Happy Birthday Cason!!

My sweet Baby Cason turned 5 years old on November 24th!! He spent his actual birthday with Grandpa & Mama Dee (it was his special "date" weekend) and had a blast - Texas waffle, Cracker Barrel, trip to Target, Ocker church, Free Birds 3D movie, Super trampoline jump, etc.!!

On Monday, we had his birthday party. Cambree's birthday was 2 weeks prior...an indoor party and it was 81 degrees that day. Cason's party was at the park...and it was 37 degrees outside. :( So we quickly decided to head to the McDonald's playroom instead!

Before the party, he opened a couple of gifts, first from Mrs. Dineenana, a Planes book!

And some "Incwedible Hook" boxing gloves from his Kimbrough cousins in Zambia!

They love their Mama Dee...(who is wearing MY jeans in this picture...she has lost so much weight and looks amazing!!...don't think I'm gonna get my jeans back...)

Kinda hard to decorate in McDonalds, but we tried! A "Wed Powuh-Wanjuh" party of course!

Only one person from his class came, but he was excited that it was Chloe!

3 of my most favorite guys in the world :)

An Incredible Hulk from Andie & AJ!

A Zordon from Caedmon & Cambree...not sure what that is, but trust me, he wanted it!

A Power Ranger sword from Paw & B-Maw!

And a huge Power Ranger from us!

Love this boy...can't believe he is 5 years old!

Mom told me when Cason woke up on the morning of his birthday, he said "My socks don't fit because I'm 5 now! Good thing I got new underwear!" He keeps us laughing!!

Cruisin'.....

Blu's parents blessed us with the gift of a cruise for our birthdays & Christmas this year! So we left the kids for a week and drove down to Galveston, where we hopped on the Carnival Triumph for a 5 day cruise to Cozumel!

Our balcony room!

When Blu gets ahold of the camera, I never know what I will find... :)

My drink of choice for the week - coke with lime & cherry...getting a little wild!

This is what it looked like for the entire first day....

Thankfully, THIS made up for it...

Elegant Dinner night - my favorite!!

So fun to come back to the room at night and see what our steward had folded our towel as!

Blu's drink of choice for the week...iced tea..and more iced tea... :)

Day Three - headed to see what's in Progreso, Mexico!

Hopped on a bus..

Not much to see, but we did get massages on the beach for CHEAP!

Beaches of Progreso

Back on the ship - me relaxing after a quick workout!

Sunset on the ship...it's hard to beat a Zambian sunset :)

Day Four - Cozumel!!! We rented this bad boy and cruised the whole island! (Don't worry - Blu drove!)

Stopped to see some Mayan ruins and this huge..thing!

An old Mayan temple....so they say....

We snorkeled and had a blast in the water. Blu LOVES jumping in the waves!

Time for some fajitas at Playa Bonita!

Don't worry, our waiter gave me the marker!

Gorgeous ocean view!

We spent most of the last day of the cruise in our room. I worked on my book (finished!! stay tuned for more details!!) and Blu explored the ship! We are back in Brownwood now, reunited with our kids and ready to celebrate Cason's 5th birthday!! We are so grateful and thankful for this awesome chance to get away!

Update from New Day

UPDATE FROM LAURIE IN ZAMBIA:

Thank you for your prayers for baby Catherine. She came to us a sick little girl, and sadly she passed away this week. We were able to love her for not even a week, but what a joy to know this sweet little baby for that short time. We had admitted her to the hospital on Monday night, and on Tuesday morning she went to be with the Lord.
Many of you are asking about Precious. She is still in the hospital and the doctors are still running tests. Although she is doing better, due to being on oxygen and medicine to reduce the swelling, the doctor says she is still a sick little girl. Please pray for wisdom for the doctors and patience for us as we wait.

Running to your arms...

I think sometimes from the outside looking in, it seems that I have it all together. I strive to blog only positive things, which I think is important, but I think that can also sometimes falsely give the impression that someone's life is perfect. Ok, my life IS pretty perfect, but I am not perfect! I struggle with the same things others do - doubt, fear, anxiety, the list goes on. This morning at church, although I have heard this song before, it just spoke to me. I stood there and sang and tears just ran down my face. It was a moment where God just whispered in my ear, "Run to my arms." He is enough, and He will always be enough.

You are good, You are good When there's nothing good in me You are love, You are love On display for all to see You are light, You are light When the darkness closes in You are hope, You are hope You have covered all my sin
You are peace, You are peace When my fear is crippling You are true, You are true Even in my wandering You are joy, You are joy You're the reason that I sing You are life, You are life, In You death has lost its sting
Oh, I'm running to Your arms, I'm running to Your arms The riches of Your love Will always be enough Nothing compares to Your embrace Light of the world forever reign
You are more, You are more Than my words will ever say You are Lord, You are Lord All creation will proclaim You are here, You are here In Your presence I'm made whole You are God, You are God Of all else I'm letting go
Oh, I'm running to Your arms I'm running to Your arms The riches of Your love Will always be enough Nothing compares to Your embrace Light of the world forever reign
My heart will sing no other Name Jesus, Jesus
Oh, I'm running to Your arms I'm running to Your arms The riches of Your love Will always be enough
Hillsong - Forever Reign Lyrics | MetroLyrics

Catherine

We have a new little girl at New Day!! Catherine (named after her mother) was born on November 6th. Sadly, her mom did not survive her birth. She does have a father and siblings, but Social Welfare in Zambia stepped in to remove Catherine from the home, stating that her father could not care for her (or the siblings) properly. Obviously we don't know much of the details surrounding the situation, since we are here in the USA, but we can't wait to hug this sweet girl! We consider it a PRIVILEGE that God has given her to us to raise, to teach about Him, and to love.

:)

Mermaids (and mermen??) everywhere!!

Whew!!! I'm exhausted! And I thought birthday parties in Zambia were tiring! :) Today we celebrated Cambree & Andie's 7th birthdays with an indoor pool party! I have never seen so many mermaids and Barbies and PINK in one place! :)

The best part of the day was that my Whitney (and Hannah and Robbo!) drove 3 1/2 hours for the party! We had fun hanging out before!

Love this girl :)

Our moms are best friends too :)

The décor was SOOO cute, and this is the only picture I got...chaos I'm telling you, chaos!

Caity took care of the cake, and it was awesome!

Here's the pool!

This is what Blu looked like most of the time - 19 kids!

Sweet girls

Time for presents!

Cambree has been wanting a car for her Barbies!

A water baby!

A tiara and jewelry from Paw & B-Maw!

Cambree LOVED this gift from Andie - can you tell?

Can't believe she is 7 already!

Love time with my mom & dad!

And now....let the packing begin! We leave for our Cozumel cruise in TWO DAYS!!!