#ThankfulThursday

Happy anniversary, Daddy and Momma!

Just check out that hair!

Today, a few things I'm thankful for about my parents:

• They meant "until death do us part" - and haven't even had to force that to happen :) They've been an incredible example of the marriage I hope to one day have - filled with love for one another.
• They raised my brothers and me in church and don't just leave Jesus for Sunday mornings. Our home is filled with Him.
• They lead by example when it comes to giving, loving and serving. 

Weekend...and Home Alone with Molly

Hi friends! Did you all have a fantastic weekend? I most certainly did! I'm going to back this up alll the way to last week though, because I didn't tell you much of anything that happened last week, for good reason - I was home alone, and I was not ABOUT to tip off any kidnappers (I'm kid-sized, I could get kidnapped) because I don't have the skillz of the Home Alone kid when it comes to warding off home invaders - instead I would have hide in my closet with Molly and cry on the phone (battery at 5%, of course) with my daddy while waiting for Granddad to show up and save the day (yes guys, that happened). Thankfully it was just some of our neighbors, but it was enough that Miss Molly and I didn't' sleep much for two nights and ended up spending Thursday night safely at my grandparents. However, the entire time my parents & brothers were at camp, I had an automatic trash can (it rolled itself to the road on trash day!), an automatic gate opener (locked every night and open before I left for work!), and an automatic cattle feeder. Oh wait, that was all Granddad - I was very well taken care of :)

Molly sleeps like a human.

Anyway, Monday night, Matt came over for dinner and it was "semi-homemade with Shae" - meaning I stopped by the grocery store and threw together something resembling a meal. I took one of their rotisserie chickens, shredded it, poured in Head Country BBQ sauce, microwaved to warm, and served on King's Hawaiian rolls, slider style. Delish! I also picked up some red potato salad and chips, just in case the chicken didn't turn out right. Of course, I made rice krispy treats to go along with dinner since they're the one thing I know I do correctly every single time.

Tuesday night was spent huddling in my closet with Molly. Oh, and she was having some MAJOR breathing issues last week so HAD anyone broken into our house they would have found us in 2.2 seconds since the locked closet door + Benadryl did nothing to mask her loud breathing.

On Wednesday, I went shopping to reward myself for surviving Tuesday night. I'd been wanting a pair of colored shorts to brighten up my life and Old Navy had the perfect pair. So perfect, in fact, that my Caylee and I both ended up wearing them on Saturday (hundreds of miles apart). #LikeBigLikeLittle #Perfect #Besties (Yes, that deserved 3 tags. #Duh). They're perfect and comfortable and I LOVE the color so much. I'm definitely going to be buying them in every color the first chance I get.

get them here

Molly and I had a slumber party at my grandparents on Thursday night, and Friday night, I went to Falls Creek! Mom & Dad had been cooking all week and the boys were campers. Kaden was leaving Saturday for a mission trip, so he wanted to sleep in his own bed for a night - Super Sis to the rescue! We drove home Friday night and I dropped him off with mom to go back to Falls Creek for training Saturday.

With Kale at Falls Creek - baby brother has officially passed me in height .

After dropping Kaden off on Saturday, I tanned (it's Jessica's wedding week!) & headed home. Matt came over and we watched movies with Dad & Kale (while mom slept) then picked up steak from Ken's. Matt took me out on a super fun date - putt-putt and the drive in! The drive in that's in Chickasha has a putt-putt course in front of the screen, so we played a game before the movies started. He beat me, but I let him win fair and square :( We saw Monsters University - LOVED IT - and stuck around for about half of Now You See Me - it was too late for us old folks.

At least we tied the first 9!

My shirt has sparkles. Love.

Sunday after church, it was time for lunch with mom, dad & Kale, hours of swimming with Kale & Kiera, then the Falls Creek service at church.

I ended the night snuggling with Molly and praying for my brother & his team to have a GREAT week on their mission trip! Please join me in praying for him, his team, their leaders and the people they'll be working with over the next week. If you'd like to follow along, FBC Tuttle will be posting daily updates of specific things to pray for on Facebook while Kaden's away. 

Don't forget - Google Reader is gone, so follow with Bloglovin' or by email (look to your left for an email box!)

Linking up with Sami.

"...Bring them up in the discipline & instruction of The Lord."

What a great responsibility given to dads! They are instructed, in Ephesians 6:4, to bring up their children in the discipline and instruction of The Lord. This weekend we got to celebrate Dads (and today, it's continuing on my blog)

My Daddy, Terry, is a godly man who loves Jesus, my momma, and his kids. He is a friend and a humble servant. He works hard to provide for our family and enjoys spending time with us as well - working the cattle, a game of one-on-one, fishing, finding things to do or buy for us that will bring us joy. I enjoy photography and coffee, and my dad bought me a coffee mug that resembles a camera lens! He prays for us and with us. He's driven late at night and in bad weather to take care of me when I was at school, rescuing me from the antics of the neighbor kids. He was "cold and heartless" when changing my bandages after my accident, doing all he could to help me be comfortable and heal. He enjoys bragging on me and my brothers - his office is covered in newspaper clippings of stock shows and handmade "prizes." I've never heard a single person say a bad word about my Daddy - people at his work admire him, people at stock shows and basketball games become his friend instantly, people at church know his great character and love. Dad is a "behind the scenes" kind of guy - he is happy to silently serve. He loves spoiling little ones and always has a smile.

In addition to having such a great dad I also am blessed to have three wonderful grandpas - my Granddad, Trapaw and Grandpa Kenny - and memories with three great-grandpas - Grandpa Sparky, Poppa Olie and Grandpa Hardy.

My, how blessed I am. Thanks for being YOU, Daddy.

Daddy & I at Dad's Day 2009

So I turned 24...

...and apparently forgot I had a blog. Really, I didn't, but since that magical day of #Shaes24th, I've been a really busy girl and my dear little blog got a little neglected. #sorrynotsorry though...

The night before I turned 24, I spent the evening with my favorite 8 year old - painting our nails, watching TV and having a super fun girls' night.

I had to work on my birthday, but never fear, I wore my fancy pants shoes so I could celebrate all.day.long.

When I got back from meetings that day, I had a huge delivery on my desk - Matt had sent me flowers! 

It's now been almost two weeks and I think they're still getting prettier and definitely still blooming. Good job, Matt. Gold stars. That evening, Matt and I celebrated my birthday with a BARBIE CAKE.

I was clearly very excited about all the birthday fun and how he much surprised me with such a great day, as evidenced by my excited face in the pictures we took that night. 

Every birthday princess knows that a birthday party isn't complete without a slumber party, so clearly I had one that night! Julie and Kiera were ready to celebrate when I got home from my celebration with Matt, and celebrate we did, until I was so tired that my eyes wouldn't stay open. Then the next day, we continued celebrating, by fixing our hair and makeup like princesses do, of course! 

Ready for our slumber party!

Have you ever met more beautiful fairy princesses?

My girls. The only thing that could have made the slumber party better is if Mag could have joined us for a cousin night! :)

On Friday Matt and I celebrated again, but I didn't get any pictures. #bloggerbirthdayfail. On Saturday, I met Twin Lori and Baby Tate for a birthday lunch! I'm telling you, I celebrate my birthday right! :)

Saturday night, my family came over to celebrate. I'd told momma I wanted a sparkly pink cake, but she outdid herself with this delicious made-from-scratch, glittering, pink, pearl Shae-cake.

After eating cake, Tate had to try pickle juice. He liked it, I promise. 

On Sunday, we had the Pikey Family Reunion because my great-great-great grandpa Benson Pikey was inducted into the Chickasaw Nation Hall of Fame on Tuesday! I enjoyed the event so much - there's always so much Chickasaw history and I find it very interesting to learn more about the people who have given so much to my tribe.

Great-great Aunt Marie - Ben Pikey's granddaughter - had to hit the casino floor for a bit after the Hall of Fame! She will be 102 this summer and is still just as rotten as they come :) 

On Wednesday morning (I think - my days are running together - eep!), my baby brother Kale was on TV! AmPo was chosen as OKC FOX's Cool School and Kale and the Elementary Choir got to perform! It was too cool. I asked him for his autograph and he told me I wasn't a "real person" so I didn't get it. Ouch!

Matt and Thabo came over last Wednesday night for dinner - I made pizza from almost-scratch (lies. It was totally from a box). Molly and Thabo weren't quite sure what to think of each other - my sassy little pug doesn't like to share, but tries to be as lazy as possible while defending her territory. At one point, she was sitting on Matt and staring down Thabo as he played. They haven't seen each other since Thabo was a tiny baby puppy, but by the end of the night I think they'd decided to be friends. 

On Friday, Magan, Kiera and I ran around the countryside taking pictures, and I got to see a beautiful sunset after taking pictures in the middle of the road. I'll be sure to share some pictures from their photo shoot soon :) 

On Saturday, I got up bright and early (for the weekend) to go to Letter Carriers' Food Drive! My job was to go to various sites and take pictures, and Matt's job was to drive me. I had such a fun day and really appreciated Matt going along with me to work! After the food drive, we went to dinner, watched the Thunder and even shopped a little! Such a solid Saturday :) 

Almost done with our day of work! 

Sunday it was time to celebrate MOM! My brothers and I are blessed with a truly incredible woman to call momma. We had a day at the ponds with our whole family, complete with fishing, homemade fried chicken, hot dog roasts, smores and sunburns! I can't wait for more days like this all summer long. 

Daddy said the rule is if you're driving the truck, the windows are down. I agree. 

I did an activity called "princess fishing" at the pond - I threw the line(?), reeled in the fish, but daddy took it off and held for the pictures. I don't touch gross things like that!

Such a busy, fun couple of weeks! God has put some truly wonderful people in my life and I am so, so very blessed! In conclusion: I'm seriously liking 24 so far.