Life with my sister

I love hosting my annual cookie/ ornament exchange. It is such festive fun and a rare time to have all my Jonesboro friends all together.  These girls all love an excuse to leave the kids at home and come visit, eat and score lots of cookies and a new ornament. I love hearing the laughter and excitement in the walls of our home.  I always wonder how "dirty" the dirty Santa game will be, but it's usually not too bad. It's always funny to see that one friend who keeps losing her ornament. Luckily, it wasn't me this time!  This year it was my beautiful and fun neighbor, Lindi. She got the bean bag on the floor and the brunt of the game. I loved that it was her though. It was fun and she's a great sport about it all. She did end up with a fun ornament in the end.  My church friends and mamas make me feel so loved. I'm blessed with friends from several circles in Jonesboro. That ole saying about having a church f...

It been forever since I have blogged. Over this festive holiday I have been chewed out by many for it. So, I'm making a vow to do better! I had no idea so many of you missed me :) Here is a recap of some of our happenings this past month in Memphis. We have been there every weekend for something or another since Thanksgiving.  At the beginning of December we ran the St. Jude Half Marathon. We love Memphis and an excuse to run through it and to help the kids at St. Jude was a plus. We attempted it in 2013 but an ice storm the morning of the race prevented it. We were so glad to have perfect weather this time.  At the race expo, the day before, we ran into some of our Mississippi Lee cousins. A family who runs together, stays together- ha! It was a fun surprise to see them. They are so much fun.  My sweet man runs about 4 minutes faster per mile than me, so we did not run together... I would have died- ha! He was a great supporter though and he...

Happy Thanksgiving!  I'm a couple of days late, but we've been out of town having fun so I'm sure you'll forgive me.  Thursday morning we left early and drove to Branson for the weekend. We met Stephen's parents at the world's largest Golden Corral for Thanksgiving dinner. This has become our typical Thanksgiving destination, and we don't mind it a bit. Most of us had steak, Anna had pizza, and all of us ate turkey. It isn't traditional but it's what works for us! After lunch we headed to Silver Dollar City, but stopped first to pose in front of Ronald Reagan. Abby had sent a picture of Henry in front of this statue and we knew Stephen had to see it! This is Samuel and Lauren in front of our favorite president. (Lauren spent the weekend with us. This is her first Thanksgiving without her mom. We were grateful for the time she was able to spend with us. She is so sweet, and funny, mature, and beautiful.) Stephen took quite a few pictures at Silver Dol...

I know these aren't the most fun posts, but they're fun for me to look back on. Thanks for indulging me! In the great outdoors...It is so cold!! It was 30 degrees outside this morning and has snowed a bit in Little Rock overnight. Tomorrow nights football game is going to be brutal! With thanksgiving,,lIts warm inside. Last week our heater was out and it was a little nippy inside. So, we're very thankful for our heater in these really cold temperatures! Within our walls...We have been so busy the last couple of weeks. It seems like I've hardly been at home during the day. Hopefully things will slow down next week. A heart of prayer...As you probably know, Samuel is dating a sweet girl who lost her mother in February.  It breaks my heart to think of her being 18 and a senior in high school without her mother. I pray for her a lot. I cry for her a lot also. Random observations... I'm going heavy on the random on this one. I really dislike washing my hands in a public ...

Three years ago today our family was shell-shocked. We were scared, confused, abandoned, hurt. We felt fearful, heart-broken and lost.  Today, Stephen preached at a friend's church and during the service, they called all of us to the front and prayed over us. People left their pews, circled around us, laid their hands on us, and prayed. I couldn't help but think how far we've come.  Three years ago we received so many sweet words, prayers, notes, gifts, visits, and even offers to beat up a few Baptist deacons and their wives! Those things got us through some rocky months. But more than anything, the comfort we received from the Lord reassured us that we were loved and cared for by Him. He saw our pain, He knew our pain, and He loved us.  Jesus redeemed our lostness, our pain, our worry, and our sadness. One of Samuel's favorite songs when we was a toddler said, "I'm trading my sorrow, I'm trading my shame, I'm trading them all for the joy of the Lord....

Halloween week was festive around here. We went to a pumpkin patch with some friends from church. Henry loved the hayride and corn maze.  We make a cute ghostly looking pair! It was so hot that night it was unbearable, really. Mosquitoes drove us out of there quickly. Memphis Zoo Boo was the best halloween fun we've had in years. The lady working the Panda exhibit said "we have candy and dancing inside" and I replied loudly, "yeah, you do!" And my crew almost died from laughing in embarrassment. Randall took these of us dancing it up with the pandas!  We meet our friends there and enjoyed being with them and making new memories with our kiddos.  This is us with Mandy and Charlie about 10 years ago and now. We have such fun times together. I'm so glad they moved back to the midsouth.   Elvis made his grand appearance at trunk or treat and was a hit! He would take off his wig all the time because he was so afraid everyone would really think it was Elvis and no...

I'm finally at a stopping point in my week to tell you about the rest of our weekend. See, what I mean about being busy all of the sudden! Friday night, David and Daniel were at Judgement House, and Anna had wrangled a way to stay at her friends house while we we went to Samuel's football game. We usually take Lauren with us, but she decided to stay home and study for the ACT she and Samuel were both taking the next morning at 8:00. Smart girl. The game was in Magnolia, which is a good two hours away. Stephen and I were alone so we decided to stop by our favorite south Arkansas restaurant in El Dorado, MELS. (All caps are how they write the name.) We enjoyed the best gumbo and bacon wrapped shrimp ever. In. The. World. We made it to Magnolia in time to watch all the pre game warm-ups. We don't usually get to a game early, so it was fun to watch. The game was a defensive battle. I usually text mom, dad, and Charlie (Stephen's dad) with game updates. This game they got a ...

The lazy slow summer has come to an end, and a busy fall has begun. We're going in all directions and having a good time. We're so busy that I need to get my hair done and won't be able to until the week after next. That is not good news! David and Daniel are actors in Judgement House at a local church. Judgement House is a play that is set in eight scenes, following characters through life changing decisions. This year David played an angel in Judgement.  He dressed as an angel and was to stand stoicly and not smile. He said not smiling was going to be difficult, since his "natural face" was to smile. Which made me laugh! His natural face is a frown, much like mine. Not that we aren't happy, just that we don't always smile, we've laughed a lot the last two weeks about his "natural face." In his costume, he stands barefoot, and one lady told him he had perfect toes. Perfect toes!  Daniel played one of the lead roles in Judgement House. He had...

Nothing like a little away time with the best friend and some sweet old college buddies thrown into the mix. Melissa and I had an overnight getaway in Little Rock last weekend. I met up with Paige and our friend Courtney for lunch on Friday before Melissa and I met at the hotel to get our weekend started. We went to a Kari Jobe concert and then ate at all our fave places and shopped for Bibles for our boys, clothes for our fine bodies and dreaming of Christmas at Hallmark. We are a lively pair and we love it like that ;) I am so blessed to have Melissa as my forever best friend.  I can't imagine doing life without her. She is always constant, loving and accepting. I love that girl!  Henry got to stay with Nana and Papa while I was gone because Randall was harvesting. Henry got to pay a visit to the plot closest to our house though and Randall took these cute pictures of our big guy. Henry adores his daddy and his work.  Fall fun is in full swing around here. Henry is out ...

Last Saturday was Samuel's 17th birthday. We had plans to spend the day in Little Rock eating where he wanted, going where he wanted to go. Just celebrating Samuel. But...... We had a large storm Friday night during the football game. Lightning caused the game to be postponed at halftime. While we were glad to get to go home instead of sitting out in the rain, we weren't excited about the make-up time for the game. Samuel had to be at the field house for pre-game Saturday at 1:00, and the game was at 6:00. So, we didn't get to celebrate him like we had planned. We did make a quick trip to Little Rock to get his birthday presents and eat his 2nd choice for lunch, and then rushed back for him to get to practice.  Whew it was quite a morning, but I spent the afternoon in my bed naping. I think that was the best way to celebrate giving birth. I could have really used an epidural!  We're proud of the person Samuel is. He isn't afraid of a challenge, loves life and people...

Randall and I are training for the St Jude Half Marathon in December. We did this last year and an ice storm blanketed the midsouth on race weekend. They cancelled it. Randall ran 13.1 on the treadmill on race day to say he did it. I didn't!  I was bummed and stopped running for the winter and spring months. This year I'm hoping for a dry race weekend so I can finally run the course I have earned!  Henry wants to run with us so we will often have him join at the end of a run as we cool down. He loves it and it's a sneaky way to get him in great shape!  I am running mine alone this year. Last year my running buddy and I trained together in hopes to run it together. This year she can't do it but she runs 3 or 4 miles with me when she can. It's mentally challenging doing it alone but it makes me stronger and pushes me more to think smart and stay healthy. Randall runs faster than me and does his own training. We are a good team and run best on our own. Yet we are great...

I love an excuse to throw a party and decorate. The agent I work directly with is having a baby in a few weeks. We threw he and his wife a shower last week and I was I charge of decor. I loved having the pumpkin theme to use.  The other ladies helped prepare the food and did a wonderful job. I enjoy throwing a party with good help. I hope there are more excuses for a shower or celebration at our office!  I was so ready to decorate for fall at home. Henry and I took "old truck" to get hay, pumpkins and mums on the afternoon before fall officially rang in its fine self. We were set and ready to usher it on in!  Here is a funny story: I picked Henry up from school in the "old truck" (which is actually newer than my car, but Henry has named it "old truck" because it was an old work truck Randall bought from his company to have to haul stuff around here. It is just a basic ole white Chevy pick up truck that smells like a mens locker room and sort of floats when...