Double Congrats!

My friend, Alisha (one of the grad girls) had her twins on Friday! They are gorgeous and so cute! Their names were kept secret from us, and I love the ones they chose: Jonah Matthew and Avah Marie.  Avah was 6 pounds 4 ounces, and Jonah was 5 pounds 10 ounces. 

First family photo!

Avah Marie

Jonah Matthew

Cuddling together

Alisha and the babies! All three are so pretty!

Sweet, sweet babies!

Congratulations to the Hanshaw family of FOUR!  Love you all!

Pumpkin Carving

Britt and Ben came over last night, and we all carved pumpkins (and one watermelon)!  

Ben's Companion Cube (from Portal video game)

Britt's Martha Stewart Pumpkin

Beautiful pattern

After a night full of pumpkin carving!

My Australian Shepherd pumpkin - with the help of Ben's Dremmel and an awesome BH&G template

I'm so proud of it!

Kevin and I did an angry bird and pig (the pig is done with a watermelon) - we love them!

Kevin's Turret from Portal video game - Kevin is so precise!

Looks good, even without the candle!

I love it!

B is for Beckett...and Blessing

Sarah and I left Friday morning to visit the Gramkow Family: Mandy, Ben, Ellie and Beckett.  It was wonderful to be able to help out however we could.  I left feeling renewed after seeing their faith throughout their day-to-day interactions with Beckett.

Sarah and I on our way to Fort Worth

Mr. Beckett himself - he's up to three pounds!

Sarah and Ellie playing in the waiting room at Harris Methodist

Sweet baby Beckett

Benton is sick

Benton is getting TLC

Benton was rushed to the vet last night after having bloody stools.  Our vet is wonderful, and was willing to stay late to see him.  We are waiting for the test results to come back this morning, but they treated him last night with injections and antibiotics for what they think is colitis from salmonella.  There is a lake near our house, so we have lots of Canadian geese around, potentially causing their droppings to get onto his paws or on something he licked.  He is on a special diet for the next several days.  He doesn't seem like himself, but I can tell he is starting to get better.

Prayer Warriors, part 2

For those of you interested in keeping in touch with Beckett's progress, Mandy and Ben do a wonderful job of keeping everyone up to date on their blog:

Team Gramkow

Going the distance

In the next month and a half, I will be breaking out the luggage several times:

October 21-23: Driving to Fort Worth, TX with Sarah to visit Mandy, Ben, Ellie, and Beckett! We can't wait to help out however we can!

November 8-11: My first solo business trip to Chicago for the CAEL conference!  I fly out on Tuesday morning and return on Friday evening.  I'm excited in the biggest, nerdiest way for this conference! Tinto and Sanford and Schlossberg, OH MY! :)

November 25-December 2: Yep, it's Jamaica time! Oh my goodness, I can not wait!

A time for everything

There is a time for everything,
   and a season for every activity under the heavens:

 ² a time to be born and a time to die,
   a time to plant and a time to uproot,
 ³ a time to kill and a time to heal,
   a time to tear down and a time to build,
 ⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh,
   a time to mourn and a time to dance,
 ⁵ a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
   a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
 ⁶ a time to search and a time to give up,
   a time to keep and a time to throw away,
 ⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend,
   a time to be silent and a time to speak,
 ⁸ a time to love and a time to hate,
   a time for war and a time for peace. 

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

If you have been around me lately, it's probably no surprise to you that I have been feeling a bit overwhelmed at times.  There are changes in personnel at my job, and my tasks are ever expanding.  My friend Mandy and her son Beckett are always on my mind.  Kevin has been working many extra hours on engineering projects lately.  Benton requires more walks now that our yard has been planted since we can't just let him out into the fenced backyard.  I'm anxiously awaiting for our yard to flourish (and rolling my eyes when our water bill is in the triple digits).  A little bit over a week ago, I was in two car accidents one day apart.  None of these items on their own are overwhelming, but the cumulative effect is dizzying.

I've never been the kind of person that likes to juggle a dozen or more tasks. I prefer to do one or two tasks at a time and do them well.  My mom jokes all the time that she has the brain of someone who multitasked at a career for almost 40 years; she can't concentrate on anything now (insert squirrel reference from the movie UP! here). I know it's a part of life, especially this season in my life, where demands on my time become more and more.  I know I need to "let go, let God," and not worry about having everything perfect. I know that in many ways, I may look back a few years from now and think, "Why was I so stressed out then?"

Sometimes I wonder, though, where does it say, "A time to be busy" or "A time to be stressed?"