Rare Week

 

It has been a BEYOND rare week. Wanted to end it on a good note so here is that vid of Hayden at the river like we promised.

 

 

Have a great weekend!!

A&M

Public Side Spring Update #2

Been getting a ton of positive feedback on these public side posts so, going to try to squeeze another one in here for spring 2014.

 

 

 

 

Happy San Jacinto day!!!!!

On April 21, 1836. It was the final battle of the Texas Revolution where Texas won its independence from Mexico. A state holiday here in God’s Country, we take great pride in the history of this great land. For my local friends, get out and enjoy the day!!

Speaking of getting out....gooood GOD,

The river was FABULOUS this weekend. The dog’s (of course) ‘Didn’t know how to act’ …

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Killer here, always likes to ice-down his equipment while he takes a drink.

 

…annnd of course COPPER…..who would have you believe he is SO IMFIRMED!!!   …So… BROKEN…that he MUST lay on your pillow on your bed…so that he might “Be close to you when his time comes to die”….

....yeah....                          .......not so much....


Hayden rode the entire time and his legs were shredded. Almost time to take those training wheels off! Have vid of him scaling the side of the hill trying to show off for Angela & I but haven't uploaded yet...link that up this week.




















We finally were able to pull some of the pics from Hayley's awards night.

Good thing Hayden was there...it wouldn't be a picture of his sister if he wasn't trying to "job it up" for her lol.

Drop Mr. Principal in there so that he can get a little credit! (Work the PR Speedbag! lol Great guy) and explain.....in no uncertain terms why Hayley "Just bein' Hayley" is why Mid-America and the Great State Of Texas is THE...place to raise your National Scholars....Often imitated….NEVER duplicated.

Hoppy Easter!!!

 

 



Here's hoping that Passion Week is treating you all well and that you are all ready to have some family time as we draw nearer to the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ!








Hayden would just like to remind everyone that it is PERFECTLY acceptable to go "Ears First" this Easter and that he can be reached via his spokesperson (Angela) for any questions pertaining to access to his peeps on Sunday afternoon.

 



The Easter egg hunt out on the property went well and if you have the means to get some confetti eggs this year....

We would like to enthusiastically recommend them!

Happy Easter from our family you yours,

Texas A&M

Hayley Gets Honored For Her Hard Work

 

Quality Nurturing: It's what Texas

BRINGS TO THE TABLE!

 

 

 

 

April Showers Spring Update

Hello public side! Been about a month or so since we updated so wanted to update a little to keep everyone up to speed!

Angela continues to thrive as Director Of Children’s Ministries and directed the youth performance in church last Sunday. Everything came off without a hitch and the performance was a rousing success!











Hayley & Hayden have both cleared their STAR testing and Hayley has been accepted into the college prep private schooling we were hoping for and we are beyond delighted that she will be making the most of her 4 years left at home!



Angela’s brother Jeff continues to recover from his bout with Cancer that was discovered suddenly and alarmingly after the holidays. His prognosis is good as the advances in Cancer fighting medicines have come leaps and bounds and the medication therapy his is currently on has got his cancer on its heals and in full remission right now.

For Mark, the bi-annual audit is over at work and his organization has retained all of the FY14 commitments and has a robust outlook moving forward in spite of the drawdown. Oversea customer base combined with existing contractual workload has things staying positive moving toward FY15!

Extended family wise, Susan has secured her position in Atlanta and will soon be out of that “Place” Duluth and with her man. We are all very excited as Susan’s education and talent are brought to bear on a place in America Mark & Susan BOTH know very well from their days as undergraduates.



Ed & Terry have completed the move to their new home up in Washington State and have recently hosted Brian and his wife Carolyn along with their son Stephen. Lots of pics of that visit.



We continue to enjoy God’s blessings on our family as we raise these children in the house that God built. Quality education and nurturing from advanced graduates under God’s watchful eye has already spawned Hayley’s acceptance into a college prep private institution along with test scores we could never have dreamed of.



We remain steadfast in our resolve to give ALL of the glory for these blessings….first and foremost to God. ….who is the reason any and all of this is possible and WHY we have all the things we have and experience all of the wonderful life we do in a day.


 We hope this finds you well in this spring season of 2014.



All the Best from our family to yours,



Texas A & M

40 Is A Piece Of Cake! THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!!

Well it is finally OVER!!! Angela’s 40th went off with a BANG! We are comfortably within the decade they call 40’s and we would just like to thank all of our family and friends who came out for Angela’s surprise party. The months of planning really paid off folks and she was and remains BEYOND tickled.



Guys I don’t know how to pay yall back for helping me make her feel special on her day so I am going to do something I don’t usually do on the public side (anymore) and release her birthday video.

For those of you who submitted pictures on Facebook, Instagram and all the other platforms…..I can’t explain how grateful I am. I had a basic collection of us but had NO IDEA the pics you guys were holding out on us with! ;) THANK YOU!

This vid is CLEARLY not my best work BUT we WERE able to jam all of yall’s pics of her into this.

So, with a deep breath, here you go….this is the video that was run at the end of the program we put on for her on Friday night…..

It is presented to you guys with my eternal gratitude and much love,
-Mark

PS. Christy Davidson or Christy Nichole Davidson is a FUCKING WORTHLESS NIGHTMARE.

Big Enough To Challenge, Small Enough To Care

Hello everyone. Hope that you are all well as January finishes off its final arctic blasts. For our Midwest friends, hey …you chose to live there. To our AZ friends, hey….. 80 in January is only ok if it’s not ON its WAY to being 180 as it typically is in The Valley Of the Sun in the late winter early spring! To our California friends, hey….Texas is always here when you are ready to move your business and children to a ‘less confused’ state. And finally to our eastern seaboard friends (including Arnie and his WAY TOO BIG FSU head) …sorry about all the ice our tropical gulf moisture has been sending you : (   Hey, we’ll all get through it! Just have faith!

Speaking of getting through things, the kids are well on their way down the path to spring break. Angela is on track for all of her 40^th Birthday parties and Mark is down to a 7:30 split time on his mile. A&M will have our first 5K of the race season this Saturday.

A little fun-thing the local high-school is doing for challenged athletes. Hopefully the high school kids and A&M will get to run with and encourage a challenged athlete or two along the course….looking forward to it.

As far as the scriptures go, A&M have been spending much of our devotional time with a series by Joyce Meyer called “Battlefield Of the Mind” which we both enthusiastically recommend.

If you aren’t familiar with this series, Joyce calls attention to the fact that we all are engaged within a battlefield of the mind….and that it is up to us to GET INVOLVED today…right now…to take steps that move us toward reclaiming our minds for the betterment of our lives, our families and ultimately for God.

Joyce speaks of Satan being a keen and patient enemy here on earth. That he studies all of us and knows our weak points. I know that when it comes to Angela and I, our positions of authority and prestige within the organizations we serve in separately, can and has brought a ton of Satan’s cunning devices to bear against our flourishing lives collectively. We are aware that the eyes that are upon us when we are out in the community or travelling are not just those from the varied walks of life that we come across…but also Satan among them…biding his time and waiting for just the right opportunity to strike at our well established foundation.

This poses a problem.

See the thing is, Ephesians 6:11-12 Tells us to “¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”  For many of us this can mean different things. For Angela, it may mean being ever-alert when it comes to a decision she must make for the district….knowing full well how many lives she touches with just her signature on something. For Mark it could mean being direct and resolved in decision making  in order to get to the bottom of why a DOD program isn’t meeting its objectives for the fiscal year.  Or it could mean something as simple as saying “No” to our kids who want to be able to watch a “R” rated movie or to hang out with an unsavory crowd. Or it could mean being polite to someone who is at a different place in their lives that we come across in the community or out of town.

Being strong MUST….you see… BRING WITH IT…the capacity to BE KIND to those who are ‘Not of your tribe’ …..the poor, the broken, the desperate, the infirmed…the list goes on…

We think people miss that in today’s society that is so quick to judge something based solely upon how much “Armor of god” you are able to put on…. Part of that “Suiting up” means opening our eyes to NOT JUST where Satan IS….but ALSO…where he IS NOT…so that we can take those opportunities to minister to people who desperately need it in this crazy world.

Joyce tells us that this type of mental move takes time and that if you think you can do it overnight, you will HURT yourself more than you will HELP. The “Little by little” approach to each day is the right way to go in this case.

We get that…. Angela & I….we hope that we can continue to get better spiritually and continue to minister to those people both IN our lives and OUT OF THEM.

Our best,

Texas A&M

Golden Apples

Hello and welcome back from winter break everyone! Angela & I and the babies are back and well rested and ready for the spring semester with everything that it brings. We hope that this finds you all in the same positive and rejuvenated state.

Over the break we had a chance to travel to Dallas to hunt and be with some of our friends from The Big-D and we happened upon a bible verse that we wanted to share with you. There are many instances and situations when we are reminded just how much we minister to other’s in our actions and in our words.

We are often stopped and told, “Hey, I wanted you to know ____ gave me strength, thanks for that.”  or reassured in some other context that our family and the way we are raising our children here in the heartland with quality Christian values and parental stability that do far more than ensure straight A’s and social acceptance for our little one’s…..these “As for me & my house” edicts of behavior help minister to those who may need some reassurance or some uplifting upon their own paths with Christ.

While it is truly a wonderful feeling to be stopped and thanked like that….our true reward and treasure will always come from above….we can only humbly pray that our best and worst days are able to serve Him.

The verse we will leave you with is Proverbs 25:11. “Like apples of gold in settings of silver
is a ruling rightly given.”   

The things that you do and say EVERY MOMENT have the potential to impact countless souls. It doesn’t matter if it’s through social media or even when you are in Bible Study….you get the chance to GIVE BACK to God with the way you live your life…….those “Teachable Moments” as we advanced grads say…

Take the time to sit and think just how many people you have the opportunity to model to in your own life. Angela & I believe that this will be a humbling experience for you

Our best for a fabulous ’14,

A&M