Caleb was blessed to get to help lead worship at a Campus Crusade for Christ Retreat in Phoenix. I was blessed to get to go for the weekend. It was heaven. Relaxing and beautiful and I got a Pina Colada...the true sign of vacation in my book...non-alcohlic of course, cuz this baby is ruling my life...in a good way:)


Sunrise in Phoenix.

World's largest cactus or smallest person?

God's symbol for paradise.

Our balcony.

My personal heaven.

Balcony at sunset.

Evidence that Caleb did work.

5:00 wake up & get ready.
5:45 watch weather on the 5's and brendan higgins.
6:00 oatmeal.
6:15 load suitcase & backpack.
6:20 kidd kraddick in the morning- the hizzywood hizzle.
6:30 tall nonfat-caramel macchiato & a bluberry muffin.
6:45 school.
7:00 today show theme music.
7:20 first parent conference.
11:30 last parent conference.
11:45 george bush turnpike.
12:15 dfw airport, hi mom & dad.
12:50 standing by-didn't make the flight.
1:00 meet U.S. Servicemen coming home from iraq.
1:15 lunch with mom at terminal d @ cantina laredo.
2:35 standing by-missed the 2nd flight.
3:00 temporarily give up and go to southlake town center (C&B, anthropologie).
4:45 talk to ella.
5:00 mom & dad's house, hi gus gus & sunny.
6:45 on the way to dfw with dad for another try.
7:30 standing by-missed the 3rd flight.
8:35 standing by-HALLELUJAH- i am going to phoenix!
8:45 diet coke, pretzels, sky mall, & blogging.
9:15 computer crashes, re-type blog entry.
11:00 tx time/ 9:00 az time- reunited with caleb!

saturday & sunday- r&r with caleb.

this is the life of the stand-by passenger...thanks Lord for a wonderfully hectic day and for my loving parents who were determined to get me to phoenix one way or another!

I love kids. I do...here is a perfect example of why. Liam and Ella (kissing cousins...not really kissing, really cousins) talk crazy to each other in their own language and crack each other up on our trip to the get some ice cream. They make no sense and I love it...they don't have to! Check out the video...

Caleb and I (and our good friends Ryan & Lindey) went to go see this movie last night. It is only playing at the Angelika in our area. Caleb was eager to see this movie because he was fascinated by the book by Jon Krakauer and wanted to see how Sean Penn directed this movie.

"Into the Wild" is a story of a young man who graduates from a prestigious college. He is dissatisfied with the materialism of life and is hurt by his wealthy dysfunctional family and thus decides to become a vagabond. His name is Christopher McCandless and he wants to prove that you don't need money to have satisfaction in life and more poignantly, "that relationships are not the principle source of happiness in life." So, he cuts off all ties with his family and leaves to find himself.

He starts out with just a little money from his savings, his old yellow car, a backpack, and some clothes. He winds his way across the United States on his adventure, meeting a myriad of interesting people that he loves at a distance...with his ultimate goal of making it to Alaska to love off the land. He finds an abandoned bus in the Alaska frontier and that is his home for the remainder of the story. He lives off the land and fulfills his dream. He then ultimately realizes that he wants to go back to society. Chris writes often of his reasons but eventually decides that nature is only a refuge for a short while, that true happiness can only be shared with others.

Eventually he dies in the wilderness at the age of 24... the way they put together his story is by his journal entries he wrote religiously and interviews with the people he met on his journey.

This movie touched me in so many ways...first, the beauty of nature. This movie is breathtaking to watch.

There is also a message of the importance of forgiveness that the friends he meets try to impress upon him. He comes in contact with several Christians that tell him about the love of God and forgiveness. The old man that he meets at the end says, "Forgiveness is love and love is when God's light shines on you."

This movie reinforced the concept that God created us to be in community with people and the darkness of living a lonely life. Sadly, Chris meets his demise before he can act on this lesson learned.

Lastly, if you have never been with someone when they die, you get a small taste of that through this movie. Caleb and I have experienced this and it is so life changing...the ultimate contradiction of being tragically sad and amazingly beautiful.

Also an amazing soundtrack...check out this movie or better, read the book. This is one of those movies that leaves you thinking...and then you go to bed and you wake up thinking about it...like I am now.

I love Halloween...always have always will. Pumpkins, candy, fall weather... It was always so much fun! We dressed up and more importantly our parents dressed up. For one night you can pretend that you are someone else like Punky Brewster or a fairy. We went trick-or-treating and counted our candy when we returned home.

In Caleb's family upbringing (very conservative)...Halloween was the celebration of a pagan festival and no fun was allowed on this night. Well, that's not entirely true...but you get what I'm talking about.

Needless to say we have had long discussions on what we could and could not do or be on Halloween, what our children could or could not dress up like, and if we would trick-or-treat or go to a "Fall Festival" (not there's anything wrong with that). Caleb says that our kids cannot dress up like anything that denies the deity of Christ...doesn't really narrow it down, but it's a good policy. In the fantasy world...how does this apply? This is an ongoing conversation...just wait until we tackle Santa Claus.

So...I am caught between the stereotype that a good Christian would never partake in such a cultural tradition and the part of me who wants to have fun, for imagination to come alive, and to get to know others in my community knowing that it is all in good fun...and to be honest, the latter is winning.

It goes back to the whole Harry Potter phenomenon. If I am grounded in my faith can I not read a fictional book about a boy wizard? Strange. By the way, I do have all intentions of reading the entire series and hopefully one day, reading them with my kids.

Anyway...thoughts? Is Halloween happy?

"I love you too much,
You have the perfect touch,
I lack what I say."

This lovely poem was written by Timothy or Scott Douglass (they both deny they are the author) for Nancy, their mother when they were wee lads. Anyway, that is where the phrase "I love you too much" comes from in the video.

So here is Caleb's synopsis of our trip with Ella to the park. Warning: We all rolled out of bed and headed to the park...no make up or grooming.

"Ella tells Cub Cub and Aina how much she loves everyone. Cub Cub questions her about how much she loves Daddy. She gives into the pressure but eventually is confident with her original answer".

So back in August when I first suspected the baby news...like all responsible first time pregnant women do...I went out and bought a book about being pregnant. This is picture was not too encouraging.

The woman looks miserable, like her dog just died or like the worst thing in the world is about to happen to her. Still I persevered because although I was very nauseous, I have not thrown up since 4th grade (and the record still holds- thank you God). All this to say, it hasn't been so bad....in fact it has been good and maybe even great. I know it's not like this for everyone and so I am very grateful.

So, I personally believe that the US Americans that wrote this book should consider changing the image on the front to something a little more inviting to a first time mom. It supposed to be a good thing...remember?

In the spirit of our baby news and as a requirement for my child and adolescent appraisal class...this is my kinetic family drawing. It is an informal tool used as a part in the assessment of children in counseling. So I thought I would share my masterpiece with you.

Just wanted to share with you that Caleb and I are proud parents-to be! We are so excited and thankful. This comic was provided by David "Pez" Lobban.

Here's Liam Douglass (my pseudo nephew) getting down with his bad self at his uncle's wedding...he is so spunky!