Pistol Pete

Balen Bear went to his first OSU sporting event a few weeks ago. He did pretty well and was sporting some lovely little ear plugs. I was so excited that he got to meet Petey!

Thanksgiving

I love my family. This Thanksgiving was a lot of fun. It was very special to have my sweet baby boy with me. I think the best part was watching the kids play on the hill and in the leaves for hours on Friday. I wish I would have had my camera. They played so hard there were leaves and dirt stuck up their noses!

FOOD! Yum!

The great Arnold Schwarzenegger once said "I love Thanksgiving turkey...it's the only time in Los Angeles that you see natural breats." Well, maybe that wasn't totally appropriate, but it was funny!

The holiday's are such a special time and I just can't get enough of them! We all have our family traditions and foods that we just can't live without. Now it's time to share! For all of you who have never posted, now is the time to figure it out! Tell us your favorite Family Thanksgiving Dish, and if you feel the need to share the recipe, share away!

I always look forward to the Cinnamon Apple Jello and Aunt Peg's deviled eggs! Yummy!

Katelin

I had a lot of fun taking pictures for Katelin on Saturday. Here's a few of my favorites!

My Boys

French's Crunchy Onion Chicken

What kind of Mommy Blogger would I be if I didn't throw in a recipe every once in a while??

2 c. French's French Fried Onions

2 tbsp. flour

4 boneless chicken breasts

1 egg, beaten

Crush french fried onions with flour in plastic bag.

Dip chicken into egg; then coat in onion crumbs.

Bake 20 minutes at 400 until cooked through.

I HATE to cook things with lots of weird ingredients. This is VERY easy and pretty tasty!

Baby Booty

Practice Practice

Practice Practice..having a nice camera has its perks, but it also gets frustrating! I look at professional photographers websites a lot and just get mad. There are so many amazing pictures and I just think "How do they do that??" It's kind of like everything musical in my life! I can halfway sing and play the piano, tried to learn how to play the guitar, then I hear someone amazingly talented in these areas and it inspires me and I want to get better. I guess taking pictures is going to be the same way. LOTS of practice, trial and error, studying, blah, blah, blah. Until I arrive, hope Balen's not busy!! Poor kid probably thinks his mom looks like a big black camera! Oh, and while I practice I can't help but post his sweet face for all to see!

How do you do this?

This isn't a very exciting video, I'm just seeing if I can load them on here. I have tried before and it wouldn't work. I guess it was way too long.

Updates

Well, as you know there is a lot of sickness going on right now in our family. Lela is being a little trooper out at the nursing home. We are so thankful the transition has gone smoothly. She will be joined today by Harvey. They are releasing him from the hospital in OKC and he will be brought back to a skilled nursing unit at the same nursing home. He isn't really any better and has very little oxygen getting back to his brain. He is starting to get very confused about things. Today will be a very long trip back for him. Mark, Jared's dad, had a second port inserted into his skull on Friday. Yesterday he went to take his second dose of chemo but his white blood count was too low. They did go ahead and do the other chemo into his brain. They are hoping that today his blood count will be better and he can receive treatment.

Life. Sometimes it's full of things that are just no fun. It's always about transition. Things come and go. We are always going through different phases. I was telling Jared last night that with everything that is going on, even though I get sad, I feel a peace and contentment. This peace that surpasses all understanding only comes from God.

I plead the blood of Jesus over my family members and pray a hedge of protection around each one of them. Getting old is no fun to watch or experience. I pray that we all live the life we are supposed to live and use the blessings God has given us to carry out whatever he has asked us to do. I stand firm and believe in complete healing for Mark. The blood of Jesus is more powerful than any cancer cell will ever be. He will be renewed, healthy, and changed forever in Jesus' name. Our family has been very blessed and has so many things to be thankful for. As the holidays approach, I pray that the joy of the Lord will be our strength! The enemy can come at you from 15 different ways, but he can't steal your joy unless you give it to him. Don't let him distract you and cause you to lose focus. Keep life in perspective. If you're headed where I'm headed, we're all just passing through here anyways. Each day we are left here means there is something more He wants us to accomplish. I pray that we all figure out what these things are and learn to view life from His point of view.

Tim, Kyla, & Makena

This weekend I got to go take pictures for our good friends Tim, Kyla, and little Baby Makena. Kyla and I met our freshman year in college. I am so glad I could make it down to her baby shower and it was nice getting to see a few of the girls again! Thanks for letting me take your pictures. It was fun!

Balen James