Getting Our Camp On

Some friends of our are avid campers.  So when they mentioned that they were going camping, I jumped at the chance... Even though the last time Richard and I went camping together 1. We were married, but not to each other and 2. If I remember correctly, he forgot the poles to his tent.  Needless to say, we were out of our element.  But, in the spirit of adventure, we decided to go.  And we loved it!  Mase loved playing with his friends and we enjoyed some drinks and good conversation around the camp fire.  Can't wait to go again!

Richard, Julie and Mason Moss
Josh, Brooke, Tyson and Liam McKay
Chris, Mary, Conner and Charlie Boyles

Only 5 and Already Has It Figured Out

I took Mason with me to vote (2016 Primary). 

As we were leaving I tried to explain that we are very lucky we get to help choose our leaders, because not everyone gets that right. 

His response: "Mom, know who I want my leader to be?  God."

I left with tears streaming down my face.  I'm not sure I've ever been more proud.

Baller!

Our church, Osage Hills, hosted Upward basketball this year.  It's focus is on both sports and learning about Christ.  We decided to make it a family affair, so Richard and I signed up to coach.  Mase loved that his Daddy coached the team.

It was an incredible experience to see these young kids grow in both their basketball skills and with their sportsmanship.  We had all kinds of ability levels on our team and on several occasions, I choked back tears seeing these 5 and 6 year olds work together to make sure everyone on the team could score a basket.  

During one of our devotions early on in the season, I posed the question "What does it mean to be Christlike?"  Our sweet Mason blurted out "it means that our friends are more important than basketball."  Proud mom moment!  

Mason, age 5

Bringing the ball down the court.  

Richard is trying to teach the rules of basketball.  The kids are asking what is for snack.  

2016 Goals

This year my word is going to be INTENTIONAL.  We want to be intentional with our time, with our family and marriage, and with our resources.  

Over coffee, Richard and I came up with some 2016 goals.  Will all these things happen?  Not likely.  But, coming up with goals and being intentional about working towards them is a great start!  

Our goals include being intentional about our family, our physical and spiritual health, raising Mason to be a stellar young man and our finances.  Quite honestly, we do okay in most of these areas... But, we don't want to settle for being fine.  We want to be INTENTIONAL. Purposeful in our actions to achieve our goals.  

It's a risk to share goals.  When we put them out there publicly, we are at risk for being held accountable ~ and that is both awesome and scary.  We put ourselves at risk for others seeing if we fail at those goals.  And, perhaps part of being intentional is not caring what others think of us.  Let's pursue the approval of those who really matter (God, ourselves, family and close friends) and not those who wish to judge our failures.  And, if we strive for an ambitious goal and we don't succeed, is that really a failure?  We surely would be much better off if we hadn't done any work to achieve the goal, right?  

Richard's goals include maintaining a rigorous exercise routine and improving his eating habits.  He hopes to run another half marathon this year.  Not an easy goal considering he works a minimum of 60 hours a week.  

Julie's goal includes to continue running and to complete several half marathons working up to the Bass Pro Marathon on November 6, 2016.  

As a family, we would like to attend church more regularly.  We want to spend less time in front of a screen and more time interacting together.  When we have free time, we want to be intentional about planning trips and creating memories.  And, part of strengthening our family is strengthening our marriage through date nights and more time having meaningful conversations.  

Financially, we would like to save more, and be intentional about our spending.  This means spending less on frivolous stuff (like crafting supplies, trips to Target and Starbucks) and increasing giving to whatever causes touch our hearts.  We also want to start teaching Mason about financial responsibilities and the pride that comes with earning and spending your own money.  

Mason's goal is to get a Jango Fett costume ASAP.  

Happy 2016!  Looking forward to the great things to come this year! 

2015 Top Ten

TOP 10 MOSS MOMENTS IN 2015 (in no particular order):

1. Running the Joplin Turkey Trot with Mason.  Seeing him work hard when it got difficult and push through... The pride beaming off of him when he received his medal.  Priceless!

2.  Julie finishing the hard chemo treatments in February.  The last one nearly killed me, but I made it!

3.  Relay for life with the entire Gillispie family.  

4.  Spending a week in Florida with the entire Moss/Snyder family.

5.  Running my first half marathon on my one year cancer-versary.  

6.  Richard and Julie running a half marathon together.  

7.   Watching Mason grow up ~ He loves sports and costumes!

8.  Trick-or-treating with the Moss family in Joplin.

9.  Richard losing 25 lbs. through lots of hard work on his road bike, running and his heavy bag. On one of Richard's 3 training runs (when he went out for a jog and came back 9 miles later), Mason and I surprised him by meeting him a few blocks from the house and chalking the street with motivational messages.  Richard said that moment stands out for him in 2015.

10.  Getting Darth!  He absolutely completes our little family.

Christmas 2015

Elfvis being ornery.

Ugly Christmas Sweater Party

Good times with great people! 

This was fun.  We used 2 entire bottle of sprinkles and they were everywhere!

Welcome to the family, Darth Moss.
Richard and Mason surprised me with Darth ~ a 9 week old golden doodle.  He fits into our family really well!  

The tree.  Some gifts Santa brought Mase were a skateboard, a Darth Maul costume and light saber, puzzles, and clothes.  One of his favorite gifts was a really cool Storm Trooper costume from Aunt Gala.  Santa brought Richard a Roomba, which is AMAZING!  

Mase made this coffee cup for Richard at school.  Richard and I fight over who gets to drink out of it every morning.  

All I wanted was one good family picture for the Christmas album.  This is what I got.
It's not perfect, but it perfectly sums up this stage of life right now and I love it!
(Note that the cat and dog cooperated better than the 5 year old)

Christmas at Nanny and Poppy's house. 

Trying out his Darth Maul Christmas swag.

Welcome to the Family, Darth

Um... So this happened. His name is Darth Moss (named by Mason) and he is a 9 week old golden doodle.  He's got the sweetest little face.  He plays hard and naps hard.

He likes playing with ice cubes, picking up sticks and chasing Mason around (Mase doesn't love that last part).  We are working on potty training and he is we are doing really great. We are even working on ringing a bell when it is time to go outside.

Welcome to the family, Darth!

Darth Moss, 9 weeks old