Boring boring boring

I visit my other friends blogs and see how cool their backgrounds are so I decided to get techno and redo mine since it looked boring to me. I think it turned out nice, don't you? Since Travis won't let me rearrange the furniture EVER (fun-hatin-dream-crusher), I think I'll get my fix for "having to mix things up" by changing the background on our blog. We are so opposites, that Mr Kinley and I, which is probably why our marriage works well. He keeps me thinking realistically and I spice up his life...so he tells me :-).

On another note....Saturday night Travis and I got a babysitter for JT and we went to the airport at 9 pm with our friend Brooke (we had JT's birthday party at her house) and her son Abram to welcome back Brooke's husband, Ben, from Iraq. He was serving with the Marines for the past 7 months and it was so exciting to see this little family reunited. Abram turned 2 in Sept (while daddy was away) and I almost cried as I watched this little boy RUN to his daddy when he came through the doors. It was THE HIGHLIGHT of the year to see this little boy get his daddy back and for Brooke to have her husband home again. I'm so thankful to God that he protected Ben while he was Iraq serving our country. I wish I had gotten a picture of the reunion, but I was running Brooke's camcorder and Travis was taking pictures with her camera, so maybe I'll try and get one from her later.

So it's Monday and another week! My grandparents are coming for Thanksgiving and we are super excited to have some family here to visit. It's nice that we get to see them and not have to pack up and go anywhere to do it. This year was a marathon of travel for our family and as much as I love to travel, I really do think that we'll be taking a break for awhile. The first year, well at least for me, was all about figuring the whole new-baby-stay-at-home-mom thing and it was nice to break it up with some trips to Wyoming, but this year we've gotten involved in some weekly activities so we have to stick close and honor our commitments.

Hmm, let's see what else is new? Oh on Saturday before we put JT to bed and went to the airport we went to our neighbors house for a fiesta de cumpleaños aka a birthday party! Our neighbors are AWESOME and I just love the mom Laura. Juan and Laura have 3 kids and they are 12, 7 & almost 2 (at the end of the month). I think I've posted a few pics of Sabastian on here. He and JT love playing together. Anyway, Juan turned 36 and Laura invited us to the party. It was a huge party and the funny part was that they were all family. Juan is the only boy out of 7 kids!! All of his sisters, their husbands and their kids turned that party into one big fiesta! Thank goodness it's Texas and the weather is still warm enough to have parties in the backyard. Juan's family is super nice and I love that they have such a great sense of humor. Laura asked me to make some salsa that her and Juan love. Yes, I make salsa that the Mexicans can't get enough of!! It's a recipe that a Gringo friend gave me too, if you can believe that. Anyway, all of the family was eating it with their chips (and I have to admit they were all loving it) and one of the brother-in-laws said it was great, so when Laura told them that I made it, they were all shocked...to which I replied with a smile, "yes, the gringo made it and I do understand the phrase 'no me gusta'" (which means I don't like it)....that thought that was HILARIOUS!! We had so much fun and JT didn't want to go home...all those kids, home-made refried beans and tostados, he was in heaven.

On Sunday after church we did yard work. The leaves are falling in Texas and they are all falling right into our yard! Seriously, our neighbors leaves across the street end up in our front yard...so annoying!

Have a great week!

Remebering who is in control

"Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God." Romans 13:1

Correction

To make sure I'm clear about the "family drama" I posted about before, I just want to say that I'M probably most of the drama in my family. I didn't mean it disrespectful or with any distaste. I love you all very much and I'm sorry if that offended anyone.

C

Top 5

The top 5 gifts that I love God for giving me....and yes in this order too:

#1. Travis...I love him so much more today than yesterday or even the day I married him. How does that happen? I love his sense of humor and the way he knows how to get me to "mind" him without me knowing it. Turns out he really does know better than me on A LOT of stuff..dang I can't believe I'm actually admitting that, good thing he doesn't read this too often

;-)

#2. JT....I love that little fart. He frustrates me, tires me and brings me to my breaking point, but I have never heard a giggle quite as cute or seem a smile quite as bright or felt a slobbery kiss quite as warm as I do from this precious little guy. He is my first little boy and I absolutely think he is quite a little man already.

#3. My family (this includes the in-laws)...I have to admit that it took me moving away from them to realize what a gift they are. Every family has their drama and mine is no exception, but the feeling you get of ultimate relaxation from just being in their presences...knowing that you are completely accepted they way you are.....it is beyond words.

#4 My church family...Travis and I have been so overwhelming blessed with the amazing people he has placed in our lives here in Texas and most of those folks attend McKinney Memorial Bible Church. These people have invested time and imparted wisdom in to Travis and I. We have grown so much in our walk with Christ that it is almost unbelievable how we managed a sane life when we didn't include the relationship with our Heavenly Father into our personal lives as well as our marriage. We also have created lifelong friendships with couples that are in our same life stage of marriage and kids, and also carry the same deep moral values that we do. I know it's not true but sometimes I say it just cause it's funny...Jesus truly is a Texan ;-) Granted God could have grown us in any church or situation, I'm not saying that McKinney is THE church, it's just our church in Ft Worth.

And finally #5. I love fall, especially in Texas. The weather here is perfect this time of year and although most Texans say that fall doesn't last that long here (whatever!) I have to disagree with them. Fall last about 2 - 3 months and even though the temperature doesn't stay the same during those months, it's still beautiful almost 90% of the time.

Here's some more pics!!

Going down the slide at the Aquatic Center in Casper. You could look at the huge windows and see it snowing big ol fat flakes outside and we were inside floating through the lazy river.

At the Aquatic Center in Casper
Wrestling with daddy
In Casper a few days before it snowed.
What a cutie!!

Near and dear to my heart...

I've seen this video before, but a friend of mine sent it to me last night and I thought that I would share. The part I find so interesting is how Obama says "if my daughters make a mistake, I don't want them to be punished with a baby." Wow, Mr Obama, maybe you should spend a little more time in God's Word...Psalms 127:3 "Children are a heritage from the Lord, a reward from Him."

"What America needs is spiritual renewal and reconciliation - first, man with God, and then man with man" - Ronald Reagan 1976

And again, I remind myself that GOD IS IN CONTROL, no matter what is going on in this world, and therefore I put my entire trust in HIM and HIM ALONE!!

Why Obama?

I'm just curious for those who are voting Obama, if you could give me some of your reasons. Curiosity is so overwhelming for me sometimes. Please post a comment, I would love to hear them.

Now for my opinion, because it's my blog ;-)...There are a number of reasons why I don't want Obama to be President, but I will just give you a few...:

1) bornalivetruth.org - You'll get all the details at that site. Abortion is a HUGE issue for me and while John McCain doesn't come up with any exciting alternatives to Abortion such as education about the truth of abortion procedures as well as Post Abortion Syndrome, I am in favor of his VP running mate Sarah Palin. She is very pro-life and her life shows it. She has a son with Down Syndrome (which sadly 90% are aborted) and a pregnant teen daughter (and don't even start with Bristol, we ALL have sinned and fallen short. "he who is without sin be the first to throw the first stone"). Life has value in Sarah's eyes.

2) I've done some non-biased, fact based reading on both candidates "tax-cuts" and while neither look all that promising, Obama's do lend the idea that he's more of a socialist....I'm not a fan of that. Travis and I have worked very hard. We didn't get the "all American College years" instead we both worked very hard and long hours to get to where we are today. "give a guy a fish to eat today or a fishing pole and show him how to catch his own forever"

3) This last one really doesn't matter, but it bothers me anyway. In an interview Obama said that he had already campaign in 57 states....I'm not even going to go any further on that one.

These are just a FEW reasons why I don't want to see Obama in the White House.

Basically, what it comes down to is that God is in control, no matter who is in the White House. I would hope that everyone going to the polls has done there homework and are voting on the issues that matter most to them (sadly, some don't know what matters, they just go with the crowd). Voting is a huge privilege that we all should exercise, but most of all GOD IS IN CONTROL!!

Now to be honest with ya'll and open myself up for criticism...I'm not registered to vote...uh, oh. I don't know what happened when I got my TX drivers license but somehow I slipped through the cracks and to make matters worse I found this out a week before the voter registrations were due, but since we were leaving town and JT & I were fighting the stomach flu I never got around to mailing in my registration. So while I know why I don't want Obama in the White House, unfortunately I don't get to say so on November 4. How sad! :-(

Daddy's home, Daddy's home to stay!

Travis has been traveling for work at ton lately. He has been probably gone for about 5 or 6 days every 3 weeks or so for the past 4 months. It's either business meetings in West Texas, classes in OK and NV or doing some recruiting at the University of Wyoming...but in about 30 mins he will hit our front door and will be home to stay! He doesn't have to go anywhere again till February and we'll get to go with him because it's another class in Houston.

I'm such a whiner I know, but I HATE IT when he's gone. I can't sleep because every little noise keeps me on my toes and I miss the adult conversations. What can I say, he's my best friend...we've been married for 9 years...dated for 4 years before that....it's just weird with out him around. I know that I can do it, but I sure don't like it when he's not here. But in my defense Travis doesn't like it when I'm gone either. He says he can't sleep...maybe he's scared of the dark too ;-)... that he's bored and he wants us to come home. It's never fun to be the one left at home.:-(

He was looking at rocks in the dessert in Nevada all week. At night they would come back to their motel in Alamo, NV which is about 10 miles from Area 51. Travis said that it was a strange little town. He told everyone in his group "hey, I'm from Wyoming y'all (yes, he said 'y'all') and have been to some really strange little towns, but I have never seen anything like this!" I guess it was just the weirdest place he's ever been. I only got to talk to him once because you had to call the motel office to be placed through to his motel room and the office closed at 5 pm. Guess if you were a weary traveler looking for a place to stay you'd have to make it to the Alamo Motel by 5 pm or keep driving another 1 1/2 to Las Vegas to get a room. Travis couldn't call me because his cell phone didn't work and he did have a calling card (who uses those anymore, anyway?!) and the only internet service he had was dial up. Did I mention that this town was only 1 1/2 north of Las Vegas? I guess the technology stops about 10 miles north of there :-). I'm sure the folks in Alamo like it the way things are and I'm sure life moves at a more peaceful leisurelly pace, but when you are used to high speed internet, a blackberry and businesses that stay open past 5 pm, I'm sure it was a little frustrating and somewhat mind blowing that there are places like that in America. I wish I could be a fly on the wall when Travis discovered he couldn't make any calls, receive calls, and have to wait 10 mins for a page to load on the internet.....in the words of Ralphie from The Christmas Story: "in the heat of battle, my father wove a tapestry of obscenity, that as fare as we know, is still hanging in space over Lake Michigan"

I think we're going to steal Ben & Brenda's idea and go to Babe's chicken for an early dinner tonight! Travis and I haven't been there since JT was born....mmmm it's sooo good!!!