Twas the Day Before Christmas

Well it may be the day before Christmas, but the temperature sure doesn't feel like it in balmy Mobile, Al. The temperature will be back up in the 70's today and tomorrow, Christmas Day. And to make it ever yukier, we are having off and on showers and expecting more tonight.

Ryan and Carter dropped by this morning and Carter is so excited about tonight. He was leaving our house and going to get his hair cut. I'm sure Elizabeth is hoping that they will be able to straigthen out the front where several weeks ago, Carter decided to cut his own hair. He cut a section in the very front about and inch higher than the rest before his teachers discovered it.

Brandon dropped by this morning and they were already leaving for parties with Brittany's family to be held in Pensacola and Semmes. They go from party to party on Christmas Eve. I'm sure Ryleigh will "eat it up."

We ran to the grocery store to get the ingredients for the dishes that we will be taking to Julie's and Morris' tonight for our family Christmas Eve party. Randall is adding some beans to the Chicken Chili Soup that he made earlier in the week and froze and he is also making his delicious potatoes. I am making a grape congealed salad that I first made last year that everyone seemed to really enjoy. We will be meeting around 6:30 P.M. There will be a house full--Ryan's family, Brandon's family, Morris' family, Mother, Daddy, Uncle Carl, Aunt Dorothy, Bradford, and Grandmother Erma and us.

We ate lunch at Sonny's Bar-B-Q and then came home and began cooking. We have talked about going to another Christmas movie this afternoon. We'll see if we still are in the mood for that after all the cooking is all done.

Christmas Eve has always been the height of the Christmas season. I love Christmas Eve! I look forward to the time with all of my family tonight and especially enjoying the excitement in the eyes of my grandchildren!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Tuesday-Christmas Eve Eve

Randall and I left out early this morning knowing that this was THE day...the day that we were going to get it all done! We began at Wal-Mart where we got the majority of what we were looking for. From Wal-Mart, we enjoyed lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, Olive Garden. After eating at O.G., we ventured to Academy Sports where we picked up a couple of sleeping bags for Carter and Ryleigh. After that, it was our annual Christmas shopping trip to the mall. Neither one of us hardly ever goes to the mall other than at Christmas. It is always interesting to see what new stores are there and what old stores are gone. We grabbed some candy for Randall's parents as well as some blouses for me that were on sale at Limited. There were tops that I can where on the cruise in May. I came home and wrapped all the gifts which was a task that took quite a while. I think other than making some more pictures to put in the picture frame (holds16 pictures, 6 of which are portrait, which I never take) that we are giving to Randall's parents, we are through!!! Yay!

Monday, Mon. 22-Movie Afternoon

Randall got up and did a little work and I just took it easy around the house. To put it bluntly, I was flat out lazy! After he came home, we decided to take in an afternoon movie. We went to see "Four Christmases." It was actually better than we anticipated. After the movie, we ate dinner at Panera Bread. We came home and built a fire in the fireplace and had a nice cozy night at home. It's great to finally have some cold weather after last week of having temperatures mostly in the 70's. It finally feels like Christmas again!

Sunday, Dec. 21-Party with Friends

Our Community Group had it's Christmas party tonight at the Peak's. Linda had everything decorated so beautifully, especially the dining room table. It looked like she was expecting royalty. Everyone brought dishes and we ate some delicious food and had lots of fun. It was made extra special by a group of children from the church coming by and caroling for us as we ate. We are blessed not only with our family but also with special friends.

Sat., Dec. 20-Loving the Lights

On Saturday night, Nana and Poppie picked up Carter and Ryleigh and we all went out to view the Christmas lights down different "paths" (as Carter referred to the streets). They are both very excited about Christmas this year. Their favorite object to spot in the yards was Santa. Carter also looked intently for deer (isn't that surprising?:) When I asked them if they knew whose birthday Christmas was, they both said "Jesus." I reminded them of why we do all of the Christmas decorating and celebrating and they said they knew why. I think it is always important to remind children from an early age of the greatest reason for the season. It is so easy to get caught up in all the other stuff that we as adults need to be reminded over and over again as well.

We took a break and ate a "delicious" meal of hamburgers, french fries and chicken nuggets at McDonalds. After dinner, we all enjoyed ice cream. Carter and Ryleigh sang Christmas carols in the back seat of the truck while we looked at the lights. I was able to get a little of their singing on the video as well as a little of our visit at McDonalds.

It was a great night in the life of Carter's & Ryleigh's Nana ! As if you haven't guessed by now, I adore these children:) They are one of God's greatest blessings in my life!

Friday, Dec. 19-Ryleigh's Christmas Program Debut

At the age of 2, our sweet Ryleigh made her first public debut in the Woodridge Learning Center Christmas program on Friday night. As usual, she looked just beautiful! As you can see in the short video clip, she sang but her favorite part was cheering for herself at the end. What a joy my grandchildren are to their Nana's life!

Azalea City Christmas Golf Party

Azalea City Heating and Air Conditioning, Inc. held it's first Christmas Golf Party today ay Magnolia Grove. The President, Vice-President and the two top Supervisors were in attendance. They met at the course at 9:00 to hit range balls with a tee time of 9:40 a.m. Employers and employees alike had a wonderful time playing "The Falls" course at Magnolia Grove. The President, Randall Stanford won the tournament. After the game ended around 2:00, the Christmas party continued with lunch at Longhorn Steakhouse. It was a great Christmas party! The vice-president had the greatest time getting to spend time with her husband and sons!

My First Christmas In Heaven

I have conveyed in many posts since Thanksgiving how much I love the Christmas season. Even though I still love it, because of the occurences of this year, I look at Christmas a little differently this year. Recently, three friends of mine have passed away and I can't help but think about their families and how different Christmas must be for them this year. I mentioned this to another friend of mine on the phone the other day and she sent me this poem in the Christmas card she sent to me. Because all of my friends were Christians, I know this poem could be exactly what they would say to their families this Christmas. Here is the poem:

My First Christmas In Heaven

I see the countless Christmas trees around the world below.
With tiny lights, like heaven's stars, reflecting on the snow.
The sight is so spectacular; please wipe away that tear,
For I am spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year.

I hear the may Christmas songs that people hold so dear,
But the sounds of music can't compare with the Christmas choir up here.
I have no words to tell you of the joy their voices bring,
For it is beyond description to hear the angels sing.

I know how much you miss me. I see pain inside your heart,
But I am not so far away. We really aren't apart.
So be happy for me, loved ones. You know I hold you dear,
And be glad I'm spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year.

I send you each a special gift from my heavenly home above.
I send you each a memory of my undying love
After all, "Love" is the gift more precious than pure gold.
It was always most important in the stories Jesus told.

Please love and keep each other, as my Father said to do,
For I cannot count His blessings or measure His love for you.
So, have a Merry Christmas and wipe away that tear.
Remember, I am spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year.

Anonymous

Spending their first Christmas with Jesus this year:
John Norsworthy
Renee Baggett
Tom Russell

My prayers are going out for the families of all of these dear friends. They are greatly missed by many.

Secret Sister Reveal 2008

For the last 3 years, the girls on the Dayspring staff have played Secret Sister throughout the year. We have drawn names in December each year and bought "fun" things for the "sister" for different occasions until the next December. It has been a lot of fun. But we have decided next year to either just draw names at Christmas with a $25 limit or bring gifts with a $25 limit and play "Dirty Santa."

The party was held at Julie's. But if you notice in the pictures, Julie is no where to be seen. That's because she was back in her room in bed with a migraine. No one knew she was sick until we got there. What a trooper she was to still have the party at her house. Her house was absolutely gorgeous with all of her beautiful Christmas decorations.

Julie also made some delicious Corn Chowder for all of us to eat. Teresa and Diane, I believe made some desserts as well. Everything was scrumptuous!

Keyboards at Christmas 2008

Today at 2:30 P.M., one of my favorite Christmas traditions was held. I love our Keyboards program which is held at Christmas. Debbie Kreamer did a fabulous job heading up this program. Seven pianists played throughout the program and Elizbeth Walker sang a glorious "Bethlehem Morning." I love to listen to the piano and I love Christmas carols. And when you combine the two, I couldn't enjoy anything more! After the program, Randall and I went to Starbucks and enjoyed some of their special Christmas coffee. It was a great afternoon during this Christmas season. Here is a sample of the program. Enjoy!

Carter's Weekend in the Country

This weekend was the first time that Carter went all by himself with Nana and Poppie to Bladon Springs. We had a great time hunting and decorating the hunting camp. We went up Friday afternoon and Carter went hunting with Poppie while Nana and Uncle Mike went to other stands. When Carter and Poppie arrived at their shooting house, they found that the roof had been blown off. They spotted one doe on Friday and on Saturday they saw 4 doe and a bob cat. Carter was asleep when the doe came in the field and Poppie had to wake him up to see them. But Carter was the first one to see the bob cat and pointed the "cat" out to Poppie. Mike saw some wierd bucks on Friday. There were 3 bucks in his field, all of which had very strange racks. None were any that he wanted to kill at this point in the season. The top two pictures are the first doe that I have seen this year. The "Mama" doe came into my patch by herself and then about 20 minutes later, her baby came running into join her. My heart just starts racing when a deer of any kind comes into my patch. I just love watching them!

Party Down at Nan Seas

Our staff Christmas party was held at Nan Seas Restaurant on Thursday night. Linda, Julie, and I arrived about an hour early to put up a few decorations. The party this year just seemed a little unusal to me because so many of our staff have left this past year. I especially missed Scott and Robin Payne, David and Susan Johnson, and Garrett and Melanie Hughes. They were a part of our staff for so long and it just didn't seem the same without them. Drew played the guitar and we sang some songs and we also played a fun game. The meal was delicious. As I think about next year, I can only wonder what our staff will look like. Hopefully by then, we will have a new senior pastor. I look forward to what God is going to do at Dayspring and with the Dayspring staff. I praise God for allowing me to serve and work at Dayspring!

A Note To My Readers

Many of you have mentioned to me that you have not been able to make comments on my blog because you do not have a blog yourself. I think I have changed some settings where anyone can now leave comments on my posts. If I am understanding correctly, you may post your comment (please be sure and sign your name), click on anonymous, then publish your comment. I hope that works.

Last night, our sweet Carter stayed with us while his mom and dad went out to dinner. Here are a few pics I took while he was here.

Dayspring Volunteer Christmas Brunch 2008

It's become a tradition. Every year at Christmas, the staff of Dayspring throws an appreciation brunch for all of the members of Dayspring who volunteer and help us in the office throughout the year. This year it was held at Donna Hartmann's home. As usual the food was fantabulous and we all ate more than we should have. Above are a few pictures of the staff and volunteers enjoying the morning.

Scandalous Mercy

Two words in the lyrics of one of the songs that our choir sang in our 2008 Christmas celebration jumped out at me...... Scandalous Mercy. I have never thought of that adjective to describe mercy,.But how perfect a description. The amount of mercy that God showed me by sending His Son to earth as a baby and then allowing Him to give His Life for me cannot be described better than scandulous. The title of the song written by Travis Cottrell and others is "This Is Our God." The lyrics of this verse go as follows:

This is our God, living and breathing

Call Him Courageous, relentless, and brave

This is our God, loving and reaching

Scandalous Mercy and mighty to save.

What great lyrics! Our choir did a great job and a lot of hard work went into learning all of the music. Thank you for leading us in such a great worship experience . To God Be the Glory!

Who'd a Thunk It?

At the beginning of the 2008 college football season, who among Bama fans thought they would be playing in the SEC championship with an 11-0 record? I can assure you, not too many!!! What a turn around Bama has made this year. It has been a great season and we look forward to the Sugar Bowl!!

Bama played better than the score shows. Tim Tebow was certainly someone to contend with. He is a team all by himself. I think he may be the most talented college player I have ever seen play. I predict Florida wins it all!

It was a well played game and a lot of fun to watch. Roll tide!

Rain, Rain, Go Away! Thanksgiving 2008

If I had to pick one word that would describe the Thanksgiving weekend of 2008, it would be "soggy." We had overcast skies on Thanksgiving day, but beginning Thursday night, it began to rain and it didn't stop until Sunday morning when we came back to Mobile. The rainy days didn't spoil all of our fun however. Some of the guys hunted in the rain, but no bucks were in their sight.



Randall, Thomas and I were the first to arrive in Bladon. We went up on Wednesday to get things cleaned and ready for everyone on Thursday. Thomas went hunting while Randall and I cleaned and did things around the camp. After Thomas came back, we went to Coffeeville to eat hamburgers at the Dairy Bar. Morris, Julie and Ainsleigh arrived late Wednesday night. Brandon, Brittany and Ryleigh arrived Thursday morning, followed shortly by Mother, Daddy and Brad. Ryan, Elizabeth, and Carter stayed in Tuscaloosa and came in on Friday. Everyone brought a dish and we had more food than we could eat in a week! Randall fried two turkeys and we
had two hams as well. My parents and Brad went home late Thursday afternoon.

Friday, Morris, Julie, Brittany and I went on a shopping excursion to Gilbertown and Butler. We bought a few things and ate lunch at the Hardee's in Butler. It was nice just to get out of the house. When we got back to Bladon, Ryan, Elizabeth and Carter were there. Late Friday afternoon, Brandon's family and Thomas left and went back to Mobile. Ryan's family and Trey left on Saturday morning. They were all wanting to get back home to watch the Alabama-Auburn Game with friends. Morris, Julie, and Ainsleigh stayed and watched the game with us in Bladon and headed home right after the game. The game was great! Alabama won 39 to 0!!!!!!

Roll Tide!

Despite the rain, we still enjoyed the time with our family. Thank you God for all the blessings you have given me!