday and Thursday were normal days but I ended the week strong . . .

Friday night we had a Pizza/Game night at our house with Anna and Mason (sis & brother-in-law) and Heather and Bret (our best friends). We played Family Feud (girls against guys) for hours and I'm pretty sure we were all laughing most of the time!

It was a pretty awesome week and
I am thankful to everyone who made it special for me!

Photoshoot

Chris and I got a chance to get some new pictures taken a few weeks ago so I thought I would share them with yall!

Special thank to Amy Horton for taking these for us!!!

 

 She always tries to make us do serious faces and I'm sure the pictures would be so cute if we were but we just can't do it!

 It took EVERYTHING in me not to crack up here!

Yes, it was George's birthday the day we took the pictures :)

The wind was CRAZZZY & again, we can't be serious!

  LOVE these last 2!!

Thank again to Amy . . . We Love her!!

I have the best dog ever . . .

and yesterday was his birthday! 

 

Thanks to Amy Horton Photography for the picture! :)

Familiarity

One evening I was on facebook and I was checking out old post that I had never gotten around to reading when I came across this quote that a friend of mine had posted.

 

I've never read it or even hear of the book but it was taken from "Enemies { From Within } Exposing the strongholds of negativity and familiarity" by Norman Willis and this is a quote from an Anonymous source.

"I came face to face with one of Satan's slyest agents, the agent of familiarity.

His goal is nothing less than to take what is most priceless to us and make it appear as most common. To say that this agent of familiarity breeds contempt is to let him off easy. Contempt is just one of his offspring. He also sires broken hearts, wasted hours and an insatiable desire for more.

He is an expert at robbing the sparkle and replacing it with the drab. He invented the yawn, he put the "hum" in "hum drum" and his strategy is deceptive. He won’t steal your salvation; he will just make you forget what it is like to be lost. You will grow accustomed to prayer, and therefore not pray. Worship will become commonplace; study will be optional. And with the passing of time, he will infiltrate your heart with boredom and cover the cross with dust so that you will be safely out if reach of change.

Nor will he steal your home from you. He will do something far worse. He will paint it with a coat of drabness. He will replace evening gowns with bathrobes, nights on the town with evenings on the recliner and romance with routine. He will scatter the dust of yesterday over the wedding pictures until they become a memory of another couple in another time.

He won’t take your children; he will just make you too busy to notice them. His whispers to procrastinate are seductive. There is always next summer to coach the team, next month to go to the lake, and next week to teach Johnny how to pray. He will make you forget that the faces around your table will soon be at tables of their own. Hence, stories will go unread, games will go un-played, hearts will go un-nurtured, and opportunities will go unnoticed all because the poison of the ordinary has deadened your senses to the magic of the moment. Before you know it the little face that brought tears to your eyes in the delivery room has become, perish the thought, common. And unless something changes, unless someone wakes you up, the common kid in your home could become the common stranger.

All because of familiarity.

It took the near drowning of our child to waken me. I had forgotten how important common things are. I'm forever grateful."

Happy Halloween

I hope you all have a fun and safe Halloween!

Our Newest "Nephew"

One of my VERY BeSt FrIeNdS welcomed her Sweet #5 into the world!

Blade Thomas Cox

10lbs 8oz 21 1/4in

Born 10/25/2012 at 12:34pm

 While mom and dad were busy at the hospital Chris and I got to spend some quality time with his big brothers and sisters!

 We spent the afternoon hanging out at the house waiting for the "All-Clear" from dad to bring them up to meet their new little brother!

 We LOVE him!!!!

After our short visit the 6 of us headed back to our house for a sleepover! :) After a pizza picnic on the kitchen floor we snuggled up to watch some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles before calling it a night!
You all have no idea how proud Chris was that the kiddos loved the old cartoons!

This brings us to grand total of 5 nieces and 4 nephews and we love them all to pieces!!!

Home

Over the summer Chris and I moved into our new house!
It is small but once we factored in the location and our awesome neighbors we couldn't turn it down! :)

 Here is a little tour of our new place!

Kitchen

Living Room

The long hallway

Guest Bathroom

Guest Bedroom

Master Bedroom 

 

Master Bathroom

 
Our Closet before we moved in . . . but there is no need to see it now ;)

**Notice there are no pictures of the yard!**
The yard is under some major reconstruction but it has also already come a LONG way! :)

So who are those awesome neighbors you might ask?!?!

Yep, that's right! My favorite set of quads (plus their new baby brother that will be here TODAY!!!!) and our best friends, their parents! :)

And on top of that my handsome nephew Levi and his mommy and daddy live about 5mins down the road!


There is NO PLACE LIKE HOME!

P.S. If you didn't catch it, my newest "nephew" will be here today! Please say a little prayer for the Cox family!

A Heart for Kids . . .

pic by: Amy Horton Photography

Yep, that's me! I am one of the very few married young ladies at my church without kids and yet most of what I do revolves around the kids there! Their ages range from new born to high schoolers and I love each and every one of them like they were my own! 

For the past few years I have been in charge of our nursery program which at first glance it might seem like I get to sit and snuggle with babies every Sunday but the reality of it is I spend most of my time scheduling, rescheduling (sometimes rescheduling again), cleaning, & organizing. Believe me, I'm not complaining, I love it and I do sneak in every now and then to get my "baby fix" :) but with every ministry sometimes, even if it may seem obvious to me, people begin to take it for granted and you have to remind them why it is so important. 

My dad sent me this article and as I was reading it I thought, 

"Finally, someone gets it and he is even a man!"  :)

so I thought I would share it with y'all . . .

   

Seven Reason Why Your Church’s Nursery Is Vital to Your Church

Too often serving in the church nursery can seem like a thankless job, but it should not be that way. With that in mind, I offer these following seven reasons why ministering in the church nursery is important.

Reason #1 - God is in the church nursery. This may come as a shock, but the God’s Word has specific promises about God’s presence when children are welcomed and loved in Jesus’ name. (Mark 10:13-16)

Reason #2 - Your ministry in the church nursery allows church goers to focus on worship, rather than caring for their children’s needs for a little while. In a very real sense your ministry makes it possible for the pastor to fulfill his ministry. (1 Corinthians 12:4-7)

Reason #3 - The first (and sometimes lasting) feelings a child will have toward church is formed in the nursery.

Reason #4 - When you minister in the nursery, you are being entrusted with the most important (and vulnerable) members of the church family. There is no greater treasure on this side of heaven than the little ones God has given us. You must be someone special to have a job that is so important. (Psalm 127)

Reason #5 - Your ministry is essential for your own spiritual growth. You may have never looked at it this way, but a growing Christ Follower is always a serving Christ Follower. Jesus was known for putting others first, when you minister in the church nursery you are walking in His example. (John 13)

Reason #6 - The church nursery is the first contact young families will have with your church. Your friendly greeting and exceptional care for their children can make a great first impression for your church. If they don’t feel like their children are safe, they will not return - and rightly so. (Matthew 25:40, 45)

Reason #7 - Your ministry in the church nursery is a powerful opportunity for prayer. If every nursery worker would spend several minutes praying over the children in their care, imagine how God might begin to change this coming generation. There is no better way to create an environment of spiritual nurture than to pray while you serve in the nursery. (Titus 2:3-5)

Mark 10:13-16, “Some people were bringing little children to Him so He might touch them, but His disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw it, He was indignant and said to them, ‘Let the little children come to Me. Don't stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I assure you: Whoever does not welcome the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.’ After taking them in His arms, He laid His hands on them and blessed them.” (HCSB)

© 2008 Tony Kummer Ministry To Children - http://ministry-to-children.com Permission is granted for non-commercial use of this content.

If you attend a church (and especially if you attend my church) and you are not active in the church nursery,  
shame on you! 

Sorry, if that seems harsh but there really is NO excuse and believe me I've heard a lot of them! 

Man, women, young, old, parent or not I can and will find something for you to do if you are willing! There is always an opportunity! 
I pray that you seek out what God's plan is for you and the babies at your church! 

*I realize that I am being a little partial to the nursery ministry in this post so I want to end by saying, if you don't feel lead to serve in the nursery please find somewhere you feel God is calling you because I know without a doubt in my mind he's not call you to come in and sit in the pew!*

**And to those who are already serving in a ministry,  
THANK YOU!**

God Bless!

A new "Niece"!

As you probably have noticed, Chris and I have a lot of nieces and nephews that are not technically related to us. We have some friends that are very close to us and we see them and their children as our family so with that being said, I would love to introduce you to our newest "Niece" ...

Julia Belle

She was born Sunday, September 23rd, 2012 at 8:12am

6lbs 11oz 20in long

Her mom and dad are the friends that we surprised in Pensacola this past March!

 

Proud Mommy and Daddy - Nicky and Willie

We love and miss y'all so much!

Love/Hate Relationship

That's right, I have a Love/Hate relationship with fall . . .  

I love cooler weather and I love watching the leaves change colors but I strongly dislike football season . . . 

Outnumbered

Yep, that's right I was outnumbered 5 to 1!

Over the summer I had all these kiddos over for an afternoon so that their mom's could work or just have a little break.

We had an afternoon of fun . . . 

A little bit of loving on George.

A little bit of coloring.

 Mixing up some pudding.

 

 Enjoying our pudding creation.

 Loving on each other :)

and last but not least . . . . Dinner and a Movie

I sure to love these kiddos and all the Crazy faces they make!

Korbin, Baxlyn, Kylee, Brody, and Levi

Back to School

After 6 years of teaching I still feel this way on the first day of school! :)

Crazy Busy Summer

This past weekend Chris and I went to a wedding of one of my co-worker and good friend Chris and his beautiful wife Heather! We had a blast getting to see co-workers and friends. 

Sadly we didn't get any pictures with Heather but here are the few we did get. 

I guess we were to busy having fun! :)

 Kenneth & Gia with us

Chris, Me, and Kara

Side note . . . . we MOVED!!! More pictures and info coming soon! :)

Levi James Keller

2 years ago today my nephew Levi was born! 

He is such a fun, crazy, silly, clang dump lovin', drum playin' boy!

Uncle Tiss, Aunt Beff and Dorge 

love you sooooo much!

We Made It!

That's right, we have been married for 5 years! I can not believe it! We have been through so many ups and downs (mostly ups) throughout these 5 years and I am so thankful that God led us to each other (almost 8 years ago)! 

It has truly been 
5 fun, crazy, wonderful,  
awesome, silly years 
 and I am so excited about what the future holds for us because I know that God has some awesome plans!

Happy Anniversary Babe!

Hiding His Word in Their Hearts!

Every Wednesday night we have been working with the kiddos in Patch Club to help them learn a new verse each week and the following week they get a prize if they can remember it! I have been amazed at how well they are remembering the verses! These first 2 videos are verses that we started with . . .

Psalm 95:1

Psalm 51:10

My mom had this idea that we should teach them several verses in a row so that once we were done they would be able to say a whole passage by heart! They can now say Philippians 4:4-7 altogether. 

(I had them record them separate so they wouldn't be to big upload!) 

 So here you go. . .

Philippians 4:4-7

"I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you." - Psalm 119:11

How am I doing . . .

In January I set 4 goals for myself for this year and now we are already 5 months into 2012 so lets see how I'm doing . . .

 

#1. Commit to the Lord!
"Commit to the Lord whatever you do and He will establish your plans." - Proverbs 16:3

I have been working very hard on not letting things that are out of my control stress me out and turning those stresses over the God! So far so good! I have also adopted another verse to focus on this year and since then the things that caused me worry aren't so bad anymore!

"Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done." - Philippians 4:6

#2 Be more Organized!

I have to say I'm doing pretty good on this one! My closets and under my nightstand is pretty darn organized & clean! My next project is the pantry!

#3 Be more involved in my church!  

My main goal was to find ways that I can use the gifts and talents that I have been given to glorify God! I am starting simple by preparing a meal once/twice a month for my home-group Bible Study on Sunday night
"...Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. " - 1 Corinthians 10:31 

#4 Be a better Aunt!

 So here was my plan . . . throughout this year I want each of my 7 nieces and nephews to have multiple Uncle Tiss & Aunt Bethie days! 

So far we've done 1 day with Jocelyn and Laila, 1 day with Kylee & Brody, and 1 day with Levi. Now I just need to do 1 day with Korbin and Baxlyn before we start all over again! :)
What about you? Did you have any goals for 2012? How are you doing?

God Bless!

Ice Ice Baby

Chris, Nik & Dan preforming "Ice Ice Baby!"

This always makes me smile!

Have a great weekend

I Love Surprises

 Over 5 months ago I got a call from a friend of ours, Nicky, who is married to one of Chris' BEST friends, Willie. Willie and Chris have been friends since they were 4 years old and even though they have not been living anywhere close to each other for over 15 years now they have remained very good friends. Nicky called me because she wanted to plan a surprise for Willie and she wanted us to be involved! They live in Illinois so we don't really get to see each other that often so we planned a surprise vacation for Willie's birthday!  

Once we decided Pensacola would be the perfect vacation spot for all of us we booked the hotel, Nicky booked their plane tickets and Chris and I got my car all ready for the trip (so we thought . . .)

Chris and I left town Wednesday afternoon right after I got home from school. We were headed for Biloxi, MS, but we never made it. Chris was driving and at 11:40pm he woke me up and said, "Babe something wrong, the cars not working and all the lights are on!" As I woke up my poor car was coasting to a stop. Chris had stopped at a red light and when we pushed the gas to go, that was it, the car was done, no warnings. :(  We found ourselves on the side of the road in Hattiesburg, MS which is just about an hour from Biloxi. I called our insurance since we have roadside assistance (THANK YOU GOD!)  and they sent out a guy to try to jump start it since we really were not sure what the problem was. Like I said, there was no warning, no smell, no leak! After a failed attempt to jump start it in the rain, yes, it was RAINING! We had to wait for the insurance to send out a tow truck. While we were waiting for the tow truck the insurance sent out a local police officer the check on us. He informed us not to leave our car or stay in any of the hotels within walking distance, "Everything will be missing in the morning!" - no joke, those were his exact words! So we waited in our car, at 3:15am the tow truck finally arrived and towed the car to a Firestone, 4 miles up the road.:(  This was the view from our car from 11:40pm-3:15am

The tow truck finally arrived!!!

After the tow truck dropped us off and we rolled the car back into a spot we grabbed all the beach towels out of the trunk and wrapped up to try to keep warm and get some sleep. Firestone opened at 7am so as soon as they unlocked the doors we went in to get help. At that time we still had some hope that we would be able make it to Pensacola (just about 3hrs away) in time to pick up Willie and Nicky from the airport at 3:40pm. At 8:15am when they figured out what was wrong with it we knew there was no way we were going to make it in time to meet them at the airport. They told us that we needed a new timing belt, water pump and some other things but the kicker was that even if they did all that work it was a 50/50 shot that they car may or may not work again! At 1:30pm the parts arrived and they got to work on the car and we started praying! 5:30pm was the moment of truth! Everyone in the shop held their breathe as we waited to see what would happen and when the car started we heard cheering all over the shop! 14 hrs later we were on the road again!

Earlier that morning in Chicago Nicky woke Willie up, gave him the airline tickets and told him to get dresses (she had already packed their bags). Nicky text us right before they departed from Chicago but at that time we didn't know what to tell her about the car so we waited. They had a lay over in Dallas so she "went to the bathroom" to get away from Willie and called us. Chris told her everything and they decided that she would get a taxi to get them to the hotel and do her best to keep everything a surprise!

We made it to Pensacola at about 8:30 that evening. Nicky text us the room number and we headed up to the room! Y'all have no idea how excited Chris was!

 

The power had gone out before we got there & the hotel was sending up someone to work on the cable so when Nicky opened the door she said, "Oh, it's the cable guy!" When Willie got up off the bed and saw

Chris he froze. You can't see it in the picture but Willie totally teared up! :)

 

It was a PeRfEcT SuRpRiSe!!! It is still hard to believe that we pulled it off!  We planned everything out for almost 1/2 a year and Willie had NO CLUE!!

Did I mention that Willie was so happy to see Chris?

Our hotel was beautiful and it was right on the beach which made it even better! 

Here is the view from our balcony. . .

We had so much fun! The next morning the weather was a little rainy but we went out to the beach anyway.

Each night we would get all cleaned and a head out to try one of the fun restaurants there. 

The rest of the time the weather was perfect and we were outside and on the beach as mush as possible!

On Sunday (Willie's Birthday) we went out for a nice dinner and surprised him with a little birthday cake!

 

Monday we decided to take a dolphin cruise! After we made the decision to go on the little cruise I remembered that Chris gets sea sick on ferry boats, you know the kind you stay in your car and they shuttle you back and forth, so we planned a head and had him take some Dramamine. The max dose was 4 pills so before we left he took 2 and as we were sitting there waiting to take off he said he really thought he might need the other 2 cause he was starting to feel it. The 2 hr cruise was great and we had a lot of fun!

 

We saw dolphins and we had a dance party! The captain thought that since Nicky and I were taking picture and recording Willie and Chris dancing that we needed our own little duet on the bow of the boat, in front of everyone!

After the dolphin cruise we headed back to the hotel to watch the sunset on the beach. 

One of the side effect of Dramamine is that it can make you tired. Well the meds did everything they said they would do, Chris didn't get sea sick and hours later he was exhausted. We decided that we would just order pizza and hang out at the hotel the rest of the night and it is a good thing we did. No joke, Chris was having a hard time staying awake to finish his dinner. Poor guy!!!

Tuesday morning we woke up early and packed up all out stuff and headed out to take Willie and Nicky to the airport. :(

After dropping them off Chris and I began our very uneventful 11 hr drive home!