"Just Sittin' Here Waiting on Jesus to Come!"

Those are the words that I heard almost every time I talked to my grandfather on the phone. The conversation would usually go something like this:

Me: "Hi Papa! Whatcha doing?"

Papa: "Oh, I'm just sittin' here waiting on Jesus to come!!"

He doesn't have to wait anymore. My sweet Papa went to see Jesus on Monday. He had been so sad since my grandmother passed away last year, and now he is with her again in heaven. Although I know that Papa is in heaven with his Lord and Savior, I can't help but be selfish and wish he was still here with us.

He loved Andrew so very much, and Andrew absolutely adored his Papa. They were best buddies. I never saw my grandfather more excited than he was about Andrew. Visits to his house had recently become almost a part of our daily routine, and now,suddenly, that the precious time we spent with him is now just a sweet memory.

I can only imagine the family reunion in heaven. He is with his "honey" (my grandmother, his wife of 61 years), his baby brother "Big Ed", and of course, my mom! I can just hear all of the stories he is telling them about all of the time he spent with Andrew, and the things they did together. These are the thoughts that comfort me when I begin to feel sad about losing him.

Papa loved the Lord with all of his heart, and he stood at heaven's gates on Monday, and heard the words he had been waiting to hear..."Well done, my good and faithful servant..." He doesn't have to wait anymore! He is there, celebrating with the angels, worshiping his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and one day, we too will join in that eternal celebration with him!!!!!!! Until that day, I will cherish every precious memory I have of the greatest grandfather in the world!!!!

Happy Easter!!!!

"But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed." Isaiah 53:5

What an amazing scripture verse! I am in awe that Jesus took this punishment for me!!! I cannot believe how often I take for granted the price that was paid to save me from my sins. Thank you Jesus for loving me enough for bearing the sins of the world for me! Praise the Lord! HE IS RISEN!!!!!

We had a wonderful Easter!! After an AMAZING worship time at church, we spent some time with our family, topped off with an exciting egg hunt. I am quite sure that Andrew is a master egg hunter!!! I am so thankful for my family, and for the wonderful message this weekend has been about!!!!

Hey Mom!! Check out these eggs!!!

The hunt begins!!!

Look what I found, Mommy!!!

I Miss My Mom...

I don't know why, but I am really missing my mom lately. I miss her smile, I miss her laugh, I miss her quirky little sayings, I miss all of her matching skirt and vest outfits that she wore to school. It seemed like she had one for every special occasion, and her preschoolers LOVED them. I think most of all, I miss being able to talk to her and just be able to soak up her words of wisdom. She always knew what to say to make me feel better, and she always gave me such sound advice. She was such a godly woman, and I can only hope that my desire to serve Christ will one day be as deep as hers.

Andrew is growing up so quickly, and some days I have absolutely NO IDEA what I am doing. Oh how I wish she was here to give me that motherly advice. I truly believe that being a grandmother would be her number one passion, not to mention how lucky Andrew would be to grow up with such an amazing grandmother!

I don't know why God chose to take my mom when He did, but I do know that He is in control, and His timing is perfect. I know some day that I will understand His plan, but until that time, I will cherish every sweet memory I have of my mother, and wait for the day that I will see her again in heaven!!!!

Christmas

We spent Christmas Eve with my grandfather and my parents. It was so exciting to watch Andrew open all of his presents! He was so excited every time he opened something new! When Andrew woke up on Christmas morning, Santa had left him some pretty exciting gifts!! He had so much fun playing with all of them!!



CHEESE!!!!!


Santa came to my house!!!


Grammy and Grandad got me a tricycle!



The Sawyer Family Christmas 2008

Papa bought me a great toy!

What a Wonderful Holiday Season!!

We have had so much fun this holiday season, and as usual, I have waited to post about all of it!! The month of December was filled with surprises as well as so many wonderful memories.

Let me start by saying that I have been blessed with a new job!! On December 8, I received a phone call from LISD informing me that there was a school nurse position open, and they were offering me the job!!!! I was so excited! I was driving down the highway screaming and yelling. I am sure anyone who saw me thought I needed to be institutionalized, but I didn't care!!!! I am so thankful that I was chosen for the position!! This change will be so wonderful for our family!!!

The rest of our holiday season was filled with parties, family gatherings and holiday traditions. This year was especially exciting, because Andrew is beginning to understand more and more, and his reactions to the sights and sounds of the season were priceless! Now, every tree or light that wee pass is referred to as "tee-tee!!!" (Christmas Tree). We rode on the Polar Express with Grammy and Grandad, went to the Carol of Lights, and took Andrew to Santa Land. As you will see by the pictures, Santa was definitely not Andrew's favorite...but that's OK...maybe next year!! I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday season, and that 2009 brings you blessings beyond measure!!!!!

Thankful...

Thanksgiving was somewhat of a blur this year due to my extreme lack of sleep, and it was also a little difficult as well. Andrew is growing up so very fast, and I wish so much that my mom could be here to see him growing up. We really did have fun with the little guy this year! Now that Andrew is old enough to eat table food, he got to experience some new and different flavors this year! The pictures below are too funny! One of our family traditions is a veggie dip that my mom and my grandmother used to make. Andrew ate some it for the first time. His face, by far, says it all!!!!! I am so thankful for the blessings that God has given us this year. He has shown us His amazing love in so many ways, and I am thankful for the amazing husband and sweet baby boy that He has given me! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!!!

Happy "Stink"-oween!!!

We had so much fun this Halloween! I had trouble deciding what to dress Andrew up in this year. It came down to a pirate outfit, or the skunk. As you can see, the skunk costume won out. I figured that he may choose one day to dress up as a pirate, but as for a skunk, I realized that the opportunities for me to make costume decisions are quickly coming to a close, and I am pretty positive that he would never choose a skunk costume. I figured a little mommy induced humiliation was appropriate while he won't remember it!! He did look absolutely adorable!!!! Halloween is also my dad's birthday, so after the fall festival at church, we headed over to my grandfathers house for a little cake and ice cream for Grandad's birthday!!!!

Fall Fun!

This fall has been so much fun so far! Andrew is growing up so fast, and we are having a blast experiencing new things together! Before Andrew was born, I never really took advantage of all of the exciting things to do during the fall. Now, it seems like I can't get enough of it. Taking him to all sorts of different activities, and watching him explore things for the first time makes me feel like a kid again myself! These are a few pictures of Andrew at the pumpkin patch...as you can see he had a great time, and he figured out that pumpkin stems don't taste so great!!!!!

WRECK 'EM TECH!!!!!!!!

Corn Maize!!!

A few weeks ago, we went with our Life Group out to the Corn Maize. Now, for those of you who are not from West Texas, let me paint the picture for you...Imagine endless acres of tall corn stalks planted in "maze" form. Then, take a whole bunch of people trying to find their way through this maze of corn! It can get pretty crazy! We also decided to take Andrew with us, which I am still debating on whether or not was a good idea. We all took turns carrying him on our shoulders, and I am sure he thought it was quite the set-up! Now, as for our shoulders...We had a great time, and we made it out in a safe and timely manner!! I love all of the fun things to do in the fall!!!!

Well, Stacee tagged me to do this little survey thing, so...here goes nothing!

10 years ago...
1. I was a senior at Trinity Christian High School
2. I had no idea what I was going to do with my life
3. My friends kept telling me I was going to have 12 kids...sheesh...
4. I, too, was obsessed with tanning (don't worry stacee, you weren't the only one)
5. I drove a totally awesome 1990 Mercury Cougar!!

5 things on today's list
1. Clean the bedroom
2. Clean the kitchen
3. Take Andrew to the pumpkin patch
4. Go to Diego's birthday party
5. Work on school stuff...ugh

If I were a Millionaire (Stacee, I think we thought of the same things...great minds think alike, right?)
1. Pay everything off
2. Build our dream house...including a shop for Cory's obsession with cars...
3. Travel all over the world
4. Start a fund for Andrew's college, and savings
5. Repay everyone who helped us out over the years.

5 Places I have lived (actually only lived in 2 places)
1. The good ol LBK
2. Austin

5 Jobs I have had
1. United Supermarket
2. County Line Restaurant
3. Worked at a Daycare (for a VERY SHORT period of time...)
4. Covenant NICU
5. Covenant Pediatrics


I TAG RAINA!!!

The Mini Computer Genius

We were at our friends house several days ago, and when we walked out into the living room, this is what we found...Andrew had made himself comfortable, and was apparently "working" on the computer. Cory brings Andrew to me at work in the mornings, and while I am giving report, he hangs out with our secretary. She always lets him play with the keyboard at the computer. He always seems to manage to flip the screen upside down, or open up some program that none of us new existed on our computers at work. Who knows, I may have a computer genius on my hands...maybe the next Bill Gates!!! Ha!! Maybe someday he will become a gazillionaire and support his mommy and daddy......ahhhh wishful thinking!!!!!!!!

Time for an update!

Well, lets see...since my last post, we have been having lots of fun! Andrew had his first haircut, he rode the merry-go-round at the fair, and lots of other exciting things that toddlers do...I am posting some pictures and videos, so everyone can see what we've been up to these last several weeks!!!


Before we cut the curls...


Mom...what is she doing to me?!?!?!?!



The finished product...so handsome!!

Riding the Merry-Go-Round at the fair


Petting the baby duck at the fair

Andrew's First Trip to the Lake!

We took Andrew to the lake last weekend with some great friends of ours, andtheir kiddos. It was his first time on the boat, and he loved it! He had so much riding on the boat and playing in the water! It looks like this is just the beginning of many summers on the lake!!!