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!!