Hannah's Baptism

Hannah's baptism was a very special day. Most of our family attended along with a few ward members. She was able to wear my baptismal dress that I wore when I was baptized. That is a hugh family tradition that we have. Her dad baptized her and joked about holding her under for 10 minutes. Caroline was able to play the piano and Melanie was the chorister. Gregg gave the talk on baptism and I did the talk on the Holy Ghost. It was quite memorable.

Christmas 2008

Our family had a wondeful Christmas.We really enjoyed time with each other. Yes Christmas time can be quite stressful. It is all worth the look on their little faces when they get something they really wanted.

Hannah's 8 Today!

Well, we have yet another baptism to plan. Hannah is finally 8 and she is so excited. We are doing her baptism on Saturday at 10 AM. Caroline is playing the piano and Melanie is leading the music. Gregg is giving the talk on baptism and I am doing the talk on the Holy Ghost. Everyone is involved but Kimberly. I will have baptism pictures soon. We are so very proud of Hannah for wanting to be baptized and recieve the Holy Ghost.

Welcome Home Caroline

The girls worked very hard to create this for Caroline. They missed their big Sis. and she missed them. My mom kept everyone while Gregg and I were away. We really appreciate her so much.

Caroline was dressed and ready to go home. We were very impressed with the UNC Children's Hospital. Everyone was wonderful and we knew that we had the best care possible for Caroline. Once again, thanks for the prayers on her behalf. We know they helped.

The nurses in the recovery room tied a cute Christmas ribbon around Caroline's cast. It did brighten the mood despite the terrible pain she was in.

Caroline's Progress

This the aftermath of a three hour surgery. She did great and her doctor was pleased with everything. She had very good drugs and great nurses.

This is Caroline about 30 minutes before surgery. She was in great spirits because her dad made her laugh. She amazed me how brave she was going in and coming out. I love you Caroline thanks for being so strong.

Surgery Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the big day for Caroline's foot surgery. We are all a little apprehensive about everything, but we feel things will go well. Alot of people were fasting and praying for her on Sunday. I know that Heavenly Father will bless her and her surgeon Dr. Campion. Thanks for any prayers on her behalf. I appreciate it. It is my birthday tomorrow but I don't really care about all that I just want Caroline to be OK and her foot to be right. Sending her off for a third surgery is still very hard. It just about killed us when she was 6 months of age to watch her go back for surgery. I will say that I am very grateful that it is nothing life threatening and I know she will continue to walk and run and be normal. We are indeed blessed.

I Am Thankful For My Children

I am so very thankful to my Heavenly Father for sending me four sweet and precious girls. They are all so different yet wonderful in their own way. When I say to people that I have four girls I always get a strange look and then sympathy from the person who then says "four girls!" "Are you gonna try for that boy?" Girls are great and I would not trade it for the world. Heavenly Father knew I could handle four girls and so did I.

Smallest Dog in the World

Yes, this has to be the smallest dog in the world. Her name is Cocoa and she belongs to my dad. Kimberly thinks that it is a toy and sometimes squeezes her tummy too tight. She was the runt of the liter. She sits on my dad's shoulders while they sit and watch TV together. This is definately and old people dog.

Dream Come True

We finally started on our house. My husband had really worked hard to get started. Patience has been a huge factor in this venture. Lots of prayer has gone into this project. We are so very excited. Gregg has designd a large part of the design. Hopefully we will be in by January. I will post more stages at a later date.

Hot Air Ballon

Ever so often we have hot air balloons fly over our house. One day I would love to soar through the sky in such a beautiful ride. It is quite amazing watching from the ground.

Tagged!!!

I have been tagged by Crazy Jenn to post the sixth picture in the sixth folder. It happed to be the bathing suit on the head created by Kimberly. I'm glad she figured out how to breathe. She is quite creative! I tag Heidi, Mandy, and Deon!

HALLOWEEN FUN

All of the pictures are a combination of Trunk or Treat and Halloween night on a cute flat bed trailor being pulled through our in-laws neighborhood. Kimberly really got the concept of trick or treating. She totally loved it. We certainly racked up on candy!

Surgery For Caroline

This is one of many cast that Caroline has adored her left foot. Right now she has a black one. The surgeon is stretching soft tissue and tendons hoping the correct as much of her foot as possible before he does surgery on December 9th (my birthday). We are going to UNC Chapel Hill Hospitals for all of this wonderful stuff. I am extremely greatful for such a great doctor who seems to know exactly what he is doing. We are hopeful that everything will be corrected. We will definately be fasting and praying on her behalf.

MULE DAYS

Saturday morning we got up early and went"up town" as we say around here and went to the annual Mule Day parade. These are some shots that Melanie took. I love small town parades with the beauty queens in fancy cars, veterans waving flags, high school bands, and clowns. In this parade we have mules and lots of horses. The mule is celebrated in this community for all of it's hard work to help farmers. A mule is cross between a horse and a donkey. Not too pretty. Mule Days is a festival that attract about 70,000 people in a four day span. There are carnival rides, rodeos, street dances, bands and singing in the grove, and lots of vendors. It is quite a weekend for those who paricipate. We just attended the parade this year. Oh, and don't forget the plethora of poop that is left behide from those mules and horses.

COUNTRY LIVING

Here are two things that you cannot find in the city. We wake up every morning to a breath taking sunrise. Right now the sound of geese go along with it. The cotton is quite amazing as well. It kind of looks like snow. We don't get much snow around here. There is a different feeling out here that has to be experienced to appreciate. I love not hearing police sirens or lound booms from Ft. Bragg. Don't get me wrong, I do miss Fayetteville but living in the country is hard to beat. Being so close to nature is kind of like being close to our Father in Heaven. No distractions so one can ponder and think. Ya'll come and visit sometime.

Coverted Redneck

Gregg has always called himself a red neck ,but I now he really is one. He borrowed a friends tractor to plow our lot for the house which is still a work in progress. Maybe someday! He looks quite comfortable sitting on the tractor.

Band Aid Fun

I found little Kimberly in the bathroom applying all of the Band Aids to her leg. At first I was upset, but then it was too funy to be mad at. She worked really hard to open the whole box and strategically stick each one onto her leg. Nice job Kimberly! We sure do love your cuteness.
I really do love the innocence of children. I need to just chill out sometimes and enjoy each day with my children. They grow way to fast and I need to hold on to every cute moment like this one.

Family Photo

This picture was taken this summer and I thought it was great. My sister-in -law took it at White Lake. I always love a family picture. I will probably send this out in Christmas cards this year.

Tragedy!

We had a terrible thing happen in our family this weekend. Our dog Hinckely passed away. We were very sad and quite depressed about how it happened. However, we got another dog the very next day. How quickly a little puppy can wash away your cares and sadness. We loved Hinckley but we love our new dog Skipper also. It is amazing what parents will do to take away any pain from their children. Skipper helped.

Kimberly's Butterfly Impression

Kimberly loves to put things on her head. She decided to put her bathing suit on. She said "Look Mommy I'm a butterfly." How cute is that. She cracks me up with some of the things that she says.

Cardboard Box

Hannah took it to the extreme by sleeping in a cardboard box. She thought that it was quite comfortable. I had to throw the box out after a couple of days. What is it with kids and boxes?

WHITE LAKE VACATION

We had a great time at White Lake the week of the fourth.We got to water ski, jet ski, and go tubing all over White Lake. The girls had a blast. They got to spend quality time with their grandparents and cousins. I am grateful that we were able to have a fun family vacation. Melanie learned how to water ski. She's a natural. Hannah learned to kneeboard, what a pro. Caroline enjoyed tubing and hardly got thrown off. Kimberly just loved riding in the boat. Gregg and I were thrilled to see the joy on their faces. Thanks Brother Ginn for the wonderful memories made.