Trip to Southaven and Foley...

We have had a busy last two weekends. Two weeks ago, Michaela and I went to Southaven to visit Aunt Audie. We had a great time. Audie will be going to South Korea to answer a call to missions in July for at least two years, so we are making every attempt to see her! Michaela calls her "Augoo." It is strange how they make up their own way of saying things. She can say Aw and dee, but she wants to say Augoo. Anyways, we had a great time up there. It is such a nice area up there although the population is growing at a really fast rate.

Then, last weekend we went down to Foley to visit my parents, grandparents, aunt joker, and cousin Zach. We surprised my grandparents in which could have proved to be a little bit too risky. They both just about suffered from a cardiac arrest. It was priceless. We just opened the door and let Michaela walk into the house. My grandfather is just about blind, so it took him a little while to realize what was going on. It is so great now because she actually calls people by their name and will run to hug them goodbye.

The climbing has begun. She has always liked to climb on stuff, but now it is getting ridiculous. Our stained concrete floors don't help the situation. I am all about letting your kids experiment and learn to be independent, but not at the expense of a trip to the emergency room. She is way too adventurous to say the least. Michaela is learning more and more words everyday. She comes out with stuff that just leaves us speechless. For instance, at Audie's house, she picked up Audie's bible and handed it to her saying "Bible." Then today, she picked up a book I have and pointed to the picture on the front and said "Jesus." The funny part was that it was a picture of Jesus. I believe I told her that a few weeks ago when she was looking through my books. Children pick up on everything this age. It reminds us of how important our example is.

I am really looking forward to warmer weather because Michaela loves to play outside and I know all of you parents can testify to the fact that it is much easier to take care of a child outside than inside where they want to get into everything and make as many messes as possible.

Happy Valentines Day!

I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Valentines Day! We went to the banquet at church tonight and really enjoyed ourselves. The speaker they had for entertainment was really funny this year. We had a great time. Love you all!

Michaela's Maiden Flight

Mommy and Michaela flying with Dutch. This was Michaela's first time to go up in the plane. She seemed to love it!
Michaela and Dutch, her personal pilot.
Michaela and GG John. She had a great time with him on Saturday!
This was the first time I put her hair in a single ponytail. It was really cute.

We have had a great time visiting with family over the past week and a half. First, Aunt Joker and Zach (cousin) came in town to visit. We had a great time. Aunt Jo taught me how to use my sewing machine and we made Michaela 2 dresses for the spring and summer. They are precious on her. Then GG (Great Grandpa) John and Dutch (grandpa BOB) came and visited on Friday and stayed until Saturday. We had a wonderful time with them. The weather was beautiful, so we were able to take Michaela up in the plane. I really didn't know how she would handle the noise, but she did great and loved looking out the window, pointing at everything. I just love it when family comes to visit... friends too. It is such a blessing to have so many wonderful people in my life. We are going to visit Audie this weekend in Southaven. I will update on that trip later. I have saved all of our Christmas money, and I plan on using some shopping up there! Yeah. Well, I will talk to you all soon. I hope you all have a week full of great things. Hollah!

Just some thoughts.

Grammy and Dutch bought this for Michaela for Christmas. It has been a big hit. She loves climbing on it and sliding down! I can't wait until the weather allows us to go outside and play on it!
Do not ask me how this happened! I guess she is trying to start a new trend in fashion.

I have been reading other people's blogs and it is just amazing how God blesses each of us in a way that is indescribable. Even through the tough times, God sustains us and reminds us that we are His. He doesn't owe any of us anything, yet He chooses to bless us so richly.

We had a bible study last week at Fairview and it was unbelievable. It was a wake up call and an invitation to be hungry for the Word of God. God is really hammering that into my head and heart here lately. I have spent way to long being satisfied with a luke warm christian life, although it was so hard to deny that it really existed. I always have great intentions, but life gets hectic and many times the most important thing in life gets put into the back seat. There are so many of us that want to raise our children to one day give their lives over to the Lord. I need to be a parent that demonstrates to Michaela that life is not lived to the fullest unless it is lived to serve the Lord. One thing that hit home with me during the bible study was that Dr. Bob Utley stated, "Salvation is free, yet it costs everything once you have got it!" How true.

For those of you out there that know me, you know that I am full of many imperfections!!! It is my prayer, that the Lord will transform me into the person that he intends me to be.

"For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:6

Here with the fam update!

I am so excited to say that Audie is following a call to missions and will be leaving towards the end of the summer to do some teaching overseas at a school. Everything is not in stone now, so I will update on details later, but I am so proud of her for following where He has led her. I am going to miss her terribly, but I have a peace that she is doing exactly what her call is at this point in her life. Please pray for her, as many of you know that she does have diabetes and this will be a great adjustment. Also, please pray that the seeds that she plants will grow into great fruit-bearing trees! :)

Katie is in Louisville at seminary and loving every bit of it. She is not a fan of the cold weather, but it will pass in the near future. Michaela adores her aunts, so it is sad not to see them as often as we would like, but we make time whenever it is possible.

I am ready for it to warm up so we can go visit my mom and dad and take Michaela to the beach! It is going to be so much fun this summer because she will actually be able to play in the sand and the water. It should be a hoot.

I will update at a later date. As for you all out there, keep the updates coming! They are so great to read.

Fun times.

Michaela finger painting with Madison and Hunter. She had a great time.
Ravioli makes wonderful face paint.
Michaela's attachment: "bunny"
Grammy putting on some lip gloss. Michaela already wants to get dolled up!
Uh-Oh! She can climb on just about anything now!

This is just an update for the past few weeks. We have stayed pretty busy although we have spent most of our time inside, due to the extremely cold weather. Michaela has changed a lot over the past few weeks. There are new words everyday. I think that is the most shocking thing yet. She mimics a lot of what she hears and is now saying please and thank you more consistently. Gotta love it. She has a few more dance moves to add to her list. She still is obsessed with waving at everyone she sees. I think it makes some people quite uncomfortable. She is a blessing everyday.

Chris is staying busy. A friend of his lost everything, due to the tornado that hit Caledonia, so he is rebuilding the house there and working on a house in his subdivision. If you know anyone looking for a house, send them our way. We have two brand new ones and we are about to put our personal one on the market. All at great deals!

I have been taking part in a Beth Moore study at church and it has greatly enriched my life. It has really stretched me to spend more time in the Word, which is exactly what I need. I had really been slacking in the most important area in my life, and that is getting to know my Savior better through His word. It is amazing how He will give you a hunger for it when you take the time to spend time reading it. I am addicted to reading fiction novels, so that was taking a lot of my extra time. I still love to read those, but I have made it a priority that the Bible comes first. I encourage all of you to spend more time getting to know the Lord through reading His Word. It makes such a difference throughout your day. I am speaking to myself because I have such a bad habit of getting my priorities out of whack.

Well, I hope that this finds you all doing great. I love to hear from you and I really love to keep up with your blogs and so forth to get up to date. Tah Tah for now.

Visit with Aunt Audie...

Aunt Audie stopped by for a visit on her way home to Foley. Michaela and I had a great time. Michaela got her first set of fashion jewelry and was a big fan from the first time she sported the set. Thanks Aunt Audie for a fun time and for my presents!!!

Congrats Kelly!

We are so proud of Kelly for getting her masters at New Orleans Theological Seminary. Her and David have worked really hard! They had to move due to Hurricane Katrina where they lost much, including Kelly's car at the time. They stuck it out though, and for that we are proud! :)

We went down to New Orleans and had a great time! We ate at some wonderful restaurants and got a nightly Starbucks fix, due to the fact that David works there. Props to David! I am so blessed to have become a part of such a wonderful family. They are wonderful to both Michaela and I.