More Christmas Fun

"BEHOLD I BRING YOU GOOD NEWS, A SAVIOUR IS BORN!!!"

What have we been up to? Christmas parties, walks on the farm, Shepherds & Angels in a Christmas Play, and seeing the Christmas Lights!! Fun Fun Fun! Looking forward to seeing many of you during Christmas. Merry Christmas.

Tis the Season....

Laurel & her best friend Aubrey

Riding the Christmas Train

LOTS of Hunting

(Mike & John)

Way too much cuteness! :)

Just where has the time gone? Christmas is just 1 week away and I haven't updated this thing in forever. As the Christmas season usually gets, we have been crazy busy with get togethers and fun traditional things we like to do but we've had a really good time. We've been to the Christmas train which was fantastic and so preached Jesus, singing Christmas carols with friends, seeing the Meadow lights and lots of hunting with some really good friends. We are so blessed this Christmas season to be able to celebrate the birth of our Saviour with great friends and family. Next post I'll share our Christmas pictures and the ones the babies took with Santa! Too cute.

Christmas Pictures Sneak Peek

Hmmmm..... and I want a train, and a microscope and another train and...

We just MIGHT have gone to the Country Christmas Train and we just MIGHT have seen Santa!! Sorry, I'm saving the pictures for Christmas but they are awful cute!

Thanksgiving Pics

Oh yes she did!! This girl loves dark meat like her mama!! :)

The babies loved playing in the newly raked leaves.

WHERE'S WALDO?

Hiking at the park-gorgeous

Aunt Rach & Laurel "helping" to feed the horses

Since Thanksgiving was on a Thursday this year, we had lots of time to play with family & friends, hike, hunt & just be together. For all of that we are truly thankful. Noah & Laurel look forward to Mike blowing the leaves in a pile so they can jump in them over and over so that was a big hit. Poppy &Nana also had a big pile to jump in at their house. Mike & some guys from church got to hunt all day Sat. Two of them missed 8 pt. bucks in the morning hunt and no one saw anything in the evening hunt. Oh well, you win some you lose some. They still had a blast. While Noah hunted with Mike, Laurel "helped" Aunt Rach feed the horses. They have the prettiest sunsets on their farm!!

So, we were very blessed to have a wonderful thanksgiving that we could share with family and friends.

"Tebowin"

"Tebowin"- is defined as: getting down on one knee and start praying even if everyone else around you is doing something completely different.

Tim Tebow or (Tim Tepow) as Noah calls him, is a quarterback for the Denver Broncos who we have followed since his college days at Florida. He was raised in a Christian home and Homeschooled. He was allowed to play for a public high school and was drafted by the Denver Broncos. He has a great testimony & Noah loves wearing his jersey. While teaching our kids not to put anyone but Christ on a pedestal b/c EVERYONE ELSE will disapoint, we also are trying to teach them to recognize good role models when they see them and we believe that Tim Tebow has great charachter- I know, I know, I'm sure he's not pefect. It seems he is under attack a lot these days and some high profile people have come out and said that the press especially cannot stand him because he is an outspoken, unashamed Christian. Unfortunately, that's the world we live in. So, pray for him & people like him that they will not stumble and not be ashamed of the Lord.

So, Tim Tebow performs his "Tebowin" whenever he feels called to pray on the field. Pretty cool. Maybe we should start a trend. :) Anyone up for posting pictures of you "Tebowin" somewhere cool?

Noah's First Audition

This is his : My " Cheesy Mommy is making me smile, smile!"


So Noah has been going to this great homeschool acting class for a few months. He is a lot younger than the other kids but the teachers have been great to be patient with him and let him hang out with the big kids. Because Noah loves acting out & quoting movies at home and loves singing and being on stage, we wanted to allow him to pursue this a bit to see if it's his "thing". The class is doing a play "Henny Penny" with a spiritual twist and we would have been happy to sit and watch it but they wanted Noah to participate in auditions to see how he did. Parent's aren't allowed in the room so I really have no idea how he did (or what he said) but I was assured he did fine-an didn't do anything too innapropriate :) Anyway, today Noah was offered the part of Liddy Kitty who is a very educated cat who thinks a lot of himself. Shew! Boy was I surprised. He actually has lines and has a song to sing. I think I just became a stage mom. I must go throw up now! He won't be nervous a bit but I'll be hiding in the bathroom from my nerves. Now I know why my parents always had to leave the building when I showed horses at a horse show. :)

I have a cute Noahism for you that he said today. I was watching the Today show this morning before he got up and apparently Laurel hid the remote control b/c it was no where to be found. So, a clip from the Twilight movie came on and of course it happened to be the part where the boy and girl are in a big lake kissing. Deeming this innapropriate but of course unable to find the hidden remote I said.... " Noah, ah, let's just turn this off" and promptly did.
Noah's reply was...
" But Mommy, they were only baptizing!!". :)

Yes, being sheltered is so good. My sweet little boy.


HERE IS THE AUDITION THAT NOAH PERFORMED. The Monologue is from Foghorn Leghorn on Looney Toones and the Song is from Oklahoma "Oh what a Beautiful Morning"

For the Beauty of the Earth

Oh yes they did!! They killed a wild hog (No, Noah's gun is NOT real)

Look at this little EX-orphan THRIVE!! Isn't she awesome!?

GORGEOUS

My two monkey's-do not be fooled by the innocent expressions

Pondering

Do you see my squirrels?

Today we were so blessed to be able to go over to John & Rach's to ride the gator around the farm and see the beauty that our God created. The trees were still so gorgeous and we had a blast running through the creek (Noah), having a picnic and riding a horse. We really needed a no stress filled day and so it was just what the doctor ordered.
Laurel is doing great after her hernia surgery. She's still a little sore and battling a cold but otherwise is doing fine. Noah had his 5 year check up on Friday. 5 YEARS!!! No way I have a 5 yr. old. He had an audition for a little play that he may be in coming up and I taped him doing his routine. I'll try and post that soon.... it's worth it! :)

Caching our Breath.......and Catching Up

OUR NEW MANTEL AND FAUX FIREPLACE

GETTING IN TO THOSE PUMPKINS

HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY MY SWEET BOY

TRICK OR TREAT WITH MARIO & LUIGI

SWEET EXHAUSTION

So, it's been a while but LOTS going on. Earlier in the week Mike put up my mantel that I painted and put up the faux fireplace we ordered. I LOVE it. In the first picture, this is what I found the kids doing while I was washing dishes. I had to snap a picture. They love it to. A great place to read and play games.

This week Noah turned 5! I simply cannot believe my little boy is 5 years old. No longer a toddler. :( I miss those days but I love the little boy he is becoming, smart and sweet. We had a small birthday party for him and in his words "Mommy, that was the bestest party ever". He gots TONS of toys and of course, in true Noah fashion is already planning his next birthday.

We also got a visit from his Grandat & Dusie from SC. The babies love spending time with them.

We carved a few pumpkins and got ready for Halloween albeit a day early. We went to a little Trunk or Treat event and let the kids go to the Grandparents & Aunt Rach's house. Laurel had to have surgery today (Halloween) to put ear tubes in (AGAIN) and have her umbilical hernia repaired so we missed real trick or treat day. Laurel did much better than I would have done having my stomach cut on. She should be good as new in a few days.

So, that's how our week went. Fun but as you can see in the last photo- Exhausting! :)

GIVEWAY FOR A GREAT CAUSE

THIS PRECIOUS LITTLE GIRL IS BEING ADOPTED FROM THE SAME ORPHANAGE LAUREL WAS IN. THEY STILL NEED $13,000 TO PAY HER RANSOM AND BRING HER HOME. CONSIDER GOING TO THEIR BLOG WWW.4GIVEN2SERVE1GOD.BLOGSPOT.COM AND DONATE EVEN JUST $5 TO THEIR ACCOUNT TO BE ENTERED IN A GIVEWAY FOR SOME AWESOME PRIZES..... JUST IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS!! LET'S GET THIS LITTLE GIRL HOME!
(BELOW IS HER BLOG ENTRY)

HUGE GIVEAWAY
My giveaway starts now. This is how it works. Donate to the chip in on the side of my blog.5.00= 1 entry20.00 = 5 entries30.00 = 10 entriesAlso, I need more traffic to my blog for this giveaway to work. So I am asking that you spread the word. So each time you share our giveaway on your blog or on your facebook,twitter, ect. and let me know I will also put your name in for one entry. Let me know that you have done this by leaving a comment on this post.I have faith knowing that we as believers can raise the ransom for Nellie to come home. To be honest I had to have a really deep look inside myself and spend time in prayer because I doubted that the money was going to come to go get Nellie. I know that our Lord loves orphans, and I know that He loves Nellie more than I can even imagine. She is in desperate need of being rescued, she is going to be turning 5 in November, and we all know what that can mean to a precious angel with down syndrome in an orphanage half way around the world. It pains me to think that she could possibly be transferred to an institution. The Lord has provided her a family our family for her. He has done great things, this unwanted child is now loved more than ever. I have faith that the mountains will be moved for her to come home. We are still over 13,000 short of her ransom.Please help in this unfolding miracle. More than anything else pray for us. Pray for peace, and pray for our strength, as we get closer to Nellie.More items will be listed soon, I just have to take photos and upload, so look back often to see what has been added.

1. 200.00 gift card from target
2. Apple® iPod touch® 8GB MP3 Player (4th Generation) with Touch Screen, Wi-Fi 199.00 value
V.Reader Interactive E- Reading System Vtech Electronics V-Reader Animated Reading System - PinkWith VTech's V-Reader Animated E-Book Reader children discover the joy of reading while seeing well-loved characters like Shrek and Disney Fairies in stories featuring vivid animations. While reading the story and playing eight reading games, children develop the necessary building blocks to grow from a pre-reader to a confident and fluent reader.Cartridges are age graded for 3 to 5 year-olds and 5 to 7 year-olds. Each story cartridge includes a fully narrated and animated story, 8 reading-skill games and a Story Dictionary. Additional Cartridges sold seperately.
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4. Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream [Book] by David Platt
5. The Hole in Our Gospel: What Does God Expect of Us? The Answer that Changed My Life and Might Just Change the World [Book] by Richard Stearns
6. Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God [Book] by Francis Chan7yhtgfvc

ZOO TRIP

Seal Watching..... my favorite!

Sweet Baby Lydia

Spider Men

That's a whole lot of cute babies!

The "Ghost Alligator"

(Elephant Watching)

So we took a trip to the zoo this week to make the most of the pretty weather before all this rain set in. We met my long time friend Crystal and her two cute babies Jacob & Brooke there and baby Lydia went up with us. That makes for LOTS of babies and strollers but lots of fun!

They did really good, kept us laughing and we all walked off a few pounds. Shew! ALOT of walking. I love these years!

My baby girl is 4!!

Pizza of course- true American

Some creepy uninivited guest showed up

Open those presents girl- just for you!
(and a few for Noah) :)

Happy Birthday to Laurel!! I can't believe she's 4 years old. She has now actually been here with us longer than she was in the orphanage. Is that not cool??!! This is the first birthday that she actually gets what is going on. She understood it was a party for her and she even picked the food we were going to have-Pizza. I showed her several pictures of what kind of cake she wanted me to make and she picked the Rainbow Cake. She had a blast with her Grandparents & Aunts & Uncles. Thank ya'll for making her day so special.

Mountain Air-Good for the Soul

Uncle John & Aunt Rach (Baby Duncan-not yet pictured) :)

Panning for Gems- We actually found some!

Saw a bunch of Turkey's~

Climbed a few Mts..... Er, Rocks

Picked up a scary hitchiker! ;)

Explored a Cave-please excuse Laurel's paci but it was the only

way to keep her from screaming in Total Cave Darkness!

We made a trip up to the Mts. this weekend. Kind of a last ditch getaway before the busyness of the Holidays begin. Despite Laurel having a double ear infection (we only knew about 1 ear before we went), Noah on meds to prevent Pneumonia and having Asthma flair ups, Mike getting their cold & feeling crummy, Pregnancy (NOT me but Rachael), we managed to have a very nice time. The food was good, the mountains were beautiful, the company was delightful and a good time was had by all!