Shout Out to the Lord!

On October 23, 2008, I shared with all of you that Jeramy and I will be going through some life changes. In this process, our goals were to pay off my car and save money to have child #2. It has been a LONG 7 months! This has been the absolute hardest thing we have ever done/gone through. Our marriage was tested, as parents we were tested and most of all as individuals we were tested. There were ups and there were downs, tears came and went, anger and resentment were all around us. However, through it all there was LOVE. Not just the kind of love you share with your friends or your pets, but there was the kind of love you commit to one another as you joined together on that special day. And the only way we knew how to love each other was to pray for it. The older I get, the more I realize that prayer is a HUGE part of life, my life! Fifteen years ago, I would have never imagined my life where it is today and I have my Mother to thank for all of this. She has taught me that the foundation in life, in marriage and in family is prayer and trusting in the Lord. It may have taken me a long time to get here, but I'm here and I am giving God the glory!

Through hard times there is always good. And I have so many blessings, an absolutely amazing husband and beautiful, healthy little girl and a wonderful loving family.

Our goals are still the same and we are so proud to announce that yesterday, we paid off my car! Can I tell you how huge this is. I helped....but Jeramy, he has out done himself. He devoted himself to this goal for me. He worked endless hours and he killed himself every week in some form or fashion. He has given me the best Mother's Day gift of all. With this accomplishment, we can be confident that come December I will be able to be a SAHM(Stay at Home Mom)! Our issues are far from over, we still have a lot more to accomplish, but through prayer and trust and love we have been successful together and that is what a great marriage is made of!

Jeramy, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. You are my rock and I love you so very much!

And this my friends is my shout out to the Lord.

Happy are those who are strong in the Lord, who want above all else to follow your steps. When they walk through the Valley of Weeping, it will become a place of springs where pools of blessing and refreshment collect after rains! They will grow constantly in strength, and each of them is invited to meet with the Lord in Zion.
~ Psalm 84:5-7

Before bed time, we always say a little prayer. I feel that this is important in Ella's life. A couple of weeks ago, I noticed when I started to pray that Ella pulled her hands together, in front of her heart, and held them there until I was done. I thought "did she really just do that?" After I laid her into bed, I told Jeramy about it and we both just shook our heads in amazement. About a week later, Jeramy put Ella to bed, he came into the room I was in and told me that she did it again! Now it is just something she does...

Ella is such a quick little learner and I would imagine that she participates in daily prayer at Aunt Melissa's house. So thank you Aunt Missa for teaching my sweet little girl these powerful gestures. I bet you would have never imagined that she would teach them to Jeramy and I!

Hoppy Easter!

This was a wonderful Easter! It was an extremely busy weekend, but lots of fun for all. We started off the Easter Celebration at church Saturday night. Ella was given a beautiful homemade dress from a friend of ours and she looked like a doll. Easter Service was amazing!!! Every year it is held at MTSU's Murphy Center and the arena is packed. This year we were entertained by Charlie Daniels! What a guy... the funniest part was him singing "The Devil Went Down To Georgia!" It took everything I had not to stand up and play the air fiddle! hehehe :)

Sunday morning we headed over to Nanna and Poppies for a fantastic pancake breakfast. We ate, we played outside, we were exhausted! Next was home to nap and cook for later in the day... but the napping didn't really happen. Oh well, we still had a great day!

Yesterday afternoon we headed over to my brother's house in Manchester for our family Easter Celebration! Craig and Pam were gracious enough to have it at their gorgeous home this year. It was a blast!!!! The food was fabulous, as always and the Easter egg hunt was so much fun! Ella was exhausted but I know she had the best day!

I thank you Lord Jesus for giving us this day!

Yay for Coloring!

If you don't have your sound up, then do so... Ella figured out how to color, sorda! I felt like I could see the wheels turning in her head as she tried to figure out how to hold it. Then she found that if you touch the paper it leaves a mark...now that is exciting! You can hear her get excited...too bad that paci is her mouth :( When I took it out for some more fun videos, the crayon went straight to the mouth, go figure! Who knew crayons tasted so good :)

Dirty Mouth...Clean It Up!

I wonder if I wipe Ella's mouth too often????

Girls Road Trip

A couple of weekends ago, Heather and I loaded up the girls and headed down to Savannah, GA to visit my Dad, Amy, Rachael and Emily. It was a great trip, but the weather was kind of chilly. However that did not stop our fun!!! We had a packed weekend and such a great time...

Friday, we headed to the park to see the Budweiser Clydesdale Horses. They were in town for all of the weekend festivities in Savannah. St Patty's Day was the following Tuesday and Savannah is the 2nd largest St Patty's Day celebration in the U.S. They had a couple of parades and the Clydesdale were walking in them. They are such big and pretty horses!
After our time with the horses, we headed across the way to the playground. We played here until Dad came to meet us then we all went out to lunch.

Heather and Reagan all bundled up!
Reagan on the swings
These things were too fun... And Rylee and Emily loved them!!! They spin around really fast :)
Rylee enjoying the swings
Ella Jean loves to swing! She giggles the whole time...
Ella and Rachael went down the slides many many times...Rachael is such a help with the girls!
Later that evening Heather and I got a date night! We left the girls with Rachael and Emily and Dad and Amy took us to downtown Savannah. Of course our first stop was Paula Deen's!
Then we headed over to the City Market. This is a strip between buildings that hosts lots of little shops and cafes! Very Cool...
They had live music and we just walked around and we even made a little stop in the Fudge Shop!!
Savannah has some really great history and this is one of my favorite spots, so here are Heather and I posing for a picture :)
The plants were in full bloom and there were Azaleas every where! So gorgeous.
Here is Dad and Amy with more of the pretty flowers!
Saturday morning we headed back down to River Street to enjoy some St Patty's Day activities. There were blow ups, and face painting, balloon animals, Irish Dancing; Even though it was pretty chilly we all had a great time!

Dad and Reagan
Balloon Animals; Ella loved these ladies until it was her turn. She got scared and every time the one in the Yellow would step close to her she cried!
Here is Rylee getting a rainbow n her cheek!
Miss Thing striking a pose!
Dad decided to get some luck of his own!
After the festival we headed down to Tybee Island to watch the St Patty's Day parade. We made a quick trip out to the beach and then it was right back to the car! The temps were about 10 degrees colder and the wind was strong. We never made it to the parade, but that's ok! Naps were highly appreciated ;)

Rylee on the beach!
Rachael, Emily and Ella down by the waters edge.
Cold wind doesn't stop this girl! She had an absolute blast...
She kept chasing the seagulls behind her. I am so proud that Ell enjoys the beach! She wouldn't have left if it weren't for me!
Heather and Ella on the bridge.
It was such a quick trip, but it was well worth it! We got some great quality time with our Dad and Rachael and Emily are turning into teenagers too fast. Even though Savannah is a great place to visit, I still miss them all very much!