The following are 2 of my favorite videos from December. I have several more that you are more than welcome to check out at the following link:
http://www.onetruemedia.com/my_shared?z=350ad8f52008abca6cba6c&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=text_url
The reason I chose these two is because they each touch my heart in a special way. First of all the one of Wesley helping Richard lighting the tree is special because it shows his personality so well. He is most always this happy and joyful!!! He is always singing, too! I love that he is "Fa la la la la-ing as they work their way around the tree! It also melts my heart to hear him say,"Hi, Mama! Love you, too!"
In the second one, it is New Year's Eve and Justus had gone to a party at a friend's house. So we decided to let the little ones enjoy some sparkler fun and they did! Wesley was somewhat amazed by them at first and just watched them burn in his hand. Graham with his imagination pretended he was seaching for "clues"! We all had a great time! Later we played Candyland which I also filmed and you can see on my share page of one true media. I love to watch my boys having such a good time together! I remember someone asking me after I had Graham if I would have any more children. My answer was, "I'm not sure." First of all because neither he nor Justus had been planned, but also because I knew we were headed back to Seminary and that would be hard to plan for with trying to get new jobs and finish school, etc. My one comment FOR another child, was that I would love for Graham to have a brother to play with, because I had watched Justus grow up without a sibling and I wish he had had a playmate. With all that said, I truly believe the Lord was listening to my heart that day and because He is God and truly does take care of His own, He gave me the desire of my heart and gave Graham a special little playmate and buddy! In the eyes of the world it would have been an impossible feat to have Wesley when we did, but my God worked out every detail. Not one need went unmet! And we have a beautiful and precious family that Richard and I could have never "planned" ourselves! They are our BLESSING & GREAT JOY...our GIFT from OUR LORD! God's timing and plan is always perfect and I am in awe of His entrusting us with such treasures! I pray our effort will honor Him! He knows our imperfections and our shortcomings, yet He empowers us with His Holy Spirit and guides us with the truth and wisdom of His Word! May we be found faithful in training them up in the knowledge and admonition of the Lord and may these precious boys grow to be faithful servants of the One who Himself is Faithful & True! My favorite verse for many reasons, but for which fits here most appropriately is: "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart!" Psalm 37:4
Friday, January 23, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Christmas Season 2008
The following is a slide show featuring our 2008 Christmas Season events. I know some of you have already viewed my photos at my Kodak gallery, but this is my way of journaling and sharing what all we were doing this past December. We were blessed from the very beginning with a wonderful "Hanging of the Green" service at church. I took pictures, but none turned out,(still a low light issue with my camera). I posted a video soon after that night of the children singing from that program. I hate my pictures did not turn out, because the ladies did a beautiful job with all of the decorations. We are so blessed at our church!!!
On December 9th we took a group of about 25 to Ft. Worth to see Handel's "Messiah" performed by the Southwestern Seminary's Chorale and Ft. Worth Symphonic Orchestra at Bass Hall. We had a wonderful time as we ate dinner first at Le Madeleine's before the performance. It was a very very cold night, but we had fun and it was so neat to be in the festive downtown atmosphere of Ft. Worth. As you can see from the slide show photos Bass Hall is beautiful inside and out. They would not allow pictures to be taken inside the hall so all I could get were ones of the lobby area and outdoors. I also love the huge Christmas tree in Sundance Square. It definitely "looked a lot like Christmas!"
A week or so later we bought our tree and proceeded to decorate it and the house. I have a great video of Wesley helping Daddy light the tree that I will post later. He liked it so much he just "la la la la la'd" the whole time. He is such a happy fellow! Graham was not happy and so he didn't show up until it was photo time when all was done later that evening. We did have a wonderful family time decorating.
On Christmas Eve morning while I was cooking, Daddy and our 2 little elves went to visit some of our widows and nursing home folks. They delivered cards and homemade goodies. Our big elf stayed home helping Mama get everything ready for Christmas Eve dinner. At 5:00 we went to church for a candle light service and then returned home for dinner and present time. We invited a couple from our church who are like surrogate grandparents to our kids (one couple out of several), Bobby & Shirley Pettijohn, to eat dinner with us. We had a special time with them and are so glad they could share the evening with us! We all were blessed with wonderful presents and a fun time was had by all!!!
Christmas morning was wonderful, too, as Santa Claus had come and delivered lots more presents! Justus was greatly surprised by his new guitar and the boys were showered with lots of fun toys! Graham got a new "big boy" Bible and a new suit. Wesley got some books and clothes, too. They both got a new table and chairs to share and Hotwheels Motorcycle tricycles for each of them were big favorites! We were invited to eat Christmas dinner at the house of one of our very special ladies at church, Mrs. Naomi. She also invited another of our special ladies, Mrs. Mary Helen to join us and we had a great time! The food was wonderful and we had a great time visiting! Graham and Wesley even took Daddy on a bear hunt, but no bears to be found...only some geese and puppy dogs! We ended our day at home very peacefully spending time outside playing and relaxing inside. We are so blessed!
Our December ended with a quiet New Years. Justus went to a party with several of his buddies. The Cude family hosted it and he said it was lots of fun. He was introduced to Dominoes and so now he may have to join our games when Grandaddy and Grandmama visit! Graham and Wesley had a fun time outside with Sparklers and then we came inside for board game fun! Surprisingly they went to bed early! We spent New Year's day watching parades, football and eating Red Beans and Rice with Cornbread.
Although we missed spending time with our family in Alabama, we loved spending the time we did with our very precious church family here in Texas and our own small family time. The Lord has blessed us greatly with wonderful people and with His presence in our lives! May all of you experience Emmanuel -the "With us God"this 2009!
On December 9th we took a group of about 25 to Ft. Worth to see Handel's "Messiah" performed by the Southwestern Seminary's Chorale and Ft. Worth Symphonic Orchestra at Bass Hall. We had a wonderful time as we ate dinner first at Le Madeleine's before the performance. It was a very very cold night, but we had fun and it was so neat to be in the festive downtown atmosphere of Ft. Worth. As you can see from the slide show photos Bass Hall is beautiful inside and out. They would not allow pictures to be taken inside the hall so all I could get were ones of the lobby area and outdoors. I also love the huge Christmas tree in Sundance Square. It definitely "looked a lot like Christmas!"
A week or so later we bought our tree and proceeded to decorate it and the house. I have a great video of Wesley helping Daddy light the tree that I will post later. He liked it so much he just "la la la la la'd" the whole time. He is such a happy fellow! Graham was not happy and so he didn't show up until it was photo time when all was done later that evening. We did have a wonderful family time decorating.
On Christmas Eve morning while I was cooking, Daddy and our 2 little elves went to visit some of our widows and nursing home folks. They delivered cards and homemade goodies. Our big elf stayed home helping Mama get everything ready for Christmas Eve dinner. At 5:00 we went to church for a candle light service and then returned home for dinner and present time. We invited a couple from our church who are like surrogate grandparents to our kids (one couple out of several), Bobby & Shirley Pettijohn, to eat dinner with us. We had a special time with them and are so glad they could share the evening with us! We all were blessed with wonderful presents and a fun time was had by all!!!
Christmas morning was wonderful, too, as Santa Claus had come and delivered lots more presents! Justus was greatly surprised by his new guitar and the boys were showered with lots of fun toys! Graham got a new "big boy" Bible and a new suit. Wesley got some books and clothes, too. They both got a new table and chairs to share and Hotwheels Motorcycle tricycles for each of them were big favorites! We were invited to eat Christmas dinner at the house of one of our very special ladies at church, Mrs. Naomi. She also invited another of our special ladies, Mrs. Mary Helen to join us and we had a great time! The food was wonderful and we had a great time visiting! Graham and Wesley even took Daddy on a bear hunt, but no bears to be found...only some geese and puppy dogs! We ended our day at home very peacefully spending time outside playing and relaxing inside. We are so blessed!
Our December ended with a quiet New Years. Justus went to a party with several of his buddies. The Cude family hosted it and he said it was lots of fun. He was introduced to Dominoes and so now he may have to join our games when Grandaddy and Grandmama visit! Graham and Wesley had a fun time outside with Sparklers and then we came inside for board game fun! Surprisingly they went to bed early! We spent New Year's day watching parades, football and eating Red Beans and Rice with Cornbread.
Although we missed spending time with our family in Alabama, we loved spending the time we did with our very precious church family here in Texas and our own small family time. The Lord has blessed us greatly with wonderful people and with His presence in our lives! May all of you experience Emmanuel -the "With us God"this 2009!
Monday, January 12, 2009
Our 18th Wedding Anniversary
I'm catching up since my computer was down the last half of December, so bear with me. The first thing I wanted to post was our very special wedding anniversary. December 22nd we celebrated our 18th anniversary. Richard had told me back in November that he had something planned and not to try to guess. Of course I did try, but I never could have done so. I knew we were going away overnight, but that was all I knew. There are several quaint towns around us with B&B's so I thought maybe that was it. I also know there are several really great restaurants in the big cities that we are close to, so I thought that might be it, too. All to naught, though.
The night finally came. Mrs. Bobbie and Mr. Buttons came to our house to keep the boys and we were off...racing to make our reservation time. We headed north past Hico, towards Glen Rose. Just before getting there, we turned off. It was a very cold night and there were predictions of possible ice, but we never had any trouble. When we turned off the main highway, it seemed we were heading into the dark abyss...no lights, except for an occasional house with Christmas lights. The road was winding and I was certain a deer would pounce out in front of us at any moment. We finally reached the entrance to the Rough Creek Lodge Ranch about 4 miles down that road, but we were nowhere near. The entrance was all lit up, but once we entered, we were on a more narrow drive with yet again no lights on the path. The path was paved, but it was not wide enought for 2 vehicles at a time and it was not one-way. Thankfully when we did pass a truck, the land was flat and easy to just pull off to make room to pass. After about 3-4 more miles, we finally saw the lodge and all its lights. It was so beautiful from across the lake, all the white Christmas lights in the trees and on the wreaths reflecting onto the lake. We parked and entered and they were expecting us. I wasn't sure what to wear, but as fancy as the dinner was, the atmosphere was quite casual. I saw an array of fashion from casual skirts to jeans and there were several families dining, so it wasn't just couples. It definitely had a lodge feel with a roaring fire in the fire place. We had a window table which was very nice. The hostess took our coats and seated us. The head waiter and 2 other waitresses called us by name(Mr. Harvey/Mrs. Harvey) every time they asked us a question. I felt very important. The menu is different every day because they fly in different chefs and different fresh ingredients. There is only a freezer big enough to house icecream on the premises. Everything else is flown in fresh daily. We each had a three course meal...Richard had pork loin and I had steak and we both had the most incredible New England style clam chowder. Every morsel was wonderful down to our passion fruit iced tea. And you can see in my slide show that dessert was special. We each had different deserts, but they wrote on both of our plates in chocolate, "Happy Anniversary". The pics of us and my desert were taken by the hostess and emailed to me because I had left my camera in the car.
After we ate, we registered and went to our suite. All the suites have outdoor entries and have the feel of a condo entry. Most are the size of ours, but there are some (like the George H. W. Bush's suite that are larger. Every door is made of a beautiful wood and carved like ours with different outdoorsman motifs. Ours and the Bush's had quail, but there are ones with deer (bucks), bass fish, labradore retrievers, etc. Our suite as you can see from the slide was very very nice! I loved it and we really enjoyed our time. It would be an incredible place to visit with the kids as you can see from the pics I took of the grounds, but it would be pretty pricey. So unless we get another deal like Richard got for our night, we probably won't be doing it anytime soon.
I loved every minute and I have to say I am incredibly blessed by my Lord for the sweet, thoughtful husband he has given me! Thank you, Richard, for a most memorable anniversary! I love you!
The night finally came. Mrs. Bobbie and Mr. Buttons came to our house to keep the boys and we were off...racing to make our reservation time. We headed north past Hico, towards Glen Rose. Just before getting there, we turned off. It was a very cold night and there were predictions of possible ice, but we never had any trouble. When we turned off the main highway, it seemed we were heading into the dark abyss...no lights, except for an occasional house with Christmas lights. The road was winding and I was certain a deer would pounce out in front of us at any moment. We finally reached the entrance to the Rough Creek Lodge Ranch about 4 miles down that road, but we were nowhere near. The entrance was all lit up, but once we entered, we were on a more narrow drive with yet again no lights on the path. The path was paved, but it was not wide enought for 2 vehicles at a time and it was not one-way. Thankfully when we did pass a truck, the land was flat and easy to just pull off to make room to pass. After about 3-4 more miles, we finally saw the lodge and all its lights. It was so beautiful from across the lake, all the white Christmas lights in the trees and on the wreaths reflecting onto the lake. We parked and entered and they were expecting us. I wasn't sure what to wear, but as fancy as the dinner was, the atmosphere was quite casual. I saw an array of fashion from casual skirts to jeans and there were several families dining, so it wasn't just couples. It definitely had a lodge feel with a roaring fire in the fire place. We had a window table which was very nice. The hostess took our coats and seated us. The head waiter and 2 other waitresses called us by name(Mr. Harvey/Mrs. Harvey) every time they asked us a question. I felt very important. The menu is different every day because they fly in different chefs and different fresh ingredients. There is only a freezer big enough to house icecream on the premises. Everything else is flown in fresh daily. We each had a three course meal...Richard had pork loin and I had steak and we both had the most incredible New England style clam chowder. Every morsel was wonderful down to our passion fruit iced tea. And you can see in my slide show that dessert was special. We each had different deserts, but they wrote on both of our plates in chocolate, "Happy Anniversary". The pics of us and my desert were taken by the hostess and emailed to me because I had left my camera in the car.
After we ate, we registered and went to our suite. All the suites have outdoor entries and have the feel of a condo entry. Most are the size of ours, but there are some (like the George H. W. Bush's suite that are larger. Every door is made of a beautiful wood and carved like ours with different outdoorsman motifs. Ours and the Bush's had quail, but there are ones with deer (bucks), bass fish, labradore retrievers, etc. Our suite as you can see from the slide was very very nice! I loved it and we really enjoyed our time. It would be an incredible place to visit with the kids as you can see from the pics I took of the grounds, but it would be pretty pricey. So unless we get another deal like Richard got for our night, we probably won't be doing it anytime soon.
I loved every minute and I have to say I am incredibly blessed by my Lord for the sweet, thoughtful husband he has given me! Thank you, Richard, for a most memorable anniversary! I love you!
Sunday, January 4, 2009
He's a Winner!
Our computer has officially crashed and we are getting a new hard drive soon. It is still under warranty which is a blessing. I am upset though, because I've most likely lost a lot of my pics and videos. I say all of this because this is why I haven't posted in a long while. When we get set back up, I will post our Christmas pics. In the meanwhile, I do have a bit of fun news! The video that I posted in Nov. of Graham dancing was one of 100 first prize winners in the Sandisk/Youtube Lifemoves video contest. We won a 4GB memory card for our camera. We were quite surprised! So, "Yea, Graham!!!" Hope you all are enjoying your holidays! Have a blessed 2009!
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