Thanksgiving Day...2010

November 25, 2010...a BIG day for our family. Tyson's 5th birthday...his first birthday that was celebrated...our family all together for the first time with both sets of grandparents...a year ago we saw our boy's picture for the first time...our world was changed forever...

It turned out to be a nice time...but a HARD time too. November was a hard month for our family. Lots of processing. Lots of healing. Lots of firsts (overnight guests, trip out of town, changing rooms...). As I look back at these pictures just a mere 6 weeks later, I am grateful for the time together, but thankful we are doing better now than we were a few months ago.


None of it is easy, but God's grace is sufficient. And we are always leaning on Him in EVERY way.

homemade christmas gifts from the girls

Just like we did last year, we all worked hard on homemade gifts for Christmas. Sorry for the delay, but I am working on a different computer and I needed to learn how to upload the pics before I could share them. I will add more photos later as part of my blogging journal, but here are a few pictures of the girls with their gifts.Tally made Papa a pillow that she hand embroidered and sewed on the machine. He loves sailboats so every thing for Papa has sailboats.Grammy gets an apple for her Christmas tree. She loves apples (my dad was raised on an apple farm, so they are special to our whole family).

Tissy embroidered on a hankie for Papa. Yep...that is another sailboat.

After last years homemade napkins, she decided to make some for Grammy. She embroidered a custom set for them. A sailboat to represent Papa and Sudoku to represent Grammy.
Tissy embroidered Africa on a piece of cloth for me to turn into a pillow. She needed help on the machine so we will finish it together. Notice the little heart near Ethiopia? I love it !!!!
Tissy embroidered on a hankie for Grandpa (Chuck's dad). He gets a car for his design. Good thing our grandpa's use handkerchiefs. =)

One of our favorite things to make is a little pouch out of felt. Tally made this one for Grandpa. He can use it to hold special goodies like gift cards.
Tissy made a little watermelon for Grandma. She can put it in her kitchen with her collection or hang it on her Christmas tree.

The girls came up with all these ideas on their own. I was so proud of their creative ideas and thoughtful gestures. They are such sweet girls and they want to share their love for us in such special ways.

flash back to our trip

We really did have a good time on our trip to visit Chuck's side of the family. It was fun to explore their world and see their friends and reconnect with family. One day we drove to visit Chuck's grandfather's home and all his family that was in the area. Since we don't get to very many family reunions, it was extra special.

Of course the girls had a great time playing with cousins and climbing in the tree house. I sure love that area of upstate. So beautiful and scenic. I could sit outside and stare at the garden and listen to the birds all afternoon. I still think we will end up back in the country someday. Maybe when we are old and gray and our kids come to visit us with all the grandchildren.

We have been blessed with loving and supportive family. This trip reminded me of how I am so grateful for Chuck's side of the family. I just love to see how they are so proud of him and who he is. They have been very supportive and encouraging. We are so blessed.

Cruisin'

Needless to say...we all loved this old car. This is Chuck's dad's toy. We were all able to fit in the back seat. The girls loved that it didn't have seat belts and that they could hang out the window. Good thing we weren't going far. Thanks Grandpa for the ride.

Grandma Jane

This is Chuck's (step) grandma Jane. She is now 98 years old and pretty amazing. Her youthfulness inspires me and her sweetness is a blessing. Just think of all that has changed in 98 years. It is almost hard to comprehend. She is such a beautiful lady and she just makes you smile.


On our recent trip we made the effort to visit most of Chuck's relatives. It really was great to reconnect with all his family. On our last day we made the extra effort to go and visit "Grandma Jane". I just couldn't be within driving distance to her and not go and see her. She is truly one of the sweetest little old ladies around. She sends a birthday card (in her shaky handwriting) for all of our birthdays (she has never missed one yet). She is really quite sharp and able to keep up with the conversation (only a little hard of hearing). We enjoyed her telling us stories of her childhood and her favorite doll. She is just about as cute as they come.


Tally just opened the card that Grandma Jane sent for her birthday and she had included a hand written letter. It was such a special letter that Tally put in a special place to keep. She thanked us for coming to visit her and let us know how much she appreciated it.


Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world ~ James 1:27

"Loads" of help

Chuck and I had a meeting with someone the other night and my Mom stayed home with the girls. When we got home close to 11pm, we found that she had done all of the laundry. What a huge help. To see all these stacks of clothes. I love that she does this kind of thing without anyone asking her to. She just sees a need and does what she can. I am so grateful.

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

Just a quick shout out to my wonderful Mom on her birthday. She spent the day (night rather) flying to Oslo, Norway (on the red eye) to minister with my Dad. Regardless that they are still fighting jet-lag from their trip to Japan. And two days after they get home from this trip they will hop on another plane to fly down here. Oh the traveling sounds so glorious, but my Mom would rather be home in her own space, eating her own food, sleeping in her own bed. She does this because of all of her wonderful traits and her servants heart might just be the BEST characteristic that God has blessed her with.

My Mom is so supportive, encouraging, and gracious to say the least. She desires to stay with the times and embrace the technical world we live in. She is forever trying to learn new things and keep up with my Dad as he embraces life at full speed. She has been the loving supportive wife to a man in full time ministry. She has almost always worked full time to supplement our families income. She has set a great example of getting up early to spend time with her Father. She has faced her fears of speaking in public and taught the Word to pastors in Asia (with her shoes off, for she feels like she is on holy ground when she does the Lords work.)

My Mom is a wonderful mother, Grammy and friend.

Happy Birthday Mom! I pray for you both daily when you are traveling and serving God overseas. Looking forward to a celebration of birthdays when you head our way.