Family Visit

Over the weekend Lynn left the cold Nebraska weather (in the negatives!) and came to spend some time with us in warm, sunny Houston where the temperature was in the 70's.  It was a great getaway for her and a nice treat for us as well.

Out to lunch with Christine and Tony

A gloomy day yesterday in Galveston

Valentine's Day

For Valentine's Day we went to see Steven Curtis Chapman perform in concert at Champion Baptist Church in north Houston. The concert was good - a mix of songs old and new from his 16 albums - but the most inspiring part of the evening was hearing about his ministry.

Years ago, when his three biological children were already in their teen years, Steven and his wife decided to adopt a little girl from China. The experience touched their lives so much that they adopted two more little girls from China. After talking to others about their life changing experience, they discovered that many other families also wanted to adopt but did not have the financial resources to do so.

With guidance from above, they decided to start a ministry dedicated to raising money to help families on their journey to adoption. They have been very successful in their endeavors and tonight alone raised $16,000. A local Houston family was called on stage at the end of the evening and was given a check for $4,000 toward their adoption costs. It was really neat to witness.

With adoption having been such a personal part of my own life, I know first-hand how life-changing and beautiful it really is. To briefly be a part of the ministry that gives deserving families across the country an amazing opportunity to change the lives of orphans was a great way to celebrate love on Valentine's Day.

To learn more about this organization, check out http://www.shaohannahshope.org.

This is one of Steven Curtis Chapman's new songs called "Cinderella." I've fallen in love with this song even though I don't have children yet. In this video clip, he tells the story of how he came up with the idea for the song (it's the same story we heard him tell at our concert) and I guarantee you will want a tissue box nearby when you hear the story and the song.  

Arizona

Over the weekend we took a mini vacation to Arizona to visit with family and friends.  We had a great time and enjoyed the break!

Neal standing near some cool cactus at The Farm, Phoenix's best kept secret for amazingly delicious food!

Out to dinner in Phoenix with Mary and Shawn

Visiting with the D'Angelo family in Scottsdale

Taking in the sights in Sedona

With Mary and my parents in front of the Chapel of the Rock

Kelly and Mary

View of the red rocks from the hillside on my parent's property

Mom and dad in front of their lot

View of Cathedral Rock from Coconino National Forest

"Look, it's a rock concert!" - Mary

Midgley Bridge

White Christmas

For the holidays we traveled to Omaha, Nebraska (where Neal grew up and where his mom and sister, Carolyn, still live).  It was beautiful driving home from the airport a few nights before Christmas and seeing snow on the ground with the city all decked out in lights and Christmas decorations.  Arriving at Lynn's home was just as festive, as she had a decorated tree in the front sitting room and another one in the family room.  Stockings were hung along the fireplace and the scent of fresh baked cookies was in the air.  A visit to Lynn's house always means plenty to eat!  And boy did we do just that - EAT!  It was a wonderful time and a joy to be able to spend the holidays with family.

Snow!

Neal, Lynn, and I with the twins

Carolyn's Christmas nature tree.  I think this might be the coolest tree I've ever seen.  Over the years she has collected all kinds of animal ornaments and has probably every species known to man hung on this tree.  There's even a St. Francis to watch over them all.  I love it!    

We had a chance to stop by the Boyer's and chat for a while.  What fun they are!  We love you guys.

This is a picture of our house all decorated before we left for Omaha.  There is a distinct possibility that it may have been the brightest on the block.  :-)

Christmas Offerings

One of the upsides of living in Houston is that they have some of the best radio stations we've ever heard. Among our favorites is an amazing Christian station called KSBJ, which we listen to quite frequently. A few months ago they announced the Christmas Offerings concert for Third Day, with special guest Jars of Clay, that would take place in December. I was pretty excited, as Jars of Clay has been my favorite Christian band since college. Neal tried to get tickets but they sold out pretty quickly. 

Yesterday morning as I was driving to work I heard KSBJ talking about the concert, which was that night. They mentioned that another very special guest would be there - Logan, The Sky Angel Cowboy (who I will talk about in a moment). I called Neal and asked if he could check online to see if there were any tickets available at the last minute, just in case. Through the grace of God he was able to get tickets on Craig's List just a few hours before the concert started.

Not only did we get front row seats on the balcony but we found out that they were filming the show for a DVD they are releasing next Christmas. We're not sure if we made the video but we'll find out next year. :-) The concert was at the Fellowship of the Woodlands Church, a HUGE church with grounds that look like a college campus, including fountains and tall trees all around. They had it all lit up and it looked like a winter wonderland (minus the snow). Unfortunately, since I didn't know we'd be going to the concert, I didn't have my camera to take pictures of it all.

The concert was awesome and both bands beautifully depicted the Christmas season and its meaning. The highlight of the evening for me was when Jars of Clay came out to the lobby for a meet and greet signing and I was finally able to meet them after being a fan of their music for over 10 years and seeing them in concert 4 times. They were super nice and autographed for me their new Christmas Songs album. The unfortunate part - I didn't have my camera to get a picture! :-( It was truly a blessing to meet them though, and I was grateful for the opportunity to tell them that their music has made a difference in my life. 

Back to Logan, the Sky Angel Cowboy. A few months ago Neal told me about this kid that called into KSBJ and talked about having to put down his calf. Apparently what he said about death was incredibly profound and it set off a series of phone calls into the station with people saying that Logan had deeply touched their hearts, helped them heal from their own loss of family or friends, and in some cases, even brought them to Jesus Christ. Since then, Logan has become somewhat of a local hero, although he lives out in the country somewhere in Nebraska. His phone call has been broadcast from radio stations all over the nation and touched the lives of hundreds of people. 

Logan has since called into KSBJ for interviews and just to check in. People have been so affected by his faith at such a young age that KSBJ decided to fly him and his family to Houston for last night's concert. Before the bands came out on stage, Logan got a few moments in the spotlight to say "Hi" to everyone and wish them a Merry Christmas. He is an adorable 13-year-old whom the Lord has truly worked through to affect so many people. I wanted to share his phone conversation with all of you, as it truly is amazing. God bless, and may your heart be filled with abundant love and joy this Christmas season. 

Happy Birthday Christine and Carolyn!

Although we couldn't celebrate with Carolyn in Omaha yesterday, we were able to celebrate with Christine here in Houston.  We went to one of the best pizza places in town - Candelari's.  A fun time was had by all.  We love you both and wish you every happiness throughout the coming year.    

Bailey Holiday Party

This weekend we had our first holiday party, which also happened to be our first party at the house.  What fun it was!  With the house all decorated now, "it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas."

By just a few seconds, we beat Christine and Tony in the siamese twin gift wrapping game.  However, since we like mac and cheese so much, we forfeited our table gift for their wrapped box of pasta.  :-)  Later in the evening, they won their victory status back with....

....the sock guessing game.  I still can't believe that you guys not only guessed most of the 15 items in that sock but also won the tie-breaker by guessing silly putty!  Do you know that there is sock hair stuck all over that stuff now?  Seriously, that was very impressive.     

 

Aahhh...victory is sweet for Charles and Wendy.

Our neighbors - Mike, Lisa, Sarah, and Gibron

And of course, what would a Bailey party be without a little Rock Band?  Looks like we've got some new band members!

The host and hostess with the mostess  :-)

Here's Neal putting up the outside lights on Thanksgiving weekend.  What a hair-raising moment this was!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving this year was a lot of fun.  We hosted dinner here at our house and had a deliciously filling meal.  Everyone pitched in and added their own flavor to the day.  2007 has been a good year and we have much to be thankful for.  God has blessed us in so many ways, especially with our families and friends.  Although we are far from most of you, we're blessed to have the love and support that you have always given us.  Our health, our house, our jobs - all of them given through His grace.  Above all, we're eternally grateful to have found one another.  Having recently celebrated our first wedding anniversary, we have so many wonderful memories behind us already, and look forward to many more in our future.  Lots of love to you and your families this Thanksgiving holiday.

   Christine, Tony, and us before our feast.

Anyone who knows Neal knows that he is a huge video game buff.  And anyone who keeps up with the video game world knows that this was a BIG week for gamers since Rock Band made its debut in stores on Tuesday.  Naturally, Neal had been talking about this day for months so of course, I had to get it for him on opening day as an early Christmas gift.  He has been so excited to play every night and just had to show Christine and Tony how it works.  :-)

Go Honey go!  My husband, the rock star!

The nice thing about Rock Band is that it has something for everyone to do so multiple people can play at the same time.  With Neal on guitar and me on the drums, Christine and Tony braved the role as our lead singers.  Although this was the first time they had ever performed in front of a large audience, they rocked the house and were able to join us on our world tour.  We played gigs in Boston, New York, L.A., and we even won some roadies at our gig in Seattle.  Whew, being on the road is exhausting!