"And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem. To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delievered And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger: because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen as it was told unto them." Luke 2:1-12

He's Makin' a List and Checkin' It Twice

Last Friday night we had a visitor at our house. We were sitting around in the living room and there was a pounding on the front door. I sent Emily to answer the door and would you believe that Santa was in our front yard! When she saw him I heard her make a slight gasp under her breath. After Santa came inside and passed out chocolate and candy canes, he had Emily write down her Christmas list on a piece of paper for him. She was so surprised and excited that she couldn't even think of what she had said she wanted. When I told her some of the things she had told me she was asking Santa for she said, "Yeah, right." When Santa asked Emily if she did a good job keeping her room cleaned up, she was honest and said, "not so much" but she promised Santa that she would keep working on it. Eli would not sit on Santa's lap at the mall the other day, but he wasn't scared at all when Santa was at our house. When Santa asked him what his name was he answered, "Eli Christian Adams". I guess he didn't want Santa confusing him with any other Eli. Well, tonight is Christmas Eve, so we will be getting Santa's milk and cookies ready (Emily has already baked them) and getting the reindeer's oats ready. Then we will hang our Santa key on the front door before we go to sleep. (Emily says she staying up all night, but she says that every year). Everyone have a Merry Christmas tomorrow!

Oh, The Weather Outside Is Frightful...

The best thing about the snow and ice is seeing how excited the kids get over it. Tuesday Eli and I watched it snow huge flakes all morning. The last time it snowed it was only a little bit and it didn't last very long. When it melted away Eli was mad. ha-ha! So he kept asking me if the snow was melting and I had to tell him we had too much snow this time to melt away for awhile. We had to get out in it at noon to pick up the kids from school due to their early out. Of course Eli had to walk through the deepest drifts from the van to the school doors. That was the only logical thing to do. Then Wednesday night Michael, Emily, and I went caroling with our chruch. It was a little cold, but the response we got from those we caroled warmed our hearts. Then we had hot chocolate and donuts at the church afterwards, so I stopped by home and got Matt and Eli so they could go with us to that part. When we got home that night I took these pictures of the kids on our deck before we came inside. I only wish the temperature would warm up a bit because it's just been too cold to let them play in it for very long. Hopefully this weekend, we can get the sleds out!

The Missing Blankey

When Eli was a baby he never took a pacifier and as he's gotten older he's never become attached to any stuffed animal. It's just his blankey that he can't live without. When I was weaning Eli, Matt found this soft, fleece-like "Lightning McQueen" blanket and Eli instantly took to it. When he sleeps he has to have the two silk tags in his hand. When he was younger, he would wake up in the middle of the night saying, "Where's my tags?" and I'd have to go into his room and give him his tags. He has slept with his blankey every night for the past two years...until last Saturday.

While Emily and I were at Monkey Cove with Girl Scouts, Matt, Alyssa, Michael, and Eli went to visit at Grandpa Calvin's house. Saturday night when we were putting Eli to bed, it was discovered that his blankey was missing. You guessed it...it was left at Grandpa's house which is an hour drive one-way. Eli didn't understand that part...he wanted to go to Grandpa's and get it right then. I told Eli we would find him something else to sleep with for one night and I took him into his closet. I got down some of his blankets from when he was born. Each one I showed him I got the same response, "That's for babies." Next I moved on to his pile of stuffed animals that he ignores. Each one of those I showed him I got the same response, "That's for girls." Finally I found the stuffed brown bear that he got on his first visit to the Omaha Zoo. He actually took it and hugged it. I thought, "Hmm, this might work." I covered him up, gave him his bear and as I turned out his light and walked out of his room I heard him say, "I don't want this" and then I heard "plop" and the bear hit the ground. The only thing that saved us that night was that Eli had a head cold and I had just given him medicine right before we discovered the missing blankey. If it hadn't been for his drug-induced sleep, we may have been up for a long night. On Sunday after church Matt went to his Dad's and retrieved the lost friend. When Matt returned with it, the look on Eli's face was pure happiness as he gave blankey a huge hug.

Girl Scouts Weekend at Monkey Cove

Emily and I spent the night at the newly remodeled Ramada Inn in St. Joe Friday night. We were there with 250 other Girl Scouts. The Ramada
now has an indoor water park called "Monkey Cove." Friday night we got to swim in the water park, participated in a scavenger hunt throughtout the hotel, made crafts, and learned line dances. My favorite part of the whole weekend was watching Emily do the YMCA. And I'm not talking about just the letter parts, but the whole dance. And she also learned the macarana. I was laughing so hard. During the freestyle dance, she was breakdancing...I still don't know where she learned that. I told Emily she was taking after Aunt Melinda with her trendy dance moves. These two together are sure to be the life of any party! Saturday morning after breakfast we swam another 4 hours before going to McDonalds for lunch and then heading home. Oh, I almost forgot about the water slide. It was very tall, enclosed, a corkscrew, and dark inside. After Emily started up the stairs, I went over to the end of the slide to watch her come out. I kept waiting and waiting and finally I turned around and there she was coming back down the stairs! Oh, well--maybe next year!

More Pumpkin Pictures

I forgot to post these pictures that I took of Eli before we carved our pumpkins. After Halloween we set the carved, rotting

pumpkins out by the road with our trash. When Eli heard the garbage truck coming he ran to look out the window. And he was not happy to see the garbage man putting our pumpkins into the back of the truck. In fact, he was not happy about for several days. Just when I thought I was going to have to go buy more pumpkins, he seemed to forget about it. He's past pumpkins now...we've moved on to jumping in the leaves.

God Bless America

In last week's presidential election our country had a chance to stand up for God. We had a chance to cast a vote for the Judeo-Christian values our country was founded on and that our forefathers fought to preserve. We had a chance to vote our Christian convictions and say "yes" to faith, to family, to life, and to truth. Although I do not understand why God allowed the election to turn out the way it did, I do know that God allowed it to happen for a reason. The following true/false quiz was an e-mail I received a few days ago written by Pastor Wyman Richardson from First Baptist Church of Dawson, Georgia. It really put things into perspective for me and I wanted to share it with everyone.

True/False: The day after the election, regardless of who wins, Jesus will still be King.

True/False: The day after the election, regardless of who wins, our responsibilities as Christians will not have changed one iota.

True/False: The day after the election, regardless of who wins, the greatest agent for social change in America will still be winning the hearts and minds of men and women through the gospel, not legislation.

True/False: The day after the election, regardless of who wins, the only way to see abortion ultimately overturned will still be winning men and women to a high view of life through the gospel of Christ.

True/False: The day after the election, regardless of who wins, the only way to see gay marriage ultimately defeated will still be winning men and women to a biblical view of marriage through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

True/False: The day after the election, regardless of who wins, my retirement will still not match my treasure in Heaven.

True/False: The day after the election, regardless of who wins, 'Jesus Is Lord' will still be the greatest truth in the Universe.

True/False: The day after the election, regardless of who wins, we will still know that God is in control. _____________________________________________________

That e-mail really got me to thinking and now that the election is over we must move forward. The best thing we can do now is pray. In order for our country to return to the righteous nation that God wants us to be, we need to be praying for our elected leaders. You can visit the website presidentialprayerteam.net to join others in praying for our president-elect and other national leaders as well. It will give you specific concerns to pray about. And we also need to be praying for a spiritual awakening among believers of Jesus Christ. God has the power to change the hearts of people and with prayer, I believe it will happen. We must unite and stand up for the truth of God's word and continue to vote our Christian convictions. God Bless.

Thank You, John McCain: A True American Hero

"I would not be an American worthy of the name, should I regret a fate that has allowed me the extraordinary privilege of serving this country for a half a century. Today, I was a candidate for the highest office in the country I love so much. And tonight, I remain her servant. That is blessing enough for anyone and I thank the people of Arizona for it.

Tonight, more than any night, I hold in my heart nothing but love for this country and for all its citizens, whether they supported me or Senator Obama, I wish Godspeed to the man who was my former opponent and will be my president.

And I call on all Americans, as I have often in this campaign, to not despair of our present difficulties but to believe always in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here. Americans never quit. We never surrender. We never hide from history, we make history.

Thank you, and God bless you, and God bless America. Thank you all very much."

A Cheetah, a Tiger, & and a Hot Dog

For a long time Emily has been wanting to dress up Melinda's dog, Jessie, like a hot dog for Halloween. So when I found this costume, I had to buy it. Emily was a cheetah and Eli was Chase Daniel. In the picture Eli's making his football face. He's showing off his muscles. He was so excited to get his face painted with those two black lines under his eyes. He said next year he wants to be an alligator. This was Maysville's second year having trick-or-treating with the businesses around the square, so we did that. It's nice because it's before dark and it's neat seeing so many kids walking around the square having fun. That's where we took Jessie and she and her costume were a hit. There were people wanting to take her picture. Melinda said it was the most Jessie had ever walked at one time. By the time we finished she really was a hot dog! After we got home, Emily just wanted to stay and hand out candy. So Eli and I took the wagon and trick-or-treated around our neighborhood. After a few houses he said, "Mom, I'm gettin' a litte bit tired." I'm not sure how since I was the one pulling him in the wagon.

Country First Jack-O-Laterns

We decided that our yard signs and bumper stickers we're enough support, so we added our McCain-Palin Jack-O-Lanterns to the mix. Matt did Governor Palin, Alyssa did McCain-Palin, and Michael did Senator McCain. I wasn't able to help much because I was too busy roasting pumpkin seeds, making caramel apples, and hot gluing my thumbs together in an attempt to make Emily some cheetah ears to go with her Halloween costume. But the political pumpkins were my idea and I did find the patterns and took all the pictures. Eli was so cute running around outside tonight saying "McCain-Palin" while I was trying to take the pictures. Happy voting!

Pickin' Pumpkins at Hunt's Orchard

We took advantage of the beautiful Saturday God blessed with us earlier this month and went to Hunt's Orchard, North of St. Joe. Here we are on the tractor pulled hay ride that took us from the general store up to the pumpkin patch.

Here is Eli in the middle of the patch. Too many pumpkins to choose from! This was one of the few times Eli wasn't on the run and I was able to snap a picture. After we choose our pumpkins we roasted hot dogs and marshmellows. The orchard volunteers put on a short skit about the Beverly Hillbillies, but none of our kids would do the hoe down with Granny.

There was also a hay maze that the kids loved to crawl through. At first Eli was scared to crawl in, but once he did, he didn't want to get out. We had to send Michael in to keep track of Eli. The picture of Emily was taken in the very center of the maze. After our hay ride back to the general store, the kids spent a little time in the petting zoo and Emily and Eli took a train ride before we headed home.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Eli Christian

Here's a picture of Eli with one of his presents. Don't you just love the shirt he's wearing? Since I'm the one who writes this blog, I get to point out such things. :) It's really hard to believe that Eli is already 3 years old. He is definitely all boy--loves tractors, bulldozers, monster trucks, dinosaurs, and is always getting hurt. His latest scare was shutting the automatic sliding van door on his hand by pushing the button. Nothing in his hand was broken and now the button is disabled whenever he is in the van. ;)

I gave Eli a few choices of what he wanted on his birthday cake and he chose bulldozers. Jen, the girl in town who makes the kids' cakes, didn't have a bulldozer pan, but she has one of the icing printers and she can put any picture on a cake. So, Eli and I went to the Catepillar website and picked out two pictures for his cake. After we printed off the pictures, he couldn't wait until morning, so he could take in his pictures to the cake shop. He proudly presented his paper to Jen and then asked me everyday for a week if it was time to go get his birthday cake yet.

MIZZOU-RAH!! Missori 69 Nevada 19

Despite the rain, we had a great time at the Missouri-Nevada game on Saturday. Lance met us at the gate and made sure we had everything we needed. We ended up sitting on the 50 yard line with Uncle, Chad and Jiggs, so the kids had a great view of the field. MU's fake punt that resulted in a touchdown happened right in front of us; what an awesome play! It just doesn't get any better than that!Here's Chase looking for a receiver. Chase was 23-28 passing with 405 yards. Coffman and Maclin put on quite a show for us as well with 127 yards and 172 yards receiving.

Mizzou on the ground: 132 yards rushing with 80 of those belonging to Washington. After Mizzou had put the game out of reach, we got to see Chase Patton take over at quarterback. He had 72 yards passing and he rushed for a touchdown. This kid could have been a starter on a different football team, but being raised in Columbia, he knew from the time he was a little boy that he wanted to be an MU Tiger. He chose to join a team where he knew he would play back-up because being a Tiger meant that much to him. Wow, what a guy!

Homeward Bound: Here are Michael and Alyssa wearing their Daniel jerseys that Lance bought them. The look on Michael's face was priceless when I told him that Lance knew Chase and the rest of the football team. I didn't realize that Michael was unaware of that little bit of information. He's already wondering if Lance can get Chase's autograph for him. Michael will be a "rock star" among his friends with the autograph of the next Heisman Trophy winner. Go Mizzou!

Back to School

There's nothing like the smell of new textbooks and pencil shavings, unless you're a Mom who really isn't ready for school to start again. I really enjoy having the kids home over the summer and I'm always a little sad when they start back. Here is a picture of the first day of school (another one of my picture taking traditions that they'd love to skip, but I won't let them).

Alyssa is a Freshman... yeah, I know that one slipped up on us, too. She is really enjoying the year so far and all of her classes, except shop. She's going to make us a footstool, but she said it might take her the entire year to get it done. I think she'll get the hang of it before too long. We've have four extra girls at our house all weekend as they were making t-shirts for homecoming. I'd forgotten what a big deal a first homecoming is to a freshman. The girls are so excited. We really enjoy Alyssa's friends...they are a great bunch of girls. Emily and Eli especially like it when they come because the girls always play with them.

Michael is in 7th grade and it's an easy guess as to what his favorite part of the year has been so far--FOOTBALL! This is his first time playing and he has been giving 110%. He gives us detailed recaps of every practice. And he has all A's and A-'s in his classes. His coach has been preaching what Mom and Dad have always preached--school work first. Somehow he seems to be listening to coach, which is fine; we're just glad it's all coming together for him. He's plenty smart, he just didn't want to do the work, now he realizes if he wants to play football he has to do the work.

Emily is in 2nd grade and of course she loves everything--except PE. Same as every other year. As much as I hope she will eventually like sports, I just don't know. Her favorite class is art. She says looking forward to art is what "keeps me going". I laughed when she told me that. I keep forgetting to tell her art teacher, I know she would appreciate hearing that story. Emily has blossomed into quite a reader. One night she was sitting on the couch reading an article in my Reader's Digest magazine titled, "41 Things Your Doctor Knows, But Doesn't Tell You." She told me she didn't think doctors should do that, so she read the article. What happened to reading Dick and Jane?

Eli misses the kids when they are at school. He asks me repeatedly throughout the day if it is time to go pick Emily up from school. When we get there, he showers her with hugs. Ten minutes after we've been home, he fights with her. Go figure!

Lions and Tigers and Sealions! Oh My!

Our Trip to the Kansas City Zoo
We've made it a habit to go to the zoo every year. It's something we all look forward to and we always have a different experience each time we visit. We have always gone to Omaha in the past and this was our first time to go to the Kansas City Zoo. Emily loves the big cats, so she's especially proud of this photo. It was the first time we'd seen the lions right next to the glass. One of them was completely sprawled out on it's back with it's feet in the air just like a house cat would do. Eli's favorite part was the train...no surprise there! We were at the sealion show, which was right by the train depot and when the train left the station he cried because it didn't wait for him. Even though we ended up riding the train three times that day, he still talks about how it left without him. A few days after visiting the zoo we went to the pool and when we pulled up in front of it Eli said, "I want to see the sealions." He's wanted to go back to the zoo ever since we left. We all agreed that one of the neatest exhibits was the kangaroos. They are just free to roam around. They have this huge grassy area with lots of trees and it has a sidewalk that goes all around it and they just stay there. The next time you see Emily you'll have to ask her what her Dad told her to do if the lions ever escape. I'll go ahead and tell you what she'll say. She'll tell you, "Just run faster than the slowest person."

Happy 7th Birthday, Emily: Luau Style

Well, we brought a little piece of Hawaii into our backyard last weekend when we had Emily's 7th birthday party. A luau was Emily's choice for the theme of the party and I figured it would be easy to decorate and it would also be a good way for the kids to beat the heat of July. We had the kids wear their swimming suits/trunks and we had water balloon games and we put a baby pool under the slide on our swingset, which turned out to be the hit of the party. We also had a macaw pinata and we played the limbo. Emily had 11 friends come to the party; 5 girls and 6 boys. I guess I didn't realize how rowdy 6 seven year old boys could be, but really all the kids were great and they had a lot of fun.

We decorated the deck with palm tree and ocean posters, blow-up sea creatures, pictures of exotic birds and flowers, tiki torches, tiki statues, shells, coconuts (one of which exploded on it's own), and pineapples; and we played Hawaiian music during the party. We had leis for everyone (adults included) and the girls got grass skirts and the boys got beachcomber hats. Emily's cake was a picture of two macaws and the sides were decorated with flowers and palm trees. Aloha!

Missionaries In Action

I asked Alyssa to write about what she did on the week-long Associational Mission trip. Melinda and Alyssa were the only two from our church who went this year and it was Alyssa's first trip. The rest of the group was made up of Baptists from the Northwest Missouri area. I am so proud of Melinda for stepping up and being a Christian role model for young women and I'm so proud of Alyssa for taking a step of faith and "just going for it" as she follows God's gentle nudges. _______________________________________________

I went on the mission trip this year with Melinda. We went to Madison, Wisconsin and we stayed at Midvale Baptist Church. At the church we had a vacation bible school and a block party. For the vacation bible school Melinda taught the first and second grade class and I helped her. Also two other girls from St. Joesph that helped with the class, Emilly and Ellie. On our mission trip we also had three block parties that were for the community. For each party, we went around different neighborhoods and passed out fliers for the event. As we passed out fliers we also collected food items for people whose houses had flooded. Later in the week we delievered all the food to a different church where they were passing the food out to the people who needed it. That church was also washing their clothes and had showers and bathrooms availble to the flood victims. On our trip we also toured the capitol building and went to a zoo. I had a lot of fun on the mission trip and I want to go again next year!

The Toothless Wonder

Since Emily didn't get her first tooth until she was 16 months old, I told her that she might be the last kid in her class to lose a tooth. And at the end of Kindergarten, all her teeth were still in her head without any wiggles. First grade started and all her friends started losing teeth left and right. I told Emily to be patient, that not only did she get her teeth later then most kids, but she is also the youngest in her class. Well at the end of First grade, a disappointed Emily still had no loose teeth.

One evening late in June Emily was eating an apple, when she jumped up and exclaimed she had a loose tooth! She hadn't even noticed until she bit into the apple. It happened to be the last day of summer school, so I told Emily she could say that she got her first loose tooth while she was still in First grade. A few days later, Emily was sporting this toothless grin. And now she has two more loose teeth. She may break the tooth fairy before this is all over with.

The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave

It's become a 4th of July tradition around our house that the kids would just soon skip. It's the dreaded 4th of July picture that I take every year of them wearing their red, white, and blue. You wouldn't believe how many shots it takes to get a good picture when I'm trying to photograph four kids at one time. And the longer it takes, the more restless Eli gets and the more fake Emily's smiles become. I can usually count on Alyssa and Michael to always be smiling, but when we're finally done, their smiles are frozen onto their faces. Oh well, 20 years from now when the kids are back home looking through photo albums, they'll be glad they had a picture-crazed mom.

Why Stars and Stripes?
Stars are considered a symbol of the heavens and the divine goal to which man has aspired from time immemorial; the stripe is symbolic of the rays of light emanating from the sun.

Why Red, White and Blue?
While the flag's colors did not have a specific meaning at the time, the colors were significant for the Great Seal of 1782.
White: Signifies purity and innocence
Red: Signifies valor and bravery
Blue: Signifies Vigilance, perseverance, and justice

The Next Generation of Massey Drivers

This past Saturday was the Show Me Tractor Cruise to benefit Camp Quality. There were 313 tractors participating this year. Uncle Don entered his three Massey-Harris tractors, the 44, the 333, and the 30 which were driven by Gale, Kendell, and Dad respectively. Krug Park was the stop for the drivers' lunch break, so we waited for them there and got to watch the entire parade of tractors enter Krug Park and leave as well. During the lunch break, the little kids had a pedal tractor cruise and the picture below shows Eli sitting on his Ferguson 35 Special, which was his first birthday present. The picture above is of Eli sitting on his Great-Great Granddad Grantham's 333, which was sold to him out of Morrow Implement by Eli's Great-Granddad Morrow. Eli is so crazy about tractors and he's getting quite a collection of toy masseys and attachements. Until we're able to buy one of our own, Eli gets his tractor fix at Uncle Don's and we're always on the look out for one anytime we're driving in the car. It's funny how Eli discovered his love for tractors all on his own, without any pushing from us. I guess he comes by it honest as it's in his blood. And I know a couple of granddads who are smiling down on him from heaven.

Take Me Out To The Ballgame--Maysville Blue

Michael's ball season came to an end last weekend. It's hard to believe that it's over already. The boys did a great job this year. All the boys on the team were in Michael's grade except for two who were a grade younger. It's always fun for the boys to have that fellowship outside of school. Michael had a good year swinging the bat. Sometimes it seemed to help that he was a left-handed batter. He also liked being a switch hitter, which he tried a few times this year. This was Michael's first year of playing in the infield; he played 3rd base. It was fun watching him improve throughout the season with his throws to 1st base and his fielding. His team finished 7-6 for the year and placed 4th in their tournament.

Terri and Nick's Wedding: The Return of the (Cutest) Ring Bearer (Ever)

Eli got his cast off Tuesday before the wedding and by
Thursday afternoon he was running a fever and throwing up. I thought, "Oh, no. He'll never make it down the isle." On Friday he semed to be a little better, but he threw up on the way to Albany for the rehersal dinner. After that he felt fine and he walked down the isle during practice and he ate quite a bit at dinner afterwards. So, I thought maybe we had dodged a bullet and he was over whatever bug he had. When he woke up Saturday morning he still had the fever, but he wasn't throwing up, so we just gave him some Motrin and kept our fingers crossed that all would be ok.

Eli did fairly well taking pictures before the wedding, but he would only stand up there for the pictures that I was in; never by himself. But, that was ok. I was just glad the photographer got something. When it was time for the wedding, Terri's sister, Donna, was the one keeping Eli in the back of the church until it was his turn. He was suspossed to follow right after me. I glanced back once and saw he was following me, so I thought all was ok. Well, I heard everyone laughing and when I got to the front I didn't see Eli. He had seen where Alyssa and Michael were sitting and he darted in that pew and was sitting on Alyssa's lap. What a smart boy.

It's hard to believe that Terri is married. I won't know what to do when I come to Albany and she will not be at her parent's house. I told Terri's Dad that when I come to Albany I will have to call Terri and tell her to go "home" so I can visit her. I've also been dialing the same phone number, 3003, and sending mail to the same address, 402 E Cameron, for 26 years, so that will be another hard one to change. As the saying goes, "The only thing certain in life is change."

Jeannia and Seth's Wedding Pictures

They're Hitched--Seth and Jeannia Law

Beautiful day; Gorgeous bride; Handsome groom; Adorable kids; Packed church; Delicious cake; Wonderful memories. See above slideshow. I am so happy for my sister and new brother-in-law and I pray that they will see God's will as they start their new life together. I miss Jeannia already and she is only 20 minutes away.

Boys Will Be Boys

Just when I thought I had this kid rearing figured out, along comes Eli. Being 2 1/2 and seeing the inside of an ER twice gives him the trophy in this house. His first trip to the ER was just 3 months ago to retrieve a sunflower seed he decided to stuff up his nose at 9 o'clock at night, but that's a story in itself. Last night was a little scarier for all of us. Alyssa, Eli, and I were the only ones inside and Eli was playing with his cars on the endtable in the living room. Then all of a sudden I heard him trip and fall (which is not that abnormal), but this time he cried like something was really wrong and he told me his arm hurt. After about 45 minutes of watching him keep his left arm straight down to his side like a soldier, and of him refusing to bend it no matter how much I coaxed him, I decided we needed to pack up and head to the ER. (Why do kids always get sick or hurt after the doctors offices are closed?) So, I called Jeannia and she came over to stay with Alyssa, Michael, and Emily while Matt, Eli, and I drove to St. Joe.

Of course the ER was packed and we had to wait quite awhile. The x-ray techs didn't see anything that looked obviously broken, but we had to wait for a doctor to come see us. He didn't see a break either, but said Eli's elbow was dislocated, which is a common injury in children under 4 years old. So, he twisted Eli's arm out and up and he felt it pop back into place. Eli cried the biggest tears while he was doing it, but as soon as the doctor finished, Eli quite crying. He was such a brave boy. The doctor said most kids begin using the arm as soon as it is popped back into place, but for some it takes awhile longer because they are still afraid if they move it that it will hurt. So he sent us home and said to follow up with our pediatrician in 3 days. We got home around midnight and Eli slept good until 4:30am when the Motrin wore off then he was crying and saying his arm hurt again. After more medicine he finally fell back asleep.

Well, this morning Eli wasn't crying anymore about the pain, but he still didn't want to use his arm and he was complaining that his hand and thumb hurt. He was also holding the wrist of his bad arm with his good hand. I just felt like something wasn't quite right, so I called Dr. Sparks, an orthopedic surgeon I work with, and she said to bring him to her and she would check him out. After having him move his fingers, wrist, and arm in several directions, she discovered that he only hurt when she twisted his arm outward. She said that was why he was holding his arm by the wrist, to keep his arm from turning that direction. She said that although a fracture couldn't be seen on the x-ray, she belived he had one at his radial head (a.k.a. elbow). Because of being so young, Eli still has cartlige where adults have bones and fractures don't show up there in cartlige. So he has a long arm cast for hopefully just a week. Dr. Sparks thinks that will be a long enough rest for it to heal. Eli wanted a purple cast, but I convinced him that red would be cool because he would look like Spider-Man. It's just a coinsidence that both Jeannia's and Terri's wedding colors are red and black. :) I haven't tried his tux jacket on him yet, to see if his arm will fit through it or not. Eli's already telling us that his arm is better and that he wants the cast off. This might be a long week.

VBS: Outrigger Island

"Living God's Unshakable Truth"

That was the theme for this year's Vacation Bible School at our church. It was for kids pre-Kindergarten thru 6th grade and was held in the evenings last week begining on Tuesday and ending last night with a closing program for family and friends. Our church was throughly decorated "hawaiian style" including all the classrooms, craft cabana, missions room, canteen, and even the teachers. The kids learned the ABC's (admit-believe-confess) of becoming a Chrisitan and they learned five Bible verses. Along with each verse, they learned a coresponding "life truth" that they could apply to their lives. They were: "I know God is real. I can believe there is no other God."; "I know Jesus is God's Son. I can celebrate who He is."; "I know my actions show what I believe. I can stand for truth."; "I know the Bible is God's Word. I can explore it's truth."; and "I know that Jesus is the only way. I can confess Him as my Savior."

When Alyssa goes on her mission trip later this summer, the group will be doing this same Bible school for kids in Madison, Wisconsin. Alyssa has been assigned to the 1st and 2nd grade level, so she volunteered at our church to get a jump start on what she would be doing. Emily really liked this since that meant Alyssa was in her group all week. Several times I heard Emily telling her friends, "my sister is going to be teaching this to other kids, so she's learning what to do." She always likes it when Alyssa is around. The really neat part about this is that it was an answered prayer. On Tuesday night when Alyssa got home from her meeting in St. Joe with the Baptist Association she told me she was assigned to the 1st and 2nd grade, so I called Diana (our church's VBS teacher for that grade level) and asked her if Alyssa could be with her for the rest of the week. Well, Diana had just asked Kyle, our VBS director, for a teenager to help her and they hadn't found one yet! God is always at work around us, we just have to take the time to notice.

Memorial Day

"Saluting the stars and strips flag is testimony of sincere patriotism, loyalty, love for our country and respect for American ideals. The flag of the United States of America symbolizes the freedoms, equality, justice and humanity which our forefathers defined as the essence of American democracy. The flag symbolizes the sacrifices made by millions of Americans to keep our way of life secure."**

"We say that the red in our flag symbolizes sacrifice and courage, and its white reflects purity of purpose and that the stars on the blue field represent unity of efforts by the states. Those are the attributes through which all of our citizens have made this country free and powerful. That is what our flag symbolizes today."**

We have always made an effort to ensure that our children know what others have had to do in order for us to live in a free country. We are constantly reminding them of what people face in other countries and how blessed we are to live in the United States of America. They know that in some countries people have to worship our Lord in secret. We are so thankful that on a Sunday morning we are able to take our family to church and worship with our fellow brothers and sisters in christ without fear. And our children have been taught how to respect a flag. It makes us so proud to watch them automatically rise to their feet in silence and place their hand over their heart during a parade when the flag passes by. Teaching the next generation of Americans how to show respect for our country and flag is the least we can do to show thanks to those who have served or are serving this great country in order to ensure our freedom.

**Taken from Veterans of Foreign Wars, Americianism Department, Ten Short Flag Stories.

6th Grade Promotion

Last month Michael and I went picture digging to find ones he could use for his class powerpoint presentation for 6th grade promotion. There were some silly ones that made us laugh and too many cute ones to choose from; but my favorite had to be the one from the first day of Kindergarten. With his Pokemon backpack, a wide, goofy grin, and a sparkle in his eyes, Michael looked like he was ready to take on the world. It's hard to believe that was over 6 years ago. Gone are the days of Max Steel, GI Joe, and Luke Skywalker. Now he'll be getting ready to take on junior high school in the fall. People weren't joking when they told me my children would grow up too quickly.

Well, what kind of blogging mom would I be if I didn't mention the awards Michael received tonight? He received the perfect attendence award (which came with 2 free tickets to a Royals game), the reading circle award, the lifetime reading circle award, and he was the Maysville 6th grade spelling bee champion. And he earned enough accelerated reader points during the year to rank fourth in his class. As you can tell mom and dad were proud and I know Michael was too, but it was hard to tell as he seemed the most interested in the refreshements and hanging out with his friends. I wanted to get a better picture of him after the promotion, but by the time I made my way out of the gym and found him, his tie was off, his shirt was untucked and he was eating cake (and feeding it to Eli).

So I figure in 6 more years I'll be sitting at my computer looking for this photo of Michael as I prepare a slide show for his high school graduation. Why do I get the feeling that the time will be here way before I am ready for it? --Kelly

Welcome to Our Blog

It was suggested to me that I should start a blog to keep our family and friends updated on what we're doing around here, so, I've decided to enter the world of blogging. I think it will be a fun, easy way to keep in touch with everyone. I'll let the kids post, too, if they have something to add. School will be out for the summer on Thursday and then things will get really busy around here--vacation bible school, baseball, t-ball, basketball, church camp, girl scout camp, mission trip, swimming lessons, two summer weddings and maybe some time to relax!! We'll do our best to blog about our actitvites and include some pictures. Our love to you all! --Kelly