The Whitehouse Crawford

So, first of all we have an amazing small group. I remember thinking when we moved from Tacoma to Everett that surely God outdid himself in Tacoma. Nothing could top the group we were with there and yet he was faithful. Not to say our group in Everett was better, but it was different and amazing. We did a lot of activities and outings; camping, shopping, Whidbey Island, Leavenworth, ect. The Everett group really embodied what we had hoped for. People our age going through the same season of life as us and leaning on God for understanding in similar situations.

Well, when we moved to Kennewick I thought we were due for a not so great group. Since we have lived here we have been a part of three groups. I am now of the belief that God is showing off and giving us a little taste of who He is. He has blessed us with people who have taught, inspired, encouraged, uplifted and loved us wholly.

We recently went to the Whitehouse Crawford for a formal group date together. It was a fun ride to Walla Walla together and then we enjoyed some fine dining. It was truly an experience. First of all we had never eaten anywhere that expensive. The ambience was worth every penny. We sat with friends, enjoyed laughs, invented a board game, tasted amazing steak, took pictures and learned some very interesting things about one another.......the Crawmers.

Here are some pictures from that night.

Wordless Wednesday

Lucky You

The first FIVE people to respond to this post will get something made by me (or my child)! My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2- What I create will be just for you.
3- It'll be done this year. (might be a little while)
4- You have no clue what it's going to be.It may be a story. It may be poetry, shoes, bags, or a little invention of my own! I may draw or paint something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!
5- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange. Believe me... it may blow your mind!

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me! Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it! Sounds like fun, right? So, let's play!

Not for the faint of heart - By Chris

Okay I realize that The Littrell Show is usually authored by Jaimie, but after today's mess I had to share my thoughts. No I didn't hack into the blogspot. I stopped hacking into Jaimie's accounts when she was dating another guy back in college. This time she gave me the password.

So a little background. Us Littrell's don't get sick very often; a blessing and a curse. The curse of this is we are total wimps when we do get sick (or at least I am). I am a big bad police officer willing to run towards the sounds of bullets, but if you show me a little vomit (especially my own) I get a little faint, get sick myself, and/or curl up in the fetal position and suck my thumb. If you know me, you know I tend to exaggerate a bit. Right now, I'm not exaggerating.

So I have had a little head cold that past 24 hours. Jaimie has been doing a fabulous job of serving me as I get better (she ironed all of my work clothes for the week!!!).

So I woke this morning and was feeling a little better. As Jaimie and I got dressed for the day, Alli started freaking out and calling for Jaimie and I, as if someone had severed an important body part, like a head or something. Jaimie rushed into the living room as I thought, "What ever, Alli is always full of drama." When I heard Jaimie start to lose it I realized that we may have to start looking into a head donor for one of our children. My only hope was that it would be someone of the right gender. Then I realized, "I don't think medical technology is far enough advanced to transplant a head." Oh well...

As I rushed into the living room, I saw something much worse than expected. Danielle was vomiting all over the floor, pillow, and ottoman. The thing that got me most was that Danielle was not even trying to get to the kitchen or bathroom, but continued to vomit all over the floor. I scooped Danielle up (in not the most loving of ways) and put her in the kitchen. I walked with her to the bathroom and suggested that she shower.

As Jaimie cleaned up the puke (not that it was only her responsibility, but if I would have done it the puke pile would have been twice as big) with the life saving carpet cleaner that her father Henry gave us years ago (THANKS HENRY!!!) I responded to the bathroom where Leilani was frantically calling for Jaimie. Leilani had wet herself, but luckily for me she did it in the bathroom.

Fast forward about 3 hours, everyone is doing well. I blended Danielle a banana, peanut butter smoothie and we played a board game. Shortly after the game, I noticed that Danielle was performing headstands on the couch. I asked her if she had her puke pot with her in case she got sick. She told me no. Within the minute, Danielle was hovering over the pot emptying the banana smoothie into it. A couple minutes later, I noticed that Leilani was taking herself potty. I was so proud...that is until I saw the diarrhea trail leading to the toilet.

The up side? I don't know if our house has ever been any cleaner. If this keeps up I would suggest buying stock in a major bleach company!!!

Chris

Good Times, Good Friends

Our front room- Yes, we have now trimmed the rug mat

Valentines Dinner with Friends (running partners)

Us and the Bakers at PF Changs


I havent blogged in a while and feel a little bad about that, so here is the catch up blog. A couple weeks ago we put in new flooring in our front room. Thanks to our amazing friends the Schultzs the room looks amazing. They got us going and we finished the next day. I love the way it looks and feel truly blessed that God provided for this project financially. It makes clean up so much easier and the ants......way easier to exterminate. With carpet, each time we would spray for ants I was always concerned about the poison residue that was left behind. Now I dont have to worry about it, I just wipe up the floor. So nice! FYI, we dont have a major ant problem, just ocassionally if girls track food in here.



We went out with the Bakers (Joel and Jessica) a week and a half ago to PF Changs. It was so great. We got this deal where we got two appetizers, two entrees, and two mini desserts for a good price. My allergies were horrible (praise Him for Zyrtec) but I still enjoyed the night. We will be serving with the Bakers in the youth department and are really excited about that. They are highly motivated people and really have a heart to serve.



This most recent weekend, we had babysitters two of the three nights. This is quite rare for us as we used teenagers, not family. The girls and the sitters did great and all seemed to have a good time. On Friday night we had the annual banquet for Chris' work. This was fun as his parents are there too (hello , he is the captains son) and so there is always a refuge to go to if I want to end a conversation. I just go talk with the mother in law. On Saturday night (Valentines Day) we had a missions dinner at the church with a 4 course meal and silent auction. Chad and Kathy joined us that night and I really enjoyed taking them around and introducing them to people. We saw a lot of faces from other churches all there to support the cause. So, Chris and I bid on a couple items and did not win. We were bidding on this beautiful pie and the man who won it actually gave it to us. That was so nice, and delicious.



On a final note, some friends and I are going to run a race. We are keeping each other accountable in fitness and we have a goal of running a 5K together in April. We are really excited and I need to get training. I dont like running in the utter cold (it snowed yesterday for pete sake) but I need to get myself out there. So, that said, I will be doing this with my friends and if I dont want to be left in the dust I need to start training. The two gals in the middle picture with me are a couple of the ladies that I will be doing the race with.

Compelled

2 Corinthians 5:14 says

"For Christ's love comples us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died."

The next quote is what My Upmost for His Highest says about the above verse:

"This total surrender to "the love of Christ" is the only thing that will bear fruit in your life. And it will always leave the mark of God’s holiness and His power, never drawing attention to your personal holiness."

Are you compelled for Christ's love? Are you drawn with magnetic force? Or as Paul puts it, are you held as in a vice? Convicting, isn't it?

I am including our family photo that we had taken at church a couple of weeks ago. I hope you are having a good week and that this verse speaks to you as it did to me.

I will make a scene!!!

Last night my aunt and I went to the amazing store Real Deals for an open house and sale. It was fabulous. We are very much alike and I love her. I am one of those shoppers that go through the store, pick things us and then put them back. I talk myself out of buying things, it is just who I am. Well, last night we had put our things on the holding rack while browsing more. When she picked her stuff up to go and purchase I said, "I am leaving mine there, act like they arent ours and walk away."

She looked at me funny and said, " You are not going to pull a Cheryl (my mother, her sister) and put this stuff back, I am buying it for you."

I put my hands on the goods, she put her hands on the goods and I said, "Let go, let me just do what I do."

She replied, "No, I am buying these, they are mine (refering to my items)."

As we both stood there locked by my purchases I looked at her and said, "Let go or I will have to make a scene."

She said, "Let me get it, they are mine now." At this point the people behind the register are looking at us like, 'ladies we have more of those if you are going to fight over them.'

Without hesitation I raised my voice and said, "Please dont touch my breast!"

My aunt looked at me in horror and said, "Oh!" as if not knowing what else to say. The woman behind her looked around and said, "Well, I thought this was a home decor store." To which we burst out laughing. We explained the situation to all involved and of course they sided with her. So anyway they told me just to let her buy it and I eventually did. Needless to say we wont be going shopping together anytime soon. I rolled at how funny I am. She thinks I am funny too. The people behind the register also paid me the compliment of saying that I looked like I was in highschool. Thank you very much that was just the cherry on the ice cream for me. Good times!