Thanks to everyone for the Christmas wishes and cards. We had a nice Christmas and Lily truly had a memorable time. We started off Christmas Eve at both grandparents houses. We opened gifts, ate and had a Happy Birthday Jesus party. That night we went home and put everyone to bed with tons of excitement in the air for Christmas Day. Thankfully the kids did not get up for good until 7:45 and we had our family Christmas. It was fun, the house is still a mess but good memories were made by all. Here are just a few pics to share. I haven't downloaded any from my DSLR yet.

Hoping your holiday and the coming year are filled with Peace, Joy and Love.

He came not to a throne, but to a manger.

He lived not as a king, but as a servant.

He chose not an earthly kingdom, but a cross.

He gave not just a little, but everything.

-Holly Gerth

Today I went to a baby shower for a friend. Lily has had a hard time comprehending what exactly a baby shower is after learning where I had gone.

Lily: Mama take a shower?
Noah: No, mama went to a baby shower somewhere else.
Lily: What? We no more water?

I can only imagine what image must have been going through her head with the words;mama, baby and shower.

One of my favorite childhood memories...

The kids make a big deal out of who puts the star on the tree.

Each year they argue over who's turn it is.

Imagine my surprise when they decided by themselves it should be Lily's turn this year since it is her first Christmas.

She was so excited ....

and I was very proud.

December+5 Kids=Busy, Good Busy.

Here are the things that have been keeping us busy.

Wyatt: Why does Noah have to go to school so long?

Mom: Well the older you get the longer you have to go to school. When you go to Kindergarten next year you will be in school everyday until 2:30.

Wyatt: (making a yucky face) What? I don't want to go to school.

Mom: You have to so you can learn everything you need to know for when you grow up.

Wyatt: I already know everything I need to know about Star Wars from Sellers.

Oh, if it was just that simple Wyatt.

Today we took the kids to the local County Museum to take our Christmas pictures. We are fortunate that my dad works there and had scouted out some good photo spots, I only wish I was a better photographer...Here are some of the rejects and some photos of us having a little fun. Mason is so photogenic and loves to be photographed.


I love how proper Lily is sitting in this pic. This was only after I told her I could see up her skirt, she so wants to be a proper lady.




Oh, if only I could get 5 kids to all look in the same direction at the same time.



What a cutie!

This is my Grandmother or more affectionately known as Nanny and Great Nanny to the Great Grandkids. Nanny is 92 years old and has lived a very long and full life. Her life for the last year or so has been pretty much confined to her room at the nursing home. On Thursday Nanny had a massive stroke. Doctors said she was gone, there was no brain activity and that we should prepare ourselves for her to die. Could be hours or a few days. Now we are realistic and know that it is normal for a 92 year old in bad health to die but it was still shocking and upsetting to us. We hadn't been able to say goodbye. The doctors said that she probably could hear us talking to her to so John and I decided to take the kids to see her for a final goodbye. Imagine our surprise when we found her with her eyes open and talking to everyone. She even knew who we were. The Neurologist himself said if he didn't see it he wouldn't believe it. It has long been a running joke in our family that Nanny was never going to die (her mother lived to be 97). She has come close many times. Once even her doctor told her that there was no reason what-so-ever that she should still be alive. She just always beats the odds, crazy isn't it. Now we are asking ourselves, "why has God spared her life once more?". For me I hope it is to help lead many of my lost family members to Christ. She first awakened after a prayer from a preacher when he said, 'I love you" she opened her eyes and said "I love you, too".

i love you nanny. may God use you for his kingdom.

Last night as I was putting Lily to bed she pointed to a book on her nightstand. It is titled Thankful Each Day. She said "I thankful for mama". Followed by smiles and hugs and then she exclaims " I AM THANKFUL FOR MY WHOLE FAMILY!".

Honestly, it chokes me up. I have tears in my eyes just writing it. How could she ever know just how Thankful we are for her. What a blessing she is.

Ceratinly we all feel like this some days....

Lily's 6 month update is posted on My Adoption Website. It kind of slipped up on me so it is quite short and simple. To check it out just click on her picture to the left!

Have a Great Day!!

Today after Wyatt watched the Veggie Tales Noah and the Umbrella he asked Noah the following:

"Noah did you know there was a Noah that built an Ark?"


Too cute......

We finally found a table we liked and could afford that would fit our whole family. This past week I had a great coupon for World Market and we got a DEAL! We celebrated with a candlelit dinner for 7. And the best part, there is room for at least one more! Hmmmmm.

All we know now is that we will not know if John is being laid off until January. The company had two company wide conference calls this past week and they shared that they were in the process of deciding who to let go and who to keep. John and I talked about it a lot this week and we sort of feel prepared. We do know that it will not be likely that he will find another job in his field. It is struggling and thousands of people have been laid off over the last few years making jobs very competitive. He has interviewed for a few and hears nothing. I just hope and pray he keeps his job! When you think about us pray for this situation and we will keep you posted!

Great for little boys who like to take things apart or make things. This toy is just 29.99 ( I used a coupon at my local toy store and saved 25%). You can make 7 different things with the circuits such as a fan (I forgot the other things and it's already wrapped it).

I have also purchased the Star Wars Science kits for this age, such fun. My favorite is the volcano.

I will try to keep more coming....

I know many who read this blog pray and today I am asking for your prayers.
John's company he works for was officially sold last week. Now the lay offs begin. We know that there is a strong possibilty of John losing his job. We are praying for God's will to be done. Losing his job will be very hard for us but if this is God's plan to lead him somewhere else we are ok with that. Will you join us in prayer. Not only for John but for the thousands of co-workers who will lose their jobs. Pray for peace about the decision and direction if he loses his job.

Sweet tea is the drink of choice for most southerners. We love it and drink a lot of it. We even have contests to see who's Sweet Tea is the best. Years ago I quit making it at home. It was consumed too fast and well no one here needs all that sugar. Enter Lily. The boys decided to entertain Lily with tea parties once home. They used cold sweet tea. They created a Sweet Tea Monster. It is the only thing she will drink. This creates a problem. I still do not make sweet tea on a regular basis but then I don't have too. My daughter does. She makes sure there is ALWAYS a picture of sweet tea in the fridge. Now all my wonderful water and milk drinkers are requesting sweet tea. And worst of all, restaurants. We have always had our boys drink water when eating out. They never complained or thought any thing about it, until now. We ordered Lily sweet tea when first home because we were trying to be sensitive to all the changes she was going through. Now it is a battle. Recently the boys asked for sweet tea while eating out. We said, "no". Well as you can imagine they pointed out to us the obvious, Lily was drinking sweet tea. That day we explained to her that no longer would she get to order sweet tea when eating out. She pouted. Fast forward to the next time: we don't order Lily tea, she pouts and will not order any food. I do not give in though it is hard. We get our food and she just sits there, every few minutes she will say, "I want tea, no like water". She refuses to eat. We made it through the meal. She never touched her water but did sneak a few chips with salsa. She was mad but thankfully didn't have a tantrum like she used to (one of the reasons I kept ordering the tea was to prevent them). I hate being this way but we do have to be fair. I was thinking of the best way to handle this in the future and I had an idea: drink packets. You know the little individual drink packets you buy and mix in water. I took her to the store and let her pick one out (it should equal about 20 cents a serving) and told her that is what she will be drinking when we eat out. She seemed excited. And of course I picked out a few for the boys just to be fair ;0)