What Can Be Done?

In the past few weeks I have been increasingly bothered and scared by all that is transpiring in Washington D. C. Obama and the others in power and places of decision making are just charging forward with decision after decision that does not have the people's best interest at heart, seemingly without regard to the desires of the people. It feels like our country is on a runaway train that's headed straight for communism and socialism. I have never been able to listen to an entire teleprompted Obama speech because they are always so full of lies I can't stand to hear it. Just last night I turned on the TV and there he was reciting another speech, but I gave him a chance, I stopped to listen. But once again, within the first minute of listening he had already told 3 lies and made 2 communistic statements. I've wondered what can be done to stop him? Will it all eventually lead to another American Revolution or Civil War or something similar to get our country back? Or will the American people sit passively by thinking that nothing can be done to stop them or simply not caring? What can I do? Oh sure, I can join in the Tea Party and send in my tea bags to my congressmen and other representatives, but really and truly what good will that do except allow them to enjoy one more free thing that I've given them? I'm not in a position to pack up and drive to D.C. and start a protest, and I don't have money to donate to the ones who are trying to put a stop to it. So what can be done?

This morning in my devotions I came across this verse in James 5: 17 that really spoke to me. "Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months." Elijah, a man just like us, one man, prayed that it wouldn't rain and it effected an entire nation, putting them in a drought for over 3 years. This was in response to King Ahab who in I Kings 16:30 & 33b we learn was a very evil leader. "And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him." "....and Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him." Starting to sound familiar? Obama is doing more evil and harm to this nation than any other leader before him. What can be done to stop this man? Elijah was one man who wanted to punish Ahab for his sins, and he prayed that it wouldn't rain and it didn't for 3.5 years! One man wanting to punish one man for his sins had that kind of effect with the power of prayer! I am just one person, human and unperfect like Elijah, yet I could have that kind of effect on an entire nation if I just prayed fervently in faith! What an awesome thing. If I, as one person, could change the course of history through prayer, what kind of power could be possible if many prayed fervently in faith believing that Barack Obama can be stopped and this country can get back on it's feet and headed in the direction our founding fathers intended? I, for one, resolve to be like Elijah and begin to fervently pray in faith for this rain of unacceptable changes to stop.

A "Gourmet" Dinner to Honor the Moms in My Life

I don't consider myself to be anything near a gourmet cook. Robert's taste is limited and revolves mostly around the theme of "Down Home Southern Cookin," so that's what I know. But once in awhile I get the urge to branch out and try something new, but I have no one to try it out on. So I decided to invite my mom and my mother-in-law over for lunch and cook them a meal with all new recipes that I had never tried before. I knew I wanted to make a certain chicken recipe that I found that had a strawberry sauce, and I thought it would be fun to make all the dishes include some kind of fresh fruit and call it "Summer's Fruitful Bounty."

I made them each a card and sent it to them a few days beforehand to remind them of it.

They came early and spent time with Halie before she napped, then after she went to bed I got started on the luncheon. I set the table with my nicer dishes and bought fresh, bright flowers. I even found napkins on clearance at Wal-mart that had a fancy fruit design on them!

I made up a pretty menu to include at each place setting to make it feel even more "fancy." : )

I made slushy Watermelon-berry lemonade and Cucumber Lemonade to drink.

I put fresh slices of watermelon and cucumber in the pitchers.

The appetizer was a Blueberry-melon salad with Thyme Syrup. So good!!

For the Entree we had a Spring Mix Salad with grapes and walnuts, served in a Parmesean-walnut bowl with Raspberry Vinegarette. I made the bowls and the vinegarette and it was all so very good!

We also had Parmesean-basil stuffed chicken breast with strawberry sauce. Once again, VERY good!!

My wonderful mother-in-law Gina who I love and appreciate very much!

My beautiful and amazing mom.

Here I am with our dessert, Lemon-berry Napolean.

YUM!!

I love you both so much!

Our New Car!

I had my other car for 6 years and we planned on having it for several more, but the transmission needed a lot of expensive work and it was better to just trade it in on something newer. So here we are, right close to broke : ) but the owners of a 2007 Toyota Camry with 48,000 miles on it. It's got a few little scratches here and there, but with our budget we couldn't expect perfect. I've only owned it a couple of hours now, but so far I really like it!

It's got so much more room than my Jetta did, which is one of the reasons we were interested in the Camry, thinking of the future and more kids someday we needed more room. I'm still getting used to driving a 5 speed car (in other words I stalled it 4 times, lol!). I'm used to Robert's big ol' truck and it shifts a whole lot different than a car.

A Trip to the Zoo

This past week was Robert's vacation from work. He had jury duty right in the middle of it so it made the week kind of choppy for us, but we were still able to enjoy some time together as a family. One of the days we went to the zoo and had lots of fun.

The last time we were here was back in November and she barely came up to the 2ft mark. She sure is growin'!

In this picture she had spotted the bear sitting by his "swimmin' poo" and was so excited!

After we walked the whole zoo we stopped for a picnic lunch and changed her into her swim suit so she could play in the fountains. She was hot and sweaty and tired and did NOT want to cooperate for a picture, she just wanted to go play in the water.

She had a lot of fun playing in the water and would run back to Daddy every time she got wet. She went back and forth, back and forth the whole time and thoroughly wore herself out! She crashed on the ride home and slept the whole way (1 1/2 hrs).

Here is a little video of her running and playing in the water. Enjoy!

July 4th Weekend

God's timing is perfect! Robert hadn't seen his brother Brian in 5 years because of them being in South Korea and Robert's deployments to Iraq. But over this holiday weekend they both had time off so Robert was able to drive up to see him for a couple of days. It was so great that it all worked out like it did, but we sure did miss him during all of the family gatherings over the weekend.

Halie ended up with several red, white, and blue outfits this summer so I tried to have her wear some of them in the week leading up to the 4th. Her daddy bought her the red skirt and Meemaw and Papaw Cantrell bought her the flip flops. They also bought her the cute blue and white outfit.

The pockets on the back of the skirt are stars, so cute!

Friday me and my 2 moms, Dee Dee, and I had a girls day out of shopping, lunch, and pedicures while the guys babysat the kids. Fun fun!

I got my 2 big toes painted like flags for the 4th! : )

All dressed for a fun day at Meemaw and Papaw Cantrell's house for July 4th!

Both of us wearing our "Chucks."

Lots of good food and fellowship. Bob, Gina, and Dad.

Dee Dee and Martin getting some yummies.

Sweet lil' Emma

The dessert I made for the occasion - Summer Berry Tiramisu - yummy!

The littlest firecracker of the bunch, baby Isaiah.

Can't have the 4th without watermelon!

It decided to rain right in the middle of the day we had planned so we ended up eating earlier than originally planned, but thankfully it cleared up after awhile and the kids were still able to get a turn in their pools. They had so much fun.

Sunday July 5th, all ready for church in another patriotic outfit.

On Monday, I was able to get together with a good friend of mine from high school. Andrea and her 3 girls were down visiting their family at the same time we were there so we were able to meet at the park and visit while the girls played.

Halie LOVES the merry-go-round.

Halie playing with her new friend Katrina

Katie was a little shy and didn't want her picture taken, so I had to be sneaky about it. : )

Andrea and Courtney

All in all it was a busy weekend, but so great to be able to spend time with family and good friends, and also to be able celebrate our freedoms.