Thanksgiving

I hope that you all had a wonderful thanksgiving, I know that we did (even though I am not smiling in my picture, oh well). We had Thanksgiving by ourselves. It was very relaxing and we just made whatever our favorite things were. I even used my christmas goblets (which I usually forget that I have until after the holidays are over, go figure) so I was very proud of myself. We then decorated for Christmas. We listened to Christmas music while doing it, though I must confess that I have been listening to Christmas music for a while now. Actually, Leann and I always were listening to it in October when growing up so really, I am late! Then last night (Friday, the day after Thanksgiving) we got about an inch of snow. It is really pretty. The kids are having a great time playing in it. It is not sticking to the road or anything so that makes it very nice for us drivers. Richard had just got done cleaning out the garage yesterday so we could put our cars in there and then it snowed. I am so glad that he got that done. It is super nice not to have to get snow off the car. This is the first time that we have ever had a garage our whole married life. In North Carolina there were very few people that even had a garage on their house. Mom and Dad have been in Oregon over this Thanksgiving break and they should be back late tonight to their home. I know that they have had a fabulous time. Richard and I went and got our driver's licence changed over so we are officially part of Kansas now. Have a great weekend everyone!

Haiti Mission Trip

I would like to petition everyone for prayers as I will be (lord willing) going on a mission trip to Haiti, March 16-21. This will be to minister to the children in the orphanage and the community. My last mission trip was 2 years ago to New Orleans. It was when Hurricane Katrina had hit. It was a life changing experience. I am arranging for time off from school and work so that I may go. I would like to start applying for my passport next month so that I can be ready. God has blessed me with a husband who encourages me to go on these mission trips and is willing to be a parent by himself for a week. We are blessed that he is a teacher and it will be spring break for us. If you would like to look at the website it is http://haitichurchofchrist.org/ We will be organizing activities for the kids and visiting the hospital there. Please pray for the safety of all going and that everything that needs to be done will be done smoothly. Love, Mary

Check out my Slide Show!

I am trying to figure out how to use this slide show. I really like it, it is a lot of fun! These are pictures of Halloween. Then the others are just this weekend when we brought mom back home. Dad had gone hunting that morning and got a deer within a half hour. So my kids got to experience what it was like to slice up a deer! Oh, the memories. Alyssa didn't want to go outside so I only have one picture of her looking at the deer. It is cold in Nebraska! I think that Rebekah looks really scary for Halloween. We decorated our trunk of our car for Trunk or Treat at church. We had 30 cars there participating and over 300 kids showed up from the community. It was a lot of fun. Richard was very scary because he was in all black and would stand really still so people didn't know he was real until he moved. Have a wonderful day everyone! I hope that everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

Sydney Evangeline

I am so happy that we have finally got to see Sydney. She is one precious little girl. Of course I needed to put this picture of Alyssa and Isabelle on here too. They are the best of friends. Every time the cousins see each other, it is like it has been years. So here are some pictures of us holding her. Enjoy!!

I would like to say that I went over to Leann and Ryan's house today and I still have not seen Sydney open her eyes. She is just very tired, either that or she is trying to ignore me!

October LiveWire

Ryan, Leann, Isabelle, and Gideon got to go with the kids and I to live wire. So I brought my camera and we had a great time. Rebekah and Isabelle were the only ones who had time to get their faces painted. Isabelle's is a ladybug and Rebekah has a heart. Aaron is in the background, I am not sure what he is doing.

Isabelle and Gideon were playing on the younger kids' moon bounce. My kids were scattered among the large moon bounces. This is a picture of the free pizza that we get there! Yahoo! Leann is in the back then Alyssa, Jacob, Rebekah, and Gideon. I know that Isabelle was in there somewhere, but I think she moved as I took the picture.

Here is Isabelle with her daddy. Isn't it so cute? I think that it is funny that Leann is in the background, ready for her picture to be taken! We have been trained well. Smile for the picture! Hope you all have had a terriffic weekend. The new baby arrives in two days. Pray for Leann's saftey and the Baby's. Love you all!

Famous Quote

Recently, I heard a quote that really impacted me. This quote was from Joan of Arc who said "I am not afraid... I was born to do this." This reminds me that as Christians, telling others about Jesus is what we were born to do. He gives us the strength and the ability when we feel we do not know how. After reading this quote, I came upon another quote from her: "One life is all we have and we live it as we believe in living it. But to sacrifice what you are and to live without belief, that is a fate more terrible than dying." What do we believe? How do we express that in our life?

The Zoo Again

This is Alyssa working on her costume. She is going to be a cowgirl, but her hat was grey and boring. We decided that it would be much more exciting if she would paint it. It also has glitter on it, but you can't tell. Friday I took all the kids (including Leann's) to the zoo. We had a lot of fun. We only stayed for a couple hours since we have a zoo pass (thank you mom and dad). It is nice to not have to see everything all at one time. We got to see the Lion, which Isabelle loved. She did not want to move on.

I had to take this last picture really fast because Isabelle was sliding off the back. I think this is a monkey. Rebekah watched Gideon the whole time and Alyssa watched Isabelle. It sure is nice to have older kids to watch the younger ones. Have a wonderful day.