At The Foot of The Cross..

is the song that I am listening to as I look back over previous blog entries and see pictures of Clara when she was first born. My heart has been pricked with an overwhelming sensation of how beautiful and precious the miracle of life is. To see what Clara was when she was just the size of a bean to what she was when she was first born and to what she is now-I can only say "wow, God!" You are amazing! Truely. Thank you for blessing us with not just amazing children, but with life in general. The words to this song that I am listening to are "at the foot of the cross, where I am made complete, you have given me life through the death you bore for me, I'll trade these ashes in for beauty, and wear forgivness like a crown. Coming to kiss the feet of mercy I lay every burden down." This song just makes me tear up.

It may be 10 till 1am and I am still awake, but I needed to write a little about how thankful I am for the blessings the Lord has given me. Clara is beautiful and I am truely thankful for the opportunity I have to be her mommy. Thank you, Lord.

Our Little Whodini (sp?)

The other morning Jason and I woke up around 2am and found Miss Clara had wiggled herself almost completely out of her nightgown AND her "miracle blanket" which is supposed to keep them tucked in real tight-right? Jason and I call it the straight jacket. Clara seems to love it, though. Except for this one time. She managed to get her blanket almost all the way off. We already knew she is getting too long. Occasionally she will kick her legs free from the miracle pocket. Here are some pictures of the funny morning.

2 Months Old

Well, Miss Clara is 2 months old already! We have had a very busy month 2 and Clara has grown so much! She got her 2 month shots and weighs in at 11 pounds 13.5 ounces and is 22.5 inches long. She cried when she got the shots (of course) and was feeling a little blue the rest of the day and yesterday, but today she is doing well! She is smiling a lot now and is starting to discover her voice. It is really sweet to hear her talk to us and smile while she is doing so. She LOVES to smile at Bonnie and Elena and may I say they were a HUGE help while we were on the road. They fed her, talked to her, put her paci in over and over, rubbed her face, read to her, sang to her and tried to make her stop crying by almost any means necessary. They are such great helpers!

Bonnie and Elena have been to two camps this month after the 4th of July. Elena went to ACU Leadership camps with a group from FB and we picked her up and drove straight to NM for a high school session of camp with Jason's parents and old church home. We got to see both sets of Great-Grandparents, saw Grandma and Grandpa Dillingham, (my mom just had surgery on her foot, so we got to take lunch to their house and see my dad as well which was really great), celebrated Bonnie's 15th birthday (twice) and saw aunts and cousins as well! The weather was perfect (especially at night and in the morning) and the view was spectacular. The mountains and the sky were a beautiful picture of God's perfect design and how small we all are in comparison.
Then we came back to Dallas and sent Bonnie on her way to camp with the kids from FB.
Here are some pics





























Clara getting her feet in the creek with Papa C






Elena loving the creek!








Bonnie playing water balloon volleyball. She did great!

Happy 4th!

One of the things we love the most about the 4th is getting together with our friends in the neighborhood. Chris and Andrea Egan always have a cookout at their home the night the city of FB does their fireworks show. We go to their house and then walk to the Historical Park and let the kids see their friends from school and church and they have jump houses and food and then they watch the fireworks. It is always a lot of fun!











Elena, Madelynn and Earl V dancing to the live band

The fireworks started-I love this picture!




Happy 4th of July!

Galveston Island

Sunday morning (the day after the reception) we all loaded up and drove to Galveston Island. We found a nice family beach that allowed us to rent two chairs and an umbrella (ella ella)ok I'm done.

Their was a cool breeze which helped make the day not too hot. The sun managed to find its way to my mom and me under the umbrella-ella ella and we got a little red. But I have browned out nicely. : )









The next day we left and came back to Dallas. Only one picture made it on camera...