December Update

I held the annual cookie exchange at my home but forgot to get a picture of the actual cookie table and it was beautiful. Here are the fun ladies that attended.


My sweet, Courtney, turned 12 on the 15th. It is AMAZING how quickly time passes. My mom always said that as you get older the years fly past and she was right. They are going by at supersonic speed.

We went to Olive Garden for her birthday and had a fun waiter. Then we came home and had cake.





We were able to head to Austin this past weekend for Keith's sister's wedding. It was beautiful. She made a gorgeous bride. The wedding was held at The Plantation House in Pflugerville. It was a beautiful location and the house was decorated for Christmas.






We celebrated Christmas with the Jackson family at my dad's yesterday. We had a fun time and a lot of laughs with the gift exchange.

Please excuse the chopping of Courtney's head off, I'm not the photographer in the family.



It's been a busy and fun month and there is still more to come. God Bless Everyone!

Christmas Card 2009

My fantastic sister-in-law at www.PortraitsbyKym.com took all the great pictures.

Thanksgiving was a blast

Thanksgiving 2009 has come and gone and we had an enjoyable day. We started off with me and the kids heading to downtown Dallas for the annual YMCA Turkey Trot. Keith made a huge sacrifice and stayed home to cook the bird and the much anticipated Monkey Bread (not the dessert version but flour, yeast and butter heaven). Everyone knows how he hates to miss a 5k.


37,000 people registered to walk or run in the 5K or 8 mile. We carpooled with Kim, Cathy and Kym and our bestest friend Toni in spirit. Kim met Kevin and showed us all up by running the 8 mile trot after training since August. Way to go KIM & KEVIN!

Then me and my kids, Cathy, Kym, Ellaina and Gavin hit the 5k and walked. It was fun but so very crowded, 37,000 people will do that.

When we got home the Oklahoma Crew had arrived. Keith's brother Steve, girlfriend Vicki and Grace. Keith' sister Susan, hubby Jeremy, son Justin and wife Jacqulin and Keith's mom Becky. Steve and Becky picked up Granny Gunn in Plano and brought her over. Later, my brother Brad and his wife Kym and two kids came and dear friends Greg & Cathy Hodges and their two cute kiddos.

Kym was generous enough to take some family photos for us. We walked down to the pool area in our subdivision where there are lots of trees and she took a group shot and some individual family photos. I'm so excited to have a group shot as it's not often enough we are all together and it will be treasured by all. After pictures it was time to eat. There was SO MUCH FOOD! It was insane, we can eat for weeks off the sides and desserts. The desserts, oh boy, we had pumpkin pies, cherry pies, sopapilla cheesecake, pumpkin crisp and lemon ice box pie. Seriously, it was nuts.

After stuffing ourselves silly some went upstairs to watch the cowboys and others stayed down to chat and nibble on leftovers. The kids went outside to enjoy a beautiful Thanksgiving day.

Keith's Aunt Coda, Uncle Jon, Cousin Tori and second cousin Kelsey popped in to say hello. Tori has been in China with a missionary group and we got to hear some about her travels. God is working in incredible ways in her life.

It was a great day. I wish the Okalhoma crew could have stayed longer but several had to work today. I look forward to seeing everyone for Christmas.

(Pictures to come...Kym's computer crashed but we should have some to share at the end of the week. I HATE to wait but they say patience is a virtue.

I'm thankful

Psalm 107:1 (NIV) "Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever."

As I sit and reflect on the last year it has made me realize all the blessings in my life. This year has had more than it's share of heartache but we have so many blessings to be thankful for.

I'm thankful for my husband of 16 years. I'm thankful for having two beautiful and healthy children. I'm thankful that my husband has a job. I'm thankful to be able to run my own business with my sister. I'm thankful for my mom who taught me what it is to be a good parent. I'm thankful to have a home. I'm thankful to have an amazing brother and sister and their spouses and kids. I'm thankful for all of my husbands family. I'm thankful for my dad and his wife. I'm thankful for our health. I'm thankful we can put food on the table. I'm thankful for friends. I'm thankful for our Church and our special ABF class. I'm thankful for a God who loves us unconditionally.

It's easy to sit and complain about all the things we don't have but when you stop and think about all you are blessed with it's easy to see there is plenty to be thankful for.

I wish everyone a very blessed Thanksgiving!

Early Birthday party

So we celebrated Courtney's 12 birthday early. She and her friends are into Twilight and we all know, or those who follow the series, that New Moon came out on Friday.

We started out the evening with pizza and gifts:



Taylor had a unique way of giving her gift, she had a puzzle that had to be put together to find the location of the gift

It turned out to be in the sleeping bag, very cute.

After cake and gifts the girls did girly things upstairs which involved a lot giggles and screams.

Since it was opening day of the movie we knew to get to the theatre early. I had bought tickets a month before so we went early to get in line for decent seats. Keith and I stood in line while the girls played video games and talked.

The movie got out after midnight so we headed home and the girls got out all their sleeping bags and put out in the gameroom. I think they finally stopped talking about how hot Jacob is around 2:00 a.m.

It was a fun night and party. Can't believe my baby will be 12 in December 15th, wow!

P.S. Mason is finally getting his appendix out at 6:30 tonight. Please keep him and his family in your prayers.

McKinney Food Drive Goal Reached

There's a neck in the bird?

Yesterday, we had an early Thanksgiving Dinner with my dad and the Arlington crew. My sister-in-law, Kym, hosted at her home. We had a lot of fun and some good laughs.

I especially enjoyed hearing the story of Kym making her first turkey. It is never fun cleaning out the bird and she had a rough time but she pulled it off, even if the neck remained in during the cooking.

Jessica even managed to hang in until the end even though she wasn't feeling well. It had something to do with her night out on Saturday. LOL!

We even survived Kevin picking up the wrong pie, no pumpkin during this first Thanksgiving meal of the season but some did enjoy the sweet potato pie he brought instead. Although, Courtney came over and whispered in my ear that the pie was icky and tasted like sweet potatoes. She was under the impression it was pumpkin.

What a great day!

Weekends are so busy! Connor had three soccer games this weekend due to a tournament he was in. Our soccer team couldn't get enough boys together to participate so Connor and another teammate were able to play on another team as guest players. They played Friday night and tied, this morning they lost and during the afternoon game they won. Connor had a great time and played well.

This evening we had my Aunt Sandy, Uncle Jim and Grandpa Jackson over for dinner. Many thanks to my great sister-in-law, Kym, for setting this all up. Unfortunately, the Jackson family is not good at getting together with one another but thanks to Kym we were able to have a great visit. It's only been 6 years! My Aunt and Uncle have been down the past week visiting with my grandmother who is in a rehabilitation hospital the last few months after a very nasty fall that caused a brain injury and many physical injuries. She has been making progress and hoping she will be released by the end of the year. Jim and Sandy also helped my grandad out with some things around the house.

I really enjoyed spending the evening with them all. We had a lot of laughs and a great visit.




Let's try and not wait another 6 years for a visit.

Compassion....Need I say more?

Wow! I've been following Kelly this week and her journey to El Salvador with Compassion. The pictures and stories she shares are certainly an eye opener. It is so easy to get wrapped up in our own lives but there is so much more going on out in the world that really matters. Not that our day to day life doesn't matter but we have a roof over our heads, we both have jobs, our kids are healthy, we know we will have our next meal, a warm bed to sleep in and a car to take us where we need to go.

There are people, men, women, children who don't have those same luxuries. Things that WE and I take for granted. What can we do to help? We can donate food to a food drive like I posted about earlier, we can sign up to sponsor a child. If you have an extra $38 a month it could make a WORLD of difference to a child in a 3rd world country. Volunteer in your community, Give to a child at Christmas who might otherwise not have one, there are so many things you can be involved in. One that touches my family deeply is become an organ donor, help save a life! They don't all have to cost money, you can volunteer your time, your most precious commodity.

My family and I sponsored a child after we went to see Avalon at our Church this past year. They spoke about World Vision which is similar to Compassion and showed a video clip about a trip they took. It really touched our hearts and I think it is good to teach our kids that we should help out our fellow man, in whatever way will work for your family.

I challenge you to step out of your comfort zone today and get involved in helping others.

McKinney Food Drive

I saw the news last night and saw that a local Pastor was fasting and collecting non perishable food items to help fight hunger. It really touched me and I feel the need to help.

I would like to offer to help pick up non perishable food items from you if you are unable to deliver yourself. Call or text me: Laura Barron 214-415-5329

Let's fight hunger together!
Click on the link above to go to the website to get more details.

Lego Your Organs

Repost from Nate @ http://cfhusband.blogspot.com/

Family Pictures

I am so excited because we have not had a "Family" picture since Courtney was about 4 and she will be 12 next month. Keith and I don't like pictures of ourselves and over the years we usually just get the kids pictures taken for Christmas. But, we surprised my sister-in-law and all came in tow for pictures at Adriatica on Saturday. My favorites of us are the ones at the beginning sitting down. The ones standing up, my smile looks forced. Anyhow, I love them and my sister-in-law for taking such amazing shots.

Now just to decide on a couple for the Christmas card:

http://www.pbase.com/portraitsbykym/barron

Thank you Kym! www.portraitsbykym.com

Trick or Treat

What a fun halloween. After a day of pumpkin carving, volleyball and soccer we enjoyed the evening with neighbors. A good friend, Allison, and her sweet husband Grant hosted their second annual halloween party, affectionately referred to as "Boo in the Brooke". Our neighborhood is Stone Brooke Crossing, hence the name of the halloween festivities. They have the perfect house to host said party, the live at the end of a street that backs to the middle school football field and tennis courts so lots of run for kids to run and play and to set up pizza, drinks and of course CANDY! It's alot of fun to socialize with neighbors and get to see all the fun costumes in kids both young and old. My favorites this year were done by Stephanie. She created costumes for her family and her neighbors and they were the flintstones. It was super cute.

I volunteered to take my kids and Katie and Mason around the neighborhood. We headed out at 7:00 and returned home at 9:00 with about 100 lbs of candy. Way more than any household should have especially one where the mom loves just about ALL candy. I'm trying to talk the kids into sending it to the troops overseas and keeping a handful of their favoirtes but they aren't biting. I also told them that the "Great Pumpkin" would come halloween night and take their candy but I guess I waited to long to spring that on them as they just rolled their eyes at me. Like really mom, we are 9 and 11 and there is so not a Great Pumpkin. Let alone some of those other characters you try to pass off on the holidays. Ha Ha!

Anyway enjoy the photos of our day and evening:

Scare on the Square

We headed out late this afternoon for the annual "Scare on the Square" in historic downtown McKinney. Kim and I have our real estate office downtown and we set up camp outside our office and handed out candy to the trick or treaters along with other business owners. Little did we know, this is our first time attending the event, but it was a mob scene. Kim and I naively purchased 600 individually wrapped candies that we stapled our business cards too. We set up lawn chairs outside our office on the sidewalk, set up our chalkboard advertising and got the bubble blower going and at 4:00 the kids started coming. At 4:30 we packed up, we were completely OUT of candy. We were bummed! We thought of getting more but if you've ever been downtown McKinney during an event you realize the traffic and parking is horrendous and we even have reserved parking that others ignore.

I got a shot of Kim handing out candy.


Since we were out of candy we went around with the kids so that we could better prepare for 2010. The lines were long and kept growing but the kids enjoyed getting candy, enjoying the beautiful weather and walking around the beautiful square and people watching.



Pirate Courtney (Ay Matey!)

There was also the Ghostbusters Car:

We had a lot of fun :)

Thoughts on Thursday

Wow! I feel like everytime I post on my blog or facebook it is to ask for prayers. The last few months have been difficult. I know that my faith is being tested. The one constant in my life IS my faith and I know that God is not abandoning us.

"We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body." - 2 Corinthians 4:8-10

There are several blogs that I follow. I don't remember how I found them, I do know that God had a hand in getting me to them. These women that write the blogs have such a strong faith and a love for God. It is inspiring to read their stories and see how strong their faith is. They are so knowledgable about the Bible and how to apply it to their every day lives. I want to be that kind of woman, one who lives and acts according to God's word.

I have been worrying about my kids and the effects the last few months have had on them. My mom passed away when Courtney was almost 3 and Connor was 5 months, they were too young to know what was going on. We lost one of Keith's grandmother's several years ago and again the kids were really not aware. But, Emily and Dave's deaths have been difficult for us all to deal with. They also happened in a very short time span from one another. Grief is difficult to work through and everyone handles it differently but they both "appear" to be doing fine.

I hesitated in telling them about Mason being hospitalized and needing surgery. The last two times we have told them about someone being in the hospital those people have passed away. I knew this not to be the case for Mason, the doctor's have diagnosed the problem and it is treatable. Praise God! Why we have an appendix is beyond me since it appears to cause nothing but trouble and appears to be an "extra" part. I get sidetracked....Connor and Mason are not only cousins but best buds. They live a block away from each other, are 18 months apart and while they can fight like brothers they love each other. Connor has been worried about Mason since he became ill last week and I could only assume this would cause him anxiety. I think I was able to convey to him that Mason would be fine but I still worry about him and of course for Mason and his parents. I do believe this verse sums it up:

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."- Philippians 4:6

Thank you for your continued prayer for our family. Continue to pray for Mason, Kim and Kevin and that he is back to being a normal 8 year boy soon!

(Hope your able to follow this post...my thoughts have been all over the place today :) )

Happy 16th Anniversary, Keith

As I stop and look back over the past 16 years I am amazed at how quickly time goes by. Keith and I met while working for Triangle Pacific, a cabinet company, thanks to my sister's best friends mom, Sherry Loos.

I worked in Addison in the sales office. One of my roles was to schedule deliveries for our clients (David Weekley, Highland Homes, etc...). Keith worked at the plant in McKinney where they built the cabinets and was a truck driver at the time. One day I left a delivery off the truck and it was for a new client. I called up to the plant in McKinney and was begging that they squeeze one more order on the truck. I promised lunch to Keith and his boss if they could get it on. Low and behold that order made it on the truck. I honored my word and met Keith and his boss at El Chicos. I wasn't about to go alone so I invited my boss Janie who lived in Princeton to come along with me. We had a lot of laughs at that lunch and shortly after Keith asked me out on a date. We started dating in November 1992, we got engaged 3 short months later on February 24, 1993 and married in October.

Our wedding day was an unusually warm day. We had pictures taken with the bridal party before the ceremony (we didn't see one another until the ceremony). At one point I had to have someone in the wedding party get a oscilating fan out of the nursery to cool me down. It was quite funny! We had a small bridal party and my sister is sure to remind me that she was not my maid of honor. She was a bridesmaid and a beautiful one at that. I had two dear high school friends (Crista & Janet) in my wedding who I still am in touch with today and my sister, Kim. Keith had two of his high school buddies (Clint and Daryl) and his cousin (Trey) as groomsmen. Then we had Keith's niece, Emily and nephew, Justin as flower girl and ring bearer. It was a small ceremony at Murphy Road Baptist in Murphy, TX and the reception was at the Church with the wedding and grooms cake. It was a beautiful day. Keith and I had dinner at Steak and Ale that evening then stayed at the Double Tree Hotel and left the next day for our honeymoon in Florida.

We were married 4 years before Courtney came along and 27 months after she was born we had Connor. We have been extremely blessed with two beautiful and healthy children.

Thank you Keith for being a wonderful husband & loving father to our family. I love you very much and here is to many more happy years.

In Memory of Dave

In Memory of Dave

Shared via AddThis

We will miss you Dave

It has been a difficult couple weeks. We lost Emily on September 25th and today, Keith's step dad, Dave Harrison, passed away. Dave has been in and out of the hospital a lot this past year and his health has been declining. It's never easy watching someone you love slip away.

Friday, Dave went in the hospital to have his spleen removed, he ended up in ICU with congestive heart failure and we got a call from Becky (my mother-in-law) on Sunday saying he didn't have much longer. Keith went up yesterday to be with his mom and I went up today after I got the kids off to school. We sat in the ICU waiting room with Dave's family and waited to hear reports from Becky. I left at 3:00 to head home to have dinner with the kids and spend time with them this evening. It wasn't 15 minutes later I got a call from Keith letting me know Dave had passed.

We will miss Dave dearly and ask for continued prayer for Becky and Dave's family. Rest in peace, Dave. I'm glad your suffering has ended and that you are in a much better place.

John 11:25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"

Christmas 2008 (Granny Gunn, Becky and Dave)

Funeral arrangements

Please be in prayer for safe travels to and from the funeral. Also, please continue to pray for Emily's parents, brother, grandparents and all who loved her.

The Chickasha News printed this obituary today:
Funeral services for Emily Schenk, 21, of Chickasha, will be held Tuesday, September 29, 2009, at 10:30 a.m. in the Epworth United Methodist Church in Chickasha.

Emily Beth Schenk was born February 24, 1988, in Chickasha, the daughter of Jeff Schenk and Susan Harrison Schenk Woolver. She went peacefully at 4:50 a.m. on Friday, September 25, 2009 in Edmond, Oklahoma.

Emily attended Pioneer School, graduating from 8th grade in May 2002, continuing her education at Chickasha High School until her graduation in May 2006. During her school years Emily was a member of the National Honor Society and was active in basketball and FFA. At the time of her death Emily was attending Oklahoma City Community College where she was preparing to further her studies to earn a post graduate pharmacy degree. She was employed as a Senior Pharmacy Technician with Walgreen’s in Edmond where she had been accepted into the Pharmacy Educational Assistance Program.

Emily is survived by her father Jeff Schenk, her mother Susan Woolver and stepfather Jeremy Woolver, brother Justin and sister-in-law Jacqulin Schenk, stepsister Brianna Woolver, all of Chickasha; grandparents Don and Beth Ann Schenk of Chickasha; Becky and Dave Harrison of Velma; Gailen and Frankie Harrison of Albuquerque, N.M. Ellen and Dave Heller of Ilion, NY; great grandparents Helen Gunn of Plano, TX and Bea North of Brownfield, TX; aunts and uncles Alan and Kendra Schenk of Chickasha; Dona and Chris Parrish of Pocasset; Steve Harrison of Velma; and Keith and Laura Barron of McKinney, TX; and a herd of cousins, family members, and friends.

Internment will be in the Fairlawn Cemetery under the direction of Ferguson Funeral Home.

Kids first Triathlon

Wow! What an exciting morning. The kids rocked the Stonebridge Ranch Kids Playtri. We are so proud of them for giving it all they had and their amazing results. It was a chily morning and as you can tell from the first pictures of each of them they have goosebumps.

Connor Barron Short Course M 9-10 (50M swim, 3 mile bike, 1/2 mile run)
Chip Time: 22:03





Courtney Barron Long Course F 11-12 (100M swim, 6 mile bike, 1 mile run)
Chip Time: 43:50






They are looking forward to the next one!

P.S. Happy 2nd Birthday, Gavin and Happy Heavenly Birthday, mom!