The fun continues, even in the rain!

Today was a rainy day at the Gulf, but we didn't let it stop us!

As is tradition, we went to Lambert's!  (they wouldn't hold still for a picture)  These 6 had a blast sharing a table together!

Eli flubbed up one throw, but for the most part everyone caught the "throwed rolls".  This guy was even sweet enough to hand Maddie one as she was scared to ask him to "throw" it! 

Then he showed off a bit too!

(Can't tell by he's juggling 3 rolls, while our kids look on)

With the rain it was also a great day to check out the shops! Another tradition - picture in the sharks mouth! :)

 

Still having fun and tomorrow we worship together and hopefully get on the beach before our family Christmas!

Gulf Shores

We made it through the 14.5 hour trip and we are finally on the beach!

Surprisingly they were happy most of the way, hope I can say that on the way home :)

 Sunny, white sand and lots of beach!  

Having fun enjoying the beach.

Cousins having fun with the water and sand!

Even enjoyed some fish and shrimp tonight!  YUM!

Eight Years Old

 Today Eli turns 8!  It's hard to swallow, my little man is getting big!   He's as handsome as ever.  He loves to dress up and was excited to wear a new birthday shirt and tie (from my mom and dad) to celebrate his birthday!

We have celebrated his birthday for a week now.  Last week with my parents, yesterday with Ron's parents and then today.  Eli wanted Gravy and biscuits for lunch.  Ron and I got to work as soon as we got home from church and we finally sat down to eat.  By the time we finished up this little man had waited long enough for gifts! 

Before presents Eli poses in his new Coon Skin Cap (from Ron's parents).

While we were opening he added a birthday hat!

Silly boy!

One thing he had specifically asked for was a ski mask to stay warm this winter!

We had fun celebrating our little man! 
Love the contagious smile! 

By the look on his face, he liked the soldier battlefield cake!

So today we celebrated our little man!  Eli, you bring a smile to everyone we meet!  We love you so much and are so proud of the young man you are becoming!  Continue to seek Jesus and desire to be His!

Happy Birthday Eli!

Eli = 8

Today Elijah Wesley is 8!  Doesn't seem possible!  Our little man is growing up!  I'm sure I say this yearly, but he really brings such joy and laughter to our family!  Such a fun and loving little man!

more pictures to come as we celebrate!

A Year Ago...

One year ago this morning, I woke in a hotel room in Circleville.  My in-laws just next door (with half my kids).  We had said our final goodbye's to Ryan Nathan...yet there was so much more to be said!  The grieving process is one I do not claim to understand.  I am learning that while a process, it is different for everyone and yet so similar.  The emotions of the past 12 months are long and difficult.  To loose someone so young, so early.  There was so much more to say.  We know he had more to say.  As we communicated for the last time in a hospital room just hours before he was put on hospice care and sent home - he wanted to talk.  He wanted to communicate and yet everything was cut short.

Ryan was not only an amazing man.  He was a loving uncle.  Always a smile for his niece and nephews!  He was a devoted daddy, He loved and was so proud of his four girls.  He was a passionate husband - he loved Holly unconditionally.  He was a son, one of only 2, the youngest, the baby of the family.  He was a brother - full of competition and admiration for his big brother!

He was a nephew, a grandson, a cousin, a singer, a friend, hard worker, a learner, a talented man, a craftsman, there are so many words that could describe Ryan.  Most importantly Ryan was a lover and follower of Jesus Christ!  He believed very strongly and he would tell anyone about his relationship with Jesus.  He desired for everyone to know Jesus and have a personal relationship with Jesus!  He had dreams to build the kingdom!

Now as we are a full year from saying our last good-byes - the grieving continues.   The pain..the loss  a life that was  taken way too early.  A life that had so much more to live and give.  It's hard to swallow, yet I know if Ryan were here today he would say - Love Jesus, Live each day for Jesus!  He lived it - He desired it for his children, his family, his friends, everyone he met! 

We are not guaranteed our next breath in this life.  Are you living each moment, each breath for Jesus or are you just living and hoping to get that all sorted out in the end? 

We continue to grieve.  We continue to go through the gamete of emotions!  And we continue to trust in the only One who knows our pain and sorrow - JESUS!

Memories

Today we're sitting at lunch with the "babysitting kids" and Maddie when I asked Ron to get a clementine started for a little guy I watch.  "He can peel it once it is started", I said.  Well Ron grabbed it and the memory started.

"I remember when my brother (Uncle Ryan) and I would have a competition" (it's a brother thing) "to see who could peel an orange without breaking the peel" (in other words - keeping it in one piece).

He had the kids attention then and he proceeded to peel the orange and tell how Ryan and he would compete with each other on who could get the farthest.  It took some time, but he got it - one piece! 

Memories!  I took a picture so the boys could share in the memory too!

Busy Weekend - Piano Recital and Musical

This weekend was full!

Yesterday my parents came.  They came early enough to watch the "dress rehearsal" of the kids Musical.

Then we spent the afternoon together before going to the boys piano recital.

This was Eli's first recital and the 2nd for Ronnie and Nathaniel.  All three were a little nervous, but did great!

They all had solo's then Nathaniel had duets with both Eli and Ronnie!

Dawn is their teacher and a fabulous one at that!  She is a very talented lady who loves Jesus and loves the kids!  I'm so thankful she is teaching and working with the boys to develop their musical talents!

Then this evening our Ney church kids put on the Musical, "Fifth Grade Scrooge".  19 kids from Ney UMC put on a fabulous musical and just did so well.  They didn't even appear nervous with over 100 people in attendance.  

My pictures did not turn out well - bad photographer!  But we have some VERY talented young people!  

Maddie and her friend, Marissa, held hands, swayed and sang Silent Night beautifully! (This picture was taken right before as they practiced, they were swaying so much I didn't get a clear picture during the performance).  They were both so great!  Very proud!

The cast led by Barb Vance, piano, who does so well with the kids.

Eli played the part of Mr. Bah T. Humbug - so out of character for our lively happy little man.  He admittedly struggled to stay in character as he sang, "Who Needs Love".  In his words, "it's hard not to smile while I sing."  He was great!  

Fabulous Weekend filled with lots of talent!

Volunteer Friday's

Every other Friday, when Maddie has school, I get off from babysitting and go to volunteer in Maddie and Eli's classrooms.

There are lots of benefits and reasons I like these days!

#1 - I get to take the kids to school.  Usually Dad is the chauffeur, but on these days, I get to drive! (don't worry Ron I was stopped at the light when I took this).  We get in the car and start our ride with prayer.  Each of them praying for another and then me praying for their day!  Love it!

I enjoyed volunteering too!  I get to do a lot of 1-on-1 with Maddie's class (worksheets, reading, etc.) and that is right up my alley.  Love that age, although in public school I'm realizing how broad the spectrum is among 5 and 6 year olds.  Maddie is flourishing in her classroom and loves her first year teacher, Miss Keil!  I so enjoying seeing Maddie in her classroom and am thankful for that opportunity.

After a couple of hours with Kindergarten I get to go to Eli's 2nd grade class.  Although, I'm not in the classroom.  With his class I pull each student out for a timed read and so I get to interact briefly with them 1-on-1!  Don't really get to see Eli in his classroom much, but I do see him and have gotten to know more of this classmates.  I enjoy this time too!

Another bonus to these Friday's off is that I am finished at about 11:15/30'ish and I have gotten a fun lunch date.  Wish I had pictures to show, but take my word for it, my date is a hottie. :)

Ron and I had gotten several Applebee's gift cards recently, and we have been enjoying our Friday lunch dates!  (not sure what we will do when the cards run out)

So, I have enjoyed my volunteer Friday's.  Love being with my kids and with Ron!

Thanksgiving Weekend

We were able to spend a couple of days with Ron's parents in Northwest Ohio!  The kids were so excited to help Grandpa build up his wood pile!  They love working at Grandpas!

We didn't do much else, just eating some yummy food and a lot of relaxing!  It was a much needed break from the routine!

I'm Blessed to have Fantastic parents and siblings and also to have Great in-laws!  Love Love Love time with Family!

Little Pilgrims

There are some little pilgrims running around here today!

November in Review

Somehow I blinked and November was gone.  My lack of posting is not because there was a lack of events and responsibilities this month!  We kicked off the month with the boys race (posted below) and we haven't stopped running since then.

The second weekend of November found Nathaniel and I in Sandusky, Ohio for the 12U Youth Football State Tournament.

The Fairview Appaches  5th and 6th grade teams had gone undefeated through the season and they were excited to get to play on the turf at the State Tournament. 

 Congratulations to the 5th and 6th grade State Tournaments Champions!!!

Ronnie's last visit to the orthopedic for his finger was this month and everything seems to be doing well.  His finger is straightening out well too.  Praise the Lord!

This month was full of the kids Christmas Play Practice, hard to believe it is that time already, Christmas is just around the corner.

The middle of November marked new Directory pictures for our churches.  I was on the committee to schedule and see that those days went smoothly, so that was a very busy weekend as well!

Then on the 19th we had a fun Bible Books Pizza Party where 24 kids from 5yo to freshman in HS came together to celebrate because they had met the challenge I put before them to learn the books of the Bible (all 66) in 2 months!

It was a great time of fellowship and celebrating our challenge met!

We had a Missionary Speaker and a cafe one weekend as well.  Didn't get pictures of that!

Then last weekend Maddie and I got to go to the Fairview HS musical, Beauty and the Beast!  Maddie's favorite princess is Belle (she says because Belle has brown hair and eyes like her)!  We went with our friends, Cathy and Reese and had a great time!

November is also the month for Operation Christmas Child boxes.  Both of our churches participated in this ministry and it is exciting to see the kids excited about sharing love with kids less fortunate at Christmas time!  Here they are at our Farmer church praying over the boxes before we sent them off!

Tonight our Youth group (and others) gathered together to makes cheese balls.  This is a fundraiser that Farmer UMC has done for several years.  However this year the profits go towards a couple of our youth (including Ronnie) going to Honduras next summer.  We had a great turn out with 29 people total about 350 cheeseballs.

So...it has been a very busy month!  

I am looking forward to spending the next couple of days at my in-laws with nothing pressing to do and just celebrating Thanksgiving with family!

Youth "Treat"

 This past week our youth group met together and made dozens of chocolate chip cookies!  This was our second year for the cookie making, but the fun part was the "treating".  

We gathered together and made the cookies and then had some pizza.  We spent some time praying for 16 people/couples and then divided into groups and set out to deliver the cookies.  We picked this time of year to "treat" some of the shut-ins and widows in our congregations.  It was a great evening and we had fantastic responses from both the youth and the recipients!  

 

 

 Friends having fun!

 

This is the group that went out to deliver (minus the drivers).  We have a great youth group and some really good kids.  We are blessed to be able to work with them!

Race to Play

Yesterday, the boys all three ran in the Ney Park Race to Play (an annual fundraiser for the Ney Park).  This year was different from the last 3 years.  Ronnie and Nathaniel decided to run the 5K.  Eli ran the Kids Run (1/2 mile).

One thing that might be worth mentioning...the temperature!  It was 20 with the windchill on Saturday morning and we woke up that morning to a dusting of snow!  The boys bundled up and were ready to go.  The snow was gone by race time, but it was still very cold.

First was the Kids Run!  Eli ran a fabulous race and surprised us all when he came blazing to the finish line in first place.  He grinned the whole way through the race and had so much fun!

It really was a surprise how well he did - we were very proud!  He didn't train or anything, but did fabulous!  He says next year maybe he will do the 5K!

Ronnie and Nathaniel were next!

 You can see them here with the 2 brown carhart hats at the finish line.

This race was for all ages and while Nathaniel's training has been running with football pads for the last 2 months, Ronnie had been training in running, so we weren't sure how they would both do!

We watched them begin at the finish line and then we drove to the halfway point to check on the boys.  They were both doing well and keeping up their run!

Then back to the finish line. 

Nathaniel came in 9th (28.14) over all and 2nd in the 13 and under age group!  He even got a medal for 2nd place.  He did so well!

Ronnie was just a few behind at 13th (28.51) overall, and 3rd in his age group (13 and under).  He did great, his training paid off.

We are so proud of all 3 boys.  They ran hard and did their best!

Today Eli is complaining that his legs are hurting, but hes talking about starting training now to run the "big race" (5K) next year!

Preacher Meal

After Church on Sunday, Mom and Dad took us out for lunch!  I snapped this picture just after Eli returned from the buffet with this declaration:

"This is the best meal for a preacher to eat after he preaches."  

It was confirmed when Pap sat down right beside him with Fried Chicken and noodles too!
He thought it was pretty funny when a friend, after hearing, said, "Preach the Word and Eat the Bird".  Eli still repeats it and thinks it's hilarious!

He went on to give Daddy a suggestion, "Maybe we can go every other Sunday".  (Crazy how quickly he forgets all the hours of work he put into his 7 minute sermon) :)

Love this little man and his passion and smile and all that he is!