Pedro

Head of Ranch Security ... my brother's doofus dog. Well, I think the dog is actually more my sister-in-law's than my brother's. Still though.

This goofy little dog used to be a house dog but somehow he is now living out where dogs should live. Back when he wasn't though, he used to get up early in the morning when my brother would get up to go to work. He would go into the kitchen where my brother would share his breakfast with the mutt. The mutt would then return to the bedroom and get back in bed w/ my sister-in-law. When Landon would go to kiss his sweet wife goodbye, the goofy dog would then growl at him. Some way to say thanks for breakfast!

Grandma & Her Girls

Since my mom had bought the girls their dresses, I packed them for our trip to Oklahoma even though it wasn't Easter. I had planned on visiting my old church and I thought it would tickle my mom to see them dressed up in them! Please disregard the backdrop, a little construction going on back there.

It was nice visiting my old church, I have a very special affection for the pastor and his wife. When I think of her I always think of a specific incident where her actions spoke more than any sermon either of them could have ever preached. It's funny how one incident can stick with you for years and years. This particular story took place when I was in college.

There was a family in the community where I grew up that was very poor, and most likely had some mental problems too even though I don't think I really realized that until I was much older. They rode their bikes around town and to put it as nicely as I can, they just weren't very clean. They had started coming to church although I really do not remember how long they had been coming or really even if they came on a consistent schedule but I vividly remember a church dinner and them sitting at a table off by themselves. The pastor's wife fixed her plate and went and sat down with them and visited and visited with them. That one act of genuine kindness said more about her character to me than anything else ever could have and it also served as a reminder to me of how we should be.

Trampoline Time

Not only did the girls have fun in Oklahoma, Ryan did as well. I think he is ready to move in with my brother and sister-in-law ... they have way cooler things than we have :-) He spent a lot of time on their trampoline and rode horses, but the biggest and best time was to be had when my brother took him out and let him shoot a couple of his guns. Big stuff to an 11 year old city boy!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter from the Hunter family!

Horsin' Around in Oklahoma

We're back! We had a lot of fun in Oklahoma, everyone enjoyed meeting Miss Rebecca and she especially hit it off well with her Grandma. The drive out there, well - we'll just leave that part out of the story. By the time we hit Sulphur on Saturday afternoon, I was trying desperately hard to remember why I had thought it was such a good idea to drive that far. But seeing how well she took to everyone and how much she enjoyed meeting her extended family made the last painful hours worth it.

After we got unloaded and had eaten, Uncle Landon saddled up some horses and let them ride. Rebecca took to that like no tomorrow! Maybe we have a little cowgirl on our hands? We all got a good laugh when he let her ride by herself but he had his arm around her and she reached back and moved it out of the way and then tried taking the reins! I really would have thought that a big ol' horse would have scared her but that wasn't the case at all.

Forget All Your Worries ... Forget All Your Cares

... and go downtown. Well, except in my case - we're headed to Oklahoma for spring break. Kind of a last minute thing and Brian isn't going with us. Not sure how I'll survive a 14 hour drive with 3 dumplings but I'm going to give it the old college try.

I've been just a tad bit on the stressed side trying to find a new job and so I'm taking this opportunity to go out and spend some much needed time with family. This is also a good time for everyone to meet Bex.

The big thing for me is, I'm not even taking my laptop this time because I think some time away from job searching will be a good break too.

For your prayer warriors out there, I would really appreciate prayer in this whole job search thing. God knows the end result and I trust that all will work out well but I'm ready to get back to work and see what God has in store for me next.

From my devotional this morning "Walking Through A Valley" I was reminded that to get out of the valley you just have to keep walking, you can't sit down and give up. Not that I've just sat down and given up by any means, I'm marching on as always, but it was still nice to read and have those words impressed upon my heart. It also brought to mind one of my favorite songs with lyrics "The God of the mountain is still God in the valley. The God of the day is still God of the night".

"Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell." Psalm 43:3 (NIV)

"Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth." (NIV)
Luke 3:4b-5,

Have a nice weekend my friends, I'll be back late next week.

Bex and Her Buddy Paul

Not too long after we moved to Kentucky we crossed paths with Paul and quickly became good friends. I'm not exactly sure how the friendship started but I think it had to do some friendly competition over a chili cookoff at church. Paul won that year and Brian came in second. He ended up confessing to Brian that the chili came from a fast food restaurant but he had doctored it up. They shared a good laugh and then laughed even some more when Brian shared his secret ingredient for his chili. We've been the best of buddies ever since.

The icing on the cake though is that he absolutely adores our children. He has taken them for us a couple of times when we had some family emergencies and when he does take them it typically involves some kind of food treat and cruising along with the windows down, the sunroof open and the music blaring. My kids think he's awesome. We also usually have Sunday lunch with him too.

We returned home from China late on a Thursday night and the next day I had taken the kids out running around, trying to keep them in the daylight to get them back on Kentucky time. Paul called and had McD's gift certifcates for us and he wanted to meet Rebecca. She was shy for a few minutes but was completely taken with him when he handed her her own bag of cheetos. What he didn't know is that he had made a friend for life with that little dumpling.

A few weeks ago the kids had car races for their AWANA group (their Sunday night church program). We hadn't been there any time at all when Rebecca spotted Paul and off she went. He was sitting at one of the tables helping with the cars and Rebecca pulled a chair over and sat right by him and then pretty much hung out with him all day. It was just too cute.

As Emma likes to say "Thank you Jesus for our friends".