When life gets hard...

I heard about a tragedy today so close to home...and I've been heavy-hearted all day long. The only logical thing I can think to do is pray for those involved who lost someone they loved so dearly. Days like these remind us to hold our family closer...to not get mad or angry at the little things...to surrender to God because it is not in our control, but in our Father's - whose hands are so much more capable. 

So I will keep going, step by step. Keep praying. Let this little man make me smile like only he can. 






























And watch my hubby kiss my sweet baby's cheeks for the short time that she is still so little. 

I am reading "Kisses for Katie" by Katie Davis right now - almost finished and it has been very, very eye-opening. I marked this page last night because I thought it was so well-written -then when I heard what happened today, it fit so perfectly. She writes: 
"The brokenness of this world does not become any less sad. Each and every time, it is overwhelmingly devastating that people have to live, and die, like this...While it does not get easier, I have found that I am able to face each situation with a little more hope. I always hope my friends will live here on earth with me, but I tell them with a new sense of urgency about Jesus because mostly I want them to live with Him, experience His profound, unconditional love, whether here or in heaven.  I see the sadness, but I also see the redemption."

The Paulus Family

A few weeks ago, some of Gabe's family from Oklahoma came to Indiana to visit. We only get to see them a couple times a year - so when they visit, it is usually a week-long family reunion:) Gabe and I have only been married for 2 years - and his family has been so accepting of Max and I...they are so sweet and I love getting to know them better each time they are here.

One night while they were here, we rented out the Loogootee pool and swam for several hours. We had snacks, wonderful conversations, and lots of laughter:) Here are a few photos from that night - 

Kendra & Keaton

Grandma Raylene with Callie

Jodi & Lincoln

Mallory, Lisa, and Stella

Abi & Colby

AunaRay - my sweet niece

Kinzie, one of Gabe's cousins, asked me to take some photos of her kids. It was really hot that day and we tried to take some really quickly, but I think they turned out cute. Here are Quincy & Tinley, brother and sister!

Hope to see them all again soon - we miss them already!

Raber Vacation 2012

We just returned from a vacation at Dale Hollow Lake in Tennessee with the Raber family (my dad's side of the family). We try to go on a vacation together about every other year - but this was the first year we went without my Grandma... I wasn't looking forward to the emotions that would bring up:( We met up with the family on Saturday morning and started the 6 hour trip - everything went really smoothly and the kids did a fabulous job on this LONG drive! The last hour of the trip was on an extremely curvy and winding road...not fun at all, but we finally made it and found our cabin! There were 17 of us, and the cabin was huge and roomy enough for everyone. Dale Hollow Lake is huge, but we were on the east fork - called Eastport Marina. 

We spent 5 days there - boating, relaxing, eating (way too much), sitting on the porch & talking, hot tubing, playing cornhole & card games. My favorite parts of the vacation were waking up to my entire family around me and eating breakfast together each morning before we broke into groups and did different activities throughout the day. To be honest - this was more of a "guy's vacation." The men loved being on the lake just boating or fishing. I wasn't a huge fan of the whole boat thing, and spent most of the time just relaxing in the cabin and catching up with family.  In the evenings we would usually play a game - one night we played Apples to Apples and ended up laughing so hard that I almost peed my pants!  

The women did venture out to shop one day while the men were golfing, but the nearest store was over 40 min. away! I did end up finding some new clothes for work - so that was fun:)  Max even went golfing with the men - and he had a great week! Each morning he got up super early (5 am) and sat on the porch with the other early risers (Uncle Larry & Uncle Poss). Usually by the time I got up, Max was already sitting in the hot tub! He is such a little water bug:) Callie also loves the water, but her favorite thing to do was crawl up the stairs (her 1st experience with stairs), then we would carry her down and she would climb right back up. The family had to take turns following her up because she wore us all out with her climbing! She was totally spoiled all week!

On Thursday morning we got up and headed home...everyone had mixed feelings about leaving. We were ready to get home, but would miss all being together at the cabin. We did have one little hiccup on the drive home - one of the tires on the boat trailer blew...but my handy husband (with some help from Larry & Logan) got the tire changed and we were back on the road! It was nice to get home - but we have some wonderful memories from the 2012 Raber vacation!