Princess Maleigha is TWO!!

Saturday, July 25, 2009, Maleigha turned 2!! I can't believe it's been two years already! I will never forget those long few days waiting for her to arrive. Nana, Papaw and Aunt Jayme took off for Louisville as soon as we found out Krista was in labor. However, her labor progressed rather slowly and we ended up being there for two full days before she arrived. But, it was fine--she was such a welcome sight!

Mia has been through some pretty serious things in her two years--spinal surgery, a lot of yucky tests, etc. However, God is good and He is faithful. He has taken such great care of that little lady. She is a joy to our family! She loves her cousin Bryce so much and tries to do everything he does and likes what he likes, etc. She is sweet, lovable and kind--most of the time. :) She IS two after all.


Saturday we had a birthday party for her. We had a houseful of people there to celebrate with her. She had such a great time and loved all her presents--thanking each person for their gift. Uncle Josh got her a Dora riding toy thing that was the hit of all the kids--they all loved it.

Mia with her wands--she loved them and shared them with Uncle Josh. :) He loved the pretty purple wand.



Mia brought this heart from home and kept saying "It's Mia's heart".....she's funny.

Nana got Mia a new "Ellie" doll. She has a doll like this one that I got her for her first Christmas--she loves it and was thrilled with the new, clean Ellie. :) The first one is looking pretty rough.




This is the famous Dora car that was the big hit. Here are all the kids around it. :) They each got a turn on it. :)



Mia blowing out the "2" candle on her cupcake cake. She blew it out 3 times--Mommy had to keep lighting it so we could sing to her. :) What a sweet girl.

Happy Birthday sweet Maleigha. Nana loves you so much and praises God for you and for your life. I know that God has some wonderful things in store for that little lady. I'm going to include some more random pictures from her party. Happy Birthday Mia....we love you. I know she's going to be a wonderful BIG sister in February!!

GOD IS SO GOOD!!!

So, it's been 17 months since our wonderful Pastor Scott and his fantastic family left us at our church. Have you ever thought about how good God is and realized what a blessing He gives us so often through church family? Well, when the Duncans left, there were many, many people at Grace that felt like our world had collapsed. God had another ministry for Pastor Scott, and for that I am thankful--especially for everything he has done for my son. He has been a friend, a godly example and a wonderful mentor for Josh. However, when they left us, I realized how much I had taken them for granted. I longed for the long talks Jennifer and I had, I cried over not having Pastor Scott to go to when I had a question or a concern. And, the kids, well....I really missed them too. And Bryce missed his buddy Ben and his fiancee Anna Kate.

But, thankfully, God has led us through that time.....not that we don't still miss them, but He has shown us that our dependency needs to be on Him and Him alone. Not on the pastor...although the pastor can be a great encourager and motivator. Today, we got an e-mail and confirmation that God has indeed led another pastor to us. Pastor Russell Wight from Somers, Connecticut has accepted God's call to Grace. Oh, how I praise God for leading us this godly man. As we prepare for him and his family to come, I pray that we will all be helpful to them, loving towards them and accepting of them. Isn't it amazing how God's timing is always perfect? We've been through several "potential candidates", none of which seemed to "fit". I pray that God will pour out His blessing on Grace--help us to change where we need to change and to learn to accept leadership and Godly guidance.

Thank you Lord, so much for leading a pastor to us. Now may we all be aware of and follow through on wherever our place is in the body of Christ and that we may show the love of Christ to a lost community.

Precious Little Birthday Boy

Last Thursday, July 9, 2009 Collin turned ONE year old. It's hard to believe--the year has gone by so quickly. I still remember the long night waiting for that precious guy to make his appearance. We were just talking the other night about that night--Bryce spent the night with Uncle Josh--just the two of them. We were laughing about the different things that happened that night. But, one really great thing happened that night--Collin arrived. :)

Like I said, the year has passed by so quickly. We've all enjoyed getting to know Collin and enjoyed watching him grow and change almost daily. He's growing up to be such a big boy! He went to the doctor today and weighed in at 28 lbs. 6 oz. -- at one year old, I'd say he's going to be a big boy, huh?

So, on Saturday, Josh and Jayme had a party for Collin at their house. The day started out great....sunny, nice. Well, about 4:30, a terrible storm popped up. (The party was to start at 5:00). We had torrential rains, hail, wind, lightning, thunder.....it was BAD. Josh went downstairs and they were getting water in the basement. So, he started up the shop vac and started sucking water out. About 5:15 or so, we found out that the basement at the church was flooding. So, Papaw went down there to help. Long story short, Papaw never made it to the party, lots of people were late and some weren't able to make it at all. To be sure, Collin's first birthday is one none of us will soon forget.

Everyone that made it to the party had a great time. The kids had fun with a jumping castle thing that they borrowed. Mia got to see Bryce's cousin Kylee and they had fun together. Collin had a fun time, enjoyed the cupcake he got and was just happy to be there. :)

Here's Collin before everyone arrived. I went over early to get a few pictures before everyone got there. He is so good. There are also a few pictures of the directions, cake, etc. that Jayme did for his party.

Collin really enjoyed the cake. Jayme gave him his own cupcake with a "1" candle on it. He loved the icing and the cake. Of course, he's an eater--he'll eat pretty much anything. ;) But, the cupcakes were delicious and the cupcake cake was adorable.

Collin had a great birthday, despite the bad weather, flooded basements and difficult travels for others. Here is perhaps my favorite picture from that night. You can see the pure delight on his face while he is enjoying his cake! :) Thank you God for the wonderful gift of grandchildren. I thank you that my grandchildren are such an important part of my life. Thank you also for my children who so lovingly share those kids with us. :) Happy Birthday Buddy. Nana loves you.

BIG NEWS!!

Well, another holiday has come and we have received MORE big news. During theThanksgiving 2006 weekend we found out that Krista was expecting Mia....they announced it to the family through David's prayer for the food...thanking God for the little one he had blessed them with. Then on Thanksgiving 2007 Jayme wore a shirt to Granny's that said "Eating for 2"...announcing her pregnancy with Collin.

So, now this past weekend, on the 4th of July, Miss Mia came to the family picnic for the 4th sporting a special "Big Sister" t-shirt that her mommy made for her. They had told us the Sunday before and Krista called her brother and sister to tell them before everyone else found out. Here's Mia in her little t-shirt:

God continues to bless our family--both in numbers and just general blessings. I love my kids and grandkids so much and know that I am so undeserving of all the blessings that He has given me. However, I am so very thankful for each of these little ones God has given us and for His continued care of them and His love for each of us. Thank you Lord for ALL you give and all You do for us. Here's a picture of Baby Lentil (because Krista said the baby was about the size of a lentil) with a sparkler, compliments of Aunt Jayme. :)

And, here is a picture of three of the greatest gifts/blessings God has ever given me. I realize every day how much I love these three special people in my life. It's so wonderful to now be able to love them not only as my children, but as three of my best friends in the world. God is SO very good!!