I plugged my phone into my computer to charge last night and I realized I have a lot of pictures that haven’t made it anywhere, so I thought I’d post some of my favorites! We’ve had such a great summer…can you believe it’s August?!
We took a little trip up to the sandhills of Nebraska to see the elder Phipps’…always a good time and good food!
The kids with their great-grands!Grandad putting Sayble to sleepGoing for a spin on the golf cart
We had supper with some friends and the kids got to check out the volunteer fire department!
Checkin’ out the fire truck in WagesWryder lost his pants and I’m not completely sure what Sawyer is doing. Hilarious picture though…
The Stukas family came for a visit and we had more fun than we knew what to do with!
Sayble and ShoshanahLook at those smiles!Uno!Reading with Tanner. Wryder loved having a brother around!
Daddy brought home some new barn kitties. Wryder is officially in love. Poor cats.
This boy LOVES his kitty!And his new backpack!Good gravy he’s cute…Kitty, don’t leave
Wrex made this arrow for me for a wedding gift. I loved how it turned out so he’s cranked out a few more since!
Follow the arrow to the hottie!Barnwood stain
I bought groceries one night ALL BY MYSELF. It was a little quiet but quite nice. The kids were incredibly tired and thus distraught when I left. I had to document the fact that they were crying because I was leaving. That never happens…either thing – me leaving or them crying because I do. 🙂
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Sawyer has gotten her craft on lately.
Sawyer selfie 🙂We busted out the puff paint! Flashback 1991!
She’s also been drawing a lot. Here’s a picture of a fish…
Oh. My. Word.
And just a couple of my faves…
CooooookkkkiiiieeeeeeMid yawn looks like what the heck?!
So, let’s just get straight to the point…I’m WAAAAAAAAY behind on posting pics of our {spectacular} summer so far. Here’s a tiny recap of what we’ve been up to!
The kids got to go to the Denver Aquarium with Uncle Warner…
I love this pic…
Sawyer’s in there!There’s WryderI think it’s safe to say Wryder liked the mermaids. *ahem*
We checked out the Kearney Children’s Museum with some friends…We checked out the Sutherland Rodeo on July 4th…We’ve played in the water…a lot!We’ve played hide and seek…I loved Wryder’s hiding place. Sister couldn’t find him and he was more than content with that!We’ve enjoyed daddy being home for a week or two…We’ve had pop surprises and yummy desserts…We’ve gone on adventures, decked out in our finest, no less!We had missionaries come for lunch, whom the kids did NOT want to leave!We’ve taken our chickens out for strolls…Totally kidding. Just seeing if you were still with me. Isn’t that picture hilarious!?
All-in-all, we’ve been having a blast together! The next big thing (besides local county fairs and more summer fun) is gearing up for someone’s 5th birthday. How in the world did that get here so quick?!
The little lady asked for a county fair party so we’re hoping people are too county-faired out to come – she’s SOOOOO excited!
I hope your summer is going just as well. It’s a hot one here today and we’re headed out to throw some water balloons! YAY!
My husband has the privilege to work for a really neat company. (Neat doesn’t really do them justice, but if you could hear the warmth in my voice when I say that, you’d better understand.) They do a lot of things exceptionally well in my book, including the ways they use their time and resources.
They’ve always been big supporters of the local and regional homeless shelters and supply them with meat every week. Two weeks ago, under the organization of their fabrication floor manager, they took their efforts up a notch in order to connect with this community of people in a more personal way.
The employees at the plant teamed up with the regional homeless shelter and safe house and hosted a family fun day. They cooked out and fed everyone, as well as rented out the zoo and mini-golf park for a day of fun. How cool is that?!
The employees served in every capacity and got to just hang out and love on these people for an afternoon. It was one of those events where they came back (perhaps) more impacted than those they went to serve.
Packing plants can be dark places. It’s an industry with no “easy” jobs, a decent amount of turnover and the employee base can be made up of a rougher crowd of folks. This place is different; these people are doing their best to shine the light of Jesus inside the plant and out.
Wrex was telling me about a manager there named Roy. Roy holds Bible studies AT the plant and is really invested in the company, but especially his employees. In the past year, he’s led 10 people into a personal relationship with the Lord. He’s a mover and a shaker and he inspires people to be better and love harder and live more righteously and to change the world around them for His glory.
As Wrex was telling me about the event and about him, my heart was overcome with emotion. Through tears, I said, “I’ve always wanted to be one of THOSE people…” Haven’t you? What joy there is in doing the work of the Lord and making an impact on this generation and generations to come!
Before I could even finish my sentence proclaiming that I wasn’t, Sawyer immediately interjected with, “But you are, momma.”
As a doer myself, I often wonder if I’m doingenough. I have dreams and desires regarding the Kingdom of God and issues that pull at every ounce of my being. I see and hear of needs that I so desperately want to be a part of finding a solution for.
Sometimes it feels like needs are so much more pronounced and visible in bigger cities so it makes it easier to meet them there. That’s not always the case in small town America…though I know some of those same needs exist here, too.
And it’s not just responding to need. A Bible teacher once talked to us about responding to need vs. responding to the Holy Spirit. We could exhaust ourselves financially, emotionally, physically, etc. if we simply set out to meet every need we ever encountered; need knows no end! But when we respond to the promptings of the Holy Spirit (give where He says to give, go where He says to go, etc,) we can better impact the world in His name, for His glory.
Sawyer’s sweet little interjection caught me completely off guard and in that moment, the Lord used her to get my attention. He spoke directly to my heart and told me there was always more room for good done in His name in this ole world…but He showed me that the person I was saying I wanted to be…I AM to my husband and kids.
And isn’t that where it has to start? In your heart and then your own home?? If I don’t love my husband or children well, how on earth can I love a friend, much less a stranger? If I don’t have a marriage that emulates what the word says a marriage should look like, how on earth can anyone take any other ministry I have seriously? If I can’t teach my children about the Father heart of God and the righteousness He desires from them, how on earth can I be effective elsewhere?
It was a good reminder that right now, this IS my primary ministry. Yes, there are things we’re called to do regardless of our position in life…care for the orphan, widow and alien…share the Good News…be kind and loving and joyful and gracious and merciful, etc. It’s great to dream big, Kingdom sized dreams…but don’t grow weary of doing good in your own home. You are impacting more people than you realize – for better or for worse – I guarantee it. Make sure it’s for the better.
It was so nice to be “seen” tonight by someone I love and trust and adore.
It was nice to have the lies of the enemy squelched just as they passed my ears, before they fully wreaked havoc on my head and my heart.
It was nice to be able to receive such awesome revelation in a moment when I needed it most.
It was nice to be ministered to from my own ministry.
“But you are, momma…”
Four simple words that have inspired me to keep fighting the good fight. She saw those things in me, because she’s been on the receiving end of what I’ve given away. She’s been inspired. She’s been encouraged to do better. She’s been the recipient of an unconditional love.
I’m thankful for the hubby’s job and company and even more grateful to have my job and ministry be one and the same. The ministry that is Wrex and Sawyer and Wryder and Sayble will, indeed, transform generations to come. Lord, help me to do this and do it well.
This time of year, most sale barns in this area take a week or so off for wheat harvest and such so daddy gets 10 or so days of built in vacation time. Are we blessed or what?!
Since we went to Texas last month, we’re opting for more of a stay-cation – with a few day trips thrown in for good measure. We’ve already been to Nebraska to see the grandparents and Oklahoma cousins. We got to go to Cody Park and feed animals and ride the rides…we stopped in at the Children’s Museum in Kearney with good friends and today we had really great company come to the house for lunch! The kids were stoked to have visitors and we loved every minute with them! (More on that later).
Last night, daddy took us to supper and we stopped at the fireworks stand on the way home. Tonight, Wrexy lit some up and the kids had a BLAST!
They stood on the edge of the yard, holding hands waiting for the bang and the flash of lights. Their little eyes were wide with excitement and anticipation. Wryder jumped nearly every time but then would squeal with glee and run around asking daddy for more.
I love their excitement and zeal over all kinds of things…from fireworks to new swimsuits to meeting real live missionaries to eating Mexican food to watching a DVD in the car to seeing new baby chicks to spotting the moon in the sky before it’s even dark…the world around them is new and exciting and ready for them to explore…..AND? As their parents, we get the pleasure of taking that journey with them.
Friends of wee ones, we are living in the best days of our lives, I am convinced! Wrex and I were married for 5 years before we started having babies and those 5 years were really sweet. We did that {horrible, awful, ridiculous, no good} long distance dating thing for 3 years before we were married so it was so nice to have some “us” time. It allowed us to really solidify our marriage and prepare ourselves for raising children.
As good as that time was, we love this time of our lives even more. To be able to see and feel and interact with the product of our love is such a treasure. Oh yes, there are some hours and days that may feel long but oh – the joy far outweighs the work and the blood, sweat and tears that go into this parenting thing.
There’s a chance that you’ll never be this loved, this exciting, this worthy of emulation in their eyes ever again. Revel in it.
Friends, I encourage you to soak up those kiddos of yours this summer…
Say yes a little more often…
Go swimming more than you want to and get in that swimsuit and jump in with them…
Eat at McDonalds (or Mickey Don-dalds) even if you just drink a Dr. Pepper…
Blow bubbles and jump on trampolines and go on nature walks…
Look for ways to show them grace…
Get messy and muddy and eat popsicles to beat the band…
Take lots of pictures and capture those smiles and squeals and ingrain them in your mind’s eye for days to come…
These are the best days of our lives. Soak them up.
We have been flat out having fun this summer! Daddy’s sales have been short and we’ve been enjoying the days of our youth…
Here’s a little of what we’ve been up to!
We’ve done a little swimming…
and a little playing at the Children’s Museum…
We rode some rides at Cody Park…
and rode a dinosaur!
We’ve hung out with the neighbors…
and mowed around the house…
and snuggled cute sisters…and had lunch with cute dates…Tomorrow, we’re headed to see the Oklahoma cousins for a few days and then head back home to start our “summer vacation” when we get daddy to ourselves for two weeks! YAY!
Sawyer, Wryder and Sayble are the three most fortunate children I know. One could say so for many reasons, but especially because they have this guy for a daddy:
Handsome to the bone!
He is gentle, yet firm. He disciplines in love and is incredibly slow to anger. He doesn’t lose his temper or raise his voice, much less a hand, in angst. He is kind and gentle and loves unabashedly.
He seeks adventure and is definitely the more fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants of the two of us…which is a good balance for our home. He’s quick to take the kids to try something new or something on a whim or press the activities leading up to bedtime to the very last second – something they will remember far more than being well rested.
He is quick to ask for forgiveness and even quicker to grant it. I’m not sure that he holds a grudge (or ever has) with anyone about anything…which is good, because I tend to hold enough for the both of us. 😉 He keeps short records and has a tendency to see the best, and only the best, in most people.
He is strong and capable and wildly courageous. He protects us and provides for us unlike anything I’ve ever seen. We have never lacked any good thing with him at the head of our household.
He provides a stable, static home by never being afraid to show the kids how much he loves them or their mommy. He is always up for a hug or a kiss or a snuggle from me or any of the three of them. He is a lover and he’s not afraid to show it.
He is incredibly generous with his time and his resources. It’s a rare day that we feel second best or a lower priority than anything else he has going on in his world. He treats us like we ARE his world…and I believe it.
His knowledge of the Word is deep and abundant and he guides us in the ways of truth on a daily basis. Our kids will know how to love the Lord (and how the Lord loves us) just by watching him be their daddy…
🙂
Wrexy, every child the world over should be so fortunate as to have a daddy like you. Bless you, my love, for loving us so well. We honor you this Father’s Day, and every day, and pray we bring you honor right back.
Thank you for rising up to the plate and being a man of God in a day and age where that isn’t always the easy or popular thing to be.
Thank you for making us a priority in all that you do and for never making us feel like a burden – 15 bags, baby carrier and all.
Thank you for making today an easy one to celebrate…we love you!
During a 2,000 mile road trip, funny stuff is bound to happen! (Especially if you have two adorable kiddos who are observant of their surroundings and have stories and ideas they want to share). Here are a few of my favorites…
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EVERY time Wryder saw a deer crossing sign (and there were a few in that part of the country), he would excitedly scream, “John Deere!” and look around for the green machines. Thankfully, he only woke the baby a couple of times…
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On the tractor note… We were talking about Sawyer’s show cow named Cindy. When Sawyer turned four, we bought Cindy as a starter project and investment. All of the income would be hers, as well as the debt and when she was old enough, the work.
Before we left town, we dropped Cindy off to be AI’d and then turned out with a bull since we’d be gone during her heat cycle. Sawyer was asking if we were going to sell her calf and so Wrex and I were talking about needing to set up a livestock account just for Sawyer to keep that money separate. I then reminded him that we’d need to be on the lookout for a heifer or cow for Wryder who then piped up and said, “When I four, I want tractor. No cow.” The boy is serious about his tractors…
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When we arrived in Booker, the kids unbuckled and Wrex went around to their door to let them out. What he didn’t know was that Wryder was leaning against the door and as soon as he opened it, poor WD toppled right onto the concrete parking lot.
He skinned his arm and head and had a bit of a black eye. We finally got him calmed down and took him inside to meet some of Wrex’s co-workers.
When he met Roger, the CEO and Wrexy’s big boss, he was showing him his owies. Roger asked what happened and Wryder said, “Mommy hurt me.” WHAT?!?!?!?
We told him what happened and that if ANYBODY hurt him it was daddy and Wryder just kept saying, “Mommy hurt me.” How kind. Dad’s got him brainwashed, apparently… 😉
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The night of the rehearsal dinner, we forgot to take the kids’ cups to the wedding site and drinking out of water bottles is still a little hard for Wryder. He tends to put his entire mouth around the opening and always lets a little water back into the bottle.
By the end of supper, his water looked a little murky. I think at least an 1/8 of his dinner was floating around the bottom of the bottle. I was overly careful not to accidentally grab his by mistake and I even ended up putting a wedding favor koozie on it so I knew which one it was.
Fast forward two days later. We’re driving along in the car and Wrex is on the phone. He’d been eating trail mix and was a little parched and reached into the back seat to grab a bottle of water. He found one that was about half full (not a big surprise after that many days of traveling) and took a big ole chug…and then proceeded to spit and gag.
Yep, he found Wryder’s bottle.
Ewww
See that murky goodness?? Go ahead and enlarge the pic and really take note. You’ll dry heave before ya know it…there was a whole Cherrio in there, folks. Still gagging…
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The kids were pretty hot in Texas. Sawyer’s a little like me when it comes to heat; she much prefers 70 degrees and drier climates. There was a bit of complaining a few times but we gently reminded them that we had talked about the heat before we came and that we all agreed to tough it out.
As soon as we got home on Tuesday, we let the kids out to run around and we started carrying stuff in. As we were making our first trip into the mudroom, they both came out of the mudroom looking like this:
Cold much?
Apparently, 82 degrees in Colorado warranted sweatshirts after their quick acclimation to 95 degrees and 97% humidity in Texas. Hysterical!
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I’m sure I’m forgetting things that I’ll have to add later, but these were some of my faves. Sure do love this (funny) family of mine…
Wrexy’s boss and longtime friend, Travis, got married this past weekend in Cleburne, Texas. Wrex was the best man (awwww!) so obviously he had to be there.
The kids were desperate to go (who doesn’t love a good wedding?! Plus, they LOVE Travis and his new bride, Kasey) but I wasn’t so sure how I felt about taking care of three kids – one of which was barely a month old – by myself in triple digit heat 14 hours from home. Do ya blame me?!
We sucked it up, spent 3 days packing, 2 days driving and did the dang thing! So glad we did!
We drove to Booker, Texas the first day where the weather greeted us with a balmy 100 degrees. *ahem*
Later, we experienced a flash flood (not sure my shoes are dry yet) and the loudest thunder I’ve heard in my life – no joke!
Wrex visited at the plant a bit, showed off miss Sayble and the next morning we scurried farther east and made it (by the skin of our teeth) to the rehearsal dinner. Despite the high humidity (oh my poor hair) there was a breeze and some shade at the wedding venue. Jesus loves me…
The next morning, while Wrex and the groomsmen hung out with the groom, we ate a yummy breakfast, picked up some some snacks and glowsticks for the wedding and then hit the splash pad!
The splash pad was a genius idea, if I do say so myself. It cooled us off, was highly entertaining for $0 AND served as an easy pre-wedding bath for 2 of the 3 kiddos. Oh yes, they were clean…
Everyone napped good, except for mom who was busy ironing clothes and packing diaper bags and feeding babies and attempting to make my hair do something other than frizz…and then off to the wedding we went!
Daddy almost sweated to death in his tux but he made it! The kids had a ball dancing to the Hogg Maulies and running around and making new friends and we had a good time catching up with old friends while witnessing Travis and Kasey make their covenant with one other.
The happy coupleFirst danceGetting ready for the bouquet tossSawyer’s new friend, Katie, caught the bouquet and shared some flowers with herA few of Wrex’s Clarendon College judging team members…
By 10:00, we were all hot, sweaty, TI-URD and oh so happy we made the trek.
As Wrexy said in his toast, here’s to a lifetime of marriage…and a pastel of little sheep showmen…to the bride and groom!
Love you guys!
****And for those of you at the wedding that asked for a copy of said toast, I’ve pasted it here…
Good evening. My name is Wrex Phipps and it’s my honor and privilege to be able toast the happy couple tonight. I promise not to take up too much of your time as I don’t want to embarrass Travis too much…I’d like to return to Colorado as a fully employed man this next week.
First of all, lets make sure we all know who Travis is as he seems to have quite a few different nick names: In his early years you might have know him as Floyd, then later on maybe Woodrow or Toothpick. Now, he answers to Babe or Rathead – but you’ll have to ask Kasey about that. Now, I mainly refer to him as Travis my boss and also one of my best friends.
Travis and I met in junior college 14 years ago. We were on the livestock and meats judging teams so we spent A LOT of time together. Now we work for the same company and we spend a lot of time on the phone together.
As you may know Travis is not an over communicator! Sometimes, he can even be a rather private person. Or maybe that’s just with me and I get that. Our relationship can be kind of hard to define at times. When we talk, sometimes it’s friend to friend. Sometimes it’s boss to employer and sometimes I have a tendency to over-share other people’s news. They don’t call me “Radio” back home for nothing.
So when he first started dating Kasey, I didn’t know anything about it. I had kinda suspected he might have a lady friend when he was a little more chipper and optimistic than usual on the phone.
Normally, it’s a “Hell-oh” or “Roger” or “Odie”…anybody that’s hung out with him or called him in the last 5 years knows what I’m talking about…but things had been a little different lately.
He seemed to laugh more and I didn’t seem to be getting in near as much trouble when my cows were high. Not that that happened very often……
And then one day, I got a text…and I knew for sure. I had sent him a message from the sale barn that morning saying: “About 250 head here. You thinking the same bid?” He wrote back and said yes, I wrote back and said ok….and he wrote back and said, “Love you, too” – with 2 exclamation points!
Now, for a minute there, I was a little taken aback. I thought, whoa……he just took our friendship to a whole new level. And then I realized – aha! There IS a girl!
Then “ol Radio” kicked in. I immediately took a screen shot and sent that message to my wife and about 7 of our closest college friends…and Travis’ boss… This was good stuff! On a lot of levels!
You see, my wife has known Travis as long as I have and he’s taken as good a care of her as he has of me. She’s always been a big fan of Trav’s and she repeatedly said that one day Travis would have the best, sweetest and cutest wife out of our little group of friends. So we had been praying that he would find just that. While I’m incredibly fond of my wife, I can equally say – “Well done, Rathead.”
Here’s to a lifetime of marriage…and a pastel of little sheep showmen… To the bride and groom!
Nothing horrid. Nothing to cry about. Nothing to shake your fist at the Lord about. Nothing remotely as bad as the majority of the world probably deals with. Just one of those weeks were some things have just felt off and we’ve had a lot going on and Wryder’s in another “testing the boundaries phase” and we’ve been at the mercy of a couple of people who weren’t people of their word and that?! Oh, that’s a tough pill to swallow for me.
Despite all of that, these little guys make my world SO worthwhile. They bring us such joy…unimaginable joy! Watching them play or seeing their smiles or hearing their sweet voices just ignite my heart with such love…
These are just a few of my favorite pics of our week!
I love momma’s dish towel, apparently!Popsicles on the porchHolding daddy’s handPark time!Love this sweet girl!Trying to be like sissyPeek-a-boo!I see you!Get it, girl!Cowgirling it in her shorts…Riding our newest gift, “Stubbs”She is GORGEOUS!Handsome boy with a tractor in his mouth…Baby feet – who doesn’t love baby feet?!Watchin’ a little baseball with Mr. ZachShe’s got the lifeGetting some love from Miss Jen and Miss PGiving Booey a ride around the property
These guys just have a way of redeeming all that’s wrong in the world…my world, at least…
I put Sawyer in charge of Wrex turning 33 and the girl came out swinging!! She decided we needed to throw him an orange birthday party since orange is his favorite color. 🙂 I sat down with her last week and she made a menu and helped me shop for orange everything!
Orange EVERYTHING!
Orange pop, orange slices, Reese’s, orange plates and cups and napkins and straws and silverware and flowers – girl covered it all!
We even found a bright orange cupcake mix!
That’s a lot of orange…
For his birthday supper, she created the menu all by herself! Steaks with sweet potato fries, cantaloupe, cheese and carrots!
YUMMO!
This weekend, we let him decide everything on the agenda so it turned into Phipps Family work day(s)! We washed and detailed the car and got it ready to sell…
Cute helpers!They had fun!
We mowed and mowed and mowed some more… We got air conditioners running and closets full of summer clothes and winter ones put away… We got daddy’s trailer door fixed and the battery charged in the Power Wheels… We even had time for a midday cookout!
Love these guys!
Both kids were a tick under the weather all weekend so we tried our hardest to sleep in on Sunday. I snapped this pic before I got up…melt my heart.
Snoozing…
We went out for Mexican food on Sunday night and the lovely staff just insisted on singing to daddy…in a sombrero…
Thrilled.
Then, after they were done singing, they whopped him in the face with whipped cream! WHAT THE HECK!?! All in good fun, but we were all a little shocked!
What in the world?!
All in all, I think it was a pretty good birthday weekend!
I’m so proud of this curly haired beauty and how much thought and effort she put into blessing her daddy.
