Pop Retires!

This is Bryan's family...Bryan, Rusty, Pop, Gigi, Craig and Aaron

Timothy asleep on the trip.

The kids watching a movie.

Elijah and Timothy enjoying the food at the reception.

Joanna looking beautiful!!

We took a quick trip to Alabama last week for a special event. Bryan's dad (a.k.a. Pop) retired and his work threw him a retirement reception last Thursday. It was nice to be there with him and get to see some people that we don't get to see often. Bryan's dad has worked for Alabama Power for 45 years!!! Isn't that awesome! The reception was very nice and then we headed to Bryan's mom and dad's house. We had fun with Bryan's family playing corn hole and watching the kids play outside. My parents came for supper and as always it was so great to see them too. When I say quick trip to Alabama I mean quick, we loaded up and headed back home on Friday. It was so good that we got to make this trip and be with our families. Congratulations Pop!!! We love you!!

Play Ball!

Isaac is the one in black, adjusting his cap.

That boy is paying attention. No balls will get past him, well maybe one or two.

Our sleeping princess!

Elijah loves to swing and says "Go higher!"

Timothy is a sliding boy! He went down that slide so many times!

It is that time of year again, Baseball! Isaac signed up to play baseball in our community this year. He is excited but he still says football is his favorite. One Monday night I had to take him to practice and I thought I would take a couple of pictures. They practice at a church so while the boys are practicing the siblings can play on the church's playground. Needless to say that was just right for Elijah and Timohty. Joanna was with us but I didn't get a picture of her but wanted to include one I took recently at home. Isaac's first game is this week so I know that you will probably being seeing a few post of baseball in the next coming months. I just hope the weather warms up and the sun comes out again before our game this week.

One Year!

One Year ago today was our first Sunday at Shelbyville Mills! So hard to believe it has been a full year. We are so blessed to have our church family and that God has called us to this ministry. Alot has happened in our lives this past year. Just to name a few...new ministry, two moves, a new baby, Timothy turned 1, Elijah turned 3, Sarah turned 7 and Isaac turned 9. Our church family was so sweet this morning, they called Bryan up and recognized our 1 year anniversary! Our prayer is that God will continue to use us to glorify Him! I wonder what the next year will hold....I am excited to find out!!

Milkshakes for everyone at this house!

This is what we call our "Milkshake Maker". Our family loves milkshakes! Matter of fact I have posted a time or two about our Movie and Milkshake nights here. When I get this out the kids come running and wanting a milkshake! We love our milkshake maker!

This is the manual part to my breast pump. I never use it and have put it away with the baby bottles. The little boys have found the box with these items in it and have loved playing with the bottles and this part. They sit in Joanna's floor and have the best time playing. I noticed Timothy was acting like he was making milkshakes, with the "rrrr" noise included. Then one day Elijah started hollering and I asked him what was wrong. He informed me that Timothy had the "milkshake maker". Even as I put these pictures on this post Elijah saw them and said that both these were "Milkshake Makers". I figured it out, these creative boys had been using this as their milkshake maker. The funny thing is, I guess you could say that it is Joanna's milkshake maker (if I used it)!!

*So maybe I shared too much but I wanted to actually share this with the kids later. I am sure my breastfeeding friends will get a kick out of this. :)

Art and some sunshine

Sarah started Art Classes on Monday night! She would paint everyday if I would let her, but it is hard when she has two little brothers that would make a HUGE mess. So around here she only gets to paint every now and then. When we signed Isaac up for baseball recently we asked Sarah what she would like to do and as we pondered on many things available we thought about finding Art Classes. Well her first class was this past Monday night and she LOVED it! Monday night it ended up being Sarah and one of her friends from church so those two girls were glad to spend some time together. The picture below is her first painting, "A Jersey Cow". I will try and post a picture of each of her paintings.



The weather has been so beautiful and we have loved being able to get out and play. After some play outside in the warm sunshine the kids enjoyed some popsicles. The only thing is...my sinus' are not happy! :)

A stop at the Goodwill and then to a baby shower

Isaac, Sarah and I LOVE the Goodwill!! I had never been to a Goodwill that I remember until we moved here. I know I have mentioned in earlier post that my kids (especially my two oldest) love to read, we have discovered the best place to buy books is the Goodwill!! There is one also in Franklin and one in Lewisburg and we have been to those too. We have bought all kind of books and at great prices. Most of the time the books we buy are in very good condition and priced for about $1-$2!! We went this past Saturday and got 7 American Girl Books @ $.99 and 1 @ $1.49, 3 Chip Hilton books @ $.99, The Secret Garden, Ralph S. Mouse and If you give a pig a pancake all for $.99 each!! I thought that was so amazing and we were so excited!!! :) So I wanted to share my bargins with you. Do you have any bargins that you could share?

Three ladies in my Sunday School class (I have recently started serving in the nursery so I am no longer in that Sunday School class) are having a baby soon and we had them a baby shower. There are 4 more that are due in late May and this summer! This is a picture of the ladies who got to attend the shower and we all enjoyed getting together. I love this group of ladies and will miss them during Sunday School, but!!!!!!!! I will be in the nursery when their babies arrive and I will so enjoy loving on those babies, Joanna and I are going to spoil them!! This group of ladies love the Lord and it is very evident, I look forward to getting to know them and their families more in the years to come!

Having fun in the sun!

Got to have a game plan!

Elijah took his little play tools in the woods to try and see what damage he could do.

Timothy found him and stick and was in his own little world.

Isaac is my tree climber!

Sarah gets right in there and has fun with her brothers!!

The weather has been beautiful and my kiddos have loved every minute of it!! We don't have alot of woods behind our house but there is just enough to play in. Our back yard backs up to a cow pasture and right along the fence line is a bit of woods and my kids have had the best time playing back there. I love it when they are playing together. I even noticed the neighbors kids enjoying our woods this afternoon. Along the fence line we are the ones with the most trees, isn't that wild. My hubby has cut the grass and our yard looks so good today! I will brag on my dear hubby, he even cut the neighbors yard today!! I just love my hubby and he has such a ministering heart!! :) I have also met two more of our neighbors this week and possibly going to have one of them over this week for supper. Bryan went and met another neighbor this morning who was cutting his grass too. We are so excited about getting to know our neighbors and enjoying our neighborhood! We actually only have one neighbor that we haven't met yet!! Can't wait to enjoy more nice weather days ahead!

Hope you are enjoying the weather!

St. Patrick's Day

Elijah eating his green jello in his green shirt.

Ms. Green! She really got into the green thing!

Timothy did not have on green but he did have a green cup and green bowl. Yes, that is him behind that green bowl.

And the first one done eating his green jello!!!

Joanna had on her green pants!!

Isaac's shamrock.

Sarah's shamrock.

The kids and I "celebrated" St. Patrick's Day yesterday. Usually I would not have even acknowledged St. Patrick's Day because I have always thought of it as lepricon, pot of gold, luky 4 leaf clover kind of day. After we had researched Dr. Seuess I figured the kids and I could find out more about St. Patrick. I was so amazed at what we found. I never knew anything about St. Patrick and I am so thankful for what I do know now. Thought I would share some of our findings with you...

1) At age 16 he was captured and in slavery for about 4 years and then escaped and returned to his family

2) Sometime after he returned to his family he became a Christian

3) was a missionary in Ireland

4) used the shamrock to teach people the Trinity (God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit)

5) Started churches and led many people to the Lord

I encourage you to get out those encyclopedia's or look online and see what you can find out about him. It was real interesting!

Joanna's first trip to Alabama! (The End)

If there is a flower to be picked, Sarah will make sure it is picked and that someone special gets a flower!

Mister tractor man is working hard!!

Craig and Athena with Joanna.

Isaac loves my dad but the next person he feels most comfortable around is his Gigi!! She is so good to stop and listen to whatever Isaac has to say.

These two are crusing in the Jeep.

Let the game begin....

Isaac is really into this. :)

Friday afternoon we went and got to visit with Bryan's cousin and her children. It was so good to see them because I can't remember the last time we saw them. Then when we arrived back at Pop and Gigi's Bryan's younger brother, Craig, came by for a visit. It was good to visit with him and Athena. That night Bryan's mother once again cooked a very delicious meal, Sarah's favorite, fried chicken. We got to enjoy some time with Bryan's mom and dad after supper. On Saturday morning we began to get ready to head back home. Rusty and Jameson came over again and there was alot of FUN outside. The weather was so beautiful!! Jameson, Elijah and Timothy was so glad to play outside. Bryan, Rusty, Isaac and Pop played a game of Corn Hole. Bryan made corn hole games for his dad and brothers for Christmas and they had so much fun playing that game. Gigi and I were taking pictures and watching the little ones. Sarah loved picking the flowers and just enjoying God's creation! Bryan's parents are so good to us, they have enough room for our (big) family and Gigi always cooks the best meals!! Gigi always spoils my kids, all Sarah had to do was ask for cinnamin rolls and guess what.....Gigi and Sarah made homemade cinnamin rolls for us to enjoy on Saturday morning! My kids love their Pop and Gigi and are excited to get to see them. Thank you Pop and Gigi for going the extra mile for our family, we love you both!!

We all had such a great time and enjoyed all of our visits, but we were so ready to get back home. I never thought I would miss our home in Tennessee but I do. For us this is home now. This may be where our children start their families and for the little ones this will be the only home they know. I am good with this because we so love it here. God confirms often that this is exactly where He wants us and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else than in the middle of God's will!! HE is GOOD!

Joanna's first trip to Alabama! (Part 2)

Grandmother Nell's dog licked Timothy and he was showing us how the dog licked him! :)

The boys loved Grandmother's dog, they got to pet it while Grandmother was holding the dog.

Aunt Donna with Joanna!

The little boys and I stop to take a picture at the museum in Anniston.

A chocolate showcase!

The kids stop for a pose at the museum.

Timothy loves playing with this McDonald's toy at my parents house!

Isaac loves my daddy and would love to have him all to himself for a whole week!!

Sarah loves to watch the cooking channel at my parents house.

My mother and dad were and are so good to us. They make each trip to their house very enjoyable. They blessed us with meals and a place to lay our heads. My dad helped us by keeping the kids while Bryan and I went to get the van. Thanks Mom and Dad, as always you went above and beyond!! We love you both very much!

On Thursday morning I took the 4 big kids to the Anniston Museum, they are having a Chocolate Exhibit and I knew my kids and I would LOVE that! Bryan was able to stay with Joanna at my parents house. After the museum we all loaded up in our "New" van and headed to Talladega to visit with Bryan's grandmother. She had prepared lunch for us and it was delicious!! Grandmother Nell is always so good to us. We were also excited to get to see Bryan's Aunt Donna. She came over and visited on her lunch break. We so enjoyed getting to visit with them and are so glad they got to see Joanna. (I took a picture of Grandmother holding Joanna but it was on Part 1 post!) We then headed to Bryan's parents for some rest time and then after naps Bryan's youngest brother (Rusty) and his son (Jameson) came over to visit and play. Jameson will be 3 in August so he is right in the middle of Elijah and Timothy age wise and those three had a good time together. Jameson is also going to be a BIG brother soon. Rusty's wife (Candice) is expecting their second child in April! On Thursday night Bryan's mom cooked a wonderful meal and we got to spend more time with Rusty and his family and Pop and Gigi. Friday morning was nice! Where Bryan's parents live there is NO cell phone service or internet service...that was real nice!!! We enjoyed just being together and Bryan got to take the kids out for some fresh air.

Joanna's first trip to Alabama! (Part 1)

Joanna riding in her car seat! She did really well!

Elijah taking a nap on the way down.

Nanny (my dad's mom) holding Joanna.

My grandmother (my mother's mom) holding Joanna.

Bryan's grandmother (his mother's mom) holding Joanna

Mrs. Martha Gilmer with Joanna

We headed to Alabama this past week and got to visit with and see some very special people. Mine and Bryan's grandmother's have never seen Joanna so we really wanted to give them a chance to visit with her. The trip down was really good. My parents had actually come to our house on Monday and so the kids and I loaded up and went home with them on Tuesday. We were not gone 30 minutes and Elijah got car sick!! Yuck! We pulled over and took care of him and we were on the road again. Elijah and Timothy both took small naps on the way down. We were all in our van and boy was it cramped! Not a problem any more, Praise the Lord, we now have a bigger van!! We stopped on the way and had a sandwich for lunch. Then we arrived at my parents house and got to visit with my Nanny! She just lives behind my parents so we got to see her a good bit. Then we went to visit a dear lady that went to church with us at West Park Heights. Mrs. Martha was so sweet to our family when we were at WPH and has continue to send cards and keep in touch. The kids and I were so glad to be able to go and see her. That night my grandmother and Aunt came over and had supper with us. It was so nice to get to see them and visit for a while. The next morning Bryan arrived and we took off to look at and we ended up purchasing a van for our family. On Wednesday night we went out to eat with my parents and then went to visit with Bryan's older brother and his family. They have a son who is a couple of months older than Isaac, so it was good for them to see each other. I forgot my camera, so I am sad to say I don't have pictures of that visit. :(