Catch up!!

Sometimes I feel like the weeks are flying by and sometimes they seem very slow...this week is a slow one!!  But luckily I feel like I have time to blog today ;)   A couple weeks ago we went to the Texas Rangers opening day as a family.  This has become a tradition since Briley was 9 months old.  In fact she has not missed an opening day since.  Daniel and I will of course keep this tradition going and we can't wait to add Miss Delaney to the tradition next year.  Here are a few pictures from our day and a few from past opening days!!

She was so excited to watch the Rangers.   She thinks every sport/game on TV is her Texas Rangers!

Once we got to our seats she got a little distracted but peanuts and snow cones helped out...

Love this family pic :)

LOVE THEM!!

  Rangers Opening Day '10, '11, '12, and '13!!

Last week Briley had her very FIRST dentist appt.  I was pretty nervous.  I thought she would be difficult and I was afraid of the x-ray results.  I do not have good teeth genetically and I was hoping she did not inherit my bad teeth.  We checked in and they called us back with minutes!  She picked out the movie she wanted to watch while she was in the chair and had her x-rays done first.  Daniel and I got to go back with her and she did SO GOOD.  She seemed so big standing there getting x-rays, sitting in the dentist chair, and even using the sucker thing that cleans out the water in your mouth!!  As silly as it sounds I did get a little emotional...I was just so proud of her!!

Best part...NO CAVITIES!!!!  She picked out a pink toothbrush and a pink frog to play with in the bathtub.  We also took her to Target to pick out a special present from Mommy and Daddy!!  We were so proud of our big girl and I loved that Daniel could be there and we could experience this first big milestone as a family :)
On Sunday was mine and Daniel's 6th wedding anniversary!!  We ate dinner the night before and then spent Sunday at church and just relaxing in the afternoon.  We exchanged our yearly letters and added them to our heart box.  I can't believe we already have six letters to each other in the box.  I know they will be so neat for our children/grandchildren to look back on.  I'm so grateful our pastor challenged us to do that every year...I hope Briley and Delaney carry that tradition on with their future husbands.

So looking forward to year 7 and adding another sweet baby girl to our family :)   Today I had a doctor's appt. and Delaney once again looked wonderful.  God is continually over and over blessing us during this pregnancy.  I have to find a sign/make one to hang in Delaney's room that says "Prayer Works". God is so GOOD.  This little girl is growing A LOT.  They measured my belly today and it is measuring 32 weeks...but I will only be 27 on Saturday.  ;) I am so thankful but WOW.  With Briley I measured around 2 weeks ahead every time so I'm thinking Delaney will be a big girl just like her sister.     Before church this past Sunday :)

  Last but not least Briley had to bring something that started with the letter "x" today to preschool.  Of course x is a pretty hard show 'n' tell to come up with but Briley and I came up with the perfect idea...

The x-rays of her teeth!!  Her dentist office was kind enough to make us a copy to keep and she couldn't wait to show her friends at school her "sparkly teeth with no sugar bugs"!!   Have a wonderful Thursday!! ~Melissa

I don't get it...but I still trust Him.

On Monday I went to a funeral for a firefighter that Daniel used to work with in Brownwood.  It was the first funeral I have been to since Hadley's.  Sadly Daniel has now been to 2 since his Mom and Hadley's.

It has been a hard year for our family and I can't help but think that it is only July.  Daniel and I keep saying we just want this year behind us.  This year has brought a lot of pain but what I do want to say is that Hadley and her birth is not what brought our pain.  The events surrounding her did.  I want her memory and precious short life to be thought of with joy.  

The funeral we attended on Monday was for Firefighter Shannon Stone.  Some of you may have seen what happened to him because it has been all over the news this weekend.  He was at a Texas Ranger game on Thursday night with his son and while reaching to catch a foul ball from Josh Hamilton, he slipped and fell over the rail.  He was conscious after the fall and all he could keep asking was for someone to make sure his son was ok.  Sadly, he passed away on the way to the hospital with his precious son Cooper in the front seat of the ambulance with him.  Daniel received the call that the person who fell over the rail was Shannon and him and another firefighter went to the hospital to be with the other Brownwood firemen that they used to work with, and of course to support the family.  While he was there I kept thinking about Cooper and his wife Jenny.  Our family has suffered a lot this year, but can you even imagine what Jenny or Shannon's parents were going through?  I prayed over and over for his family that night.

The funeral that his family and Brownwood fire department put together was truly amazing.  They did such a wonderful job honoring him and all he had done as a fireman.  More importantly they talked about how much he loved his wife Jenny, his little boy Cooper, and what a servant he was to others.

I thought Ch. 5 did a nice job with this video from the day of the funeral...

View more videos at: http://www.nbcdfw.com.

The funeral was hard to attend.  It was hard because of the circumstances surrounding it, it was hard because the last funeral I was at was Hadley's, it was hard because I am also a fireman's wife, it was hard because we don't understand.  

I don't get it...but I still trust Him.

How can you even begin to wrap your head around a tragedy like this?  You can't.  So I'm not going to try to understand it or keep asking God why?  Instead I'm writing this post to honor Shannon, his family, and most importantly to praise our God.

"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." -Romans 8:18

If you want to donate to The Shannon Stone Memorial Fund that the Texas Ranger Foundation set up click here...Memorial Fund

In Christ's Love,