Fiery Gizzard

The title doe not at all depict the type of day we had hiking, it was actually the name of the trail. Our family spent Wednesday checking out some local nature. We were so excited to spend a full day with daddy that included a little get-away. We packed our lunch, loaded up and were off. Spending a day relishing God's wonders was a beautiful reminder of the area/school where Chad and I met. Memories! Although, hiking with 3 in tow is QUITE a bit diffferent than a hike with just us, but I must say, it was filled with many more laughs, songs, breaks, and distractions to look at God's wonders. And I mean distractions, but teachable moments as well. We talked about where moss grows, why tree roots are underground, do monsters live in caves, did Moses' staff look like my walking stick, why are there tree roots coming out of the ground, and many more. You can imagine the day was full!

If you plan a hike with "walking" children, I wouldn't suggest a 2 mile hike the first time, unless you want to get an extra workout carrying 30 lbs. halfway through:-) Needless-to-say, we all were exhausted that night, but hey, at least Owen slept in to 7:00 am. Yippee! So, our hike truly was grand and we plan it to be a tradition in our home throughout the summer and fall. We are hoping to hit up a different place each time. Fun times.

Leaning Tower of Tate

Yesterday Tate was 6 months old!

Amazing as to all that a little one can do in six short months. His little personality is blossoming! He is notorious for waiting for eye contact and then throws you this HUGE smile. I guess he has gotten used to faces constantly looking at him, especially the captive audience of Owen and Griffin. Tate loves being in his exersaucer, laughing, sitting in his bumbo chair, and falling over while learning to sit up. Hence the title. He's getting there, but he has alot to hold up :-)

Tate truly brings so much joy to our family and his smiles are contagious.

Precious Father, thank you so much for Tate's life. YOU have blessed us beyond measure with him. I pray that he learns of your love and grace at an early age. May he have the priviledge of loving you and serving you with his very life! YOU are an amazing God whose ways are higher than ours. Thank you for sweet Tate Landry Vinson!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Today we celebrated Daddy! Owen wrote each letter of Daddy's banner to show him how special he is to us. He is an amazing husband, father, friend, son, and servant of Christ. Words can't fully express my love for him and to him for all that he is to our family. We are protected, cared for, loved unconditionally, forgiven, served, and honored by him. What an awesome example he is to our boys. As a matter of fact, if you ask Owen what he wants to be when he grows up, "A daddy just like Daddy, and an airplane driver :-)" That pretty much somes up how impacted we are by him. We love you Daddy!

Perfect Timing

God's timing is always perfect and that truth once again played out in our lives. As I mentioned before, my mom, "Grandmother" and my grandmother, "Ivey" came to visit us for the week. We had not seen them since Christmas, so it was a welcomed time. They arrived on Saturday just shortly after Griffin, Tate and I had just come home from Chuck-E-Cheese. We went there to spend some time with our Community Group's "adopted family" It was such a joy to see LaKeisha and her family having fun and experiencing something new. It was also new for Griffin, so that was a bonus. The unwelcomed bonus from that trip came 2 days later arriving in the form of snotty noses, and for me, strep throat. Not so fun, but as I mentioned earlier, God's timing is perfect..even amidst strep throat, why, because mom had come to town and was able to care for all of us . This was great becasue it allowed Chad to keep up with his work. As always, Mom was amazing! She served us so HARD. She cooked, cleaned, stocked the refrig (she insists that I keep it way tooooo bare), sewed some curtains and chair backs for the boys, read books, rocked Tate, played dinosaurs and cars nonstop, and took the time to fix Chad a birthday dinner and dessert, Chocolate Meringue Pie. (Those who know me well know that's a luxury for him :-)) Mom also insisted that Chad and I go out, so we went out for a lunch date yesterday and got to visit a friend at the hospital. Please take a moment to pray for this young man. He had brain surgery on Monday to remove a tumor they found last week...once again..God's timing is perfect every time!!!

Ivey

We have just finished a week of fun with Ivey and Grandmother. Ivey is my grandmother, 91, who has so much life in her. She reads to the boys, watches them run circles around her, takes occasional naps on the couch, sleeps on the couch at night (trooper), dodges swords, rocks and gives Tate a bottle, and this past time helped stick mailing labels on evelopes for Chad's mission trip to Mexico with the youth this summer. I'm so thankful that our boys are growing up knowing their great grandmother, and the value in family. I'm also thankful that she is willing and able to make the 10 hour trip in the car with my mom. That's one thing about Ivey, she doesn't want to miss anything and is always ready to ride; especially to visit the great grands! We love you Ivey.