a few things...

- My Grandpa was ordained tonight as a Deacon at Prestonwood. This was something that he never sought after but was asked many times over to consider, and finally he accepted. We all attended (the McWilliams Family) this event tonight and it was rather special! Ministry is not foreign to my Grandparents, they are ministry. For most of their lives they have given themselves to people in so many ways. There are so many stories I still haven't heard, but I know that he was a chaplain in the Navy, They've had young people in their home to live with them, they've started bible study groups, helped start and fund a traveling singing group called the Horizons, he's been an elder, a pastor, a business exec for most of his career (which is another form of pastoring to another kind of congregation :) group leader, teacher, and now a Deacon at 75 years old. He is a spiritual giant and incredible example. We were so proud to support him tonight.




- Espen said 'cat' and 'horse' today....of course its not the full word just variations. He just says the 't' and 's' sounds. He loves to bark at dogs in a high pitch woof woof, and every single person gets a "see ya!" when we're passing by; including tonight when we were all at Prestonwood witnessing the 'swearing in' or ordination night of their Deacons. It was a special night tonight and kind of sacred in a way, so when Ryan takes Espen out after being on Nona's lap for a while, he turns back to our row and to the back section in the auditorium and says "see ya"! Classic.
He also loves to count to three.

- I am back at Cosmetology school to finish, and i'm excited about being back and am starting to get busy seeing clients again. It's been weird getting into a schedule in a way. Ryan stays with Espen, where he can work during nap and some play times. I miss my guys being away around 30 hours a week. I'm glad it's for a season though, I will be finished in July.
As a matter of fact, if you're in the Dallas area I'm at The Salon Professional Academy at I35 and bus. 121.....a Redken salon with great prices. You can call and make an appointment with me!

here's the info....

The Salon Professional Academy
1165 S Stemmons Fwy
Lewisville, TX 75067
(214) 222-2436


Happy Thursday.

Saturday morning after Oatmeal

A little lesson




Finding little imaginary things on the carpet




Dancing to Gnarls Barklay

I put my foot down

we just received our new rug. We're complete. :)

New Routine

I started back to Cosmetology school on Wednesday....I am about half-way finished but stopped going when we found out we were moving to Houston which was September 07 (that sounds so long ago) I was a month away from having Espen and getting ready for a move. But after a year in Houston, we moved back to the Dallas area, so now I am back to finish and as fast as i can.
Its been weird having a schedule and making myself go to bed. Hopefully it will become natural soon....the getting up part. When does that click in?

E gets bigger and bigger everyday. He's so good for daddy when I am gone. I think we're close to hearing him say mom or mommy. His new word is baby! He saw a gerber baby picture yesterday before I did and said baby; also when he see's the baby on the YoBaby Yogurt bottle, he says it so well and clear. His first time to say baby was Christmas eve the night we read the Christmas story out of his bible book from Nana and Baba, he pointed to the baby Jesus on the page.
Tonight he counted to three. Not exactly saying the words but the inflection he has down....quiet, louder, and squeal!
Oh and I think he loves the feeling of juice running out of his mouth, off his lips, and on to his shirt and eventually his jeans. Must be a roar, because he's had two different outfits on today and a bath finally before bed.

I love my little sticky boy.

Catch up

AHHHH!!!! Finally! Our cable guy came today and we now have internet. It has been the longest month without it. I'm just happy we're back to up and running.
We had an awesome Holiday....it felt like a month of Saturdays! I have never looked forward to a Monday ever until last night! I'm happy to start a routine of sorts and I actually start back to Cosmetology school on Wednesday (which was faster than I thought) but no complaints. I'm totally excited and ready to get in and get finished.
Over the Holidays we had a family photo shoot with Ryan's brother and fam. We presented several of the pics to "Gigi and Poppy" for Christmas (loved them). So I'll be posting some as we go along, there are so many. The new pic at the top of our blog is one of them. Rhonda Robbins was our photographer....amazing. Check out her stuff at http://www.rhondarobbins.typepad.com.

Have a wonderful new year friends! May we all resolve to write more blogs this year and naturally read more!!









Let me just say it was near 30 degrees with a wind chill lower than that! We rescheduled for another session because of the wind, so those are the ones that are coming later.