Shankupdate

Happy Halloween

2011-11-02T10:54:00.001-07:00

Happy Halloween! from Jake and the Izzy's of Jake and the Neverland Pirates. The kids loved going trick or treating. Payton and Langley loved getting dressed up, ringing doorbells and getting lots of candy. Langley was literally running from house to house. Levi just loved being outside and walking up neighbor's sidewalks!

Texas State Fair

2011-10-31T13:49:00.002-07:00

We can now say we have been to the State Fair!!! Two weeks ago we went to the fair. It was great. We had yummy fried food, rode rides and enjoyed the sights. The girls loved getting to ride the ferris wheel as a family and ride their little "carny rides"...motorcycles, 4 wheelers, motor boats. The highlight was visiting the Little Farmer exhibit. The kids picked peaches, feed chickens, collected eggs, milked a cow, planted and watered seeds, drove a tractor, sold their crops and then got to buy a treat from the country store. And we ended the day with a picture in front of the infamous Big Tex!

2011-10-19T20:06:00.000-07:00

So this past Saturday I went out for what would have been the last training ride before my first half ironman triathlon. It ended up that one of the guys from Church who was with me had to call Kara & have her meet me at the emergency room. Although it is not a new thing for Kara to get a call from one of my friends telling her to meet me at the emergency room, this was the first time I had a wreck on my road bike...

We were 35 miles into a 65 mile ride. There were 20 of us, in a pace line going about 22 miles an hour. I was 6th in line when I heard the first few guys run over an object on the road. The object turned out to be a piece of rebar. The bike in front of me caught the rebar between its front spokes which then sheered off the front fork of the bike. The front of his bike dropped out from under him & I was about 10 inches behind him with no where to go...

Next thing I remember I am flat on my bike & guys are all around me telling me to stay still & stay down because I am bleeding badly. I must have blacked out for a while or even been knocked out because my bike had been moved to the side & was leaning against the guard rail. I heard the guys amazed at two things. The first was how they had never seen the front forks of a bike sheer off like that & the second was how much blood was coming from my face. I was laying on my back, hopeful that the bike they were talking about was not mine but pretty sure it was me who was bleeding like crazy!

I got to ride in the ambulance! Kara met me at the emergency room. It turned out that I had nicked an artery which explained the amazing amount of blood. I had landed on my right hip, then had hit the back of my head on the pavement. Apparently my own bike had hit me in the forehead which caused the gash. It took 14 stitches & the emergency room doctor is concerned that I might need the attention of a plastic surgeon because of the placement & shape of the cut. At this point, I am leaning toward the cool scar/war wound!

Below is the helmet. Yes, I am glad to have had one on!!! I have heard that Trek will replace a helmet when damaged like this in a wreck... That is good news to me in that they are more expensive then I care to replace (but would because of how it saved me)!

So, the cut above the eye was serious but the hip has proved to be the source of pain... This is only half of the bruise but I would not dare post anymore.... It goes above my hip/wasteline & wraps around the front & back. Pretty much the coolest bruise with the most coverage I have ever had! I may just have to measure it for personal record.
I had to drop out of the race for next weekend which is more then a little of a bummer. But I am glad that I did not break any bones nor was my bike damaged seriously! Of the other 4 guys who went down, they only had scraps on their knees/elbows. I do feel bad for the guy whose bike was totaled...

This is part of the mixed bag of riding in a group - on my own this probably would not have happened but if it had I would have been on my own...

Moral of the story is you could die sitting on the couch, get out there people & live - & wear a helmet!

"Don't take my picture"

2011-10-15T20:17:00.000-07:00

Payton, the 1st grader!

2011-10-15T20:16:00.000-07:00

The sweetest smile ever!!

2011-10-15T20:10:00.000-07:00

Payton loses her first tooth--end of August 2011

2011-10-15T20:07:00.000-07:00

Visiting sweet Grandparents!

2011-10-15T20:01:00.000-07:00

Sisters, Sisters

2011-10-15T19:58:00.000-07:00

July--Like my new look!

2011-10-15T19:55:00.000-07:00

too much play

2011-10-15T19:53:00.000-07:00

Langley's 3rd Birthday!

2011-10-15T19:50:00.000-07:00

Sweet time with family

2011-10-15T19:29:00.001-07:00

Thank You, Thank You Nathan and Kari for allowing us to spend 6 weeks with you. 10 people together for 6 weeks and 6 of them were 6 and under.....you are amazing!!!! We treasure all the memories we have of our time with you. Thank you for tirelessly doing things to make our time in India/Nepal enjoyable, memorable and bearable at times.

Kathmandu Zoo

2011-10-15T19:24:00.000-07:00

Baking with Hannah and Aunt Kari

2011-10-15T19:19:00.000-07:00

Hessed Donuts in Kathmandu, Nepal

2011-10-15T19:17:00.000-07:00

Levi turns 1 while in India

2011-10-15T19:12:00.001-07:00

At Uncle Nathan and Aunt Kari's house

2011-10-15T18:43:00.000-07:00

The kids first morning in New Dehli, India

2011-10-15T18:40:00.001-07:00

Day at the Dallas Arboretum

2011-05-01T20:46:00.001-07:00

Reindeer Babies---10months old

2011-05-01T20:32:00.000-07:00

Payton

Langley

Levi

Happy 6th Birthday Payton

2011-05-01T20:24:00.000-07:00

Payton's tooth

2011-03-03T19:35:00.000-08:00

Valentine cakes--thank you A. Tracey!

2011-03-03T19:26:00.000-08:00

Levi-8months

2011-03-03T19:21:00.000-08:00

Levi's crawling

2011-03-03T19:13:00.000-08:00

Christmas 2010

2011-03-03T19:05:00.000-08:00

Langley and her little piggies

2011-03-03T18:59:00.000-08:00

Levi- 6 months---11/10

2011-03-03T18:53:00.000-08:00

Happy 4th B-Day Abby---11.15.10

2011-03-03T18:45:00.001-08:00

Levi-5 months

2010-11-05T19:09:00.001-07:00

Happy Halloween

2010-11-05T18:55:00.000-07:00

Family Time in Missouri

2010-11-05T18:29:00.000-07:00

Pops with all the grandkids.

Sweet Hannah.

YaYa with the little girls. They were pretend fishing into the neighbor's little goldfish pond.

Grandma Beth with Levi.

Uncle Nathan, Hannah, and Payton looking at the baby calf.

Langley and Sammy down at the fishing pond.

Payton fishing and Langley throwing rocks. Payton didn't catch anything....I wonder why???!!!

In mid October Steve's sister, Christine, flew in from Alaska and Steve's brother, Nathan and his family were in the states visiting from India. So we all met up in Missouri. We got to spend time with Steve's dad and stepmom also known as Pops and YaYa, and Grandpa Bob and Grandma Marge in Springfield and then Steve's mom and stepdad also known as Grandma Beth and Grandpa Steve and Grandma Ruth. What a blessing it is to be with family.

Payton and Langley especially loved getting to play with cousins, Hannah and Samuel, fishing at Grandma Beth's and slumber parties with Pops and YaYa!!

Family Time in Denton

2010-11-05T12:58:00.001-07:00

Aunt Julie, Haydon, Will, PaPa and JaJa came for a visit in early October. Payton was counting how many sleeps until Haydon comes and Langley was counting until PaPa was coming. It was so fun to have them all for a visit. The kids loved playing together and I, of course, loved having mom and dad and Aunt Julie to visit with. We went to all the usually spots in Denton....Pizza Inn, Frilly's, Courthouse Collection, Yogurt Story and a new one for mom and dad, Fuzzy's Tacos. We had a great time but sadly i only have 2 pictures from the weekend!

Suzanne's wedding

2010-11-03T19:23:00.000-07:00

Levi is 3 months old and Will is 5 days old. What a difference!!!

We traveled to Missouri to see my cousin Suzanne get married to Dallas Jennings on September 11. While there we got to meet sweet Will, who was only 5 days old and get the girls got to play with Haydon. It was a great weekend to spend with family!

Sweet smiles of Payton, Langley and Levi

2010-11-03T19:15:00.000-07:00

First Day of School

2010-11-03T18:51:00.000-07:00

First day at Sonlight...homeschool program.

Langley loves her sister so whatever Payton is doing or carrying Langley is close behind. Langley misses Payton on school days and is always excited to see her!!

First day of her schooling at home.

On Tuesday mornings Daddy comes home and takes Langley on a walk so Mommy and Payton can do school in the mornings rather than at resttime.

Payton is 5 and ready for kindergarten. After much pray, talking with others and many conversations between Steve and I we decided to homeschool Payton. So I teach Payton on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and then she attends a homeschool program where she has PE, music, art, spanish, social studies and science on Mondays and Fridays.

Payton and I are loving getting this time together and the chance for me to see her learning and growing so quickly and then she, of course, loves going to school. Her favorite parts of the day are PE and recess!!!!

Family Vacation

2010-08-31T18:52:00.000-07:00

Steve and I decided after a fun experience camping that it was time to start going on fun trips as a family and that our first family vacation would be to Nashville to visit some friends, see some sites and make memories!! Payton started the countdown a week in advance. She was most excited about getting to swim 2 days in a row and getting to see her friend Ari.

Steve and I thought we would break up the trip by taking 2 days to get there and 2 days to return and on those days we would try to play around at the hotel and see a little of the town. It worked out great. We planned to drive to Memphis our first day and get a big chunk of the driving out of the way and visit a student from UNT who just moved there. So Friday we left at 7:30am and headed to Memphis, TN.

We arrived in great time and got to swim and eat pizza that evening. Then the next morning we meet our friends for lunch at BB Kings Blues club. It was so fun we were able to walk up Beale Street and see the sites. The streets were roped off and these young boys were doing flips down the road and then you could put some money in their bucket. Payton loved it and of course wanted to give them some money to do more flips!!! Also at BB Kings they had live music which Steve and I loved getting to see and experience. Then our last stop in Memphis was the historic Peabody Hotel and famous ducks (more on those later). The girls loved getting to see the ducks and loved getting to see their "duck palace."The first leg of our vacation was great---Payton got to swim 2 days in a row, lunch with friends at a cool place to eat, the peabody ducks and boys doing flips down the middle of the street!

We had a great time in Nashville. We went to the zoo, the Adventure Science Center and the library for storytime. All with our friends which made it even more special!!

The Adventure Science center was an incredible interactive 3 story (i think) learning/play place. I only made it to the 2nd floor but Payton, Ari and Nikki went to the top! It had activities and displays of the planets, use of leverage, trains, crains, body parts, blood vessel network and on and on. Then we also went to their library---amazing. If you' re in Nashville with kids the library should be on the agenda to see. Storytime has it's own little auditorium, stage, puppet areas and also a fountain outside ---the children's section is an entire floor. I thought Denton did a good storytime but this was very good. Good times in Nashville.

Thanks Andy and SaraB and Nikki and Jeremy !

On the way home we stopped in Little Rock. When Steve went to book our hotel he realized that 8 out of the 9 hotels off the interstate were full and the only one with vacancy was the Peabody Hotel. How perfectly that worked out!!! I am sure we would not have chosen the Peabody if their had been other openings but hey it's vacation right?!! The girls were excited to stay where they could see the ducks....we had saw them in Memphis but missed the morning arrival and the evening departure so now we were staying at the hotel with the ducks!!

So after arriving at the hotel that evening we ordered pizza and off to bed. We had until our noon check out to enjoy Little Rock. That morning the girls slept until 8am!! Then we quickly dressed and were ready to head out to the water park (no pool), then the phone rang--- it was the hotel telling us we had a flat tire and that they would go ahead and put the spare on, take it to a tire shop, repair the tire and have our car ready for us by noon. Thank God that we are staying at The Peabody where the service is like none other! So we went quickly to the old state capitol building that was next door and then headed over to the water park--Payton and Langley loved it. Then back for the ducks at 11am.

Sharply at 11am the Duckmaster rode the elevator to the 2nd floor where the 5 ducks got on and rode down, then marched in on the red carpet and into the fountain where they stay until 5pm. This was another highlight of our stop in Little Rock.

At 12pm we check out, got into our car, tire fixed and headed home!!!!

Around the House

2010-08-25T19:46:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures Steve took one Sunday. Payton(5) and Langley(2) love to play dress up and dance around. Sweet Levi is 2 and 1/2 months old. He is getting big FAST!

Levi-7 days old

2010-08-25T19:27:00.000-07:00

Grandma and Grandpa Jagels

2010-08-25T19:21:00.000-07:00

Visiting my grandparents, Grandma and Grandpa Jagels, was one of my highlights of the 4th of July weekend. And to my surprise and delight Payton and Langley posed for pictures!!! Love, love these pictures---my sweet grandparents and my sweet children!!!!!!

Planting A Garden

2010-08-25T19:12:00.000-07:00

This spring Steve and I decided we should plant a garden. We were going to be home this summer and we thought it would be fun for the girls to get to plant things, watch them grow and then get to eat some yummy veggies. So far we have had okra, cantelope, and string beans. Our tomatoes and red peppers didn't make it. The girls, especially, Payton has loved getting to check on the garden this summer--watering and picking---and just the excuse to go outside!!!

Levi Thella Shank

2010-07-19T19:57:00.000-07:00

Levi Thella arrived Tuesday, May 11 at 2:27am. He weighed 8pounds, 8 ounces and was 20 inches long. I was having contractions all afternoon but deceided to go to bed around 10:30pm because they didn't seem to be getting stronger or closer together. By 11 pm i was sure we needed to go to the hospital--after Langley's quick delivery--I was not taking any chances!!! So we arrived at the hospital about 11:30 or so after our sweet friend, Emily, arrived to stay with Payton and Langley. After a long hour and a half of trying to draw blood and get an IV I got an epidural and then Levi was quickly born. Steve and I were so thankful for a healthy baby boy who was just pecfect in our eyes!! Levi was welcomed home by his big sister's Payton and Langley with balloons and a sign!

Easter

2010-07-19T19:44:00.000-07:00

Camping

2010-07-17T08:12:00.001-07:00

We went camping with 2 other sweet families, Josh, Rachel, Kaylee and Caleb and Chris, Kristie, Brave, Davey and Alton the weekend before Easter. It was our first camping experience for our family. We had 7 kids under the age of 6 and 2 pregnant mommies. We had some rain our first morning but other than that everything went pretty smoothly. The kids played at the playground, around the campsite and down by the water. Payton loved getting to play with friends and Langley loved being outdoors and snacking 24/7!!!

Happy 5th Birthday Payton!

2010-02-26T10:26:00.000-08:00

Here is Payton on her new bike. She was very excited! And thankfully, Mommy and Daddy were able to surprise her---we have learned from the past that she is always listening, watching and looking when is comes to presents!!

Grandma Donita, PaPa and Aunt Tracey were able to come down and help celebrate and join in on the "trikathlon." A trikathlon is where you decorate your bike with crate paper, streamers and balloons and go on a bike ride. This was Payton's idea and turned out to be a lot of fun!! PaPa couldn't remember the last time he rode a bike and Aunt Tracey has faced some challenges in the past with bikes:) but all had fun and thankfully, no accidents!!!!!

Langley in her decorated wagon.

Caketime!

Payton's Tinker Bell birthday cake. Thanks to Aunt Tracey for all her help in decorating!!!

Snow, Snow, Snow

2010-02-26T10:17:00.000-08:00

Here is Payton and Steve's February snowman. We received between 8-10 inches of snow in a 24 hour period and broke records. What a cold, snowy Texas winter!! Payton is getting spoiled this year with all the snow. This was her 4th time to play in the snow this winter! (2 in Missouri and 2 in Texas)

Christmas 2009

2010-02-26T09:05:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas

Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa Jagels. Here our the great-grandchildren- Haydon(2), Payton(41/2) and Langley(11/2).

Christmas with Great Grandma and Grandpa Shank.

Making Christmas cookies with Grandma Donita. Langley loved the icing!

Enjoying another snow. Christmas morning we woke up at Grandma Beth's house with 8 plus inches of snow to play in!!!

Here is Payton with Grandma Beth and Great Grandma Ruth.

Here are the girls opening presents in Texas before our trip to Missouri to spend Christmas with more family.

Fall 2009

2010-02-26T08:31:00.000-08:00

This fall was filled with fun, travel, snow and the news that we are expecting again this May!!!! We are having a boy and are very excited. So here is a recap of our fall in pictures.......

Payton, 41/2, is learning to swing by herself and jump off... and continues to love drawing and painting of any kind.

Langley, 1, loves to play outside. She doesn't seem to mind getting dirty, climbing on anything, trying to do anything her big sister is doing and giving Mandu lots of sticks to chew on!
Mandu loves to chew on sticks and loves getting hugs and attention from Payton and Langley.

This fall we got to travel to Missouri to visit Grandma Jagels and visit Grandma Donita and Pa Pa.

On our visit to Missouri we also got to join in the fun of my cousin Bethany's wedding to Jim Rose. Payton was the flower girl and Haydon, Brandon's son, was the ring bear.
And here is Daddy and his girls playing in the first snow of the fall in Texas.

Home Sweet Home

2009-09-09T17:17:00.001-07:00

Payton and Langley ready to leave for church and the Kentucky Derby in their hats!!!

Payton and Langley playing together. Langley is a climber so if you are lying on the floor you can pretty much count on Langley climbing on top of you. Payton thinks its very funny to have her fall over her so she usually lays down and calls for Langley to come play!!

Langley likes to play in Payton's room and one of her favorite things is climbing up on the table and chairs.

This is Langley's first official visit out to the cemetery and first time to play on "Abby's rock."

Payton playing in the sprinklers!

Payton and Langley playing in the tent.

A Missouri Summer

2009-08-23T18:15:00.000-07:00

Steve, Payton and Langley wrestling. Daddy's favorite time of the day.

Langley loved crawling into our cabinets at the condo.

Langley celebrating her 1st birthday!

Payton out on the lake.

My good friend, Mary, lives in Branson so a big highlight for me this summer was getting time with her. Payton loves playing at their house because dressing up is always part of the fun. Here they are dressed up as cowboys or outlaws---Lucy, Joey, Bella, Payton, Madaline, Langley.

Here was the crowd(Great Grandpa Jagels, Grandma, Aunt Tracey)for Payton and Steve's fireworks show!!! Popper's and parachutes were the main events.

Langley and Papa.

Payton and Kylie, my cousin Wendee's daughter, preparing to get some candy at the 4th of July parade.

Payton fishing with Grandma Beth.

Langley and Hannah enjoying a bite to eat at Grandma Beth's house.

Family photo after a dinner with the UNT students.

Another big highlight of the summer was going to see Peter Pan. We now play Peter Pan at home---I(Kara) am Peter Pan, Steve is Slightly Soiled, a lost boy whose name we learned at the play, Payton is Curly, another lost boy and Langley is Tinkerbell.

Payton with my cousin Bethany at a wedding shower. Payton is going to be her flower girl in her wedding this October.

This is our dear friend Trese, on staff with the Navs, who will be in the Ukraine this year. She will be missed dearly by our family!

Langley with Papa at Silver Dollar City.

Spending time with Haydon, my brother Brandon's son, was a big highlight of the summer, especially for Payton.

Visiting with Uncle Nathan, Hannah and Samuel. Steve's brother, Nathan and family were back in the states from India visiting.

Silver Dollar City with Haydon in a very big rocking chair.

The girls with Great Grandpa Wilson.

This summer we were in Missouri from the beginning of May until the first week in August. The Navigators summer training program is held in Branson and it was our year to lead. Which meant going home for us....spending time with family and friends and of course all the students from across our region and more.
What a busy summer it was!! Steve was very busy leading the program and spending time with students and staff and still squeezing in time with family, while the girls and I tried to spend the most of our time with family and friends. The bonus for Payton was coming back to the condo after a full day with grandparents and getting to hang out with students!!!!
Payton's days were filled with swimming lessons, afternoons at Silver Dollar City with Papa, playing with Haydon, playing at Grandma and Papa's house, White Water and trips to see Grandma Beth, Aunt Kari, Uncle Nathan, Hannah and Samuel!
Langley's days were filled with the same but all the while learning to crawl on all four(before she was doing a one arm dragging herself), pulling up and then taking steps by the end of the summer. Langley just wants to be doing what her sister is doing!!!

Easter

2009-04-13T18:55:00.001-07:00

Payton and Langley in their easter outfits.

Easter morning with their baskets.

Payton is decorating easter cookies....

Here's Langley showing off her easter basket!!!!

spring is in the air....

2009-04-13T18:41:00.001-07:00

Langley's first haircut, just 2 little sips to get those long side hairs, by our friend, Jill.

Steve and I got to go to Nascar last Sunday with our friends Josh and Rachel (thanks for the invite). It was very fun, very loud, exciting and so much to watch!

Payton and Daddy getting the jeep all shined up for Spring---great jeep weather!

Here is Payton and Steve taking a break from playing in the field across the street from our house. They play "coach"as Payton likes to call it. Payton tells Steve how to play soccer---although the only soccer experience she has is from watching The Berenstain Bears television show where Sister bear tries out for the soccer team! It so fun living with a 4 year old!!!!

Reindeer babies

2009-04-13T18:34:00.001-07:00

Payton is on the top at 10 months and Langley is below at 9 1/2 months. Aren't they the sweetest things?! So similar yet so different.

Daddy and his girls

2009-04-13T18:23:00.001-07:00

Payton's Backyard Fun

2009-04-13T18:14:00.002-07:00

Thanks to the mild winters in Texas. Payton loves to go in the backyard and jump on the trampoline, play on the swing set and on this day reading her books up in the tree. Thanks to Daddy for the help in getting settled in the tree!!

Payton

2009-04-13T18:14:00.001-07:00

Langley's 8 months old

2009-04-13T18:11:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Payton

2009-04-13T17:53:00.001-07:00

Payton turned 4 on February 20. We got to celebrate in Branson at Grandma and Pawpaw's house which made it all the more exciting!!! Especially for Payton. She likes to tell people that she "is 4 now and she had a party at Grandma and Pawpaw's house, in Missouri. It's a long ways away." Which is a lot of say for a 4 year old and even more difficult to understand when she is talking fast and talking to strangers who are not really listening or half listening. But this doesn't stop her!!!! It's always fun to spend my day with my talkative and energetic 4 year old.

It is February but this didn't stop her from wearing her new outfit Aunt Tracey and Lorie got her. Payton loves clothes and has definitie ideas of what she should wear.

Here's Payton loving on Langley!!!!

Valentine Packages

2009-03-26T11:42:00.000-07:00

Here are the girls opening their Valentine packages they received from Aunt Tracey and Lorie. Payton loved the Cinderella magnetic doll and Langley loved the bear but even more she loved the card....touching it, chewing on it, moving it from hand to hand!!!

Pops and Ya Ya AND Disneyland!!!

2009-02-04T17:59:00.001-08:00

Our trip out to see Pops and Ya Ya was filled with fun and excitement....mostly because Payton was so excited to ride on the airplane, play with Pops and Ya Ya and go to Disneyland!!! We had a great time visiting with Bob(Pops) and Rhonda (YaYa), going to parks and eating fruit smoothies!

Our time at Disneyland was filled with getting our picture taken with all the critters, as Payton calls them, going on rides and looking at all their is to see.

Riding the carousal.

Payton was on the lookout for Goofy and we finally saw him right before we were leaving the park on our first day there.

Minnie took Payton by the hand and went on a short walk with her. It's amazing what small amounts of attention can do for a sweet 3 year old little girl. Payton stills says "Remeber when Minnie Mouse.....

Payton loved every minute with the princesses!!!!

Langley did great... she napped and just looked around at all the sights.

The flying Dumbo's were one of her favorite rides.

December...

2008-12-19T19:03:00.001-08:00

Langley's six months old.

Payton loved decorating her gingerbread house and getting to sample the icing, gumdrops, m&m's.... "sugar and spice and everything nice, that's what little girls are made of."

Langley loves her baths.

Our Christmas blessings. Don't you just want to squeeze those cheeks!!!!

November...

2008-12-19T18:58:00.000-08:00

"Happy Birthday Steve"

Yes, it is November and I am not sure what the weather is but when you're a 3 year old girl any day is the perfect day to wear a sundress!!!

October..

2008-12-19T18:48:00.001-08:00

Back in Texas to go trick or treating!!!

Payton, the purple princess, is waiting to get a purple butterfly painted on her face at a "trunk or treat" party.

October flew by. The girls and I were in Branson for a total of 2 weeks visiting Grandma and PawPa while Steve traveled and was busy working. This was taken at Silver Dollar City.

Langley is 4 months old...time really is flying by,

September....

2008-12-19T18:39:00.000-08:00

Langley's first time at the park!

Payton is taking ballet this year. So graceful....

Payton loves having the college students back...this was taken a tailgating party.

August...

2008-12-19T18:28:00.003-08:00

Matching dresses---one of my favorite things about having two sweet girls.

August brought more vistors with gifts and fun distractions and extra attention for Payton. Payton, at this time, had a love hate relationship with Langley. She loved the little baby but not sharing the attention from Mom and Dad!

Catching up....

2008-12-19T18:21:00.000-08:00

The month of July was spent getting to know and adjusting to our sweet little Langley.

2008-06-17T12:42:00.000-07:00

What a weekend it has been for us!!! Saturday night Kara and I spent revisiting our list of names for our daughter which was due July 13th... Little did we know that the next morning we would be welcoming Langley Kate Shank into the world!!!

2008-06-11T08:37:00.000-07:00

before you read the below post, I must mention that I am so frustrated with blogging and putting pictures in... How do you get them where you want them???

Summer time

2008-06-11T08:16:00.000-07:00

The summer is off and running, hopefully I will be back to running by November. Kara is hoping to be back to running before then... Our next little girl is due July 13th, as for me I'm not running these day due to a torn achilles tendon...

Payton is loving the swimming pool these days & for the first time Kara may have more of a tan then I do...

Payton is way into fishing these days, most often it is in our backyard and the fish are always biting, big ones two. Usually we just eat the big ones right off the line, sort of like they do on her favorite TV show "Man vs Wild".

This spring Payton got to meet her cousin Hanna, which was a big deal since Hannah lives in India!!! I personally think Hanna is beautiful, inspite of looking a lot like her favorite uncle (me)!!!

Ministry with college students continues to be a blessing that Kara and I don't take for granted. We are now seeing students graduate and move on to a life of faithfulness and labor where God plants them, laborers next door to everywhere!

I was thinking about posting the picture of my leg after surgery but thought I would spare you... Have an unbelievable day!!!

New year... New blogspot...

2008-01-28T05:52:00.000-08:00

We figured it was about time we caught up with our generation and began keeping you updated on what has been happening in our home life...

Christmas was such a blast, especially seeing Payton embrace the expectation of Santa. Our new home even has a fire place, on many nights she still opens the screen before bedtime so that he can come on in. We are doing our best to explain that Santa is off, resting up from all the work he did delivering presents but that he will be back next year!

We are also continuing to work on projects around the house... It is getting better every day! We should be finished with the bathrooms (minus the countertops) within a week. Payton is enjoying her room and you are welcome for a tea party anytime.

Probably the best news of all is that we are going to have a baby this summer! July 13th is our due date... We can't wait for you to meet another little Shank...

Prayer requests

2007-10-10T13:07:00.000-07:00

Dear friends,

We have no one else like you, who takes a genuine interest in our lives and ministry. Thank you for lifting up these requests...

1. Red River Retreat - October 12-14th... This event is the apex of our fall semester. Please pray for community as we get away from campus together for a time of teaching, worship & fellowship. Many students will be attending with various degrees of pursuit of the Lord. Pray that the Lord uses our speaker Mark Lewis, the worship leader Kent Boring & our time together in small groups.

2. Funding - After the retreat Kara & I will be shifting a portion of our time to work on our funding. Our desire is to continue working full time amongst these students who have become so dear to us. Our current goal is to raise $1500 in monthly support.

3. National Conference - October 30- November 5th... This will be the end of our staff in training phase with The Navigators & we will officially become Navigator Representatives. For those of you outside the Navigators, this simply is the practice of The Navigators to "not be hasty in the laying on of hands." Our time of training has been long & very helpfull to us in our development as ministers & as a couple/family.