Update on life

There is always something going on around here!  I've been without access to the Internet for a few days, so I thought I would just email on the last couple of weeks!

 Ronnie was super excited to get this in the mail!  He is official and ready for his 1st Missions trip this summer to El Sembrador, Honduras!

With Ron being on sabbatical this month, we have had the opportunity to visit some of our friends who Pastor and their churches.  Last week when I snapped this picture, the boys had to travel to Ligoneer alone as Maddie was recovering from strep!  Love these handsome men!

There has been some shoveling going on around here too!  Ronnie got his first shoveling job this year and is employing his younger brothers to work with him!  :)

The 3 of them make a pretty good team!

Last weekend we celebrated by Dad's a.k.a. Pap's birthday!  He has been preaching at Ney and Farmer this month for Ron and so they spent the night with us on Saturday.  I made his favorite, beef and noodles and mom made the cake!  We had fun looking through pictures and reminiscing!  

The kids are off school again today!

New Bed

Since we brought her home from the hospital, my baby girl has been in her crib/toddler (2 in 1) bed.  So being nearly 6 years old it was time for a bed.  

Daddy took a few hours off from studying last Saturday to purchase and assemble her very own twin bed all to herself :)

After falling out of her toddler bed several nights we realized we couldn't keep putting it off, it was time!

You can't quite tell from this picture, but she is EXTREMELY excited!

 The 2 of us went shopping for some sheets and comforter and so now it is official, Maddie has a bed....finally!

 The first night she was super excited, but woke up and said she barely slept!  We also had to take her in that morning because she had strep!

 We have found her many days over the last week, just sitting on her bed and playing!  

She loves it!  Great job Daddy!

Beauty and Wilmore and Sabbatical

This morning I experienced something new - Ice Fog!  It was Amazing and Treacherous and just so stunning!

It really was so pretty!

Unfortunately, Ron had planned to get up this morning and head to Wilmore for a couple days!  

Our 2 churches have graciously given Ron a Sabbatical this month (January) to work solely on this PhD!  He has been so busy over the last months/year that he has gotten little to no work done on it. This month (January) is something he has really been looking forward too!  Ron has attempted to get out of the routine of going to Wilmore each month, but unfortunately that meant that he wasn't getting even the time he usually did on his PhD, which was very sporadic at best!

Ron did arrive this evening, after a difficult trip.  I'm so thankful for the Lord's protection over him.  He's not sure that he will be there long, perhaps heading home tomorrow after a few more hours in the library.  Please, pray for him if you think of it this month. Pray that he will get a lot accomplished with his research and studies.

Ready for Kick Off!

It's National Championship Time!

Go Buckeyes!

Back "Home"

We decided we would take the long route home from our vacation and show Ronnie the place where he was born - Jackson, Mississippi!  He loves that he was born in MS and says that's why he likes heat!  So we journeyed to Mississippi!

It was a soggy nearly 5 hour trip from Gulf Shores, but we made it!

 We decided to take the kids to lunch to a burger joint that had been one of Ron and I's favorites!

BYB has the best burgers...and shakes too! 

Then we drove around the WBS campus!

Things have changed a bit.  We remember our time well at WBS, Ron working in maintenance and taking classes, me at the law firm and taking some classes with him.

 This gazebo is apparently rarely used, but my handsome hubby built it 10+ years ago!

 We had some time with a former professor and his whole family (6 children).  It was wonderful to sit with the Friedeman's and see how the Lord continues to work in each of their lives! (wish I had thought to get a picture)

Then we also met up with this beautiful lady!  Jes was a student of Ron's at CBC and I had the opportunity to disciple her.  She finally went to WBS 7 years ago  and the rest is history!  She and Trey have been married a year and are expecting in April!  Loved catching up with her and meeting Trey.

Ronnie wanted to see the hospital he was born in - it took us a bit to find it - Things have changed A LOT in 12 years! 

 We spent the night, January 1st, in a hotel.  If you are a Buckeye Fan you know that January 1st was the night of the big game!  Some were a little worried we might get thrown out of the hotel, (for noise) but I honestly think that more people in MS were cheering for Ohio than for Alabama because AL is a rival for MS.  It was a great game! 

The next morning we went to visit the new WBS president and see our former house!  Again, it was not what it was 12 years ago, but at least we got to show the kids the house that Ronnie came home from the hospital too!  Fun times in this little house as we began our lives together!

We had been telling Ronnie about the moss on the trees in MS for some time.  Finally he got to see it for himself!

We also got his picture under a magnolia tree!

I really  was not looking forward to the drive home - but it went much better than I thought!  These 4 travel really well!  I'm so thankful!

This guy...well he is the cutest and best chauffeur around!  

He did fabulous both going and returning home!

We were all pretty excited to see this sign.

We banked a lot of miles, but we had a great trip!

More Gulf Pictures

So I couldn't get all the pictures on one post!  So I'll see how many more I can get in this post! 

Our time on the beach was great!

We made memories to last a lifetime! 

Fun times with family!

I am super proud of this little man.  This picture was taken from his room (which he shared with his brothers and cousin) and this is where he was found every morning - out on his balcony beginning his day with his Bible and Jesus!

One morning was a little cool to be on the beach so we took off for a local Nature Park.  While we didn't see any of the Alligators we were hoping for (apparently it has to be a little warmer than it was that morning), we did see this...

We also found some time to watch bowl games together!  One particular night was "interesting" as Uncle Jay and Aunt Tonya cheered for opposite teams!

We had the front half of this house!  5 bedrooms and 5 baths.  Apparently it sleeps 20, but we fit great with our 12!

Ronnie and Daddy like his palm tree at that front of our house...

I think they are pretty cute too!

Nathaniel got in several football games!  This boy - loves anything ball!

 All 6 worked a good bit of time on an elaborate sand tunnel system.  By then end of the week the tide would come in, fill a small pool area and then tunnel to another and then another!  Pretty cool!

The youngest 3 probably worked the hardest!

It was a little hard to walk away on our last day, but lots of fun memories on the beach!

Cousin time!

 Maddie lovin' on her Uncle Jay!

So, our Gulf Vacation was a blast!  Lots of fun, and memories to carry us through the now winter months in OHIO!

Gulf Pictures

We had so much fun in Gulf Shores!  I have tons of pictures and it's hard to know which ones to share!

Here are some of the fun memories from our Winter Vacation on the Beach!

Maddie was thrilled to spend the week with her big cousin, Terra!  These 2 were pretty much inseparable!

It was fun for all 6 cousins to be together and make memories together.

Although we have gone to Gulf Shores before, Maddie doesn't remember much because it had been several years since our last trip.  This was the first trip where she will remember and  SHE LOVED IT!

E - couldn't keep this guy from the water!

Ronnie, taking it easy!

Meal times had the potential to be a little chaotic with 12 people, but really went relatively smooth!

These 4 were referred to as "birds on a high wire"!

We enjoyed Christmas together in Gulf Shores too!

 We enjoyed several walks on the beach together as a family!

It was fun to see lots of God's Creation on our walks (shells, jelly fish, crabs, clams, seagulls and other birds, dolphins, fish as well as beautiful waves, sunsets and sand).

Love this little gal, and so enjoyed experiencing the beach with her.

My Mom and Dad got the kids IWU shirts for Christmas.  Here they are sporting their new shirts on the beach!

There was time for games too.  We had a couple of days where it was rainy and we stayed inside with the family (or went shopping)!

Maddie got her nails done with Aunt Tonya and Terra!

This is the view from the balcony off Ron and I's room.

Beautiful!

There were several football games on the beach - that's one thing about going in the winter months - the beach is not packed at all - in fact we had it pretty much to ourselves!

Maddie and Eli spent a good deal of their time digging and playing in the sand!

 We even got to skype with Aunt Jo and the crew from Scotland!

All 6 of these guys enjoyed their Christmas on the beach!

I have so many more pictures I probably need to do another post!  

Stay tuned, more to come!