Last day

Here was Kensington back in September on her first day of pre-school...

 And here she is this past Tuesday on her last...

 

Before she got dressed for her last day of school, Daddy and Smith went and bought them both donuts for breakfast.

I'm pretty sure this was Smith's first donut and I'm positve it won't be his last.  This boy loved him some donut!

We love you Kensington!  You did so great at school this year!!

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More tornado news (updated at 6:21 pm)

**Updated at 6:21 pm: we heard this today from Andrew's brother Jonathan but Fox News and CNN just broke the story, over 1500 people are still missing in Joplin.  An apartment complex housing over 600 people was wiped away and as of now, no residents have been found.  Please be praying for the search and rescue teams as they uncover survivors and/or the deceased.

Original Post:
I just have some bits and pieces of information regarding Sunday's tornado.  First and foremost, our family is so grateful to be alive but that being said, they're exhausted and overwhelmed with the amount of work ahead of them. 

My father-in-law is an electrical engineer for the power company in Joplin and I'm pretty sure he hasn't slept since Saturday night.  He has to get power restored to the city, and I can't even imagine how overwhelming that must be.

My sister-in-law and I have cried together several times today.  She has been at the site of her medical practice since the wee hours of the morning trying to figure out how to move forward.  A make-shift clinic will most likely be set up so that she can treat patients.  Her biggest concern is getting insulin to her many insulin dependent patients.  She has a thriving practice with many, many patients and the thought of re-building her office space and in the mean time, caring for her patients is a huge, huge burden.

To put a few things in perspective, my sister-in-law's brother and his wife are both physical therapists at a neighboring hospital and since physical therapy isn't in the forefront of any one's mind right now, people in that profession have been instructed to work in the make-shift morgue they set up at the university.

Even though I am not from Joplin, my heart breaks in a really intimate way for that town.  This is where we spend our holidays, birthdays and fun weekends.  There are several really cute stores that my mother-in-law and I shop in that are completely gone.  If you've been reading my blog long enough, you've probably seen at least a dozen posts including Pizza By Stout...our very favorite Joplin restaurant...gone.  Gone.  Family owned and operated, leveled by the tornado.

Today, I felt kind of guilty walking through Hobby Lobby.  Here we are, going about our daily lives, when the people in Joplin are trying just to survive the day.  Then, I went to Kensington's pre-school party and sat next to a lady who also has a 2 year old in the class...back in January, when she was 7 months pregnant with their sixth child, her husband died suddenly at the age of 37 (later they found out he had lung cancer that went undetected...and no, he didn't smoke).  So, she's a widow in her 30s with 6 kids...good grief God...that's a hard one to handle!

So, I say all of this to say, we are so blessed.  So many people are dealing with so much right now and if the worst of my problems are that my 2 year old doesn't like to go #2 in the potty...well, I'm a very fortunate gal.

For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord.  Plans to prosper you and not harm you.  Plans to give you hope and a future.  Jeremiah 29:11 

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Tornadoes in Missouri

I have had so many sweet and thoughtful emails and texts regarding the devastating F-4 tornado that blew through Joplin, Missouri yesterday at five o'clock.  Andrew's family is thankfully all ok.  All of their homes are undamaged.  That being said, Joplin, Andrew's home town, is pretty much destroyed.  The hospital where my sister-in-law is a doctor was obliterated.  The daycare that our niece attends is gone...several teachers at my nephew's school are unaccounted for and the death toll will be rising well above 100.  The tornado wiped out a Walmart and Academy Sports (among many, many other businesses and homes) killing people who were there just doing some Sunday afternoon shopping.  My sister-in-law and brother-in-law have been actively working to help (her at the make-shift hospital and him pulling people out of Walmart) since the storm.  Please be praying for the city of Joplin.  I have always said that Joplin is a great town.  There is so much character and history there...so many wonderful, mid-western people...this is very, very sad. 

For pictures and more information, click here.

Thank you!

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Getting ready for church is exhausting!

The four of us get dressed and out the door early every single morning of the week but for some reason, Sundays are the hardest.  By the time everyone wakes up, eats breakfast, gets dressed, puts shoes on, does hair, puts shoes back on, grabs Bibles and are out the door....we're exhausted.  This morning, I asked Smith what he wanted to watch while I got dressed and he said "Tangled", so I put it on, sat him down and 5 minutes later, this is what I found.  It's just exhausting getting ready on Sundays!

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16 months, 3 days

16 months and 3 days...that's how old Kensington was when Smith was born.  Up until that day, those 16 months and 3 days had been the very best of my life.  Now, exactly 16 months and 3 days later, I can say that the latter was even better.  It's funny how 16 months and 3 days can change your life...twice.  Here's to another great 16 months and 3 days.  Love you babies!

 Day 1

 16 months and 3 days later

I love these two!

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Fun days this like...

 ...often end like this...

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Engagement + Graduation = Huge Weekend!!

We have had a HUGE weekend in our family.  HUGE!  My sweet cousin Brooke got engaged and graduated college all within 24 hours.  The best part of all was that we were all a part of both big events!  My aunt Pam called to say Austin would be popping the question Friday night, so everyone should be at their house to surprise them when they returned from their big date.  It doesn't take much to get us excited about a party...so we were all there! 

Austin picked Brooke up and took her to a small airport where they boarded a private little plane and he proposed.  After their flight around the Metroplex, they went to a fancy dinner and then back to Brooke's parents' house (where we were all waiting to have an engagement party).  So fun!  Brooke was really surprised. 

 Papa Jay and Smith waiting for Brooke to come home

 

 I love this picture :)

 Brooke's BFF Courtney was there too!

 Austin had just texted Pam that they were on their way back, so here is half of the room waiting to yell "surprise!".

 And here she is!  Very surprised!

 Her beautiful ring!  (When I explained the ring to my friend Helen, she asked if Austin was 42...which I thought was hysterical!  He's not by the way :)).

 Then, less than 24 hours later, we all gathered again for Brooke's college graduation.  We're so proud of her!  I'm the oldest grandchild and Brooke is the youngest (with those two boys stuck in the middle), so she's our baby and it makes us extra proud.  Here are Casey and sweet Paisley at the graduation.

 The proud mom and dad with their graduate!

 I love this girl to pieces!

 Uncle Jay and Aunt Sherry are proud too! 

 The groom and bride to be!

 Since I had a babysitter at home with my kids, I got to pay all of my attention to Paisley.  (That's why I took approximately 1,024 pictures of her.)



Me and Mom...two other University of North Texas graduates.  Shay with a degree in Journalism, Sherry with a degree in Interior Design (with a minor in mechanical engineering...way to go super smart mama!) and now Brooke with a degree in Fashion Design. 

Us Shulls are beat this weekend!  While all of this was going on, we were also moving our business to a bigger location...very exciting but also very hectic.  I thought this was annoying funny too, on Friday night, we left the engagement party at 9:45 and drove the hour home.  Kensington stayed awake the entire time. When we got home, she kept insisting she wasn't tired or ready to go to sleep.  We fought with her about it until she finally surrendered at 11:30.  When I told my brother this the next morning, he said, "Hmmm...I guess I shouldn't have given her a can of Coke Zero to drink at the party.  She drank the whole thing.".  Thanks Uncle Seanie.  Thanks.  :)

We love you Brooke!  We are so excited about this new chapter in your life.  We love Austin too!

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