Proof: Elijah Likes Sidewalk Chalk

I left Jeff in charge of watching the kids as they hung out on our patio and drew us pictures. This is a common activity at Uncle Jeff's and Aunt Sue Sue's-but it's the first time that Elijah participated. I walked in for just a few minutes and came back to Jeff drawing a tribal face on our nephew. Plus the walls were covered with "pictures" by Elijah. In a few hours we would be gathering to do our stocking exchange with my mom, Sam and Gunnar's crew-so I knew I would need to clean him up before hand. But Jeff says "Oh let him get dirty-that's what boys do." So I went back to cooking and let Jeff and the kids to their sidewalk art. Great thing about chalk... it comes off with a pat of the hand or a baby wipe. Missy, I bet you didn't realize your son was this dirty-did you?

Reason # 100,225,555 Why I Love Jeff

Cousin Sarah is 16-while the other teenage cousins picked White Elephant gifts filled with GC's, "The Simple Life" DVD and other things teenagers like these days-Sarah picks these candles...




She was hoping, wishing, praying for someone to steal her candles b/c what would she do with this in her bedroom that she shares with her sister Thori?

Then comes Jeff! Her Knight In Shining Armor.




Now did Jeff really want these candles? Probably not-but he knew that Sarah wouldn't want them and knew that it would be one less decoration for our home that he didn't have to purchase.

Sarah sent us a card today where she thanked Jeff from saving her from getting stuck with the candles. She ended up with the movie "Waiting" which I think she really wanted in the first place.

Thank you Jeff for helping Cousin Sarah out. Just another reason why I love my hubby!

Happy Thoughts #1

It's always fun when you realize that it's not Wednesday night but Thursday night and Friday is less than 12 hours away. Now that my friends is what we call a happy thought!

Let Me Tell You About Kevin

Kevin is a "friend" from high school. To say he was retarded would not be the right terminology since he is really quite smart but you could describe him though as a "Rain Man"...yeah come to think of it "Rain Man" would be the right description for him.

I got to know Kevin during my junior year when I was a teacher's assistant. His class, the special ed class, always headed back to their room from lunch or some other activity about the time that I would be running an errand for my teacher. He would pass you in the hall, always walking a few feet behind the rest of the class and say "Hello, are you having a great day?" During this exchange he would rock from side to side and ring his hands together-but he always said the same thing, "Hello, are you having a great day?" During these exchanges, I would try to get him to say something more so I could get to know him better but it was always the same thing, "Hello are you having a great day?"

Recently I have seen Kevin working at the local Wal-Mart. I always see him talking to one person or another-"Hello are you having a great day?" Some people are nice and answer-others walk away rather quickly. I understand that he could be a little intimidating. This afternoon as I was grabbing my basket for my weekly shopping trip-I saw him sitting at the table in McDonald's. He got the biggest smile on his face and waved to me. I thought to myself, "Could he recognize my face after all of these years?" Of course, I smiled and waved back-he's my friend Kevin after all.

I started picking up my groceries. I had headed to the back aisle where they keep the milk. I turned around and there was Kevin. He almost scared me because he snuck up on me. He said, "Hello!"

"Hi Kevin how are you?" (It didn't even phase him that I knew his name.)

"Are you having a great day?"

"Yes Kevin-I am having a great day."

Thinking that was the end of our conversation I moved away from him. As I continued my grocery shopping, I noticed he was following me. I really wasn't scared because Kevin is not a stranger to me and I knew that he could not hurt me but my curiosity was peaked a little. I slowed down so he could get closer-and I am so glad that I did.

"I love Jesus" says Kevin.

"I love Jesus too" I replied.

"I wish more people loved Jesus."

"Yes, Kevin. I wish more people loved Jesus too."

"Yea-they probably would be happier if they did."

"Yes, Kevin they would. But keep spreading the message-you are doing a great job."

Kevin smiled then turned and walked away.

The rest of my hour shopping trip he was no where to be found. Maybe God used Kevin to remind me how simple telling others about Jesus really can be.

Here goes nothing...

"Hello, I love Jesus. Do you? Have a great day!"

First Things First...

The week before Christmas I took the nieces with my sister in law to see Charlotte's Web. This was my favorite book growing up and I couldn't wait to see it with my favorite girls.

I wanted to get a picture of all 3 of my girls standing in front of the Charlotte's Web poster but only two were willing. Katy on the other hand says, "I'm not standing by THAT pig!" So what do you do when she is that adamant about NOT getting close to Wilbur?

Katy was all smiles after she had a full belly. I swear she gets that from me! Don't mess with us when we are hungry. We went to visit Uncle Matt, Jeff's brother at Chili's-Katy is usually shy around people she doesn't know but once I explained that this was Uncle Jeff's brother she warmed up to him rather quickly. Plus Matt has a way with kids-they all seem to fall in love with him.

Now that this post is done-I will start to update on Christmas. But I am trying to tie up loose ends at work before the New Year so I may run a few weeks behind. Oh well what do you do!

A Christmas Surprise!

Follow this link to read a wonderful story of a stranger helping other strangers. A wonderful example of the old saying, "It is better to give than to receive!"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/bus_santa

I hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas holiday. It is 9:45 am Christmas Eve morning-Jeff and I are trying to spend every moment with each other, savoring our time alone. We both hope that next year will have another addition to our family so this Christmas we are spending time with just the two of us. We are in a constant state of laughter these days. I praise God for the joy that we have found with each other. My husband truly is my very best friend. Today as he goes off to find my most cherished gift on my list, a "Crop-A-Dile" and some other things he will not tell me no matter how much I ask-I will sit home and wrap his presents that I bought him yesterday.

I plan to take time to pray-really pray for my loved ones this afternoon. It seems that there is more and more to pray for today. But if you are a loved one reading this just know that God is fully in control and will provide for all your needs. Just remember to trust in Him and NEVER, NEVER, NEVER give up hope or praying to the Lord. "Draw Near to God and He Will Draw Near to You!" (James 4:8)

Forgive me for allowing my stream of thought to overrun this post...

I recently reread the book of James. A wonderful reminder to persevere through our trials. I pray that you, if you find yourself struggling, would take time to read James. I read it to Jeff one night not too long ago and we both cried as it fit all that we have been going through the last couple of months. But we believe that God is faithful and will carry us through. Maybe that is why we are able to have joy these last few days-because we know without a shadow of doubt that all prayers will be answered in due time.

So we are off to have a Merry Christmas! To celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and to cherish this Christmas with each other because hopefully our little one will come in his due time. Who knows what will happen in 2007!

So You Think You Can Dance?

The other night at Sam's Christmas party-he played "Dixie" on the piano. Having graduated from a High School who was known as the Rebels-Dixie was our school song. At the start of pep rallies, they would start this song as a way to get us motivated and fired up for the big game. I guess it's like Pavlov's dog or something because ever time I hear this song I get fired up and just have to dance.

At first, I was dancing in the kitchen so no one could see me. Someone spotted me and ushered me to the dance floor. As you can see I had no problem finishing up my dance in front of everyone. What can you say? I like to dance.

Jeff later asked, "Had you been drinking?" No! Just high on life and a little bit of Dr Pepper!

WFMW: How to Make Your Own Snowman

So many people asked during the Boo Mama Tour of Homes how I made my snowman- so I thought I would share for today's What Works For Me

1) The Body-Go to your local craft store-I went to Micheals-find three different size glass vases that will sit on top of each other without falling into the other one. I chose a brandy vase, and two "fish bowl" vases one smaller than the other.

2. Insides- Buy fake snow in a bag.

3. The Hat- In the flower decor section buy two round flower forms so that when you put together it will take on the look of a top hat. (See picture) I guled the two pieces with hot glue-then carved out a little "ditch" where the hat will sit on the vase. This was it doesn't fall off and if you would like to reuse the vases during the year-you don't have a styrofoam stuck to the top.

4. The Scarf-find your favorite Christmas ribbion and cut enough to where it looks long like a scarf.

That's all folks-easy cheesy.

So here is your shopping list:

1. 3 different size vases

2. Two round flower forms in different sizes

3. Fake Snow

4. Christmas Ribbon

For More Great tips see Sharon at Rocks In My Dryer

Phew...It's Over!

Yesterday at our church the little kids sang "Away in A Manger" and "Silent Night". I am happy to say that the kids did a great, fantastic, marvelous, so happy i could just spit job. They were wonderful!

A few funny episodes I have to report:

1) Noah-our piano player was very nervous before we went on. (He is the little boy in the second photo) I was talking to him alone before we started to rehearse. I said, "Noah, I am nervous too but that has to be our secret because we have to lead these little darlings. Do you think we can do it?"

"Oh yes of course!" He said. But before he went up on stage he gave me the "deer in headlights" look and I started laughing. He did so good! Very proud of my friend Noah!

2. Little Avery did not want to stay on stage. She is my little two year old that beats to her own drum. She is a good source of laughter for me. During the song, yes the middle of the song-she leaves the stage, walks over to her dad and says "Hi Daddy!" Then turned around and joined us back on stage. As we were walking out, I had to carry her because she wanted to stay with her parents. I said, "Wave and smile at all of our friends and family." She said, "I am waving-don't you see me!" Ha! Ha!

3. Little Grace did not want to go on stage. She was in tears from the time we stopped rehearsal through the whole two songs. I was holding her before we went on trying to gently coax her through it. I told her if she went on stage for me I would allow her to go sit with her mom instead of going back to the classroom. She went on but her brother Henry saw that she was crying so during the whole two songs he was hugging on her and putting his hands on either side of her mouth trying to get her to smile. People thought he was pestering her but the real story is he was trying to be a great big brother and cheer her up.

4. And last but not least, Hudson and Emma! Hudson was close to a break down before we went on stage-he said "I want to stand by Emma!" (His little sister) I did not mind-anything to keep him from crying at this point. During the song they had laid down on the stage and had to be told the song was over and we were leaving the stage.

Later people were coming up to me telling me "Did you see Emma and Hudson laying down?"

"Yes, they were laying prostrate before the Lord-and when the spirit moves them...well, you just go with it."

Except Jeff swears instead of saying prostrate I said prostate-but I don't think I said that or others would have pointed it out and laughed at me.

I did say that though later that night when I was telling my in-laws about the singing-but in my defense it was 2 am when I was telling them this story before we were heading home.

Anyway...glad it's over but so thankful for all the kids and their hard work.

They are priceless and I could not have been more proud of each of my sweet friends!

A Blessed Assurance

From the time my nieces and nephews were born, I have prayed for them to accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. Recently I have started to see major growth in Faith. She reads her Bible and prays with such power you know she causes the enemy to tremble.

Today I received a call from my mother-a very happy grandmother, I must say. She told me that today Faith went down for the "altar call" with her mom and Dad. My brother is a pastor at the church so it must of been a special time for him to get on his knees with his very own daughter as she accepted Jesus into her heart.

To me this is what Christmas is all about. Not the presents under the tree, or the stockings hung with care but watching someone you love and have prayed for accept Jesus into their heart. Today she became not only my niece but my sister in Christ.

This my friends is a true BLESSED ASSURANCE!

PS I have a to-do list a mile long so I will post the Christmas pictures later today or first thing in the morning! Until then, enjoy your journey!

Boo Mama's Christmas Tour

Welcome to my home Y'all! Here are my decorations-since I live and work in my living room we try not to go all out with Christmas decorations. Now all this will change next year when we are in a house and not living in such small quarters.

You can see my dining room table in the mirror that hangs over my fireplace. I told you we were in close quarters. Anyway-the HO-HO-HO letters I painted last year after I got this idea in my Mary Engelbright Christmas Book. If I had a mantle I would hang the the garland above my stockings but again something that will have to wait until the house. (I will post pictures of my stockings later-I have Ashley Catalogs on the floor and I don't want people to think I am a total slob)
My snowman creation. Last year I saw this idea in Pottery Barn-I decided to make my own. Jeff and I spent a few hours in Michael's trying to find the perfect size configuration. This is my all time favorite decoration so far!

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I want to post a picture of our tree but to be honest I got bored today and started redecorating the tree. So I will post a picture after I am done. But here are a few of our ornaments we picked up on our ROAD TRIP this year. For those of you who don't know-I collect ornaments from our travels. My plan is to have a tree dedicated to our ROAD TRIPS.

Sturgis, South Dakota-home of the big bike rallies-we didn't go to the rally but we enjoyed shopping the Harley-Davidson Shop.
Albuquerque, NM-Balloon Fiesta 2006-I saw this ornament told Jeff i would stop by the shop before we left the square-we had more shopping to do. It was gone when I got back! Jeff was so sweet to take me around all over town to find the same ornament. As you can see we were successful.
Route 66- each road trip we like to drive portions of Route 66. Jeff found this ornament in one of the off the wall stops on the side of the road and bought it for me.



This ornament was from The Rockette Show that I went to with my mom. It's hard to believe that I used to be able to lift my leg that high. Not anymore though-I would put my back out for sure!

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Okay so here is the deal folks! My mom's boyfriend Sam is hosting his annual Christmas party tomorrow night. You want to see Christmas decorations-then that is the place to be! I have asked my mom to get permission for me to post some of his pictures from the party. I am sure he will say yes-since he is cool like that. So tune in Sunday afternoon and hopefully I will have pictures to show off. He doesn't have one tree, or two but 14 1/2 trees! The 1/2 tree hangs above the fireplace. One day I hope to have as many trees as Dr. Sam. Seriously-that is my dream.

For more great tours see Boo Mama's place-and I must say Boo Mama just moved and it is already put together-or at least the parts she showed us! :)

A Prayerful Journey

I have been so blessed through the power of prayer. I find that prayer is the ultimate comfort to me. I often times will pray with scripture. Nothing is more significant than praying the Word of God. Prayer transforms me. It rejuvenates my weary spirit. It humbles the "I am better than them" attitude that often takes shape in my heart. It empowers me to reach new heights and to step out in faith. Prayer changes everything.

The last few weeks have been character building weeks for me. It's not easy watching your loved ones face hardships and realize that they have to walk this path alone in order to see God pull them out of it. I have always been someone who wanted to fix situations. I have been known as the person you go to if you need to find someone with one talent or another. After living in DFW area all my life I have plenty of contacts or I have contacts who have contacts. But my contacts have all dried up during this time. I believe it so that these people can realize that the only person who will get them through this is God. Not a friend, co-worker's friend, not a family member but God.

I must say that the hardest part for me is to realize it is not about me and that it won't be fixed in my time but in God's time alone.

Last night I went to be chanting Ecclesiastes 3:11-

"He has made everything beautiful in ITS time."

"He has made everything beautiful in its time."

"He has made everything beautiful in its time."

God is at work in our lives. God is changing so many things for Jeff and myself. Jeff is learning what it really means to trust God with unwavering faith (Psalms 112) and I am learning the beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit (1 Peter 3:4). We are being transformed.

So we continue our journey through prayer; realizing it's only through prayer that we will grow and understand why God is putting us and our loved ones through this trial.

May God make EVERYTHING beautiful in its time!

"MY NAME IS CRACK!"

I thought that since Laurel Wreath wrote her story I would tell you mine.

The other night I was picking up a few stocking stuffers at the local Target. It was probably around 9 maybe even 10 o'clock since I had stopped on my home from some event or another.

Let me give you a little feedback on my shopping habits so you can understand the rest of the story better.

• I never carry a purse into the stores when I am alone. I grab my license and debit card and place them both in my back jean pocket. Since it is a little snug back there-if you know what I mean.
• I gather up all the bags in one hand and carry my keys in the other while I am walking out to the car. Just in case I need to strike.
• I always walk with a purpose since that is what the police always tell you to do after reporting a robbery in the area. I never dawdle.
• I throw my bags in the back seat so I can look to see if there is an intruder chilling back there and then I quickly get into my car after I see that no one is lurking.

Hopefully from this list you can gather one of two things about me: I am paranoid or I am one very cautious (some call it smart) chick.

Now that you know my shopping habits, let me tell you my Target story.

Walking out to the car after shopping doing all 4 things listed above a big man with tattoos walks towards me.

"Miss, hey miss!" He says. "I need your help!"

I turn towards him checking out my options. I was trying hard not to freak out! In his hand I spy a flyer and in the other hand I see a little sparkling key chain. At this point, I was thinking to myself, "I have seen these things before" and my mind begins to ease-this was divine providence I assure you. You see, I used to work in a poor part of town and people would come in with "the ministry" to sell beaded key chains to help those who couldn't kick the crack habit. I nicknamed it the "Crack Ministry." I have never supported this ministry because most of the people selling the beaded key chains looked like they were on crack. They were after all the "Crack Ministry!"

After he explains that he is "selling these beaded key chains for $3.00 to help support those who need help kicking the habit"-I decided it was his turn to hear my thoughts.

"You realize you are stopping a woman at night-coming out of the dark-and you can be presumed to be a scary person. If you are really looking to make a difference don't do this at night-wait until day light so that the people you approach will know that you are not a threat. Now if you don't mind-I need to be on my way."

I have NEVER been that bold but I don't want some poor lady having a heart attack in the middle of the Target parking lot. BTW-the "My Name is Crack" is the title of the flyer he passed to me-I had a great laugh the other day after I took time to read what it said. I think I will bring it in from my car and post it for all of blog land to see. It's funny!

The Stages of Santa

1. You believe in Santa.

2. You do not believe in Santa.

3. You play Santa.

4. You look like Santa.

We Likes to Party # 1

Okay you see the shirt that I am wearing? Well that came from my bloggity white elephant exchange friend Chelsea. Her grandmother-in-law bought this shirt for a bargain: $2.97! It was on sale-I spied a tag that showed the original price to be $49.00! Wow! The people at IZOD must really love their clothes! Since Elijah was celebrating his 1st birthday, I figured this would be the perfect place to debut my new duds. Thank you Chelsea for the very thoughtful gift and a great time to re gift this I must say! Ha! Ha!



Jeff snapped this picture so I could prove to Chelsea that I am NOT afraid to wear it. A note about the picture and that crazy, obscure look on my face-I was trying to get Elijah to laugh his cackle laugh. It is the best sound in all the world plus his shoulders and belly shake. I wanted my grandmother to hear and see it in person.

Little man getting ready to laugh it up!

Grandpa and Elijah

It took Elijah a little to get into it. He had a such a thoughtful approach to his cake.
Here Elijah and Daddy are playing a little game. Gunnar was putting Elijah's finger in the icing so that maybe Elijah would start to dig in. Instead Elijah would put his finger out for his Daddy to eat the icing off his finger for him. But when Gunnar would bend over to lick off his finger-Elijah would pull it back away from Gunnar's mouth. He repeated this three times. He is a little toot! (But we love him!)

But once Missy gave the boy a spoon the cake was history!

Elijah's New Toy-the only thing that pulled him away from his cake

Here he says:
"Move out of my way! I have places to go-people to see!"

Aunt Sue-Sue, Elijah and Katelyn (Not Pictured: Faith, who was too busy riding her bike)

Happy 1st Birthday Elijah!!!

Sorry Bronco Fans!

As many of you already know, our house is CHARGER fan house! Last night was so special to us-watching Tomlinson break the single-season touchdown record. I had tears in my eyes watching him make the play that brought him this new honor. What I love most about him is his humble spirit. Check out the write up about him here-they called him the most humble player in the league. You don't find these descriptive words used very often with Pro players. So when you do hear it, especially when they describe your favorite running back-it does your heart proud. So all I have left to say is: GO CHARGERS!!!

On another note...

Thank you to the people who left encouraging words from my post I wrote the other day. Your words were honey to my heart.

God bless you all as we spend the next few days in a rush getting ready for the Christmas season. I look forward to seeing what the next year will bring for us. Does anyone feel the same?

Please Pray!!!

Canon Perkins is in the hospital. Please click link to read more, things look better now but prayers are still needed. Little one wants to go home and I can't say that I blame him! Please pray for peace for Drew, Chandra and Canon! Praise God for Rhonda, who is keeping Creed and is in very good hands!

http://mgmorrow.com/canon/indexcanon.shtml

I Can't Sleep...

It is 3:40 AM and I can't sleep. Maybe it is all the things that I have on my heart keeping me up. Maybe it is the fact that at 1:30 AM my husband's cell phone went off-it was set to vibrate and it started rattling on our dresser. I jumped so fast-afraid someone might have an emergency. I swear I should of been a doctor-I wake up FAST. Now I can't sleep.

Today Jeff and I took a huge step in this journey we call life. We started house hunting. We found a house. We decided to pray first before we proceed any further. No rush-God's timing is perfect. If the house sells while we are praying then it wasn't the one for us.

Sometimes people don't understand our need to pray before we act. That's okay-but we believe in it so we continue to do our own thing. Plus when you have the song "Teach Me Lord to Wait" playing in your head over and over you learn to do just that...wait!

Do you know the song, you should it's a good one. I will sing it for you.

"Teach me Lord to wait down upon my knees-till in your own good time you will answer my pleas. Teach me not to rely on what others say or do but to wait in prayer for an answer from you. Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength-they shall mount up with wings like the eagles-they shall walk and not grow weary they walk and not faint. Teach me Lord! TEACH ME LORD TO WAIT!"

You wanna know the part that chokes me up every time? It's the line that talks about not relying on what others say or do.

You see-everyone seems to have their opinion on what Jeff and I should do. You need to get a degree, Susan. You don't really need a degree, have a baby. Buy a house. Why do are you signing another lease. Don't name your kids that-name them this. Do this do that-don't do this don't do that. It gets a little tiring after awhile. Especially when God is saying WAIT or whatever else He may be whispering in our ear.

I was upset the other day, after a few opinions were brought my way that hurt my feelings-only because they did not agree with my opinion. Jeff reminded me that it's not the other peoples opinions that I should be worried about but living according to God's word. He said I need a tougher skin-to not sweat what others say about us as long as we know without a shadow of doubt we are living according to God's word. Reason #1985 of why I love this man...he keeps me grounded.

This event reminded me once again of our newly adopted family motto: "Only give advice or your opinion when asked."

Anyways-the point of this blog was to see if I could type out whatever that was on my heart keeping me from a good nights rest. Praise God today is Sunday-I have three things on my to-do list: 1) Sing with little friends in church 2) Take a Sunday nap-long one-no interruptions 3) Watch Charger Football.

Looks like today will be a good one-just pray I am not grumpy from my visit to blog land!

Happy Birthday Elijah!

My sweet nephew Elijah is celebrating his first birthday today! Since this is the first boy amongst three beautiful nieces-I have just soaked up every single moment with him.

Let me tell you about this time LAST year. Last Halloween Missy had labor pains and went into the hospital. My mother (Lynnie to the grand kids) and I went and picked up Faith and Katelyn at the hospital. Since I work at home, I stayed over until they got home. Now here is where my memory gets a little fuzzy but what I do remember is having this same process not happen once, twice but three more times. And one Sunday sitting in church, while Missy is on bed rest, my brother gets into a motorcycle accident. I soon started breaking into a cold sweat each time our cell phone rang-you just never knew what news you would receive upon answering the telephone.

So...December 7Th rolls around. Texas gets it's freeze of the year that day. The next day Missy and Gunnar were heading to the hospital to deliver Elijah. We decided that since the weather was bad I would stay over that night. Gunnar loves to drive in the ice! I do too but this NO FEAR comes from my dad who used to take us out and do tail spins in the parking lot when it iced. Some of you may be freaking out but Gunnar and i loved every minute. Anyways, we were driving the streets with his heated seats taking our time getting home. When the cell phone rang, duh, duh, dun!

Missy is on the other line-trying to remain calm because she is having contractions. Gunnar started driving as fast as he could in stand still traffic so that he could get home. We arrive at the house in one piece and in record time-way to go big brother! Missy has decided that they can wait to go to the hospital tomorrow. (You see after having three false labors she was a little gun shy to try it again, only to be told to go home.) Well, God is good! Why? Because less than 5 minutes after she said those words her water broke. Gunnar said, "Get in the car, we are going to the hospital!"

Faith, Katelyn and myself gave Missy and Gunnar big hugs and wished them well. Then the three of us sat down and said a prayer for their safe travels and the birth of either little brother or sister. I realized that night that my girls know how to pray. It was very special. Around 2 the next morning, Gunnar calls and says, "Well I have a son!" The pride that came through the phone lines was so strong. They asked me not to wake the girls or to tell them because they wanted to be the ones to tell them. So early the next morning-I woke them up and dialed Gunnar and Missy. It was a sweet moment and it has been a sweet year.

Elijah has been such a joy to be around this year. He loves to cuddle and often times when he is falling asleep he will hum himself to sleep. It is so cute! He can say Momma, Daddy and I swear the other day he said Sue-Sue. When I informed Gunnar and Missy of this, Missy said "Well, I am sure he did!" Isn't she a sweet sister-in-law to indulge me like this. Thank you sweet family for letting me be apart of each and everyone of your kids life. Thank you for letting me play the "Cool Texas Aunt" (they have 2 cool Florida aunts as well!) It has been so much fun watching little Elijah grow.

Here are a few pictures I took this time last year.

He weighed 9 Lbs, 9.5 ounces! (I think...anyway the point is he was huge!)

Dad and Baby Elijah

Mom and the BIG sisters!

Lynnie!
(And you know I do not have one picture of me holding him at the hospital! What's up with that?)

The Girls waiting for the car to drive up with little Elijah!

They kept saying, "Sue Sue where is he!"

Mom and Baby are home!

Redneck Time Out!

Thank you Dad for the great blog material!

My Favorite Christmas Memories

Christmas is my favorite time of year because it is a time full of tradition. For many years now, my job at my grandparent's house is to decorate their house for Christmas. This started when I was 5 years old and would often spend the day with Granny when school was out. My brother and I were in charge for many years. Then my brother reached the age where decorating Granny's tree was not his cup of tea. So from that point on it became Granny and my special project. Later when my younger cousin's were born we let them join in the fun but Granny always left the "delicate" ornaments in my care. Like our little Santa Tree topper who is very old and fragile.



After we decorate the tree, Granny calls me into the back room and places all the unwrapped presents on her bed for me to wrap. But fortunately for me, after Jeff and I married my grandfather (yes, my grandfather) decided that my younger cousins could take on that task since I now had my husbands gifts to wrap. (He is always looking out for Jeff) Also the first year I was married, Granny and Bonner sat me down and asked me if I would like to continue this tradition or officially pass on my decorating task to my older cousins. I quickly said, "No way!" I have vowed to do this every year until they die or until they decide not to put the up the Christmas tree. Although each year since I have been married I have found myself sitting and talking with my grandmother while the cousins do most of the work.

I have come to realize that this may be our last year to deck the halls. This makes me sad but I will cherish every moment and one day will pass on this tradition to one of my kids. But until then I will cherish every moment.

My grandparents used to own an antique store so my grandmother has collected many, many Santa's. Jeff built these shelves for Granny when we were dating. This way she would have a place to display all of her Santa's. On the bottom shelf, is Mr and Mrs Claus who sing and dance with each other. My grandfather buys her a singing Santa every year. Let's just say she has a few!


Here is half of the cousin's putting up the tree. My grandfather took the picture while I was trying to explain that he should wait until we were all looking. He is a very fly by the seat of his pants photographer.

My grandfather sits the whole time and tells us where everything needs to go. He says, "Ding-a-Ling (my nickname-seriously-that's my nickname!) I think it needs to go here or there. " I turn around and say, "Do you want to do it?"

Which he then replies, while holding up his hands in surrender, "No, No that's what I hire you for!"

Cousin Logan decided last year that he official job was to keep Bonner company. Those boys were so funny dictating to us where we should place each item. Oh the sweet memories made here!

For more great memories see: My Quiet Corner