faithfulness

“Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him,for he shields him all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders.” Deuteronomy 33:12

"For great is his love toward us,

and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever" Psalm 117:2

"Trust in him at all times...pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge" Psalm 62:8

please pray!

please join us in prayer for one of my dear friends Monique, her husband Clay and their seven week old baby girl, Hazel. Monique was my roommate at Baylor and her husband, Clay just found out soooo suddenly that he has crazy, serious cancer!!! So scary. (it's a 6inx1in mass in his abdomen. They think it's large cell lymphoma)  They're both from Ft. Worth but just had their 1st appointment at MD Anderson in Houston last week to do a billion tests and hopefully get started with chemo next week. Clay is such a wonderful man, just started a new job at a church in Ft. Worth and was planning to finish seminary soon. He has always been super healthy/fit (i think he's done p90x like three times) this is just so crazy. He also hasn't had really any side affects which makes it even weirder. My heart breaks for them.

They are posting many more details on their website here: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/claywooten

Please please pray for them! Here's what they've asked us to pray for specifically:

-ultimate healing for clay
-clay and his chemo treatment, that he would feel minimal side effects
-wisdom and guidance for the doctors to treat this cancer well
-rest for clay and i, and clay's parents, whatever that looks like
-clay, hazel and i that we cling to His truths specifically his mercies being new every morning

Thanks!!!

"Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in thanksgiving." Col 4:2

Engagement Day

Four years ago today my sweet Mark Mason had the biggest surprise planned for me. Here’s what happened:

 Mark was in Waco visiting for the weekend (it was a Sunday evening) I was at a tri delt meeting but Mark and I had planned to go on a ‘valentines/congrats on sing being over’ date {since I had basically not had a life apart from Sing until that weekend}. I got home and he said he had my valentine’s present in my room .... four super fun new dresses laying on my bed (which he picked out)  and he said “pick one :)”. It was the sweetest thing!!! I picked a cute gren dress and got to wear it on our date that night. (and somehow later I talked him into letting me keep two others haha) We went to dinner at 135 Prime (yum) and then after dinner as we drove back he said “let’s go on a walk down memory lane” so he starting talking about our first date, other fun dates, things he had learned about me throughout the 3 years we had been dating and we were laughing about dates and stuff and then we ended up at the Baylor Baseball field {time out: to preface…. The baseball field is where we had our first kiss. We “broke” in one night (and don’t worry mom, by break in I mean we opened the unlocked gate and went in). It was so so so pretty and I still feel like we were in a movie that night. It was a full moon, we were dancing on the pitchers mound and then he kissed me. So sweet. And I will never forget that moment} Back to the engagement…. As we pulled up to the baseball field he said something like lets just go see if we can get in again. As we walked around the corner to the field, I saw the most beautiful thing! Candles in mason jars and flowers all over the place and on each mound. It was so pretty!!! 

Obviously, I figured it out at that point. He started saying the sweetest things about when God told him I was the one he was going to marry while he was on his summer-long trip in India the summer before…. I wish I could remember it more… he asked on one knee, I screamed yes!, then he turned to the bleachers and screamed “she said YES!!” At that moment my family (who drove from Missouri) Mark’s family (who drove from Amarillo) and all of our best friends (who came from everywhere) came out of the bleachers!! I lost it. They turned on the field lights and it was just the greatest moment ever!!!!! I’m getting teary again just thinking about it. We all went back to my apartment for a little engagement party after that and four months later, we got married :). 

I love you more than words Mark Mason and I couldn’t be more proud to be your wife. Thank you for asking me to marry you four years ago today.

As I was looking through these pictures I came across this hilarious video of me passing candle at tri delt meeting the day after getting engaged. It made me laugh!! I talked so fast and was shaking with excitement... so fun.

in other engagement news..... my sweet, dear cousin Anna is engaged to her precious bf Bo! I couldn't be more excited for them! They live in Kansas City and he surprised her with a big ski trip last weekend in Beaver Creek and on the last day proposed at sunset on top of the mountain! I'm still dying to see pictures but it sure sounds amazing. She will be the most beautiful bride and they have such a neat story of how the Lord has brought them together over the years. I just love how He works.

kisses

this is from a long time ago (i think it was actually on her 6 month birthday) but i just found it and laughed so hard so i had to share. sweet baby girl!






AND

this one is from valentines day when reese got her first doll. mark of course named her 'polly the dolly.' i think she likes her.... what do you think? :)

gigi and papa joe

Reese's Gigi and Papa Joe (my parents) came to visit last week. It was a very quick trip so I didn't feel like I got to see them too much since I had to work :( but they got to play with Reese all day so I know they had a blast! Wish we lived closer so they could see every little thing Reeser learns each day, but we're pretty good at making the most out of every moment we get together. Love you so much Gigi and Papa Joe!! Thanks for making the long drive down here - even for just a few short days. See you soon!

 

While they were here Reese turned ten months old. That entire day I kept looking at my baby girl and just couldn't believe how big she looked/acted! Maybe it was just her outfit or something..... but she just seems like such a 'kid' and not a 'baby!' :( this makes me sad {and sorta ready for another one! don't you dare tell mark i said that! ha} but on the other hand this stage is sooooo much fun! She is so interactive, seems to try to repeat things you say or do, laughs and smiles so much (except for the past week - she's FINALLY getting her first tooth! you can't really see it yet but i can feel it.) 

She crawls super fast and has great balance and is pulling herself up on everything and cruises around the coffee table or the couch. She can also walk by just holding onto one of our hands if she really wants to get to something. 

She absolutely loves bath time - probably because she gets to hear us sing the song my dad made up for us, "bathtime. bathtime. everybody loves bathtime. bathtime. bathtime. yes, siree." :) She splashes water everywhere and loves her rubber duckies.

She'll eat pretty much anything and has finally started eating off the spoon - praise the Lord!! Since she has always refused to take a bottle we're trying so hard to teach her to drink from a sippy cup. We just got one with a straw and she's pretty good at drinking from it. We're still working on it but hopefully this will be a good transition soon.

She would probably play peek a boo with you all day long and she also loves to open and close doors (except this may just be another way of playing peek a boo ha! its hard to tell)

She is such a joy and I literally run out of school everyday so I can get home to play with her. I can't believe she will be one in two more short months! crazy crazy!

love you punkin. 

ps. if anyone else is counting.... 16 days until we find out where mark matched for residency and where we're moving!!!!!! please please keep us in your prayers. this will be a HUGE day for us. It's on St. Patty's day, so it should be easy to remember. Hope it really is a lucky day. I couldn't be more proud of my sweet husband.

80s prom

I'm very late in posting this... But a few weekends ago we had an 80s prom party with the young adult department at church. We had so much fun!!! Here are a few pictures from the evening.













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Valentines

Yesterday was "valentines day party day" at school and it was totally taking me back. It's so adorable how these kiddos get so into their valentines boxes/bags that they've been decorating all week! They've picked out individual valentines for each kid in their class {most come with a tattoo or candy or silly band these days}. Most kids are wearing red or pink and they're all squealing with excitement about the party that their teachers have strategically planned for 2:15 so the craziness can only last for 45 minutes max! Ha. It's hilarious. I love sneaking into their classrooms during the parties and just watching the awesomeness of these precious kids who think no one is watching while they shovel cookies and cupcakes into their mouths.

So here's to valentines day! Xoxo





On another note, my house has been decorated with these DIY felt heart decorations for over a month now. I just love it!











On this last string of hearts I wrote random questions on each one. This is my favorite "game" to play! I love to ask random questions to mark (or whoever!) it's so fun to talk about things you'd never really ask otherwise. Here's a list of fun things to talk about on your valentines date :) {or on a walk, or driving in the car, etc}. We play this all the time!!!! I'm sure Reese will hate me for it but I sure don't care!

{This is from Gary Smalley and Ted Cunningham (they're both from branson!!) I saw it in my Parenting magazine! So Awesome!!!}

Take this with you on your valentines date with your hubby! You'll love finding out his answers - and it will give you something to talk about besides your babies.

Over appetizers...

1. Name three countries you’d like to visit.

2. Which celebrity annoys you most?

3. How would you spend $10,000,000?

4. If you could try out any occupation for a year, what would it be?

5. On a scale of 1 to 10, how cool are you?

Over the main course...

1. If you could rewind to any point in your past, what would you want to relive?

2. If you could take lessons to become an expert at anything, what would it be?

3. How would you spend a perfect day alone?

4. What would you want us to do together for the next ten years if you knew they were your last?

5. What’s the most honest thing you have ever done?

6. How would you like people to describe you at your funeral?

Over dessert & coffee...

1. Hollywood called. They want to make a movie about your life. Who would play you?

2. Name something you love that no one else seems to like. (Or name something that everyone seems to love except for you.)

3. What’s the one item you own that you know you should get rid of but never will?

4. Name one thing you miss about our dating days.

5. Last one. Make it good! What’s something positive about me that you don’t say often enough?