A Bus, A Megaphone, and Ty Pennington...

I'm a little frazzled right now as I prepare for a six-week book/speaking tour. But today is very special.

Two years ago today, the amazing Extreme Makeover: Home Edition team pulled up in a bus and Ty Pennington shouted to the sky and everyone within hearing distance, "Good Morning, Woodhouse Family!"

To say that it changed our lives doesn't quite express that experience correctly. Each and every day I wake up and praise God for what He's done.

I'm so thankful. Thankful for this amazing home. Thankful for my kids' health improvements. Thankful for the opportunities that have opened up because of this. And thankful for the chance to encourage and bring hope to other people in need.

Thank you all for your encouragement, love, and support. Thank you for your notes, your hugs, your buying 20 copies of my book to give to friends. :) Thank you for traveling this journey with us.

A special thanks to Matt and Shannon Swanson. You are precious to us. Thank you for all you did to make this possible. And thanks to the community of Colorado Springs.

God is so good.

I pray you are all blessed by our story - and let me remind you that His joy is always there.

Three Years and Counting...

Today marks the three-year anniversary of my beautiful daughter Kayla's brain decompression surgery.

Our great God never ceases to amaze me. I look at my incredible kids every day and am marveled by His grace and love.

And what I think about on Sept. 26 is the fact that Kayla's brain was being squished by her skull. Part of her skull has since been removed, part of the top two vertebrae were drilled out, and her dura membraine was opened up and made bigger. Looking at her today, I can hardly believe it.

Kayla has been through so much in her life, and yet, she keeps on smiling. Each day she faces with new determination and grit. She swims miles upon miles every day, studies her Bible, does mountains of schoolwork, and brainstorms new books with me. To look at her, you'd never guess that she deals with a rare nerve disorder every day, or that she underwent such a huge surgery three years ago.

I'm attaching a picture of the kids at the Grand Canyon this past spring. Look at this picture and try to tell me our God isn't awesome. Look at this picture and try to tell me He's not the God of miracles. Look at this picture and try to tell me it's okay to whine and complain. :)

No.

Instead? Look at this picture and be amazed. Then look at your own life. Pick yourself up by your bootstraps, grab onto His joy, and smile.

Life is hard. But our God is SO good.

Follow the Blog Tour for WELCOME HOME!!

I am privileged and honored to be featured on all these blogs. Please follow the blog tour and comment on them! Some are even giving away copies of my book Welcome Home
Thank you so much! Please be in prayer for the launching of this book.

2-Aug-09 Lena Nelson Dooley
10-Aug-09 Tracy Ruckman http://pixnpens.blogspot.com/
12-Aug-09 Sherry Kyle http://www.sherrykyle.com/
16-Aug-09 Angie Breidenbach http://godusesbrokenvessels.blogspot.com/
17-Aug-09 Mary DeMuth http://www.relevantblog.blogspot.com/
17-Aug-09 Laura Hilton http://lighthouse-academy.blogspot.com/
17-Aug-09 Ane Mulligan http://www.anemulligan.blogspot.com/
18-Aug-09 Melanie Dickerson http://www.melaniewrites.blogspot.com/
19-Aug-09 Tiffany Colter http://writingcareercoach.blogspot.com/2009/08/interview-with-kimberly-woodhouse.html and http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-9910-Writing-Examiner~y2009m8d18-An-interview-with-Kimberly-Woodhouse
19-Aug-09 Tiffany Stockton http://amberstockton.blogspot.com/
19-Aug-09 Stormi Johnson http://writesthoughts.blogspot.com/
20-Aug-09 Christa Allan http://www.cballan.wordpress.com/
20-Aug-09 Elizabeth Ludwig http://www.noveljourney.blogspot.com/
21-Aug-09 Debra Ullrick www.christianromancewriter.blogspot.com/
22-Aug-09 Paulette Harris http://comeandsitawhile.blogspot.com/
23-Aug-09 Ane Mulligan http://www.anemulligan.blogspot.com/
24-Aug-09 Evangeline Denmark http://breathenbreatheout.blogspot.com/
24-Aug-09 Sharon Lavy http://sharonlavy.blogspot.com/
24-Aug-09 Donna Moore http://writebyfaith.blogspot.com/
25-Aug-09 CJ Darlington http://www.cjdarlington.blogspot.com/
25-Aug-09 Marjorie Vawter http://www.marjorievawter.blogspot.com/
26-Aug-09 Donita K. Paul http://www.donitakpaul.blogspot.com/
26 Aug - 09 Delores Liesner http://deloresliesner.blogspot.com/
28-Aug-09 Cynthia Ruchti http://www.cynthiaruchti.com/
28-Aug-09 Angie Arndt http://angiearndt.wordpress.com/
29-Aug-09 http://milehighscribes.blogspot.com/
30-Aug-09 Ronie Kendig http://supernaturalcraving.blogspot.com/
31-Aug-09 Dineen Miller http://dineenmiller.blogspot.com/
31-Aug-09 Jan Parrish http://janparrish.blogspot.com/
1-Sep-09 Lori Kasbeer http://laurelwreathsreflections.com/lorisbookreviews/
2-Sep-09 Pamela James http://pammer.blogspot.com/
3-Sep-09 Cheryl Wyatt http://www.scrollsquirrel.blogspot.com/
4-Sep-09 Angie Arndt http://angiearndt.wordpress.com/
5-Sep-09 Heather Tipton http://heatherdianetipton.blogspot.com/
7-Sep-09 Gina Conroy http://ginaconroy.com/ginablog/wordpress/
9-Sep-09 Tricia Goyer http://www.triciagoyer.blogspot.com/
9-Sep-09 Michele Cushatt http://www.michelecushatt.com/
11-Sep-09 Camy Tang http://camys-loft.blogspot.com/
11-Sep-09 Angie Arndt http://angiearndt.wordpress.com/
11-Sep-09 Darcie Gudger http://www.joyinthelitterbox.blogspot.com/
12-Sep-09 Kay Day http://www.loopdeloops.blogspot.com/
13-Sep-09 Cara Putman http://carasmusings.blogspot.com/
14-Sep-09 Paula Moldenhauer http://gracereign.blogspot.com/
15-Sep-09 Lynn Mosher http://lynnmosher.blogspot.com/
15-Sep-09 Seekerville http://www.seekerville.blogspot.com
16-Sep-09 Jodi York http://www.jodiyork.com/
16-Sep-09 Linda Baldwin http://www.lindamaebaldwin.com/
16-Sep-09 Alison Strobel http://alisonstrobel.blogspot.com/
16-Sep-09 Niki Nowell http://nikinowell.wordpress.com/
21-Sep-09 Tirsh Perry http://www.trishperry.com/
LaShaunda Hoffman http://lashaunda.blogspot.com/

Winners Announced, Website Revamped, and Wabbit Trails...

Sorry, I couldn't resist alliteration.

FIRST! Drum-roll please - I am announcing the winners of our year-long reading contest:

First Place - Leila Goheen
Second Place - Leticia Glidewell
Third Place - Debby Sumpter
Fourth Place - Kellie Minkler

Leila and Leticia both almost read 24,000 pages each this past year. Debby read almost 19,000 pages, and Kellie read almost 14,000 pages. Congratulations to all our winners - and thank you so much for participating!

To claim your prize - you must do TWO things :) First, leave a comment on this blog post about your reading experience this year - and second, use the contact page on this website to confirm your mailing address. I want to triple-check these boxes before we mail them out - they have a lot of books in them!

And just so you know - There were 3,509 entries!!!!!! That's a lot of entries and a lot of books read!
More than 2,000 people read 10,000 pages or more in a year.
More than 500 people wrote in asking for recommendations of books.
And over 200 people read through their Bible in the past year.
What an awesome contest.

Now, I've already had requests to do it again... whew, that makes me tired - but keep watching - I just might get adventurous and do it again!

SECOND!
Many of you have noticed that the website is a little different. We have completely revamped it and updated it, but it is still a work in progress. Please keep watching the appearances page for updates on my fall tour. I would LOVE to see any of you at the churches or speaking engagements or booksignings. If you still would like to try to squeeze us in - please use the contact form on the contact page!

THIRD!
I've gotten thousands upon thousands of emails through this site from those of you who follow the blog or just like coming to my website to check and see what's happening. Thank you. Thank you for reaching out to us, for supporting us, and praying for us. I've been doing a lot of thinking, planning, and reflecting. I'm looking forward to the future and what the Lord has in store for us. Be watching the blog for more details!

Thank you all for your patience as this summer has flown by and my book Welcome Home has launched.

Again, congratulations to our winners! Thank you to all the wonderful authors who donated books for prizes!
In His Abundant Joy!
Kim

Who Will Win?

Our year-long reading contest is coming to a close! Everyone needs to get their tallies in to me by June 30th.

We've had over 3,500 participants write in over the past year that they were participating, and we have WONDERFUL prizes - lots of great books donated from INCREDIBLE authors! Thank you so much to everyone who helped make this possible.

Remember to email through the site -
Your name, your address, total number of books read with title and author, total number of pages read, and if you read through the entire Bible in this past year. Am I missing anything?

Winners will be announced in July, (if all 3,500 of you send in sheets, it may take us awhile to sort through them all) and we will be sending out the prizes. My wonderful friend and assistant, Lori, will be having fun at the post office - that's for sure!

Thanks for being a part of the contest. I can't wait to hear from you!

Keep reading!!!