prayers

Today Mark is taking STEP 2!! It's the second of the huge medical school board exams.... he's been studying all day every day for the past month. I've been so proud of his dedication and hardwork and I just pray so hard that it pays off today as he takes his 9 HOUR test. ugh. I could never go through medical school. Please join me in praying for wisdom and strength for him today. I know he must keep repeating this in his head today... "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength!" Thank you Lord for your promises to us.

Also, while we're on prayer requests... Mark is leaving on Saturday to begin his three months of away rotations. I have been dreading this for the past year and I cannot believe that it's here. He'll be doing surgery rotations in Kansas City for 4 weeks, Houston for 4 weeks and then Jackson, Miss. for 4 weeks (all of these back-to-back). While Reese and I will see him some on the weekends, he will not be back to Amarillo until the end of October. This is the weirdest thing. I know God has a plan and that He alone will get us through this, but it is going to be so hard. We will miss him more than ever and I will literally be counting down the days until he's back. Reese and I will leave with him this weekend and then head to Branson for the first week he's gone... then when I get back we start school :( oh man. What a horrible month August is. I may be in tears most of the month, but by God's grace we'll get through it. Thanks for your prayers!

at least i'll have this smile to keep me company!!! what a doll.

three

look who's three months old!!!

lunching with the babies

went to lunch with the sweet ladies in our sunday school class (and most of us have had babies this spring).... so needless to say we were quite a sight to see and took up most of the restaurant. it was hilarious but we had fun!

talking

giggles!

the little nugget gave out a real laugh/giggle yesterday!! like a great belly laugh. cutest thing i've ever heard. we were at our neighbor's house and Reese was watching their little girl, Lulu, play and then just laughed all of a sudden for like 15 seconds. i mean really it melted my heart. now i can't stop doing silly dancing, making faces and singing songs trying to do everything i can to get her to do it again hahaha! gosh, im obsessed with her. and i can't believe she's 12 weeks old. wow. here's a cutie little picture of her today. she rolled over right after i took this picture. wish i could get that on camera. hope you're having a fabulous thursdsay.

BEACH!

beach trip in pictures:

As usual, we had a blast at the beach! We were in Perdido Key, Florida (between Gulf Shores and Destin). Unfortunately there were oil spots all over the beach and we had a lot of rain and I had a baby to take care of and three people of the group couldn't come this year (anna is in PT school in KC, Kyle is in PA school in Baton Rouge and Taylor was at Kanakuk as a counselor).... so this was a different beach trip than we're used to, but we still had a blast together. It was so special for me to see everyone loving on Reese so much! She had fun and was such a great baby the whole time - from the flight to the heat to the storms and all the time in the car- what a trooper! I sure hope this continues :) Reese especially loved when my cousin Aimee would talk to her! Reese would ALWAYS "talk" back to her. She's making the cutest cutest little noises now and it is so fun to have a "conversation" with her. Reese also always lit up when she would see my brother. It was too cute! Uncle Trent was great at walking her to sleep at night, Aunt Holly introduced her to tennis and thankful didn't "squeeze her to pieces" even though she said she might every time she held her haha. Gigi took her on walks in the park and would always cuddle her anytime and PapaJoe was the best babysitter in the world! She loved to sleep on his chest. What a fun week! We can't wait to see everyone again soon! We also got to see my cousin Becca and her husband who live in Indiana and I haven't seen in about a billion years. They were driving through and it was so fun to see them. We can't wait to meet their little Emery in a few months! 

After our time at the beach we drove with everyone to Baton Rouge to spend the 4th with them. Again, we had fun being with everyone, eating yummy food, celebrating and shopping. It was hard to come home, as always, but here we are. Mark is busy studying for his second licensing board exam (july 28th) and Reese and I are getting back into the swing of things. 

Special Visit

The Drake family {Elliott, Lindsay and Avery (1)} came to visit us before we left for the beach. They are missionaries with Mission Emmanuel in the Dominican Republic so we rarely get to see them. It was such a huge blessing that they came all the way to Amarillo to be with us. We had the best time!! We mainly just watched Avery and Reese haha but we also went on a walk to the park, ate some yummy meals, the guys played tennis a few times, went shopping, went out to the canyon and just got some awesome time catching up. Here are some pictures from our time together:

Avery giving Reese kisses on her feet :)

I made the girls matching dresses... so of course we had to have a photo shoot!

We love you guys so much!!! Can't wait to see you again sometime soon!!

anniversary

Three years ago today - on 7.7.07 - I was marrying my best friend and so excited to spend the rest of my life with him. When I woke up today, I felt the same way. So incredibly blessed to have mark mason -such a wonderful husband, a Godly leader, an awesome dad, a dedicated med student (who is now a 4th year, I might add!!), a hilarious friend, an adventurous soul, a perfectionist.... and so much more. He completes me. I couldn't love him more and can't wait to see what else the Lord has in store for us. I love you Mark Mason. Thanks for putting up with me and for loving me so well.