Saying Goodbye to "Ol' Faithful"

We are finally saying goodbye to our 1990 Ford Aerostar van. It has 284,000 miles on it and is still running! This van has a great story behind it. It always reminds me of God's provision and faithfulness to us.

This van belonged to Tim's brother when he was on deputation from Brazil. They returned to Brazil the year that Tim was diagnosed with cancer. His brother felt led to give us the van when he returned to Brazil. Being a mechanic, he warned us that the van might not last more than another 6 months. Well, that was 5 yrs ago and it's still going!!

This van was our main transportation during Tim's chemo and radiation treatments. It was definitely a God-send and it was paid for! We didn't have the extra burden of a car payment.

My family jokes that this van refuses to die! There have been many times when we thought it was finished, but we did a minor repair and it kept trucking. Tim went out to start it last night because it had been sitting for a couple of months. He was afraid it wouldn't start, but that thing revved right up. We even took it for a drive.

So, yes we call it "Faithful", but it's not because of the van, but because of our Lord who is faithful to supply our every need.

Shocked!

I've debated on posting about this because it's merely my personal opinion, but it's something that bothered me for days and I felt that other women should be forewarned.

A couple of weeks ago, I attended a Women's Conference with a group of other Christian friends. The conference was put on by "Girlfriends of Faith" with one of the main speakers being Gigi Graham (daughter of well-known Billy Graham). This was held in one of our city's main auditoriums. It was supposed to be a big event, but I was shocked when the auditorium, which holds thousands, was less than a quarter full. It didn't take me long to find out why.

The conference started out with worship music which was good. Then Gigi Graham took the stage. The conference suddenly took a turn from being "getting to know God" to "getting to know how bad the Graham family really is". Then, Gigi proceded to use a cuss word in her speech. I think everyone was just kind of stunned. I think her intention was to try to relate to others by showing that the Graham family had troubles too, so we shouldn't despair and give up hope. Instead, she really dragged her dad and family through the mud, so to speak.

This was a 2 day conference. I didn't return the next day, but some of my friends did. They said that she used another cuss word the next day! This was supposed to be women of God speaking to ladies and uplifting our Lord and Savior. Their ministry motto is "Unsaved people don't just show up-they have to be invited". I emailed this group of ladies and expressed my concerns particularly about the language in the conference. I'm saddened and burdened for the lost souls that were there that night. I don't feel that they were given a true respresentation of being a woman of God and the joy that we have being a daughter of the King. I was just so shocked coming out of this conference.

So, if "Girlfriends of Faith" comes to your area, my advice would be to save your money and stay home and pray for them instead. Also, please don't confuse this group with "Women of Faith", which is a great group of Godly women.

Jaida's Birthday!

Where does time go? My baby turned 2 years old yesterday! She's growing so fast! She's really starting to talk now. She says "Momma" about 100 times a day...seriously. She's so funny! It took her forever to start talking, but she is making up for lost time now. Tonight I asked her if I could have a hug and she very plainly said "No, sorry!" Of course, she then gave me one, but it just made me laugh. Where do they learn this stuff? She's also sings the whole Indiana Jones tune. She's never watched Indiana Jones, but she heard it on a game that Ethan has and now whenever she sees a pic of Indiana (on cereal boxes, coke products, everything else in the store, etc...), she breaks out into her own rendition of the theme song! It's so funny!

Here's Jaida with her new stuffed puppy. Ethan and Chloe have a stuffed black dog that looks like our real dog and Jaida was always sneaking off with theirs, so we figured it was time for her own "Suzy". She loves it!

The kids with their dogs. Chloe is making a funny face!

Why put the bow on the present when you can make a fashion statement and wear it on your head?

Blowing out the candle on the cookie "cake".

Yay! It's my birthday!

YUM!

It tastes better than it looks!

After the celebration, we were sitting on the couch relaxing, and realized that Jaida wasn't around. Guess where she was? She was helping herself to a second piece of cake! She was a mess! She keeps us busy and laughing!

Who could resist this baby face? We love you, Jaida! Happy Birthday!

More beach pics!

These are the last of the beach pictures, I promise! Here's Tim and the girls walking on the beach. Jaida did not like the sand and insisted on being carried most of the time. Her favorite thing was the hot tub. We put her in the first night and she loved it. Then the security guard politely let us know that kids were not allowed in the hot tub. Every time we took her in the pool she would point to the hot tub wanting to get in. I don't blame her, it was so nice and warm!

Daddy and the girls.

Ethan bravely waiting for the next wave.

Chloe jumping in the waves.

Jaida hanging on tight to Daddy.

My brother, Adam

My parents!

My nephew, Zachary, buried in the sand.

Beach Scenery

We took almost 500 pictures while we were gone! I've tried to narrow it down and share only my favorites. Here's a pic of the seashells that we found on the beach. I'm going to be keeping these in a little basket in my bathroom. My bathroom is decorated in a beach theme. Can you tell that I LOVE the beach?! The rest of these pictures speak for themselves.

Building a Sandcastle

Getting started... Still working on it...

They worked so hard on this and were so proud of it when they finished. Another day of fun in the sun!

Zoo

Yes, we went to another zoo! We've really gotten our money's worth out of our zoo membership. This one is in northwest Florida. Here's the girls riding around in one of the wagons that they had. It was very hot outside! They have their pet food ready to go feed the animals.

If this goat would've been capable, I'm sure he would've been through the fence. He was standing on his hind legs stretching as far as he could. He was hungry!

I can't remember the exact name of this animal but I believe they told us that they are also called "the barking deer".

I finally got a close up of a giraffe!!

I think the thing that I will remember most about this zoo is their reptile building. When you walk into this building there is a kitchen off to the side. There were workers in there preparing the food for the snakes. Right on top of the table was a bowl full of huge, dead rats!! Just waiting to be devoured by some hungry snake. It was so disgusting! Maybe I should've taken a picture...NAH! I would rather forget that image! lol!

Florida's Gulfarium

Yesterday we visited the Gulfarium. It's like a very mini Sea World. They had a dolphin show, a sea lion show, and various exhibits to see. The kids loved the dolphins. They are such beautiful animals. I love how they look like they are always smiling and happy. I tried to limit the number of pictures, but there were so many I wanted to share! Smiling for the camera!

Doing a trick! They are such intellegent animals. I love them!

Here's the sea lion and the dolphin kissing! They said that they were best buds!

Patty the Sea Lion striking a pose!

The dolphins could jump really high. They did a cool trick where the trainer stood on a 15 ft platform with a fish in her mouth (yeah, gross!). The dolphin jumped up and grabbed it out of her mouth. The kids were so amazed!

Jumping through the hoop!

Awww!

We arrived safely in Florida! We're staying on the 10th floor of our condo and this is what we witnessed off our balcony this evening...a beautiful wedding! The whole wedding party and all the guests were barefoot. People who were already on the beach turned their chairs around to watch and many had gathered on their balconies to watch. When they were pronounced man and wife, everyone cheered! The groom waved to everyone watching. Why didn't I ever think to have a beach wedding? It was a beautiful, simple wedding and I didn't even know them!! We zoomed in with our camera and took some pics! Is that legal?!! Anyway, congrats to the couple!

Behind where they were standing, someone had dug out a seashell shape in the sand. It looked so neat!

Here's what the scenery looked like behind the bride and groom! Beautiful!

Chloe lost her first tooth!

About 6 weeks ago, we took Chloe to the dentist for a cleaning. He told her that she had a loose tooth. She replied "I do?". She didn't even realize that it was getting loose! About a month later, we were at my parents house when the ice cream truck came by. They talked their Poppy into buying them an ice cream frozen treat. Chloe took one bite into it and her tooth fell out! She was so shocked and excited. I had no idea it was that loose! She thinks that being 5 years old is great, especially when you get money for a lost tooth! She's growing up too fast!

Portraits!

I haven't had formal portraits taken of the kids in at least 3 years. I've had many good intentions, but just never got around to having them done. I called my friend who does photography on the side and he even makes house calls! These pics were taken in my mom's kitchen! lol! He sets everything up and takes it down. He also takes great outdoor pics and wedding pics. I'll be glad to pass his info on to anyone who is interested.






Photos taken by Nathaniel King.

Just Having Fun!

Lately, the weather has been so beautiful! It's been in the 70's during the day and sunny! We went to the Battlefield Park to run around and enjoy the day!
Ethan wanted to pretend he was a soldier.

Thank you, Daddy!

Tim finished building the kids a swing set this weekend. They love it! Ethan has nicknamed it "Goliath" because it's 9 ft tall! They love it! Thanks Dad for all the hard work and love you put into it! We love you!

New Look...

Yes, you are at the right page! I was getting bored with the background, so I decided to play around with it a bit. I wanted something different than what Blogger offers, but it took me 2 hours to figure all this out...quite difficult for someone who's computer illiterate! (Not something I recommend unless you are really bored and have a lot of patience). What do you think? Should I keep the dots or just go with a solid background? Is it a keeper or should I go back to my original? Why do I have to make this so difficult? lol! Once I decide whether or not to keep it, I will have to add all my links back in because the crazy thing deleted them. Let me know what you think! :-)

***Update***
I've "tweaked" it a little more. I added a different background so the writing is a little more noticeable. Thanks for everyone's opinion! (Susan, thanks for your honesty! Thanks for reading my blog even if polka dots aren't your favorite! ;-)

Easter pictures

We went to church Easter morning and then went to my mom's house for dinner. The weather was a bit chilly, so we had our Easter egg hunt inside this year! I had to include this cropped photo of Jaida because it's rare that we can get her to stay still long enough for a good picture. I have so many pictures of the back of her head because she's always running away from me when my camera decides to finally snap! I thought this was a good one of her.

Chloe turns 5 !!

My sweet girl turned 5 years old last Saturday. We had her party at a local indoor playground. We all had a blast!

Chloe loves animals and some of her favorite toys are the Littlest Pet Shop. My friend made her cake with some of her animals on it. Chloe LOVED it! It was so cute and tasted delicious!!

She got the whole top layer to herself! YUM!!!

Here's Chloe modeling some costume jewelry that she received as a gift. She's so pretty!

Having Fun!

Wild Boys!

Funny Friends!

"Could someone please let me out of here?" lol!

Happy Birthday, Chloe! You are so special to us. You've always been our little cuddle-bug. We love you!

He's Coming Back!

One of my friends sent this to me a while back and I thought it was so neat. Here it is:

THE FOLDED NAPKIN

Why did Jesus fold the linen burial cloth after His resurrection? I
never noticed this....

The Gospel of John (20:7) tells us that the napkin, which was placed
over the face of Jesus, was not just thrown aside like the grave
clothes.

The Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that the napkin was neatly
folded, and was placed at the head.
Early Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to
the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the
entrance.

She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom
Jesus loved. She said, "They have taken the Lord's body out of the
tomb, and I don't know where they have put him!"

Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb to see. The other
disciple outran Peter and got there first. He stooped and looked in
and saw the linen cloth lying there, but he didn't go in.

Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen
wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus' head
was folded up and lying to the side.

Is that important? Absolutely!

Is it really significant? Yes!

In order to understand the significance of the folded napkin, you have
to understand a little bit about Hebrew tradition of that day. The folded napkin had
to do with the Master and Servant, and every Jewish boy knew this
tradition.

When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he made sure
that it was exactly the way the master wanted it.

The table was furnished perfectly, and then the servant would wait,
just out of sight, until the master had finished eating, and the
servant would not dare touch that table, until the master was finished.

Now if the master were done eating, he would rise from the table, wipe
his fingers, his mouth, and clean his beard, and would wad up that
napkin and toss it onto the table.

The servant would then know to clear the table. For in those days, the
wadded napkin meant, "I'm done".

But if the master got up from the table, and folded his napkin, and
laid it beside his plate, the servant would not dare touch the table,
because..........

The folded napkin meant, "I'm coming back!"

He is Coming Back!

Trust His heart

This is the name of a song that I have loved for years. It's always an encouragement to me. The song is written by Babbie Mason. I was able to find the audio on youtube. If you click below you can hear the song being sung by NewSong. It's a really beautiful song. Here are the lyrics:

Trust His Heart

All things work for our good
though sometimes we can’t see how they could.
Struggles that break our hearts in two
sometimes blind us to the truth.
Our Father knows what’s best for us;
His ways are not our own.
So, when your pathway grows dim,
and you just can’t see Him,
Remember He’s still on the throne.

God is too wise to be mistaken.
God is too good to be unkind.
So when you don’t understand,
when you don’t see His plan,
When you can’t trace His hand, trust His heart.

He sees the Master plan.
He holds the future in His hands.
So don’t live as those who have no hope.
All our hope is found in Him.
We walk in present knowledge,
but He sees the first and the last.
And like a tapestry, He’s weaving you and me
to someday be just like Him.

God is too wise to be mistaken.
God is too good to be unkind.
So when you don’t understand,
when you don’t see His plan,
When you can’t trace His hand, trust His heart.

Please pray for my little brother

I usually try to keep my posts positive and cheerful, but this is something that lays very heavy on my heart. This is my little brother, Adam. He's 22 yrs old and really needs God in his life. Some of you already know about his past, but he was arrested again last Sunday for DUI. The legal limit for blood alcohol level is 0.08. His level was .17 which is more than double. I'm so thankful that he didn't have a wreck and kill himself or someone else. Even though he was on probation, this arrest was considered a misdemeanor and not a felony, so he was able to get out on bond. He has a court hearing on Thursday. Please pray that God's will be done in his life. Pray that he will realize his need for God and turn his life completely over to Him. Also, please pray for my parents during this time. It has been very difficult and stressful for them. I will keep everyone posted. Thanks so much!

Funny kid

Since our visit to the zoo we have been studying about animals that are endangered and also ones that are extinct. Ethan was talking to us today and told Tim and I "I don't want to grow up. I want to live with you guys until you are extinct!". It was so sweet and funny at the same time. Not only am I growing old, I will someday be extinct!

Lions, Tigers, and Bears...oh my!

This was our first visit to the Knoxville Zoo. We went on a great day when there was hardly anyone there. We parked in the 5th space from the front door! We only saw about 50 people the whole time we were in the zoo. I know this place will be packed with people this summer, so it was nice to be able to just take our time and really enjoy our visit without the crowds. Look what the zoo caught! lol!

Chloe jumped on this tortoise statue.

The kids loved the petting zoo. When you go in they give you a hairbrush so you can brush the animals. They do warn you not to brush the llama on the face! The kids thought it was so neat that the goats laid so still while they brushed them. Even Jaida joined in the fun!

This was Ethan's first time seeing a zebra. He really liked them.

They have a playground for the kids to play on. They really enjoyed this and it helped them release some of their energy before the drive back home!

This picture is just so precious to me. My two sweet girls. Jaida is growing up so fast. This was the first time that I've seen them walking together and holding hands. Now that Jaida has started talking, Chloe is really enjoying her more. Their bond has really deepened. It was funny though, because Jaida was actually pulling Chloe where she wanted to go.

Here comes Ethan and Jaida down the slide...

I loved the giraffes. I wished we could've gotten closer, but they had one part closed off. I think that they are so pretty and amazing animals. Their necks are SO long!

The elephants were huge, of course. This one was really tall!

We enjoyed our visit. We had bought a zoo membership through our local zoo and this gives us free admission to many other zoos in the US. There were a few exhibits that were closed, so we are looking forward to catching those next time.

Ripley's Aquarium

We loved Ripley's Aquarium! Everything there was so neat and interesting.

I'm so glad this picture of Jaida turned out. It was one of those tanks that has a "hole" in the middle where you can duck your head in and look. Tim held her up and right then a sea horse was swimming by. You can just see the fascination on her face! I love this picture!

The Japanese Spider Crab was one of our favorites. It looked more like a gigantic spider than a crab. It seemed so friendly though. It stayed right at the glass while the kids were looking at it. However, I would never want to come face to face with one of these in the ocean!

Gotta love the shark teeth! We also attended a little educational class about sharks. It was very informative. Did you know that sharks feel rubbery when you rub them one direction and like sandpaper when you rub them the other? The sandpaper texture is actually little teeth! I can't remember what they are called, but I didn't know that. Of course, I haven't been touching any sharks lately either!

Jaida loved all the fish and tried to touch them through the glass. She's FINALLY starting to talk a little. It wasn't until about a month ago that we even heard mama or dada much, but today she kept saying "Shish" for fish!

So many neat creatures to look at. The great thing about homeschooling is that we can count a day at the Aquarium as a day of school! We learned so much and had a great time. We can't wait to go back!

My little fishies!

We went to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg for a 3 day vacation. Whenever we go out of town the kids always make sure to remind me to book a hotel with a pool. They love to swim! By the time we left, Ethan had taken his floaties off and was swimming by himself. Chloe is learning very quickly too. They both love to wear goggles so they can see under the water. They like to pretend that they are sharks and sneak up on people under the water. We all enjoyed the pool and hot tub!

Yep, we're homeschoolers!

The kids were asking what a scanner was, so we explained it to them and let them try it out!

Now, who was it that said that homeschoolers were weird and boring?! lol! These pictures are just hilarious to me!

A Boy and his Bear!

This is Ethan when he was 18 months old with his best friend, Teddy. This teddy bear was given to me when I was about 13 yrs old. Ethan found it years later and they were immediate friends. Ethan and Teddy were inseparable. They did everything together. Ethan could not go to sleep at night unless he had his bear with him.







For some reason, Ethan started chewing on his nose until it became so filthy that I had to cut the nose off of the poor bear! I sewed the whole shut and left it at that. He didn't mind! As time progressed and Teddy received even more love, his "fur" began to fall off. Poor thing looked like he had mange. He was even getting holey. He had to undergo "cosmetic reconstruction" many times. He was getting so many holes in him that I bought him a teddy bear shirt and put it on him. Ethan kept taking the shirt off and pulling his stuffing out, so I eventually sewed the shirt onto the teddy bear! I am not a talented seamstress, but I did the best I could!

Fast forward several years and Ethan is now 7 years old. Teddy no longer plays with him and follows him everywhere but he is always there to cuddle with Ethan at night. Except tonight, Ethan brought me teddy and this is what he looked like. No arms! He looks pitiful! The odd thing is Ethan was actually laughing at his armless friend. He even told Chloe to throw him in the trash! WHAT? Not Teddy...he's your best friend. Tonight, I went to tuck the kids into bed and Teddy wasn't there. He was thrown in the closet. Why am I so sad over a little teddy bear? Reality struck me, my baby boy is growing up! He doesn't need his teddy anymore (sniff,sniff!).I have to say though, that my baby boy has turned into one fine young boy. God has great plans for him and I'm so thankful He's allowed me to be a part of it!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

We got snow!! We hardly ever see snow where we live. The kids were so excited! It was dark but we let the kids go out onto the back porch for a few minutes. When Ethan first stepped in it he said "Mom, look, I can see my footprints!" You can tell they aren't used to snow. It was fascinating to them. They were so disappointed when they woke up this morning and it was all gone, but I just heard that we might get some more this weekend! Bring it on!!

Catching snow with their tongues!

Tim walked out with Jaida just so she could feel it. She kept looking at it with a bewildered look on her face. What is this cold, white stuff?
I love to watch the snow fall. It's so beautiful. I just had to take a pic!
I would love to get just one good snow (8-10 inches) and then it came warm back up to 70. I lived up north for 3 years and know that I wouldn't like snow all the time. But, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing it tonight. I hope we get more this weekend.

Happy New Year!

This picture makes me laugh! Jaida got a hold of an EMPTY soda bottle at the table. She turned it right up. She had this look of pure contentment on her face. We were all laughing at her so she continued to hold it in her mouth and make funny faces. She loves to be the center of attention!

Merry Christmas!

We spent Christmas morning at home opening presents. Unfortunately, my camera hasn't been cooperating with me and I didn't get very many good pics. I think a new camera will be on my Christmas list next year! Here's one of them digging into a present. I'm not sure what kind of face Ethan is making! lol!

In the afternoon we went to Tim's brother's house to spend Christmas with his side of the family. We were so excited to be able to see Tim's sister Rachel. We haven't seen her in almost 5 years. Through much answered prayer she was able to travel from Brazil with her husband and daughter. We had never met her husband Edilson or our niece Emily! She is so cute! She has the most adorable ringlets in her hair. Here's a picture of Rachel and Edilson. No, they are not drinking beer. It's Virgil's all natural Root Beer from Trader Joe's. They were joking around!

Here's our adorable niece Emily! She is only 5 months older than Jaida. It was neat to watch them interact and play. I loved hearing her talk in Portuguese! We also got a surprise when Rachel announced that she's 3 months pregnant with baby #2. Congratulations Rachel and Edilson! We're so excited for you!! We're so glad that you were able to come to the States!
I wish I had more pics to share. I'm hoping that I can get some from the other family members. If I do, I will post them later. Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve!

We spent Christmas Eve with my side of the family. We all went bowling in the afternoon and then came back to my house to eat and open up presents. We had such a fun time. Christmas is my favorite time of year. This was Ethan and Chloe's first time bowling and they had a blast.

Chloe was so cute because she's so little and trying to pick up this big ball! She would sit it on the floor and push it as hard as she could. It would roll so slow but it made it down there! She was even begging others to let her bowl for them!

Here she is giving it a big shove!

Jaida loved her presents. Notice how she's got one hand on her baby doll's pacifier and the other hand is playing with her other toy. She's multitasking! She will make a good mommy someday!

This is my dad! I caught him off guard, so he wasn't smiling. Doesn't he look good to have just finished chemo? We're so thankful that he is on the road to recovery. He even got to bowl with us! I love you, Dad! I'm so glad that you are doing better!

This is my silly SIL, Leslie! I got her a nice scarf and glove set to match her new winter coat. I didn't know that it also came with a hat. She's trying it on and Jaida is giving her a look like "Maybe you should let me wear the hat, and you stick with the gloves and scarf!" lol! We were teasing her. She's a good sport!

My most cherished memory of this Christmas was listening to Ethan as he read us the Christmas story out of his Bible. This time last year he was just beginning to read. He's progressed a lot. He asked us if he could read it this year. I was so proud of him for wanting to do this. It was so special and I'll always remember it.

Happy Birthday, Ethan!

Ethan turned 7 years old this past Saturday! He said it was his best birthday ever! Funny thing is, it was probably the most simple one ever! We had plans for a party with family and a couple of friends, but on Friday evening Chloe became sick with a sore throat and high fever. We decided to go ahead and cancel the party and just enjoy the day as a family. Ethan was not upset at all and just said "That's ok, we'll still have fun!" Chloe's fever broke by morning, so we decided to take them to Chuck E. Cheese. He loves it there. I also made a cake and he decorated it himself! When we asked him what he wanted for his birthday and Christmas he said "Legos, Legos, Legos!" This kid loves his Legos. He will spend hours in his room building some awesome robots, spaceships, etc... Ethan has always been a sweet and fun-loving boy. He makes our days brighter! We love you, Ethan!