Merry, Merry Christmas!

I know that I have not posted in forever, but I wanted to wish everyone a very merry and peaceful Christmas! I hope that you have special moments with your families and I hope that we all remember why we celebrate this beautiful holiday. With love, The Shelbys

Momma Lisa

Last week, our friends David and Deb came over to eat and they had the best idea! They have been wanting to paint "Momma Lisa's" for a while now, so they brought their stuff over to do it! The original plan was to paint "Mona Lisa's" with our mom's faces on them, but they decided that you really wouldn't be able to tell that it was our moms, so they changed the plan and we picked famous paintings and reproduced them on our canvases. It may sound goofy, but we had so much fun. I am a terrible artist (David and Deb are actually good) so it was pretty funny. If y'all are looking for a different kind of date night, give it a try!

Visit to Searcy

On our way home from Memphis last weekend, we stopped in Searcy to meet our new nephew! He was about a week and a half old and he's still so little. In an earlier post I said he was born at 6 lbs, 7 oz, but really he was 6 lbs, 2 oz, and has lost a little since then. He is so tiny and cute! And he slept pretty much the whole time...I know Dijana is enjoying it while she can. Here are some pictures:

Kevin's parents, Len and Gilda

This was the only time we really saw him awake...right after he finished eating

Isn' he so little?

Dean, Jeremy, and Len "ambushed" Kevin with a water balloon launcher! It was in the 40's outside, so it was a pretty cold experience! In this pic, Dean almost flew off the back of the truck with the launcher!

Dean in front of his warning sign for Kevin

Thanksgiving festivities

For Thanksgiving, we headed to Memphis and spent time with my family. It was great getting to see them and getting to see cousins, aunts, and uncles that we haven't seen in forever. We hung out, watched movies, and had everyone over on Thanksgiving Day. Mom, Jenny, and I went shopping at 6:00 on Friday (we'd never done this before, and probably won't do it again) with all of the other crazy people. It was not really worth the hassle, but we had a fun time together! We took some family pictures in front of the house, but my mom has all of them, so here is one of just Kevin and me:

A pretty tree in Memphis. I haven't seen any quite this pretty in Texas. All of the leaves were so bright!

Jenny and Brandon, hanging out on the couch...(that's Jaycie, our old cat that we gave to my parents...we miss her!)

My dad, doing his official duty of dishwashing...and I am very thankful that he likes it!

My sister, Jenny, and me dowtown at the Mississippi

We had a great holiday together. Somehow, when you are with people you love, time goes by so fast! I have been overwhelmed lately (not just on Thanksgiving) with gratitude for the blessings that Kevin and I have been given...our family, health, strength to get through difficult times, and so many other things that I can't even list them all. When I left the hospital on my last shift before Thanksgiving, I felt guilty that many of my patients would be in the hospital over the holiday, dealing with terminal illnesses and other ailments, while I was free to go spend time with my family. It really humbled me. I want to be more intentional about living each day to the fullest and being thankful for each day God has given me here.

Noah is here!

Our third nephew is here! (Yes, no girls yet). His name is Noah Truth and he was born yesterday, November 13. He weighed in at 6 lbs., 7 oz. It was a little bit of a surprise that he came early! He wasn't due till December 5. I was in Searcy last weekend visiting Jeremy and Dijana, and she looked very pregnant, but we still figured it would be a little while. Dijana's friend Angie, is due November 30, and we thought that she would definitely have her little girl first, but I guess Noah had other plans! Kevin and I haven't gotten to go up there yet. We can't wait to see him next week!

Noah waves hello

Isn't he precious?

Here's the proud papa

Dean is going to be such a good big brother!

Jeremy and Chris

I think Dijana looks beautiful!

Nana with her grandsons

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things...

Fall is my favorite season. I love how it feels outside when air gets just a little crispy and we get a break from the sweltering Texas heat! I love all of the different smells of fall, and I love the fact that that once fall is here, Christmas is just around the corner! Here are a few of my favorite things about fall:



Pumpkin Bread! One of my best friend's moms, Miss Pat, gave us her secret Pumpkin Bread recipe, which is absolutely amazing! I didn't really even like pumpkin things until I had this bread! I have started making it every fall. This year my mom also bought me this cute loaf pan that makes the bread mold into she shapes of pumpkins and leaves...so cute! The picture doesn't do it justice. The best part of the bread is the yummy caramel icing on top. I think I might go get a piece right now!


I love being around a fire on a cool night. Last year, for Kevin's birthday, my parents bought him a chiminea. We love building little fires in it and sitting on our patio with our dogs. Here we are enjoying the first fire of the season with Chris and Jill, Kevin's brother and our sis-in-law. Our nephew, Fred, enjoyed burning things in it before he had to go to bed. We burn sticks and branches out of our yard, so it helps keep our yard clean too!



This is one of my favorite fall smells, my Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin Wallflower. If any of you are looking for good fall scent, this is it. It smells just like you have a pumpkin pie in the oven. Yummy!


I thought I would try to take a picture of Abby and Chloe in front of my hay bale. I like fall decorations, too! I think I should have bought another mum or two for this hay bale, but oh well. As you can see, Abby is only one who would come close to being in a picture. Chloe was running around the yard eating stuff. Abby has always been our star dog. I know that you're not supposed to have favorites, but Abby is our favorite. She looks like she's being a little snobby in this pic with her nose stuck up!

One more favorite thing is the "Homecoming" scent by the Tyler Candle Company. I know you've all seen these in stores, but they are made about 45 minutes away from us, and the new (I think it's new) Homecoming scent is great!

Busy Weekend!

We had a fun but busy time this past weekend! Kevin had a Family Retreat (where all the families of Heartlight kids come for the weekend), so he had to work Saturday and part of the day Sunday. I also had to work on Saturday...yuck! However, we had a good time with Kevin's brother and our sister-in-law and nephew who came and stayed with us on Friday night. They are leaving in December to go to Rwanda on an internship, and then are moving there next Nov-Dec to do full-time mission work. We treasure all of the time that we get with them!

Then, on Saturday night, we had the pleasure of having Paul and Julie McMullen stay with us! They are our friends who live in Washington right now and are preparing to go to Vancouver, B.C. to do church planting. Alpine is their supporting congregation, so they were here for Misisons Sunday. We love you Paul and Julie, and are so glad we got to spend time with you!

Bow Season Begins

Many of you may not be aware that bow hunting season (for deer) started last weekend. Many of you probably do not care. Before I married Kevin, I didn't know that people killed deer with bows, but apparently they do. I would not really care about learning anything about all this if my husband didn't love it so much, but it is fun to know enough to share in his excitement. Kevin has been acting like a giddy kid for the past several weeks as he has gotten all of his camo out (even though it's too hot to wear most of it) and has bought things like buck urine and scentless deoderant.

Kevin and his two friends, Ben and Blake, took a three day weekend to go to central Texas. They had a great time, but unfortunately didn't have much luck. Ben did get a pretty doe. I'm sure the fact that they did not get any bucks this weekend means that they'll just have to go back several more weekends to try again! Here are some pics from the trip...

Blake and Ben, doing some ritual that they have for the person who kills the first deer...


Kevin, looking a little bit frustrated.



Ben with his first deer (this was his first time to bow hunt!)

"Same Kind of Different..."

Every once in a while, you find a book that you cannot put down, one that tugs at your emotions so much that you'll stay up until 2:30 in the morning to finish it. Same Kind of Different As Me, by Ron Hall and Denver Moore, is one such book. I highly recommend that you read it.

The story is true, a tale of a homeless man in Dallas and a wealthy international art dealer. It is the story of how their lives intertwine...and how they become friends through the persistence and faith of a woman. This book inspired me, encouraged me, and made me cry. It reminded me of how God can change the world through little acts of faith by His people. I want to reach out to others more and I don't want to let my fears get it the way. As a Christian, I want to have the faith to dream big dreams and to believe that God can make them happen. I desire to be more in tune with what God is trying to tell me.

As you can tell, this book ignited my passion and made me rethink what I do on a day to day basis. All of those mundane things suddenly seem not so important.

A Fun Visit to Tennessee

This past week, Kevin and I got to go to TN! I was very excited to get to go and visit my family while Kevin attended a Christian Counselors' Conference in Nashville. He and the counselors that he works with dropped me off on Tuesday and I got to stay till Sunday! My brother, Brandon, and sister, Jenny came in from Auburn on Friday and brought their girlfrind and boyfriend. We had one big party all weekend long! I hadn't seen Brandon since May, because he was gone at HUF, so it was really good to see him. We did a lot of shopping, eating, and football-watching. I also got to see some of my best friends in the world, Mandi, Anne, and Bethany. I love them so much and it was so good to catch up with them!

Here are some pictures from the week:

Mom, Dad, Brandon, and Elizabeth at the Blue Plate Cafe...yummy breakfast food!

Brandon, with his girlfriend, Elizabeth

Kevin and the counselors that he works with (Susan, Ashley, and Tony). We were on top of the Peabody Hotel in downtown Memphis after eating BBQ at Rendezvous.

The girls (Mom, Elizabeth, and Jenny) on our way to shop!

I love my family! They are so fun to be with and they mean the world to me...I just wish that time didn't have to go by so fast when I'm with them!

My first blog entry!

Well, I've kind of been wanting to have a blog for a while now, but didn't think anyone would actually be interested in reading it. That it probably still true, but I decided to do it anyway. This way, our family and friends can keep up with the long version of what's happening in our lives. I won't be a "blog every day" kind of person, but I'll try to update it once a week or so!