Our Blessed Bunch

Our Blessed Bunch

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Christmas 2012

I hope you and your family had a great Christmas season!  
Our family did!

December is always so busy, 
but always such a special time of the year!

We get to...

 spend time with friends.


....bake cookies, make candy and decorate gingerbread houses.


It's a special time to gather with family
 and eat way too much food :)!

My mom's table full of finger foods, ready for us to enjoy!

My sweet sister and great niece on Christmas Eve at mom's house.

A time for presents.



Abby opening an empty box from Taylor, he was "playing her",
 then he handed her the real present!

Andrew opening his GoPro camera!

A time for silliness!


A time for dogs to enjoy their Christmas bones!


But most importantly a time to focus on Jesus' birth.  Born for us so that He could go to the cross, die, and rise again three days later to save us from our sins!  We get to celebrate because of what He did for us!  A time to have hearts full of joy and gratitude!


Happy Birthday Jesus!


Monday, December 17, 2012

What a precious day!

Sunday was a wonderful day!
A day to truly focus on our Savior!
Born to die for me, for you!

I have been filled, filled to overflowing with His sweetness.

It has been a full day, but oh so wonderful.
Our day started with our church cantata, Our Lord Emmanuel.
Reminding us that the babe in the manger was our Savior on the cross.  I also love watching some of our teens serve our Lord with their talents.  Gifts that can only come from God, that they are using to sing His praises with.

After the cantata H.O. and I went to our church's adult Christmas dinner.  The guest speaker was a missionary our church supports, he was a great speaker.

Then, to complete our day we, along with my niece and great niece, went to my moms church's cantata/drama!  Wow, another amazing service, 10,000 Hallelujahs!  Clearly presenting the gospel message, and a real conviction to tell others about the real meaning of Christmas!  Reminding us that when someone excepts Jesus gift of salvation the angels in heaven will sing, 10,000 Hallelujahs!  Praise God for His unspeakable gift!  Two cantata's in one day both exalting our Lord, but two different stories.

For God so loved the world (that's you and me) that He gave His only begotten Son(Jesus), that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish (go to hell when they die) but have everlasting life (spend eternity in heaven)."  ~ John 3 :16  
What an absolutely, exciting promise from God!

It is always so much fun visiting my mom's church.  The church I was raised in, the church H.O. and I were married in.
The song director was my youth director growing up.  The lady who sang in our wedding still faithfully singing in the choir.  The lady playing the organ, played at our wedding, still playing the organ.  Many folks have come and gone in the past 21 years since I left that church and moved away when I got married, but so many are still there, still faithfully serving the Lord.  What a blessing it is to see their sweet faces.  Heaven will truly be a wonderful place, first and most importantly to worship at my Saviors feet, secondly to have an amazing reunion with many wonderful Christians!

Our day did not start so wonderfully, 3 out of our 4 children had, hmm...attitudes!!!  All three needed correction, one in tears~ the same one finally ready stating, I don't want to go to church, I don't want anyone to see me crying.  It was about that time that I realized this was going to truly be a great day, the services were going to be amazing.  You see anything that wonderful the devil did not want us participating in.  He was shooting fiery darts at our family, trying to stomp out our desire to be a part of this wonderful day.  He wants to destroy families, not have them worship together in church.  Just look how far our country is from God, as one by one He destroys families.  By the time we walked out the door tears were dry, a different child had apologized, we corrected our state of minds and oh what a beautiful day it was!!


Jesus is the reason for the season!
May I stay focused on that now and throughout the year!
May I share His love with others!

What a precious day Sunday was!

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Our teens are the best!!

I may be a bit partial, well maybe a lot, but I think the teens at our church are just the best!!  They are polite, caring, and are some of the prettiest and most handsome teens around!

Wouldn't you agree?!?

At Christmas time each year our youth group has a formal progressive dinner.  It is so much fun to see all of our wonderful teens all dressed up.  The girls especially enjoy the night, 
looking so beautiful!

We had the privilege of hosting the dessert portion at our house, we had a great time!

They enjoy being goofy, but they also have servants hearts, ready to serve God!


My very favorite teens of all:


Praising God for all the wonderful teens, they are our future!

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

One year...

One year ago today we met Abby for the first time!

Wow, how the time has flown.  

Older child adoption is so wonderful!


Meeting Abby...
Notice the look on her face, as she cuts her eyes up at H.O., poor thing!  She was scared, but not for long, she quickly warmed up.  She was not too sure about her new family!


Now knowing her better, when she gets nervous the lips go out.  Thankfully, that is a look we do not see anymore.



She is SO brave!!  I can not image leaving all that I have ever known, good or bad, and walking away with strangers that I now call my family.  However, now that we talk a lot about her past, she openly shares she was a little scared but more excited.  Excited to have a family of her very own!!  Excited to have a fresh start! 



One year later....
a happy girl!!
  Yes, there are moments but for the most part she is a happy, loving, sweet girl!









No more pulling away!!  She is enjoying the love of her family!

Only God could perfectly match us with a child on the other side of the globe that blends into our family and is OUR child!