Monday, May 18, 2009

Margaret Anne's Dedication

At the end of March, when Margaret Anne had just turned 6 months old, we had a special dedication time for her at church. We committed to raising her in the ways of the Lord Jesus Christ and our church committed to praying for us as we raise her to love Him!
Lynne Gibel, a special lady at WBC, handmade this beautiful heirloom dress for her to wear on this special day! Isn't it beautiful?

MA is a very happy girl!!!


Even the slip she made for Margaret Anne was beautiful with her initials monogrammed on it!

A sweet time of dedication for the whole family
Our pastor & friend, Bro. Matt holding Margaret Anne... she really took to Matt and laid her head on him when he was praying!
Thank you Matt for leading us in this special time. Thank you Wynne Baptist Church for praying for us as we raise this precious daughter. Thank you Lynne for the beautiful dress you spent many hours making! And thank you Lord for the blessing You have given us in Margaret Anne! May we honor You as we raise her and her brothers!

Friday, April 17, 2009

Third Time's a Charm!

On February 17th, Joshua turned 3 years old! Being the mommy, I had a fun train party planned for the night of his birthday with lots of food to eat and trains to play with. Well, the night before Joshua's birthday, William got sick and we postponed the party to the weekend. Since we didn't have the party on his birthday, I made him some brownies and we sang "Happy Birthday" to him and let him blow out a candle. Some special friends dropped by and shared in our small celebration. I was so disappointed that he didn't get to have his party that night, but Joshua wasn't! In his mind, he did have a party with a couple friends and some brownies. That night when I was putting him to bed he said, "Thank you for my birthday Mommy!" Wow, that really put things in perspective. So, when the 2nd party came around, Joshua got sick and we had to cancel again! Finally, a few days later Joshua had his "real" train party and we celebrated his 3rd birthday with several of his little friends. I have to admit that I realized this was more for me than for him! He would have been satisfied with his brownie and candle on his birthday! Here are a few pictures from his birthday party. Thanks to those who came to help us celebrate!
Joshua's brownie cake on his real birthday!

Look at this adorable train cake that my friend Ashley made! Thank you Ashley!

The Polar Express

Thomas the Train

Choo-choo! All Aboard!
Everyone blowing their train whistles!

A cute baseball piggy bank given by one of Joshua's friends

I love this picture of Joshua when everyone was singing "Happy Birthday" to him!

A Few Random Pics

All 3 Kiddos in the bathtub!!!

Margaret Anne loving on her daddy!

Margaret Anne enjoying her bath!

Everyone ready for bed!

Isn't she cute? Randy hates this bow, but I think it looks adorable on her!

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Some of my Girls!

These are a few pictures of "my girls!" The first two are the girls in my current discipleship group, a.k.a. "the Butterflies!" The last two girls were in our previous youth group and in my d-group in Clanton, Alabama and came to visit us recently in Wynne! Of course, my favorite girl of all is also in these pics... Margaret Anne!!!
Jessica, in 9th grade at Wynne High School

Kathryn, in 8th grade at Wynne Junior High

Megan, a Junior at the University of Alabama

Mandy, a Sophomore at Auburn University


I love each of you girls and praise the Lord for you!!!

Snow!!!

Just like the rest of you, we have had snow 2 or 3 times this winter and here are a couple pictures from ours...



Tuesday, February 24, 2009

A Mission Opportunity!

Recently, an exciting mission opportunity came our way! In April, I will be going with Randy on our first overseas mission trip "together" to Zambia, Africa! This was completely unplanned and unexpected! Every year, during our church's Global Impact Conference, we are given a list of the mission trips that our church plans to go on during the next year. I always have the desire to go and serve the Lord on a short term mission trip, but usually don't give it much thought because I've always either been pregnant or had a baby that I couldn't leave behind! This year was no different! Margaret Anne is only 5 months old and I just thought that it was too soon to leave her and the boys. Well, the Lord had other plans. Just a few weeks ago, Wes & Laurie Wilcox, missionaries in Zambia, called Randy and asked for help from our church to work at their annual meeting for all the missionaries in Zambia. This would entail people rocking babies, playing with toddlers, VBS for children, hanging out with teenagers, and leading the worship services for the missionaries. I thought "I could do that!" Randy encouraged me to go and I waffled back & forth for a few days. I prayed and asked the Lord to make it clear to me if I was supposed to go. He spoke very plainly to me through His Word and showed me that I needed to go with my husband, support him, and work together with him. Several verses in Genesis and Ecclesiastes 4:9 spoke to me, "Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor." So, I made the decision to go and obey God's call. My main concern was leaving our 3 children behind. I thought if I can find childcare, then I will be confident in this decision. My parents lovingly committed to taking care of our children in Auburn for this 9-10 day trip. All of this to say, please pray for us as we prepare to go and serve these missionaries in Zambia. It's only a few short weeks away! Also, please pray that God would provide the money for this trip. I know that if He called me, He will provide a way! I really do not wish to ask for money, but I will say that if the Lord leads you to give towards this mission opportunity, please contact us and we will let you know how. A quick praise... the other day when our deposit was due for this trip, I received in the mail my passport and a check for the exact amount of the deposit that we owed! The Lord is providing already! I don't usually write this much, so thank you for reading, listening, and praying!

William turned 5!!!

On December 31st, our sweet William turned 5 years old! I can't believe it has already been 5 years since he was born, 7 weeks early, at only 4 lb. 12 oz. You wouldn't know he was a preemie if you saw him now! People are constantly commenting on how tall he is! William is such a kind, thoughtful, considerate, and loving boy! He loves going to WeeSchool, playing with Joshua and friends, and doting on his baby sister! We are so proud of our big boy!
This is his Auburn football cake that my good friend Ashley made! Isn't it so cute?!?

Getting ready to blow the candles out!

Joshua enjoying some cake & ice cream

William & some of his good buddies!

William's new bike!

All the little football players and cheerleaders

William & Rylee