Food!

We recently stumbled upon a wonderful program called Angel Food Ministries (www.angelfoodministries.com) which is a non-profit, non-denominational organization dedicated to providing grocery relief and financial support to communities throughout the United States. Basically, for $30 you receive a box nicely packed with approximately $65 worth of groceries. There are no qualifications, minimums, income restrictions, or applications. And the greatest thing is - everyone is encouraged to participate! Some churches even encourage participants to apply the money they saved to help someone else in need. After reading about it in a magazine last month, we looked it up on the Internet, found a local church who participates in the program (there are many participating churches in the Houston area), filled out the request and paid our money, then picked up the box today. Maybe this program would be a blessing to your family, or perhaps you know a family who would benefit from this. I encourage you to check it out!

Sample Menu:
4 lb. IQF Leg Quarters
4 oz. Beef Back Ribs
1 lb. 80/20 Lean Ground Beef
2 lb. Breaded Chicken Tenders
1.5 lb. Bone in Pork Chops (4 x 6oz.)
1 lb. Ground Turkey
18 oz. Stuffed Manicotti (Cheese)
12 oz. Smoked Sausage
Betty Crocker Seasoned Potatoes
7 oz. Cheeseburger Dinner
16 oz. Green Beans
16 oz. Baby Carrots
2 lb. Onions
1 lb. Pinto Beans
1 lb. Rice
7 oz. Blueberry Muffin Mix
10 ct. Homestyle Waffles
Dessert Item

Here's our box

Here's everything in our box
Here's everything out of our box! It's hard to tell everything that was in it, but it included ribs, fajita beef, steaks, meatballs, a crockpot meal, frozen vegetables, eggs, corn tortillas, etc. (even a carton of milk!)

Just Stuff

Hi everyone!

Just a quick blog update to say hello and to fill you in on a few things in our lives...

• We're in the midst of VBS at church this week and are doing the "Power Lab" theme. It's a great theme with great music, and the kiddos - all 200+ of them - seem to be loving it! Tonight is night number four. Woohoo - three down, two to go!
• Nathan continues to work at a local grocery store while searching for something with better pay and more stable hours - and something where he can better use his skill set.
• To help supplement our income during this unstable time in our lives, I'm looking for a part time job that will work around Nathan's schedule. Our ultimate goal is for him to find a position which will allow me to continue staying home with Jackson, but in the meantime, we'd like at least one of us to be home with him at all times so we don't have to put him in daycare. That would make me very sad. :-(
• Nathan just finished reading a new book called "The Shack" and I am just starting to read it. I've heard great things about it, and Nathan loved it, but I'm having a hard time getting into it. Perhaps it's because the only time I have to read is when I go to bed, and by then I'm usually so exhausted I read about a page, then fall right asleep! Might take me a while to finish this book at that rate... Have any of you read it? Your thoughts?
• Jackson is doing well and is obsessed with VBS music and "Nemo" these days. We gave him a buzz cut last week (well, Nathan did 99% of the work). It looks pretty cute! I'm amazed at how well he sat still for it.
• Potty training begins next week. Pray for us! We're open to suggestions if anyone out there has had great success in potty training an active two-year old boy!

Everybody take care and enjoy the rest of your week...may God richly bless you!

Love,

Jill

Nathan's Birthday Weekend

Happy 40th Birthday, Nathan! Nathan's birthday is July 1, but the celebrating started early when his brother, Scott, from Arizona flew in Saturday and completely surprised him. It was such fun to see the look on Nathan's face when he first saw Scott. Talk about a surprise! Then Sunday afternoon our friends Tom, Heather, and their three kids drove in from Arizona to spend a few days with us. Their little baby who was born with a birth defect had a mishap when one of his tubes was accidentally pulled out, so he spent two nights in the hospital, but we all had a great time together anyway. Jackson really enjoyed playing with his buddies!

Nathan with his brother Scott

Our new tradition - A Birthday Breakfast Kolache!

Nathan's birthday lunch at Mel's - a Texas 'hold in the wall' place - but famous and oh, so good! He ordered the "Mel Burger" and said it was quite yummy.

A close up of the huge Mel Burger!

Nathan and his longtime friend Tom

Three precious children!

Our friends Tom, Heather, and their three little ones visiting from Arizona.

Saying goodbye

Look at all those candles!

Me and my true love!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to my loving and generous dad,

to my wonderful father-in-law,

and to my precious and amazing husband, Nathan!

I LOVE YOU!

Scraped Up Boy

Sweet, little Jackson... He got in a fight with the sidewalk yesterday, and the sidewalk won. :-( He didn't bleed very badly and only cried for a couple of minutes, but we'll be seeing the residual effects on his face for a while. Aahhh...the joys of having an active boy!



In other news, we have a new air conditioner! Yippee!! Our AC bit the dust on Saturday, May 31, and we finally got a new one installed yesterday, Wednesday, June 11. Thankfully we have a home warranty, so it didn't cost us anything to get a new AC unit, but it took the warranty company FOREVER to get everything approved. We stayed at Gene & Joan's for the whole time - 12 days (thank you, Gene & Joan, for letting us stay with you for an extended period of time!). I don't know what we would have done otherwise. It was way too hot to stay at our house with no AC. This humidity is stifling. I do not like it!


Nathan has a J-O-B! Praise God! Hallelujah! He's working at a local grocery store, and although it's not the ideal job he was hoping for, we are thankful for it. He'll continue to pursue other employment.

I know it's been a while (a long while) since I've posted on this blog. I'll try to do better. It's my goal to get pictures up soon of our lovely new home! In the meantime, I'll post a few pictures we've taken throughout the past few months. Until next time...
I chopped off my long hair at the beginning of April.
My parents and sister (Jane) and niece (Chelsea) visited us in April.
Grandma & Grandpa E. with Jackson.
Nathan & Jackson at the Water Wall with Grandma & Grandpa D.
Grandma & Grandpa D. walking the beach with Jackson in Galveston.
Three generations in Galveston.
Nathan & Jackson exploring the sea shells in Galveston.
A bloom from the lovely crape myrtle tree in our front yard.
Our front door! Come visit us!

Typing Test

I've always fancied myself to be quick on the keyboard, then I saw someone who types 114 wpm. Whuutt?? Looks like I'd better keep practicing!

86 words

http://speedtest.10-fast-fingers.com">Speed test

Happy Halloween, Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Guess it's been a while, huh? Lots of water under the bridge since I last posted.

1. I've gotten over my aggravation with Super 8, although I still never plan to stay there again.
2. Jackson was Tigger for Halloween. So cute! We had a "Trunk or Treat" at our church for all the kiddos. It was lots of fun.
3. Jackson threw my incredibly cute, pink cell phone in the toilet in early November. I rescued it promptly, but the damage was done. Learn from my mistake...If your darling baby ever throws your incredibly cute, pink cell phone in the toilet, take it out asap, take out the battery, and let it sit for three or four days. I let mine sit, but only for three or four HOURS, so I fried my incredibly cute, pink cell phone. Much sadness ensued. Hopefully another incredibly cute, pink cell phone will be in my future as soon as we move to Houston.
4. Oh yeah, we’re moving to HOUSTON, TEXAS in a couple of weeks! Nathan had his last Sunday at the Senior Minister at our church last Sunday, December 30, and we’ll be moving the week of January 14.
5. But before that we’re starting 2008 off with a bang by going on a cruise with my family! Twenty-three of us set sail on Monday for a five-day cruise to celebrate my dad’s 80th birthday. Happy Birthday, Dad! Mexico, here we come!
   

So, all that to say, life has been a little crazy lately, hence the silence from my blog. Once we get moved and settled in, I’m hoping to blog AT LEAST once a week…hopefully more than that! TTFN.