Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Our Family to Yours!

Tis the Season to be ????

I'm trying to be jolly; I really am. But the circumstances thrown our way lately are really making it hard. So I must vent my frustrations and worries! The head-on collision a month ago just turned our lives upside-down. It has been a month since I picked up my children or been able to receive a "big" hug from them because of the pain. In the last week, though, I have started feeling some better, so I decided I could lift Kyleigh. Then, last night, returns the "tearing" pain around my ribs. Guess I need to hold off even longer! I just want to feel like a good mom again!

Since the nausea and dizziness had subsided, I thought I felt up to riding to Branson. We had bought season tickets to Silver Dollar City this year, so we had planned on taking the kids to see the lights. Michael and I were up half the night before we left with Jasmine (my little dog of 15 years). Jasmine's health had been deteriorating over the last couple of months, but in the last couple of days, she had stopped eating and couldn't stand because of the pain in her legs. I just prayed and prayed for God to take her because I didn't want her to suffer, but I also didn't want to take her to be put down. I just didn't want to be the one to take her life. I was confused over whether to go on with our trip or to stay at home, but I decided it would be best if we were not at home when Jasmine passed. It would be hard enough to explain to the girls as it was. So, Mom was going to check in on her throughout the day and just make sure she was comfortable as she could be. However, she got worse, and Michael finally talked me into letting Mom take her to the vet so she wouldn't suffer any longer. To be totally honest, I was furious with God for not answering my prayers; I just wasn't feeling up to making that decision. I immediately felt sorry for being mad with God, and then Michael received a call from Becky saying that she had gone to check on "Jaz", and she was gone. I was relieved in one sense that God answered my prayer and that she was out of pain, but I was so sad. This was my pet of 15 years, and such a good dog! She'd been through a lot with me, and I will miss her greatly.

I just broke down in the car, and Michael had to explain to the girls what had happened. They just cried and cried! So that made me cry even more, knowing my girls were hurting, and I couldn't "fix" the hurt! Needless to say, the trip was not a lot of fun! Besides crying over "Jaz" a lot, I had not even thought about Silver Dollar City not being open, and they were closed both days we were up there. I felt so bad because they were really looking forward to the rides. The girls did get to see Santa at Bass Pro Shop, and we drove through the Shepherd of the Hills light show, so it wasn't a total bust.

I'm trying really hard to remind myself of the many blessings I have. I know when I start feeling bad about what's going wrong, I need to look at my kids and my sister's kids and my grandma and be thankful that we're here together after that horrific accident. And I know that Jasmine had a good life; I just pray for the words I need for my kids when they ask every day where she is or why she can't come back home.

Please help me find my "jolly" for this Christmas season! I'm soooooo ready!!!!!!

IN MEMORY

JASMINE

Easter 1994--December 15, 2009

Farewell to Summer--Part II

FINALLY, here's the rest of summer pics. Things haven't gone quite exactly as I would have liked lately, so here I am behind on posting again. Maybe, just maybe, I can try to catch up once again.

Another cousin sleepover...I took Lauren and Billie to see the Hannah Montana movie, and then they went swimming, and Lauren read a bedtime story to the girls before she and Billie retired in the ladybug tent for the night. Sweet, isn't it?

To celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary, Michael and I had tickets to the American Idol Live concert in Little Rock. We went down early, and the girls had fun playing with cousins Abigail and Katherine. Then, Aunt Nette spoiled them while we were at the concert. They were still going strong when we returned after 11:00. In fact, Billie was teaching "Sunday School" to Aunt Nette and Kyleigh when we got back. Annette said we have a "little evangelist" on our hands. :)

We took the boat to Shoal Bay one day, and the kids had so much fun. We took a picnic lunch, and they played in the swimming area between boat rides. It even wore them out so much that they fell asleep in the boat...and my kids usually have to have their own beds to take a nap!

We bought Northwest Arkansas Naturals tickets for Michael and my dad for Father's Day. Both of the girls were pictured on the big screen; of course, they loved that! And they enjoyed watching "Strike" dance and entertain! Unfortunately, it wasn't the best game, but we were very impressed with the stadium. I would encourage anyone who likes baseball to attend a game; the atmosphere was great (except for the drunks in front of and behind us trying to start a fight with each other and using awful language)! The next time we went, we made sure to buy tickets in the Family Section. Ha!


Here are the master gardeners showing off the flowers they planted in their playhouse window boxes.

We spent the night with Myno (my grandma) in her camping trailer at Springhill Park in Fort Smith for one night. The rest of my family stayed a few days up there. I think Michael and Brad decided that it's more trouble than it's worth to help a 2-yr old and two 3-yr olds try to fish. Ha! And I came home with the skin taken completely off of my calf and knee from trying to carry a big box out of the trailer and either missing the step or tripping and hitting the asphalt. Man did it hurt!!!!

The girls were invited to the Alma Water Park with the Mountain View Freewill Baptist Church for attending their Vacation Bible School this summer. This was their first waterpark experience, and they had so much fun! Here they are with their friend Elizabeth.

The kids' Sunday School class had a luau party to kick-off the school year. Kyleigh got to move up to the "big" kids' class this year. Don't they look adorable in their Hawaiian attire?

Cowgirls Don't Cry!

This senior really made me feel old as I photographed her. She was just 3 or 4 years old when I kept her in the daycare I worked in during my high school years. What a sweet girl she is, and I really enjoyed working on these pictures for her. I know she's having a blast in her senior year at CHS, and I'm sure she has a bright future ahead of her. I hope these pics will be reminiscent of a great SENIOR YEAR!

Lessons Learned!

Some lessons I've learned this past week:

1) My kids do "hear" what I say, even if they don't react....case in point...I told Kyleigh 2 times to put my shoes back on the mat. As usual, she pretended not to hear me and went on playing. The third time I repeated myself, I got louder, used her middle name, and changed my tone. She spun around, threw her hands up, and yelled, "OKAY!!!! You don't have to fuss!!!" I had to turn my head for a minute so she wouldn't see me giggle and so I could regain my composure to "teach" her in this moment..."Mommy has to fuss when you don't listen," I said. Lesson learned: She DOES hear me when I tell HER that she doesn't have to fuss.

2) NEVER, EVER drive with something in the back of the truck that is not tied down, no matter how heavy it is. It IS possible for the wind to catch it and cause it to fly out. ESPECIALLY don't do this when the item belongs to someone else!!!!!!!!!!!

3) Choose your words carefully. I came home late with Billie one night from my mom & dad's, and as soon as we got out of the car, I saw a shooting star. However, I told Billie, "There goes a falling star!" Billie is such a caring child (which I love dearly), but I realized very quickly that I chose the wrong word in this situation. "Mama, where did it fall? We have to go find it! We have to go find it now, and blow it back up to the sky!! God is going to be very sad that his star fell out of the sky!!!" 30 minutes later, I finally got her mind onto something else.

4) And finally, "I am too blessed to be stressed!" I have decided that I must repeat this indefinitely in order to "learn" it! Ha!

Farewell to Summer '09!

It seems as if summer is officially over now! What fun we've had, though, making lots of memories! The girls are at such a fun age...everything is so exciting to them, and it's so special to see those looks of excitement on their little faces!

Matching swimsuits from Mommy...SO CUTE!!!!

They absolutely loved the Dora slip-n-slide! It was a birthday gift for Kyleigh from her friend Noah. (It made me wish I was young and had no arthritis...I always loved slip-n-slides too!)


Anything with water = FUN!!!! Thanks to Aunt Shelly for the new wigglin' water sprinkler for Kyleigh's birthday too!


The girls had their 1st sleepover...with their cousin Drake. He spent the night after his baby sister Ella was born. Of course, we had to go all out, too! Michael set up the tent for us to sleep outside. Drake was out probably 30 seconds after we laid down. The girls, on the other hand, were still bouncing around 1 1/2 hrs later!!!!



Parties, Parties, and More Parties! The following pictures were just of 4th of July celebrations we had. We're always running, running, running, but if we weren't, we'd probably miss it. It's nice to have lots of family and friends to celebrate life with!

Here are the kids playing water balloons at our church's cookout!


Here we are in Lee Creek (Natural Dam) enjoying the water. We had a picnic in Kerry's cabin and played in the water all day!


We enjoyed a fish fry prepared by my friend JaQuita and her mom and then fireworks afterwards. Here are the girls with friends Allie and David after the cookout.


Michael had to work on the 4th of July (one pitfall of working in retail), but at least he got off in time to meet us for the fireworks show in Charleston. The girls and I went early and enjoyed eating and playing at the park with our friends, the Jones'. My girls think so much of Katie; she's just like a big sis to them!


The girls got sparklers when we did our own mini-fireworks show at MaeMae and PawPaw's house the day after Independence Day. I was a nervous wreck with Kyleigh. She has no fear of anything! Billie is a little more careful and cautious.

Next...one more batch of pics from summer '09 (told ya we were busy people). Stay tuned!

Precious Newborn!

I remember praying for this newborn's mama to receive the blessing of a child, and here lays baby R as proof that God answers prayers! What a cutie! He gave me several grins during the photo shoot, and his mama said we wore him out, and he slept the rest of the day! Congratulations to you guys! You have many smiles ahead with raising this little one!