Cowboy, take me away...

Three years go, when we bought the house we are living in, I felt like God was saying we would be here for a while. We hadn't forced the issue of home ownership, just put out an offer and watched God work. Previous to this we had thought we might move out of town or even out of state. It seemed like a good time. Will wanted to start back to school and the kids were young enough that I felt it wouldn't effect their "social life" negatively. But God shut those doors, we got this house, I found out I was pregnant with Caleb the week after we closed...I put the desire to go anywhere anytime soon far behind me. A year later we joined CVBC so that we could be a part of a church in our community. Something that at the time felt like a really hard change for me (I'd been at the same church for 20 years). Shortly after we joined CVBC I started praying for God to rock our world. Though I was seeking an intimate relationship with my Lord, I still felt a distance I couldn't understand no matter how hard I tried. I was comfortable and it made me oddly uncomfortable. A year later I was presented with an opportunity to go Ghana, West Africa with our mission team. I felt such a strong calling to go I couldn't refuse God. Looking back, I also had the expectation that this was what I needed to "move me". I came back confused and not moved, at least not the way I expected. I did, however, come back with a new outlook on what ministry God had in mind for me, Jr. High girls. Since then I have been working with the youth and am completely in love with this calling...totally God because I have been quoted as saying "I will NEVER..." when it came to this ministry. So here is my point...

All of this to say that last month when Will got an interview with OSU I honestly said to my dear sweet husband, it'll be good practice, but I don't think God has called us to move right now (kinda goes with the "I will never" statement). So when a month passed and we heard nothing and even Will finally caved to the idea that the position had been filled I was feeling pretty smug and safe. Then Friday before last will calls me and tells me that he had just received a call from OSU. They had been busy with projects and hadn't had time to do the second round of interviews. So he set up a phone interview for the next Tuesday. Previous to his first interview we had prayed that if he wasn't going to get the position that he not get a second interview to save on gas. I didn't know what to think if a second phone interview. Why had I not been more specific?! Still in my own safe world, I wasn't believing it would happen (even though my friend, Kimberli, assured me a month ago I was moving when I told her I didn't feel my ministry here was done). Thursday morning Will got a call with a verbal offer for the position. I STILL was in denial! By about 11 pm it hit me and the water works started. The rest of the day God gave me scriptures of trusting in Him, song of comfort and praise. It was good and by the end of the day I was ready to take on the new challenge. The next day and every day since, the song that has been stuck in my head is "Cowboy take me away" by the Dixie Chicks. I so strongly feel that God will use this move to strengthen our family. I know there will be though times and tears ahead...but if our God is for us then who could ever stop us...

Will is starting his new job on the 22nd and the kids and I will be staying here until December to prep the house and hopefully sell it.

We'll keep you posted. Please keep us in your prayers. We love you all! This Herron Nest is heading north...

Snow my goodness!

I love snow, I always have. There is something magical about it, the way it falls, the way it smells, the way it tastes and the way it makes everything so quiet. However, I think I may have over romanticized it in my mind...until now. We have had fun hanging out at home. Lots of cooking and watching Netflix together, warm fires and even a sledding trip. I think day three of the first week (last Thursday) was the hardest. We were all cranky and feeling trapped. Plus Isaac had a nasty head cold. All romantic thoughts of being snowed in quickly faded. Now we are kind of used to everyone being here. Caleb is crazy happy to have Isaac and Abbey as playmates all day. When they go back to school it is gonna be hard on us both.


I am continually amazed at how much Isaac and Abbey love playing with Caleb. Of course there are times when they want their space, but most of the time they are begging to get him up from his nap or chasing him around the house. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think they would love him so much and it is something I praise God for everyday. Caleb loves to just sit in Abbey's bed with her, and he is into phones so this was a good time filler. He wanted to wear her hat so she naturally wore her scarf so they could match.

It was fun watching Abbey and Caleb run from window to window, saying "It's snowing" over and over. It was like Christmas morning. Abbey was the dutiful big sister and made sure Caleb had a good view of the action. The picture on the left is the view from the side kitchen window. The drifts were like art and fun to watch shift as the wind and snow continued through the morning. The picture on the right is the view from the front window, looking along the front of the house.

It seemed that everyone was posting snow ice cream recipes and Abbey kept begging to make some so we did. I waited until it snowed again on Friday and sat a bowl out to catch the snow. Something about using what had already fallen didn't appeal to me. I found a recipe on

allrecipes.com and we added cinnamon to it. Abbey did it all pretty much by herself and ate most of it too, but not all in one day. Truth is it wasn't the most yummy thing I have eaten (note to self: don't catch the snow in a metal bowl next time), but it was fun to make.

I tried my hand at making snowman pancakes after reading about them in another blog (Lane Moss showin' da moms up) and was only able to make one that looked right. Oh well, it was fun trying. Abbey was the lucky consumer of Frosty the whole wheat flap jack. I promise it wasn't as "blackened" as it looks in the pictures. It just showed up that way for some reason.

Will shoveled all the snow out of our driveway but I am not posting the pictures I took of him because he wasn't very happy I took them to begin with. However, he did an amazing job and we were able to get out and go sledding on Saturday...which I will post about sometime this week. I am also hoping to post about Caleb's goins ons soon so hold me accountable. I have several pictures of him up to no good and the stories to go with them.

Why we love the Skirvin!

A few weeks ago I asked Will what he wanted for his birthday (it was Tuesday). He told me he just wanted a weekend with just me and to stay at the Skirvin. We haven't had an overnight alone since before I got pregnant with Caleb three years ago. Needless to say I was pretty thrilled about his request.

So last Friday night we dropped off Caleb at my parent's house (Isaac and Abbey were with their dad) to be watched by my friend, Jamie, until my parents got home from the PAC to take over for her. Then it was off the the city!

After we checked in we walked to Bricktown and had dinner at Abuelo's. Yum! It was nice to walk back to the hotel after dinner and just take in the cold air and sights and sounds of downtown. The next morning we slept in (heaven) and then went to breakfast at the buffet downstairs (heaven again). After we stuffed ourselves we went back up to our room to get ready to check out and as we did I started to take in the interior of the Skirvin. We have stayed there before but I was so in love with the exterior, taking pictures of the architecture, that I didn't really pay much attention to the inside. As I did I started to realize a little more of why we are so drawn to this hotel.

For starters, the whole hotel is decorated in red, black and beige. The same colors we have in our bedroom. I kept looking at the back of this chair, trying to think why I should like it. Really, I am not lieing. Will finally pointed it out to me. "SH" (Skirvin Hilton) is monogrammed everywhere. It's like this hotel was custom made for me! The other thing we love about the Skirvin is that the service is amazing. When we checked in we asked to purchase the romance package (Will had tried to when he made the reservation but wasn't able to). They apologized and said that they didn't have any more available due to a wedding party staying there. They then gave us vouchers for the breakfast buffet free of charge. Will and I are also history buffs so we love that the Skirvin has a wonderful story to it, rich in historical lore. We love the whole feel of this lovely hotel. It's pretty much the perfect place for us, especially for a weekend getaway.

After we checked out we went to the Bass Pro shop and then for a walk down the canal. We have been to Bricktown a few times before but have never walked the full length of the canal and the weather was perfect for it! We stopped for a late lunch at Falcone's. Delicious! We headed home through Tulsa in the late after noon, getting back to Muskogee around 8 pm. Whew! Fast but fun!

We had a such a great time! We came back refreshed and relaxed and ready to see our littlest man. A big thanks to mom, dad and Jamie for watching Caleb Bear. It meant a lot to us to have people we trust watching him while we were gone.

Welcome to the BEST NEST!

So after years of putting this off I am taking the plunge. We have friends and family scattered all over the US and I thought Facebook would be a better way to connect with them and let everyone know what is going on here. But over time I feel like the opposite has happened and instead of strengthening relationships it has made them more superficial. So after much thought and prayer I am making the switch! If you want the latest on the Herron house, then this is the blog spot for you! I am quite confident that there are far fewer than 300 of you. :-)