The Kimbrell Thanksgiving 2010

So ... this year we went to Alabama to be with Stephen's family for Thanksgiving. After driving there with an 11 month old last Christmas, I decided that it would be in the best interest of my mental health as well as those loved ones in the car with me that I NEVER do that again ... drive to Alabama with a child-crazy!!!! So, thankfully, we were able to fly. I was little apprehensive because Lily Kate hadn't flown since she was 6 months old but she really did great. And after my salvation, that was the thing I was most thankful for during this Thanksgiving season- just kidding ... kinda! :)

My sweet little angel :)

Sleeping on the first flight

She LOVED looking out the window at the clouds and loved yelling to the planes when we were on the ground ... and yes, I mean literally yelling!

Thank you to whoever invented stickers ... you are my true hero!

While in Alabama I just HAD to stop and get a Coke from a glass bottle. Me & my sis-in-law love stopping here when we get to go on little "excursions" - I mean, have you ever seen a machine that gives you Coke in a glass bottle?? ...I hadn't until I went there ... of course, that is on my long list of many other things but, let's save that conversation for later!

Lily Kate LOVED being outside and feeding the fish in Grandaddy's pond

She kept on saying "throw" ... of course, she also threw all the sticks and such in the pond too - hopefully the fish will still be living when we visit next time!

She climbed up onto the rocks where the water comes down and drank the water ... too cute!

She got to open a few early Christmas present since we are going to be at home for Christmas this year ... as she tore off the paper she would say "broke."

My little turkey :)

She had so much fun with Aunt Maria

Me & Stephen with his brothers and sister & Granny ... thanks for looking so sweet in the picture, David!

More playing outside ...

Going to check the cows ...

Grandaddy was so good to Lily Kate - he took her wherever she wanted to go!

Right before the tearful goodbye at the airport ... :(

First of all I must say ... I really do have the best in-laws ever. Honestly!! They have always treated me like a part of their family and I truly love them with all my heart! We don't get to see them often and I think this past trip was one of our best ones ever. Lily Kate was so, so good and she loved spending time with Stephen's family. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

A Heart Full of Thanks

Psalm 26:7 "That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving and tell of all thy wonderous works."

I want to take some time to tell just a few of the "wonderous works" the Lord has done for me! God has blessed me so much more than I ever deserve. I can't start this post without thanking Him for saving me. I was saved at the age of 4 and was priviledged to grow up in a Christian home. Even though I had a few "rough" spots throughout my teenage years I am so thankful the Lord was patient with me and still spoke to my heart about drawing closer to Him. I am thankful for His mercy and grace because I have failed Him more times than I want to count. I am thankful for His unconditional love during those times when I haven't been as close to Him as I should. I am thankful for His soverign hand that has guided me through life and has either prepared or permitted all the hard times I have been through. I am thankful for His Holy Spirit that convicts my heart when I am doing wrong and speaks to my heart about how I can serve Him better. My heart's desire is to serve the Lord and do His will - I pray that my life will glorify Him.

Psalm 100:4 "Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him and bless his name."

The Lord has truly blessed me with such a wonderful husband who I consider my best friend. He is a wonderful provider for our family and such a great dad to Lily Kate. He always knows how to make me laugh and is so considerate of me. He has a servant's heart and is such a hard worker. I know that he loves the Lord and seeks Him daily for wisdom and strength. I am so thankful the Lord brought us together.

I am so thankful the Lord has blessed me & Stephen with a precious daughter. Lily Kate brings so much joy to my life and I love being her mommy. She knows how to make me laugh with the cute little things she does as well as bring tears to my eyes when I realize how quickly she is growing up. I can't help but melt when those big, brown eyes with those long eyelashes look up at me and say "Momma." She is such a blessing to my life!

I am so thankful for my wonderful family - my godly parents & in-laws, brother & brothers/sister in-law, great grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins whom I love & cherish my time with.

I am so thankful the Lord has blessed me with a wonderful church with a great Pastor and great church family. I love being at Pleasant Acres and know that the Lord has great plans for us there. I love the youth group we get to work with and love the opportunity to help them find God's will for their life.

I am so thankful for awesome, godly friends that I can depend on for help & advice. I don't have a sister but the Lord has blessed me with sisters-in-Christ that I couldn't be more thankful for.

I am so thankful I am an American and have freedoms that so many people dream of.

I am so thankful for a home that I can feel safe and secure in and enjoy my family and friends in.

I am so thankful for the chance to get to be a stay-at-home mom. I don't ever want to take for granted the opportunity to get to be with my daughter everyday and have my house ready for my husband when he comes home from work.

My heart is so full of thanksgiving for the wonderful life the Lord has blessed me with. I know I could go on & on with so many more things. I hope that you & your family have a wonderful Thankgsiving and you can take some time to think about what you are thankful for!

Psalm 92:1 "It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most high."

Lily Kate is 22 Months!!!

22 months ... I feel like I was just doing my 21 month post or my 20 months post - It goes by so quickly!! Lily Kate has done a lot better the past couple of weeks with her eating so hopefully she is starting to get out of that phase-yay! She is also starting to say open/close or on/off all the time ... she defiantly knows what she wants!

For a long time the only song Lily Kate wanted to sing was "Zaccheus" ... now she has moved on to "Who's the King of the Jungle." When she wants me to sing this one she will put her hands under her arms like the monkey part. Whenever I sing "This Little Light of Mine" she will sing "shine, shine" over and over ... it is so cute!

She is all about being my helper. If I am cleaning then she wants a rag to help me clean or if I am doing laundry then she wants to help put it up or switch it to the dryer. If there is a door open then she has to close it.
One of the funniest things she has started to do this month is call herself "Kate." She will look at my phone and the picture of her on it and say "Kate." Then sometimes when we are playing and I am callling her name over & over I will stop and she will start to call her own name. I think that "l" is a hard letter for her to pronounce so instead of trying to say "Lily" she just leaves that whole word out and calls herself "Kate."

She wants to jump off of everything. She will take her step stool all over the house and climb up on it and say "two, two, two" and then jump off. Anytime I ask her to count something it is always "two, two, two." She also likes to take her step stool to the drawers in the kitchen and try to take everything out of them. She knows where I keep her crayons and so she will try to get them out and say "nolor" (for color).

Lily Kate ... You are such a big girl and you know it! You bring so much joy to my life and I love watching you change day after day. Even though you are very fiesty and tend to be a drama queen, I love that you are all girl and ask to put a bow in your hair when you are getting ready. I hope that you realize how much I love you and that I will always be a good example for you. Even though I hear you call (and yell & scream) my name 1000 times a day I wouldn't trade it for anything. I love you with all my heart ... Momma

Flashback Friday: Lily Kate's 1st Christmas

I LOVE Christmas!!! It is such a great time of the year. First of all for what it means to me personally as a Christian and second of all for the memories I get to make with my wonderful friends and family. Last year was Lily Kate's first Christmas and it was such a fun year. We had Christmas with my family in the middle of December because we were going to be with Stephen's family in Alabama for Christmas day.

Four Generations!

Lily Kate & Pops

love this grin

This is what I love doing ... spending time with my little girl

I get emotional just looking at these pictures. Lily Kate has changed so much ... she actually has 12 pieces of hair on her head this year - last year she only had 6-haha! And I love looking at her with my Papa & Gran - such great memories to cherish.

We enjoyed a week in Alabama with Stephen's family for Christmas. The ride down there and the ride back was probably the worst days of my life but let's not go there right now ... I am in a good mood and don't want to change it. :) (Lily Kate was sick and let's just say she was not a good rider!)

Sitting with Granny

Reading the Christmas story on Christmas morning

She loved that red ornament more than any of her new toys!!

Sweetie!!

I am so thankful for this wonderful family the Lord has blessed me with and I can't wait until this Christmas!!!

i.love.shutterfly

So ... it seems like every year people are getting ready for the Christmas season earlier and earlier and I LOVE it! Christmas is defiantly my favorite time of the year. AND one of my favorite things to get to do is send out our Christmas card! I especially love that I get to send a picture of my sweet little girl so everyone can see how grown up she is (and how ADORABLE she is too:) ) I've used Shutterfly for a long time now. I've made many photo books & cards & last year I made Photo Calendars for all of the grandparents for Christmas - that was a BIG hit! I can't wait to do my Christmas card this year ... here are just a couple of the products that I am in love with ...

I love, love this Christmas card because it has more than one picture for you to share with others ... check some more of these out HERE




Please tell me how cute these would be on your gifts at Christmas ... I know they would look great on mine :) There are SO many to choose from -go HERE

BUT ... are you ready for some REALLY good news ....Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly - go HERE to find out how!!! I know - I just made your day ... you can thank me later!! :)

A little update ...

Last weekend (Thursday-Saturday) we went up to Southeastern with 8 of our teenagers for All-Access Days. We had such a great time! First of all, Lily Kate stayed with my parents so it was so much easier on me on this trip. And of course, Mom & Dad loved getting to keep her! We were so busy the whole time but it was a great time to get away and let the kids from our youth group enjoy some time at Southeastern and see what it is all about. We enjoyed some time with Juli & Josh (Thanks Josh for letting me borrow your car ... your Mustang is defiantly a little more fun to drive than my big-ole SUV! :) )
What would the trip be without fun games?!?!

These girls were eating some nasty crackers in hope of winning a PSP-Go! *Congrats to Ashley who actually won it!! :)

And of course there were plenty of skits ... we heard a great "message" from the Apostle Johnny Washington

This is the youth pastor that works at my Dad's church - he got 108 clothespins put on his face!!

Here is my crazy brother acting like a Rabbi in a skit - and Stephen's brother is in the right of picture trying not to laugh ... SO funny!

Me & my CrAzY brother ...

guess it runs in the family :)

Of course there was the Sigma/Delta football championship...

Me with Ashley, Dominique & Haley

Ashley with her new "friend" ... he told us that he wanted to marry her-haha!

My brother on the football field ... my Mom's last words before we got off the phone right before the game "Lauren, please don't let your brother get hurt out there on the football field." Me: "Ok Mom, I'll do everything I can!" Haha-what am I supposed to do?

Group hug after the game :)

Stephen with Jake & Charles ... he is so proud of his Delta guys ... and of course Jason!

Nathan & Haley after the game :)

We had a great weekend with the teenagers from our youth group and our kids & family at the college. The rest of the month of November is SO crazy for us - lots of traveling and trips coming up. But, I am so thankful for this busy life that the Lord has blessed me with!