A Special Engagement!

We are so excited to officially have a new member of our family!

Jason's brother Duane proposed to his girlfriend Kerry on April 9th! It was Kerry's birthday that night and he planned a big party for her at Joe T Garcia's in Fort Worth. Little did she know that he had a bigger gift in store. When she finished opening his gift he told her he had something else to give her and got down on one knee to propose. It was so sweet and such a blessing to be a part of!

We can't wait for the wedding festivities to begin and a lifetime of great memories to share! Kerry is an amazing woman and a great friend and sister. We are blessed to have her in our family! Love you guys!

Here are some pictures from the night:

Proposal

Newly Engaged Couple!

Happy Birthday to the Future Mrs. Duane Metz!

Jason, Duane, Kerry, and I

Both families

Friends and Family at the Birthday/Engagement Party

Spring is Here!

Over Spring Break Jason got an extra day off and we visited the Dallas Arboretum. We had so much fun walking around looking at the beautiful landscape and flowers and taking pictures!

Easter weekend we celebrated at Reedemer Bible Jason's parent's church and then had Easter lunch at our house. We had pork loin and homemade potato salad, my grandmother's recipe. Yum! In the afternoon we went to my grandad's to see my family and share in an Easter egg hunt with my little cousins!

I'm so thankful for the warm weather! It's wonderful!

We will miss you Baba

Jason's grandmother went to be with the Lord on March 25th. We will miss her so much but know she is rejoicing with the Lord and are thankful she is no longer in pain. She went to be with Him with a smile on her face. The last week was very difficult for our family. She had hospice care in her home which was hard to watch, but we are thankful for the precious time we got to spend with her. Just a few days before she passed away she spoke with Jason and I and his brother and girlfriend and wanted to give us advice. Some of her last words were reminders to Look for the Lord first in everything we do, not compromise with the world, and to learn to compromise with our spouse. Many of her last moments when she was awake were spent saying verses and singing hymns that were so obviously written in her heart. What a testimony to her life.

Baba is Ukrainian for grandmother. Jason's maternal grandparents are both Ukrainian. Both of my grandmothers past away when I was very young, so to have her at our wedding and share many of our first memories together as newlyweds has been so precious to me. Baba has been such a special influence in my life the last 4 years since they moved to Texas and Jason and I married. We have spent so many wonderful holidays in their home. She is a beautiful women with a heart of gold. I am so inspired by her legacy of love and faithfulness to the Lord and her family. Her smile and sweet hugs have brightened so many days. She was always filled with joy that was contagious to others.

A few months before she passed away I was sitting with her one night and was able to share the story of how Jason and I fell in love and God led us to marry each other...It was so special to her to hear that. We talked about many more things, including how she was able to share her testimony and the gospel with a young nurse who had come to take care of her. She had prayed over her and given her a large print bible she could no longer read...This same woman preached the gospel through street ministry in New York City in her younger days and snuck bibles into Europe many years ago to take back to her family. She told me many times how special that conversation was to her, but I was so blessed by it as well and am so thankful for that night.

She planted seeds in so many of the lives around her, and brought so much love and joy to the world! Baba wanted her memorial service to be a celebration of her life. At the service this past week, each of the grandchildren and children spoke, making it so personal and special. I included a couple of pictures below from the slide show Jason and I put together. It was so much fun to go through and find pictures of her as a young woman! She had so much style and personality! We have been blessed and have became better people by her influence.

Baba is the youngest girl (just right of center)

Love her style!

This was when she and Jason's grandfather (Gigi) first met

Their wedding day...They were married 55 years and 9 months!-

Baba and Jason in Florida

An amazing grandmother!

Baba and Gigi on their 50th wedding anniversary...Still has the same look of joy!

Our wedding day!

First Married Christmas with Jason's family

Baba celebrated her 90th birthday in January! Jason make her favorite cake...Chocolate!

2010...A Year to Celebrate!

It has been way too long! I had originally written this post at the beginning of the year and had trouble uploading pictures. Then our computer quit working and I got crazy busy with 4 competitions and here we are in Spring Break! So without further ado, we started off this year with many celebrations...

A small New Year's Eve get together with family in our home.

On my 25th birthday I was at a Dance Educator's Conference in Houston. It is always fun to get away and attend it, but I am always sad to be away from my hubby, family, and friends on my birthday...This year Jason made me feel so special on my birthday. He sent me flowers and had them waiting for me when I checked into the hotel the day before my birthday.

The night of my birthday he had chocolate covered strawberries delivered to my room!

Wow I am so blessed to have such a thoughtful amazing husband who pursues me each day!

The weekend after New Years I traveled to Austin with my parents to celebrate my cousin's son Cade's 1st birthday! This was very special to us since they adopted him a year ago! Jill planned the cutest party...the CCR Birthday Bowl!

When I got back we celebrated Jason's grandmother Baba's 90th birthday. Jason made a beautiful cake for her that was so special to her!

And then we celebrated our sweet little cousin Kaitlynn's 3rd birthday! Can't believe she is three already! We partied Minnie Mouse style!

Mandy made the cutest cupcakes!

We also have had lots more snow...12 inches at once to be exact! Paisley really liked it!

Since then I've been busy with four dance competitions...Thankfully competition season is over and I have a break for a week! We traveled to Kilgore to compete and the girls got to see the Kilgore Rangerettes and then to Houston where we went to NASA and the aquarium. I'll try and post some pictures of that soon!

We have booked our trip this summer to MAUI! We are so excited we will be celebrating our 3rd anniversary there!

Well I think that is it...I'm spending spring break catching up on my sleeping, cleaning, shopping, and friends and wrapping it up with my husband on a special date on Friday to the Dallas Arboretum! Can't wait!