February 2020

Even though this month had an extra day it still went by super fast!

Thad finally got the opportunity to attend Superstart, a Christian conference for 4th and 5th graders in Tulsa. He watched Eli go the last two years and couldn't wait for his turn. He said he enjoyed everything about it from the speaker, the musicians, the break out sessions, and the time he got to spend with Jeff. He can't wait to go again next year.

Zeke got a tune-up this month when he went to the vet, got his shots, had several teeth pulled and two cysts removed. Poor guy is getting cataracts and is slowing down quite a bit. His 11th birthday was this month. His favorite things are cuddling up in a blanket and sleeping...especially on our bed!

Valentine's Day was fun for us all. The girls enjoyed getting and giving Valentine's cards at school. Jeff and I gave the kids a Valentine's treat and we dipped chocolate covered strawberries. Jeff also surprised me with flowers in a flask. Such creativity!

We also had a great time celebrating Papa's birthday with him. It was so special to be able to be with him on his birthday since we haven't been able to in years! The Lord blessed us with beautiful weather, great food, and a fun time with family.

We spent as much time as possible outside on days that were nice. We have had so much rain that on some days it seemed as if we would never see the sun again! We have been working on clearing old fence to make way for new and along with that removing what feels like thousands of vines! It is amazing to see the transformation. I wish I had remembered to take pictures.

The rest of our normal activities continued. I had the opportunity to give another lecture at BSF this month. It was the first time that I wasn't nervous! Thank God for his grace and the Holy Spirit that enables us to do things beyond ourselves.

That about wraps things up for this month. We hope that you too have been blessed with family to love and a relationship with God that brings you great joy.

Enjoy the slideshow!

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January 2020

I can hardly believe that 2019 is over not to mention the fact that January 2020 has already passed as well! We had another busy month with lots of fun memories.

Mom and Nana kicked the New Year off with a girls shopping trip and lunch date. It was fun to get to be together and we both enjoyed catching up and shopping for bargains at Savers!

The boys raced in a swim meet the first weekend in the month. Both boys did awesome and represented our team well. It is fun to watch them race! I love that no matter how they place, they are good sports and cheer everyone on.

Eden started the month getting her first pair of glasses. I didn't think she could get any cuter...I was wrong! Be sure to watch the slideshow to see for yourself.

Marie had an awards ceremony at school. She received awards in several areas including citizenship and math skills. It was fun to watch her skip across the front of the auditorium when her name was called. She lives life with LOTS of EXUBERANCE!

The next week, Thad qualified to swim in a championship meet at the University of Arkansas. He did a great job swimming against tough competition. He walked away with a 6th place in the butterfly and a 9th place finish in the . Eli went along to cheer for his brother and enjoyed hanging out with other members of their team.

This month Eli had the opportunity to attend CIY Contact a Christian youth conference for 6 and 7th grade boys held at ORU in Tulsa. He had a great time. He loved everything about it from the speaker to the music to the breakout sessions. He can't wait to go again next year.

The same weekend Eli was gone, the rest of us helped watched some kiddos of friends from church. Baby Isaiah is 6 months old and won his way into our hearts...especially Thad. He fussed and cried for a few hours until Thad held him and then he started "talking" and smiling. Thad is the new baby whisperer in our house! He was such a trooper that when Isaiah fell asleep on him, he volunteered to stay there until he woke up.

In other news, both Marie and Anna are a few teeth lighter. Marie is getting to be a pro at teeth pulling but Anna preferred someone else finish the job. The boys tried tying a piece of floss to her and then to the roller coaster and pushing it down the hill. It didn't work out as planned so we went to plan B and used a piece of floss to pull it out. She was excited to pick out a yo-yo for her treasure for her first lost tooth. No tooth fairy here. :-)

We also had our first snow day of the year. School was cancelled...sort of. Because the boys do their school virtually, they never have a snow day. Also, the school now sends home packets of work for the kids to do in the event of a snow day. Marie had several worksheets to do in between playing outside. The snow didn't even last the day but the kids made the best of it while it was here. They even got the sleds out and tried to sled down the roller coaster. It was packy snow so there were snowballs flying and snowmen being built. The dogs and I preferred to stay inside by the fire where it was nice and toasty warm.

We finished the month with another swim meet. Nana and Papa came to cheer on the boys as they raced against 100s of other great swimmers. This was the first meet where Eli and Thad faced off in the same heat of one race. It is fun to watch them swim. They improved their times in every event they swam. Way to go boys!

I hope your January was filled with fun memories and that you too can thank God for family.

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