The Magic of Christmas!

Do you remember the days of your childhood when Christmas was so magical? We're all reminded of this magic when you look into the eyes of a child during the Christmas holiday. I was glad I was feeling well enough to take these pics the day after Christmas for these families. We even got all 6 of them to look at the camera for a group photo. Yeah!

More Memorable Murray Moments from 2009!

I really got behind on posting to my blog in 2009, but I still wanted to share a few things. I'll add that (keeping up with my blog) to my long list of New Year's Plans (don't like the word "Resolutions" now since they almost always fail).

First, I have to brag on my husband. For my birthday, he had a picture I had taken of the girls blown up to a 20 x 24 size on foamboard. Not only that, he made the frame out of old barnwood from my grandpa's barn that sits behind our house. I started crying because it was so beautiful! Poor Billie and Kyleigh couldn't understand why Mama was crying after

opening their gift. :)

And here I am with my "Hannah Montana" birthday cake that Billie told Michael I really, really, really wanted for my birthday! Ha!

4 kids awaiting FALL...we built "Gertrude" the scarecrow to sit at the end of our driveway this year. I found an old pair of overalls of mine from "The Limited" and an old shirt of Michael's from "Eddie Bauer"; Becky joked that we had the preppiest scarecrow she'd ever seen. She was very cute!


Gone, but not forgotten...

This is a photo I took of Charleston High School from across the road right before it was torn down to make room for a new Middle School addition. There was some controversy over whether to tear down the school or not because of sentimental value. Although, for me, it's sad to see it gone, I realize that sometimes old buildings are just too far deteriorated to renovate accordingly. However, I have many great memories from my time at Charleston High School, and those will always be with me even though the building is gone. And I can always tell my girls that this is where their mom met their dad!!!

The sidewalks with Michael's and my names on them had to be moved. At least they were able to move them without destroying them. The girls are shown here trying to see my name, but it was covered by a thick layer of dirt that couldn't be cleaned off.

And here are their daddy's and Uncle Steven's names.

Billie, at 3 1/2 years, got her very 1st haircut. She has the most beautiful, long, blond hair, so it was tough even to get just 2 inches cut off. She got to visit Aunt Becky in the salon, and she was so excited.

BEFORE

DURING

AFTER

Here she is with her 1st haircut certificate!

And then I turned around to see her with her feet in the water with MaeMae who was awaiting her pedicure! Look at that face! Priceless!

Nature Center visit

The Janet Huckabee Nature Center in Fort Smith is a great place for a little day trip adventure. Michael's aunts Laurie and Carol were in for a visit from Ohio, so they and Grandma met us there for the morning. Then, it was on to McDonalds to play. The girls had lots of fun. It's times like these that I realize how blessed I am to be a full-time mom. It's so nice to be able to take the kids out on fun day-trips.

They had fun playing in the life-size bluebird box.

Fun with Friends!

Silver Dollar City, here we come! We visited this past year during the National Harvest Festival. It was decorated so beautiful! Fall is my absolute favorite season. This was the girls' first time to ride rides, and they loved it! And Michael loved the fact that he had someone along who would ride rollercoasters with him since I don't! Of course, I think he and JaQuita got the better end of the deal while they rode because Justin and I got to wait with 3 kids! Ha!

Billie, Kyleigh, and Allie

My girls and meBillie's 1st rollercoaster with her Daddy
Kyleigh and Allie loved the butterflies


Picture opp...the girls were happy to oblige!


Anyone visiting Branson, MO, should check out the Stillwaters Resort. Our condo was so nice AND affordable. We'll definitely look into staying there again if we visit in the summer; it has several pools and outdoor activities to enjoy on the lake as well. The girls' favorite part was the "big bathtub" they could "swim" in!

Storytime with JaQuita, or as my girls call her, "Miss Quita"

(pronounced Mosquita) Ha!

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?