High School Graduates!

Today we went home to Andrews to watch Kirstin and Kaylan, Colby's younger twin sisters graduate from High School. We are so proud of you both and can't wait to see what God has in store for you!

3 Wonderful Years of Marriage

Today we celebrated our 3rd Anniversary! Time has flown by and I feel so blessed by our time together. God has taught us so much about ourselves and about each other and I truly don't think I could have made it through some of life's events without Colby. We have praised God for providing for us, we have waited on Him to show us direction, and now we are beginning a new phase as Colb begins Med school in July. I know these next 3 years will be quite different as time together will become less available, but that the Lord will continue to help us through and equip Colby with the skills that he needs to serve others. We decided to do a joint anniversary gift this year. We usually stick to the traditional year by year gift, but the 3rd anniversary is leather, and I really couldn't think of anything leather, so we went with the "modern" gift for the 3rd which is crystal. Now all those that are married know that you get all kinds of random crystal stuff when you're married, so I definitely didn't need another vase or serving platter, so we went with Liquid "Crystal" Display and got a GPS to help us navigate around Ft. Worth. We love Maggie (what we've name her) and she's definitely made things easier as well as cracked us up with the way she pronounces things. :) Anyhow, here's a look back at our past years together...

Our first picture together while dating

Our wedding May 28, 2005

Our first Anniversary in Gruene, TX

Our 2nd Anniversary in San Antonio

Our 3rd Anniversary in Ft. Worth

Here's to many more! :)

JB

We're Metro-plexers!

Hey all-

Just thought you'd like to know that we have successfully moved. After driving a 17 ft. U-haul with my car towed behind and me driving Colby's truck carrying our fridge, we've made it. Our first night in the new house was already full of adventures. Especially with turning on the a/c and there being no cold air coming out. Turns out our braker plug was taken out of the unit and Colby spent the next 45 minutes with the security guard going around to all the other vacant houses searching for one that matched. Given we aren't huge A/C people, but after a move, it definitely called for an evening of sleeping with the a/c to spoil ourselves. The next adventure was trying to put the couch in the office, where Colby ended up getting out his circular saw and cutting the legs off in order for it to fit. Why is is that nothing is easy when you move?


Then we got robbed by shopping at the closest Albertson's and were outraged by the prices. The pinnacle was when 2 peaches rang up to $1.97! Are you kidding?!? So needless to say, we bought a few things then went to Walmart the next day for a little more reasonable buys. We won't have internet until June 12th, so we are currently sitting in a parking lot stealing a signal from Pappa Chang's Chinese Restaurant. So, I'll post more pictures and updates soon once we have access. We head home for Kirsten and Kaylan's HS graduation and then I start my job on Monday June 2nd. More to come! But we made it safe! :)

JB

A rough week

In the heat of a West Texas morning our family met at the Resthaven Memorial Park in the Garden of Babyland to mourn with my sister and brother-in-law the loss of their baby girl Tatum Cate Thomas on May 15. To say the least it was a very emotional and difficult time for all of us.

I only know how I have felt these past few days which is as close to miserable as I have ever been. I cannot begin to imagine what other mothers, expecting mothers, and aspiring mothers in my family are feeling. Not to mention my parents once ecstatic of being grandparents now seeing their oldest daughter lose her child and nearly her own life. Joanna and I were thrilled at the thought of being Auntie Jo and Uncle Colby. But Tatum never took a breath in this life as the complications of preeclampsia claimed her precious soul.

I don’t pretend to know why this happened nor why any of those hundreds of kiddos and babies were buried at that cemetery, but it is a very real reminder of the affliction that we all must deal with during our lives, however they may present themselves. Surely the wise of the past have realized that this life is not fair. To think of all the single women (mostly girls) Jo and I have encountered in hospitals giving birth to beautiful, completely healthy children who have no love, no compassion, no care for them; in contrast, I know of no better deserving married couple than Paige and Jarod who would fit what most would consider worthy parents. The love and care they showed Tatum just during the time she thrived in Paige’s womb was more than many children will receive in a lifetime. For them to be so attached, so desperately wanting to be parents, and to meet such despair at the brink of such expectant joy is appalling. It is still bringing me to tears as I type this. Only through time and many days of tears will this tragedy find any kind of resolve in my heart, and I am sure many more for Paige and Jarod.

The question at hand is how do we as a family who follows the life and teachings of Jesus answer the imposing question of “why?” In all honesty, I don’t think we can nor will ever be able to. I feel anger towards those who might try and put Providence at the helm of this incident or any other of such tragedy. I think a biblical way to address this is to mourn and grieve just as Jesus did in his suffering. Just as Job cried out to God day after day asking, more likely screaming, “Why?!” As follower of Jesus we have never been promised safety nor comfort nor the lack of affliction in this physical world, but the difference Jesus makes is hope. We have a hope that transcends any suffering from this current physical world; a hope that gives us the ability to look to a future where things are restored; no more tears, no more suffering, the lion will lie along side the lamb, no more death, the rule of God will be fully realized.

But, and a big but, the knowledge and hope of this still does not lessen the immediate pain of our current loss, and if we assume that we can hide our grief behind the façade of “Jesus loves me” and “He has a wonderful plan for my life,” we do a great injustice to ourselves and others who are hurting. The book recording the events of Job’s loss and grief is 40 chapters. It is not until the very end that Job’s “why” was answered (although not really answered) with “God is God and we aren’t.” It is simply a mystery that we as believers must live with the same way we must live with worshipping the one true God who is explained in three persons, believing He is sovereign and yet we still have free will, etcetera. There are many things we will not know completely in this world and so for us to say we have an answer to “why” is nothing less than foolish. We should not expect ourselves or anyone else to acknowledge nor accept the response Job received any time soon.

To Paige and Jarod, Joanna and I love you both more than we can express. We are very thankful that we did not lose Paige too. We are also thankful that we could make it down to be with you in your and our loss. We are extremely sorry that this happened and will pray that your pain will be eased over time.

CB

Nurse Joanna!

Today marks my graduation from nursing school. It was a long haul, but I'm very grateful to have made and it and especially to Colby for being my sugar-daddy and working hard while I was in school! :) hehe No, but seriously, I wouldn't have made it through without all of his encouragement and for picking me back up when I thought I could study no longer. I'm very excited for my new career and really feel that God will use me greatly with the children and families that I will work with daily. I feel like the token question that I've been asked all throughout the process was, "Why did you become a nurse?" My answer to that question is to be an effective advocate for patients, to provide knowledgeable and compassionate care, and to help people when they are most vulnerable. Above all, while going through lots of hospital stays with my Dad, I can remember that a few of the nurses were particularly helpful to my mom and were concerned that we were included in care. I know the care that I expect and require for my family members and feel that every healthcare worker should treat patients as if they were family as well. This doesn't happen as much as it needs to and I've been quite shocked at some of the things I've witnessed. With that said, even when I'm tired and burnt out, I hope I can stay accountable to my beginning intentions. So here they are to remind me on hour 11 of the 12 hour shift. I'm looking forward to all the new experiences as a nurse!

The Devil's River

We survived! After three days of paddling on the Devils River, we covered 48 miles of the most beautiful water in Texas. It is truly a spectacular river with crystal clear water, lots of fish and other wildlife, several class II and III rapids, and a class V+ waterfall.
Jo and I left Sunday afternoon with our friends Mychal and Marchello (and our dogs Rocky and Ellen of course) to our put-in site at Baker’s Crossing. We loaded up the kayaks in the truck and we were off. We camped that night on the river so we could get an early start, which couldn’t have been early enough as we paddled over 15 miles Monday against a stout 15-20mph headwind! To say the least, we were hurting that night! Thankfully Tuesday the weather was calm and we covered a lot of the river while still being able to make several stops to enjoy the beautiful water and scenery. Day 3 was more difficult paddling as our 18 or so miles consisted first of several shallow rapids in which we had to get out and pull the boats and second of miles of wide-open water as the river feeds into Lake Amistad. But nonetheless we pulled into Rough Canyon Marina at 5:30 Wednesday afternoon, feeling quite accomplished I might add.
So that’s the trip in a nutshell, but we thought we would share a few of the more memorable moments of the trip…
1) Me fighting off 2 raccoons and an opossum from the 50 lb food bag Mychal packed (we didn’t go hungry…thanks Mychal!) the first night at Baker’s Crossing.
2) Rocky freaking out during one of the more difficult runs and jumping out of the kayak trying to scale a huge boulder in which he failed therefore falling into the rushing water. No worries, he survived…barely.
3) Cello attempting to drain the water from the tortellini…we still had tortellini that night—don’t ask.
4) Paddling, paddling, and more paddling.
5) Me catching a handful of black bass, one about 4lbs, and a smallmouth bass that put up a tough fight.
6) Mychal and Marchello wearing each other’s pants. Woops!
7) Rocky chasing wild turkeys.
8) Weathering two nights of thunderstorms. The shows were both bright and loud!
9) Ellen swimming and swimming and swimming some more.
10) The buzzards that always seemed to be circling us.
11) And my personal favorite, passing through Border Patrol with a paranoid Italian.
Our contributions:
1) Mychal’s wonderful cooking
2) Cello’s excellent dish cleaning
3) My superb water pumping skills
4) And Joanna helping with all of the above
All in all, we had an amazing time. I always enjoy praising God for his creation and there is no better place than the Devils River, however ironic that might sound. It is truly a magnificent place.

Back to Back Champs!!!

On the way back from Ft Worth we stayed in Austin so we could watch my little sis win her second Texas 3A State Golf Title!!! Congrats Kaylan! We are WAAY excited for you!