Down on the Farm

What a BLAST the boys had at the farm! The Abshers were gracious enough to host a Union University get together for the department at their farm. We were even invited early so the boys would have a chance to ride the horses. They talked about it for days before hand. They wanted to wear their cowboy hats and boots, Woody t-shirts and bandannas. When it came down to it, Quinton is the only one that stayed decked out in his western clothing for the evening. Grammy & Papa were also in town and were able to enjoy the night with us. Even more shocking is we happened to get a VERY rare family photo - I'm so excited! Top it off with a bonfire, yummy pulled pork, and a hay ride! Thank you, Abshers!

Three-One... REALLY?!

I don't feel old enough to be over 30. Ugh, I hate even saying it! I feel like I'm still in my early 20's and that my knowledge topped off at that time. :) I know that really isn't true, nor would I EVER want to go back. I love that my life, marriage, and friendships have grown deeper as life has happened, BECAUSE life has happened. I still don't know how I got so old all of a sudden.

We had a family day of resting, presents, cake, dinner at Cracker Barrel, home made birthday cards. I LOVED it! I love my family :)

Buuutttt... anyone that knows me will attest that one of my main love languages is gifts. Dan did a great job!

Dan and I were blessed to be able to go to St Louis for the night! Thanks to our friends Beth & Russ who watched the boys. Also a shout out to Hotwire for getting a good rate and finding out after purchase that it was a Hyatt Regency with a 17th floor view of the arch!

What made us head to St Louis, 4 1/2 hours you ask? Six. Words. So You Think You Can Dance. Their live tour was in STL for one night! It was the closest city tour to where we live, AND it was my birthday weekend! They dance like I'd love to dance!

The ONLY downside of the trip.... they did not allow me to bring my DSLR camera into the arena and I was so sad. The last couple pictures are from my phone.

Anyways, here are some of the pictures from my day this year.

The boys excited to give me their wrapped gifts

Easton giving me his home made card

Yummy Lunch at Cracker Barrel

Quinton and the peg game

Dalton loves his shrimp!

Cake time!

My boys insisted I have a pink cake since I'm a girl. They decorated the top in their favorite sprinkles of red, green and blue

Quinton

Silly Dalton

Dan and I outside before the concert

I'm so excited!

Love him!

Sad I can't bring my camera in - pic from my phone

I'm so excited! Look at our great seats! - pic from my phone

Here are your All Stars! - pic from my phone

our city view!

look at our cool Arch view room!

The Arch on the way out of town

Please Vote for CFL!!!

I don't post about stuff like this, but I have a HUGE request of my friends and family that read my blog....

My good friend Lori's parents help start Champion for Life Kids camp. It is in Michigan and is for abused and neglected children. There are two weeks out of the year that these children have a place to go with loving, caring and Christian mentors. They keep the staff quite high, so they are in charge of just a few children. This way they are able to pour into them and help them. You can read more about CFL HERE.

Why am I telling you about this???

Pepsi is giving away $25,000 to different causes. CFL was submitted and can be voted on. The top ones voted for will get the money! There are THREE ways you can vote! And you can vote through each them one time per day.

So I am asking you to PLEASE VOTE!!! If you wouldn't mind, could you put this on your calendar every day for October to go in and vote?

Here are the THREE ways you can vote (and you can do EACH of them one time each day!):

Text: Text 102887 to Pepsi (73774) *standard text messaging rates apply

and

Facebook HERE - it's only TWO clicks away! Click "like" for Pepsi, then vote for Champions for Life Kids Camp.!

and

On Pepsi's website HERE - (or click on the voting box at the top of the right column on my blog). If you don't already have an account, it's easy to set up. Go to the website HERE. Click on "Join Refreshing Everything" (located on the bottom left corner of the page). Create an account (this only takes a minute). Once you have an account, you will automatically be taken to the voting page and you can begin voting. The easiest way to find the proposal is to locate the white, rectangular bibble with the magnifying class on the upper right corner of the page. Type CFL then look for the Champions for Life proposal in red. This will take you right to the proposal. When you are done, please share your vote with Twitter, Facebook, and email!

Remember you can vote EVERY DAY for the rest of October!

Still not convinced? Here is more information about their purpose:

CFL reaches out to abused children at a young age to begin healing their pain before they turn to mechanisms to numb it. Participants are shown unconditional love and are taught they were created for a purpose. This is accomplished through daily dramas and teachings, as well as activities such as horseback riding and kayaking, designed to provide encouragement and build self-esteem. For many, these are life changing accomplishments. Allowing the participants to be children again is vital to the healing process as their painful memories are replaced with happy ones of their time at CFL. Most importantly, CFL focuses on the healing process. Forgiveness is taught as a key component in repairing their broken souls. The children learn their past does not define their future. Meaningful activities such as burning painful memories and throwing a rock symbolic of their pain into the "Lake of Forgiveness" are powerful and emotional times.

I hope all the links work, please let me know if they don't.