Carving Night!

Being a Christian is like being a pumpkin....

God picks you from the patch, takes you in, and washes all the dirt off of you....



He opens you up...


Touches you deep inside...


And scoops out all the yucky stuff-including the seeds of doubt, hate, greed, etc.


Then He carves you a new smiling face....


And puts His light inside you to shine for all the world to see....


p.s. I wish I could take credit for writing this beautiful analogy of how God loves us but I can't. I have no idea who wrote it but I love it!

Fright Fest!

Maclaine's school had Fright Fest this past weekend and you would have thought we were going to Disneyland. Maclaine had been counting down the days for a month. There were TONS of people but Maclaine had a great time...especially, since we found her buddy Seren who we looked for, for about 2 hours. They had a haunted house that she went through 3 times, they had a hay ride, and lots of little games for the kids to play. They also had some yummy kettle corn which is always a treat!


Here she is in her "Rock Star" costume, hopefully it will be cool enough on Halloween night for her to wear her leather jacket...


"Give me a pose!" "Uh, Honey, could you sit like a lady."


"Much better!"


Here she is with Seren...

Fall Break Fun!

During the Fall break we got all the cousins together to hang-out and do some Halloween activities. We decorated cookies, made mummy hotdogs, and just had a jolly good time with everyone!

The kiddos decorated pumpkins....








"Look, I made a spider".....



The kids played a very dangerous game of musical chairs, notice Mallory laying on the floor....






Tanner missed the chair...


Donovan not happy about being in time-out...


We had a toilet paper mummy contest....


Aubrey and Ellie....


Maclaine and Mallory...


"Tanner STOP, we're not done yet!"


The whole gang with their painted pumpkins....


Maclaine, Aubrey & Ellie...


Donovan found a Superman costume....


FUN TIMES!

Date Night!

Last Friday night Maclaine went to a Birthday party so Ty and I had a few hours to sneak away alone for a date. We went to Tia Rosa's for dinner and then we went to the mall to walk around. We didn't have time for a movie AND dinner so since we like food more than movies we chose dinner. :)

Our photographer Maclaine took these photos of us...



"Kiss me, and act like you like it dang it!"



"EWW, you have on lip stuff!"



And off we go!

Aubrey & Clainey

My niece Aubrey spent the night with us last Saturday so I snapped a couple pictures of her and Clainey.

Aren't they beauties? Barnaby seriously sneaks into every picture I take anymore...he's pretty cute too!


We took these pictures at the park...

Who's that?

No, Maclaine isn't wearing brown contacts....

No, Maclaine's hair hasn't grown really quickly....

Yep, that would be Tanner (my nephew) wearing his sisters wig!



Don't hate me Tanner, your Aunt Lyssa loves you and thinks you're pretty cute!

Off to the Ball!

A couple Friday's ago my niece Mallory and my brother-in-law went to a purity ball at their church. Mallory was so excited to have that special time with her dad.

We couldn't wait to go over to their house to see them off. I wasn't expecting to get emotional but when we walked in their door my eyes got very teary. Mallory looked BEAUTIFUL and all I could think of is, "oh my gosh, where has the time gone."

Mallory was born the year I got married and although all my nieces and nephews are special to me in their own way, Mallory was the first born so she got smothered. I couldn't get enough of her nor could any of the other family members.

I remember the day she was born, I was working at Applebee's and I got the call that my sister was heading to the hospital and I couldn't get out of there quick enough. I went home and got Ty and we headed to the hospital and she was born shortly after. It was a little bit stressful because she came about 4 weeks early (I think) and she was TINY. When we walked in my sister's hospital room, all you could see were Mallory's big eyes. She still has the most beautiful sparkly brown eyes.



I would talk to her when she was in my sister's belly and would tell her over and over that her Aunt Lyssa loved her and that I was going to be her favorite aunt :)



I even went as far as making her a onesie. Hey, I'm not shameless...



Now, I'm not sure if I'm Mallory's favorite aunt. She has many, many people who love and adore her. But, either way I think she's a very special little girl with a very big heart. She's beautiful inside and out! I love you Mallory girl and am very proud of you!

Here's some pictures before they headed off to the ball...

Mallory and her date...



Here's my sister DeAyn with her kiddos Mallory, Aubrey, and Tanner...



My mom and Mallory...



Me and Mallory...



Mallory and her sis Aubrey...



Maclaine (my girly) and Mallory...



Cousins....



More cousins...



Off to the ball they go...