Calling Levi

They are in Alaska again! YAHOO! Love them!

Tonight they sang at our new church, Faith Christian Community. I love my church, and I love this group. I've been blessed to have been friends with Rob for at least 15 years now. It's an even bigger blessing to call his wife, Stephanie a friend. They have such an awesome talent and they use it for the Lord and it's so very apparent and it's so very refreshing. (That's a lot of so very's so it must be true!)

Tonight was awesome because a lot of the old gang came out to see them. It was a little mini-reunion with Shane Paulsen, Mike Merriner (who preached an AMAZING sermon after the concert), Luke Merriner, Trevor O'Hara, Eric and Mel and me and Daniel......

I'm on such a high right now. I love my Lord and Savior and He is really working on my heart and it feels GREAT!!

ZIllions and Kabillions.......

I think when it's all said and done, this is how many hours of sports I'll have endured watching in my lifetime. First there were my own high school years, then Daniel's many years of coaching and now my kids. *SIGH* My. Kids. Last Saturday we sat through 6 - yes SIX - basketball games.....today, we sat through four. This doesn't even include all the practices we go and sit through....

Sometimes the score is such that we are able to let loose and play around......here are a few examples of our many sporting faces.....

YES!!!!! It wasn't pretty but a bucket is a bucket!

C'mon, get in there....

DOH! That's gonna leave a bruise!

Ok, so this isn't really an example of a sporting face but more of a how-we-feel-after-6-hours- in-a-gym kinda of face.....

Alright Kayla, give me the camera. We have a game to watch!

As part of our new homeschooling "curriculum" - we allow Dylan to earn a fun activity on Fridays. In order to earn this special time he has to control his temper and his tongue during the week in addition to completing his school work and chores. So far this has been a great incentive for him. We told Alvin and Kayla as long as they kept up with their "stuff" we'd pull them out one day a month and let them join Dylan on his special day.

Today was Alvin's first day to hang with Dylan and they were reeeeaaalllllyyyy hoping to go roller skating. Sadly, that wasn't an option so they finally agreed on Bouncin' Bears. I wasn't sure if they'd even be allowed to go in - let's face it - they're BIG boys. Lucky for them they were able to play and it wasn't very crowded at all so they had to the place mostly to themselves.

Daniel even stopped by to say "hey" while out getting lunch.

I'm really proud of Dylan for trying to hard and earning his special days. He's a great boy with great potential and I love his guts out!!!

My word of the year.......

is fearless. Sometimes I let fear run my life. I want to change that this year. K-Love radio has been encouraging us to pick one word to be the vision statement for ourselves in 2011 - I thought long and hard about my word.......

The other contenders were patience, love and acceptance.

I decided that the word fearless could cover all the contenders and fearless could stand alone.

I need to not be afraid to raise my kids. I need to trust the Lord has it covered and take things one day at a time. I can work myself up into quite a tizzy thinking about them as teenagers and young adults. I need to lose the fear and enjoy them NOW. I need to not be afraid of what others think. My kids come before other people. If they are having a bad moment, I need to be patient and not FEAR what others think. I need to love people for who they are and accept them even if I don't agree with them. I'm "afraid" of things that are different. Why? That's silly. I need to embrace it and be fearless.

Here's to you fearlessness! We're gonna rock 2011!!!!

wow - it's been a while

I can't believe my last blog was a year and a half ago. Wow. Shameful Tracy, shameful. A lot has happened in the past year and a half but I won't bore you with all that.....let's just pick up from here and go.

Rachelle and I stay busy with our photography. I often marvel at what a cool job it is. We get the best of everyone. Weddings. (I love, LOVE!) Babies. (I love BABIES!!!) Families. (I love creating memories and keepsakes!) This job is win/win/win/win/win......we get to share the happiest times of people's lives with them. HOW COOL IS THAT?

Today we shot Gideon Slaugehaup and his family. I try to bomb at least one photo per shoot. I think today was a major success.....what do you think?

On a more serious note, I sanitized up, held him, snuggled him, fed him, and was inspired by him. He's an amazing baby and we have an amazing Creator. I mean, AHHHHMAZING. This perfect little man grew inside of my friend.....it never ceases to impress me and choke me up. How can we ever doubt His existence? God created us and allows these to grow in us......THIS GREW INSIDE MY FRIEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love the innocence of a baby. It's perfection. Ok, here come the tears again......

Congrats Mary, G and Lily. Your awesome family just got a little more awesome!

School has started yet again

Today is the 3rd day of school. AJ and Dylan are doing great.....and then there is Kayla. The girl will NOT stop talking! Her very first day, she moved her clip 2 times. Yesterday was much better, she only moved it once. Today? Not so good. Moved it 3 times and I got a call from her teacher. Frustrating! I spoke to Kayla on the phone and warned her of what was to come if she didn't shut her yap. I purposely picked her up a few minutes late so I could get Mrs. McKinley's attention without also having the attention of all the other parents. As soon as I walked into the room Kayla started to tell me something about Dylan. Nice try sucker. I made her apologize to Mrs. McKinely for her disobedience. I'm frustrated. This is like her preschool days all over again. Granted, she is talking and not biting.....but still! I quit my job to stay home and teach her how to obey. So far the payoff isn't what I had hoped for. Grrrrrr!!!!

When we got home, I sat down and talked to her. She said "there is a really naughty boy in my class" and I said "sounds like there is a real naughty girl too!" Her reply was equally cute and irritating "but I'm not the naughtiest!!!!!"

My new favorite FUNNY blog....

Cheri just told me about this blog and said it was a must follow. I must admit - girlfriend knows a good blog! I'm sharing it with you. Enjoy!'

http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com