This makes me feel happy...where is matt...

a friend & fellow photog, Kristen Bednardz, posted a link on her blog...and out of curiosity, i went and checked it out...and all i can say is...

dude, i can't even begin to tell you how happy i felt while watching this...not sure why, maybe it's b/c i feel so good when i'm dancing...and i just can't help but think about how when we dance & praise the LORD, he must have that same giddy, so-full-of-happiness-i-might-burst feeling, too!

so...here's the link to where is matt--i hope that it makes you feel all happy & giddy inside like it did me...it is exactly what the dr ordered as i'm recovering from my surgery!

also, for those of you wandering, i'm doing pretty good post-op...the surgery lasted 1 hour & 45 minutes...and the dr said that the procedure was text-book...i have really done sooooo much better than i thought!! and i know it must have something to do with all the prayers lifted up on my behalf! the only unbearable pain i've really had is that from my neck--which was bothering me before i went into surgery--i have 2 ruptured discs in my neck that i've tried to have fixed, but nothing has worked so far--but then again, they have never hurt this bad, either...and it really hurts BAD-- it feels like a knife sticking in that part of my neck & then travels down my back & left arm--and it does it when i do something as little as talk--weird, huh? i'm hoping that maybe some of the weight loss will help it get better...in the meantime, that seems to be the only thing i have to take pain meds for which is a blessing & miracle in itself!!!

love, hugs & blessings to you, my friends & family!
and thanks again for all the support during my surgery & recovery!
candace

my GASTRIC BYPASS surgery is tomorrow!!!

hey there family & friends!

just wanted to check in & see how your summer is going...hope yall have been having as much fun in the sun as me and the little boys! corbin has his mommy's skin and is already sporting a pretty good tan...brendan's getting a little darker, but i'm mainly just having to keep a lot of sunblock on him to keep him from roasting...

tomorrow is a big day in the banks household...i am having gastric bypass surgery!! for some of you that i haven't talked to in a while, you might be like "what in the world?!?"...but this is something that i have been praying about for about a year...and once i started praying faithfully about it, God opened the doors for me...i have had no trouble getting insurance approval, surgery dates, kelly's permissive tdy (which gives him time to take off from work to take care of me), childcare for the boys, etc...

our good friend, drew, has let us borrow his laptop to use in the hospital so my plans are to keep you updated...i'll probably just post updates on the blog instead of email...and that would be the best place to leave us your prayers & comments...

i'm soooo hoping to get caught up on my blogging while in the hospital or at least while i'm recovering, but i guess that all depends on how i'm feeling...

i'm not ready to post pics now, but maybe in a few months i'll post some before & after pics....

thank you in advance for praying for me/us... we are looking forward to seeing all the ways that the Lord will work in our lives.

blessings to you and yours!!!
we love you!
candace
p.s....i forgot to mention that the surgery is at abilene regional hospital at like 11am tomorrow, june 25th...dr frazee (a wonderful christian man) is my surgeon.

Hanging with Ethan & Allie

This is another post WAY past due...back at the end of April we hung out with our friends, Ethan & Allie & their mommy Jennifer...here's a few pics of the kiddos goofing off...

New Carpet...another past-due post

At the end of March (see how behind I am in posting??!!??), we got new carpet...I know this isn't very exciting for some, but in the 6.5 years Kelly & I have been married, we've never had new or even sorta new carpet (it's always been at least 10-15 YEARS old--I know, I know, YUCK-OLA!!)...but we've had little ones who are very prone to throwing up and we didn't' think it was worth it...anywho, we found out that not only do I have some pretty good allergies, but so does little B...so we decided it would be worth it to get new carpet & see if it would help (so far I don't notice any changes, but hey, the new carpet is really cool!)...if you've never seen new carpet installed, you'd be shocked at all the yuckies that are under and inside the padding...sooooo gross!!! I spared you those pics, but did take a few of the scriptures that we wrote underneath both our carpet in our room and in the boys room...how cool would it be if we were still here for the next carpet change or even cooler for the people who find what we later wrote...

Blessings,
Candace

Horsing Around...

Just a little summertime fun... (and if you haven't noticed, we're still sooooo glad to have Daddy home...it's hard to believe that a year ago we were preparing for him to go to Qatar...it's been a crazy year for us!!!...and we deserve some fun!!)

Blessings,
Candace

05-17-08 Upward Soccer

Like I said in the previous post, I am sooooo behind! And I know it's probably driving my mom nuts (and I can't blame her, I'd want to see pics of my grandkids as often as possible if I didn't get to see them all the time)...

So here's a few pics from that day's soccer game...

Blessings,
Candace

Zoolute 2008...with Grannie & Pappie

I have some MAJOR catching up to do...and to be honest with you, I have no idea when it'll all happen...so I'll do as much as I can whenever I can...but you can be watching for posts from Brendan's last soccer games, Rachel (another sweet girl who modeled for me!), the Montgomery's, Memorial Day weekend, Melissa's bridal & wedding (those won't be posted until after her wedding June 21st), hanging out with some friends at Hardin Simmons, Brendan's 5th birthday,...and the list goes on!

But for now, here's some pics from this year's Zoolute...and lucky for us, Grannie & Pappie got to go with us!!

Blessings,
Candace