Thanksgiving

This was such a wonderful week! Jon and I both had off work the entire week and we had a great time just being home together. We made no plans except to be with our extended family on Thanksgiving day. We got so much done around the house - cleaned out the garage, organized the kids' clothes, and went through paperwork - not the most exciting things to do on vacation, but we have such a sense of accomplishment.

Last weekend, we went to visit some friends from college, Brian & Cristina, and had such a great time. We were there over Jon's birthday and they helped us celebrate - our kids had such a great time - they did not want to leave! There's nothing like getting reconnected with old friends!

We are thankful for so many things - most of all for Jesus and for our family, health and friends. We feel so blessed and have really had our eyes opened in this past year as to what we can do to bless others. Our trip to the Dominican Republic in March was life-changing and we are hoping that 2008 is going to be a year we are stretched in the area of giving to others.

We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

SCC Concert

Last night Jon and I had a night out without the kids (Thanks Grammy and thanks to my pastors for being cool with me missing a Leadership Team Meeting so I could enjoy this night out)! We went with Kyle & Kim and Bethany & Q to see Steven Curtis Chapman. I have been a big SCC fan since high school when his album "More to this Life" came out. Jon and I have a lot of memories tied to SCC music - hearing any song from "The Great Adventure" or "Heaven in the Real World" takes us back to Pills (college) in a second! I always think of Scott Leffler singing "Saddle Up Your Horses" in the cafeteria or of blasting that CD in my dorm room with Bethany! We also went to the "Signs of Life" concert when we lived in AL in '96 and any of those songs take us back to that time in our lives. His "Music of Christmas" CD is a favorite we have to play every year when we're putting up our tree. We only saw him in concert that one time in '96 (wow - 11 years ago!) and haven't bought any of his albums since "Speechless" in '99 - I was just looking on his web site and saw that he's put out 7 albums since we last bought one - geez, time goes fast when you're buying a house and having babies!! Anyway, it was so cool to be at this concert because his two sons are on tour with him. His 18 year old son Caleb plays the guitar and sings backup and his 16 year old son Will Franklin plays the drums - he is amazing! Bethany and I got our picture with him and I was telling him to not be afraid of the 30 year old groupies :-) It was really a great concert - both entertaining and spiritually challenging. SCC has a great heart for adoption - he has adopted 3 little girls from China and he has such a passion to help the orphans of the world. Hearing him talk about adoption reminded me again of how proud I am of my brother and his wife - they felt called to adopt a little boy from Ethiopia and last year in December they traveled over there and brought Caleb home - he has been such a joy to our family!

Lightning McQueen & Sally

Thanks to Crew Chief Auntie Lizzie, a Pit Crew consisting of Grammy and Mommy and a Maintenance Crew of Pop Pop and Daddy, we have Lightning McQueen and Sally for Halloween!!

Hmmm...what would it be like to have 5 kids?!

Well, we got a taste of it this weekend! We had Bethany & Quenton's kids for the weekend and it was really a lot of fun! Of course, it would be much harder to do ALL the time, not just for a weekend. Their kids are so good and get along so well with our kids that it really was not hard - it just takes a long time to do things for 5 kids!!! Jon was at work on Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and so getting lunch ready for 5 hungry kids was quite the task!!









Briar is at such a fun age and Jon and I both really enjoyed having a baby around again! On Saturday morning when I was showering and getting ready, Jon was reading books to Briar on our bed and I walked in and saw the way he was looking at her and I said, "Oh no honey, do you want another baby girl now?" and he said, "Um, yeah, how can you not? Look at her!" Ahhh, she is such a sweetie pie!

11 Years!

It's hard to believe that 11 years have already passed since Jon and I got married! This year we got to take some time to just be alone and reflect on the last 11 years and talk about our hopes/plans/dreams for the next 11+. I've posted some pics here of us enjoying each other without kids - it's good to remind yourself once in awhile that you really like this person you have kids with! :-)

Second Generation Friendship!

This is a picture of Sophia & Eden. Eden is the daughter of my best friend Bethany. Bethany and I met when I was 11 and she was 13 and became inseparable (at least until we met our husbands!). We roomed together in college, lived together post-college and were the maid/matron of honor in each other's weddings. Our husbands became very good friends in college and it's just one of those very special friendships for life. For the first 8 years after we both got married (in '96) we lived far apart, but then by a twist of fate, luck, providence, whatever you want to call it, Bethany, Quenton and family moved here 3 years ago and live 1 hour away from us. When they moved here, we decided it probably would not be permanent since all of their family is in the Midwest and so we have tried to enjoy every minute we can with them. We have definitely built a lot of special memories over these last 3 years, and hope to build many more for as long as we're blessed to have them nearby. It has been such a delight for me to see our kids become friends! They truly love each other and have built such a foundation of friendship that I hope lasts a lifetime for them too. B&Q took our kids for us overnight this past weekend so we could have some alone time for our anniversary (next post) and it was just so great to know that our kids are so comfortable with them, it was like they were at their second home.

So, back to the picture of Sophia & Eden - we've always thought they look like they could be sisters - which is funny because Bethany & I don't look anything alike! But we love it that they do. :-)

Our Baby Girl Goes to School (slide show)

I just learned how to make a slide show so I thought I'd add these pics.

Fall - - My Favorite Season

Serious Turkey! Sophia, 7 months.

The Big Apple & The Statue of Liberty - Halloween '06

Dora & Boots - Halloween '05

Ah, there is so much to love about fall! I have always loved this season. Jon and I got married in October and we had the most perfect weather on our wedding day and usually have beautiful weather to celebrate our anniversary. I love buying pumpkins and mums and getting out all of the fall decor (seeing as brown is my all-time favorite color, my house looks best in the fall). I love food associated with the fall - anything pumpkin, apples, soups, cider etc.

I love Halloween now that I have kids - it's all about the costumes, not the candy! Thanks to Auntie Lizzie, my kids have had some pretty cool costumes (see pics!).

I love Thanksgiving! I'm starting to think it is my favorite holiday because there is not the stress and craziness like there is at Christmas. Last year I went shopping on Black Friday for the first time and I think that will be a tradition (how about it Lizzie?!). This year I am taking the entire week of Thanksgiving off because Jon has that week off and it will be a nice time for us to reconnect after a busy football season ends.

The beautiful weather today just made me want to share all the reasons I love this time of year. I am so glad to live in a state that truly has 4 seasons (although I could live with a shorter winter!)

Our Baby Girl Goes to School

It does not seem possible that Sophia is ready to be in full-day kindergarten 5 days a week! Where did the past 5 1/2 years go?! I was telling her how mommy & daddy are having a hard time getting used to having her gone all day and she just looked at me thoughtfully and said, "Sorry, but I still want to go to school!" We are so proud of her and are excited for her to have this new experience. Here is a pic from her first day.

Joining the blog world!

I've been wanting to do this for some time and am finally getting around to it - hopefully I'll keep up with updating it! I will even try to convince Jon to post once in awhile too! :-)