Announcing Shelby Lyn Bonesteel

Shelby Lyn

Born: October 20th, 1007 at 10:21am

Weight: 6 pounds 14.9 ounces

Length: 20.25"

Another Baby Shower

On October 13th we had a lovely baby shower for Jenn at the home of David and Kelly Crum. Attending were: Kelly Bomar, Kelli Taggart, Nancy Nixon, Joyce King, Jilian King, Cheryl Woodring, Kelly Crum and Myself, with special gifts from Grandma Mac and Kathy Moore.

Ashley is 2!

Ashley Faith Moore is two years old...already! She is so fun, bright and energetic. Ashley was a non-stop ball of activity all evening even as the evening wore on and it was past her bedtime.

We had a lovely time at Eric and Kathy's home with some cousins and Eric's Mom. She made the best gumbo, mmm, mmm, good. We always feel so privileged to be a part of Eric, Kathy and Ashleys life. Now that Kathy is pregnant with twins, we are excited about that as well; not just for Ashley to have siblings but for the joy they will bring to Eric and Kathy.

As you can see Jenn is getting closer. If you asked her she would tell you that she is ready for Shelby to come out. Soon, sweetie, soon.

Mom's Birthday-Epilog

Here are just a few more photo's from Mom's big weekend. On Saturday we drove into San Antonio to do some shopping at a very large outlet mall. Other than being quite warm, we had a good time looking in the shops. I think the most fun we had was when we started looking for baby clothes for Shelby.

I am so grateful that we were able to do this. I am even more grateful for Bev & Kal for their incredible friendship to Mom. Mom is truly blessed to have such wonderful and kind friends. And because of them, Mom now has many more wonderful friends as well. Thanks to the Kerrville Kinship Crowd for your hospitality and the love you give to our Mom.

Happy Birthday Mom. We love you!

Mom's Birthday - Part 2

On Friday, Bev and Renee (with the help of some other special people) created a lovely luncheon for Mom. There were about 25 people there. Bev mentioned that Mom has many more friends but it would have been too large of a crowd for that facility (not to mention all the additional food that would be required).

They made a beautiful cake that was also delicious and had a nice spread of food items. The best part was seeing these lovely people and how they have so eagerly embraced Mom in their midst. After years of working hard, it was just wonderful to see her building relationships and having fun.

Mom opened some gifts and was incredibly touched by her friends love and generocity. What Mom sometimes forgets is that it is her sweet spirit and caring attitude that draws people to her. Of course as Mom opened the gifts...she cried!

After the luncheon, Mom was able to show off her cute little home to some of her friends and you could tell how proud she was.

Joyce unfortunately was tortured by Chaz, one of Mom's cats during the night and was not able to get a whole lot of sleep. We dubbed Chaz "PC" or Psycho Cat. Rocky was a perfect gentlecat the whole time we were there.

Happy Birthday Mom-Part 1

Well it was finally here, the moment that Mom was waiting for...her 70th birthday.

Joyce and I decided to surprise her at the last minute and fly to Texas to spend a couple of days with her. Bev was in on our little secret so that we knew what Mom's schedule was. When we arrived at her door and the recognition hit her face, Mom did what we know her best for; she cried.

Mom had a busy couple of days scheduled. The choir that Mom is in was privileged to sing before the Baptist Pastors organization for the region. It was great fun seeing Mom in a choir again. You could tell that she was really enjoying herself as well as all of the members of the choir. They had a very nice sound. This is the same group that will be traveling to Missouri to do some concerts and have some fun pretty soon. They were just lovely.

After the concert we went to Mamacita's Mexican Restaurant. Of course the birthday girl had to have a margarita!

Tomorrow - the big party!

These Hands - Communion Sunday

This morning I had the privilege of painting in all three services. This was totally outside my normal comfort zone. I dont mind singing in front of lots of people but, my art has always been somewhat personal. This year has brought some changes for that and I have heard God calling me to use the gifts that He has given me for his Glory. I am humbled by that call.

I had two songs and one poem to complete the painting; about 10-14 minutes (depending on which service). After I completed the painting, I sang a song and then led the congregation in joining me. I had some positive feedback from that experience and I am so grateful that in spite of being terrified, that I did it anyway. There were two different gentlemen that approached me after the third service, one gentleman wanted to buy the painting and the other shared a poem he was inspired to write while I was painting. It was truly a blessed morning. I am so grateful to family and friends that prayed for me this morning. I can't wait to see what God will do next.

1st Baby Shower

We enjoyed the first baby shower for Donald and Jenn at his dad's house; Don and Patty, Candice and Tammy. Other family members there were Mimi, Donald's mom Kelly and her husband Tom, brother Mykel and Aunt Sue. Many friends were there too - Jenn can fill in the blanks but here are the names I can remember; Brian, Brandon (Toogood), Brandan Maren (or B-rad as we know him), Daniel (Cookie). We had some good elk vittles-burgers and swedish meatballs, beer-butt chicken (don't ask) and other yummies.

Jenn and Donald received some cool things from his mom; Donalds christening outfit and his old baby shoes and some other heirloom items. The guys brought them diapers. There were many other great items but I will let Jenn handle that post. Here are some pictures. A lot of them didnt turn out very well but I think its because my batteries were dying. Sorry Jenn.

Painting - These Hands

I was tasked to create a painting to match a poem that we will be doing on September 2, the pictures follow the sequence of the poem. I could include all of the items mentioned but this was my stab at it, but it was long and had too many items to include. My prayer is that God will use the painting to bring people closer to Him.

Another Prayer request-For babies!!

Eric and Kathy are trying invetro again in hopes of giving Ashley a little sibling. Her egg retrieval is happening Wednesday at 2 pm. The embryo transfer will be either Saturday, Sunday or Monday, and they will do a blood test to see if she's pregnant on the 30th. Please keep them in your prayers as they are already fantastic parents and would love more children!

Action Jackson

We had Jackson for a couple of days last week. He is such a bundle of energy!
It was a challenge to keep him busy so I resorted to what I know...Crafts!

While he was here he:

1. Created Pirate gear as seen above
2. Colored a Tiger Poster
3. Painted and glued a race car
4. Made his own game of tic-tac-to with shark and lighting pieces
5. Played with dinasaurs
6. Painted and made a collage for his mom
7. Watched some movies - Star Wars, Second Hand Lion and Harry Potter
8. Played games with Shane and Daniel and taught them how to use a Chinese yo-yo

And that was on the first day...just kidding! I don't know how Joyce and Jeff keep up with him. But the funny thing is that he reminded me sooooo much of Shane at that age.

I hope to have some time with Peri over the holidays, and who knows maybe next summer we will have a week with all the kids together like a camp/sleepover.

Prayer request

Hi everyone, just an update from the new section of family being added. Donald's step-dad went into the hospital yesterday for his third angioplasty and had two stints put in. He's getting out of the hospital today but his doctor said that he desperately needs to stop smoking and start taking better care of himself. Please pray for strength for him to get through this hard time and for the entire family to be a good support system for him. His name is Tom Bomar.

Timberrrrr!

It was sad to see it go but we are so incredibly grateful that it didn't do any damage to John's carport, to our house or land on someone. Praise God! Phil is already planning on what can go in there next; perhaps a pomegranate or lime tree.

The Tree

I'm sure Mom has better pictures than this on her camera but this is what happened to one of the large trees in the front yard at the house yesterday. Due to the large amounts of rainfall we had the night before, the tree decided it didn't want to stay in the ground anymore and now the yard is going to look rather empty. Luckily no one got hurt and no serious property damage happened. Hope everyone else's trees are still there!!

A Prayer for Uncle Henry

We heard tonight from Dad Cook that his brother, Henry has been diagnosed with colon cancer. Henry is about 78 years old and lives in Yuma. Please lift him in your prayers, we will be eternally grateful.

Now what for Daniel

Daniel has a new buddy, Thai. Well she is not really new since she used to be mine but she absolutely adores him and since all she does is squak and nip at me, I gave her to the one she adores.

Daniel has a job interview at Nautilus insurance this afternoon. Please say a prayer for him. If he gets the position he will be working at the same company as Jennifer and Aunt Joyce. He recently interviewed with Wells Fargo. Right now he is looking for full time employment so he can make some money and head to college in the fall of 2008.

Shane update

Shane is playing games in Daniel's room (which is why he is not looking at the camera). He is finishing up Summer School at ASU and is anticipating starting up his regular courses in a few weeks. He can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel where he will finally get his degree in Finance from ASU. We are so proud of him and how hard he has worked on this accomplishment. He still works for the Pointe and plays in his band. I'm sure he sleeps sometimes...

Three more to go

Donald and Jenn are eagerly awaiting Shelby Lyn who is due sometime late October. They joined us recently for Sunday lunch. Upcoming events for them are "Baby Showers!". There is one scheduled with Donald's family as a BBQ for both men and women on August 18th. I am working on another shower that will have our side of the family and Jenn's co-workers that will be a women only event; probaly sometime at the end of September or first weekend of October.

A New Start

One of the many things Phil and I are trying to do is maintain our great relationship with our kids. So, we are taking the next electronic leap into "Blogging". We hope this will allow our family and friends to keep up on the latest within our family and to join in the fun.

Phil and I already have an open invitiation to Sunday lunch for the kids, family and friends (extra's with at least 24 hours notice please - so we can go shopping). This has given us the opportunity to get caught up with all the comings and goings in our busy family.

It amazes me how quickly time flies and yet each day has a measure of blessing.

I hope you join us in the remaining adventure of our lives. We love you!