Catch Up - - - Warning - - - long post

Well, where to start??? It's been a while since I posted and we have been very busy. I'll start with Thanksgiving. I posted some photos, but didn't get a chance to tell you how much fun we had in Texas. Grandma, the boys and I had a good drive down. It was uneventful and a beautiful day to drive. On Wednesday we went over to Ginger's house and a friend of theirs came over to take photos of Grandma and the kids outside. That all went pretty well, other than everyone bribing Nathan to sit still and smile. I actually had to go inside the house. He can be so testy sometimes and I think my presence was making it worse. Imagine that! That's one time I was missing mom. She was so good at getting him to do what he needed to do and she never lost her patience. There have been a couple of times that she has taken the kids to get photos done without me even going. They both were always so good for her. Once we got thru with the photos, we went to ChuckECheese (a bribe for Nathan) and then we went to Wal-Mart (another bribe for Nathan)! Too many people bribing him!! He definatly knows how to work the system. Later that afternoon we went to the mall and to see a movie. We saw Bolt. Thursday of course we stuffed our faces with food all day at Stacy's house. And let me just add right here that Stacy is such a blessing to me. She has a lot of that patience that I was talking about earlier...reminds me of mom that way. Friday we went to Kohls somewhat early...9:00 I think...with Ginger. I'm having trouble remembering what else we did that day. Oh, yes, we went bowling and then the kids exchanged Christmas presents.

Saturday we took all the kids to a place that has laser tag, rock climbing, video games, etc. They had a ball! Kurt did his first official rock climbing and loved it! Photo is Kurt, Sara, Baylee, Kelby & Ryan.

My Rick & Grandma ended up going back on Saturday. Rick M, the boys & I went back Sunday. This trip was not so uneventful. The dvd player did not work until we were almost home, Nathan threw up in the car and we hit icy roads over the mountain on 540! So glad I had that "man" in the car I spoke of in my earlier blog!!

We also had our Thanksgiving in Russellville with Aunt Jane, Uncle Terry and the bunch down there. We again had way too much to eat and had a ball. We took the kids on a hay ride to the park and played for a while. It was pretty cold, but fun.

We have taken our annual trip to Silver Dollar City to see the Christmas lights. We barely saw the lights. We got there around 2:00 and barely made it to 5:30. It was FREEZING. I think the temp started out around 35 or so but quickly dropped and the wind was horrible!
At Branson Landing

Kurt got locked up while we were there!Nathan waiting for his favorite thing...the train! They always have Santa there of course. Nathan wouldn't sit on his lap, but he did write 3 letters and dropped them in Santa's mailbox. We also had our Christmas in Ft. Smith with Kristin and her family. I'm so glad that they live closer now. We get to see them a lot more often. The 4 boys have so much fun together.Of course we also had our Christmas at home. Rick M. spent the night with us on Christmas Eve so he got to witness the excitement of Christmas morning at our house. The kids played for a while and then we went to his house for Christmas dinner. I didn't feel ready to brave a turkey this year, so we cheated and got a ham from Honey Baked Ham. I made everything else, except the dressing and dessert. Grandma made her wonderful dressing and also a peach cobbler. We tried not to over do it on the food, but still had tons of food left over. Why is that???? Anyway, we had a good day. There were a few tears shed for mom, but we know that she was definately having a better Christmas than us!! Kurt made a Christmas card for Nana at school...

Both of the boys have such big and loving hearts!!!! Nathan was being very quiet one morning in his room and this is what I found... He was writing I love (heart) Jesus. Isn't that so precious?!?! I just love the backwards "S"

Let me close by saying that Ginger and Harv are here...got here today. It's a big week for us...Grandma's birthday (79 yrs) and Mom & Rick's anniversary is tomorrow, Nathan's birthday is Friday and the anniversary of Barry's death is Saturday. Please continue to pray for us.

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and wish you many blessing for the new year!!

"If You Could See Me Now"

This was one of the songs Aunt Kathy had written in her bible - a song she wanted at her funeral. The words to this song are very meaningful and bring much comfort in the year of "firsts." It is an amazing feeling to know that she is in no pain, standing tall, walking the streets of gold and most of all looking at the face of Jesus. While she is greatly missed here now, I can't help but smile to know what she is doing now. I thought I'd share the words and you tube video with you.

Our prayers have all been answered. I have finally arrived.
The healing that had been delayed has now been realized.
No one's in a hurry. There's no schedule to keep.
We're all enjoying Jesus, just sitting at His feet.

If you could see me now, I'm walking streets of gold.
If you could see me now, I'm standing tall and whole.
If you could see me now, you'd know I've seen His face.
If you could see me now, you'd know the pain is erased.
You wouldn't want me to ever leave this place,
If you could only see me now.

My light and temporary trials have worked out for my good,
To know it brought Him glory when I misunderstood.
Though we've had our sorrows, they can never compare.
What Jesus has in store for us, no language can share.

If you could see me now, I'm walking streets of gold.
If you could see me now, I'm standing tall and whole.
If you could see me now, you'd know I've seen His face.
If you could see me now, you'd know the pain is erased.
You wouldn't want me to ever leave this place,
If you could only see me now.

If you could see me now, I'm walking streets of gold.
If you could see me now, I'm standing tall and whole.
If you could see me now, you'd know I've seen His face.
If you could see me now, you'd know the pain is erased.
You wouldn't want me to ever leave this place,
If you could only see me now.

You wouldn't want me to ever leave this perfect place
If you could only see me now
If you could see me now
If you could only see me now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QK8g0fBEgP8

Uncle Rick, Christy, Rick, Kurt, Nathan & Grandma, we love you and are thinking of you always!

Love you all!
Stacy

Great Photo!!

Papa with Kurt, Jace, Nathan & Garrett. He loves his grandsons...and his granddaughters, but unfortunately they were not here the day this photo was taken.
We are going to Silver Dollar City this weekend to see the Christmas lights. We are looking forward to it and hoping the weather holds out on us.
Have a great weekend!

Thanksgiving in Texas & Breakfast with Santa

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I don't have much time today to blog, but I wanted to get these photos up so you could see them. The first ones are from when we spend Thanskgiving in Texas. The ones with Santa are from our Breakfast with Santa this morning. Hope you enjoy...Love, Christy

Bible Verse of the Week....

PROVERBS 11:25 (NIV)
A GENEROUS MAN WILL PROSPER; HE WHO REFRESHES OTHERS WILL HIMSELF BE REFRESHED.

Generosity is like a rare gem, don't you think? Not alot of us possess it, I know I am having to ask the Lord to help me be generous more than I should at this point in my life! When you see generosity it does seem to "sparkle" in the one giving it. What admiration it will bring from onlookers. I am asking the Lord today to help me be "sparkling" for Him. I need His help to be sure that I am not so focused on my own "busyness" that I am misplacing this precious gem called generosity. \

This past Thanksgiving holiday our family was so blessed to have Rick, Mother, Christy, her Rick, and their boys (my precious GRAND-nephews) Kurt and Nathan here with us. Us older folks had the blessing of receiving much generosity from these younger ones. Our daughter-in-law Tanya was so generous with her time that she got up at 3am Friday morning to start making homemade cinnamon rolls (she is a wonderful cook, just like her Mom) so that she could surprise us with them at our breakfast time. She was so excited that we enjoyed them.....she "sparkled" ! Our daughter Stacy was "sparkling" as she was making sure Kurt and Nathan saw and did lots of neat things here on the Gulf coast. Kelby, Baylee, Ryan and Sara enjoyed sharing their time with Kurt and Nathan so they too "sparkled" as they reach out in their love and excitement to have everyone here. They always had a hug for Uncle Rick and Mother...........how they were "sparkling". My son Russ and son-in-law Steven "sparkled" as they made sure they spend plenty of time with our family that came for Thanksgiving. I watched as they all hugged, laughed, and continue to built those precious memories with each other. In my eyes they were all "sparkling" just reaching out in love to each other. As I watched Christy sit our whole family down and stand in front of us with her arms loaded in gifts for the adults (the kids had already exchanged their gifts) she told us that she had shopped for Christmas for Kathy earlier in the year. Kathy loved Thomas Kincaid Santa Christmas ornaments. Christy had no doubt put lots of thought and time into the gifts because they are beautiful delicate little Santas, each different and unique. Christy could have easy kept these for herself since her Mom is spending her first Christmas with Jesus. There would have been nothing wrong with that had she chosen to do that. But that was not the case. She had wrapped each one and gave each of us one to hang on our Christmas tree until we too join our love ones in Heaven. What a precious kind-hearted act of generosity she displaced. My sister Kathy was very thankful and humbled for the young woman Christy has become but I want to say with a very humbled heart that Kathy would have been so blessed to know that Christy through her grief reach out with her generous heart and you could tell once she did it she too was refreshed. Like the verse says you can't be generous and it not come back to help you right where you are!

There are many example you can give of ways you see your love ones are being generous. I just share some of my life stories with you. We call our family the grace-soaked bunch because we know we are in need of God's grace each day. He is so generous with us and how blessed we are! We don't always do and say the right things but praise God we know who to go to when we do mess up. God is so generous to clean us up and keep using us.

Lord. thank you for memories we have of those we love being so generous and kind. Lord I pray for those that need a extra dose of you today. I thank you for being so generous with your grace to each of us. Lord help us in our busyness that we stop, be generous to others and take time to feel that peace that comes when we do what you say we are to do. In this busy holiday season help us to be generous in sharing the reason for the season with those you put in our path. Thank you Lord for forgiving us, loving us, and using us for kingdom gain. Keep us humbled Lord. Thank you for those reading this. I love you Lord. Amen

Through the grace of God allow Him to let you "sparkle" for His gain and glory and watch how you are refresh in who you are through Him!

In His grip, Ginger