Prom 2008

Here are just a few of Tori & Peter's Prom pics. I took about 150, Jenny took probably that same amount. I weeded mine down to about half and I'm showing you only these. If you want to see more, you'll just have to ask... :)

The guy with Tori is Peter, her boyfriend. The girl with Tori is Katie, one of her close friends. The couple with Tori are her mom and dad, believe it or not, they look look sooo young!!! :) Her hair was gorgeous, don't ya' think?

I must say, we have a beautiful daughter - inside & out!!! We have two beautiful daughters but this post is all about Tori. Sorry, Anna. Your prom time will be here sooner than we think!

Oh, Tori & I and Debbie & Micaela (Peter's mom and sis) made their flowers. I think we did pretty good!

When Tori took her hair down, there were 60 bobby pins!!!

All this smiling hurts!

Pictures As Promised

Here are the photos and a couple of short video clips that I said I'd put up in my last post. We're getting the windows tinted on the car tomorrow so I'll take some pics and put those up later. Jakeb wanted us to put flames on the car too but I think we'll pass on that this time. Enjoy the pictures. Tori's Prom is this weekend so those pictures will be coming soon.

Gator Gallop at Brazosport College

The Littler Kids - too cute!

Anna is in the middle getting ready to take off!

Off to the races!! Look at the focus on some of these kiddos.

Anna coming in for the finish so fast she's a blur!

A.P. Beutel Annual Bluebonnet Festival Fundraiser

Hair painting...

Hair painting with a friend.

This is the first portion of the 3rd grade performance.

This is the finale part of the same performance.

How much can we fit in 4 days?

I think we made the most of our time over the last four days. It's long but here’s the rundown:

Friday – car shopped all day – literally! (That’s for you, Phillip) We began at 8:00am, drove to Houston and ALL OVER Houston and came home at 10:30pm with a ’07 Toyota Camry with just under 12K miles. White and a little sporty. I think we’ll enjoy it. I know we’ll enjoy the better gas mileage! We managed to squeeze in an excellent lunch at a Persian café close to Harwin area. We will definitely go back there. And we ate Vietnamese food for dinner. It was a very long day but Tommy and I enjoyed the day together. We got home around 10:30 and Tommy and Jakeb took off almost immediately for Houston to sleep in a hotel for a few hours before running their race in Huntsville. You can read about it on Tommy’s running blog and Jakeb’s post below. All in all, we figure car shopping went much quicker than furniture shopping. It took us about 3 months and many trips to Houston to find living room furniture. How odd is that???

Saturday – got Anna up at 6:30am and got her ready for the Gator Gallop Kids Run. She did good and we had fun. Someone had given us tickets for a fundraiser pancake breakfast so we went and got three to go plates. Anna’s school was having their annual Bluebonnet Festival with games, rides, food, etc. so we spent several hours there. Brought home some tattoos and a lemon cake from the cakewalk. Oh And a bear from the animal walk. Tommy and Jakeb got home around 1:00 and at around 2:00 we were off to Houston again to finish up car stuff that we couldn’t take care of Friday night because everything was closed and the lady helping us was completely incompetent! That’s a whole other story but suffice it to say that when I came back from getting dinner, the employee was sitting to the side and Tommy was typing all of the information in their computer! It was ridiculous and funny! We at Japanese food in Pearland and then went and spent almost as much on ice cream at Marble Slab as we did on dinner. Oh well… we had a good time and Anna, Jakeb and I all tried sushi! I’m not sure we’re fans of sushi but Anna is sold on Japanese food. She loved the other stuff we got.

Sunday – Tommy filled in for a good pastor friend of ours in Tomball. Danny is in Rwanda on a mission trip. So, yet another trip to Houston. Good thing we got a car with good gas mileage! We had a good time with friends and then got to eat at Chipotle for lunch. Another of our favorites! We came home and got to rest a little and then we had our weekly Small Group meeting. That’s always a highlight for us cause we get to spend time with friends, dig into and question God’s word together and we usually laugh a lot!

Monday – We all went to the courthouse at 9am to witness the legal adoption proceedings of some good friends. This was the best thing of all four days as far as I’m concerned! It was a huge check mark off of a list of things to pray about. Not that we'll stop praying for them, we just don't have to pray the way we've been praying. We’ve been on this journey with Phillip and Jenny (Jenny's blog) for several years now and it was just such a blessing to be a part of seeing it all become final and officially being able to welcome Mikey to the family. The kids went to school, Tommy went to work and I went and ran errands all day and got a lot accomplished and a lot of much more meaningless things checked off of my list. We began painting a really cool marbles board for a silent auction at church. The auction is to raise money for the students that are going on the Kenya mission trip in July. It has an African theme to it. I’ll put a picture of it up when we’re done with it.

It was a great weekend with friends, great food, and family fun. I’ve got some pictures from the weekend that I’ll put up soon. Just don’t have the time right now. Time to go to work and get cram two days of work into one since I didn't go in yesterday. Enjoy your day!

If you came up to me and asked if I had a favorite race I would say Hog's Hunt. Me and dad ran the 25k yesterday and through many self-malfunctions at around mile 3 to mile 6 or so (for which some of you may not want to know), we finished in an amazing time of 2:30:50 which we were both proud of.

Well we started the race at a reasonable pace and probably kept up with one group from about mile 5. We eventually passed them at the end. Once the finish line was in sight we heard someone say," Hey 226( my #), beat 227( dad's #)." So there we went off to the races and I must say I beat dad by a long shot.... of maybe 2 or 3 inches. And that's all I wanted to say. He beat me in Bayou City and I beat him in Hog's Hunt. But none the less he was the one who got me up all these mornings to train and it was a Christmas present from him to run this race, so winning or losing wasn't really what it was about.

With that said, we went to Pei Wei and ate China.... literally. Then was the traditional Starbucks and then home.

Once we got home we immediately left for Houston again where which we ate Japanese food and I just might let someone else blog about that little experience.

Funny Bella Movie

Haven't tried a video before but here goes... Bella loves playing in the water and we love watching her. She is one crazy dog!

Funny Dogs!!

Here is a picture story for you. I think you can figure it out. Feel free to make up your own captions. Bella is the "white" dog and Carrot is the other one.

Huntsville State Park

Huntsville State Park is one of my favorite places on the earth.

When I was a kid I was a part of a church group kind of like Boy Scouts and we used to go camping there. As soon as the van came to a stop at our camping spot we would bail out and start setting up tents under the tall pine trees. I remember catching fish from Lake Raven. If I think about it hard enough I can almost taste the over-seasoned greasy hamburgers we cooked over an open flame. We hiked the trails and killed water moccasins which I am sure we would have gotten kicked out of the park for. And we swam at the swim beach that is mostly unchanged some 25 to 30 years later.

Andrea and I took our first camping trip alone as a married couple with a new child to Huntsville State Park. We packed a tent, a play pen, a baby and some food in our Buick Regal and roughed it for a night. It was the first of many camping trips we would take with our kids.

The five of us in the Stunz family took some good friends from another country camping for the first time at Huntsville State Park. He was from Scotland, she was from England and they had two girls. His dad was visiting from Scotland and it was a great trip where we mostly swam and played horse shoes.

Jakeb and I went to Huntsville State Park a couple of summers ago for what would become an annual tradition of spending a couple of days alone as a dad and son. We hiked, swam, ate camp food and talked about guy stuff while the girls stayed at home.

I ran my first race longer than a marathon last year at Huntsville State Park. I ran the Sunmart 50k in a little under 6 hours.

This weekend Jakeb and I are going to Huntsville State Park to run Hog’s Hunt 25k. The plan is to make another good memory in a pretty cool place.

Nobody Didit Stunz - new family member

Since this is the Stunz Family Blog, I thought it fitting that this be the place where we officially induct “Nobody Didit Stunz” into our family.

I think every family probably has a "Nobody Didit". You know who I’m talking about, right?

Mom: “Who did this?”

Kids: “Nobody!”

“Nobody” seems to do “everything” around here so it’s only proper that “Nobody” get the credit for doing “nothing”!!!

I would also like to take this opportunity to instruct “Nobody” as to how actually doing something (see picture) should work. When the bag is full and the lid can still be removed without plastic bottles and jugs flying everywhere, then:

Step 1 – Remove the lid
Step 2 – Take the full bag out
Step 3 – Put a new bag in (notice there are extras right beside the can!)
Step 4 – Replace the lid
Step 5 – Repeat when the bag is full but not overflowing into the rest of the house!

"Nobody" is one family member that I would actually enjoy booting out the door one day. Maybe “Nobody” will leave and will be replaced with “Somebody” who actually did it! :)

Tooth #11 is out!!!

Anna lost her 11th tooth yesterday (she's counting, not me). It was a "big" tooth and she was excited.

She put it in a decorated ziploc under her pillow with a picture of her and her Mimi. The "tooth fairy" brought $2. "She" left the money, the tooth and the picture. Why in the world would "she" want to keep that nasty tooth???

Anna stated that she only got $2 and the last tooth she lost at Mimi's brought her $5. Perhaps the picture of her and her Mimi was placed strategically for a hopeful good fortune. The tooth fairy probably should have given her more for taking the time to decorate the bag. Bet she doesn't see many of those!

I remember only getting a quarter, maybe .50 if I was lucky!

Good Things In Life

There are a few good things in my life right now.

My husband and three kids, a few friends who "love me anyway", good health, I just got a new look for the master bedroom and last but not least, our own personal photographer.

Go check out J. Hintze Photography. Jenny is an excellent photographer!!! She has a wonderful ability to capture personality. She also happens to be one of those "few friends who loves me anyway". http://www.jhintze.com/ or http://www.jhintzephotography.blogspot.com/

It really is a good thing to know that I never have to search again for a photographer for our family pictures, senior graduation pictures, weddings to come, babies to come (grandbabies, of course, and in the waaaayyy far distant future!), etc.

I say that tongue and cheek because I know there are more important things in life but it really is nice to have something settled. I like for things to be settled and having one thing to count on brings me some element of peace in the chaos of my life. So, thanks, Jenny! I'm sure you had no idea you were an element of peace. :)

If you haven't clicked on the link yet, go now!!!

New guitar...

I happened to get a new guitar this Spring Break with my birthday money. It is called a Gretsch and is quite the most amazing thing I've seen even though I haven't even seen it yet( it comes on Friday). My only problem is the name brand... Gretsch. Doesn't it remind you of like one of them old maids they show in an Irish fantasy movie? " Ey Gretsch fetch me a bucket o' watur wuld ya?" Maybe that's more of a Gretch. Take out the "s". But hey.... the name brand of the guitar can't be changed. I might name it something else. Give me time and I will think of something good.

Jakeb

It's not about the bunny!

Lately, I've been conflicted with knowing and acknowledging Christ's suffering in my life. This past week was the week that we set aside to remember the suffering Jesus went through on his journey to the cross. I'm ashamed at how difficult it is for me to sacrifice the luxuries I'm so accustomed to. I fail miserably at loving Him. I'm amazed that His love for me never fails.

It's increasingly more difficult for me to stomach the selfish materialism we partake of on Easter and other Christ centered holidays. I'm not sure if it's just cause my kids are older or maybe I'm older and wiser or perhaps I'm just being a judgemental pharisee, who knows. I just know that I don't much care for it anymore. I want my kids to understand why we celebrate Easter and that it's not about candy and Easter baskets. It's not about the bunny.

No, I'm not an Easter grinch. We did dye Easter eggs and had some peeps and Easter bunny cookies. I just think as our culture dives in head first into the pool of consumerism and away from Christ, as parents, we've got to work harder at finding a balance.

If you have a few minutes, watch this video. I'm not particularly fond of the music style but the message is powerful and timeless.

I pray I never lose sight of what Jesus did and that today is the celebration of the new life we can all have in Him! Not about having a "hoppy" Easter.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only son that whoever believes in Him should not parish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

Nepal

I went to Pokhara Nepal in May of 2006. On the way to and from Pokhara I spent a couple of days in Katmandu. Where Pokhara is a resort town that is fairly clean with restaurants around Phewa Lake and Mountain Views, Katmandu is a busy urban place with dirty narrow streets.

I spent only two weeks in Nepal but I miss it. I miss the culture that is so heavily influenced by both Hindu and Buddhist religions. I miss the landscapes and have a picture of Gandruk on my computer as wallpaper to remind me of one of the places where I trekked. I have good memories of walking through the mountains with a backpack on my back and my feet as my only transportation. I miss the city too with little shops that sold steamed momo (a dumpling) with spicy sauce for twenty-five cents US for half a dozen. I miss the milk tea and green tea from the tea shops and homes in the villages.

During my stay in Katmandu on the way out of Nepal I went into a book store across from our hotel. I love book stores and this place was mostly for Westerners and held lots of English titles. I stayed in there for a couple of hours. I remember how they were playing 70’s music, burning incense and it had a very hippie feel to it. This story on NPR flooded my brain with memories of Nepal … link.

St. Patrick's Day Prayer

I'm not an avid St. Patrick's Day observer although I did choose to wear green today (mostly to keep my 9 yr. old from pinching me) and I do have some Irish blood in me.

Thought this St. Patrick's Day Prayer was interesting, maybe you will too. It really could be a prayer for any day so much like my other blogs, it will be archived here and that way I can refer back to it when I want to.

Sour Cream, Soup, and Funny Words

The other night we went to eat dinner at El Toro's with my parents and my nephew. My parents treated us to dinner to celebrate the almost 2 month gift that keeps on giving. We gave them a tile floor redo in their bathroom for a Christmas gift and it turned in to more of a remodel. We're still not quite done, just some trim painting and tile sealing to do but it's been fun.

Anyway... Jakeb, our son, ordered tortilla soup. It's not Papasitto's but it'll due for this small town. He didn't want sour cream to come on his soup. We told him that if it did, he could just scrape it off. Apparently, according to Jakeb, you cannot scrape sour cream off of soup. Thus, the funny word -

"unscrapeoffable" It is a verb and used in Jakeb's sentence, went something like this: "Sour cream on soup is unscrapeoffable."

How's that? Jakeb has messed around with words since he was little. Saying weird words with weird combinations and just finding humor in words that others of us just don't pay any attention to.

Here's another sentence: "Laughter is good medicine and can cause a family to have unscrapeoffable memories." I made that one up all by myself! :)

Here we go...

Ok, so I'm going to see how blogging goes for me. I always have thoughts, ideas, photos, etc. that I think are worth sharing so this will give me the forum to do that with anyone who happens to stumble by. If nothing else, it will help us as a family to archive some of our memorable moments.

We hope to be adding our kids as contributors soon, too. So maybe they will be able to enlighten your day as well.

Happy reading...

Lines from The Devil and Miss Prym: A Novel of Temptation by Paulo Coelho

She looked once more at the mountains, now covered in darkness. She saw the first star come out and thought that she had had a good life; she had been born and would die in a place she loved, even though it seemed that her love was unrequited, but what did that matter? Anyone who loves in the expectation of being loved in return is wasting their time.

It was all a matter of control. And choice.
Nothing more nothing less.

One thing I can tell you with absolute certainty; life can seem either very long or very short, according to how you live it.

Lectionary Reading for Ash Wednesday

It is apropos on the day that lent begins and I feel smug about my celebration of it – when most in my religious tradition do not – that I would read these verses from the gospel section of the lectionary reading for Ash Wednesday.

"Be especially careful when you are trying to be good so that you don't make a performance out of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won't be applauding. "When you do something for someone else, don't call attention to yourself. You've seen them in action, I'm sure—'playactors' I call them— treating prayer meeting and street corner alike as a stage, acting compassionate as long as someone is watching, playing to the crowds. They get applause, true, but that's all they get. When you help someone out, don't think about how it looks. Just do it—quietly and unobtrusively. That is the way your God, who conceived you in love, working behind the scenes, helps you out.
"And when you come before God, don't turn that into a theatrical production either. All these people making a regular show out of their prayers, hoping for stardom! Do you think God sits in a box seat?
"Here's what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won't be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.

Matthew 6:1-6 (The Message)

New Template

I rarely post here but maybe someday I will be inspired to post more often once again.

That being the case I updated my template since apparently my old one was not compatible with blogger.

The Road

How long have you been on the road?
I was always on the road.
How do you live?
I just keep going. I knew this was coming.
You knew it was coming?
Yeah. This or something like it. I always believed in it.
Did you try to get ready for it?
No what would you do?
I don’t know.
People are always getting ready for tomorrow. I didn’t believe in that. Tomorrow wasn’t getting ready for them. It didn’t even know they were there.

An old man answering a somewhat younger man’s questions about how he is surviving the post-apocalyptic world they find themselves in from Cormac McCarthy’s book The Road.