do the hustle

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so, this is what happens when melissa gruver comes home. the whole world stops and you try to learn a new dance :). i give jenny an a+ for effort!!!

we ARE still alive!

ben and i went to florida with the williams fam and had a GREAT time. i think it was the MOST relaxing vacation i've ever had! SERIOUSLY!!! we laid around on the beach, in the house, did nothing but had a great time. (I will worn you...there's pictures of my stomach...but since i'm pregnant, that's ok ;))oh yeah, we saw 2 sharks, too! yeah, meri was fishing one day with a lot of other people and a regular shark swam about 7-10 feet away from the shore! then, the next day, an even BIGGER hammerhead shark swam all along the shore about the same distance away. it was CRAZY! just so you know what a hammerhead looks like...

ok, also we ate at this great neighborhood bar that has wonderful oysters (according to pop and meri) and has really really good hotdogs and good beer on tap (according to everyone else but me). it was great! that's what our vacation consisted of. wonderful and relaxing!
also, here's a picture of what i looked like last week and i do believe i have grown since then! we were able to have another ultrasound at the doctor last week. our little baby is just moving all around and his/her (we don't know what the baby's sex is yet) heartbeat is very very strong! YEA!!! thanks to everyone for all of your prayers. we feel them and God is being so good to us right now. Praise Him from Whom all blessings flow!!!! Peace of Christ to you!

video

i know i haven't posted in a while, but this is just a little teaser for you. we are nearing the end of the Easter season at Christ Community Church (we follow the church calendar). so, this past sunday was ascension sunday. we've been talking a lot about the mystery of the ascension and how it just makes the puzzle go together. it's like the piece that fell on the floor at the very beginning of doing a puzzle and you don't find it until it's the last piece to put in. (at this point, i urge you to read the last 10 verses in the gospel of Luke...it's pretty great stuff) so, i was looking at blogs this morning and found this video that i think demonstrates the love of Christ for us and includes the ascension. so many times, we stop with the crucifixion, but as walton padelford says, that's not the whole gospel. the gospel is the death, burial, resurrection, AND ascension of CHRIST. the Lord of Lords, and King of Kings. anyway, i hope you enjoy it. i will post some updated things about us but i just don't have time right now. we hope you're all doing well!!!

some new news going on...

well, there has been several things to happen over the past 3 weeks that i have yet to post. first and foremost, ben and i found out we're pregnant! we're due on december 14 (yes, along with both of us and mimi and meri's birthdays...there WILL be one more :) so, thank you ALL for your prayers. this is just an amazing time for us. we know that God has an amazing plan for this child because he/she has already been prayed over so much. we know that you will continue to pray for us as we make decisions about parenting and what to do with our child. we will let you know how we progress.
i have been at an autism conference yesterday, today, and will be tomorrow. it is SO interesting. I'm learning all kinds of new things about working with children who have autism and am loving every minute of it. i could really see myself working with children that have autism full-time some day. it's crazy (and this sounds silly), but i've even learned to adapt some of it to petey (that's right), our baby, and nieces and nephews. it's fun. also, i found a new love for training petey today, so, beware, because next time you come to see us, you might find a COMPLETELY different dog...in a totally good way. still excited to see you, but much more well behaved. :) (that ones for you, rachel) we love all of you, and again, thank you so much for your prayers. we will keep you updated on what's going on! come see us soon!

the newest myatt!!!

i got a call at 7:15 from mimi myatt saying that ben and i have a new nephew! welcome to the world samuel tate myatt, weighing in at 9 lbs. 5 oz (yes, you heard me right!!!), 22 inches (and yes, again, you heard me right!!!)! we are so excited that he's finally here and that we get to spend the rest of our lives with him!!!! congrats to bill and mel and bless mel as she recovers from the delivery!! both mom and baby are healthy, healthy, healthy!!!!

what is community?

i've been thinking a lot about church in general and i would love to hear your thoughts on what you think church should be about. i come from several different "types" of churches and we have settled at Christ Community Church which ben and i love. I married into it, but am glad i did. however, i've just been thinking about how important community is and wonder how "tight" community TRULY is. we feel that we have a very "tight" community (close knit, everyone knows everyone and some live around each other). however, it's hard to be tight with everyone you want to be tight with. i have NO idea if this is making sense or not, but just bare with me. CCC prides itself on being close knit and having what true community is. i believe we do have true community. i'm just interested to see what other people believe community to be. do you think it's something where you spend everyday together? is it something where you see each other on sundays and wednesdays and maybe some in between or do you have community because if it you're hurting, you know that you can go to someone whom you might not go to on a daily basis.
i've also bene thinking a lot about friendship and actually "clicking" with people. sometimes it's hard to find that niche. that certain group of people that you long to be with to hang out with. so, what do you do in the mean time? do you sit on your hands or do you get out there and try to figure it all out?
it probably sounds like i'm whining...sorry. i'm not meaning to. i would love to hear your thoughts though on community. please let me know.
God bless your week.

a fun day at the park

before all of the wonderful, green, yellow stuff appeared ALL OVER tennessee, ben and i enjoyed a picnic in the park with petey. we like to take him to north park in jackson to the soccer fields on sunday (when no one is there) and let him run loose. he ALMOST got away a couple of times, but he learned some new tricks that day, like lay down, and bring it to me. good times with the peter williams. :)



we also want to echo brian's congratulations for our great friend ben hickey! HE'S ENGAGED!!!!! (just in case you hadn't heard). he and Pepo will be married this summer in Ethopia with a reception/party in the states. we are SO excited for them and wish them the BEST!!!!
There's not a whole lot else going on. we did halfway finish our sunroom and i love to sit and talk to my friends, ben loves to read in there, and it's just nice. we painted it a cream yellow color. anytime you want to come and sit with us, feel free!

the virb

so, there's this new thing called virb.com. it's like myspace and facebook, only cooler. not spam-a-licious at all...very "mac-y"...very cool. you should check it out. good times, good times.

just for the fun of it.

this will take you way back and then also will take you possibly back just a few months ago. i think i've participated (or tried to participate) in most of these. you'll understand. turn up your speakers :)

what do you think?

i need some help on our template. it's not really us. any suggestions? thanks!

it's petey of course

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our dog's got mad skills.

thoughts

wow. ben and i have been thinking a lot about evangelism and how it relates to us, as we are surrounded by many, many Christians; we've also been thinking a lot about our lives and how encouraged we are in many different aspects. since my surgery (this is janie) SO many people have been more encouraging than i could ever imagine. after hearing from the doctor about a month ago that my endometriosis is back, my heart sank. through all of it, everyone that we come in contact with asks me how i'm feeling, i know that they pray for us daily, and are truly concerned. unconditionally concerned at that. even people who i don't talk to on a regular basis whatsoever ask me how i'm doing whenever i do get to talk to them. my friend has been in the hospital for a day with some other complications, called me last night to tell me that she WAS indeed in the hospital, and before we got off the phone, asked me how i was doing and feeling in the midst of her heartbreak for even being in the hospital. ben and i are EXTREMELY blessed! we don't understand it sometimes. the only only only way that we can describe is the shear fact that Christ is caring for His bride and He cares the utmost about His people. Matthew 5-7 is a familiar Bible passage titled "the sermon on the mount." here's what the scripture says...
26"Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? 27"And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? 28"And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 30"But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!"
I'm so glad that Christ cares SO much about the church and about His sons and daughters. He DOES take care of us even when we feel like all is coming down on top of us.
In the midst of all of this, we've had a lot of good times. we got to go to oklahoma to see family and friends there. we also have been able to support several friends in their upcoming marriages. we are SO excited about all the weddings that will take place this summer and pray that the Lord will bless you and keep you, make His face shine upon you, and give you peace. (i'm at work, so i would post some pictures, but it always messees up when i'm trying to post, so i won't do it.)
in conclusion, i have written all of this to say thank you to all of the people that have encouraged us over the last few months. we continue to covet your prayers for healing for my body, and a larger family (of course). we thank God for our friends and family. come see us soon!!!

IT SNOWED!!!!!

i know that this isn't much compared to a lot of our readers, however, i'm like a 5 year old ready to sled when it snows!!!! so, here's our pretty little house in the snow and i wish it would stay around forever. however, it's 4:45 on the same day and it's already gone...so sad. hope everyone is doing well!!!

what a wonderful world

well, i realize that it has been about a month since i've last posted. honestly there hasn't been a whole lot going on! which i guess is a good thing. ben and i had a wonderful Christmas...janie cooked a great Christmas dinner and it was complete with both sides of the family as well as friends from the neighborhood. we had a GREAT time!!!
ben also got janie a new bed (which is WAY better than the frame they were using) and janie got ben a new stereo complete with an ipod dock and a cd player. the perfect thing. :)
Janie then got to go to denver to see her friends leah and jackie. i had such a great time!!! talk about a wonderful girls' weekend where all we did was talk, shop, eat, and drink! it was great!!! i did miss ben a lot, which made it great to come back home. we hope for the best for leah and joe and for jackie and love them a lot!! we also wish that all of us lived closer! (boo hoo hoo)


on a serious note, we want to thank everyone for praying and thinking about us over the last few months. my surgery went well and we continue to covet your prayers as we long to make our family larger. it's our desire and we have such peace about what God is doing in our lives. thank you all for your encouragement (from some that i rarely even talk to) and for continuing to think and pray for us.
i think that's about it :). i hope everyone is doing well. we'd love to hear from you! love to all!!

one more thing

this is a crazy Christmas picture that i thought was just TOO funny to pass up. my dad wanted us to use it for our Christmas card, but of course, we opted not to. Merry Christmas to everyone!!

p.s. bill and mel (my brother and sister-in-law...ben's brother-in-law and sister-in-law...this is getting confusing!) are having a BOY!!!!! baby boy myatt is due on april 13!!!! there's almost too many babies to contain it! actually, i don't think that will ever be the case :)

is it going to work?

this post i've tried to get up here about 7 times...let's see if it works!!

well, this is my third time to try and post this. we'll see if it works this time...i hope it does!!
anyway, it has been a long time since i've updated and for that i'm sorry. we have been extremely busy and really just haven't had anything really good to write about. however, we do have some good news. we have a new nephew (who was born on my birthday)! his name is luke carter tankersley and he is just the most handsome little boy i've ever seen (besides michael tankersley. they're in competition over that one:P). the proud parents are my sister and brother-in-law, lee and lili tankersley. congrats are in order for them.



(can you tell that i love him and am so proud to be his aunt?!!)
there's not a whole lot else going on. we've been trying to get ready for Christmas for a long time now and we're only about a week away. my family is coming into town tonight (i'm sure you'll see pics) and then ben's family is coming into town next weekend. that's right...we're hosting Christmas and I have to cook a big Christmas meal. i hope it turns out well. i'm sure it will.
i guess that's about it. i hope everyone else has a great Christmas. may God bless you this holiday season and many more to come!!!

i've tried and i've tried.

i have tried multiple times to post, and i haven't been able to. but i ran across this and was proud of life. check it out and we wish everyone a great Christmas and happy 2007!!! love to all!! The Year in Pictures

post-surgery thoughts

i've had many minutes to think about life in the past few days. first of all, i'm so thankful for my family. (this might be a pretty cheesy post;)) my husband has taken the best car of me that anyone ever could. i have definitely been MILKIN' IT!!! and it's been fun. but, it just is such a reminder of Christ and the church. as ben represents Christ in our relationship as husband and wife...he's been so faithful to take care of me, been so concerned about the littlest things i might need, been concerned more about me than himself and such a servant, and just been a good reminder of what a great husband he is. and as for me as the church...well, i've seen myself serve him in the past. it's a give and take willingness. that's what i've decided marriage is all about. dying to yourself at different times. however, the husband and the wife must BOTH die to themselves at different times. if a couple does this, they WILL live happily ever after. just like a fairy tale.
now, i don't say that it's going to always be easy. i guess, as i contemplate that Christ was a real man (100% man and 100% God) i see that He had to die to himself at times as well. when we see Christ as human, it's somehow easier for us to die to ourselves and to understand why we go through pain and suffering. He died the ultimate death, but came as a peasant would come. i'm so thankful and pray that you see the joy in dying to yourself when it comes to relationships. happy thanksgiving.

oh, petey boy, oh, petey boy, why must you tear up our stuff? (to the tune of "Oh, Christmas Tree")

 

So, i came home from work on wednesday, and this is what i found. well, actually i found a chewed up dryer sheet in the middle of the living room floor, and then i walked into our bedroom, and this is what i found. petey was very excited to see me and began running around in circles on the bed. he loves us. (and he had a BLAST today while we were both at work). we love our dog!!!! 

the ultimate FEAST

well, this past weekend, we hosted "The Feast of St. Pookie". for those of you that don't know, pookie is brian denker (who ben used to live with) and a few years ago, ben, leah cashion, jenny johnson, ben hickey, and a few other people, wanted to throw brian a big birthday party. they decided to call it "Pookiefest" complete with iron-on t-shirts. they had a blast! the next year, ben was married, but pookie was still next on his mind. he decided to make it bigger than the year before. that year, it would be called "Pookiepalooza", complete with REAL t-shirts. It also doubled as a fal funfest for the kids. we had a good time, but now the preasure was on. EVERY YEAR, this thing has to get BIGGER!
As ben and janie were brainstorming, ben said "i think we need to have the feast of St. Pookie for Brian this year." janie loved the idea and the planning began. This year, we had a jumpy house for the kids, ben hickey so eloquently told how pookie became a saint, complete with 3 miracles: making a toasted cheese sandwich, pulling out a pop tart from thin air, and drawing a map of the Holy Lands (not in any specific order). We had a blast, and i just wanted pookie to know that we appreciate him and love him very much! get ready for next year...it might be as big as memphis in may!!!!