Winter Wonderland... A Bit Late in Coming!

SUPERBOWL WEEKEND

WOW! What a week! Some good and some bad! We've had many ups and downs this week. We've been and continue to carry heavy burdens for those we love. We have prayed and will continue to pray for these needs! Trusting and believing that ONLY God can answer such difficult tasks. He brought light into our lives this week in the form of a couple of announcements! CONGRATULATIONS are in order! To Whitley, for an outstanding GPA, she has been enrolled into the NATIONAL Honor Society! You go, girl! We are proud of you! Also, the word is official, Wesley will be stationed in S. Korea, following Tech School. We are so happy that he will be able to live out a life-time 'Korean' wish and pray daily for his safety. To Wes, Congrats, we love you so much! You know, when the world seems bleak, God knows just when to send these kind of blessings our way, doesn't He? HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD... SING WITH ME, HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD!

We've had our first, what I would call, major snowstorm of the season and there's more on the way tonight!!! Too late if you ask me... As most of you know, I absolutely do NOT love snow!!! Which will be no surprise to most of you, however, IF it must come this is the way I'd love to see it happen.... On Christmas eve, in the late afternoon, it would begin to flurry just a bit. Temps would stay around 30 or so. Though the snow would not accumulate at all, it would continue to flurry lightly throughout the rest of the evening, into the night and all day Christmas day/night. Temps would remain in the upper 20's or lower 30's during these two days. However, two or three days following Christmas day, the temps would fall drastically into the single digits. A heavy accumulating snow would begin to fall and not let up until it reached a minimum of one foot, PLUS. This would cause EVERYTHING to be 'shut down' for a few days. Giving everyone time to relax, spend time with family, etc. AHH After 4 or 5 days of this, the temps would begin to rise gently into the mid-to-upper 40's and above, the snow would then melt and within the week, SPRING WOULD ARRIVE!!! Now, that's the way it ought to be!

If you've heard the name, Laura Silsby, head of New Life Children's Refuge, Boise, ID in the news lately. She's a part of a group who traveled to Haiti to retrieve children, bring them to America and give them new lives here. Her particular group is being wrongfully suspected of human trafficking and facing time in court and possible prison. Would you please say a special prayer for her, the rest of her group and their families here in the States? LAURA'S FAMILY ARE FRIENDS OF MY PARENTS AND ARE IN DIRE NEED OF YOUR PRAYERS AND MINE!

Well, we had a grand Super Bowl weekend!!!!! While living here in Indy, I've become a "True Blue"! However, last night, MY SOUTHERN BLOOD RAN DEEP! Born and bred in Louisiana and being proud of it, I felt compelled to cheer for the Saints! No matter the final outcome, it was a great game for all!!! Greg, Aly and I wore black and gold to church on Sunday morning, blue that night and black to the family party. I've been a bit neutral, verbally speaking, throughout the past few weeks due to feeling a sort of "double-minded" and would have been happy had either team won, however... after THAT win??? MY HEART'S FEELING PRETTY GOOD RIGHT NOW! GEAUX SAINTS! (Nothing like a party for some great food, too!) For pre-bowl-fun on Saturday, we surprised Aly with a spur of the moment trip to "Incredible Pizza Co.", for supper and as you can tell (in the photo album above), she did indeed have an 'incredible' time!!!

Summer Guests Begin to Arrive...

We have a special answer to prayer to share with you! Greg is no longer laid off, he began a new job yesterday, we praise God for this AND His many blessings over the past several months!!!

For those of you who are on Facebook with us... this post will be 'old' news to you. However, there are many of our "Yahoo" friends, who visit solely to keep up with us, thus this post!
We had a cram-packed week, for sure! We began the week by receiving our cousin Nate's first recording project, "Play Me a Tune" and we couldn't be more proud of him... The CD rocks, God has blessed him with an unbelievable talent, for which we are all thankful and the best part is that he uses these talents for his Lord and Saviour. (Keep up the incredible work, Nate, we can't wait for the next one!)
I spent MUCH of the week visiting Mamaw... I am the only grandchild who has had the 'schedule' to do so. With Greg 'laid off', I've had an automatic babysitter, one who's been very willing to allow me this opportunity and I'm so grateful! (Thank you, Baby, you're the best! You amaze me!)
Being as this past week, was the week our Summer guests were to begin arriving, we spent several days "Spring" cleaning! We didn't complete everything on our lists, but with Daddy's help, we did rather well! (Thank you, Daddy, for taking Aly to BouncerTown and allowing us to get a little extra cleaning done! Love Ya!)
Wesley arrived on Friday afternoon, we stopped in to see Mamaw S., before going out with the family that evening for Supper. On Saturday, (Cuz)Nate and (Cuz)Corey joined the 'guys' on a trip to the Indy Air Show and grilled out together for Supper. Sunday was spent at Church. Monday, Nate and Wes hit the Mall before we all headed to "CB" for Supper, with Mama, Daddy, Mark and Anita. We were thrilled to have Nate 'hang out' with us for the past several days! (Guys, you both did a fabulous job helping to keep the house picked up and we thank you! Aly had a ball having y'all here, too!)
We did not capture much on film, because we were just too busy and on top of that, the camera went 'missing' for a few days! However, there are a handful of pictures taken early in the week, of Aly playing outside while her Daddy was taking care of the lawn. Then, we added a couple of the Air Show, as well! Click Here!

Summer Guests Begin to Arrive...

Graduation 2009 Weekend

Click Here! for the Photo Album: http://picasaweb.google.com/thepennfamily2007/Graduation2009Weekend?feat=directlink
(What a busy weekend, too!) We arrived at the In-Laws on Thursday afternoon under beautiful sunny skies, visited friends at Sis. Clark's Viewing on Friday evening in the midst of horrible storms, Greg and the boys watched Whitley's Track Meet on a brisk Saturday afternoon, the entire family attended Graduate's Sunday at Church in the morning and (most of us) the Baccalaureate Service that evening, then a gorgeous cool Monday evening brought on Wesley's Open House and his Graduation Ceremony later that night. We did not return home again in Indiana, until late Wednesday evening and have been spending much of our time since, at the Hospital with Mamaw S. (details below)...

As you can tell, it was an extremely busy few days, but well worth it! We are so proud of Wesley and can not wait to see what his future holds... we will remain lifting his name up in prayer, as his time comes to leave for USAF Basic Training! We love you, Buddy! (Mom and Dad P.!!! Thanks for everything... this weekend was just great and we know that Wes will carry every memory you helped to create with him forever! Many thanks also go out to Whitley, for helping us with Aly, during the Baccalaureate service! ALL three of you are the best!!!)

HAPPY (BELATED) BIRTHDAY, WITH LOVE, TO MY DADDY (PAPAW J.) & AUNT DIANE (on May 13th)... trust you both had a splendid day! Daddy, you are quite simply the best Daddy/Papaw on the planet and we love you more than you'll ever know!

Greg, Aly and I would also like to say a special thank you to those of you who have been praying for Mamaw ("Who") S. The surgery went well this past Monday. Her stats are looking good, we only ask that you keep her in your prayers, being as she is still retaining some fluids and those need to come down. The Doctors are positive and we are all grateful for the many prayers from you, our friends!

"Going Bonkers" and More on Spring Break

We finally arrived home from Spring Break last evening at about 8:00 pm. After dropping Aly off around 6 to spend a little time with Papaw, Greg and I then had the chance to check in at a very important meeting on the southside, before we drove into our own driveway a bit after 8 and began to unload the luggage. Aly came home about an hour or two later and after several days away, I can truthfully say it was a joy for us all to be back home again! Trips are always fun, especially if it's for Spring Break, but we all know 'there's no place like home'!!!
Due to the fact that our camera was left at home and never packed, I thought we'd not get a single picture... however, I was wrong! My Father-in-Law provided me with a camera on Saturday and I was able to 'borrow' it for our adventure to "Going Bonkers" Family Fun Center and then again on Sunday! (Thanks, Dad!!!) I wasn't used to a different flash, wasn't sure how to get rid of the red eye, the lighting was 'off' compared to our camera, etc. So, these photos are not of the best quality but, I'm very thankful to have the memories 'on film', as well as in our hearts! We had a great time with family during our 'break', laughed at anything and everything, ate too much, enjoyed the BEAUTIFUL sunshine and all in all wouldn't have traded this trip for the world!
CLICK HERE! http://picasaweb.google.com/thepennfamily2007/GoingBonkersOnSpringBreak09?authkey=Gv1sRgCLj3_a_a7rWLXw&feat=directlink for the details.
HEY! It's March 17th and we all know what that means! It's St. Patrick's Day!!! Here is an Irish Blessing JUST FOR YOU! "May the Irish hills caress you. May her lakes and rivers bless you. May the luck of the Irish enfold you. May the blessings of Saint Patrick behold you."

Summer Company Abounds and It All Begins in A "Boys Dorm"...

WOW!!!


Camp is over and the Company has begun to roll in...



Wes and his friend, Devin are in for the week. Greg and Cuz Nate went to pick them up over the weekend. Nate spent last night with us, so they've been having a ball together for 3+ days now. G'Ma and G'Pa Penn will be coming in this Thursday evening, staying with us over the 4th weekend and Whitley will be coming in at the end of the month, for a week. We also plan to have part of the Louisiana clan with us for a week and that's coming up right away!!! YAY! Having company really is a BLAST!!!
Busy times for sure, but are we ever having fun... I'll add a little Photo Album of our week so far, (the first 1 1/2 to 2 days of it, anyway!) at the bottom of the BLOG for your viewing pleasure, K? Please please please remember NONE of these pix were 'posed' and also remember our house has literally turned into a BOYS DORM this week! (Aly and I actually need 'back-up'... a Boys Dorm is NO place for little angels like us! LOL)
Well, last week was a little interesting to say the least! Camp was interesting in and of itself (we won't even go there) and then, I had a bit of a scare on Wednesday spending 12 hours in the ER, on top everything else! They took several tests, I'll go to my regular Doctor tomorrow for a follow-up, but all is well at the moment... PTL for His watchful look over us all, especially in our time of need! He's a good God and we'd never make it without Him!!!
One things for sure, with all of the busy days that seem to be flying by, Summer will be over LONG before I'm ready for it to be! I trust you are all having a splendid Summer and I'd LOVE to hear from some of you... especially those that I haven't heard from lately - HINT HINT (lol)!!! XO

Boys Will Be Boys!!! An UN-POSED look into the real deal...

Happy March, Ya'll!

It's hard to believe that March has arrived!!! We're loving this spring-like weather! 65*+ outside this morning (and still rising) with clear sunny skies! Simply beautiful!!!

What a SHOCK when you realize that our little Alyson is already 4 months old!!! (BTW - THIS PIC IS NOT OF OUR ALY - I JUST COULDN'T RESIST POSTING IT! TOO CUTE THOUGH, DON'T YA THINK?)

Well, we're spending the weekend in Mexico (the town, not the country, that is! LOL) with Greg's family and having a BALL!
Alyson just can't get over being at Mawmaw and Pawpaw P's house with her big 'Bub' and 'Sis'!







(Whitley, Fall 2007) This is all so new to her and really quite fun, too. No doubt she'll really "get into" these trips in a few months when she can 'toddle' around and 'shadow' both Wes and Whit... after all, what else are big brother's and sister's for???

(Wesley, Fall 207) Guess that'll be it for 'blogging' at the moment, we'll do our best to try and get a couple more in by the end of the month!

(Aly, Winter 2008) Take care, have a Happy March and enjoy this 'springy' weather! (Isn't it just the best Season ever!) Spring fever has HIT, that's for sure!!!