Sometimes it's the little things that make a day better

My Cute Water Bottle! For some reason I seem to be obsessed with water bottles, but I especially like my new one garrett got for me!  It makes me happy!

Our Flower Garden

Well our flowers are blooming in our garden... at least some of them... We don't know what to say about our flower garden. It didn't turn out quite as pretty as we were hoping it would this year. We are not sure if that is our fault, the suns fault, or the aunts in our yard. But there have been a few blooms that have been beautiful. This is one of them

Our living area

Well we re arranged our living room a little last night. I went all over our house and grabbed a bunch of black picture frames and hung them up in our empty living room wall. I think it looks cool with our futon.

Cute shoes...

I ordered these cute sandals today! I'm excited to wear them for the fall! Lori already has a pair and I couldn't resist getting them too! Free Shipping, but it's gonna take like 14 to 20 days to get here though!

Oh this post is by shell : )

A hot summer day with the Cope's

Today we got to pick up lori donnie and jack from the Branson Airport. They are spending the week here. This is a picture of Grandma showing baby jack how we get our suitcases back after a plain ride.

Jack got to swim in a pool for the first time today! It has been HOT in Branson this week! Uncle Garrett has been amazing with baby jack! (I love watching them play together)

Garrett has started studying for his A+ certification and I am really proud of him in all that he knows and pursues. He takes really good care of me and provides for me and loves me! I am a really blessed girl that's for sure!

Broken Inside

Posted By: Garrett

Steven Harris was a father of two, a husband to one, and a friend to all. Steve Harris was one of the greatest men I have ever known. He always modeled the American hard working man that we are all supposed to be.

Today his name will be placed in my book of Hall of Fame! I am grieved by the thoughts of my best friend’s father no longer here on this earth with his family. I miss him and his sense of humor and always coming up with something to laugh about. When we all would get together Steve would bring up some funny story of Matt and I as kids growing up. It always seemed to bring some of the hardest laughs I have ever heard.

Phillip and I have been best friends all our lives and really have valued our genuine friendship. Steve was an amazing father to Phillip and was always doing things together. I remember one time all the guys went camping at the Buffalo River. The boys slept in the tent and the men slept in the pop up camper. In the middle of the night it started pouring down raining and our tent started to flood. So the camping trip ended with all the men and boys sleeping in the little pop up camper. That was one experience!

I can remember that my dad (Kent Vanderpool) had his ham radio license and convinced Phillip to get his. Steve and Phillip studied away and then they got their ham radio licenses at the same time. Phillip’s call sign was KC0LKE and Steve’s was KC0LKD. I was so jealous about the three of them having their ham license and I didn’t. So Phillip would let me come over and we would study for my test together. It wasn’t too much longer after that and I got my license. My call sign was KC0NRQ! I was so excited about getting mine that we all four would talk on local repeaters.

We would travel together and go to Ham Fests and Packet meetings. We participated in this event for several years. We really had a lot of fun because not only was it something that Phillip and I did but our dad’s were involved to.

Steve was such an honest man that strived to do what was right and truly had the best interest of others around him. Steve truly felt like a second father to me as I was growing up. Growing up my family really didn’t have much to our name and Steve would treat me like I was his own. I would be invited to go out to lunch and dinner with them and he really made Matt and I feel a part of the family.

Steve was my dad’s best man and my dad was his best man in their weddings. Steve was my dad’s best friend and I can’t imagine how broke inside he feels today. Today he cried and I have not seen my dad cry about anything. I love my dad so very much and mourn the loss of my dad’s best friend and my best friend’s Dad.

If there is one thing that I think Steve would want his friends and family to know is that he is in a much better place now. I am sure his heart is broken that he was been called home and his family is still here to live life in this rough world. At the same time he is worshiping at the feet of Jesus Christ!

I miss you Steve and miss you being here in my life and the lives of your family. Today I am broken inside for the rest of the Harris Family. I know you all are going to really have a rough road ahead of you all learning how to handle this loss. God will be with you through it all and so will the Vanderpool Family!

We love you all more than anything and you truly are a part of our family. We miss Steve and know that he is in a better place! We are sorry this has happened to you! We will continue to pray for your healing in the days ahead!

I trust God has a plan for our pain

Post by: shell

Garrett left this morning before I got up to go to a new client for computer issues. When I woke up he still wasn't home and so I worked for SBP a while until my computer died... I was just sitting on the couch waiting for garrett to get home (thinking about folding laundry) But Garrett got home and we started talking a little bit in the living room about our day and our morning, when Garrett got a text from philip. We rushed to the E.R. and garrett and I walked into the consultation room just moments after philip and elizabeth found out that there dad didn't make it.

I've never been in a situation like that before. I've never lost someone close to me. I cried and I felt pain but i didn't know what to do. I wanted to help so much but there was nothing I could do at all. I've been blessed to not loose a close person in my life but I know that dyeing is part of living on this sinful world. So my mind all day has just been trying to truthfully comprehend death. Just the fact that he is not here anymore is hard to figure out. I know that there are so many people on this earth that have had to understand this and live with this pain; and i'm not pretending that I won't have to. I've just been blessed to not have to go though that yet.

Garrett made a point today that we do live our lives like we are invincible. We live as if nothing can hurt us and we can handle everything on our own. I could continue to write about the pain and shock I saw and felt today, but I know my hubby is writing too. But my heart goes out to Carol Phillip and Elizabeth and also to Garretts daddy. I've been sick to my stomach at times today just to think of the pain they are filled with to lose such an important and amazing man in their lives.

Paster Paul came to pray with the family today and he said something that is so true to my life today. He quoted C.S. Lewis "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world." It's so hard to fully understand that the Lord who created us has a plan for our pain. I was reading a couple days ago in Isaiah where it says our thoughts are not like Gods thoughts and our ways are not like His ways. It's hard to know all the time that God has a much bigger view on why we exists. I wan't to truly be able to bring God into everything, and view it from His perspective, by His holy values. I want to be able to view things in terms of eternity. But all we can see is a little bit all around us. I just have to keep in mind always that He knows from the day we are knit together what His plans are and what we will do with our lives.

I wish I could think like God thinks... be focused on what really matters. It's so hard to keep focused on what is most important in life when there are so many other distractions that seem so important at the time. I care about the Harris's and I hurt for the loss of an amazing man father and husband... I have a hard time comprehending that he's gone. To me today it all feels like a dream but I know that it will become very real to philip and his family.

I have know clue what God is doing. I pray that God will give me strength to trust Him today and in the future because looking back on my life and through faith I know He has always had a plan. I pray that God will help me garrett and the Harris's to understand His plan and in the meantime trust in that outcome.

Busy Day

Post by: Garrett

Today was a busy day for the Vanderpool Family! I got up this morning around 6:15 because I had a meeting to attend at 7:00. I am great with early morning meetings and all but usually they are after 8:00. This morning that was clearly not the case!

I stumbled out of bed while Shelly look so comfortably asleep and got ready for my meeting. I was invited to a new business group within Branson and I arrived early. I enjoyed the meeting but couldn't understand how these people went to all these meetings and then still had time to run their own company. The meeting went well and completed around 9:00.

I then arrived back at home to see what Shell was up to. She worked late last night so she was so tired! She had just woken up and so we started our day together at this point. We go to the business and work for a while until I had to go to another meeting. Shelly had one of her great friends name Kelsey down and ate lunch with her today at Mazzios. There is just something about that place that always sounds good... maybe it is there cheesy bread or their calzone rings. I don't know but we both sure enjoy that place.

This evening Shelly and I got to hang out with abby and boy did we have fun! We took abby to the park and then we went swimming in Shell's parents pool. Jack Jack has toys at Grandma Ginny's house and Abby found them first thing when she walked in the door. She looked at Ginny and asked politely if she could play with them. Of course Ginny didn't have a problem with it but only encouraged Abby to play and have fun with them.

We had such a blast and we concluded the evening by taking her back home to grammy and papa's house for the night. She loves her grandparents! Actually not to long ago did I receive a phone call from Abby asking me if I would go with grammy and her to White Water tomorrow. She is so precious and I am so thankful that I have such a precious little niece to love on.

Shelly is going to be such a precious mom one day! I love watching her interact with Abby and instruct her on the way to do things. Tonight we were in the pool with Abby and Shelly demonstrated on how to hold a kick board and kick. It was right after that wonderful example that Abby then attempted to do the same. I love you Shellbell and truly love being married to you!

Thank you for being my wife and putting up with all the stuff you have to from me! Your defiantly my best friend in the entire world!

Well thats my day!

Love you guys!

Garrett Vanderpool

it nearly took me 21 years to think of this...

Post by: Shell

Well it's always hard for me to think about what I want to ask for whenever my birthday rolls around so i started a blog a couple weeks ago just so I could put some things on their whenever I think of them instead of going blank when it gets close and people start asking.... here is a link to my blog... so far I haven't got very many things that I really want on their... i'm thinking to hard about it I suppose, but I think it's promising and hopefully helpful.

Anniversary of getting Engaged!

Post by: Shell

Last year on July 1st Garrett took me to Big Cedar to ask me to be his wife! (link to our engagement story) It has been a year from that day! And since then I got the privilege of being married to this wonderful man! We spent an afternoon at Big Cedar just walking around and taking pictures... we went to the bridge where he purposed, and went to a little coffee shop and enjoyed a smoothy.... We just enjoyed spending the day together. Garrett was clear to explain that although he loved the day, we don't have to celebrate this day every year right? : ) I love him!

Marriage has been a journey the past 7 months we have been together. There has been some really tough times and we have had to completely trust God in a lot of new areas in our life. We both know we have a lot to learn and we have learned a lot already. We are walking blindly to where we think God wants us to go together. There have been a lot of decisions that the Lord has helped us make that haven't been easy. Deciding to drop school at this time and start our own business's, Garrett also told Kanakuk that he couldn't come back this summer, we have changed churches and I started working at Andys frozen Custard part time... It's so hard to not be able to see the whole picture. We know God has a plan for us together. At this point we walk in faith to live inside his purpose for our marriage. We love each other and we know we are both blessed to be able to live this life with our best friend!