Unanswered Prayers

So, I took the dare. Digi-Dare that is. Here is what it prompted me to create:

So I knew immediately when I saw the digidareya challenge for June 29-July5(?) I would scrap about my nephew Jacob that went to be with the Lord 21 days after birth (2004). The challenge was based on Garth Brooks' song "Unanswered Prayer". Thanking God for unanswered prayers to be specific. The hard part about the challenge was thinking about what my prayers were back when Jacob was being formed in his mother's womb (my sister). At 20 weeks she found out that Jacob would live only 2 min. to 2 hours after birth. Miraculously he lived 21 days. He was so precious and touched my life so deeply in just 21 days. I think I prayed that he would be healthy - I prayed for a miracle. I prayed that God not make my sister and her husband go thru what they did. I prayed that I did not have to go thru what I did. God didn't answer those prayers - at least not in the way I maybe would have liked. He answered them the way HE knew was right. I became a different person thru Jacob and his life - what a blessing. Many people do not understand how and why we (our family) respected God for His decision. We don't always understand how we do either, but this trial has made us stronger.The LO - started with a template (scraplift template of Shabby Miss Jenn's LO) sold now at Kiss Studio. Then as I was searching for the right song lyrics to put on my LO (b/c there were so many songs that applied to that situation at the time) I was browsing my sister Shawn's gallery b/c she had a bunch of LO's of Baby Jacob. I came across this LO:http://www.scrapbook-bytes.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=128372So then my LO took on a similar look and feel - I just went with it though.For the dare- ok ok - I don't have a scanned image and I didn't do something new and different for me. Oh well - I got a LO that I absolutely cherish! Thanks!

(this is what my LO says under it in the gallery so just thought I would copy it into here.

So it's Sat. night as I type this and I am hanging out - waiting for Kyle to get home from the Detroit Tigers game. They lost unfortunately. Sounds like they had SUPER seats though! I didn't see him on t.v, but he thought i might be able to with where they were sitting. Anyway - he left at 10:00am and should be home anytime now. The girls and I had a good day. We swam in the little whale pool on the driveway, played on the deck, had lunch on the deck, took naps (well - not me - I scrapped), then we went to Pizza Hut with Julie and Beth and their kiddos. Played at the park too for a bit after dinner. Then it was kiddos to baths and bed! Last night was a GREAT night out with my siblings and parents (NO KIDDOS!!!) for my parents b-days. It was so nice to go out with no kids with my family. Normally when we are with my family for birthday things there are rugrats everywhere (10 to be exact!), last night was just good adult time. My cousins were nice enough to watch all the kiddos at my parents house so they all got to play with eachother still! OK - Kyle just came home!!! Off to chat with him!!!

Ciao!

As promised:

Here are the pictures from Kyle and Braelyn fishing! They went out on Lake Macatawa and then onto the big Lake Michigan for just a little bit - the fishing boat is pretty small so not meant for big water fishing.

Here is the perfect post for Braelyn! She is loving it - these pictures were all taken with Braelyn's new Fisher Price Digital Camera and I cleaned them up a bit - but I thought they turned out pretty good for a toy camera! Just glad they didn't take my camera out into the water - so it was either these pics or none!

Like Father like Daughter! These two couldn't be more alike if they tried. Braelyn got the Detroit Tigers hat the night before while out shopping and it is IDENTICAL to Kyle's!

Here is the pro hard at work! The night before while shopping we got a call from Kyle's parents to stop by their house on the way home - they had a suprise for Braelyn. They said we needed to pick it up before fishing. Kyle's dad had gotten Braelyn a REAL "ugly stick" brand fishing pole all for herself! It is so cool! She got a great tackle bag too that she took all of her snacks and sunscreen and stuff in! Thanks Grandpa and Grandma!!!

Here is a pic of one of the "sheephead" fish they caught. These are not eating fish by any means - but they say they are fun to catch b/c they are pretty big and they put up a pretty big fight for being on inland lakes! Braelyn loved it!

We are finally getting some much needed rain here! It's been a neat day though b/c it rained early this morning and then got pretty sunny here and then now it is raining again - just perfect b/c it's dinner time! Although now that I think about it we are cooking chicken on the grill for chicken sandwiches - oh well. It has been so dry here and the lawns are really dying. This should help! It has been humid too and I hope this rain takes the humidity away when it is done - the forcast for this weekend looks GREAT! Much cooler and less humid! Being pregnant and having 90 degree humid weather really isn't ideal!

Have to do my mom's nails tonight and one other family friend so that will be my night - Kyle will have to put kiddos to bed again - LOL! He's so good at that! I think it is good for him and the girls since they don't see him at all during the day!

Digital NEWS:

Have you seen this sale? Audrey's word art packs are all on sale for $1!!! That is a steal! I LOVE her wordart! I am not good with wordart and making fonts and what not work good together - this takes the work out of it! Fun to highlight them with some digital paint and stuff too! Here is a LO I did with her new kit too that just came out! Everything in the LO by Audrey!

That's it for today! Hope you all had a great Wed. and have a good Thur. too - work for me tomorrow again.

All things Digi

So this morning I start out with all things Digi. Some fun fun stuff going on out in that part of the WEB!

Who loves Shabby Miss Jenn Designs??? Not only do you probably love her designs you probably also love her LO's! I think what jumps out to me the most in Shabby Miss Jenn's gallery and LO's is that they are so real looking. They look like she did it with actual paper supplies. I think this is my favorite type of style! I love to see the artsy part of digital scrapping, but really - when I put it in a book I want people to feel the page - to wonder if it is paper or digital. I imagine myself looking thru Jenn's books at home on her couch and wanting to touch every single one! Well - another great site I have begun to love is Kissed Studio! If you love templates then this site is for you. I believe you all know I am a template lover!!! Sonja and Katy have teamed up to design a "one stop template shop" that caters to pretty much everyone. Each template set you can buy comes in like 3 sizes, compatible for 3 different programs, etc... - it is amazing! I can't imagine the time these gals have into it! And look at this new pack that is debuting today!!! It is a 10 template Signature Series Pack. Meaning that these gals are collaberating with some great designers and scrappers to get their LO's into templates! Guess who the first designer/scrapper is???

Yep - you guessed it - Shabby Miss Jenn!!! So guess who got to play with a template to show it off??? Yep - you guessed again - ME!!!

Here is what I produced!

THIS is Shabby Miss Jenn's LO at DST that the template was made after!

And then Amy Martin has been having her Featured Product challenge every week and this is my submission for that! Her featured product this week is her WEEBUDS! These are so much fun b/c I remember having these little silk flowers for crafts and stuff when I was younger and in Calvinettes!

Credits for this LO HERE

And finally THIS kit by Dawn - Miss Hunibuni, and Sarah J at the Digishoppe is TO DIE FOR!!! I mean seriously full of fun elements and papers!

Here is my LO I did Sunday afternoon with it!

So the weekend was a ton of fun! Fri. night I did some shopping at Old Navy Maternity and Motherhood and got a few good maternity clothes. I hate to buy too much b/c of the short time that I wear them! I still can fit into some of my own regular clothes. That reminds me - I need to take some preggo pics - keep meaning to do that! Maybe I will get some pics in my new outfit! Braelyn went out fishing on Sat. morning with Kyle and she LOVED it - she took a few pics with her new digital fisher price camera - will have to load those and put 'em up here! Selah just stayed home with me and took a nice nap while I cleaned and did internet stuff (like started this post!!!) Fun times at the pool party we had Sat. night and then Sunday morning was Braelyn's VBS program - so dang cute those kiddos praising God! I was so proud of Braelyn for singing and doing her hand motions! Last night was pizza at the beach - watching the MANY boats going in and out of the channel and walked around the campground and then on to the pier to watch people fishing and jumping into the water. The highlight for the girls was swinging though - they never tire of it - amazing. Hope you all have a good Monday - I have talked enough!!!

OK - ONE more thing before signing out! You MUST all go check out this thread at DST. This challenge is such a rewarding one in more than one way! Not only do you have the chance to win $20 to the-lilypad, but you also have to spend some time in the lilypad gallery which is AMAZING!!! Seriously some of the BEST LO's on the web I think. I feel so inferior posting my LO's in there b/c they do not compare in the least to the other gals - but what matters is that I am making some great memories for my family so I don't let it get to me.

ACM Awards Tim McGraw If your reading this

Some Music.... and stuff!

So this week - though busy has been super good! Braelyn has completed her first 4 lessons of swimming lessons and seems to like it. She also finished Vacation Bible School - which she LOVED! She made some cute cute crafts and came home with little bracelets that each had a different statement on them. God is our protector, God is our Provider, Jesus is our Savior, etc.. Her program is on Sunday morning where she will get her last bracelet and she will sing for us parents and we can see a little bit of what they did! Can't wait to see!





While it is SUPER busy getting her off to VBS by 6:30, it is nice to have a little bit of time with just Selah. And Kyle and I have spent a little time too just hanging out while Selah played - much needed! Last night for instance we were sitting on the couch together and talking and he mentioned that Casting Crowns has a new CD coming out in August so we listened to the little sneak preview HERE. We will for sure be picking this CD up and I have a $5 GC to our local christian bookstore that I got for teaching Children in Worship this year! Then I wanted to play THIS song by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. This is my song to Kyle - it starts by Tim McGraw singing about how he needs whiskey and cigarettes (which isn't really my style - but it is sung to make a point) - he is talking about how he NEEDS things - like Faith Hill. Then she goes on to talk about what she needs like an addiction. Such a love song. One part of the verse is about how the Father and the Son need the Holy Ghost. Interesting enough on Sunday that was part of the sermon - about how one can't be without the other even though they do entirely differnt things. Anyway - it is just a sweet love song and then to see them on the video just sitting there singing to eachother - ugh - melt my heart! Then I thought of a song that our country station has been playing by Tim Mc Graw that is not for sale anywhere yet. He sang it at the Music Awards and you can only see it on YouTube right now (see the top post to listen to song). The song is about the war and about a soldier who died and isn't coming home. It has such strong christian reference to the soldier being in heaven and that he is proud that he fought. There are so many anti-war songs and words put out by celebrities that to hear something honoring these men is AWESOME! It was a great tribute to the families of the fallen! So it was just a night of listening to some great music together and hanging out until it was time to pick Braelyn up!



Today is a relaxing day - totally staying home until Kyle comes home and we are going to eat quick left overs and then head out to the mall! I need to get a few maternity things - which I hate doing b/c you wear them for such a short time, but I am wearing the same 5 shirts and I have one pair of shorts that fit me right now. Braelyn and Selah also need a few things and I am sure Kyle will walk out with something just to not feel left out! Always a fun night at the mall. Tomorrow is pretty relaxed. Kyle wants to take Braelyn out fishing on his little boat so I will hang out with Selah so she can get her nap and all that good stuff! At night we have a big friends "pool" party - although usually no one swims - LOL! Just hanging out with friends and no kids - which is always refreshing! Our weather here has been AWESOME! It is going to get real hot again next week early it looks like, but we have been 80 degrees and no humidity the past week which is nice! A slight breeze makes it just perfect!



I will leave you with one LO here that I haven't even posted yet in my galleries, but here it is for you to see. A couple of you that read my blog asked where this lighthouse is and it is in Silver Lake Michigan - and it was great! Great picture opportunities and most weekends you can actually go up to the top for a $2 fee, and look over Lake Michigan!



























Good Bye for now!

Patriotic Pup

So - the other night I got an email from ShabbyMissJenn which is always exciting b/c it normally means she has a new kit!!! Sure enough she sent us THIS kit to start playing with!!! Here is what I created with it!!!

The minute I saw it I knew that I would scrap a picture of Gauge b/c

A. it has been a while since I scrapped him and I took these pictures last month

B. He was our fourth of July pup 5 years ago

C. I scrap in chronilogical order so that means I have already scrapped my 4th of July photos from last year and obviously it is not yet the 4th of July - LOL! Heaven forbid I use a cute kit like this for just a fun picture non patriotic (insert sarcasm here). I have a hard time getting out of my box!

Short post - not much to talk about really - just getting on with my busy fun week!

Have a good one!

Monday Morning

Good morning everyone! Hope that you are all ready for the weekend that is set before us! I had a GREAT weekend and am ready to start this busy week myself! We have so much going on and so I know that this week will FLY and we will be back to a fun weekend! Braelyn has swimming lessons Mon. thru Thur. this whole week and next - at a neighbor's house. The lady that is instructing is actually the same lady that taught me YEARS ago. I grew up with a pool so each of my siblings and I took swimming lessons from her back in the day! So my mom will bring her for her first day today since she watches the girls on Mon.! Also this week Mon. thru Thur. Braelyn gets to go to Vacation Bible School at a church nearby! The church is one of the only ones around here that offers it to 3 yr. olds - so we are excited for that! I feel like this is a monumental week due to the fact that up until now in our parenting we have not had any real "obligations" to sports or busyness. Now Braelyn is doing her swimming lessons and things that take some remembering and running! This is where it all begins right moms?!

The weekend was AWESOME! We had so much fun stuff going on. Fri. night as I have mentioned a million times I got to meet Janet! It's funny how you can talk to someone online back and forth many times and click and then you get anxious moments before actually meeting in person! I was a little nervous and excited at the same time. You worry that they might not like you in real life or that you won't click in a normal setting. All worries aside - I picked her up and I think it went great! After picking Janet up I picked up three other friends that scrap to go get pedicures and do dinner. After our fun night it was time to drop Janet off after dropping my friends off and we ended up talking in the car for a good hour! It was so meat to have the one on one time too to chat about life! Thanks for the good talk Janet - you are everything i expected you to be and more! Very genuine and sincere! Guess what??? NO CAMERA!!! GASP!!! We didn't hardly even talk too much digital stuff. I am bummed that I did not get a picture of Janet and I! Come on - she is moving down to Florida now - a good 22 hrs away and I got no pictures - what was I thinking?! Anyway - good stuff!

Sat. was me and the girls all day - little of this and a little of that! shopping, swimming, playing.

Sunday was super busy with the dedication of my nephew and then lunch after that with the family for the dedication and for Father's day. Home for naps at 2:30 and then at 5:00 off to Kyle's parents for supper and lake swimming! I got a workout swimming from our "swimming hole" back to the condo! Whew - great for this pregnant body!!! Braelyn did so good too - swam the whole way with her life jacket!

Enough weekend recap - that is probably SUPER boring to all of you. Oh wait - one more thing - gave my hubby a shutterfly book that I won and made and her LOVED it! Too cool!

Got to scrap one LO Sat. night and finished up another - both for my creative teams.

Credits Here - This LO was done with Miss hunibuni and Ali Folendore's collab kit at The DigiShoppe - very cute and fun to play with!!! Pictures are of Selah busting a move - not such a good move either! She is so funny to watch dance!

Credits Here - this LO I finished up too this weekend with Audrey Neal's new quickpage she put out. I added a bit to it and gave it my own touches. How fun though that I did the page in about 20 minutes! I am all about that - just preserving those memories - that's the mainn goal here!

OK - I better get going! Again, hope you all have a great week!