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Summertime is fun time!

26 Aug

Summertime has been busy but so much fun! One of the things that I did, I baked my first apple pies ever. I even made the crust from scratch. JR & DeeAnn Ragaisis, Nate’s parents, visited us from California and were the ones to taste test them, they said they were delicious ~ yeah! They may not look that pretty but I have to admit they tasted scrumptious! IMG_3916The visit was mainly to bring their daughter, Mel, to school here at Concordia and visit with Nate. She has now joined Nate and Sarah at the college. Yes, I had to send Sarah off for her last year at university on Sunday and it was actually very hard. Not only emotionally but also physically (Mainly for the guys), she moved into a room on the 3rd floor and the elevator was broken. Ahhhhh… I did get stuck in the elevator too, 20 minutes of that was not fun!! Regardless, Mike and Nate did an amazing job climbing those stairs with heavy containers – it was fixed towards the end and their last two loads were easier. I miss her a LOT!

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Kristen organized a visit to the new Aquarium in Austin and we had tons of fun! Tina and Owen joined us along with friends from church. 

Owen and August to busy looking at the fish to look at the camera!
In the water cave with Sevy, Owen & Sarah.
60 year old tortoise.
Sarah and August in the playscape.
Slide time!
Owen loving the playscape.
Shark tank with pods about to birth little ones!

We could not miss going to the Thinkery here seeing that we had so much fun at the Aquarium….

Tina, Kristen, Sarah, Owen and August!
August and Owen in the chicken coupe.
Come on August, look at all these balls!
Cute!
Owen and August loved the water section.
Playing drums in the water.
Tina and Owen, so glad they are back in our lives!
Sarah and August…love.
Tina and Kristen due 4 days apart in February!

We also went to Mt. Playmore here in Austin ~ let me just say the indoor play ground is a dream especially when the temperatures outside read 104 degrees!!

August loved the roller coaster!
Climbing high with no fear!
Owen cruising…..

We celebrated another water baptism and had a great time with fellowship and praise!

Last but not least, August went to his first softball game and watched his hero play ~ Nate Ragaisis!IMG_3925

As you can see we have had a fun month and looking forward to the fall with some cooler weather!                                           Football has started and kids are back in school so some new beginnings and things ahead.

Life…..

6 Feb

It is hard to believe that January is already gone and February is flying by!  February is a great month as we celebrate Kristen’s birthday, Nana gave August his first ice cream cone, August’s first hair cut and my Orchid now has 4 flowers!  Plus, we still have valentines and half the month to go!  Why the Orchid, well I thought the whole plant was dead after being away for a month and it not receiving water.  After some TLC and water it came back with a vengeance and now looks beautiful.  Kristen’s birthday was fun as we celebrated together with food, fun and gifts.  As for August getting his first haircut, needless to say he did not enjoy it at all!  It ended up being fun and he looks so handsome, cute little man!  Something to lift up in prayer.  Michael, Kristen, Jeremy and 4 other people are going to Myanmar on the 17th February for 10 days.  Michael is doing a leadership conference while Kristen, Jeremy and a few others are going to minister in orphanages, parks and bible schools.  It is very exciting for them and plus I get to have August living with me for 10 days!  Oh, how fun and exciting!!!  Hope he feels the same way! Click on this video link to see where they are going.  God is so faithful and good to us.  Sarah is doing awesome and is enjoying her semester at university this term as she is now studying what she is majoring in, counseling.  

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It is the new year….2014

16 Jan

Well, Christmas came and went along with the beginning of a new year! Trust that you celebrated well and enjoyed both Christmas and bringing in the new year. Lots of fun was had by all as we celebrated with our grandson this year, August, he really enjoyed opening presents and loves his new racing car! Having a little one around seems to add to the magic of celebrations that we all share.

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Kristen with August.

Kristen with August.

Enjoying the time with everyone!

Enjoying the time with everyone!

Augusts first race car!

August’s first race car!

Noice maker...drums!

Noise maker…drums!

Sisters.

Sisters.

Papa and August.

Papa and August.

Happy, happy, happy!

Happy, happy, happy!

This is fun.

This is fun.

Wow!

Wow!

Christmas Morning!

Christmas Morning!

We were blessed to go to California for new year and visit with Nate and his family. The weather was awesome and we were able to see lots of Southern California. It was fun bringing in the new year with them all. We were blessed to visit Rick Warren’s church, Saddleback too!

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Christmas is coming….

19 Dec

I wanted to add to my blog today, hoping to get to know you a little better by asking some questions…  We all have so many good ideas around this time of the year, celebrating the reason for the season, Jesus.  Reading about and seeing what everyone does inspired me to ask you a question or two.

What would your ideal Christmas meal be?

We always asked the whole family what meats they would like and we change every year. Lamb is always my favorite (Jeremy and I are the only two that eat it) with a Cornish hen or two. The mashed potatoes, peas, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole and let’s not forget the corn and trimmings. Dessert would be a trifle but no one in my house would eat it but me, so we always go with the favorite chocolate chip cookie, pies and ice-cream!

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Lamb Roast ~ Yummy!

Fake or real Christmas tree?

My hubby always tries for a real tree but I win over in this one as I really do not enjoy watering it and dealing with all the needles! My husband really just likes the smell I think, so we usually purchase some real wreaths to hang in the house to help with that.

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Oh Christmas Tree…

What is your favorite board game to play with family and friends?

Mexican train, Sequence and Farkle of course! We love to play board games and everyone is really competitive so lots of fun is always had by all. Frosty was won one year when we had a game of Bunko!

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Frost the snowman.

‘Tis the season…..

13 Dec

Well, I missed a month of writing but now is the time to catch up on all the happenings. I thought that it was a little busy before but December has been crazy with Thanksgiving a week later this year. We were blessed to have Thanksgiving day together as a family, decorate for Christmas and then the day after we travelled up to Wichita, KS to be with friends and Mike’s family. It was a great trip and it is always good to catch up with family and friends. August’s birthday celebration was a very exciting event, after it being cancelled on the scheduled day because of a trip to the ER with him. Come to find out, he had a virus that caused the ugly rash on his body and not measles, thank the Lord! We all enjoyed celebrating with him and thank God for a blessed first year of his life, he has brought us all so much joy and entertainment!  As Christmas (and my birthday 🙂 approaches, I am blessed with so many good things in my life and thank God daily for all the blessing my family and friends have been to me. I doubt whether I will be on here again before the New Year, so please have an awesome Christmas and New Year!  Be safe and be blessed!

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My first Birthday!

Click on here to view my Birthday Album!

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Decorating!

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Three Christmas Elves!

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Uncle Brad and August Nov. 2013

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Look at me…last year I fit into that helmet!

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Where are the keys uncle Brad?

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Uncle Brad and August, Nov 2012.

A new years resolution in Sept…..not that I believe in them.

11 Sep

It has been months since I have posted on here, accepting that the resolution I made to write weekly, never came to pass. With that said, I am now committing to write in here monthly. Maybe I can keep to that, so let’s see how it goes…. It is worse that I thought, taking a peek at my last post, it was in January, failed mission I would say!  Well here goes….

Our new grand baby, August, has added so much to our lives with joy and excitement. He turns one year old on October 4th, so the Mickey Mouse party is in full planning with plenty of pictures to follow! Summer was a whirlwind with going to South Africa for three weeks, celebrating with my sister Ann as she turned 70 this year. It was great to see and spend time with family and friends over there. Michael was able to join us as he led a leadership conference in Francistown, Botswana and visited Jerry and Jana Lackey with the Love Botswana Outreach Mission. Sarah had the opportunity of going with us and we enjoyed the visit and travels of Africa together. Now with Sarah in her last year at Concordia University here in Austin, we are kind of empty nesters. It is an adjustment as we really miss having our kids living with us but we really can’t complain as none of them are more than 15 minutes or so from our doorstep! 

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August at the Austin Zoo.

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Celebrating with Ann!

Family!

Family!

September is a really busy month for us at the church with tons of fun things happening plus we are participating in exploreGod.com which is an outreach ministry going on here in the city. God is moving in people’s lives at TOLC and it is exciting to see what God is doing and waiting in anticipation to see what He has planned for us all!  Plus football season has begun so let’s watch some Cowboys!

Today being 9/11, let us never forget the brave heroes who gave their lives trying to say other….I will never forget. Praying today for those who lost their loved ones 12 years ago and praying for the healing and restoration of our Nation.

“If My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves, pray, seek, crave,and require of necessity My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14

A New Year…..

3 Jan

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Let me start by saying, happy new year from our home to yours! I am excited to see what the Lord has planned for each of us. I have posted a scripture below that I am praying over all my family and friends this year. I also asked the Lord to give me one word for this year and He said, “Pray.” So I am going to focus on prayer more in everything! Do you have a word, ask God for one and then share it with me in the comment box below. Last year my word was choose, and the year before was hopeful. God defiantly expanded my life in both those areas over the past two years!

“9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him,being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” Col.1:9-14.

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Jeremy, Kristen and August (Batman) enjoying Christmas day.

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Best little Christmas gift, August under the tree.

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Sarah looking so cute!

Michael and Lacy celebrating!

Michael and Lacy celebrating!

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Nana……

5 Dec

I can’t believe that I have not posted on here regarding the birth of my grandson yet! What an exciting time it was and has been! Let me introduce August Michael Sistrunk to you. He was born October 4th,           weighing 7.7 lbs and 19 inches long!

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Kristen did such a great job in the hospital and the delivery went really well. Being Nana and Papa Johnson has been a joy and I know now what everyone alway meant by saying that there is nothing like it. Aunty Sarah and uncle Daniel are thrilled to and there is defiantly not a shortage of love to go around!

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Changing seasons….

8 Sep

Yes, are you not enjoying this fall-like weather?  This is my favorite time of the year with the seasons changing, football starting and cooler weather.  It reminds me of our lives, and how we enter into new seasons. I look at it as new beginnings and lessons learned from things ending.  Let’s embrace the changes in our lives, just as we enjoy the refreshing changes of this season. I have personally gone through a few changes over the past few months, embracing some of them with open arms and walking by faith through the others. One of our new seasons is becoming empty nesters and then one that should be happening soon is, becoming grand parents! New seasons entail, embracing things learned from the past and learning new things from the present seasons in our lives. Some seasons we love and others we walk through by faith but whatever your season is, let’s try to remember that God is always present and He never changes regardless of where we are at and where we are going. He is the same, yesterday, today and forever! He is our constant!

What is your favorite season of the year and what are some of the seasons of your life?

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Enjoying the journey.

25 Aug

Summer has been a very busy time with so many comings and goings! I planned on have a quiet one but it never happened! I am not complaining as it has been very adventurous and great to see God doing tons of good things. It all started off with visiting 3 countries in 7 weeks. First, Mike, Jack, my sister Linda and I went to Mozambique, Africa to visit with some missionaries there to help in supplying wells for fresh water. We had a very successful trip and plans are moving forward to support this. We had the fun time snorkeling there  and the guys went deep-sea fishing!

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My sister, Linda and I in Mozambique.

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From there I went to Pinetown, South Africa to visit with my family, which is always a blessing and such fun. A week after getting home from Africa I had the privilege of co-leading a mission trip Costa Rica. We went from San Jose on a boat, ministering on an island about 1 1/2 hours out in the middle of no where! It was such a great experience to do VBS with about 100 children who had never had anything like that before and minister with a pastor there in a local church. God did some amazing stuff.

Costa Rica here we are.

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Michael stayed behind here in the USA as he felt he had been traveling to much. Sarah was blessed to visit Sheboygan, Wisconsin, to visit with Nate’s extended family, plus she went to Orange County, California to visit with Nate’s parents and sister! She also did her share of traveling this summer. Daniel moved out into a new place of abode and is really enjoying his job with Apple, Inc. He works a fraud specialist so watch out you criminals out there! Jeremy and Kristen are anticipating the arrival of their little boy in October, so is Nana and Papa Johnson!

Kristen and Jeremy.

Baby Shower Photos

Kristen, Sarah and Baby!

We had a great baby shower and he is a blessed little boy. No name is chosen yet, so all your suggestions or favorite boy names are welcome in my comment box!!

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