Memorial Day!

Price of Freedom is VISIBLE HERE!!!!

I wanted to take a few moments and thank those who served and provided our freedom...


To my cousin Stephen Thank you for your sacrifice and dedication to this nation as a Marine.


To my friend Noah P. Thank you for your service and dedication to this nation. May God bless you and your wife richly!



To My Uncle Richard. Thank you for your service in the Marines



Thank you Opa for your years of service and dedication. This nation and more importantly your family owes you a debt of gratitude.




Thank you to my brother Jamie and his family. Thank you for all you have done and your support. May God bless you richly today.


To Uncle Mike... Thank you for all you have given to this nation. To my mom thank you for raising us children while Dad was away in the service. You both have done a wonderful job.


To my dad: I have no words, but Thank you and I miss you!


This is my Grandpa Heim. He served in Italy during WWII. Thank you grandpa... We miss you!


To my grandpa Schlenker served in the Army during WWII .
"Thank you Grandpa and Grandma and we miss you"

Wow.... What a week!

Last Saturday I was scheduled to to fly to Buffalo with Abby (my oldest). We were going North for a couple of reasons. First, to see my nephew get his black belt in Taekwondo (I was going specially to take photos). Second, my mom wanted to take Abby to get her first Manicure/Peticure done and an appointment for a hair cut. Or in the words of my mom, her first "Princess Day".

THEN, my grandmother-in-law passed on Friday... So I boarded a plane with TWO children under 4 and no wife to help. YIKES!!!! Rebecca was going to drive up to Rochester with the dogs and we would meet up later on during the weekend.... Well, everything worked out perfectly. I mean, the girls were perfect angels on the plane. Then Saturday morning my sister took Abby to get her nails done... (You will see photos later) and my mom and I took her to get hair cut. She was so happy and Madi had a good time also.

It was a huge blessing to be "home" for a couple of days and I know that my wife was a bigger blessing in Rochester for her family. Then we went to Rochester for the funeral of Grandma Lewis (or as Abby says "Gigi"). It was beautiful service and I got to sing with my sister in law (It is Well With My Soul) and if I say so myself I think we sounded great! Then, yesterday we began our long drive back to Baltimore.

As soon as we got home, my second worst nightmare happened. I had left the front door open in an attempt to bring the luggage. As I walking back towards the house, I see a flash of a stray cat running from our front yard and right on it's tail is my BEST BUD Watson... The Cat makes it across the street but Watson is hit by a pick up truck. I am powerless (and yelling on the top of my lungs NOOOOOOO) and only can see Watson disappear in front of the truck and what seemed like a life time later, Watson bounced up to his feet and ran in the house... Then the pain came and the blood was everywhere.... So we (Watson and I) made a late night trip to the emergency vet clinic. It wasn't until 1 am that we returned with the best news possible... He hurt his right front paw, the dew claw and the pad underneath his paw. After a few days or so he should be fine. No broken bones or anything... Absolutely a miracle..... Thanks God!!!

So needless to say, our week was full of ups and downs... But most of all - full of God's faithfulness!!!!

Well, below are some of the photos!!! Please feel free to comment and

HE SHALL COVER THEE...

He will cover you with his feathers.
He will shelter you with his wings.
His faithful promises are your armor and protection.
~Psalm 91:4

This is just a little reminder...
* This is a male Canadian Goose who didn't really like the extra attention
I was paying them...

I LOVE THE LION KING

I have a confession to make, I love "The Lion King" not just has a Disney movie but as a movie.
One of the main reasons why I love this movie so much is that it shows the impact a Father has on his children and who they become... (at least that is how I convince myself it is okay to love a Disney movie...)
One night when my eldest daughter Abby turned 2 I introduced her to "The Lion King". SHE LOVED EVERY SECOND... We skip past the scene of Mufasa's death because I don't think anyone ever needs to watch that. Well, last night I was in charge of watching the girls again and after we cleaned up the living room of all the stuffed animals I came up with an idea.... It was time for Madi to be introduced to....

"Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba"

Anyway, Madi is in love with it too... Now we have family movie night with the Lion King... (we watched part 1 last night & tonight is part 2)
Below are some of the photos I took last night...

Wordless Wednesday (6 of a Kind)

Check some of the other entries at: Wordless Wednesday

Love Lately

I LOVE MY WIFE!!!!

Lately I have been surrounded by stories of lost love. Without naming names I have counseled a few different men who have had love break their heart. It has been some pretty sad stories. So that has had me thinking "I LOVE MY WIFE". I know that I am suppose to say that, but I love her more now after seven years of marriage. Seriously no one laughs like her. No one understands me the way that she does. No one encourages me the way she does. She is an amazing mother to my two daughters. I love watching her take care of our children. She is caring, patient, kind, and has a wonderful imagination. She is a great sister... I love watching her worship and dance. I thank God that He has blessed me with an awesome wife for the past 7 years.
Happy Anniversary!

FACELIFT!!!!

Thanks to Rachel @ Ladybird for the blog design!!!!

Wordless Wednesday

For more WW fun at:
http://www.wordlesswednesday.com
Thanks for stopping by and please leave some comments.
~Justin

Random Abbyness

So lately we have been having some random conversations with Abby and it has been very funny!
We thought it would be funny to share them with you.


While at the park and telling Abby that I needed to put the dogs in the van in order to help her with ride her bike.

Me: "So who do you think should wait in the van? You, Me, Mom, Madi or the Dogs?" Abby: "Maybe the dogs could stand with you and Madi could sit in her car seat"


Rebecca helping Abby with bike riding

A couple of days ago Rebecca (my wife) and Abby had this conversation...

Abby: (very serious look on her face) "Umm, Mom I have a question for you... When we get madi her own dog where is it going to sleep?"
My Wife: "Abby we can't get a dog for Madi, it is too expensive and our house isn't big enough for three dogs."
Abby: (turning to Madilyn) Well, Madi looks like you can't get a dog... it would be too expensive and our house isn't big enough... Sorry"


This is Coco Abby's Dog...




Some people just wanna re-live their childhood.

Thanks for stopping by and please feel free to leave any comments...
~Justin

Race for the Roses...

This past Saturday was one of my favorite sporting events of the calendar year. It was the Kentucky Derby (in case you were under a rock). I love the fact that it is so quickly over ("The Fastest Two Minutes in Sports") and thrilling throughout. I recently discovered my youngest daughter's obsession with it (really she loves the horses).

We knew that Abby loved horse racing... I remember when Abby was 1 and watched her first race and I can't really remember her getting this excited.

Every time a horse would come on the screen Madi would scream (something loud and unintelligible) and clap her hands... Abby flipped through pictures online of all the races for about 30 minutes telling my wife (Rebecca) which ones were her favorites. I believe she picked out about 5 or 6 different horses....of course when the race was actually over she was jumping up and down clapping "That was the EXACT one i wanted to win!!" haha

Since the race is also called "The Run for the Roses" and we got our first blooms of the year, I thought it would be good to post some pictures of the roses... Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the photos.


~ Justin