Family Christmas 2010

We had a great time celebrating Christmas this year with our families! The first celebration we had, was at Rhett's sister's house. We have our Christmas with his family the weekend before Christmas, and we rotate who hosts it every year, so next year it will be at our house again! Sadly, both of my camera batteries were very low, so I was not able to get as many pictures on this day, but there was lots of great food, laughter, and a good time was had by all. We really enjoy getting to visit with every one, and our boys have a great time playing with their cousins!!

Wesley is chasing Davis....trying to get his present back, that Davis claimed as his own :)
Davis running with his loot :)
Present time is always fun and WILD!! In a matter of about .02 seconds, there is paper and ribbon everywhere!! It drives me crazy.....but the kiddos love it!!
Rhett's sister, with her very sweet girls, opening their gifts
First attempt at a photo of all of the cousins
Cute Sam tearing into his gifts

Rhett's parents working on their pile of presents
I love this precious boy sooo much :)!!!
Rhett's sweet grandmothers
Attempt #2.....much better! These adorabe boys and girls are all so sweet, and play very well together. My boys talked about all of their cousins and how much fun they had with them. We look forward to visiting again soon!!
Mim's (Rhett's mom) made a strawberry cake......to say this sweet baby enjoyed it, would be an understatement!!!

We had Christmas with my family on the 23rd/24th, this year! As always, it was a blast, and we had so much fun visiting with every one. It is loud and crazy when we are all together :)! We all LOVE to visit my parents (Papa and Mimi), and I just love having all of my brothers, sisters in (love not law), and precious nephews and niece together! A few days before our get-together my oldest brother and his family spent two days at our house, and we enjoyed it so much. Their boys are older than ours, but they played so well together. It was a wonderful visit with my family, and we can't wait to get together again soon! Rhett and I have even been thinking about talking Santa into visiting there next year.....we will just have to wait and see what Santa decides :)!!

My beautiful boys, nephews, and one niece--sweet Lucas did not feel well :(....poor baby ended up having strep throat
No visit is complete without many trips upstairs to Papa's train room~Papa has done an amazing job building his train layout, and my boys LOVE it, but not as much as they love their Papa!!

Thanks so much Uncle Greg and Aunt Becky for the drum.......it is played every day!!
My sweet Daddy, and my oldest brother. Daddy found Scotty a super cool gift at a garage sale :0......$1 for this amazing golf tool?? It was hilarious!
Uncle Scotty and Davis on the tiny piano!
Uncle Todd and Wesley!
Oops, didn't mean to put this one on here twice (it was the by far the best gift of the night)!!
This one too......I can't delete them??
Best buddies!
Logan and Bailey after cookie decorating!
Sweet Maxwell having fun with icing
Lucas got creative with his too!
Sweet Logan giving Davis some advice on his decorating skills!
My amazing boys!
I love these guys so much!!
Little more help from Papa
We always decorated cookies growing up, and I have such great memories doing it with my brothers and parents. I am so happy and thankful that my mom continues this at her house for our children. They all look forward to it, and it is so much fun!

This picture is one of my favorites!! I just love all of the kiddos so much, and am so thankful for them! Reagan is the very handsome teenager in the top right corner (this is the only pic I got of him :(!! He will soon be 16.......hard to believe!!

Somehow, we managed to not have any pictures of Aunt Mignyon, Aunt Becky, Aunt Rhonda, and Uncle Greg! I am very sorry, and I promise to make up for it next time we are all together!! Wesley and Davis had so much fun playing the "wind" game with Uncle Greg!!
My sweet parents. They are the best parents, and we are so thankful for them! They love our boys so much, and our boys CAN NOT get enough of them!

The Table

"Around the Christmas table

there's an empty chair this year....

The precious smile is missing

of someone we still hold dear.

And yet our hearts are hopeful,

though the season's bittersweet,

Because we know the one we love

has filled another seat.

For another banquet table

abounds with joy and love

For those who've made the journey

to be with our Lord above. "

This a sweet little poem the funeral home sent us......in a Christmas card......remembering our precious baby girl. The words are so very true! We would love to see her sweet precious little face smiling around our table, but we rejoice in the fact that our darling Caroline is seated at the greatest banquet table ever. We find peace in knowing that our tiny baby girl is being held and loved by our Savior, Jesus Christ. This Christmas, like all of the ones to come, is hard. But, thankfully, God has allowed me to see and focus on ALL of the many blessings we have. I have some very thoughtful and sweet friends, who have remembered us and our little princess this Christmas, and we will always treasure their thoughtful acts of kindness for our family. With sad, yet thankful hearts, we remember our baby Carloine, and with hope we look to the future.

A Few Photos

Here are a few pics of my precious family! We are having a great (BUSY) December! It is so much fun to see Christmas through my children. Rhett and I are so thankful for them, and for the many chances we have to teach them the true meaning of Christmas. I am so very grateful for my sweet husband and how hard he works, and for the amazing Daddy he is! God has blessed us so much!!

"Re-purposing"

He LOVES mommy's shoes!


Wesley thinks it is great to start at the top of our steep driveway and ride his dump truck all the way down........I think this time was a little fast :)!!

These precious little boys (AKA Snoopy and Woodstock) bring us more joy and happiness than we could have ever imagined! They are wonderful little guys, and are both so kind and loving. They LOVE each other and are truly best buddies! I am so glad they have each other to grow up with and get in trouble with! They have stolen my heart, and I thank God for them every day!
The OLDEST Brother.......such a sweet heart, and our little helper. He is so smart and funny. He loves playing soccer and baseball, running, riding his bike, anything trains, and his baby brother!
The LITTLE (OLDER) Brother.....sweetest smile and the best belly laugh. He adores his big brother and does everything Wesley does! He loves playing outside running and jumping, trains, and anything with wheels!

No, typing OLDER brother for Davis was not a mistake! Sometime in the future (we prefer near rather than later), he will become a Big Brother again! He is already a big brother, but he will soon get to experience the joys of having a "younger" sibling living in our home!

Yes, we will hopefully soon be a family of FIVE (or SIX), and we CAN'T WAIT!!!!

And no, I am NOT pregnant this time! We could not be happier or more excited that God has chosen to grow our family again through adoption!! November is national adoption month, and as we have talked a lot about adoption this month, we have also been CRAZY busy getting things started for our new baby. I think it is pretty neat that we heard (well listened to) God leading us to adopt again during the one month of the year that adoption is recognized and given greater support! We are adopting domestically, and have no idea when or where our baby will be born! Once again, we are stepping out on faith, and we could not have a greater peace!

"And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me".

Matthew 18:5

With Thanksgiving just a few days away, we have been discussing all of the many things we have to be thankful for. I was sharing with our Sunday School class today, that as sad and hard as this year has been for us, I am still very thankful. There is never a day that goes by that I do not think about and terribly miss our precious baby girl. I get sad, I cry, I miss her. But, THANKFULLY, I serve a God that has provided so much grace, peace and unexplainable JOY over the last 9 months. Rhett and I have a wonderful marriage that has grown and deepened in ways we never imagined over the past year, 2 fabulous and healthy little boys, we have a great home, he has a wonderful job, I have the best job in the world :), we have loving supportive families, awesome friends, a fantastic church family, our health, and most importantly a loving and FORGIVING God! Instead of focusing on what we don't have, we are choosing to be thankful and THANK GOD for all he has so graciously blessed us with!

"You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever".

Psalm 30:11-12

So many people want to know how I do it? How do I make it through and "go on" with life. My answer is always the same.....I don't, HE does it for me. Alone, I could never make it without grief and sadness creeping in and eating away at me. Some days are much harder than others, and I do have BAD days.....days where my heart is literally breaking and all I can think about is the "what if's", and just what if I could hold her one more time. Because I am a Christian, and I have a personal relationship with Christ, HE carries me through those days, and I am so very thankful for that!! I can not imagine going through a trial or tragedy without God by my side. I pray for every one that is sad, missing some one, facing tough days..... that you can cling to God and his promises.....and experience His amazing love, grace, and peace.

"Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you".

1 Thessalonians 3:16

Happy Thanksgiving! Count your many blessings this week.......I promise if you think there are none, when you think about it, you will be able to name many!

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; his love endures forever"!

1 Chronicles 16:34

UPDATE!

We have been crazy busy lately.....lots of changes at our house!

Our laptop CRASHED, and as we have been told has the "screen of death"....NOT good! So since our only computer has been our very OLD, SLOW, desktop.......catching up on our blog has not been one of my priorities! I will be sharing more about one of the main things that has been keeping me sooo busy, but not for a few more days:)! I know every one is dying to know what it is! Trust me it is good, and so worth the wait!! That being said, my sweet husband decided to replace our dead laptop and get us an early (ONLY) Christmas present, and purchased a MacBook Pro for me. I LOVE it!! I do not have any pictures on it yet, but will be posting some soon!

So, there is my (current) excuse for not posting on our blog in forever......I am going to try and do much better in the days to come!

This verse from the Bible has been a great source of encouragement, and God has definitely used it to speak to me lately!!, so I will close with it.....

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present you requests to God".

-Philippians 4:6

Well.......

Well......I had almost decided to just quit blogging, since it has been such a long time since I have posted anything, and for the simple fact that I just can't seem to find the EXTRA time it takes to do this! But, I do know that we have some very sweet friends and family members that enjoy reading our blog, and seeing our boys, since we do not see them often! So, I decided I would give it one more try?!? I would love to "rewind" and post all about our summer, but that would literally take me months!! I take HUNDREDS of pictures each month, ( I am talking about 300-600), and that would just take me way to long to update with all of those! So, I am just gonna do a quick re-cap.

We had a GREAT summer! We have just enjoyed our sweet little boys so much. We played outside every chance we got (when we were not melting in the 100+) HEAT. My precious boys are little fish, and they LOVE the water. We spent several days at the Y pool, and countless hours in our little pool at home, as well as the sprinklers. It was a pretty common occurrence at our house this summer, to walk by and see our little ones streaking through the sprinklers! Whatever it takes to stay cool:)! They are little monkeys and love the trampoline too. It has been a great way to get that extra energy out! We also made a few trips to Papa and Mimi's, and they came to visit us several times. We LOVE it when Papa and Mimi are here....my boys just can't get enough of them. We even witnessed Papa and Mimi on the trampoline a few times:)! Davis is fascinated with my Dad's car (mini couper), and his boat! He talks about them all of the time! We had a ton of fun playing with all of our friends, and just enjoying no schedules or "places" to be! There is a picture below, documenting Wesley's horrible black eye. He had a little accident with his power wheel! Thankfully, he did not require stitches, and after about five minutes, he was VERY proud of his battle wound! Toward the end of the summer, Wesley also had to have his tonsils out. I will admit it was HORRIBLE! He was miserable, I was miserable, we were all MISERABLE for about 10 days, and then right before his bday, he made a complete recovery (PRAISE GOD)!!!! When we were explaining to him about having his tonsils removed, he said "Mommy, they are gonna put little ones back in, right?" What a sweet precious boy he is! Davis is literally talking in complete sentences, and we have conversations with him! He is not the typical one year old! He is afraid of nothing, and wants to try everything his big brother is doing! They are both just growing and changing so fast....bittersweet! I thank God every day for my precious little blessings, and for sharing them with us!

Wesley and Davis a truly best friends, and they play amazingly well together. I am so thankful for the sweet relationship they have! It is my daily prayer that their relationship will continue to strengthen and grow the older they get, and that they will always be close!

The black eye (busted eye)!

My little animal lover and our new kitten!

Riding Papa's boat