Surgery

Cameron had surgery this morning to unclog a tear duct. He is very sleepy, but it looks like he will be back to his cheerful self soon! They had to put him under, so it was a little scary on our part. The surgery itself only took a few minutes but the whole process took about 3 hours. He was a trooper even though he had not eaten since last night. Hopefully, this will help with the recurring ear infections and the need for antibiotics!

Finally the day has arrived! I am an official "minivan" driving momma! Who would have known that I would actually be excited about this...We FINALLY decided on a 2002 Poniac Montana. It drives well, is roomy and Gavin loves the DVD player. I must say, I am happy with the way things have turned out. God works in mysterious ways...we are actually coming out on the better end...who would have thought??? Anyways, with all this new found freedom, we have been busy, busy, busy. Isn't it always that way?

Me, Jason and Gavin participated in our church's living nativity this weekend (http://www.faithlafayette.org/page616.aspx). For those of you that don't know, it is 12 scenes from the bible, acted out. It is really cool. This year, we all were in Bethlehem. Me and Gavin were commoners and Jason was a Roman soldier. Gavin was so cute in his biblical attire...wish I would have gotten pictures. Since it is Indiana, we actually have two different sets of cast for each scene so that no one has to stay out in the cold for very long. Just this weekend we saw more than 4,000 people come thru! It is truly a must see thing! Thankfully, the weather was gorgeous (for Dec) and it was more fun than sacrifice. Gavin had a blast and I am sure he will tell you all about it.

I can't believe that Christmas is almost here (8 more sleeps according to Gavin) :) Jason has the whole week of Christmas off plus a few days in January. I am looking forward to it! We are planning to go north Christmas day and then spend a few days there to visit with family. It will be busy, but we are looking forward spending time with those that we don't get to see very often.

Update

Just wanted to give everyone a quick update...The fire investigator has looked at the car and has determined that the fire most likely was started by a leaking fuel line. Again, we are SO LUCKY that no one was hurt and that we got out when we did! There has been a recall on our vehicle on this particular problem but it should have been fixed as this recall was BEFORE we bought the vehicle in 2004. The investigator is looking into this and will pull up the vehicle's history to see when this work was apparently done. Either way, the car was determined as being totaled (shocking, I know) and we are in the process of getting insurance all squared away. So it looks like we are going to be car shopping this weekend :) Although this is exciting, you all know how stressful this can be. Please pray that we can be patient and be good stewards of our money. I will keep you updated as we find out more -Jaime

Bye, Bye Car....

As many of you know, and some of you don't, we had some scary action at our home this last Friday. Coming home from a doctor's appt, I decided that I would like to hit Kohls for a sale they were having. While there, I called Jason from a friend's cell and asked him to run to the store for me, as we were hosting some friends over at 6. So after 45 mins or so in the store, we started home. The car began to act funny and really started to smell hot. Needless to say, my greatest fear was breaking down on the side of the road with NO cell phone and two small children in the car. I tried to roll through the stop signs and get home ASAP knowing that Jason would be there to check out the car and try to diagnosis the problem. Well, I made it home (into the driveway) and as I shut off the car, I noticed the hood was smoking. As I investigated further, I saw flames in the engine compartment! All I can remember is that I knew I needed to get the kids out and to safety. So I yelled at Gavin to get out and started to get Cameron out. In my panic my fingers did not seem to work!!! I remembered that Jason was home so I ran to the house and ran the doorbell crazily and started screaming for help. We got the kids to safety, called 911 and thankfully Jason was brave (and smart) enough to put the car in neutral and let it roll out of the driveway. Thankfully he was there because there was no way I would have got into a burning vehicle. Not more than 4 mins has passed from the time I first got home to Jason moving the car and the whole front end was in flames. By the time the firefighters got there, the whole car was fire. Needless to say, I was not very calm and collected as I had just got out of the car with the kids. All I can think about is, what if...
What if I would have taken a different way home?
What if Jason wasn't home to move the car?
What if, what if, what if????
Thankfully, I know that God is in control of all things and we can only use this trial to bring glory to Him!! Thankfully it was not in His plan to allow our house to catch fire too. Thankfully it was not in His plan to allow one of us to be injured...or worse.
A car is just stuff and we can't take it with us. So even though it is frustrating and scary that a '02 Trailblazer can just catch on fire, it doesn't really matter. Please pray that insurance will come through as smoothly as possible and that we can move on as quickly as possible. Not having a vehicle is hard! I have posted some pics for those of you interested. Praise the LORD we are all safe!

This picture was taken just minutes after moving it from the driveway. To say the least, we are lucky to have gotten home when we did! All I can think about NOW is, how in my panic did I think to grab my camera??? I guess I thought if I didn't, I would never believe what I thought I was seeing.

This is of the car BEFORE the firefighters arrived. Needless to say, there was no saving it!

Here she is....Wow! Poor car :( Just so you know, we probably won't get a Chevy again!!!

Vacation

Jason has been on vacation this last week and we have been busy, busy, busy. Our two rooms are done and look great. Tonight I am hosting a pampered chef party with some good friends. It will be fun. I promise to post pics of the rooms soon.

Home Improvement

We (should I say Jason) has been busy since Friday working on our family room. When we bought the house a few months ago, redoing this room was one of the top priorities. We HAD to rip out the old green carpet and paint the walls. Come to find out, the carpet was actually new (it did have a nice feel to it) but why they choose forest green is beyond.me..it was ugly and showed everything! We choose a red for the walls and new laminate "wood" look flooring. Well, the process is well underway and after 3 coats of paint the room is looking completely different. It's amazing! I have taken some pictures along the way and will post them when the room is finished. I think you'll agree that it is well worth our efforts.

Jason and I have decided to host Thanksgiving at our home this year, so the deadline is nearing for the room completion...I will let you know how that goes....kinda scary.

Is it Monday already?

We traveled up north this weekend to visit with family. It was great to see everyone (its been a couple of months). I'm sure that they enjoyed seeing the boys too! Me and Jason managed to pawn off the kids and get away for a couple hours. It was so refreshing and be both appreciated our "date." The weekend flew by, however, and here we are again at the cusp of another week. Thankfully Thanksgiving is just around the corner and it will offer plenty of opportunities to relax (thank God for vacation days!)...Oh and plenty of opportunities to shop!!!

Here are some pictures of the boys. I can't believe how much they are growing and changing. Gavin is four and has become SO independent. He loves to play on the computer and going to storytime at the library. Cameron is crawling and pulling himself up and is starting to talk with sounds like "baba" and "dada" (we're...I mean I...am trying to get him to say "mama")!!!

Hope you have a good week....Jaime

Five things I am thankful for...

As I sit here tonight, after a long hard day of being "just a mom" I started to think about how much I get wrapped up in the daily things that I don't just stop and think about all the ways that I am truly blessed. I have a number of friends who are experiencing hardships and trials and it makes me realize how much I need to drop down and thank God for all the ways that he has blessed me and my family. We are all healthy (ok, Cameron is a little overweight :) and have been provided for in abundance of what we really deserve. So here are the top five things that I am most thankful for today:

1. A Savior who was willing to die on the cross for ME and loves and care for ME, even when I mess it all up!
2. My husband who is constantly growing and changing in order to be the best husband and father that he can be
3. My children who demand so much and yet teach me so much more.
4. Nap time ('nough said)
5. Warm November days (it hit 70's today!!!) where no jackets are required

I hope you stop and think about what you are most thankful for. Maybe there is someone in your life that you should thank. -J

So the chicken did come first!

Here are some pics of the boys in their Halloween costumes...
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Remember our troops

"Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you." 1 Peter 5:6-7

Please remember to be praying for our troops. With life being so busy and things going on in our lives, so often we forget that our soldiers are making huge sacrifices for our freedoms. Jason brother is currently starting his second tour of duty in Iraq and has willing and sacrifically left his 9 month old son and wife. Being in her shoes not so long ago, I too remember the heartache of sending off someone you love. I stand firm behind our troops and pray that this time will go quickly and he will return home safe! Be praying for not only his safety and well being, but for his wife and son. They miss him dearly and I am sure that their days can sometimes be long and lonely.

Jaime

Look at us!

Aren't they cute? I think they know it!

Here we go...

I'm guessing if your reading this, then you have found your way to our family's brand new blog! I admit that I have wanted to do this for quite some time but am almost positive NO ONE will read it. But after seeing how cute my friends blogs can be...I have decided to begin my own blogging journey regardless. The plan is to keep you all updated on the family's daily grind, but also use it to share all of our joys, struggles, and life's sillier moments. Pictures will be a bonus since we don't get to see most of you on a daily basis :)

So the adventure begins...