How do you like your eggs?

We're thinking "FARM FRESH" sounds good!
Look what the girls have been up to.
We aren't sure WHICH girls (I won't tell you how many are out there...you will have to stop in and see for yourself)...but we've had 6 eggs so far!

:)

Sunny side up for me!

Living Sacrifices

A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of traveling to Tampa, FL with our high school youth group (clarification: I went as a sponsor....not as someone who wishes to re-live my high school years!!) We knew we would be "doing inner city mission work" but beyond that we had few details.

Our challenge to the youth was this: to be living sacrifices & to honor one another above yourself.

Common Ground Christian Church is a new church plant in the heart of Tampa. They minister to a very diverse community (roughly 1/3 white, 1/3 hispanic and 1/3 african american). We were blessed to call their building "home" for the week (complete with a shower trailer in the parking lot!).

Our mission was 2-fold.
1.) Work project: Home repair for Cheryl (paint house, repair gutters, landscape, etc.) during the days
2.) Community outreach: Vacation Bible School in a low-income apartment complex in the evenings

The week was AWESOME!
Our group of kids worked very hard on the home repair, and it turned out great!!
They stepped right into their roles for the VBS and had a great time ministering to the children (40 some of them on one evening) who came.

As you will see on the video (we put this together to share with our home congregation), we took in some of the local fun, too. A trip to the beach for ice cream, dinner on the "Taco Bus" , and our big outing to a theme park.

This was an especially fun trip for me BECAUSE BROCK WENT, TOO!! I have been on 6 other mission trips. (Chad and I went together on 2 of them) but this was the FIRST one that I had the opportunity to share with one of my own kids!! I am convinced, now more than ever, that we should plan some family mission trips in the future! Any ideas?

Enjoy the video. You may not know the kids in it, but hopefully you will appreciate their heart and their willingness to serve. One quick explanation: As part of our "cultural" experience, the pastor of Common Ground took us to a Sunday evening worship service at CrossOver Community Church ( a hip-hop church nearby). The worship was so fun. And I can honestly say that I have never felt so welcomed into a church that I have visited! Our kids were most fascinated, though, with the spontaneous session of breakdancing after church let out for the evening. You'll see what I mean!

Shocking, I know...

Shocking that you came to visit...and there is a new post to read!
Shocking that I still remember how to log onto Blogger to post!
Shocking that you stop to visit at all anymore, given my complete neglect of this blog!

Shocking that I finally do post...and I am not posting anything worthy of your time.
More of a post to let you know that I am still here...and I do still remember how to log onto this blog.

Coming up soon...
4-H fair update...maybe even with pictures of the goats! (Do I remember how to do that???)
High School Mission Trip update (maybe even a video?? yikes. careful, Michelle, you may pull a blog-muscle!!)

Stay tuned.

Hannah's Hope

I have been working on a video (to share at our church) regarding the situation at Hannah's Hope in Guatemala. I thought I should just share it here as well. If you have any interest in knowing more you can email me, or go to www.allgodschildren.org and click the "UNITE" button.

Because you just can't get enough of the animals...

Apparently we were having "animal withdrawal".
So we headed to the zoo today to see what we could see.

We loved this guy. And I tell you, there is NO sound like the sound of an African lion when he roars. Gave me chills.


And so fun to see this special guest:


Gotta' love the elephants.


And our very favorite of the day was this walrus. For several minutes he was playing with the kids at the window. He would come up and get nose to nose...looking the kids straight in the eye. Micah was captivated! I have never seen a walrus face so up close and personal!


What fun!

Our Vacation "By The Numbers"

4,189 miles traveled!!!
10 different states
8 different places to sleep
7 awesome National or State parks/monuments
5 bears we saw with our own eyes!
530 pictures downloaded onto my computer
0 DVD's watched in the truck
3 GREAT kids who made the trip so much FUN!
1 awesome husband (who, by the way, drove every one of those 4,189 miles!)

We are getting settled back into regular life (unpacked and all) and I am still hoping to post some more of those 530 pictures (but don't worry...not ALL of them!!)

Just a couple of pics....

Mount Rushmore!!!



The Badlands!!


Micah (ready to "ride horsey") picking some boots for mama!!

So much to tell...

...but so little time.
We have had another GREAT day!!
I am saving all the details for later...because I want to get to bed soon.
Tomorrow we will drive through Yellowstone for the last time, and then head east toward the Black Hills, Badlands, and Mount Rushmore.

Here are a few photo highlights of the day:

The work of His hands....

This trip has been absolutely amazing so far.
I don't even know where to start...but I thought I would at least post a few pictures (of the 200 plus that I have taken so far!!)
I will definitely have to post much more later. But for now, here are a few highlights.

God's handiwork is AMAZING!!! I feel like these pictures don't even do it justice, because the landscape is so "expansive" that I can't fit it into a picture. But here are a few:



Our first day in Yellowstone was so fun! We have seen herds and herds of bison (and baby bison), many elk, a moose (with a baby!), and.....check this out....A BALD EAGLE! on the first day!!!


I could go on and on ....and I will later.....but I am heading to bed now. Exhausted. AND VERY BLESSED!

Did I happen to mention...???

Did I happen to mention that we are heading to Yellowstone National Park??
On Friday!?!?!
Yikes.
This vacation has REALLY snuck up on us!

We are hoping to visit some (or all) or these places:
Joplin, MO (to visit our sweet friend, Ashley...her hubby, Aaron...and baby Jude, too!!)
Rocky Mountain National Forest
The Grand Tetons
Yellowstone
Old Faithful
Mount Rushmore
The Badlands and Black Hills

And lots of stuff in between!

I am starting to feel a little overwhelmed by the thought of packing a family of 5...for 10 days...and 4,000 miles!!
I should get started.

Amazing Love...

This post may seem a bit "random"...and to some degree, I suppose it is.
But I needed to share.

Earlier today I was going through some of the pictures from Micah's adoption. I was doing this with the hope of finally putting together a "life book" for him to grow up with...a book with the story of how he came into our family.

As I was flipping through the pictures, I came upon these two....and they stopped me "in my tracks."




The pictures are of Micah with one of his "special moms" at the orphanage.
I have seen these 2 pictures a hundred (or more) times, but today I cried.

Here are some of the emotions that led to my tears:

--Have I ever told you....REALLY, REALLY told you....how incredible these women are? When I look at these pictures, I am reminded of how much LOVE they poured into Micah during his first 8 months of life. I love the way she is looking at him in the first picture....and when you look at her SMILE in the second picture, I just think "you can't fake a smile like that.....she LOVED him!!!!"

--I have been bothered all day by the fact that I cannot remember this special mom's name. It is driving me NUTS! I want to know it. I NEED to know it. I want Micah to KNOW her name. So...I am working on it. I knew it at one time, and I am sure I have it written down somewhere...in the meantime, I have emailed some other people to see if they can help me.

--Somewhere along the way, I stopped praying consistently for these women. Not on purpose, it just happened. It struck me today that, at this very moment, there are women caring for orphans in Guatemala and Ethiopia at the Hannah's Hope orphanages.
They are feeding, changing diapers, rocking, singing, giving medicine, kissing "ouchies", cleaning, doing laundry, cooking, etc.
And they do it with so much love.
Our family was blessed to SEE them doing it first-hand.
Our family was blessed because they DID IT FOR MICAH when we couldn't.

Chad and I have said SO MANY times that we are grateful for the love these women gave our son!!

Tonight I am grateful that they continue on...and I will be praying for them...and for the orphans whose lives they touch each day!!

Happy Birthday, ERICA!!!

Happy Birthday, sis!!
We love you and we are so very, very, VERY proud of the young woman that you are becoming! Thank you for the many ways you bless our family...especially with your servant heart and your willing hands!!!

We love you!!!!

Happy Birthday +1, girlfriend!!

+1....because I am a day late with this post.

I have decided that birthday posts to you are difficult to write.
Because what I am really doing is just telling you "publicly" what I pray that you already know in your heart.

Last year I wrote this:
"God blessed my life beyond measure when He formed our friendship....a friendship that was born first and foremost out of our mutual desire to grow in our walk with Him. I love you dearly and pray that we celebrate many more birthdays."

The thing I love most about our friendship is Christ.
...praying with you.... talking with you about what God is doing....studying His word with you...praying for you and your family.

God has shown us (several times) that our friendship is dependent upon Him. When we drift, we struggle. I believe that our friendship was a gift from God, and I believe that He will do whatever it takes to be sure we keep Him "center stage"!! I PRAISE HIM FOR THAT!

I love you!
OH....and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!

:)

Happy Moms Day!!!!!

Happy Mothers Day everyone!
This song put a huge smile on my face last night. Then this morning, when the puppets performed it at church, I just knew I had to share it with you! Hope you enjoy it!!

A boy and his horse...

Micah's new "hobby" should help to keep the dandelion population down in our yard this summer!
If you know of any children that have had their hand eaten off by a horse...please DO NOT leave them in my comment box!!!

Have I ever mentioned....????

Have I ever mentioned how much I love Third Day?
Have I ever mentioned that I would drive miles and miles to see them in concert?
Have I ever mentioned that Carrie loves them, too?

Well.
I do.
and I would.
and she does.

Then maybe I should mention that we (Carrie and I) were so very blessed to get away Sunday evening for a drive to Ohio to see our favorite band.



And I should definitely add that when you see Third Day (at least when I do), you really don't feel like you have been to a rock concert as much as you feel like you have been to an awesome worship service.

I am so excited to mention, also, that Third Day announced a new album coming out in July...the 29th to be exact...a Tuesday...not that I am looking forward to it or anything!!!

I tried for several minutes (it felt like hours) to get a little video off my camera to show you. BUT I COULDN'T...and that irritates me!!
So, instead, I will give a glimpse at this cute little video...have you seen it already? My sweet friend Colleen forwarded the link to me, and I can't resist sharing it. You really must watch it to the end to get the FULL effect!

....and to think that Chad and I were so very proud of Micah today for singing his ABC song without missing a letter!!
Maybe you will get the video of that soon, too!!!

Enjoy.

A "field trip" and A Mystery Solved

We had a fun little field trip with Gummie today to the VERY-MUCH-REMODELED Indianapolis Central Library!



The place is unbelievable. Very cool! And so much to do....in addition to the actual books, that is. Especially for the kids.
Here is Micah taking a break to think about all he had seen and done....




We had a tough time finding socks for Micah this morning. Which was puzzling for me because the laundry was all caught up. Hmmmmm. I eventually found a pair and "moved on" with my day.
Then just before bed Micah pulled his socks off...and the lightbulb went on in my head.
I got down on the floor, and looked under Micah's crib, up next to the wall....and look what I found!!!!!



Yep! SOCKS GALORE!! 17 socks to be exact (not including the 2 he had just taken off!) He apparently takes them off while he is in bed and then drops them on the floor behind his crib.
I laughed so hard that I think I may have scared the poor boy!
Mystery solved.

Katerine is coming home!!!!!!

My heart is overflowing with joy tonight for Stephanie and her family!!! They received their "Pink Slip" today and will be bringing Katie home next week!!! NEXT WEEK!!!

It has been an amazingly LONG and DIFFICULT adoption journey for this sweet little girl and her forever family...please join me in THANKING AND PRAISING GOD for this great news today!!!!!

He had NO idea!!

Sometime in the last week or two Micah discovered Chap-stik.
AND he discovered the drawer in the bathroom where the Chap-stik lives. We laugh everytime we see him putting the Chap-stik on because he just smears it all over his face.

Well....tonight he must have stumbled upon a tube of LIPSTICK in the drawer where the Chap-stik lives!!

And when he came downstairs after putting his "Chap-stik" on.... he HAD NO IDEA why we were all laughing so much harder than we usually do!!!

Happy Birthday BROCK!!!!!

Brock,
14!?!?!?
Unbelievable!!
We are so proud of the young man that you are becoming!!!

WE LOVE YOU!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Other "House" news...

It's not that I had forgotten to post about these things....it's just that I have not been posting much about anything lately (hold your comments, please!)




Brock just recently finished his first season of swimming.
It's not that he just learned to swim (he accomplished that at 4 or 5 years old)....but he has never swam competitively before.
We were so excited that he tried it. AND THAT HE LOVED IT!!
He learned so much and improved on every stroke...not to mention those flip turns!
We are so proud of him for trying something new and working so hard at it!!!!



AND then there was this....

Toby Mac---


AND JEREMY CAMP---


In concert together!!!
Maybe I should have posted bigger pictures. But I came to the conclusion that the pictures really don't do it justice...I should have had some video (but is that illegal??!!!???)

Anyway, it turns out that I didn't even have a picture of MY MOST FAVORITE THING OF THE WHOLE NIGHT anyway... the 3 friends that were sitting beside me!!! Carrie, Colleen, Sheila and I had a great time!! A girls night out! ROCK ON!!!

And because I am SO mad that I didn't get a picture of us at THIS concert...I decided to grab one from the archives of us at THIS concert instead.

Baby goats!!!

Introducing......
the newest residents in our barn!!!

This first little guy was born a couple of weeks ago.
He hasn't been named yet...so he is referred to as "little red buck".


Then this little guy just joined us on Tuesday.


And as you can see....Micah is bonding quite well with him!


The last two weeks have been very bitersweet (maybe more bitter than sweet?!?!)
Unfortunately, we have lost several kids and even a mama goat (Erica's "Betsy"...not the mama to either of these two kids). So, it has been a little stressful, emotional, and exhausting. This was the first time for our "mama-does" to breed, and they have all had triplets...too big and very difficult deliveries.

We are trying not to be too overwhelmed by all of this...and, instead, just focus on these very cute, very bouncy kids.


We still have one more doe to deliver (Erica's "Bonnie")...so we are hoping for the best! It seems a little odd to request prayer for a goat...but (given how things have gone so far) I'm just dropping a hint here...

If this blog was a ...

I was thinking today that if this blog was a car along side the road....it would have been towed by now!!!!

We are still here.
And I think about posting something almost every day.
But somehow I never seem to get around to it.

It's that morning routine that I was telling you all about. I have been trying so hard to stay dedicated to my morning quiet time and work-out. But, I have realized that for it to work I HAVE to get to bed early (and by "early", I mean before 11 p.m. --- not early as in "early morning" like I used to do!). Quite frankly, I am still trying to figure out WHEN (if not at 1:00 a.m.) I am supposed to get my other stuff done ...you know, CRITICAL stuff like blogging!! :)

If anyone is still reading...THANKS for sticking around.
I promise some updates this week!!

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord...

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. "

Jeremiah 29:11

Happy Birthday, sweet Isaac!

[[[ I originally wrote this post last year, on Isaac's 2nd birthday...but as I read it again today with tears I realized that, honestly, the words are even more true today than they were a year ago...please, OH PLEASE, say a prayer tonight!! ]]]

Somewhere in Guatemala, Isaac turned 3 years old today! We trust that the Lord is keeping him safe, as we continue to pray for him as a family. It would mean so much today if you all would take a minute to lift him up in prayer as well!!

When I think back over the 8 months that we called Isaac "ours"...I am reminded that our most important task as parents is to entrust our children into the Lord's hands....to remember that they are HIS first and foremost. I will be honest in saying that at times my heart aches for our "loss"...and I try to make sense of it all....but the reality is, we serve a sovereign God who makes NO mistakes...Isaac was (and continues to be) a beautiful part of the Master's plan for the Timmons family.

One of the songs that will always, always, always remind me of our adoption journey is "Blessed Be Your Name"...

Blessed be your name
In the land that is plentiful
Where the streams of abundance flow
Blessed be your name

Blessed be your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed be your name

Every blessing you pour out,
I turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say...
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your glorious name

Blessed be your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's all as it should be
Blessed be your name

Blessed be your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be your name

Every blessing you pour out,
I turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say...
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your glorious name

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, Blessed be your name

LAMININ....it took my breath away. Twice.

I don't even know how to start this post.
"Hi. How are you? Let me tell you about laminin." ???

Good enough.

A couple of days ago I was running (I use that term very loosely) on my treadmill, watching a DVD sermon by Louie Giglio...and I was BLOWN AWAY! I want to share what I learned....but I fear not being able to convey it as well as I want. I will share anyway.

He (Louie) was talking about how inconceivably BIG our God is...how He spoke the universe into being...how He breathes stars out of His mouth that are huge raging balls of fire...etc. etc. Then He went on to speak of how this star-breathing, universe creating God ALSO knitted our human bodies together with amazing detail and wonder. At this point I am LOVING it (fascinating from a medical standpoint, you know.) .....and I was remembering how I was constantly amazed during medical school as I learned more and more about God's handiwork. I remember so many times thinking...."How can ANYONE deny that a Creator did all of this???"

Louie went on to talk about how we can trust that the God who created all this, also has the power to hold it all together when things seem to be falling apart...how our loving Creator is also our sustainer.

And then I lost my breath.
And it wasn't because I was running my treadmill, either!!!
It was because he started talking about laminin.
I knew about laminin. Here is how wikipedia describes them :"Laminins are a family of proteins that are an integral part of the structural scaffolding of basement membranes in almost every animal tissue." You see....laminins are what hold us together....LITERALLY. They are cell adhesion molecules. They are what holds one cell of our bodies to the next cell. Without them, we would literally fall apart. And I knew all this already. But what I didn't know is what laminin LOOKED LIKE.

But now I do.
And I have thought about it a thousand times since (already)....
Here is what the structure of laminin looks like...AND THIS IS NOT a "Christian portrayal" of it....if you look up laminin in any scientific/medical piece of literature, this is what you will see...


Now tell me that our God is not the coolest!!!
Amazing.
The glue that holds us together....ALL of us....is in the shape of the cross.
Immediately Colossians 1:15-17 comes to mind.

"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
For by him all things were created; things in heaven and on earth , visible and invisible,
whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities;
all things were created by him and for him.
He is before all things,
and in him all things HOLD TOGETHER. "
Colossians 1:15-17

Call me crazy. I just think that is very, very, very cool.
Thousands of years before the world knew anything about laminin, Paul penned those words. And now we see that from a very LITERAL standpoint, we are held together...one cell to another....by the cross.

You would never in a quadrillion years convince me that is anything other than the mark of a Creator who knew EXACTLY what laminin "glue" would look like long before Adam even breathed his first breath!!

We praise YOU, Lord!!

And just so you know...I was so awestruck by seeing laminin for the first time, that I decided to watch the message again the next day on my treadmill.

Yep....same thing happened...but this time with tears in my eyes!

The reason for my squeals of joy.....

You may remember me asking you over the past months (and quite frankly, years!) to pray for my friend Stephanie and her sweet little girl "K" (I am not supposed to use her whole name until she is home), who has been held captive in the red-tape-world-of-Guatemalan-adoptions for a VERY LONG TIME.....

good news, people.....

"K" is OUT OF PGN!!!!!!
This is huge.
HUGE!!!!!
PGN is a very, very major "near the end" step in Guatemalan adoptions. And it means that she is "officially" John and Stephanie's daughter!!! and a little sister to Daniel!!!!

When I read the news from Stephanie, my heart felt like it would jump out of my chest...and then tears came quickly as I remembered the amazing relief that our family felt when we received the call that Micah was out of PGN! ((and I should just mention right here that as difficult as our adoption of Micah was....it looks like a walk in the park compared to what John, Stephanie and Daniel have endured!!))

Anyway, please join me in thanking God for this wonderful news!!!
I have no idea why He has allowed "K"'s adoption to linger on so long....but I DO know that He is sovereign...and I DO know that His ways are perfect.

AND I ALSO KNOW that Stephanie has walked this long road with her Lord, and she has shown so many people (including me) what it looks like--- in real life--- to trust in Him even through the questions and the heartaches!!!

Stephanie....I can't wait to share the news that "K" is HOME!!! It will be soon!!

Completely random trivial fact:

Check this out:
111,111,111 times 111,111,111 equals 12,345,678,987,654,321

It's true. I even checked it on my calculator!
And see. You thought I had already written my best post of the week!!

Have a happy Thursday!
And by the way...just a little poll: Who are you cheering for in the Super Bowl this weekend???? (or could you care less?)

I make no apologies for what you are about to see and hear...

Have I mentioned that I love Third Day? Yes. I am certain that I have.
And I KNOW that I have written about how Rich Mullins' music has blessed my life.

But have I ever mentioned that deep down inside me.....I WANT TO BE A ROCK STAR????!!!!!
Seriously.
In a Christian band OF COURSE!!
I am not joking. (Carrie, please.....testify!!!)

So it is no wonder that every so often I find myself listening to some head-bangin'-guitar-rippin'-scream-and-shout-rappin' kinda' music. I do admit that I love it. Not all the time (clearly)...but LOTS of times....I just flat out love it. If I could sing (or rap) or play guitar or drums or DO ANYTHING MUSICAL EXCEPT LIP SYNC....well, I am certain that my medical career would have been history by now!! :)

Anyway, I have been "studying up" for the Jeremy Camp/Toby Mac concert coming up in February. So today I found myself driving on I-465 with Toby Mac's Portable Sounds SCREAMING from my speakers (I have to turn it up really loud so that I cannot actually hear myself singing....this way I can continue to live in denial....maybe I really DO sound good???!!!)

I just thought that maybe you would like to join in the fun...
so, here it is.

Boomin' by Toby Mac (warning: the music doesn't kick in until the 30 second mark...so don't make the mistake of turning up those speakers too quickly!!!)

With GREAT humility....and hesitation.....

I hesitate to post this.
I thought about doing it on the first day. Too chicken.
I thought about doing it after a week. Not convinced.
I thought about posting it Monday. But I just didn't.

But today I will.
With great hesitation and humility.

Mostly because I remember November 3, 2005. and November 25, 2005.

You probably don't. So I will refresh your memory.
If you were reading my blog way back then, you may remember that I posted this little pic...


and I proclaimed that I was determined to beat my snooze button. To spend some quality time with Jesus in the morning hours.

Well. sigh. Here I am, some 14 months later.
Satan loves to remind me of my previous failures in this area.
But I am choosing to listen to God's voice that reminds me of mercies made new and things that are possible through Him that are not possible on my own. Like (in my life) an early morning quiet time.

So....
Three weeks ago I started fresh.

Trying to get to bed early (those who know me much at all, know that some of my most productive hours were usually between midnight and 2 a.m.!!). AND SETTING MY ALARM FOR 5:15.

January 7.
It was a great morning.
I spent an hour....an hour!!...digesting God's word (and a mocha!!) and begging God to draw me near to Him.
And then I hopped on my treadmill with the sounds of "Glory Revealed" blaring in my earphones.

And I haven't looked back since.

I tell you this....NOT WITH A SINGLE OUNCE OF PRIDE...with a very acute awareness of my ability to "start strong" and then "fizzle out". Great starts are usually not my problem....it is the follow through that trips me up. But I am continuing to beg God for His strength and perseverance. And He has been so faithful to bless me.

My prayer has also been that my time with Jesus would be about RELATIONSHIP, not religion. It is so easy to get wrapped up in the "doing quiet time" and miss drawing near to Him. But that is what I really want. That is really the point of it all. I want to start my day WITH Jesus...and hopefully then, throughout the day, continue to walk more closely with Him.

So far, so good.
Stay tuned.

I better hurry and post this before I chicken out and remember that 14 months from now you might actually remember this post.....but, then again...accountablility is a good thing, right??!!!

Mostly I post about how I don't post enough!

No more praying that my iPhone gets lost or broken....that is just NOT nice!! :)

So....the whole "blogging more consistently" is not working out so great....but I have not...I will not...give up!!

Here are some of the "goings on" around OUR HOUSE lately:

**The puppies have all found loving homes!!! Can a get a great big giant YIPPPPEEEEEEEEEEEE-YAHOOOOOOO!! on that one!?!?

**Micah had his cast removed! He will be in his splint for 1 more week...then all of his "orthopedic interventions" should be complete!

**Papaw (my dad) is doing well now (finally!). He had a fairly LONG recovery from his surgery, including a huge weight loss (sign me up for that part, would ya'?? Being the good daughter that I am, I tired to gain everything he lost so that overall as a family we would just maintain!!). Anyway, he is back to a regular diet now and doing very well. I am hoping that as he starts to GAIN back the weight he lost, I will be able to do my part to keep that delicate balance intact.

**I am into my 3rd week of a new morning routine that includes a quiet time and some exercise (something other than repeatedly reaching for the snooze button, that is!!!!) I have been amazed at the difference this has been making in my days! (I will try to post on this soon....and by "soon" I really do mean sometime sooner than you might expect, based on my recent blog habits!!)

Well.
There now.
I managed a blog post.
And I still have my iPhone, Stacy.
And I really miss you, Amber....but it is so fun to a get a word from you here and there. I DEFINITELY think you should start a blog (you just have to ignore all the "pressure"....I have obviously learned to overlook and forgive all those meanie comments that some people leave!)
And we prayed for you tonight at our women's Bible study, Stephanie!!! You are very consistently in my thoughts and prayers!

What was that noise????

Did you hear that noise just now?

I think it was the sound of me BRUSHING the dust off the cover of this ol' blog....and CRACKING it open for the first time in DAYS (ok....Stacy.....maybe it has technically been "weeks")!!!

I have certainly enjoyed my blogging break. But, I am hoping to get back in the swing of it now.
I would like to thank my sweet friends for the gentle (or not so gentle) prodding.

AND can I just say hello to Micah (not our son, Micah, but the one who...well, you know who you are)!?!?...I heard you dropped in for a blog-visit! I am honored! Sorry that I have not been such a great blog-hostess. Please stop back every so often...and for goodness sakes, leave me a comment, would ya'??!!

Well, my blogging muscles are a bit our of shape. So I will quit for now. You can't just jump right back into these things, really...you have GOT to pace yourself!

And, OH....HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!

We Wish You a Merry Christmas!!!

We pray that you and your family have had a WONDERFUL day celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He is truly the greatest gift of all eternity...not just on Christmas, and not just on the day we accept Him....but EVERY day...for all time.

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2007!!

Address Alert!!!

If your name happens to be Sandy or Amber....would you please, OH PLEASE, email me your address (to doctimmons44@yahoo.com)??? And hop right on that, would ya'!?!?

Thank you so very, very much!!

I love these kids!! (Not to mention their parents!)

One of the very fun things about having great friends...is that they have really cool kids! We were so blessed to get to host the "friends Christmas party" Saturday night...8 grown-ups (I debated about using THAT term to describe us!) and 12 kids! As usual, the noise level was quite high...and the massive quantity of food was somewhat embarrassing (clam chowder, beanie weenies, veggie pizza, shrimp dip, spinach-artichoke dip, sausage balls, stuffed mushrooms, crab dip, cookies, sugar cream pie, key lime pie, fudge...and I cannot even remember what else!!!)

Of special note THIS year....there were no corneal abrasions! I cannot say the same about last year's gathering (special thanks to the foam-disc-shooting-guns that each person under the age of 15 received!)

Of other significance: Sheila won the card game (Hand & Foot).

So Much Has Happened...

I honestly do not know where to even start.
But I do feel like I should bring you all up to date with that has been going on around here...so here goes...

**At the age of 91, my Grandma Leedy (Papaw's mom) passed away last week. I have spent much time since then "remembering" some of the great times we had spent together. Grandma was never the "warm fuzzy" who smothered you with kisses and candy. But, she was a very special woman who I always loved and admired. ...Can I just share a few memories that I have of my grandma??...She was the one who took me to get my ears pierced (I think my mom was chicken!). She helped me wallpaper my room the first time. She made the most beautiful ceramic dolls and doll houses. She and grandpa would host these incredible July 4th celebrations at their home on Bass Lake....hog roast, camping, fireworks...they were probably just a weekend long, but when I was a kid it seemed like they lasted half the summer....days so FULL OF fun!! AND....get this...she was the coolest grandma ever because she had a "clap-on, clap-off, the clapper" light switch before anyone even knew what they were!!!!!

I wish I could say that I had spent many-hours-on-end with Grandma over the past couple of years. The honest truth is that we did not go as much as we should have. BUT...we are very, very, very blessed that God had nudged us to go visit her just 2 days before she died. We had a good visit. She seemed very peaceful, and we exchanged "I LOVE YOU's" (which was NOT a common occurrence with Grandma)!! I am thankful that the Lord saw to it for us to have a great good-bye-visit memory!!!


**In other big news.....
Chad's father ("Paps") had a heart attack earlier this week. Please pray for his recovery. He has never had heart problems before, so this was a little bit of a shocker!!! Fortunately (thanks to my mother-in-law's very wise decision making skills!!!) they got him to the Heart Center very quickly where he had an emergency cath and stent placement! He is doing very well and is back home recovering.


**Ready for some happy news??
Sugar had four very cute, very healthy puppies this week!! They are part boxer (her part) and part german shepherd (Let's just say that the new neighbors down the road have a dog that came for a welcome visit....but, we don't really want to talk about that right now...after all, this is a family blog!!)

Anyway, they are absolutely adorable. 3 girls , 1 boy. We believe that the boy is spoken for, but are looking for homes for the girls....any takers?? And don't think that I am above pulling your heart strings with some pictures....just look....




OK...so, if you are interested....just leave a comment, or email me, or call, or drop by....WHATEVER....just let me know!!!

Well...enough big news for one day.
Hope your Christmas shopping is going well (I am MOST CERTAIN that mine WILL be, AS SOON AS I ACTUALLY START!!)

I couldn't help but post this....

Perhaps I shouldn't....
But how could I not???
Something that makes me laugh this hard needs to be shown right here...



I am in NO WAY trying to be disrespectful to my man...I personally think that I am married to a very tough man...who continues to work hard, whether he is sick or not. But lets just face it, the "Man-Cold" is a real illness that must be respected (dare I say FEARED??) by all women!!!

Our Jesse Tree

I am so excited to show and tell you about our newest "Christmas tradition".

I hesitate to call it a "tradition" when this is our first year for it...but I love it so much that I KNOW we will continue to do it year after year after year.

Introducing.....Our Jesse Tree.



In "The Glorious Coming" by Ann Voskamp (at Holy Experience)created a devotional that is "to trace the family line and heritage of the family of God, of human beings from the beginning of time to the coming of God Himself, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in the manger." There is a devotion for each day leading up to Christmas, and an ornament to put on the tree that has a picture depicting that day's Bible passage.



For our Jesse tree, we photocopied the ornaments and put them on card stock. On the back, we put the date...so after we read the devotion that day, we turn the ornament around.


How fun is that!?!?

If you want one for you family, you can order it HERE...I was very blessed to get mine as a gift from Stacy last year!!! (Thank you, Stacy!!)

***IN OTHER NEWS.....
I have not been blogging as much lately, and I keep hoping that will change...
Lots has been going on...this week I will do some "catching up"!!!