Christmas Carols

The kids have practiced singing Christmas carols at school. The school and parents took the children to a nursing home and assisted living facility to share the JOY of Christmas. All the kids did really well, and the residents had many smiles for the children. Our hearts are so thankul for our health and family.

Ms Wildman is a friend of ours! Her daughter and son-in-law have been our friends since we moved to Crossville. Ms Wildman is a treasured client at the vet clinic, and a prayer warrior for the boys while they were in NICU. Recenty Ms Wildman had a stroke, and also is undergoing chemo. We adore her sweet spirit, and find it OUR blessing to go visit her. Jayne Elizabeth sat by her during caroling, and we also went back to visit her on Christmas Eve!

Wrapping packages! The kids have enjoyed coloring on the big boxes to decorate packages, and using lots of strips of paper and massive amounts of tape to cover the packages! It is a great way to spend time indoors, and the kids are so proud!!! The boys have a little longer attention span, Jayne Elizabeth will lose interest and go about her own way...

Cookies, again!

The kids have made so many Christmas cookies! This night it was Rudolph cookies for the school party!

Tis the Season

Johnathan and Joseph had their first performance on stage at our church! Both boys are in KIMM, the kids music ministry! They have practiced dilligently, and were ready to play handbells! On stage they seemed to forget all the rules that they have been telling us!! Joseph bossed Johnathan each time he would see his color card, and then both boys were VERY eager to shake,rattle,roll the handbells! Quite opposite from the instructions they have been giving us about how to hold the bells, and only gentle use your wrist. It was laugh out loud funny to see them. During the week we had many comments about the boys performance! I was a little disappointed at first, but now see the humor in Johnathan and Joseph's sit to stand on stage, and vigorous handbells! All done simutaneously I may add! I love these twin boys!

Joseph intructing and making sure Johnathan didnt miss his turn!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

We enjoyed a Thanksgiving at the farm. The kids were really interested in what we were going to have to eat. The word of the week at school was "cornucopia." The boys would say "mommy, do you want to hear a big word?" Then proceed with different announciations of "cornucopia." The big event of the day for Johnathan and Joseph was helping Papa carve the turkey. Papa allowed extra time, despite having others wait, to allow the boys to help carve the turkey! They thought this was grand! Jayne Elizabeth did not nap, and was a happy girl through the day, AND the entire night for Black Friday Eve shopping. She is definitely my daughter!

Papa and the boys with the turkey!

 Uncle Clay showed the boys how to grab a drum stick and eat!! Johnathan learned fast :)

 Granna and Joseph, he is so thankful for her!

Aunt Anne and her sweet brother :)

Sweet baby girl, Jayne Elizabeth!!

 Aunt Justina and Jayne Elizabeth ( with little baby Holmes too! )

Drip, drip, drip........

 The flood of Thanksgiving 2011 happened in our home. The Monday before Thanksgiving we began the "water restoration" process. A pipe in between the upstairs bathroom walls busted, and proceeded to push 12 gallons/minute down our walls. As Anthony finished his shower and  entered our downstairs master closet  is when he found the water dripping down to the already soggy first floor carpet! After calling insurance contacts, the out of town crew arrived with 9 large dryer/humidfiers, and began the ripping out of flooring. We were moved out to an apartment for the week, until we had plumbing! We are still living with one working toilet, that is on subflooring. The family is nice and snug in our upstairs! The remodel will be long, but I do see nice tile and wood floors in our distant future!

Our master bedroom, carpet gone and closet moved out

 Joseph inspecting his bathroom dehumidifier, this is our current bathroom

 Our master bathroom, yes that is a toilet in the tub

In our apartment we did lots of reading and puzzles!!!!

 With no washer/dryer for weeks clean pants were tough to find. Thankful for sweet neighbors who help do laundry on Thanksgiving day so your kids will have clothes! Thanks Becky!

Marathon! 26.2 miles with Jesus

 The last 5 months Anthony and I have trained hard! One of us was running before the kids were awake every morning! The alarm went off at 4:45 am, and we were comitted to running a full marathon! Training went awesome, however the three weeks before the marathon it was obvious I was sick. The doctors quickly found that my gallbladder needed to come out. Anthony and I were up to our 22 mile runs on the weekend, at it was a horrible time for me to go to restrictive diets.  But with the help of friends and doctors I was able to maintain the training, so many people prayed continusously for our health. I was in constant prayer, and had a peace that I was still going to finish this race. We scheduled my gall bladder surgery for a later date, then headed to Savannah for the weekend big race. When I woke up on race day, I felt  good. I was in disbelief, but just trusted God, and my many friends and family praying. During the race close friends and family had "runner tracking." They were able to receive texts, so they would know if I was still running, and where on the course I was. It was awesome, as I passed each point of tracking I knew I had people any many states cheering for me! Each mile I was so happy that God gave me one more mile of a good gall bladder, and ability to run. Twenty-six point two miles I ran praising and praying. I would bet that if you are reading this, I probably prayed for you!! I had a lot of time! Actually, my time was super-natural! Every mile I was able to hit the splits that I was trained for, and finished in a great time of 3:48. My average pace per mile was 8:43, I couldnt be happier!! Not only did Jesus answer prayer, he blessed me! I am beyond thankful for the support and concern of friends and family! Of course, there was pain/bleeding/cramps, but none from my gall bladder, all those others were expected after a marathon!! Now I need to support my husband, he will run another marathon in March! God is good, and I will now give him praise, and get myself to the doctor :) During the marathon I learned so much, not only physically but emotionally and spiritually too. It is an experience that I will not forget.

.......let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Hebrews 12:1