My Girl Looks At 40! - November 14

A belated birthday post to my best friend. Beautiful, loving, charming, caring, faithful, outgoing, amazing, funny, and sophisticated, but loves the simple things and takes nothing for granted. Just a few words I would use to describe her. A wonderful and unwavering wife and a loving mother. Sees the good in everything and always has a way of making me see it too. She has a great sense of humor and can make me laugh anytime she wants. Her smile makes me smile. So thankful I've been able to share your teens, your 20's, and your 30's with you. Can't wait to share many, many more. I love you more than words.

Happy Birthday.

Pictures To Come.

Collin is 13!

Thirteen years ago today our oldest son, Collin Vinson Gutman, was born. He is and has been an indescribable gift to us and life before him has long been forgotten. He has blessed our lives in so many ways and has taught us more about ourselves than we ever thought possible. We are so thankful for him and our lives would not be complete without him.

Collin is funny, loving, caring, artistic, athletic, and energetic. Collin amazes us daily, things like the zoo, the aquarium, the beach, festivals we go to yearly never get old for Collin. It's like the first time. There's alot to learn from that. Collin lives life to the fullest. Collin also loves kids, especially little kids. He walks to the beat of his own drum, he loves what he loves and it doesn't matter if that's the popular thing or not. We are so thankful that he is so comfortable being himself. He is a great big brother to his sisters and his little brother and is blessed with great friends. We know that God has special plans for Collin and thank him daily for such a blessing!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY COLLIN!!!!

WE LOVE YOU MORE THAN WORDS!!!!

YOU'RE GROWING UP TOO FAST!!!

Introducing the Stanley Family of 6, yeah!!!!!!

Big Brother's Brennan & Bryson & Big sister Lola Joy anxiously awaiting

Lily Hope & Their Mom & Dad

What an emotional, beautiful Homecoming!!!!

Love seeing this family together

Seeing this picture tares at my heart strings every time I see it, Brennan & Bryson really missed their mom & dad, too sweet!!!! Look at these three sweeters, Lola Joy, big sis to Lily Hope, Eva Faith buddy to Lola Joy & soon to be buddy with Lily Hope & my little man Cooper,
Hey Coop, aren't they gorgeous & sweet, I'm just sayn, ha!

There they are, yeaaahhhhhh, Stanley Family of 6!!!!!!
Sorry this took sooo long, two 3 yr olds plus a 10 & 12 yr old keeps us pretty busy

Pink is in honor of Lily Hope. What a blessing it was to be a part of another one of God's children coming home to their FOREVER FAMILY!!! They started off on this journey over 3 years ago, praying, HOPING, for their little China doll, which also led them to their Ethiopian Princess. It's amazing to me that God has known all along that their journey would be long & hard but oh so worth it, his timing is PERFECT. He has known since the beginning of time that on Friday September 17th, 2010 that Lily Hope would be with her big brother's & sister forever, amazing!!!His time is perfect, the Stanley's know that better than anyone, their story is amazing to say the least. I know that is one of the things they pray for, hope for, that their journey, will inspire other's to take that leap of faith, step out of the boat, listen to the call. We serve an amazing God, through him all things are possible. We love you guys!!!


"May your UNFAILING love rest upon us, Oh Lord, even as we put our HOPE in you. Psalm 33:22

What we've been up to the last month or so

Every Labor Day weekend we go to our Aunt Connie & Uncle Marions for the traditional Kistler Family Reunion

My kids love going there, just like I did when I was a kid, still do!!

They are so much fun & they really spoil us

Pictured below the kids with my aunt, uncle & my nephew Jackson

The kids riding the train at the park with Morgan, Lexi & Addi

This time next year there will be 2 more my sis is expecting a little girl

and my sis-in-law a little boy, can't wait!!

Aunt Marcy and Morgan

Cooper loved the Carousel
My little Grayson Faye
Shelby Leigh

Collin riding the lion

Fun at Rocky Ridge, wish you could have seen

my baby boy on this pony, priceless!!!

My little cowgirl

The two little kids on the goard & mini pumpkin hunt

My biggest boy, of course he had a blast with all the animals that were there

Unfortunately I didn't get a picture at Rocky Ridge of my Shelby Leigh

we met up with our friends the Howells and Shelby was on the go all day with their daughters,

I'll get her next time.

Golfing at Eagle Creek, Grayson Faye is a big daddy's girl

What a pair

We went to several of the movies at the GC Park this summer

it was a blast, our favorite was the Princess And The Frog

We packed blankets, pillows & snacks

Best buds, what one doesn't think of the other one does

We have had so much fun as a family of 6, movie nights at the park, golfing

at Eagle Creek, Fall Festivals, Wool Festival, and just hanging out. I have more posts in the works so stay tuned. Blessings!!!!

September 11, 2010 - Never Forget

Mattie and I will never forget where we were on this unforgettable day. A day where ordinary people will forever be remembered as heroes and patriots and a day when we all remembered how fortunate we are to be Americans. I was on my way to work in Carlisle, Kentucky, a small town in Nicholas County when I heard the news on the radio. When I got to the courthouse everyone was consumed by the news and shocked by what they were seeing. I remember hearing someone in the courthouse say, "We're at war." By then no one believed what happened on that day was an accident.

We witnessed people losing loved ones and friends. We witnessed children losing parents and grandparents. We witnessed ordinary people doing extraordinary things. We witnessed people on their knees in prayer and we witnessed people who went out of their way to help their neighbor.

Today, we pray that our country never forgets what happened on September 11, 2001 and we pray that such an act never happens again.

We pray for the men and women who serve this great country so that we might enjoy the freedoms that we sometimes take for granted. We pray for the soldiers we have lost and who've been wounded, and we pray for their families. We pray for our police officers, our firefighters, and our first responders.

We pray for the men and women who lost their lives on that dreadful day. We pray for the people who lost loved ones and friends and we pray for the children who lost parents and grandparents.

The first 3 songs on our playlist are in honor of 9/11. God Bless America~

Back To School Swim Party & First Day of School

Caught the entire pool party gang in the kiddie pool during rest period, hilarious
Shelby's friends that she invited from left to right
Brayden, Nicole, Morgan, Shelby, Amber, Jack, minus Brennan, we missed you Bren

Collin's friends, Caroline, Morgan, Collin, Maggie, Grant minus Stone, we missed you Stone


Shelby 1st day of 5th grade, wow, hard to believe

Collin 1st day of middle school harder to believe, we were the only parents taking
A picture in the hallway of the middle school, of course Collin was totally ok with it, what a kid!!!!

The back to school party was great. The kids had a long list of friends to invite but unfortunately we were limited to how many we could bring. The kids had a blast. We could not have asked for a better group of kids. Timmy and I feel so blessed that are kids have such sweet, kind friends, their parents should be very proud!!! Of course Cooper & Grayson were right in the middle of everthing and the kids were soooo great with them, that was amazing to me most kids that age do not want to be bothered with little kids. Brayden Dungan bought Cooper a Reese Cup because we had eaten all of the ice cream and Cooper was pouting and Brayden wanted to cheer him up, I can see why Shelb thinks so much of him!!

I can not believe my oldest baby boy is in middle school, wow!!!! Timmy and I really struggled this summer just knowing that it was coming, this was very emotional for us. You worry so much about your kids, you try your best to teach them right from wrong and the right choices to make and the choices that God wants them to make. It has been a real blessing to know that Collin loves middle school. This is the most excited he has ever been about school and he is really excited about his band class and learning to play the trumpet.

We're always reluctant for school to start because they both are growing up so fast right in front of our eyes, but knowing how blessed Collin and Shelby are to be in a great school, with great teachers, and with great friends makes it a little easier.

We are just so proud of them both and are ready for another great year!!! WE LOVE YOU BOTH MORE THAN WORDS.