Awesome Video!

Our Aunt Marcy emailed us a link to this church's website this morning. If you have time, please visit this link by clicking on it below, and watch this amazing video! What talent this young man has. It is only for a couple of minutes. It is worth your time! Enjoy!
http://www.woodsidebible.org/splatvideo.htm

New Hair Cuts!

Like mother like daughter! I had my hair cut this past week and got over 6 inches cut off. When I returned home, to my surprise, Kristen just loved my new do! She then asked her dad if she could have her hair cut like mommy's. How sweet! It makes me smile when I see her wanting to be like me. But then, it also scares me! I am reminded that I have to train my children up in the ways they should go so when they are old they will not depart from it. God has given us these precious gifts to train and teach them about Him. I pray that my children will see Christ in us as their parents and that is what they will want to immulate.

Family retreat!

Johnathan, Nicholas, Kristen, Abi & Dylan




Shannon, Shelly, Brandi & John



As you can see, we had a great time in Orlando last week! Our pastor Shannon and his wife Shelly and their two little ones and us, took off Wednesday morning and was at Disney's Saratoga Springs for 3 wonderful, relaxing days! Thanks Deloris (John's mom) for letting us use your condo! It was awesome!

Homemade Salsa Recipe

A big thank you to my friend Joy who sent me this delicious recipe for homemade salsa! This is so easy and so inexpensive to make.

Blend for a few seconds:
28 oz. can diced tomatoes into smaller pieces, but not puree. Pour into a bowl.

Add:
1/2 - 3/4 cup finely diced onion (I prefer sweet like Vidalia or Spanish, but I've also used yellow or white)
1/3 - 1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro ( I buy a bunch at Wal-mart and use approx. 1/2 of the leaves for one can of tomatoes) Note: it is not necessary to pick all the leaves off the stems, just chop a good bunch off the top leaving the majority of the stems on the bottom.
3-4 finely diced jalapenos (If you don't want it hot, use 3 and remove all the seeds, if you want it hotter, use 4 and add as many of the seeds as you like)
Season liberally with salt and garlic powder, approx. 1+ tsp. each.
Add about 1/4 tsp black pepper.

Hope you enjoy!

By the way, if you're making Guacamole on the same night that you are serving the salsa, it's super easy to just mash the avocados and mix in some of the salsa for a fast guacamole.

Taking a break!

Hey everyone! Just wanted you to know that I will not be blogging for a few days. We are taking a break! We are headed to Orlando with our pastor and his family on a little family retreat! We are looking forward to it. Thanks Deloris (John's mom) for graciously allowing us to use your condo! This is a blessing! I will have pictures, I am sure, to post when we get back. We get home on Saturday night but I might not post again until Tues. morning. Love you all! Have a great week!

Blue Skies, Nothing But Blue Skies!

Awe! This is what I call relaxation!

The kids and I went to the beach yesterday

for some little R&R!

Here is Kristen enjoying some rays!

Nicholas actually went for a swim!

He is crazy! The water was cold!

Johnathan and Nick were playing catch.

Johnathan went in the water too! Crazy!

Kristen is my poser! I thought this was a cute picture!

White Out!

Some of you have requested pictures of the snow while we were in Indiana. I took this picture of John from inside the house. He didn't bring a coat so he was wearing mine with his mom's scarf and hat! We got over 16 inches of snow!

This was the day after we arrived in Indiana. It was 16 below the night we drove in! BURR!
This picture is of Nick attempting to shovel during the blizzard.

Belated birthday wishes!

It was Nick's 10th brithday while my Dad was in the hosptial. So I failed to wish him a Happy Birthday on my blog. So this is to you Nick! I am so proud of you! You keep me laughing with your humor. I love you so much! I am glad you got to at least go to your favorite mexican restaurant in Marion, Indiana! It was so yummy! February 19, 1997 was a very special day. God gave us such a gift in giving us Nicholas!
It was also my mom's birthday February 26th. This was also a hard birthday for her since it was 3 days after dad's passing. We celebrated as a whole family, and I mean TONS of family was there! We love you so much mom! You have been such an example of God's grace, strength and peace. Thank you for loving Jesus and showing me how to live for Him. I am so blessed to have you as my mother! I miss you and love you!
Here is my sweet mother on her 59th birthday with Kristen and my brother-in-law Greg cheesing it up! Greg, you crack me up!

Be still and know . . . . . .

"Be still and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth."

Psalms 46:10

Yesterday I posted the sunset and today is the sunrise. I took this when my sweetie took me to Vero Beach, FL. for our 15th wedding anniversary last July. I couldn't wait to awake early every morning and go out onto the balcony and watch the sunrise and take as many pictures as I could of it. There is something about the rising and setting of the sun that just amazes me. It reminds me that God is in control of all things. When I begin to question why things happen the way they do, I sometimes get overwhelmed with not having the answers to my questions. God so gently reminds me that He is in control and I do not need to know all the answers but to trust Him who knows all things. He is my comfort in times of need! I can be still and know that He is God and He will be exalted among the nations and the earth.

Lord, I thank you today for the reminder that you are my comfort. You are the one who gives and you are the one who takes away. Thank you that even in loss, my heart chooses to say, Lord blessed be Your name! You amaze me oh Lord with your grace that sustains me. You are my refuge! Draw me closer to you and never let me go . . . . amen!

The most beautiful sunset!

I just had to share this today. When I look at this picture, I can't help but think of God, the Creator of all things! He indeed is worthy of my praise!

Our Family Pictures (8/06)

Dad and Mom

(back row) Buddy, Bonnie

(front row) Billie, Dad, Mom, Brandi

The whole family (excluding my hubby John)

Grandpa and Grandma with their 10 grandkids!

All these pictures were taken this past August. What a gift from God!

We are home!

Thank you all for your prayers for travel. We made it home safe and sound. We got up Friday morning and left at 5 a.m. our time and got in last night around 6:30 p.m. We made very good time and had wonderful weather. We were shedding our coats, hats and gloves by the time we got to Tennessee. It is going to be 71 here today and sunny!
It was so hard leaving Indiana and my sweet mother. My sister Billie and her family will be there with mom until the 12th and Lynette and the girls fly back to Orlando on Monday. Of course my brother and older sister live around mom, my sister living down the street. We have so many friends and family there as well so I know mom will be taken care of. God has provided everything she has had need of and I praise and thank Him for that.
Dad's funeral was beautiful. The presence of the Lord was overwhelming. The granddaughter sang "He's Always Been Faithful To Me" by Sara Groves. This is the song we all were singing everyday while in the hospital. It brought us such comfort and reminded us that God is faithful and he will continue to be! Then, Alex, my sister Billie's son, sang 2 songs and did really good. He played his guitar for one song. He just learned how to play the guitar and is doing really well. I sang a hymn melody with, "On Christ The Solid Rock I Stand, 'Tis So Sweet To Trust In Jesus, and Blessed Assurance". Then after John did an amazing job preaching the salvation message, we had a congregational hymn, "Amazing Grace". Dad and Mom's pastor, Rev. Brown also did a great job leading the funeral service and telling us how Dad was a servant. Dad was always helping others!
Thank you to all of you who served our family in anyway. Thank you for your continued prayers for mom and us kids and grandkids who will have sad days ahead. Just coming home to my house here in Crestview and standing in the kitchen, I was reminded of when Dad was here cooking his delicious ham for Christmas dinner and realized he would not be coming to visit us any longer and we would never watch him prepare that big 'ol pig for us. You see, we would all watch dad prepare the ham then when it was done we would all have a "sample" with him. Sometimes one of us would make it to the ham before him and when he would go have himself a little taste he would see someone had gotten into it and would say "Hey! Who's been in my ham?" We just couldn't resist it! I cherish all the memories of my dad. He loved being with his kids and grandkids and made it a point to see them when he could. I am so thankful that I got to spend November and December with my paretns. That was such a gift from God to me and my kids. Here are a few pictures of that ham I was talking about.