Apollo

Good morning!

Aaron and I would like to introduce to you our new puppy. His name is...after much debate.... Apollo Kidd. He is a 3 month old lab/terrier mix. Apollo and Belle get along great and have so much fun playing together, especially tug-o-war! He needs a little nursing back to health, but he is looking great and getting better fast! He should have a clean bill of health in a couple weeks. Here are a few pictures of our little guy, they aren't the best because he gets distracted very easily, but its all we have! Enjoy!

God Bless,

Aaron, Amy, Rocky, Belle, and Apollo

:)

Our weekend plans....

Friday
1. Eat Carabbas with hubby
2. Go see Hellboy 2 with hubby...yes I want to see it :)

Saturday
1. Go to the bank
2. Go look at lab puppies at the animal shelter
3. Buy decorative pillows for our bland couch...maybe green or blueish???
4. Go to the grocery store
5. Go to movie tavern to see The Dark Night with the high schoolers in our youth group
6. Clean out the guest room

Sunday
1. Go watch our niece Madelyn get baptized....ya!!!
2. Probably go out to eat with the fam
3. Back to Conroe for youth night, couch scavenger hunt!!!

Makes me tired just thinking about it all...but I love my life and wouldn't change it for anything in the world!!

Much love,
Aaron, Amy, Rockstar, Belle Belle, and possibly a new puppy.... :)

Life

Good Afternoon!

It's been a while since we last posted anything, sorry for the absence.

Last weekend Aaron and I traveled to Frdericksburg to meet our new niece and hang out with his side of the family. We spent too much money, bought too many things, but had a wonderful time. We didn't take any pictures because our camera is a little sick at the moment, but hopefully soon I will find the time to drop it off so we can actually have some memories. Here are a couple pictures of her that my sister-in-law sent to us. Isn't she beautiful?

From all the running around we have been doing this past month I've been thinking about how crazy life is. I have been so busy, stressed out, and literally running around like a chicken with its head cut off. I haven't had time to do our laundry, clean house, unpack from the fourth of july trip...much less our recent trip, take our poor pup on a walk, make a decent meal, take care of myself, or get the guest bedroom cleaned up. This all has me so stressed out that I've put myself in a small rut. I just don't have it all together and I feel drained. Work is draining, church is draining, looking at our apartment is draining, being a newlywed is sometimes draining, trying to figure out my work future is draining and I could go on and on.... I know God clearly states in Matthew 6:25-35 "DO NOT WORRY" and in 1 Peter 5:7 to "CAST ALL YOUR CARES ON ME" I tend to hold these verses close to my heart because I am a natural worrier, but I can't help feeling the way I do at the moment, I'm just in a rut.

I promise it won't be so long until we post again!

Love, Aaron, Amy, Belle and Rocky

excited!

Aaron comes home tomorrow!!! Today cannot go by fast enough..............

Love, Amy, Rocky Balboa, and Bellerina :)

best friends and sad puppies

MY BEST FRIEND IS COMING HOME TODAY!!!!!!

For those of you who do not know my best friend Kristi is a missionary somewhere some place. I'm not allowed to say where, but just know its far, far, far away!! Kristi is an absolute blessing in my life. She is more then my best friend, she is also my sister in Christ and the person that has been there for me in the good times and bad and I promise there were a lot of bad! She prayed for me and never gave up on me when everyone else had. I have a story about my dear Kristi and I hope you enjoy it bc its my favorite!

My life was full of irrational decisions. I have been a christian since I was young. I grew up in a baptist church and was one of those church brats running around all the pews bothering the older members of the church. I was part of my church youth group leadership team and always had my face in church....the keyword here is face. I was a christian and loved God, but that was on the surface. Deep down I had a hard time giving control over to God and letting Him be truly and completely in my life. I made some bad decisions in high school, but all together was a good kid. Then I went off to college. I was depressed my first year of college and just kind of floated through the rest of the years falling far from God. I knew in my heart that God was so desperately calling me to Him and pouring out His love to me, but I always turned away bc I was scared. I was scared to give up what I considered at the time fun nights on the town, guys, materialistic things, selfish desires, and so much more. Through these many years of being a surface Christian, Kristi was my rock. She prayed for me and always listened to my stories full of sin. She never condemned me or turned her back. She was the constant God, if you will, in my life. She never forced any views on me, but was just there for me in any way she could be. I remember calling her crying a little over a year ago, right before I met Aaron and was at my lowest level. I did not want to continue with the life I was living, but I didn't know how to turn my life around from the insecure person I was. She listened to me cry and encouraged me the only way a best friend can and told me that I could be the woman God had been calling me to be for him and that I could forgive myself for my past and be accepted as a pure and holy in His sight. God used her all those years to be that light for me and for that I am eternally grateful. She is a wonderful and amazingly beautiful soul and I am so lucky that I am able to call her my sister and best friend.

I don't know if any of that makes sense to you, but it does to me and I know it will to her. I hope she knows the impact she has had on my life and I am forever grateful to God for blessing me with her and for everything she is.

So yea for Kristi being home even if its only for a short time!!!

Belle is missing Aaron a lot since he has been gone. He left Sunday and won't be back until Saturday and she already does not know what to with herself. She aimlessly walks around outside staring down cars in hopes that her daddy is home. I wish I could somehow tell her "Saturday!!" But I can't so we will continue going through the rest of the week and taking a potty break every 30 minutes to see if he is home yet. So for Belle's sake here is one of my favorite pictures of Aaron and Belle....

I'm off to take the trash out, do the dishes, switch around some laundry,pick up whatever it was the cat knocked off the counter, find a bible verse to text to Aaron for tomorrow and finally be a lazy bum!

We love you and God Bless,

Amy, Rocky, and Belle Belle

Sad...

I have to say I am sad today. Aaron left for UMArmy and will not be back until Saturday. UMArmy is the senior high mission trip for our kids. Around 4-6 churches from all over the state of Texas get together and stay at a host church and spend the week doing community service work through out the city/town where they are staying. This year they went to St. Pauls United Methodist Church in downtown Houston. Our kids will be painting houses, building wheel-chair ramps and being a light in a community where its sometimes hard to see the love of Christ. So if you get a chance please pray for Aaron, Keith (our dear friend and summer intern) and our kiddos. They will need the strength because it is definitly hot out there! Please also pray for me. We just got married a month and half ago and even though a week is not a long time it seems like an eternity for me! We had only been dating a few months this time last year when he went to UMArmy and I barely made it through the week. I think I broke down and called him Friday night crying bc I missed him so much and quickly hung up hoping the message for some reason did not go through because he would probably think I was crazy! Thankfully he called as soon as he got the message in the morning and reassured me he would be home in a couple hours! Silly me...patience is a virtue!



Before we packed his stuff Saturday night we spent a lovely 4th of July weekend at my parents lake house at Toledo Bend. I love going there and some of my best childhood memeries are from our 2 bedroom 1 bathroom single wide trailer filled with family, food, and somewhat clear cable. :) This was Belle's first time to the lake and it went suprisingly well considereing our poor pup is scared of the water. Not to the point where she hides her tail or cries a little bit, but I mean she goes nuts! Giving her a bath is not a one person job, its a whole army if we had them. She flips over herself, claws Aaron to the extent that he needs arm, back, and chest padding and she will literally try to run a hole through the tub just to get out instead of just jumping out. Aaron threw her in the water a few times and I think for today at least she is glad he isn't home, but all together it was a wonderful family time. We watched fireworks on Friday night and made smores then just relaxed and fished the rest of the time. My parents and 2 nieces were there with us and it was great!





In other news, we have a new niece!!! Elaina JoLee Estlack was born on July 2, 2008! We are so excited and can't wait to meet her! We are traveling to Fredrickburg on July 17th to visit her and her big brother Ben, along with Aarons sisters and their hubbies. I will post pictures as soon as we have some! We can't wait to spend a family weekend with every we miss so much!



Me and the pup are off the bed. Its getting late and I have a full week of 8-5 work to look forward to in the morning. Plus, the saddness of Aaron not being next to me is starting to set in so I am going to read my daily devotional and try to relax. Belle is full of energy though so we will see how much rest I get! Goodnight!!



Love you all!!

Amy, Rocky and Belle

The beginning...

Hello!!!

Recently, I have had the joy of reading others blogs and the Lord has used them to touch me and teach me in numerous ways and for that I am thankful. So instead of being selfish and continually reading others we decided to start one of our own in hopes that we can better keep in touch with our loved ones, but also to share a part of ourselves with you and share our journey and love for God with you! So here is the beginning....

Aaron and I were married on May 24th, 2008 in a beautiful lake side wedding. We have been together since February of 07 and a short 10 months later he proposed! Aaron is the man of my dreams and I am so lucky to get to spend the rest of my life with him. And I have to admit we will have some darn cute kiddos one day!

We live in Conroe where Aaron works as the Youth Director to the wonderful youth at First United Methodist Church Conroe. He does an amazing job with them and its a blast!

I work downtown Houston for a furniture design/sales company. (Yes, I commute over 100 miles a day to work...its not fun, believe me!) Its a crazy world and I am ready to start a new path. In early May I received my teaching certificate so I am eagerly awaiting when God says its time to move into the world of teaching! I am very excited and somewhat scared, but I know that God will lead me in the path He wants.

We have a 9 month old catahoula mix puppy named Belle and a 6 year old stubborn cat named Rocky Balboa....for a good reason!

That's a little beginning to the Kidd family. I pray that our silly blog will somehow bless you in a way only God can do. He is an amazing God who loves you more then you can ever imagine.

We Love you!

Aaron, Amy, Rocky Balboa, and Belle :)