Christmas Eve

Christmas, Christmas time is here, and gone! The anticipation eats us up and then the Christmas blues get us down. Macy was quite sad today as we took the last bit of Christmas down and packed it all away. Hallye lifted our spirits as she prayed tonight, "Thank you, God, that even after Christmas is over, we can celebrate and be happy about you coming into our lives." That's where it's at. Enjoy a few of our holiday highlights . . .

We enjoyed the beautiful weather Christmas Eve at Jana & Barry's house. Barry and Brady took the kids riding (walking!) on the horses, and they had a blast!

Click on my Flickr link to see more pics from Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Make a Smilebox photobook

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

It's been a busy end of summer and beginning of Fall here in Jville. I am soaking up every minute of the changing of the guard around our house. The tired-from-the-summer-heat green trees are shedding their summer drab and are embracing the new vibrancy of Autumn. It is amazing how beautiful they are this year. We have the most gorgeous Black Gum tree outside our bedroom window. It's trunk is about 5 feet in diameter. It is cloaked in a rich crimson that we haven't seen in a few years. I remember when we first looked at this land to buy. That was a good year for the tree. It was a huge selling point to this lot.
It's Wednesday night and I should be at church enjoying Mrs. Dreama's hamburgers tonight with my family, but instead I'm at home enjoying a bout of Dysentery (infection of the instestines). YUCK! Really bad stomach cramps for 5 days, and no food! On antibiotics now, hopefully this will hit the road soon.
The kids are all great, busy with school, dance, piano, violin, tennis, and church activities. Our down times are few and far between. It has actually helped a little with me being sick this week. I'm not running to beat the band and missing out on their life. I'm just laying around, moving slow, and watching them.
Like today. Mr. Marshall just finished a round of hay baling in our pasture. The kids have looked forward to playing on the round bales, and with a beautiful afternoon like we had, they headed out. I had to give them a boost up, but our neighborhood beagle, Lucy, (not her actual name, just what we call her!) bound up lickety split. Very frustrating for children 5 times her size who couldn't make it! Mr. Marshall finished up the last bale a little short, so it turned out to be just right for a good kid-sized bale. After conquering the climb, Macy and Garrett decided to just roll the bale around the pasture. Wish I had caught that on tape!
I love my kids. They are so great. I see new facets of their lives and personalities every day, and God certainly made each one of them very unique. It's been good to stop and watch this week. Blesses my heart. I think I might actually go eat something now. I think a cheerful heart really is good medicine.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Arkansas Travelers

As always, the Arkansas trip was SO much fun! It was terribly hot and humid on Monday, and we all wondered in the back of our head if we would last the full trip as planned. The new screened in porch was cute, but didn't get much use that first day. Tuesday, however, was significantly better and we enjoyed a playful trip to the river where the kids had a blast in the COLD White River water. The river was high, so no fishing this time.

Wednesday was a highlight of the trip, when we visited Blanchard Springs Caverns in Mountain View. Kelvin and the kids had never been to a cavern, so they were very overwhelmed and amazed (so were the rest of us!). It was incredible to see the structures created over hundreds of years, untouched by civilization except for unique lighting and winding paths to help us see all the beauty that was in store.

Thursday was probably the kids' favorite day. We found a new hotspot that I'm sure we'll return to yearly. Underneath the old Cotter bridge is a new park (new to us at least) with an old fashioned swimming hole, complete with rope to swing out over the water and jump. Hallye and Macy stepped right up and took their shot at this new experience. The water was spring-fed, and was almost as cold as the river! Kelvin and I both took our turn at glory and had a blast. Thursday night we all went to "The Zone" for putt-putt and go-cart races. Fun!

As always, it was a great trip. We are so fortunate to have a wonderful place like this to go enjoy God's creation, both in the outside views, and the warm, family, moments like slapping your mother-in-law with the Queen of Spades. It just doesn't get any better.