My Sister

Many of you that know me know my sister Victoria. We have certainly been through a lot together. When we were kids we were arch enemies. She was constantly that little girl that was always copying me or getting into my stuff. She was a tiny little kid, but certainly one of the toughest kids I knew. We fought almost daily and constantly bombarded Mom with phone calls at work about the chaos at home. She was feisty, free spirited and fearless. I was a rules follower, people pleaser, and scared of everything. We were like oil and water. When I left for college she told me that she couldn’t wait for me to leave. I couldn’t wait to go. So I headed off to college and that changed everything. As the miles grew between us, our bond grew stronger and we began to let go of all of the childish battles that were fought between us. We began to realize how much we loved each other. Now she is no longer my pesky little sister, she is one of my very best friends. As an adult, I came to realize that no matter what life threw our way (and trust me it threw a lot!), we always had each other. She and I have been through so much together, and I think that is what has made our bond today so strong. We have each other’s backs – no matter what. After Jimmy passed away, I began to appreciate and love my sister more than I ever thought I could. She became such a source of strength for me. I always thought I’d be the big sister – always the one to be the encourager and advice giver. During this trying time, my little sister became my rock. She prayed for me, called me, loved me and came to be by my side. She slept right next to me for the week after Jimmy died. Once again, she was right there by my side, every step of the way. I don’t know what I would do without her. She is one of the most amazing and precious people I know! Today is Victoria’s birthday, and I want her to know how VERY much she is loved. She is the best sister and aunt in the world! Happy birthday, Victoria! I love you more than you will EVER know!!!

Dorothy York

Please remember the entire York family in your prayers today. Maw Maw York (Dorothy) was called home to be with the Lord today. Please especially pray for Mr. Les, his sister Cindy and his brothers Bobby and Kelly as they lay their precious mother to rest. I know that she was greeted at heaven's gates by one of the most beautiful smiles I've ever seen. I pray that she is dancing in heaven as she embraces her loved ones that went there before her. We love you Maw Maw. You will be greatly missed!

An Awesome Day

Last Monday, I had the ENORMOUS pleasure of attending the Jimmy York Memorial Golf Tournament. My friends Jeff Pelletier, David Rice, Todd Starnes and Todd Hamilton spent the last several months working their fingers to the bone, turning a simple concept of a memorial golf tournament into a first class event complete with lunch, dinner, prizes and a silent auction. The Lord had his hand all over this special day. The weather could have not been more perfect. It was sunny and in the 70’s – very impressive for an unpredictable Texas November! Bridlewood Golf Course was absolutely beautiful, and there was a spirit of excitement and joy that filled my heart to overflowing from the time I got there until the time that I left. Throughout the day, I had the awesome privilege of getting to hang out with the most amazing group of 144 golfers I’ve ever seen. I was overwhelmed to see so many of our precious friends and family come out to be a part of this event. There were even a few people there that didn’t even know Jimmy, which melted my heart even more. It was so completely humbling to see so many people band together to help support me and my sweet boys and to honor Jimmy’s memory. It was a beautiful thing to see. I know that Jimmy would be so ridiculously proud of his amazing friends for doing this for us. I’m sure that he would have loved nothing more than to be swinging his golf clubs out there with all of you. Thank you Todd, Andy and Ray for using Jimmy’s clubs on your first tee off. What a sweet way to remember Jimmy (although from the sounds of the way you guys played, he may have wanted to beat you with them! Ha Ha! J/K!). Thank you also Mark McCord for showing me that your ball marker was “JY”. That is so precious of you and touched my heart so very much! I spent the day just being in awe of such an amazing event. I want to extend a HUGE thank you from the BOTTOM OF MY HEART to ALL of you who helped make the golf tournament such an unbelievable event. Thank you for your efforts, prayers, participation and contributions. It will certainly be a memory to last a lifetime for me. It was an absolutely awesome day!


Jeff Pelletier & Me


Putting Contest


Kevin hoping to get the winning putt


Craig Holst won the putting contest!


Gentlemen, start your golf carts!


And they're off! (Josh & Shelby)


Carl Wayne Bishop played golf on his 40th birthday!!


Vic, Ginger & Me


Ray, Todd & Andy


Mr. Les giving Mrs. Bev a golf lesson


Jeff, Todd, David & Todd - You guys are AWESOME! There are just NO words to express my gratitude to each of you!! Thank you a million times over!

Precious Pictures

Last night, the boys and I had our pictures taken by my sweet friend Elizabeth that recently started her own photography business. I was overjoyed at how our pictures turned out. I know that I'm just slightly biased, but I think I have two of the cutest kids on the planet! Thank you Elizabeth for turning our chaos into little works of art!!

Braxton's First Soccer Game

Braxton’s first soccer game was on Saturday, and it was…well…umm… let’s just say it was entertaining. Braxton has never played soccer before and he is certainly NOT an aggressive kid. When we signed up for soccer, all I knew was that he liked to run. I figured that was enough of a prerequisite for him to play soccer in the 6 and under league. I’m beginning to think that that may have been an incorrect assessment on my part. I should have known that this was going to be an interesting season when I told the coach that Braxton was a bit timid and not aggressive and he said to me, “Well, it should be interesting watching him play soccer!” I also should have known that when I got his uniform that he may be a bit smaller than the other players in his league. I told the coach to order him the smallest shorts that they had, and apparently that wasn’t small enough. His shorts fell right off of him. His shirt also hung to his knees. I searched high and low to find him some shorts that fit – no luck. He ended up wearing shorts that were too big and made him look as if he were wearing some sort of strange looking skirt or something. See Exhibit A:



When we showed up for the big game, the first thing I noticed was that the other kids all looked a little bigger and certainly had better fitting uniforms. That should have clued me in right away that we were in for some trouble. The game started, and I quickly praised the Lord that Braxton wasn’t of “starting player” caliber, because within the first five seconds of the game, our opposing team’s star player got the ball and headed straight down the field and scored a goal. This kid was two head lengths taller than every other kid on the team and had obviously kicked a soccer ball a time or two before. As the game progressed, he began kicking kid’s legs out from under them. Any time he was around a player on our team, somehow they ended up on the ground. Poor Braxton stood and watched in horror as I smiled and tried to encourage him that everything was going to be ok and that this was “fun.” After watching a few more minutes (and about ten more goals for the other team!), I began to get scared for my sweet little boy. I ended up telling him that he never even had to touch the ball. He just needed to run back and forth with the other players as fast as he could. Sure enough, he got called in to play for the second quarter and he did exactly that! One of the players on the other team was playing defense and was covering Braxton. He got all up in Braxton’s personal space (another issue we’ll discuss at a later date) and Braxton gave me the “Mommy, I’m not liking this” look! He tried to politely back away from him and didn’t want much to do with the whole defense thing. See Exhibit B



My sweet boy ended up playing in two quarters of the game and managed to stay on both feet the entire game. In the end, the Fire Ants only scored two goals on Saturday. One goal was scored by the coach’s son. The other was accidentally kicked in by the opposing team. I lost track of what the final score was. I’m thinking it was like 600-2 or something like that. After the game, Braxton said that he had a good time, so I guess that’s all that matters. I am thinking that this is going to be one crazy season!

First Day of School

Braxton had his first day of PreK-5 today. I can’t help but be in shock at how quickly the last five years have flown by. I feel like I blink and he’s a year older and an inch taller. He is getting so big! He looks more and more like his daddy every day, too. Last week he was sitting in a little chair that his Aunt Vic bought him and had his long legs crossed, just like Jimmy used to do. It’s crazy how no one taught him how to do that. It’s just in the genes! He also started soccer two weeks ago and loves getting to wear his cleats. He says that they make him run faster. He’s so cute and constantly keeps me smiling (like when he tells Auston every night before bedtime, “Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the BAD bugs bite!”). I’m just too proud of my sweet boy! Here are some pictures of his first day of school and his newest toy (it's a hit with all of the kids in the neighborhood and Pops will be jealous when he sees it)!!

An Expensive Snack

Yesterday, Auston enjoyed the most expensive meal he’ll ever eat. No, it wasn’t a steak from Del Frisco’s, or a big spoonful of caviar, it was this:



Yep, that’s a mushroom. We had a few of these growing in our back yard, and Auston decided to find out if they tasted good. Apparently these silly things can be really poisonous and when your child eats one, poison control recommends that you quickly take a little trip to the emergency room. Auston was given a charcoal and cranberry juice concoction to absorb all of the toxins from the mushroom. He also had to have some blood work done. Thankfully he is doing just fine now. Good times! There’s certainly never a dull moment with this kid!



Here's a picture of Auston after enjoying his charcoal treat, complete with charcoal residue on his mouth.



The EMT that took his vitals apparently found some humor in the reason that we were there.