Florida Reunion & Other Things :)

in october, my parents took our whole family on an 8 day vacation to siesta key, florida. it was by far one of the best trips i have ever been on. we stayed at the most beautiful place with our own private beach and had a great time relaxing with each other and enjoying God's beautiful creation.

for a few weeks my sisters and i have been planning a party to say thank you to my parents for the trip and everything they do for us. we held the party at our house and called it "Florida Reunion 2010". i did the cooking for the night (big thanks to my sis Melissa who made the salad and 2 desserts!). i wanted to try to re-create our trip so i decorate with beach colors and tried to re-create a few of the meals we ate while we were there. i had so much planning! i also made a slideshow complete with video footage from our trip and everyone got a copy of the DVD before they left :) we watched the slideshow during dinner which was so fun! i've included the slideshow and a few pics of the party if anyone reading this is interested :)

This slideshow customized with Smilebox

my family is the most important thing in my life after my relationship with Jesus. i really appreciate all the traditions and memories that my parents created for us while we were young, and absolutely love that even though we are all now grown up, some of those traditions such as family vacations continue on. it is so special to me :) probably more than i say sometimes but i really want to make memories like the ones i have, for my own children.

ok this is random but i want to post lyrics to a song by Brandon Heath. its called "Your Love" and it is really speaking to my heart lately as i'm going through this lonliness trial :)

your love your love

the only thing that matters is

your love your love

is all i have to give

your love is enough

to light up the darkness

its your love your love

all i ever needed is your love

you're the hope in the morning

you're the light when the night is falling

you're the song when my heart is singing

its your love

you're the eyes to the blind man

you're the feet to the lame man walking

you're the sound of the people singing

its your love

your love your love

the only thing that matters is

your love your love

is all i have to give

your love is enough

to light up the darkness

its your love your love

all i ever needed is your love

basically i need to remember that even when im feeling sad or discouraged, God's love is truly all i need :) amazing.

and on we move to thanksgiving in 2 days. im so excited to spend time once again with family and reflect on God's goodness to us! so thankful for a family that loves the Lord and strives to live for Him and HIM alone. more thankfulness posts soon to come :o)

1 john 5:14

psalm 138:8

<3 kate

breakfast for 12!

im so thankful for the house that God has recently blessed our family with. before our new house, we lived in a 2 bedroom condo that was barely 1,000 square feet. it also was a blessing to us, but we outgrew it really fast. since i got married, my love for entertaining and serving people in our home is growing :). when kids are little the last thing they want to do is to grow up to be like their parents. but since i got married, i realized that i really do want to be just like my mom :) she is an amazing hostess and always makes people feel welcome in her home. she never thought she'd see the day that i do anything domestic...but its happened and continues to happen haha!

for the past couple of weeks ive been planning a "mommy & me" breakfast for some new ladies that i've met recently through our new small group and the playgroup that we joined over the summer. as i said in my 1st post, im waiting and praying for God to bring me some real friendships, but at the same time i understand that i have to do my part so this is what i came up with. i invited 7 moms and all of their 17 children to come to our house yesterday morning to have breakfast together. i over-invited thinking that for sure someone wouldnt be able to make it. but as the evite responses started to come back i started to panic a little...EVERY SINGLE PERSON SAID YES! i guess this shouldnt have surprised me...when we pray in faith for God's will in our lives, He responds...and sometimes He has a sense of humor :) so even though our new house is almost double the size of our condo...it is in no way, shape, or form large enough to accomodate that many people or should i say that many children at one time! but soon enough the panic i felt turned into immense thankfulness. God really did hear my prayer for new friends. how awesome is that?! 3 moms along with their 6 children ended up not being able to make it last minute which i was really disappointed about, but id also be lying if i said i didnt feel a little relieved :)

to prepare, i went to my moms house sunday afternoon and she taught me how to make her famous homemade cinnamon rolls...thanks mom! they were a huge hit! so glad i did that. i also made deviled eggs and had out some fruit and bagels, etc. oh and how could i forget the coffee. (i mean, afterall i do run on dunkin.) the food was great, but the fellowship was even greater. the kids played so well together, there was not even 1 "sharing" issue :) praise the Lord! we did a craft with the kids after breakfast which was really fun and a good way to get them to quiet down which made chatting between the moms even easier. im so grateful for these 'new beginnings' and look sooo forward to seeing what God is going to do. ive added a few pictures of the morning. arent the kids just so stinkin cute with their headbands on?

(sophia and her friend gabe reading together :) we hope they get married someday!)

sometimes i wish i could see the future and know what is going to happen. but most of the time im content knowing that God is in control and wants the best for me. its so comforting to know that even in my loneliness, God knows what He's doing. i find rest in the fact that while i may not have the close human relationship that my heart so longs for right now, God has my heart in His perfect hands. i believe with all my heart that during this trial, God is preparing me for a new friendship and i also believe that God is preparing her as well :) what a sweet king i serve!

let the madness begin!

my daughter sophia is finally at the age where buying gifts, especially toys is so much fun! about a week ago we received the toy ads for walmart and target and i asked sophia to sit down and go through them, telling me which items she might like for Christmas. at first she was just pointing to every toy she saw and said she wanted it...even when i asked what it was and she responded by saying 'its just a thing mommy.' after a couple pages she started to see toys that she is into like babydolls and games and started to get really excited.

yesterday around 3pm i got an email from toys'r'us about their mega sale that is happening until 1pm today. ive been wanting to get started on my Christmas shopping early this year, unlike previous years of leaving it to the last minute and struggling to find meaningful gifts. so i emailed a friend to see if she'd like to join me after our kiddos went to bed last night. so we ended up getting to the store close to 9pm and had a blast! the store had a TON of great deals and i was able to almost get my shopping for sophia completely done. so needless to say if you have kids and havent started shopping yet...get over to toys'r'us before 1pm today :)

as fun as it is to shop for my children and be able to provide fun toys for them, it is all so meaningless without the promise that i have in Jesus. im so looking forward to this upcoming Christmas season and the opportunity to teach my daughter about the gift that God gave us which is Jesus Christ. i thank God all the time for allowing me to be born into a home with parents who love the Lord, and for raising the man i would one day marry in the same type of home. i am so thanful that God is in control and has provision for His children. it is such a blessing now to be raising children of my own. i hope and pray that jerry and i can do as good of a job with sharing Jesus to our kiddos as our parents did with us. :)

ok now i just have to share some of the deals i got last night because they are so great and i always get excited when saving $. this first picture of these cute little critters is the main thing i went to the store to get. they are called 'zhu zhu pets' and basically are just little hampsters that crawl around the floor and make cute little sounds...they are normally $10 but until 1pm today you can print off a coupon for 50% off! yay!

 this next picture is of the dollhouse i bought for sophia. my parents have one from when my youngest sister was sophias age and any time we are at my parents' house, which is quite often, sophia begs for 'papa' to bring it up from the basement. i got this one, with the accessories included for only $19.99!

 these next 2 games i had when i was little and loved them. i think they are the greatest deal of all. both games (along with a few others at the store) are only $1 each!!! this is after a $2 mail-in rebate...but i mean come on...$1?? so great!

i have 1 niece and 5 nephews to buy for this year...so i will probably be making my way back to toys'r'us in the very near future :) such a fun store! i love having kids!

There's a first time for everything...

hello! and welcome to our blog :) i've never really done one of these before so bare with me. im going to be open and honest on this blog and try to share what God is doing in my life...which may mean that at sometimes i might share my perfectly real feelings...so read this with that in mind...and dont judge me for my shortcomings haha :)

ever since we moved to our new house (in may) ive been feeling a little lonely. we switched church campuses and moved about 20 minutes away some of my close friends. not that distance should change a friendship...but it some ways it has. its just not as easy as it once was to meet a friend at the park or mall with just a few minutes notice. some days i really miss those friends that i once could do that with. but whats even harder for me is dealing with and accepting the fact that i really dont have any 'deep' friendships currently. now dont get me wrong...God has blessed me with friends that i love...but do you understand what i mean when i say 'deep'? as of late i have this longing in my heart for girlfriends that i can be completely open and honest with. friends that i know, and i mean really know will be there for me and support no matter what. friends that will tell me if im doing something wrong. friends that have the same values and are growing in their walk with the Lord. friends that can encourage me when im feeling low and friends that i can encourage in the same way. i neeeeeed people in my life that i can be real with. im so done with surfacy lovey-dovey type relationships. can i get an amen? i want to go deeper! i feel like in the past and when i was younger...i was always looking for the next person to add to my 'friend list' - like it was best if i had a ton of accquaintences rather than a few close friends. but now in this stage of life, being married and having small children, God is really and i mean reallllly showing me that when it comes to friendships, its 'quality and NOT quantity'. does anyone else feel the same way? i long for a friend that i can pray with, laugh with, cry with and just do life with serving our awesome God. so all of that to say, im really trusting God with this one. i mean how can i really just go up to someone and expect to just have this deep friendship with them? its really not something i can 'do' ya know? i know and believe that God desires community and intimacy within His body, so im so excited to see what Hes going to do as i continue to pray for friendships. oh and ps i think im going to be signing off facebook for awhile...so check back here to find out the latest with the jeromes :)

on a lighter note (haha i guess i sorta just jumped right in with the whole being open and honest thing...) my little baby Gibson James turned 12 weeks old yesterday! time is seriously flying by! not to mention my sweet Sophia is 2 1/2. seriously i can still remember the day i found out i was pregnant with her...wow! anyways, i guess its a good thing that i started this blog...what a fun way to document things going on in our lives and have a way to look back and reflect on all that God has done! well i should probably start thinking about what's for dinner...

trusting in Him,
kate :)
psalm 145:18-19 'the Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth. He fulfills the desire of those who fear Him; He also hears their cry and saves them.'