Year in Review

I stole this idea from a good friend. Thanks Becky!! It is amazing and wonderful to see how God blessed us in 2008 and look forward to His many blessings in 2009!

January: Kaylee has just turned 5 and sang her first solo in church. Molly is working in home health and Phillip is preparing to go to Africa with his friend Matt. We make several trips to Dallas to get "survival gear". Reese learns to run really well. She started walking in November and really was on the go now! We also begin to feel the Lord's tug on being open to God's plan for us. We visit friends Joe and Andrea and see Jeff and Jenn as well. Phillip leaves for Africa Jan 27.

February: Phillip is in Africa and the girls and I are surviving as best we can. Phillip attempted to call and I was at the Mercy Me concert. Thankfully I got a call 2 days later. Phillip returns to the states and his grandmother passes away as he is landing and Phillip did the service. He is amazing.

March: Was pretty quiet for us. Much needed actually looking back. At the time we had no clue as to what was ahead for us. We have the earliest Easter ever and it won't happen again for 92 years. I think I will probably miss it.

April: We make a trek to Sterling City for Phillip's dad's birthday. Molly had lasik eye surgery and loved it and I quit my job because I was working a ton of overtime and my boss didn't seem to care. Took a job with another home health care agency with a promotion.

May: In the first week of May we got a call from First Baptist church in Sweetwater. We sent our resumee and met with the search committee the last week of May and were thrilled with the possibilities.

June: The search process continues. We actually had people from the search committee visit for 4 consecutive Sundays. One Sunday we did not have a pianist and sand with tracks fro 35 minutes and one Sunday we did not have power and started our service with the lights out. They did come on about 15 minutes in. There was a lot of stress.

July: The process is continuing to go well. I tell my work that we would probably be moving soon. I was hoping to transfer with the company at first until I started seeing some crazy stuff going on. They ended up letting me go most likely because they thought that I knew I would be leaving prior to taking the job but I had no clue at the time. But God is Good! We get the call at the end of July that we would be coming in-view-of-a-call.

August: We pack and pack and throw away and throw away. We go to Crystal Beach with Phillip's family and had a wonderful time. We decide that we need to go there every year. (Didn't know that a month to the day later there would no longer be a Crystal Beach to go to this year, but hopefully in a few). We move to Sweetwater and Kaylee starts kindergarten and Reese starts full time day care and the most wonderful place ever. Reese turns 2!!

September: Molly starts a new job but old job. I started working for Hendrick Hospice Care again but this time in Home Care. I love Hospice and feel that is where God has truly called me. Reese really starts talking and we begin attending Mustang football. We are big high school football fans and love it. Kaylee starts with a new gymnastics.

October: We had fun with Halloween. Kaylee was a cowgirl and Reese was her little cow. They got lots of compliments. We celebrated Nana, Aunt Snell, Papa, and Aunt April's Birthdays. Crazy fun! Kaylee goes back to Gymnastics Sports Center with her cousin Emily.

November. We have Phillip and Molly's birthday. We celebrate Kaylee's birthday early so that hopefully the weather will be nice. It wasn't but all the girls had a great time. We have community and church services. We are staying nice and busy. Get to visit some with friends Craig and Fallon at the Baptist General Convention of Texas. We had a lot of fun and the kids stayed with friends. We try to slowly get Christmas shopping completed.

December: We find out on Dec 2 that Aunt Christy is having a baby boy and that we are expecting our 3rd child. Kaylee turns 6 and then find out that Aunt Mendy and Uncle Steve are going to be adopting a precious little baby named Alex. He gets to come home on Christmas Eve and we celebrate Christmas with all of our families and it was great!

God's blessings are ever present in our lives and we Thank HIM every day!!

Boobies

I know it looks bad. I was showing the girls of what the baby looks like right no inside mommy's tummy. I was showing them the eyes, heart, hands, feet, ect... Reese yells, "Boobies"! She loves her boobies and so now they think it is a girl and are very sad. Oh, well. Only 7 more months!

Weary Traveler

I have always thought of the 3 wise men as weary travelers as they journeyed for so long but at the same time they are in awe of our Lord. This Christmas I tried to really focus on the awesomeness of what our Lord did for us by sending His son, already knowing the outcome. Can you imagine, having a child knowing that it will be murdered by those that you love because of their selfishness--sin? I am so thankful that He did that for me and everyone. I was listening to the radio the other day and became infuriated. There was a pastor on the radio and he was saying that even God believes in Santa. They were talking and they were saying that if God could sit on Santa's lap He would ask that all people come to know Him. As I was yelling into the radio on how absurd the whole idea was, I truely became grateful for the reason I was upset. I was also saddened by a pastor that was so misguiding. The only reason not everyone has come to have a relationship with our Lord is because He desires for us to desire to have a relationship with Him. It is not forced but by our own choice. I am sure that this misguided pastor didn't really mean it that way but it really bothered me. So as this new year is approaching I challenge us all to strive to be the examples God has called us to be. For me, it will be to make sure my 'thought to mouth' filter is turned on. I want to ponder in my heart the blessings God has bestowed on me and the ones that I love and continue to teach my children of His unconditional love.

I'll be Home for Christmas

Baby Alex is coming home today. I am sending my Angel Care monitor to Abilene for them to use until their's comes in. He is doing great. Emily, his big sister, is also ecstatic about his homecoming. We are all trying to get well so that we can be around him. I am trying to finish last minute gifts and we just told our little girls that Reese will be a big sister in July. We are telling our parents for Christmas so don't congratulate them until after the 26th. Reese says that it will be a boy. No more girls says she. We will see. Have a blessed Christmas and enjoy your families and remember why we have a celebration at all.

Christmas Miracle

My aunt and uncle have a little girl that is 4 months older than Kaylee. They had tried and tried to have her and after numerous miscarriages were finally able to have Emily after having to undergo IGG treatments to keep her body from fighting the baby. So, they had decided that they were not going to be able to go through all of that again. So a couple of years ago they decided to adopt and put their book together. Two times they were picked by families only to have the moms change their mind. In Wed morning they got a phone call that they had a baby. They needed to update their home study but after that all was good. The mom had already signed over her rights and does not know who the father is. The baby was premature but now is taking a bottle and is breathing well. His name is James Alexander and will go by Alex. I don't have pics yet but I am sure that they will. The mom had wanted a closed adoption but has decided that an open adoption will be okay. Keep them in your prayers that everything will go okay. The doctor's say that the latest he will go home is New Year's Eve but we are praying for before Christmas!!

Kaylee's 6th Birthday

Kaylee wanted to have a horse-back riding party so we had it in November so it wouldn't be so cold. Ha! It was the coldest it had been so far since March. The girls had a blast. Here are some pics. The top pic is Reese pretending to be a cowgirl and she even was walking with a cowboy swagger. It was hilarious.

WOW

This is the first night since Kaylee's birthday party that we have been home. That would mean...4 weeks. I have no idea what we have been doing. We have quite a few extra church activities and then Tues is gymnastics and Wed night is church but goodness. This weekend we have our Christmas contata. Then I really think we will be laying low until the next weekend. Oh, and I work in Sweetwater for the next week plus one more day and then I am off for 3 days. So, looks like things are going well. Phillip is still diligently working on getting the house finished and I am trying to get presents wrapped and Christmas cards sent out. I am almost finished with shopping. Just the men in the family and one more present each for the girls. Plus stocking stuffers.

Some of the things going on in our house. Well Kaylee is officially 6 and we celebrated by going to Mr. Gattis. Kaylee is learning to read and is loving it. She is also helping with meals some and instituted her own chore chart. Reese on the other hand has become a little toot. I never know what we are going to find in her bed when we get her up in the morning. She gets things in the middle of the night and brings them to bed. The other morning we discovered that she had decided that she didn't need to sleep in diapers. We walk in and there is this naked bobo staring us in the face and of course wet sheets. I hope to potty train her when I am off for those few days in December.

Only 13 more shopping days left but take time to enjoy this time of year. It is time to reflect on the most undeserving gift we have ever received. It is our time to shine as Christians. Instead of getting into the Christmas bah hum bug spirit but to be a light. Let someone check out before you and don't run someone over to get into that close spot in the Mall parking lot. This time of year tends to bring out the worst in all of us but I have challenged myself to think more of how I should be acting as Christ would want us to act. Enjoy time fellowshipping with friends and love on your family. Merry Christmas!!