Christmas Time Feelings Are in The Air

WINTER 2010

WOW! After many months, we are blogging once again, with the hopes of doing better in the coming months! Trust all of our Penn Palz are doing well this fine December and pray you will each have a beautiful Christmas Season... filled with all the love you can hold!

We enjoyed a busy end to our Summer and a very nice Autumn, as well! This Winter looks to be just a little hectic, but that's what the Holidays are all about, right? Shopping, food, company, fun, parties, fellowship, etc.

Let us remember, the person or persons who has not Christmas in their heart, will never find it under a tree and the very best... of all the gifts, around any Christmas tree, is the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other! ENJOY!!! Merry Christmas from our home........

Anniversary Weekend in Indy

HAPPY 6TH TO US... (July 24, 2004)

Anniversary Weekend BLACKBERRY ALBUM

For even numbered years, we spend our Anniversary close to home and try to save up for away-trips on the odd numbered years, thus we enjoyed a peaceful and relaxing time together this past weekend, for our 6th.
On Friday night we went out for a BBQ supper with several friends, a little QT with Aly early in the day on Saturday (actual Anniversary date), enjoyed a very romantic Steak-n-Seafood meal and quiet time away that evening, with a little shopping that night on the northside, etc. I still feel like a Princess and plan to live happily ever after with my Prince!!!
(Aly loved this chance to spend time with her Uncle Mark, Aunt Anita and Nate... a special thank you to them for being the greatest babysitters of all time! Love y'all!!!)
Well..... why don't we just let the pictures (sorry for their pitiful quality, once again we used the BLACKBERRY and borrowed a few) speak for themselves???

Summer 2010 (thus far, anyway!)

SO much has happened since our last post on June 1st! Too many things to try and list them ALL, suffice it to say, we're having an incredible time, thus far!!!
We truly enjoyed our 'first' family vacation...10 days away from home, together! Aly experienced her first hotel-stay (other than the ones when she was still a baby!), her first time to go 'swimming' with her Daddy (in a BIG pool!), her first visit to Six Flags Over Mid-America, etc.
Then, we ended the vacation by spending time with Greg's family... Wesley was in the process of preparing to leave for his 2-year USAF stint to South Korea (on July 3rd) and it was fun before his departure date, to all be together, again! Mawmaw and Pawpaw even let Greg and I go out on a "date" while we were there and Aly had a ball making crafts with them, at the same time!
Aly's favorite moments of vacation, were without a doubt, the "BIG" kid rides at Six Flags, the "BIG" hotel pool (of course!) and the "Splashing Hole" (also at Six Flags!)....... Can you tell that she's in love with water and having a good time all the time???
We have also attended some great restaurants, concerts, revivals, birthday parties, etc. back at home, in Indy! Mimi and Papaw have joined us for several really fun excursions this Summer, as well... Aly always LOVES any second she can spend with them and the more, the merrier! We really enjoyed spending the 4th of July together... the Princess thinks we should have a 'fireworks show' every night, now! Aly's favorite weekly activity would have to either be Summer School or going to the Mall, Park, etc. with her Papaw!!!
Whitley and her friend, Katie came to town for a few days and we enjoyed taking them downtown, shopping at Circle Center, supper with Mimi and Papaw on Monument Circle, Incredible Pizza Co., Ritter's Frozen Custard, etc. Aly thought she was a teenager while they were here, too!!!
The Children's Department, at church, began a new program for the Summer and it's really fun... full of media, music, etc. and lots of work for Greg and I, but the kids are loving it and that makes it worth it all!
We are excited about our 6th Anniversary coming up, on July 24th, a special dinner-out is being planned; a trip to Port Clinton (and probably Cedar Point) coming up at the beginning of August; Greg's parents will also be here for a visit, over his Birthday weekend, in the middle of August; etc.
So, as you can see... our Summer has been and continues to be FULL UP with many fun activities, great company, neat destinations, good food, etc.!!! Trust you and yours are enjoying a great one, as well.......
P.S.~ We hope to add pictures to this (pitiful quality, once again a BLACKBERRY) Photo Album right away or possibly create a new one, so keep your eyes open for more pictures soon!

Summer 2010 BLACKBERRY Album

HAPPY JUNE!!!

Spring 2010 BLACKBERRY Album

HAPPY TUESDAY! Dirty hands and feet, almost frozen-iced sweet tea, garden fragrances thick in the air and an ocean of color before me, who could ask for more? Only 20 days til it's officially Summer!

Due to the technical problems of late, we will not even attempt to play 'catch up' with blogging today, other than to say, we have been exceptionally busy since our last post... Concerts with The Pfeifers, The Perry's ~ and more, fun field trips ~ to places like The Indy Zoo, Chuck E. Cheese, The Children's Museum, etc., Memorial Day trip ~ to Ohio and much, much more!

Recently, we are grateful to have been given a handful of photos (from other people), which we will post soon, along with as many new ones of our own, as possible! (We have also added a very small photo album to this post... however, please excuse the quality, as they were taken on Greg's BlackBerry and are quite blurry.)

Revival Blessings and More

WOW! Where has the month of April gone??? We have had a wonderful month, that's for sure! The weekend following our last post, we drove out to be with Greg's family for a couple of days and had a blast! His Mom and I spent the majority of the weekend 're-doing' much of their first floor... and hoping to complete both floors by either the Holidays or late Winter ('11)! Decorating is very comforting to me and so much fun!
Upon our return home, we had few battles to fight for a few days, but God really helped us to rise above the circumstances! We made a decision that "in the happy moments, we would praise God; during difficult moments, we would seek God; in the quiet moments, we would praise God; even in the painful moments, we would trust God; and in EVERY moment, we would THANK God!" If you think about a hot, fresh, glazed donut... your mouth is sure to begin to 'water'! Now, think about the ingredients that go into that donut, to make it so yummy. While some of them may be appealing in their own right (sugar), others are not so tantalizing (lard), yet without the lard, the donut wouldn't work! But, we'd still rather not think about it being in there, right? Life is kinda like a donut, sometimes! [Romans 8:28]
Greg drove a group of young men down to Kentucky for the following weekend, where they attended KMBC's "iLIVE 2010". An enjoyable and spiritual time was had by all! Aly and I were able to enjoy a couple of days together here at home and a VERY fun "play-date" with our friends, Carley, Claire and their mommy, Becky! A true 'girls evening out' and Aly thought she had the world by the tail, for sure!!!
Mother and I attended the "Ladies Spring Fling"... Mother/Daughter Luncheon... hosted by the ladies of our church, on the 17th, which was really nice for us! For Aly too, because she was able to have a "date" with her Papaw, at the same time!
Our church Spring Revival,was held on April 18 - 21, with Rev. Jim Mellish and Mark and Janene Dubbeld. This was without a doubt, the best Revival our church has had, atleast in the last five years!!! Not ONLY because of what our own family received from it, but because the Holy Spirit came in unbelievable ways! GOD IS SO GOOD... ALL THE TIME AND ALL THE TIME... GOD IS SO GOOD!!!!! (If you care to hear the details of what happened in our own family, just let me know and I'll gladly 'fill you in'!) "Got any rivers YOU think are uncrossable? Got any mountains YOU can't tunnel through? God specializes in things thought impossible!"

Mrs. Esther 'caught' Aly, sitting up in the Pastor's chair yesterday, following the morning service and sent this photo of 'the moment' to us..... the 'up-do' is more of an 'do-down', at this point in the day, though! LOL
Remember, if you have time to worry about what is on your neighbors back porch, maybe you should worry about what is on your own back porch! Food for thought on a dreary Monday ~ and the same would go for what's on the front porch!!!