Happy Easter!! He is Risen!

We had a great time at Easter!  We actually got to head down to dad and mom's sooner than we had planned.  After a trip to the beauty shop on Thursday night (which was slightly traumatizing), we picked up Jessica and Ryan and headed to OK.  We didn't get to leave until 8:30 and got to Poteau about 12:30 a.m.  We were very thankful for the Lord's protection on they way down there.  I always dread traveling at night and being responsible for someone else children, but He was there with us every step of the way!!

We woke up Friday morning and we just stayed at dad and moms and waited for everyone else to come in.  Dad came up with some games for the kids to play.  This one below was fun.  It was a gun that he brought from Peru.  You blew into the end of it and a little sharp stick came out and so we all took turns popping balloons.  Even yours truly got in on the action and I'm proud to report I didn't hurt anyone and I actually popped a balloon.

On Saturday we got all the eggs prepared to hide. We hid 2.5 dozen of hard boiled eggs and 60 dozen filled plastic eggs.  We only had 8 kids hunting eggs so they each got to hunt almost 100 eggs a piece.  CRAZY!!!  We always hide that many though.  And it is so much fun.

Here we are waiting for the kids to arrive.  We always make them go to the park and play while we hide eggs.  It takes a while to hide that many. 

And here are the kids coming in.  

Trinity had to climb up on a ladder to find one of her eggs!

And here's Papa helping McKenna with all her eggs.  She didn't have time to get a new carton!

Saturday night we were all sitting in mom and dad's living room.  Talking and having a great time.  We were playing games that Grandma Murray had taught my mom and aunts.  They were so much fun.  We didn't need video games, board games, card games, etc.  We didn't have to be entertained by t.v.  We had a great time just being together and playing "old" games.  Then we sent the kids outside to play flash light tag and run some of their sugar high off.  The "adults" stayed inside and my aunt went to the keyboard and started playing every hymn she could think of.  We laughed, cried, reminisced, and cried some more.  It was such a great moment.  I couldn't help but think of my Grandma Murray in heaven.  I know she would've been so proud to have her kids, grandkids, and great grandkids singing about the TRUE reason behind Easter.  Don't get me wrong, she loved the Easter egg hunt just as much as the kids, but she made sure we always knew the true meaning of Easter.

Sunday morning I got up early, and Ron, Mom and I were the only ones up.  We were teasing mom about her useless potato peeler.  She said it was a great peeler and that she loved it.  Ron told her it was worthless and that it wouldn't cut anything.  So mom said that she could peel her potato with her peeler faster than Ron could with his peeler he liked.  So the race was on.

And the winner was RON!! ha!!  Mom about died!!!!!!  She couldn't believe that Ron beat her and her precious peeler!! Priceless!!

We had a wonderful Easter Service.  Jessica, McKenna, Ryan, Zach, Trinity, Sabrina, and Hunter got up at the beginning of the service and sang "He Knows My Name".  It was so sweet and KK was so proud of them.  They sound great together.  Then our whole family that was there (22 of us) got up and sang "Ten Thousand Angels" and the presence of the Lord was very overwhelming.  There were more tears.  Then Dad, Mom, Ron and I sang "Carried Away".  Dad had said that this church was kind of low key and they didn't get very excited.  Well, apparently they wanted to make my dad a liar because they were clapping and waving their hands and smiling.  Mom said you could have knocked her over with a feather, she was so shocked.  My dad then preached a wonderful messages about choices.  He said that the biggest choice he had made that day was what way to part his hair this morning.  Um.. yeah, my dad doesn't have any hair.  He's so silly.  But then he talked about making the choice to accept Christ as Personal Savior.  And talked about 

GRACE!  G-God's  R-Riches  A-At  C-Christ's  E-Expense.  It was a wonderful service.  

We got home and took some pictures.  Here's Ron's Family.

And here is Jessica and Ryan

And Boyd and I

And then 3 out of 4 of us kids.  Rob had to go back Saturday night.

Then we all got ready to head home.  Here is Trinity, Uncle Darrel (holding Mr. Quacker) and Papa.

And our ride home was a little noisier than coming down.  Boyd bought 2 ducks, and 10 chicks.  This is Sunshine the duck.

I hope you all had a very blessed Easter.  Thank you God for sending your Son to die on the cross for me.  During the times I feel alone and I am not sure that You are there, help me to remember that I am on Your mind, even when You were on the cross, I was on Your mind.

One last thing, I've been noticing a sign at a church that I drive by every day on my way to work.  I noticed last week that it said, Funeral for Jesus April 4th.  Then Sunday I noticed that in BIG red letter it said, CANCELED, HE'S ALIVE!!!   AMEN!!!

And there go the twenties...

Well, I am officially out of my twenties.  I turned 30 years old today!  WOW!!  My friend Nathan told me that his 30th birthday really bothered him.  But these are just numbers and besides that, no matter how old I get, my husband will still be 20 years older than me! ha!!!  LOVE IT!!  

So I'm really just embracing today.  When I was younger I always figured that I would be married right out of high school and begin my family.  Boy did God have other plans.  I ended up not getting married until I was 27 and we are still waiting patiently, ok, no so patiently to start our family.  I know God has a plan and that HIS timing is perfect not mine.

The past 30 years have been awesome.  God has blessed me with such a wonderful family.  I'm so thankful to be so close to my parents, my brother's and their wives, and my nieces and nephews.  I have a wonderful extended family: aunts, uncles, and cousins.  I have awesome friends who are great and always there when I need them.  I now have a wonderful In-Love-Family since marrying Boyd.   

And last, but certainly not least.  I have an INCREDIBLE husband.  God truly did answer my prayer when He brought Boyd into my life.  He is so very sweet and so loving.  He always makes me feel special.  He was up at 3:00 this morning telling me Happy Birthday and up at 5:00 this morning fixing my birthday card.  And now he has called 3 times so far just to say Happy Birthday.  He's the best.  But my favorite part about him is that he loves Christ with all his heart.  

I AM BLESSED!!!

Also, to go along with the twenties, I'm happy to say I have now lost 22 lbs.  wootwoot!!  I've been doing this lifestyle change for 5 weeks now and it has been hard, but it feels so good. 

LOVE,

ME     

Heart Sick!

I remember dreading my Senior year of high school, because we had another new Science Teacher.  YUCK!  I didn't like science and I sure didn't like the previous teachers we had.  And to top it all off, our science teacher was living in a camper on my Aunt's place.  Oh great!  Well my very first day, I got the call that I had a tumor and would need it removed and would be out of school until the middle of October.  WHAT!!  During that time off from school my science teacher was GREAT!  He helped me with my homework.  Sent messages to me encouraging me.  He was actually pretty cool and made science so much fun.  Even though he and I didn't agree on evolution vs. creation, we had great debates and finally agreed to disagree.  He even ended up being our Senior sponsor.  He helped us raise a lot of money so we could really enjoy our Senior trip.  While I was deciding what school I wanted to attend, SBU in Bolivar was really are my mind.  Mossman, my science teacher, was from Bolivar and his wife and kids lived there.  So he really encouraged me to consider it, especially since they would be close by and would help me when I needed them.  "It never hurts to have family close by", he said.  So school ended, went on a Senior trip and had a blast.  Came home, got ready to head off for college.  Saw a lot of Mr. Mossman and his family while in Bolivar.  Ate a lot of meals at their house.  Babysat their kids.  Played on a softball team with them.  Just enjoyed my time with them.  

Eventually Colin and his wife divorced and both remarried, but I still stayed in contact with them and the kids.  I kept updated on him and the kids by email.  And now the past several months I have enjoyed keeping up with him through Facebook.

This morning I got to work and pulled up facebook and my pastor that I had when I was in Bolivar left me a note saying that a Mr. Mossman had shot himself and that he thought I might know him.  I thought to myself, no, it can't be him.  I looked it up in the Bolivar paper and sure enough, it was him.  He and his new wife were getting divorced and he kidnapped her at gun point on Tuesday morning and made her get into her car and they drove to Bolivar where she then tried to escape and he shot at her.  She did get away and he continued on toward Stockton where police found him dead in her vehicle.  He talked to some of his friends on his phone but he would not tell them where he was.  This still feels like a nightmare.  What kind of war was he fighting inside his head?  

I was looking at his kids' facebook and noticed that he had taken pictures with them on Monday night and his facebook on Monday night stated that he loved his kids.  Did he know what was going to take place the next day?  Anyway, my heart is just breaking right now for his kids.  I can't imagine what must be going through their heads.  If you think about it, and are reading this, would you please say a prayer for Shelby and Gage.  Here is the last picture that they have with their dad.  

Love and prayers to Shelby and Gage!

No, No, Your Eyes Are Not Deceiving You...

You thought I was gone forever right?  Nope, just too stinkin' impatient to wait on pictures to download.  And I'm really not interesting enough to blog without pictures! ha!!

Anyway, a lot has happened since I blogged last time, but that's all in the past now, and I can't remember much of it anyway.  

A friend of mine has been struggling to lose weight and so I though this would be a great time to be accountability partners with eachother.  So we started back on February 15.  I'm watching my calorie intake and working out 5 times a week.  I have done the whole "diet" thing more times than I care to admit, but this time (I've also heard myself say that) I'm changing my whole lifestyle.  It really has been easier this time around than the times before.  Don't get me wrong, there are times when I am in tears because I'm so hungry and have considered eating Boyd (kidding, he's too skinny anyway).  But I HAVE to do this.  I don't have a choice now.  

I'M MISERABLE!

 I'm afraid to go on amusement park rides because I'm afraid they will ask me to get off because I'm too big;

I'm afraid to see some old "friends" I haven't seen in a while because I'm afraid what they might think; 

I'm afraid that I may be the cause of my husband and I not being able to have children because of my weight;

I'm afraid that if I don't get a grasp on my addiction to food that I will continue to be on a downward spiral to the grave.  (don't get me wrong, I long for Heaven, but I would rather go in the rapture, not because of something I could've prevented);

I'm afraid that my nieces and nephews will pattern after me and I want to be a better example to them.

Do you see the pattern?  I'M AFRAID.  My name is Kayla Combs and I have a food addiction and I'm afraid.  Who wants to live their life like that.  NOT me!

So, I'm going to use this blog as sort of an accountability for myself.  It's embarrassing that I've posted this picture of myself, but I'm not hiding the fact that I'm fat, so guess it shouldn't bother me.  So here it is...

This is me and my dad in January in Oklahoma.  My dad has always tried to encourage me to lose weight.  He sees how miserable my mom is and he does not want me to be going down the same path.  My mom had always told me since I was little, "please sis, you can wear my shoes, but please don't ever get big like me and wear my clothes".  But guess what, we wear the same size.  Way to obey your mom, Kayla!  Anyway, their support means the world to me.  When I've tried "diets" before, I've gone to visit my parents and my dad has mapped out a place for me to walk and usually walks with me.  And when I call my mom on Mondays (my weigh in day), she always ask how I did and tells me she's proud of me.

I'm doing this for myself first and foremost.  I need to do it.  But I also want my husband to see a different me.  A happier me who feels beautiful.  Even though he tells me, I haven't felt beautiful in a long time.  I want to do this for my parents.  My mom especially because she has just recently been told that because of some of her health issues, she is going to have to stay on a medication and she's not going to be able to lose any weight.  She will have to fight hard to not gain weight.  So, just because it's too late for her does not mean it's too late for me.

And I cannot accomplish any of this without the help of my friends and family, but most important, without the help of my Lord and Savior.  In order to stay on the straight and narrow path to a new life style, I need to keep the path between my Savior and I clear of debris that might get in my way!

Ok, I've written a book now.  I have so far lost 10 lbs.  I will try to keep this blog updated often and keep track of my weight loss.  I'm excited about this journey.

And I will try to put up some pic blogs once in a while too.  When I have like 2 years to wait on them to upload!

LOVE ALWAYS!!!

Philippians 4:13 (King James Version)

 ¹³I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

The first weekend of deer season is always a busy time of the year for me. Ever since I can remember, I have watched my nieces and nephews for my brothers so they could hunt all weekend. And I always decorate for Christmas that weekend. So Friday afternoon I started out by picking up Caleb. He got in the car with our foster son. They started chit chatting away. Then they got into it. And Caleb finally said, "KK, he is arguing with me". Wonder where he has heard that word! ha!!! And then got home and Bub, McKenna, and Trinity came over. We had a great time. We played some games on Friday night.

Saturday we got up and had biscuits and gravy. Mmmm good! Then we went outside to enjoy the beautiful weather. We worked outside ALL day Saturday decorating and cleaning up the outside a little. In the afternoon while Bub and McKenna were working outside, I brought out a blanket and Caleb and Trinity took a nap outside. It was all I could do not to go over there and lay down with them.

All our hard work paid off though. We even tossed big plastic candy canes into the trees. Not sure how we will get them out, but it was fun putting them up there.

This little cedar tree McKenna decorated with all kinds of things. It looks so much better in person.


















McKenna also helped me with this. She put the garland up. I need to figure out a way to have it lit up at night. It's so cute. Now if we can just keep the kitty's and dogs out of it.
















And this is the big well house. Bub got up on the roof of it and helped me hang the ice cycle lights. He and McKenna got up there and put the cross in place and then put lights on it as well. I think it turned out really well.














We ended our weekend with going to church Sunday morning where Trinity and I sang "He Knows My Name". Then we came home and ate Fried chicken, mashed taters, gravy, corn, greenbeans, etc. Then we started putting up the tree. McKenna does a great job of "fluffing" the limbs, and Bub "fluffs" the top of the tree. My lights didn't work though, so we took a trip to Forsyth and I bought 3 boxes of lights. Got home, ran out of lights. So we still didn't get the tree done. We went to Hercules church last night. Trinity sang "Walking on the Heaven Road" and McKenna, Bub, and Trin sang "He Knows My Name". They blessed my heart!!!

I had such a great weekend with them all. It is such a healing time for me. For just a weekend, I get to feel like a mom. I love it. It does my heart good. I always tease my brother Ron that he is stingy with his kids and that he always wants them to himself. But I am SO thankful that he is that way and his kids will be thankful one day too.

So thankful for a wonderful weekend. I will treasure these memories that we made this weekend. I hope the kids will too!!

New Do!

So last night I went to get my hair done. I was sick to death of it and have had the same color, cut, etc for a while now. I wanted a change. So my friend from way back, Suzanne, just opened her salon up just a month or so ago, so I called her and made the appointment. I told her she could do whatever she wanted to do with my hair. People thought I was crazy, but you need to look at her website (http://www.studiotrendz.com) and you'll see why I had total confidence in her. Thank you SO much Suzanne! I love my hair!

So here is the before picture. We forgot until she already had foil on my head. I can't believe I'm posting this before shot for all the world to see, but oh well!!!

















This is the after shot. I don't like this one as well as the next shot. But I wanted you to see the cut/length of my hair. You should have seen all the hair on the floor. Crazy!!!!

















This is the picture I like because you can really see all the cool colors. I had a such a great time. I was there over 3 hours, but we had a lot to catch up on. I hadn't seen her since 1996 so lots of things had happened since then.

Movin' On Up...

When dad and mom came up at the end of August they had planned to maybe pour the foundation of their new addition. They never dreamed they would leave this Friday and have it built and dried in. WOW!!! My brothers and dad know how to get 'er done. Anyway, we had such a good time getting together and working (ok, so the women mainly kept the men fed and "watered"). Tearing down the old porch was kind of bitter sweet. That's where my Grandma slept the last 18 years of her life was on that porch, so that was hard. The picture above is a before picture. This was before Labor Day.

And this picture was taken this past Sunday September 27th. Looking good huh. This is probably the way it will look until they come back sometime in the spring.

This is so exciting to see work being done, knowing that they will move home eventually (sorry Tishomingo people). This past time is the longest they have been here at one time since they moved away in 2002. We have so enjoyed having them here and it is going to be SO hard to see them leave. Especially for the grandkids. They have been so use to having Papa and Granny around and going to all their school and ballgame activities. They won't be back until Thanksgiving now. But that's not too far off.

Well I guess that's it for now. If you want to see more of the house pictures, I have them on my facebook page. It doesn't take as long to download them on there.

Have a blessed day!!!