Burton's 2nd Birthday

This little guy is two years old. How does the time fly by so quickly. 

Burton loves:

Food: milk, grapes, fruit snacks, tomatoes, peanut butter, broccoli, and pizza.

Playing any sport: basketball, soccer, football, and baseball...to name a few.

Loves playing with trucks that have a trailer to attach to them.

Going to the ranch and checking the cows and horses.

Copying anything and everything that Daddy or Papa does.

Being cuddled.

Playing outside.

He does not like:

Sleep.

Eating meat (except for on the rare occassion).

When daddy leaves for work.

.....I'm sure there are more things, but I can't think of them right now.

Petting Mr. Moose. He loves to pet him and say hi to him first thing in the morning and as soon as we arrive home.

He loves to be cuddled and rocked to sleep.

Adalynn helping make cupcakes for Burton's birthday party.

Rocking and reading bedtime stories with daddy.

The cupcakes Ady helped make.

Burton thought that having "campfire on my cake" was the best thing ever! He asked for more campfire on his cake several times for the next few days after his party.

We are so thankful for friends and family that helped us celebrate this special guy!

And this video was a couple of days before Burton's birthday while we were in OKC with Nate and Terah. We had a little celebration with cake and "campfire" for him!

Biscuits and Gravy to Babies

We had a great time out the ranch with Papa and Mamanita last week. Mama and Adalynn made biscuits and gravy for dinner for us. Delicious!! We are loving living in town, but we for sure miss our time with Papa and Mama as well!

 Burton trying on Aunt Gini's hat. We are so excited to have her living in Abilene (mostly)! Excited to get to spend more time with her.

 A heated pool on a warmish sunny day = lovely

 Aunt Coco is always so sweet to saddle Buddy for the little kids to ride. Adalynn has been very nervous in the past and hasn't wanted to ride. But this time she chose to ride even though she was a little afraid. She's growing up too fast!

AND. Last, but not least. We are expecting baby Cornett #3 to arrive in September!

12 Weeks along.

Holidays 8 Years Later

The holiday season is here! 

Since Tyler died on December 21, 2006 I have carried the Christmas letter (and picture) that we sent out just days after his death in my Bible. I hadn't re-read it. I hadn't opened it. Just had it there in my Bible. Today, I really wanted to read it for some reason.  As I read, I was reminded of how faithful my parents were (and still are). In the letter, you can feel their great great sorrow at the loss of their son. But you also read of a great faith in God that remains unchanged. Even in a time of a loss so great that we couldn't eat or sleep and we could hardly even breath, Papa and Mama led and pointed us back to God and the grace of Jesus Christ. At the time, I dealt with anger towards God and even being a little upset and appalled that my parents would continue to thank God and speak of his love for us at such a time. But now, I am so thankful for their deep faith and hope. And so thankful for their willingness to be sad and to mourn. And I am so thankful that we were all able to cry and cry and express our great pain at this loss. But I am also thankful that they trusted God and loved God in the midst of the horrific sorrow. And I am so thankful for Tyler's faith in God.

Edited: So after I posted the above, I went to read and have some time with the Lord. I picked up in Romans where I had previously left off and this is what I read:

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose....He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all -- how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things. Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died -- more than that who was raised to life -- is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: 'for your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered'. No in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither heights nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." --Romans 8:28-39

Coincidence? I think not.

I was so needing to hear this. I was needing to be reminded of God's perfect care over me. Of his great and perfect love for me in his greatness and goodness and sovereignty.


In case you want to re-read the letter from that year (or you've never read it), here is a copy of it. It is just a picture of the letter take with my iPhone...so please excuse the poor quality.

Burton's Miracle

We experienced an absolute miracle. No way around it. God provided a very tangible reminder of his love and provision for us. 

Matthew, Adalynn and I were going to Devin and Sarah's for dinner. It was our last night in Alaska together, so we were going to their house for a "goodbye dear friends" dinner. We had gotten about 12-14 inches of snow in the few days before. Matthew walked out the front door with Adalynn to get her buckled in and I was following shortly behind him. As I went out the front door I missed the second step going down our front steps. I landed hard on my behind and then continued to bounce down the remaining 6 steps. As I came around the corner in view of Matthew I was covered in snow and crying. He was immediately very concerned about me. As he helped me into the car he asked me if I wanted to go to ER. I really didn't want to go. Although I was concerned about Burton, I was feeling him move and I was not having any significant contractions. Matt asked again, if I was sure that I didn't want to go. I told him I was sure. I was hurting badly in my behind, but otherwise felt fine. Plus, I did not want to spend all night in the ER the night before we were going to be spending all night on an airplane. Matt ask me to call Papa to get a second opinion to make sure that I was thinking clearly and was okay to not go. I talked to Papa and told him that I was feeling fine and feeling Burton move. He said it as probably okay to not go to the ER, but to keep an eye on things. So, we continued on our way to Devin and Sarah's. After I got off the phone from Papa, Mama called me to get the run down of what happened as well. As I was talking to Mama and telling her everything was fine, I all of the sudden felt a huge gush of fluid. I reached down and saw that there was blood. I showed Matthew and I immediately started crying and Mama began praying for me and baby Burton. We were only a block from Devin and Sarah's house, Matt quickly turned the car around headed to the ER in Palmer. Matthew began praying for me and Burton as well and prayed the whole way to the ER. We both just knew that this was bad. Having a gush of fluid and blood at 22 weeks pregnant was not good. We were both pretty sure we were having a miscarriage and we were going to lose Burton. We called Devin and Sarah to tell them what had happened and to get them to let friends know and to get them to be praying for us and for Burton. We got to the ER after what seemed like the longest 15 minute drive ever. They took me back to a room and the nurse had me change into a gown and give a urine sample. When I got to the bathroom and took my long winter coat off, there was no longer any blood on my pants! There was a small amount of blood on the toilet tissue, but otherwise, NO TRACE of blood!! Matthew and I were in disbelief. The nurse hooked me up to the monitors to check my contractions and to monitor Burton. Burton's heartbeat was strong and regular and I was having very few, very mild contractions. The monitored me for about an hour. Then after they consulted with the doctor, the nurse came and checked me. She was looking for any signs of blood and also did a swab to check to see if the fluid had been amniotic fluid. She found no trace of blood AT ALL and the swab was negative for amniotic fluid. Besides my entire buttock already turning all kinds of blues and purples, there were no signs of my falling! A miracle. We absolutely believe that God heard out cries and answered our prayers to save Burton. In the car, Matthew and I both saw the blood, and all traces of it were miraculously gone at the hospital. At first, we began to try to explain it away and thought, "Maybe we didn't really see blood in the car". But, no. We did. We both saw the blood and fluid in the car, and God removed it completely. God performed a miracle for us. We know that God does not always answer our prayers in this way. With both of our previous miscarriages, we begged God to save our babies and he did not. We know that. God does not always answer our prayers as we think or hope that he will. But he does answer prayers as to what is best for us. He longs to draw us nearer to himself and to form us to be more like Jesus. God, being good and loving answers our prayers as to what is best for us, even if that answers seems difficult. But for us, this time, he answered and saved our baby Burton and we are forever grateful and in awe of his provision for us. We serve a good, loving, powerful, and perfect God. 

4 Months Old

Our sweet little girl is 4 months old. She continues to be a very happy and content baby!

Growing up, my parents taught me that, especially in the beginning of a baby's life, you respond to them when they cry. So. That is what we do. When she cries we pick her up and change her, feed her, talk to her, cuddle her, bounce her, etc. I am unsure if this is why she is such a happy baby or not. But, what a joy it is to have the opportunity to show this little girl that Matthew and I love her, will be there for her when she needs us and will do our best to respond to her needs. Even if that need is "I just want to be rocked to sleep" :)  I am 29 years old and there are days where I get cranky (and sometimes even cry) if I have not gotten to spend enough time with Matthew lately. So, if at 29 years old I still have trouble coping with my emotions and my need for those I love to show me that they love me, then I definitely cannot expect my 4 month old baby to know how to cope with her insecurities and need for some cuddles! So, for now, we will teach her how much we love her so that when we begin to discipline her she knows how much she is loved. We are absolutely loving being parents to this little girl and we are cherishing every moment we have to cuddle her and comfort her (even if it is at 3:00am that she needs cuddles)  :) What a gift it is to get to experience a very small taste of God's love for us. And a small taste of how He longs to respond to us and love us and comfort us when we need it. I know that Matt and I will make mistakes as parents (I smashed Adalynn's poor little finger in her carseat buckle the other day and Matt clipped the tip her nail too short). These are just small mistakes that we have already made. I dread the days and times that we fail and let this girly down, but I am so thankful that God's grace will cover over our mistakes as parents and will further remind us of how greatly we need a Lord and Savior. And I pray that because of our mistakes, she will learn that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the light and that God is the only one who will never leave her or forsake her.

 She has discovered her very high pitched voice :-/

While we were in Texas with my family we had the opportunity to dedicate Adalynn to God and in front of all of our family pledge to raise her to know who God is and how much he loves her. And in return, my parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters, and aunt and uncle pledged to help us raise her to know God.

Here is our prayer for her:

That God will reveal Himself to her and change her heart at a young age. That she will grow into a Godly woman. One who serves God with her life and that her heart may be aware of the hope to which she is called. We hope that Christ will dwell in her heart and that she will be rooted and established in love so that she may know how wide and how long and how high and how deep the love of Christ is. And that she will be an example to those around her of Christ's love. We pray that she will dwell on the Gospel all the days of her life. That she will be one who is gentle and compassionate and will show God's love to people that need encouragement.

Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. (Philippians 2:1-4 NASB)

Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 15:5, 6 NASB)

Easter