It's a ...

Most of you already know that yesterday we found out we are having another boy!!!

Since Sydni and Davis were at school during the day they did not find out until after school got out. They knew we were going to the doctor and may possibly know if the baby was a boy or girl, so they were excited. Sunday night Sydni said "if it's a girl you have to tell me right away, but if it's a boy I don't want to know about it." Both of them wanted a baby sister but Davis said he would be okay with another brother too. So after the bell rang at school, both kids came running to the van as fast as they could...."What is it?! Mom, is it a boy or girl?" I said, "Well...you are going to have another brother!"

Davis said, "Yes! I knew it was a boy!" And Sydni said, "Oh, darn it! I don't want another brother!" Maybe she will soon see the benefits of being the only girl!!

We are all very excited. I am a little less anxious now about all that needs to be done before February. I know that we have most of what we need, which would not have been the case if it were a girl. And so the drama of names has begun....we'll keep you posted!

"Give me your eyes..."

The song by Brandon Heath, "Give me your eyes", has nearly brought me to tears every time I hear it. I believe the chorus of it is a prayer and it is very similar to the prayers I've been saying for the last couple of years.

"Give me your eyes for just one second.

Give me your eyes so I can see,

everything that I keep missing.

Give me your love for humanity.

Give me your arms for the brokenhearted,

the ones that are far beyond my reach.

Give me your heart for the ones forgotten.

Give me your eyes so I can see."

I believe that we (Christians) have gotten so caught up in "playing church" and making sure that others believe exactly the way we think they ought to believe, that we have forgotten something very detrimental...LOVE.

How can we reach the lost if we don't love them first?

How can we talk to them about eternal matters if we don't love them?

How can we see them as Jesus sees them if we don't love them?

How can we help our brothers and sisters in Christ if we don't love them?

I pray that we will not lose the love for others that God has given to us. I pray that I can see past the temporal things of this world that make me want to look the other direction. I hope I can see the needs of other's hearts and souls. I want to serve others as if serving the Lord himself.

~Salyna

You can see Brandon Heath's video on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTsYAZvHsEQ

Birthday Girl!

Sydni turned 7 yrs. old last week!

We can hardly believe our first baby was born 7 yrs. ago. The time goes by so fast!

We are thankful to the Lord for all He has done in Sydni's life so far and we look forward to the years ahead with great anticipation. She is so much her own person but has a lot of our qualities too (okay, mostly mom's).

It seems like her birthday lasted a couple days. Because it was on Thursday we took cupcakes to school and opened some presents that night. She got a new Bible from Mom & Dad, lots of Hannah Montana stuff that she requested from Grandma & Grandpa, and enough money to buy a new wardrobe (which is desperately needed).

Then Friday night we finally had a "birthday" cake and spent a couple hours at a local family fun center, riding rides and playing games.

Thanks for sharing in this celebration with us! Please pray for Sydni as she has really taken her own interest in reading her Bible regularly!

What a weekend!

This past weekend consisted of things fairly unusual for our family.
First, we (Miles & Salyna) went to Kansas City...alone! We can't even remember the last time we had a night and 2 days away. It was great! We spent some time with a friend we haven't seen in a very long time. Salyna and Leigh have been friends since 2nd grade, that's 23 years! Wow! We had fun celebrating Leigh's 30th birthday at an amusement center where we amused ourselves playing games for over 2 hours. Then we had a nice Italian dinner at a pretty upscale restaurant (also unusual for us). We were very thankful to Leigh for helping us out with a pretty upscale hotel room too, something we definitely are not used to.

We had a wonderful time of conversation and just spending time together, focused on one another. It really was an amazing weekend!

The kids also experienced something unusual, they weren't all together for the weekend. Sydni and Andrew spent the weekend with some good friends of ours who have 4 kids of their own. And Davis spent the weekend with some new friends who have 2 boys and celebrated a birthday too. It seems the kids had a great time too! We were all reunited Sunday evening with yet more time spent with friends.

(Belly Pic)








So today we have been recovering...haha! We are thinking and praying for all those affected or yet to be affected by the hurricane.