A lovely Christmas with Mom and Heather

Brendan made an amazing recovery overnight and we had a great day with Heather and Buddy today. Here are a few pix. The first is breakfast at Mom's on Christmas morning. The second is Christmas dinner and finally, one of Brendan admiring our Christmas tree.

Brendan's icky Christmas eve

We had a pretty nice day. We went and had lunch with Gram. Brendan didn't eat much and didn't have his usual sparkle, but seemed okay. We went to see National Treasure (great movie) and then went to dinner. Brendan hardly ate at all, and then fell asleep at the table. Gram suggested that we just take him home and put him to bed, instead of going to look at Christmas lights as we had planned. Brendan said he wanted to go see the lights, so we went. On our second street of lights Brendan's tummy erupted. Poor guy. You all may not have wanted to hear about all that, but I just feel so bad for the little guy.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

As we conclude this year and begin another one, let us remember our blessings and the one who gives them. It is beautiful to think of the gift that GOD gave us in his son, Jesus. Though he is GOD, He came in such a lowly way, to serve HIS purpose. I'm so thankful for the mercy, grace, hope, peace, and love of the LORD. I hope to live my life fully in the purpose that GOD almighty has laid out for me. We are all so richly blessed! May we choose to use our blessings to the glory and honor of our wonderful Heavenly Father.
Merry Christmas! Hopefully I'll get to post again before the New Year. Hugs!--Christy

15 Wonderful years

Yesterday was a great day! It was our 15th anniversary. I can hardly believe we've been married that long. We went out for a very nice lunch at Perry's (my first time), which was very nice.
Yesterday was also Brendan's class christmas party, so I got to help with that. It's always a blast to get to see all of the excitement in the children as they just have fun with eachother. They always love it when the parents come to their classroom. I forgot to take my camera, so I didn't get any pictures.

Holiday hustle and bustle

I don't know about you, but the holidays just seem to eat my lunch every year. All of the excitement and color and special events are fun and the extra honor to Christ is wonderful, but I never feel so scatter-brained as I do around this time of year. Everything is going great with us. We are all healthy. Wes is enjoying his new job (still at HP), both boys are doing well in school. Our parents are all doing well and healthy. Ryan is having a blast with basketball and Brendan with gymnastics. LTC preparations are underway- we are working in the book of I Samuel and the theme is "Here am I". I'm so thankful that I can be "home" and available for whatever comes up, and where help is needed and just taking care of the family. I don't know how crazy I'd be if a had a regular job too.

This was party weekend. Wes and I went to his work party Saturday night, and a church party last night. Here are a couple of pictures of us getting ready to go to the work party. We were at Mom's house.. I don't have my tree decorated yet. It's up, but not decorated. Well, I hope you all are doing well. Love you all.--Christy

Thanksgiving

Well, it's been awhile since I've updated our blog. everything is going well, and we have sooooo much to be thankful for. We are especially thankful for our family and friends. Here are a few pictures of the boyson Thanksgiving, out in Hempstead. Ryan really enjoys archery, and is quite a good marksman. Brendan is Mr. Helper. Here is a picture of him helping to cut down Mee-maw and Pa-pooh's Christmas tree.

Last weekend, Ryan was in a UIL (University Inter-scholastic League) spelling competition, and came in second. (all of the schools in our district competed) His team won first place for the Language Arts events, and his school won overall (1st place) sweepstakes for all of the events.

Ryan is enjoying playing basketball with the Y and Brendan likes doing gymnastics at K2.

We have all been very healthy for quite awhile, but I'd like to ask for your prayers for a couple of my friends, both moms. Pam Shaw has been in the hospital for well over a month and has some rare form of vasculitis. She has 2 children at home that are 10 and 11, and a grown daughter in Pennsylvania (I think). She is making some improvements, but was completely non-responsive and on life support for a looooong time.

My other friend I'd like for you to pray for is Denise Haigh. She is the mother of 4 young children ages 1,3,4, and 9, and is pregnant with their 5th. She has had pneumonia and pleurisy for about a month and has been in and out of the hospital and is now back in and now having problems with her blood sugar. She is from England, and the church is her only family here.

Thank you.

I'd love to hear from you anytime. Love, Christy

The perfect pumpkin

We had fun at the Dewberry Farm pumpkin patch.

Hi! I seem to be having trouble posting stuff lately. I haven't been able to upload pictures, so I need to figure out what the matter is.
Things are going pretty well. We are back in the groove with school and all. Wes has been travelling with work quite a lot. The boys have been super, although they really miss their daddy when he's gone.
Brendan is doing gymnastics, and loves it. Ryan starts basketball this week. He's also preparing for the UIL competition, in December.
I had a great time at the Medina Children's Home benefit dinner on Saturday, but it wasn't the same without my sweetie being there.
I guess I don't have any earth-shattering news right now. Things are just plugging along at a plenty quick pace. I keep busy with taking care of the family, church stuff, volunteering at school, nursing homes, and wherever I can do something useful. I enjoy making cards, every so often when I get the chance. I've just started, but it's a lot of fun. It's a close second creative outlet to the fruit. I hope you're all doing well.

Weekend camping trip

We enjoyed hiking and just being together in Huntsville.

Camping at Huntsville

This past weekend, we went camping at Huntsville State Park. We had a primitive campsite, so we were truly "roughing it". It crashed down rain both nights, but was nice during the days, and we stayed dry for the most part. We love camping together, and find it to be a great exercise in "teamwork" and cooperation for our family. Also, nothing ever goes exactly as planned, but we always have a wonderful time and some excellent opportunities for learning and growth. Saturday evening, the rain started fairly early, so we were stuck in the tent well before bedtime. It worked out great though, 'cause we sat around and enjoyed telling stories and reading and talking about the BIBLE.

Saturday morning, we went horseback riding through the forest. Heather, Mom and Buddy came out to hang out with us for several hours during the day, so Heather came on the trailride with us.

Sunday morning, after our worship time, we went canoeing, which was my favorite thing. (again, another great cooperation opportunity) I didn't take my camera canoeing, but I soooo wish I had because the nature was absolutely gorgeous and amazing. The water hydrangeas were in full, spectacular bloom. In the inlets, there were these vast fields of beautiful , purple flowers and white lillies and we canoed all around them (without messing them up of course) A Huge Blue Heron flew very low right by us and I wish I could describe to you all of the amazing things we saw, but I can't. Anyway, here are a few pix of our time at Huntsville.

Fun at the Lake

We had a fun and refreshing time with our friends, the Reeds, at their Lakehouse on Lake Limestone.

Date Day

Today, Wes and I had a date day. Wes took the day off and we spent the day together, had a nice lunch and went to see Bourne Ultimatum. This is a tradition that we started last year on Brendan's first day of Kindergarten, and plan to continue each year around the beginning of school. I love it!

Pa-Pooh's new toy

I like how the name on the front of the car matches the passengers in the car. To get the full effect of the expressions on Brendan and Pa-Pooh, you may want to click on the image to make it full screen.

Back to school

The boys have gotten off to a great start with school. Ryan is in 5th grade and Brendan is in first. Here is Ryan showing off his new, very organized locker. Let's hope he can keep it that way. Brendan lost his first tooth! In the picture above, he still has the tooth, but it is so wiggly you can see the gap. We are all excited about Brendan's teacher, as he has the same teacher that Ryan had in first grade. We all love Mrs. Perkins, and look forward to a great year. Wes and I went to parent orientation Thursday night and met Ryan's teachers, Mrs. Burke and Mrs. Warren. When we got home, Wes told Ryan "Your teachers seem very nice.", to which Ryan replied, with great sincerity and seriousness, "That's because they are."

More New Braunfels fun

The boys really enjoyed panning for jewels. They actually had some good finds. We stopped off at Landa park before we headed back to Houston, and the boys had fun climbing in the trees and playing on their many playgrounds.

Little trip to New Braunfels

Hey! We just got back from our little mini-vacation to New Braunfels. It was very fun and relaxing. We also got to see many of our dear friends back at Mac Arthur Park in San Antonio, and that was great. We went and tubed the Comal River, and it was sooooo peaceful and relaxing. I didn't get any pix of that though, because I didn't want to risk getting my camera wet. There are some pix here of us at Natural bridge Caverns and panning for jewels at the mining co.

Wrapping up Summer with a Splash

As a last hurrah before school starts, we had a "family water fun day", with the young families at church. The kids had a blast on the big waterslide.

Brendan's a very gregarious guy, so he especially loved splashing the day away with all his buddies. You see him above with one of his best friends, Jonathan.

The kids invented a game, which you see Ryan playing here. The guy at the bottom of the slide throws the ball to the kid who's sliding down, and the kid has to catch it before he plunges into the pool.

A big bowl of Brendan's belly laughs

There's nothing Brendan enjoys as much as wrestling, Daddy Bronc riding, and a good ol' tickle fest on the living room floor with Daddy.

Today was pretty much a "dream day" for the guys. Ryan took Dad out for breakfast, then Brendan went and ate lunch with dad at work, then we all went out to dinner with Mee-Maw, Pa-pooh, uncle Shawn, and Maw-Maw, came home and played Skip-Bo, then topped it all off with a good romp on the floor. Ryan is also excited that he got his locker, class schedule and books today. He already has his combination memorized and is raring to go to intermediate school.

Divorce Care for Kids

This is the second year I've been blessed to facilitate the DC4K program at the church of Christ in Champions. It is a wonderful, fun program to help children heal and work through the divorce of their parents. I am grateful that I can use my experience as a "child of divorce" for God's glory and to help the precious children I work with to learn skills that will help them in their new family situations and throughout their lives, as well as to realize the great things God can do in their lives. Some of the things we work on are learning positive, healthy ways to deal with anger, sadness and loneliness. We also learn about developing new relationships, money smarts, positive and powerful communication skills, forgiveness and more. We use Music and movement, Bible stories, DVD dramas, crafts, games, object lessons, journaling, workbooks and snacks to teach and reinforce the concepts.

If you have or know a family dealing with divorce, I encourage you to find a Divorce care and Divorce Care for Kids group in your area. There is a link at the bottom of this page to the website.

A fun day

Today was a great day. We got to get together and play with our new friends, Jackson and Deacon, who recently moved here from Ohio.
Then we got to spend some time with Maw-Maw, who lives in Abilene. We entertained her with a rousing game of Mouse Trap. We sure are going to miss all the time we get to play together when school starts back up.

Other Cathedrals in Prague

These are photos from St. Thomas and St. Nicholas on lesser town cathedrals. Each of the cathedrals has it's own completely different style. St. Nicholas has a tremendous amount of guilding. They covered pretty much everything in gold, including the face of the body you see there in the glass case. I don't remember his name, but that is the actual remains of one of their important people. Some of the cathedrals had just 1 or a few people buried or preserved there, and some had many, many. I don't get it, but that's what we saw. I also didn't understand the incredibly violent sculptures, but we sure saw a lot of them.