Fun Family Photos

Just a few pics of Joel, Kailee, and Elli.

A Weekend with Family

Elli being silly:Elli teasing & laughing at Keiryn:
My sweet nephew, Keiryn:

A few weeks ago Elli and I made our first long distance trip alone. We went to Lubbock and had a very nice trip. We saw my nephew, Keiryn and my mom and sister, Misty. Until this visit Keiryn typically ignored Elli because he's always too busy playing with Kailee. During this visit though, Keiryn and Elli had tons of fun chasing each other around. Keiryn was thrilled with the fact that he was able to make someone laugh and Elli was glad to have someone to tease and someone to tease her. These are a few pics from our trip.

Our Last Night As a Life Group

At Mid Cities Community Church where my family attends, we have what we call Life Groups. Our life group gets together to "do life" every other week and has been doing so since 2005. We've had couples come and go but our "core" couples attended the majority of the time. This group has been so amazing and instrumental in healing addictions, marriages, and various other issues. Each of us have developed wonderful, deep relationships with one another and cannot imagine the group being separated. God, however, has called several couples to move on and be used as leaders of new life groups. I wish the new life groups good luck and am looking forward to getting back together with those of you who are still a part of Jami and Camron's group. Pictured above left to right: Jenna, Lana, Allie, Carrie, Me, Melody, Jami, and Crystal (missing: Bridget, Sheila, & Tiffany)

Illness Might Have Saved Me

Some of you may be wondering how my 10K went.....well, lets just say that I spent that morning in bed instead of attempting to conquer the 10K. I came down with some weird cold or something that caused all of the lymph nodes in my neck to swell. Needless to say, not only did I look like I had been taking steroids, but I was in some serious pain. I decided that it was a good enough excuse not to go kill myself in the run. I have continued running, but have not entered anymore races. I'll let you know when I do.

I Made It!

So, today was the day that I was supposed to go run 5 miles with my workout Nazi friend, Alison. We went for an early morning run at about 7am (I know, some of you are thinking I'm even crazier because I really like my sleep!). I made it through the whole run and she didn't take off and leave me (she was being nice). I'm pretty sure that 1.2 additional miles would have killed me....guess I'll find out next weekend!

My Newest Venture

For those of you who have the privilege of knowing me well, you know that I am somewhat fickle. With fickleness comes new fads, trends, ideas, addictions, etc. Here's my latest idea: I will attempt to run in a mini-marathon (10K or 6.2 mi.).......in 12 days. I know what some of you are thinking, "You?! In a marathon? I didn't even know you ran. And for goodness sake, how on earth can you possibly be in shape to run a marathon? After all, you don't exercise and every time I see you you have a Dr. Pepper in your hand!" To answer your questions:
-I used to run (it's been 2 years since I've ran and about 11 years since I've ran more than 1 mi. at a time).
-Am I in shape? Absolutely not.
-And yes, I do have a Dr. Pepper in my hands at all times.
So, to see just how out of shape I was I decided to go for a little run this evening. At 1 mi. I had been running for 11:47. It seemed to pass by pretty quickly. At mile two my time was 21:46. I felt pretty good and could have continued, but had some serious rawness on each of my ankles. I later discovered that they were bleeding (I decided not to take pictures for those of you who have week stomachs)-it's a good thing I ordered some actual running shoes today, which I can't wait to get in. I'm going to continue to run every other day and see how much progress I can make by August 22nd. I'm supposed to go on a 5 mile run this Saturday with a girlfriend of mine (the one who inspired me to give this a try) who's a workout Nazi and runs in marathons every few months. I'll let you all know how that goes......if I'm still alive.

Little Tater Tot

Little Tater Tot, aka Elli, is the newest addition to our family. We welcomed Elli Marie into this world in June of 2008. She weighed in at a healthy 9 lbs. and was 21 inches long. She is full of energy and is all girl-constantly changing her mind about what she wants and doesn't want (figuring it out is our problem). She has brought us tons of joy and lots of smiles along with MANY sleep-deprived days. Unlike her older sister, she is loud, boisterous, messy, and full of mischief! Oh, and did I mention that she's very smart? Her daddy thinks she's, by far, the smartest toddler on the planet-it's funny that I thought the same thing about her sister. She turned 1 this past June......where did that year go? Elli loves dancing and throwing things in the trash. Her favorite foods are salmon and sweet potatoes, macaroni and cheese, fettuccine alfredo, strawberries and yogurt, and bananas. Her newest words are cracker and diaper. I think she's a keeper even though she's a handful!

The Hollands

Joel and I met in mid-summer of 2002. We began dating that August and were married the following May. I have never known anyone who is so much fun and so transparent--what you see is what you get. He is honest, lovable, fun, and is my very best friend. He loves God, his family, and the outdoors and is the most passionate person I've ever met. He has passion for God, his job, sports, etc. (if I could just figure out some way to make him passionate about housework and laundry!). I love this man and am so glad to have met him!! We are blessed to have each other, two wonderful children, awesome families, and amazing friends! We thank God for all of them.

Pinkie Paxton

For those of you wondering, Pinkie Paxton is one of Kailee's many nicknames. She received this name by her obsession with pink when she was a little girl. It seems like the years have flown by, as she is now 10. I just don't know where the time has gone. She went from this tiny 6 lb. 5 oz. baby to a tall, slender, beautiful young girl. She is adventurous and silly, but is very well-behaved (at least most of the time). She loves swimming, playing games, and spending time at the lake. This summer she learned how to water ski and is on her way to becoming a pro!