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

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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)