Hunting and a new poocher

Well, we have had an exciting few weeks in the Eckley household!! From a trip to Topeka, Kansas over thanksgiving and coming home to get a new pooch and the boys taking off to go hunting for their first time together...and the arrival of the annual Christmas tree...it has been a whirlwind of excitement here these last few days!

First, let me begin with telling you about the new puppy in our lives. His name is Morgan. As it turned out, Brent has been wanting a lab for a long time, but it just never seemed like a good time to get one and frankly, I was not sure that I wanted to have another pooch in the house. BUT, that being said~ I finally broke down and decided that we would get one. After sometime trying to locate one I ran across an ad on craigslist that a lady had put on there saying that she had found 3 abandoned lab puppies and she could not keep them...but did not want them to go to the humane society either. (I don't blame her!!) So, off to Gholson the girls and I went. For those who do not know~ Gholson is a three horse town in the middle of no-where about 25 or 30 minutes from here. We finally found the house, and there they were...the puppies. As is my habit, I prayed about it and asked God to lead me to dog. And did He. Morgan is the cutest, naughtiest little sweet lab I have ever seen. He wants so badly to play with Max~ but Max is not having any of that. So, Morgan fills his days with confescating people's things like...shoes, pants, socks, lissa's bra...does not matter. He will take whatever he can get his little teeth on and he drags it all to his bed. He;s like a little pirate collecting his treasures! LOL And when he is not doing that, he gets himself into trouble pulling lights off the Christmas tree!! (Hence the naughty reference.)





This year being so full of everything else that is going on, I ended up having to go and pick out a tree by myself!! Far gone are the days when the boys would trek up into the Colorado mountains to search out the perfect family Christmas tree. We have now been reduced to a trip to home depot to check out the trees that have been trucked in from who-knows-where... But~ I met the most awesome man at home depot~ his name was Shawn~ and he helped me get the perfect tree. And for a 4 minute drive and $24.00, I found us this beauty...



To round out the story telling for the day~ we have a hunting trip! This was the first time that Brent and Mike have gone hunting together. Mike got his first gun just a couple of weeks ago. My 13 year old is now the proud owner of a Remington 770 .243. Not sure what all that means, other than I know it meant 400 bucks at the cash register! :) After weeks of trips back and forth to the store to find the right gun, and blind and camo gear and all the odds and ends that you could possibly need, my men were off and running Saturday morning for the most fun weekend ever... Or that is what I am calling it. They were all dressed out in their camo gear, walked about 10 miles a day and slept in 25 degree weather!! Made me real glad that I was at home asleep in my own bed with the heat on!! They did not get a deer this time~ but they did have one heck of a father-son weekend...and that is what is most important!

Thanksgiving in Topeka!

We just got back from an awesome trip to see one set of Brent's parents for Thanksgiving! We drove up to Topeka on Wednesday afternoon/ evening. Thursday was so much fun!! The girls and I helped Grandma prepare the turkey and get all the food together so we could have a fabulous meal with our family.

One would think that things were going on all smooth until 2am Friday morning when a fire broke out in a space heater!! But then again we had quite a time when Andrea and I went out shopping at 4am!! She got woke up to me telling her that there had been a fire~ but that everyone was OK. We were so lucky~ neither the carpet or the wall caught on fire...just the heater!

When we were out and about we got to see people acting not so joyful. Andrea thought that she was going to get beat down by some people in line for a tv and I got rammed in the bum by a lady who was trying to get to a portable dvd player! That is right...rammed over a 50 dollar dvd player...not hardly worth it if you ask me.

We did get some great stuff and had an awesome time running around together. After a little breakfast we went back to the house to open presents with Lissa for her birthday. MY BABY is now in double digits! That's right...the little one is 10 years old. Happy Birthday to you~ Lissi Loo!!

(We also celebrated another birthday this week~ our poocher Max turned 6!)

The girls and I had a most incredible experience with their grandma while we were in Topeka also. We had a tea party with her. All of us got dressed up and drank out of fine china. Grandma had purchased several teas we could try and some yummy special cookies. It was really incredible, and to top it off we read the first chapter of the book Hinds Feet on High Places. It is a shaping up to be an amazing book, and the girls and I are going to finish it at home.

Other than that, the kids got a special treat because it snowed Saturday before we left! How awesome is that?? The kids really wanted to see some snow, and they got to go out and play in it before we left.

We took lots of great pics while we were there~ although I noticed when we got back that there weren't any of Mike...How do these things happen??? Sorry dude!


A near miss with the car slash mailbox!


Notice all the backed up traffic on the other side of the street...we were so glad to be going the other way!


The girls looking dazed and confused in the truck~ only 2 hours into a 10 hour drive!


Even Maxie got to go to Topeka!


My bro-in-law Al in his stylin' work uniform.


Daddy and Daughter.


So many tea cups


How can I possibly choose?


Pretty Ladies!


One of my Gram's cups.



A little light reading...



Early Christmas presents.


Lights!

Good Friends

Since we moved here to the great state of Texas we are now 9 hours from our closest relatives and 14-18 hours from the rest of them. But as I sat at a Thanksgiving dinner tonight with my bible study group, I realized once again how much I appreciate my "family" that I have here. Since moving here, Brent and I have both met certain people that we would consider to be our best friends. We have been surrounded by people that love us and care for us, that love our kids and walk beside us through all of lifes ups and downs. It has been amazing to see God fill in the gaps for us. Even as far as to give us lots of friends with little kids. I have felt such a deep loss with not being able to be there for my nieces and nephews~ but I have become rather close with some of my friend's children...and they just warm my heart. God is just really good to us. Even when we do not see what He is doing!!

Folding for Justice...

Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart...

In the last 9 months or so I have had the indescribably privilege of walking through my friend's journey of seeing her dream realized. This past January at world mandate, my friend started feeling something stirring in her heart~ and what that turned out to be was a desire to adopt a child. As she sat in my driveway one February evening telling me about what she was thinking and hearing from the Lord, I just knew that she was on the mark. She was right on. And I have been believing with her ever since. Several of us have had distinct feelings about who this little person is and have been able to share with our friend and pray with her.

But now comes a whole nother level~ God is providing a way for my friend to earn some of the money that they are going to need to go and get their daughter from half way across the world... and I am getting to be a small part of helping in her endeavors..

we are taking lots and lots of these...

and tearing out the pages and folding them into these...

so she can make and sell these...

so she can go here...

and bring home one of these...
The more and more that we look at the pictures of the babies from Uganda and the more that we work on this project and the more that I pray for them, the more real it all becomes. My friend has a daughter out there, somewhere. And she is waiting for her new mommy to come and get her and bring her home. And her name is Justice.

The Women's Conference, Grandma Appel, Aunt Renee' & a Little Visit to Texas

We have had a jam packed weekend! Lots of time last week was spent getting ready for the Women's Conference at our church. It was an amazing conference. I was the lead person for the bookstore~ so I got to coordinate workers, copy 85 cd sets during the conference and make sure that everything that had to do with books came off without a hitch. It went great thanks to my incredible friend Lee Anne! She is the perfect person to have in your corner when you need to get a big job done in a hurry!

THEN~ Saturday afternoon while I was at the conference, Brent was on his way up to Dallas to pick up his mom and sister who were coming in for a little visit. Renee' had not been to the great state of Texas before, and it had been 3 years since Pam had been here. We had such a good time with them. We hung out, did a little sight seeing, a little shopping, and a whole lot of catching up! It was a perfect weekend with some of our favorite people!


Renee', Pam and the kiddos

Rye taking Max on an adventure

The Twin Bridges

Rye, Mike & Lissa

Renee', Brent and their mom admiring a boat on the lake

Mike and Lis

Maxie making a friend at the park...

Brent and his sis.

Cowboys Game Time

Brad, Jim, Mikey & Brent at the Cowboys game!
(Mikey's first time to a pro football game!)

The Fabulous Love Dare

OK! So, we are three days into The Love Dare, and today's dare is to buy your spouse something that will let them know that you were thinking of them. Well, I was not sure what Brent was going to do with that...but he went to my fav. store in the whole world, BOOKS-A-MILLION and got me a book! Seeing as how my love of reading runs right up there with movies this was so awesome. More than that though~ he went when I had fallen asleep this afternoon and then put the book right next to me on the bed, so when I woke up it would be the first thing that I would see! He is so sweet!

Kudos to my hubby!! He makes taking on a LOVE DARE really easy. Thanks Brent for being so easy to love~ and for being the best husband in the whole world. I love you.

~~totally guaranteed for life...

Fireproof~The Love Dare & Urban Night at the Church

There is just a lot of good stuff going on right now! Yea! First of all, Brent and I and the kids went to see Fireproof last night. Superb movie~ if you have not seen it yet then you need to get off the computer and go see it...right now... (if you are still reading and have not seen it...GO!) LOL... sorry. Just loved the movie that much.

In the movie the main character, Caleb, gets a book from his dad called the Love Dare. It is a 40 day journey through learning how to really love your spouse. And even though I feel pretty competent when it comes to that, I got the book anyway. Though I fully intended to make this 40 day journey by myself, Brent told me that he wants to do it with me!!! What a guy! I am so excited about what this is going to mean for us. I am so looking forward to learning more about him and making our marriage even that much stronger.


Other than that, at our church we had an Urban Night Carnival. Our family along with another family worked the football toss~ it was so fun! They had free food, games and a rap group that performed. It was a really great time, and I caught some pics of the kiddos so I thought I would share them. Enjoy~

GO LONG...


HE IS REALLY TURNING INTO A TEENAGER!

RYE GETTING READY TO TRY HER ARM OUT...

LISSA GETTIN' FIVERS AFTER THROWING A BALL AT THE DUNKING BOOTH!

One Life

This morning I bought probably the best cd that I currently own~ One Life by 33 Miles. Oh my gosh~ whether you like Christian music or not, you should go get this cd. You need a copy of it. The song "One Life to Love" is incredible. If you click on the name of the song, it will take you to their website and you will be able to listen to the song. Simply amazing.

Yesterday Brent and I went to a marriage seminar. Although we really feel like we have a great marriage, and probably could have taught some of the break-out sessions... I really loved it. I know you must be thinking that I have a really big ego problem saying that we have that great of a marriage, but let's just be honest~ I have been blessed to have such a great husband. That is not to say though that even when you have a finely-tuned machine that you do not want to pop the hood once in a while and make sure that everything is in it's proper place and that nothing is getting clogged up...maybe check the oil...

So, we checked the oil, and even though I am pretty good at singing Brent's praises, I picked up the best idea when we were there last night, and I want to encourage all of the ladies that are reading this to take a little time to do this one~ write down 100 things that you love about your husband. I am working on this today! I can't wait to show it to him...I think that it will not only be a great thing for him to have, but how great for me to get to spend the time that it will take putting it all together. To really take some quality time thinking about the man I love. Makes me really thankful that our church would take the time to put something like this together for all of us! ACC Rocks~and so does my hubby~ and my new cd!!

When a little girl loves her big brother...

Finally...Something good

Have you ever heard the song by Anne Murray, A little good news? It talks about new and how all we hear is the bad stuff. "one more sad story's one more than I can stand," she sings. And then she goes on to say "just once I'd like to see the headlines say Not much to print today, can't find nothing bad to say." Isn't that the truth?

Well~ let me say that I have found something in politics that is good!!! And let me also say that I am a registered REPUBLICAN, and will vote that way come election day...but KUDOS to Barack Obama for stepping up to the plate on this one and displaying some integrity~

When asked about Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin's 17 daughter who is pregnant, he had the following comments... "Let me be as clear as possible," Obama said. "I think people's families are off-limits, and people's children are especially off-limits. This shouldn't be part of our politics. It has no relevance to Gov. Palin's performance as governor or her potential performance as a vice president."

So, Thank you, Mr. Obama. Thanks for taking the high road. We need more of that!

Anne Murray Song

What do glue sticks, crayons, highlighters and notebooks have in common?

That's right, school!!! With the school year less than a week away, we (almost) finished our school supply shopping today! All we have left is to track down some specific binders and to take Mariah to get her backpack when she returns from Minnesota. Exhausting. This one needs plastic folders with pockets and brads, this one needs folders without brads...two of them need 5 ~ 1/2 inch view thru binders a piece... and we won't even go into the time it takes one little lady and her cute as can be big brother to pick out lunchbags! But after much consideration and a little gentle persuasion from momma we did get the lunchbags, we got backpacks, and pencils~mechanical and regular, and pens~ red and blue and all of the other things that make a school year successful (or so they tell me).

And I, got a little something for me too...see that miniature globe in the picture? Yup, that is mine. Has to be the cutest pencil sharpener that I have ever seen!!! Funny part of that is that I do not write with pencils, ever, for any reason...but that is ok. It is ok because it was $1.29, and as I see it sitting on my desk, it makes me think of all the places I would love to go!

Vegas Baby!

Thanks to several great friends of ours, Brent and I had the most amazing vacation for our 10 year anniversary. We went to Las Vegas and stayed at the best hotel in the world (my opinion, of course). We stayed at the Signature at the MGM Grand. It is an incredible hotel and if you ever have the chance to go there, you need to!

We got to take a ride on the gondola at the Venitian, eat at Tin Torettos, take a tour of the wax museum, see Fremont street~ where they do an amazing light show over the street every night. We saw the pirate show at Treasure Island, a car show, went to M&M world and got to do a bunch of other stuff. We were extremely exhausted when we got home, but we had a wonderful time together.

A Post for the Movie Lover in me

So, anyone who knows me even a little bit knows that right under the surface there resides a first class lover of all things cinematic... buttery popcorn, milk duds, theatre seats, the dimming of the lights...ok, so maybe i don't love previews...but ahhhh...give me a good movie and for 2 hours (give or take) life is fabulous. I am sure that this love of movies was bred while I worked behind the concession counter at a movie theatre~ and it probably grew bigger than life when I learned how to run a projection machine. For the time that it lasted, there was nothing better in this world to me than those moments right before the movie began when I would dim the lights and turn the machine on and see the movie hit the screen! I loved every second of it.

For no real reason this morning, I was thinking of all the great movies I have seen. You know the kind that I am talking about, those movies that you could watch again and again because they spoke to some part of your life, or they are just that great that you have to see them again. Maybe get one more chance to relive that moment... So, I have compiled a list. A list of must see movies. You don't have to see them , and if you see them you don't have to like them...but These are my must see movies. The ones that I have loved time and again.

Shannon's Must See Movie List

1~American Flyers
2~Beauty and the Beast
3~Braveheart
4~The Breakfast Club
5~A Bug's Life
6~Coach Carter
7~Chronicles of Narnia~The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe
8~ Dead Poets Society
9~Eight Below
10~End of the Spear
11~Facing the Giants
12~Finding Forrester
13~Hoosiers
14~Invincible
15~Kate & Leopold
16~The Last Samurai
17~Lean on Me
18~Notting Hill
19~Rocky Balboa
20~The Ron Clark Story
21~Scent of a Woman
22~Titanic

A fun filled July

This last month has been a whirl-wind of fun! We have seen a bunch of movies {and yes, you should go see Walle, Indiana Jones, and if you are an adult you should see The Dark Knight}, gone bowling, been to Tonkawa Falls, had a huge family water balloon fight and read some great books...and the month is not even over yet. Mikey and Lissi are leaving tomorrow to go spend the week with Brent's parents~ and I am sending them with cameras! So, when they get back we will be putting up some of the pics that they take. AND, Brent and I are leaving on Wednesday to go to Las Vegas...Vegas, Baby!! Woo Hoo..

Some of our friends decided that we needed a trip for our 10 year anniversary~ and they are sending us to the place that we most wanted to go. I cannot wait to leave. We are tremendously blessed. And it is going to be a blast.

And with that, I am going to let the pics tell the rest of the story:



Brent trying to decide if he should continue to lift weights at the YMCA~ or if he should switch to curling the kids instead... lol

Mikey getting a little love from his friend Jen.

Madison and Tate.

Mikey and Maddy at Tonkawa Falls.

We spent three hours at the bowling alley letting Brent beat us all!!!

Giving a few pointers...

Lissi-loo rolling a strike.

4th of July on top of the Wells Fargo parking garage.