Sadness and Hope

We have been burdened with sadness and can hardly put into words how we have felt, and are feeling, about the news of Blake's younger brother Brad being diagnosed with cancer. We pray for healing and we cling to the promises of God's holy and perfect Word:

"...according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Phillipians 1:20-21

"In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 1:6-7

The night before Brad's surgery to have his spleen removed, Blake went to Brad's house to join him and some other family members in prayer. When Blake came home, one of the first things he told me was that Brad said, "I have never been so close to the pearly gates and I couldn't be more excited!" Brad's salvation is real. We could have no greater joy than knowing that in the midst of this terrible time.

We anticipate being with our family during this season like never before as we savor the blessing of one another, celebrate the birth of the One who died so that we could have life, and love on Brad.

Gingerbread Houses

We have had lots of fun with gingerbread...we have made 2 gingerbread houses and 1 lovely gingerbread girl:). Our first attempt at a house was using a kit that came with all the pieces, however, it didn't last too long. We constructed it around mid-morning and after naptime Montana went in the kitchen to check on it(which consisted of tasting the icing, I believe) and I heard a crash. So, we decided to make a little one using graham crackers and a small box as the base to insure the icing could be licked and it wouldn't collapse!!

Our first creation using the kit...good job girls!
Our second "graham cracker" house
Gingerbread girl...Sage begged to eat her and Montana refused to take a bite so she is still standing in our kitchen next to her house.

Decorating gingerbread house #1

So much fun!!

Snow?

Can you see snow flurries in the background? It did snow the first weekend in December but didn't stick at all...it was beautiful to sit inside and watch!!

Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus:)

In an effort to entertain themselves(a pretty good effort, i must say) while we were watching the SEC Championship with Blake's brothers, Montana and Sage pretended to be Mary and Joseph!

Manger Puzzle

I bought this puzzle last year on clearance after Christmas and it's been a hit! Last week when we opened it, Montana did it all by herself while Sage was napping!! She wanted a pic:)

Woops...

I forgot this one. This is Sage's class walking in and getting in their positions...before the meltdown:). Aren't they cute as could be???

A Performance to Remember!

The 2s, 3s, and 4s performed songs they have learned throughout the year since Community Bible Study started in September. I was so excited to see them on stage and see Sage in her first "performance." Well, her sweet friend, Anna showed her where her mommy was and she lost it! I mean lost it! She ruined everyone's video footage with her constant cry for "MOMMA!"...we will look back at the video and laugh for a long time!!!

Thanksgiving 2010

Thanksgiving is so overwhelming. God has saved me, given me a husband who never ceases to amaze me(mostly positive), two beautiful, healthy little girls, and family and friends that fill us with love and encouragement way beyond our need! I could go on and on too! We just have so much to be thankful to our Provider for...

As Thanksgiving grew near, we started our trip on Friday before and made it just in time for my nephew, Tristan's, 3rd birthday party! We stayed in Baton Rouge for the weekend and got to go the the LSU game!! I don't have pics from that but here are a few I took at my parents during Thanksgiving week! We kept busy and enjoyed good food and family:).

Turkey cupcakes...hand-crafted by the little ladies
The "big" kids table
Waiting patiently for dinner

This was Tristan's little party Lyn had at my parents...his 3rd party...he was a good boy this year:). We brought back some old birthday party games from our days like drop the clothes pin in the jar.

Aunt Blythe(Stephen's new bride) made this awesome Lightening McQueen cake...so impressive!!

Sage had food in her teeth and it was hilarious...her daddy seems to get food stuck in his teeth frequently so maybe she got the gene;)

rare event

I'm shamefully absent from authoring this publication of my family. I know. But, Jamie does such a great job; so I just enjoy the posts with the rest of you.

Something very important happened in our life recently and I couldn't help but comment on it in this particular setting. As you know, Jamie is pregnant. You especially know if you've seen her lately with a nice baby bump. She is in great spirits and back to her exceptional mother, wife, and friend self. Although, about a week or so after we found out about the pregnancy, Jamie fell VERY ill from pregnancy sickness. She wasn't eating well at times and struggled to be out of bed most of the time. This lasted for about four weeks before marked improvement. With a wife as hard working and home sustaining as her, this was nearly devastating to me. I know this shows how spoiled I am by her, but the thought of where our next meal would come from was a frequent thought of mine. Very quickly though, in the first few days of this near devastation, something happened that gave us hope....

We were lifted, helped, and preserved by our local friends and family. They (you) came to our rescue. Spontaneous acts of kindness and sacrifice poured into our lives and onto our doorstep. We hardly had to ask. Before we knew it, we were surrounded by support with meals and substitute child rearing. They sacrificed their time and energy to allow Jamie to rest, the new tiny baby to grow, and me to keep my job. Simply and truly, we couldn't have done it without them. I layed in bed every night thanking the Lord for the next timely helper. I believe this outpouring of support is a demonstration of the Body of Christ, His Church. It's humbling and inspiring to see the hand of God work in your life in a time of need.

You don't hear about these things in the daily barrage of news. But the sincerety, efficiency, and organization of this small, family preserving effort was very impressive to me. Better than any non-profit charity, government sponsored program, or even church committee could hope to enact.

The point of the post is for me to say thank you to all of you who helped and prayed for us. Again, it's a privilege to have all of you in our lives and testimony to the faithfulness of The Lord.

Thank you.

Blake

Thanksgiving Party

You may think the first picture is in the wrong post but this is Sage's bobo that happened on the way to Montana's Thanksgiving Party at school. She slipped on one of the steps going up from our backyard to Montana's school. I usually carry her for this reason but I was carrying stuffing to the lunch party. I was trying to get her face in the picture below because she cried the entire party and wouldn't let me put her down. You should have seen the spread they had for the 4 and 5 year olds...it was pretty impressive!

The bobo

The pilgrims making their entrance

Yum!

Turkey cookie!

THE haircut

Montana has a bob. It was mostly her doing, but I did my best to even it out. She cut about half of her hair off and I sorta freaked out. I was on the phone with my sister...I had called to wish her a happy birthday. Montana was very quiet in the kitchen but I figured she was coloring or sneaking a cookie so I wasn't worried until she walked in the living room and ran her fingers through her hair. A handful of hair fell on the ground!!! I quickly hung up the phone and ran my fingers through it...another handful. I walked in the kitchen...another handful on the ground. I opened the trash to throw it away...another handful. She was having a good ole time trimming! Thankfully, she didn't try to cut bangs like I did when I was four;). It's growing on me and she is still awfully cute:).

The finished product
What I found on the kitchen floor!

The handful after running my fingers through her hair! I was too upset when I found the last chunk in the trashcan to take a pic but wish I would have for funny memories!

Barrett's Dedication!

A few weeks ago, Breland and Beth(Blake's older brother and his wife), had a celebration and dedication of Barrett to the Lord! It was a sweet time to pray for his salvation and their family. We love Barrett and have all enjoyed him thoroughly these past 9 months! It's been a treasured time to get to hang out with them while we are here in Birmingham too!

Breland, Beth, and Barrett

Pappy and the girls:)

Sage and Uncle Brad

It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Christmas!

It's Christmastime at our house!!! Well, I have little self control when it comes to putting the Christmas tree up. So, the week after Halloween we got to work. It makes the house so warm and cozy...I love it! We will wait to put all other decorations until after Thanksgiving, but for now we are singing Christmas music(thanks to 96.5) and enjoying the tree!

Montana and I wrapped some presents too!!!

Merry Christmas! Celebrate our Savior!!!

S'mores!!!

It was REALLY cold on the weekend before last so I asked Blake if he would give our fireplace a try and voila! We enjoyed snuggling by the fire and making s'mores for dessert one night:)! I can't wait for our next cold front!!!

Princess Wishes!

The girls and I joined some friends and went to see Princess Wishes(Princesses on Ice) about a week ago. They loved it and were completely mesmerized throughout the show! Sage even boohooed after because she wanted to see them more!

The Grand Finale
Princess sweatshirts on and ready to go!!!
Can you see the excitement?

Yay!!!

L-S-U

Montana and Blake were cheering on the front porch when LSU pulled off a win against Alabama!

A Trip to the Dentist!

Montana had her first trip to the dentist this week and checked out great...woohoo!!! She was very cooperative and watched Dora on the tv while they cleaned and checked her teeth. She told me before we walked in that she was going to be shy and that she was! She hardly uttered a word the whole time...silly girl!

Halloween

In effort to catch up on blogging, I decided to put all our Halloween pics on this post. We went to Boo at the Zoo one evening in early October, then went to our church's Fall Fest on the Friday before Halloween, and then trick-or-treating at our dear friends, the Turners. I love the weather here in Birmingham because it's been so "fallish" and makes these events even more fun! Random order so I'll narrate:

Sage and Havelyn on the spinning ride at Fall Fest. Note: Sage has become quite the dare devil lately. Just over a month ago, she was scared to swing and hardly wanted to go down a slide. At the Fall Fest, she boohooed when the rides stopped and now says "go higher" when she swings!

Can't you tell she's loving it? She's on the carousel at the Fall Fest

This was one afternoon the week of Halloween. She and I were hanging out on the front porch.

Getting ready to trick or treat at the Turners. Porter, Anna, and Sage.

Minnie Sage

Minnie Montana

She just wouldn't look at me

Carving our pumpkins

Montana and Avery at the Fall Fest

Daddy did great carving their itty bitty pumkins...they were proud!

More rides at the Fall Fest with friends!

Sorry, it's crooked. You may have noticed Sage wanted to dress up as something different each time they put costumes on. I LOVE this Lady and the Tramp costume(which she wore to the Fall Fest) but she had it all off within 30 minutes.

This was at Boo at the Zoo. They did a Scooby Doo skit(which was really cute) and Montana wanted to give the girl a high five afterwards.