A much needed update...

The Shirley's haven't fallen off the face of the earth, we have just been extremely busy the last few weeks which leaves little time for updates. So here's a big one....

Starting with showcasing some of Zach's artwork. These are two of my favorites from this semester and I'm sure that he would agree. The first is from his Drawing II class... he had to take three well known drawings and combine them into one making it his own. One of the main artists used in this drawing was da Vinci. Love it!


This second project was from his Two Dimensional Design class. He says it's all about cut and paste, but I would say that you definitely have to use your imagination in this class... I love this picture for obvious reasons. It's from our wedding. ;-)
So with that... Zach is now in his final three weeks of classes for the semester. He starts a maymester course on May 12 and then he'll have a summer I class and then a break. I'm just so proud of him for this past semester because it's been great to see his artistic talents. ;-)

So a week and a half ago, we had seriously bad storms here in the Dallas area. Well we have actually been having them a lot lately, but on the night of April 12th, the was a bad storm that sent most people to their bathtubs in the middle of the night. Zach and I braved it, but the sirens weren't going off in Lewisville. The wind was super strong though and the rain was pelting down so hard, it was definitely scary. As I was leaving the house the next morning, I looked over from the alley way, across my yard and into my neighbors yard and saw that she had lot nearly a 1/3 of her tree. It was amazing that this tree didn't snap onto my house or her house, but instead just fell over into the other part of her yard. Last Monday, she sadly had to let go of her tree and get it chopped down. It's a drastic difference and I'll post pictures once I get some. It made me glad that we don't have any big trees in our yard.


So the weekend after the huge storms came, Zach and my family started working on the new fence. Zach's parents were here for a portion of the weekend and they helped as well. With the ground being wet from the storm, it really helped us dig the holes and set the posts more easily. Last weekend, we got 8 posts set and this past weekend, the rest of the posts were set. We are now ready for panels on the fence, and I'm ready for it to be done so Bailey can run and play in her backyard.This past weekend was a whirlwind to say the least. It all started on Friday night with our PowerFM sponsor dinner. As a part of my contribution to the station, I have been hosting a dinner for a couple djs and the sponsor of their choice. So Zach and I went to eat with Eddie, Jade, and Michelle and her son JD. Good times and lots of eat, drink and play. Then on Saturday morning, I went with my sister to walk in the March of Dimes March for Babies in honor of little Grace Elizabeth Nelson. We raised money for about three weeks for the event and then walked with what seemed like 5 billion other people around White Rock Lake. Ok, so we didn't really walk around the entire thing... we actually only walked about a mile and a half. When you are walking with a group that has babies in strollers, you just can't last for the entire 5 mile course. So after the walk, we got ready and went to Gainesville, TX and you may ask why. Well, I informed my sister last weekend about some yorkie puppies for sale in Lewisville. She went to see them, and didn't decide right then, but called the lady back the next day and asked her to hold it for her. So we went to the lady's house on Saturday to pick up my sister's new little yorkie pup, Miley. We spent the rest of Saturday tending to the dog, picking up items that she needed, giving a bath and just cuddling with her. She's a precious little pup and once I have pics, I will post. ;-)

And that leads me to yesterday, Sunday... what a great way to start the week. Yesterday was the final Big Time performance at The Branch. After 4 years of awesome outreach to the kids, Big Time closed the doors to begin a new chapter in the children's ministry at the Branch. I'm still not sure what the new sometime entails, but I know that it will be just as uplifting and a great ministry to show the kids the love of Jesus. This is a little taste of what Big Time was like.


So here are a couple pictures from yesterday's finale... you can barely see me singing (a kid is about to walk in front of me).

Here's most of the singers and dancers from the last performance. Finally, last night was our small group which I look forward to every week. Since we had almost everyone present last night it was a perfect time for a picture. So here we are, the Lewisville small group from The Branch.
Front Row L-R: Zach, me, Sarah, Tyson. Back Row L-R: Drew, Jamie, Mark, Shevawn, Josh, Jessica, Holly and Aaron.

What a blessing all of you are in our lives. Love you and hopefully you'll see another post before a month goes by. ;)