Critz Family Weekend

We spent last weekend in San Antonio with John's family. It was a wonderful, relaxing weekend for everyone and Little John got to spend lots of quality time with his Nonnie, Poppie, aunts, uncles, and cousin. We stayed at the Hyatt Hill Country and spent most of our time in the lazy river and the pool. Thankfully, our little guy decided that swimming was his favorite thing after a summer of not wanting much to do with the pool. His little swimming lessons payed off and he was kicking, blowing bubbles, and paddling away. Little John did great and we pretty much never heard a peep out of cousin Caden who is always happy and content. Matt and Jamie are such great parents. It was fun for the boys to get some "cousin time" even if they aren't that interested in each other yet! Things have certainly changed since our camping in Lake Tahoe days!

Little John enjoyed making Smores with Nonnie at the poolside bonfire but he didn't care about eating any of it except the chocolate. We also watched a movie on the lawn which he thought was super fun.

Uncle Jordan's girlfriend, Kristen, is one of Little John's current favorite people. He was always asking where she was if she got out of sight for even a few minutes. He liked tetherball even though he didn't quite get the concept and kept letting the ball hit him in the head! He's a tough one!

When we gave John his first ring pop he decided to have Aunt "Mamie" wear it and he would walk up and take licks when he felt the urge. It was pretty funny! It is always a joy to spend time with family and this weekend was no exception. Hopefully we'll make it a tradition and have lots of these memories together. We love our Critz family!

Happy Birthday, Christopher!

My baby brother turned 19 on Monday. That is insane. I vividly remember every part of praying for him to be conceived, waiting for his arrival, the excitement of that day, and then finally my baby brother. As a 7-year-old girl with two brothers, I thought I wanted a girl. . . until he arrived. Then all I wanted was little Christopher David. It was the greatest to have a live baby doll. I remember that I really wanted him to sleep in my room in his crib because I was completely envious that my brothers were sharing a room and I was all alone. I wanted to prove that I could take care of him during the night. I really thought it wasn't fair that my parents hogged him in their room when they already had somebody to share with! Now I know that there was probably nothing they would have liked more than to have put him in there with me. : ) I can never thank my parents enough for stepping out in faith and continuing their family after the all-american 2 or 3 kids had been reached. What would our lives be without Christopher and the two sisters who followed him? Any "sacrifice" that the three of us made in order to have more siblings has been repayed 100-fold. I love watching Christopher grow, mature, and change. I am privileged to be his sister and have him take care of me and look out for me. He is a fantastic uncle and Little John gets so excited about playing with "Tipper." Watching them together brings me so much joy! Thank God for brothers, brave, faith-filled parents, and for the relationship he has given me with Christopher! I love you, "baby" brother!

The Ideal Husband

Five years ago this afternoon I stood at the top of the stairs at Richland Hills Church and waited as Brittany began singing the song for my entrance into the auditorium. I had a quick moment there completely alone to thank God yet again for all He had done to bring me to that day. I was getting married! I remember turning that corner and seeing that sea of people and feeling so, very loved. Most of my focus, though, was on the two men I was walking toward. At the bottom of the stairs was my dad, the man who had fulfilled my childhood dreams and needs for a girl's Prince Charming. A man who had loved me unconditionally, cared for me, protected me, taught me, and helped me to choose the man with whom I would be spending the rest of my life. Once I reached my dad without falling or tripping (hooray!) I could focus less on walking and more on the other people. On every side were people from church, friends from all areas of life, family, and standing on the stage was my man. The one who was now going to be caring for me, supporting me, and living with me. I was barely twenty-one and very much in love, and if I had had any idea just how good life with him was going to be, I think I would have forgotten the heels and train and just run down the aisle. I can still make that walk in slow motion in my head because I was working so hard to soak in every second.

When we got married, I knew John as well as anyone can know someone they haven't lived with. We met as children and I knew him when he wore red suspenders and talked in a high voice, when he played baseball and took math classes, when he couldn't talk to girls even though all the girls wanted to talk to him, when I had braces and glasses and would have had a heart attack if he had sat next to me, when we graduated together and five of us set off on our senior road trip, when he gave me my first kiss and was the first guy to tell me that he loved me. We have 20 years of memories, but the best have definitely been crammed into the last five years. I have watched him grow from the boy I loved into a man of God whom I respect and admire. And just when I would think I couldn't love him any more, something like May 19th, 2004 happens and as I watched him hold our firstborn son, my love for him grew exponentially in a single moment.

Five years later I know that there is absolutely nowhere I would rather be than standing next to John. We have been through things we never expected and have definitely experienced more hard things in these five years than I had in my previous life. But no matter how hard things are coming at us from the outside, we have had five years of peace and oneness inside our relationship. John is a very big guy and when he wraps me in his big bear hug, I feel completely protected. That is a perfect picture of how things work. I can be hurting and lost but never without his love and protection wrapped around me helping to carry the load. What a beautiful picture of God's love he daily shows me. Baby, marrying you was one of the best decisions of my life and I would do it all over again. I love you more than I ever have and look forward to finding out just how much more I can love you in the future. By God's grace, you have made all my little girl dreams come true and way beyond what I could have imagined. Thank you for choosing me to be the privileged girl who gets to spend her life with you!

Praises

I wanted to give you a quick update so you could know how prayers were answered yesterday. We had the visitation Wednesday night and the funeral yesterday afternoon and were comforted and encouraged by all the love that was poured out on us. We celebrated a man who was greatly loved and respected by his family and now is home with our Lord. The service was wonderful and both my dad and his brother were able to make it through what they wanted to say. My nausea took a temporary hiatus from the moment we got in the car and, even with all the driving, my stomach felt better than it has in a while. I certainly needed that for such a physically and emotionally demanding day. Little John was as cooperative as we could have asked, especially since the funeral was right when he would have been napping. Precious church family like Jenni New, Linda Letz, Pam Willingham, Ron & Mary Carroll, the Washburns and several others who were willing to make the long drive out on Wednesday night or Thursday meant so much. My sweet mother and sister-in-law and all of my mom's family were also there surrounding us with love. I love family, both spiritual and physical. Thank you again for your prayers, notes, e-mails, and phone calls. I love you all!

Papa's Ultimate Healing

The fight is over and my Papa is at peace and resting. He went to be with Jesus yesterday afternoon. My dad was there with them and it was peaceful. This is a precious answer to prayer. I am so grateful that all his pain and weakness is over and he is free. I can't tell you how precious the blood of Jesus is to me this morning. I thank God for each person that it covers and my heart cries out for those who have not yet claimed it. Many of my tears are tears of gratitude that we can face this with complete knowledge of my grandfather's decision to choose Jesus.

One of my fun memories of my granddad is that he used to nickname all of his grandchildren. It was his special name for us which we, of course, loved. Mine was Tinks, short for Tinkerbell. I can't help but wonder if he is now sitting there with Benjamin and his four unborn great-grandchildren on his lap, nicknaming them all. I can't wait to hear what he came up with.

Thank you for your continued prayers for us. Mostly we are now praying for my grandmother's peace and comfort. I can't imagine what this is like for her. As for me specifically, I am blessed and doing well. I would ask for your prayers because any abnormal stress or emotion sends my nausea into high gear and today is already proving to be a particularly rough one. Please pray for me in all my pregnancy hormonal state as we go through the coming events of this week. It looks like the funeral may be on Thursday or Friday. Just one more confirmation of how God leads us in the small things because John and I could have been planning a trip this week or weekend for our anniversary and instead had already planned to be here. God is so good!

Delighting in the Small Things

Okay, this is probably of absolutely no interest to anyone else, but I have found tremendous happiness this week in the smallest of things. Last week my mom came over and helped me organize my pantry. This is something I have been intending to do since we moved into this house in November, but still hadn't gotten around to. Things were put where it made sense to quickly shove them during unpacking and the grocery store trips since then. I have deep shelves and nothing was easy to get to which was frustrating. So, it is now beautifully organized and every time I see it (which is incredibly often between a pregnant mom and a growing toddler), it makes me happy. I did find one of my shoes in it the other day but these things will happen as long as Little John is around. So, hooray for organization and on to the next house project.

Morning Snuggles and Goodnight Kisses

Okay, I have to admit that I have completely chickened out on something. I simply can't do it and I am going to admit it, move on, and stop pretending I can. Next Friday is our 5th anniversary. That being a fairly momentous occasion, we had plans to go somewhere alone. Well, gradually it worked out where John didn't have enough time off for us to take a longer trip if he wanted time when the baby comes so our plan was for a weekend that included two nights away. Then that shortened to one, and now we are both relieved to find out that the other one really doesn't want to leave Little John for even one night and we're staying here. I am so happy! We are going to spend the day at the spa together, have dinner, etc., and then we are going to be very happy to go pick up our boy and bring him home so we can all go to bed where we belong. Now, I know we have circumstances that affect this because we regularly get time alone due to our fantastic babysitter lineup and also have time in the evenings after he goes to bed. I'm sure we would feel differently without that and have a huge need to connect with each other for a longer time. But we are blessed with that and all I can think about are all the years when I will not have a son who needs his mommy's hugs and kisses at night and can't wait to see her in the morning. He has his little routine - each morning when he wakes up he brings his blanket into our room, climbs in bed with me, and says "Momma!" like he hasn't seen me in a week. Then I get a little while to snuggle before we start our day and if Daddy's still there, he gets to join in. So, for now, we have decided to surrender and enjoy our little man in yellow Buzz Lightyear pajamas as long as we can. He's one of the best celebrations of our marriage anyway.

Happy Birthday, Baby!

My wonderful man is turning 27 today. I will have plenty of mushy things to say about him as my husband next week on our 5th anniversary. Today I think I will just make a list of some of my favorite things about him in no particular order. There are thousands more where this came from but it's a sampling.

• He is faithful - to his Lord, his family, his commitments, his work
• I can trust him completely in every area of life
• He is hilarious and not at the expense of others
• He can completely shut down my anger or frustration with the right words said in the right way at the right moment
• He can make friends with anyone and find things he likes about everyone
• He is loyal to his family and friends
• He loves me like every woman dreams of being loved
• He walks in the door at night and immediately starts playing with John and talking to me
• He is the most incredible father
• He never keeps score or lays on guilt trips but is always grateful
• He is humble and always seeking to change for the better
• His desire to do or not do things has nothing to do with the opinions of others but with what is right and best for him
• He is never judgmental
• He is the cutest, hunkiest guy I have ever seen, no exceptions
• He works hard and learns quickly
• He seeks out my advice and opinion even when it's his decision to make
• He's quick to say he's sorry even though he's rarely wrong
• He never deliberately hurts me with his words or actions, even when I'm sure I deserve it
• He is strong physically, mentally and spiritually
• He is never too cool or too macho for anything but is ready to enjoy any activity
• He has varied interests and therefore is never boring to be around or talk to
• He doesn't have to tell you what his priorities are - they are obvious by the way he spends his time
• He is incredible, wonderful, amazing, exciting, and best of all. . .
• HE'S MINE! (Yeah, baby!)

Papa

For all of you precious friends who are praying for me and my family, here is an update on my grandfather. He will be moving home to Bridgeport tomorrow where hospice has set up in their house. This should make it where my grandmother isn't doing anything too difficult for her but they can be in the comfort of their own space. They have absolutely no idea on the timing of the situation. His physical condition is very bad and has been for years. There is lung, prostate, and now brain cancer. They gave him a year to live five years ago. It has been sheer prayer and the will of God that he has been with us this long and now we want him to be as free of pain as possible. Everything has been said, much love has been expressed, and thank God there are no unresolved issues to stand in the way of our prayers for his ultimate freedom.

For those of you who don't know, my grandfather only came to the Lord a few years ago. I spent my childhood praying constantly for both of my grandfathers whom I have now seen confess Jesus in front of their families. For each of them it took different people and situations to cause them to make that decision. The night that my dad and his two brothers baptized their dad was one of the most beautiful moments I have ever witnessed. I watched my grandmother's tears after her years of fervent prayer for her husband and her faithfulness to her Lord to quietly live for Christ each day until she finally saw the answer to her prayers. She is a living example of I Peter 3:1, "Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives." Those are the times that make you long for Heaven and yet understand why our patient Father keeps waiting for each little lamb.

Thank you for your prayers. I was reminded through this difficult weekend of what the church is truly meant to be. My brief text message went out to my three prayer warriors on Saturday, "Headed to the hospital to say possible goodbyes to my grandfather. I'm a basket case. Please pray." Within a very short time came the first four word response that I knew was coming and meant so much. "I'm praying. Love you." This was quickly followed with the other two checking on me and assuring me of their prayers and love. I am convinced that this is what the world is out there looking for. We can talk about and work on our methods and systems, but if we can hold that kind of love out to them then maybe they will grab on and then see the amazing, unsurpassed love of our Father.

"Lights, Camera, Action - WIGGLES!"

Yesterday was a difficult day for me. I'll write more about it later, but we are in the process of saying our final goodbyes or "see you laters" to my grandfather. Please keep him and my family in your prayers, especially my grandmother and my dad. Hopefully he will soon be free of pain.

Anyway, with all of that emotion going on, Little John and I went to the Wiggles last night. Shelly got these tickets for us to take the kids months ago and it was just what I needed to take my mind off of things for a little while. The show was so cute and the kids absolutely had a ball. They never had to sit down or be quiet and they danced, sang, and jumped to their heart's content. I have to hand it to Jeff, Murray, Anthony, and Greg - those guys have some serious energy. They aren't young and that jumping around, singing, and playing instruments has got to be tough! They made me laugh because they got off their script and cracked each other up several times. Just four guys having fun, I guess. They also did a great job of coming out into the audience to be closer to the kids.

Emma thought the Wiggles were never going to come on stage and when one of the Wiggly Dancers came out to make an announcement before it started, she looked at me with a really disgusted face and said, "Where are the Wiggles?" I think she thought we had tricked her. She was quite excited when the big, red car finally drove out. Hayley asked if we could rewind her favorite part (the technology generation), and John was really quiet for the first half until he apparently finally woke up and started dancing with the girls. They were all three so good for us. Yes, Shelly and I sang the songs and danced, and don't you wish you had been there to see it? It's fun to be a mommy.
I am not sure why the kids look like they're being lined up for a round of shots, but they really were excited! Maybe they thought we were going to stick them in a house for a week together again! : ) I love these great kids!

More California

Here's my wonderful family, minus Cameron and Carli, in Santa Barbara. It was a little foggy that evening, but you get the idea. Brittany and I could get so spoiled traveling with that much help! Little John loved staying in the same house with his aunties. He always had to go find them as soon as he got up.


Little John loved pulling his backpack and I thought he was going to take out the bellman when he put it on the cart at the hotel in Disneyland!

He stood in this exact spot at Legoland, in front of the replica of the Hollywood Bowl, for 30 minutes. He kept giving the other kids who would run past this pained, serious expression like he didn't understand their immature lack of appreciation for this masterpiece and how difficult it would have been to create. It was playing an original symphony written for this exhibit and he also enjoyed the music.

This is our new buddy, Emmitt. Someday Katelyn and I will probably be flying the boys back and forth to stay with each other the way we used to do!

Little John loved the characters at Disneyland. This character breakfast was worth every penny for the thrill he got out of Chip and Dale coming to our table to "talk" to him. They were playing a fun game where they grabbed each other's noses. Although traveling with a toddler can be difficult, John and I both agree that it is worth it because of the delight of seeing them discover new things and places. They bring joy to every part of life and we don't know how we ever had fun without our little man! I guess we didn't know what we were missing. A huge thanks to Grandpa and Marmee for a wonderful trip! Thanks for working so hard to make these times special for our whole family!

California

We recently returned from a trip to California. We were there with most of my immediate family (which with in-laws, grandchildren, and potential in-law now includes 13 and one on the way). Unfortunately, Cameron and Carli had to come back to work before we arrived so we totally missed her first vacation experience with the fam. We'll catch you next time, Carli! We had a great time doing a variety of things including Legoland, the beach, shopping, driving, Disneyland, and a reunion with dear friends.

10 years ago while in Australia and New Zealand on a ministry trip I met Katelyn who then became one of my dearest friends. It was completely a "God thing" that we met at all and then have maintained a close friendship across the miles between here and California all this time. We have seen each other through graduations, a senior trip to Prince Edward Island, starting our relationships with the guys who are now our husbands, stood beside each other in our weddings, struggled as we both prayed for children and dealt with difficulty in becoming pregnant, had sons two months apart, and cried and laughed through many other emotional and spiritual ups and downs. She is a tremendous blessing to me because, while she knows many of the people in my life, she is separate enough from it to be objective and unaffected by my spilling my guts. She has even had to put up with the nickname "Big Katelyn" in order to distinguish her from my sister. We had not seen each other since my wedding five years ago and reuniting in California was such a special time. Her husband is wonderful and so sweet to be willing to take time off of work to spend with her friends. I'm so glad she has him. He and John hit it off and had a great time. Her son is absolutely precious and he and Little John played together as only two-year-olds can - with lots of supervision and reminders to share. We have promised that it will not be another five years before we see each other again. I love you, Kate, and can't thank God enough for putting you in my life.

I will post more pictures on our trip later but we're off for our first round of birthday events for John this week!