What a Day!

Everyone around here will remember to the snows of 2010. What a surprise for the kids (and adults). Our family got the very most out of every snowflake that fell. We played outside for hours and hours. We went sledding, rode 4-wheelers and then went sledding some more. Oh what a fun time we had! Here are some pictures from our sledding adventure with some great friends.



I love this picture of Ella



Gracen , Ella and Andi







If you look closely you will see the fear/fun the kids were having being pulled in our make-shift sled.

Lucy did really well on the smaller hills. She was "burned" in the beginning, so she was a bit timid for the rest of the weekend.

Lucy and Bo

Ginger and Skipper having some snow fun

Ella would have sledded for days and days and days and days.

Ella and Andi

This might look like a yard sale, but its just proof of the fun we all had.

More Pictures from the Snow Fun

These are pictures from my friend Ginger. Couldn't help but to post them. This was by far the best snow season in west Tn, ever!!

Did You Know?

For anyone that might be in the delima I am currently faced with, did you know that you could post date your entries to your blog? While I was working with the blog2print software last night trying to get 2009's blog entries ready to print, I realized that I still have not posted anything about the whole month of December! So I started playing around and figured out that I can place the posts back in 2009--right in order!

I knew that you could schedule a post to be uploaded for a future date but now that I know I can put a post in the past, I am thrilled! I thought this was cool enough to share with my fellow readers.

A Blessing for All and Help Haiti

Tonight our church started a new Missions outreach program. It's call Missions In Action. And that is exactly what it was. There were several different arenas in which to serve. You could do a project with the children, take food and visit with shut-ins, write letters to potential members or do some door to door visiting. Erik and I chose another option. We took $5.00 from the church's mission budget and went on our way to bless someone with it. We ended up teaming with 3 other people to make a total of 5 people and $15 dollars.

We sort of struck out on a blind mission, seeing that this was the first night of the program and it was all new territory for us all. It was decided that would head over to a Dollar General store and purchase as many groceries and personal items that the $15 (with a little added in) would buy. I was amazed at what we left with!

So then came the big problem...where to take it. We all said a quick prayer that God would lead us to the right house. It was hard!! We drove around for 15 minutes searching for the right house. Who knows if we found the right house, but we did find a deserving house. We were greeted rather tenatively at first but were quickly welcomed when he realized what was going on. We could barely get the words out of our mouths before he began reaching for the food items.

Needless to say, the blessing that we were trying to give was a success, but of equal importance was the blessing that we received. It was AWESOME! I can't wait until next month when we do it again. Wow! What an amazing experience!

Getting the taste of missions in your mouth is like eating a bite of creme brulee and wanting more. The reality that you can only do "so much" is a bitter pill. It is so important for us all to remember that the Mission field does not have to be Haiti or China. It's our own back yard. The needs are great and the missionaries are few.

But if you want to help on a greater level......check out this site.


You can click here Compassion International to donate to this great organization. This is what my family chose to do. It's a great organization that is firmly rooted in Christ and its main focus work is children.

My sweet Ella, who I think may be a missionary one day, is very concerned about the situation in Haiti. I'm not sure where she heard so much about it, as we don't watch the news and have not spoken about it with her. Anyway, on the way home from church today she said that we needed to pray for Haiti. In her innocence she then proceeded to tell me that some people in Haiti live in boxes and that something bad happened to Haiti and they can't find any more boxes to live in. What a precious picture of Christ's heart.

So tonight we gathered around the computer as a family and allowed Ella to type in the donation amount we chose to give. I know it is not as tangible an experience as actually "giving" a gift, but it was the most effective way to donate quickly to a much deserved cause. In two ways tonight I have been blessed. Just by blessing someone else. And isn't that what its all about?

Baby Maddie

Here is the first "real" glimpse of our niece Madeline Rose. My mommy arms are aching to hold this precious little child. I can't wait to meet her!

We ROCK!

Literally...we rock. With Rock Band, that is. Since we got the Wii for Christmas, I have been jonesing for Rock Band. We came across a fabulous deal at the local Game Stop and had to have it. The girls are too young to play it, but don't tell them.....

Erik and I spent all day cleaning and putting away Christmas decorations. That means that we will be rewarding ourselves with a fun night of Wii, Memphis basketball and visiting with friends!

While I was cleaning, I heard Lucy saying "1, 2, 3 hit it!" How funny!

Ella rocking the guitar

Snow Day

Well, the snow dance that the girls and I did worked....sort of. We had a light dusting of snow. It was enough to close school, but not near enough to play in. Ella woke up, looked out her window and came running down the stairs with excitement. I don't think she cared there was not a lot, she was just excited to see the snow. (As was I at 5:30 this morning. It meant no school for us!) I had thoroughly prepared for LOTS of snow. Extra milk, snow cream ingredients, bread, etc. I guess that if I had not prepared we might have gotten more snow. Isn't that how it usually works?

We have made a couple of trips outside for short periods of time. Since there is nothing (at all) to play in, the girls are just making footprints in the snow dust and knocking the remaining snow off the tops of the shrubs. I had to give in a little and allow myself to believe that the snow on my windshield was "clean." Two trips later, the girls have pretty much cleared it off with a spoon and have eaten it all!

It might not be much, but we'll take it. I desperately needed a day at home. Stripping beds, putting Christmas decorations away and letting the girls spend all day in their pajamas! What a wonderful way to spend a very cold wintry day.

Go Tigers

We took the girls to their first (at the least the first one they remember) Tiger Basketball game.  Rebecca and Tommy had Maddie there and we were able to snap a picture of the girls in their Tiger gear.  The girls had a blast and Erik and I enjoyed watching their excitement.