Beautiful Butterflies

The butterflies at the Museum of Natural History are amazing!! Emaline must be extra lucky because one of the butterflies stuck with her for quite a while!!

Touring D.C.

Our tour continued today!! Even after seeing the Museum of Air and Space and the Museum of Natural History, Emaline still prefers the subway!!

Christmas Day 2008

Merry Christmas!! We had a wonderful day!! We opened presents at Grandma's house, went to visit Great Grandma, Aunt Sharon, and Uncle Frank, and then went into the city to see it all in lights!!

Cookies for Santa

We had so much fun making cookies for Santa!! It was a very special Christmas Eve!!

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue- Christmas Eve

It was a beautiful day in Washington D.C. today! Of all of the things we saw today, the most exciting to Emaline is definitely the metro/subway!! She says it was the best day of her life!!

Emaline loves Joshie:)

Today Emaline drew a picture on our driveway of herself with her wonderful friend Josh, or as she calls him, Joshie. It was so cute, and I started thinking of how long they have been friends. They have been friends since we moved here a little over 4 years ago. They were just babies when they started playing together. They have been calling each other boyfriend/girlfriend for about 3 years now. They made these "wedding invitations" in Sunday school a couple of months ago. Now, Emaline insists that she will marry Joshie!:) We just feel that they are still a little young for that! Anyway, here are some pics of them together through the years.

http://animoto.com/play/4Byhahy21rDE1qIPBP3F8Q

The above video was created by my friend Beth!! It is really cute!! Enjoy!!!

KCS Christmas Program

KCS Christmas Program

Emaline had her Christmas program at school today. Of course they were all adorable!! She was an angel in the program. Today was her last day of school until after the break!! Only a few more days until Santa comes!!

Our Kitty Linus

Our Kitty Linus

We thought we would share our cuddly kitty!! He is Em's buddy and our oldest child. He is now 10 years old!! We must boast that he is very loving, cuddly, and amazingly tolerant. We think he is the best kitty ever!!

Counting Down the Days!!

Getting Ready for Ho Ho Ho!!

We have been getting ready for Christmas!! Of course no one is quite as excited as Emaline!! I think she adds to her Santa list every day!! I always ask if she told Santa about all of these things. She had her "Joyful Noise" Christmas musical at church last Sunday. They were great!!

Halloween 2008

Halloween 2008

We love Halloween and enjoyed it so much this year!! We celebrated twice!! We had to drive to South Georgia early Saturday morning, but it was sooooo worth it!! We trick or treated (is that right?) at home Friday night then went to trunk or treat at Emaline's school. That was fun. . .but nothing like Rochelle, GA. Daddy told me that they do it right!! We somehow procured a spot on Daddy's neighbor's hayride to trick or treat! We were not the only hayride either! They were everywhere! And talk about decorating!! I hope you can tell by the somewhat dark pictures how they go all out!! It was awesome!! I have never seen anything like it, and neither has Emaline!! Thanks Mr. Kelly for saving us a spot on the hayride!! We accept your invitation!! We will be back next year!! Please save our seats!!

You will see lots of pics with Grandaddy!! Emaline HAD to sit on the Harley!! She had not seen it until this weekend. Thanks Daddy!! We had a GREAT weekend!!

Fall Getaway

Fall Getaway

We took a quick trip to the beach last weekend. We figured that the water would be too cold, so we didn't dress Emaline to swim at the beach. What a mistake we made! She got soaked!! We just let her play!! It was a wonderful weekend!! We should do it more often for sure!! We haven't posted in a while because we have been so super busy!! Kindergarten is going great at KCS!! I am loving 7th grade at OMMS!! We both learn a lot every day!!

Kindergarten- First Day!!!

Yesterday, August 7th, was Emaline's first day of kindergarten!! She was so excited!! There are 12 children in her class including three of her best friends from 4K and another little girl that we will start our fourth year of dance with. Her teacher, Mrs. Herring, certainly has her work cut out for her with these little divas!! This is going to be such a fun school year!!

Good News!!

I accepted a job today with Oak Mountain Middle School!! I will be teaching 7th grade literature and 7th grade gifted literature. I have agreed to pursue a second master's degree in gifted education. And so... the adventure continues!! I start teacher orientation on July 30th. I am so grateful for this opportunity!! Oak Mountain has a wonderful school system!!

Youth Camp 2008- Daytona

Youth Camp-2008

We returned from Daytona last night. We helped chaperone our youth group for their Beach Retreat at Daytona Beach. Emaline had an awesome time and became somewhat of a mascot. She has been so spoiled all week!! There was ALWAYS someone playing with her, holding her, or carrying her around. I think she enjoyed the trip more than anyone!! Our youth group is awesome!!! I am so proud of them!!! They were so well behaved, polite, and just plain good!!! Many people we associated with commented on how polite they were!! We have the very BEST youth group!!! We are so honored to serve with the youth team!!!

AFUMC Power Lab! VBS 2008

The Team Is Home!!

Just to let everyone know, the men are home from Mexico safe and healthy!! James got home about 3:30 am. They had a very productive trip!! Thanks so much for all of your prayers!! Please continue to pray for the teams that will continue the work on the orphanage!!

Mexico Mission Trip

James will be leaving for a Mission Trip to Mexico on Saturday morning bright and early. He is going with a team from Boyd Brothers. They will be pouring a foundation for an orphanage in Sabinas Hidalgo, Mexico during the day and teaching Vacation Bible School at night. After they leave, another team will come in to build the walls, and so on until the building is complete. We ask that you all pray for this team to have a safe and productive expedition. This is a list of the men going: James Morris, Steve Bredigkeit, Lee Wagner, Chris Cooper, Gaylon Benton, Kevin Spivey, Scott Norton, Austin Norton, Scotty Riggs, and Eddie Yell. They are asking that we pray specifically for the following:

· Safety and protection of the team and family members left in USA
· Success of the construction project (remember we aren’t contractors)
· The children and the directors of Douglas Children’s Home
· Pastor and members of Templo Belen de los Asembleos de Dios
· Children attending VBS
· Opportunities to share Christ and influence lives
· Team’s ability to handle the heat
· People who are covering our responsibilities at work
· Problem free crossing of the border
· Good health and protection from diseases
· Plane, car, and van free from mechanical problems

I have added a link to the blog they will be using so that we can all monitor the progress. It is labeled "Mexico Mission Trip." Thanks for your prayers!!

4K Graduation at KCS

Spring Fun

CBD Recital 2008

This is the Corky Bell Dance Recital 2008. These are pictures from Emaline's ballet and tap routines as well as her receiving a 3rd year trophy. James met her on stage with flowers when she received her trophy! She danced so beautifully!! We are so proud of her!! Through three costume changes, two tights changes, and three hairdo changes, she acted like a pro!! It is amazing how complicated recitals can be for a 5-year-old. And of course, it only gets better!!

A Tribute to Ms. Val

We would like to tell you about a wonderful woman!! Val, or Ms. Val as we call her, Emaline's Sunday School teacher, wonderful woman and friend, lost a hard fought battle with cancer just a little while ago. We met Val right after we moved here and joined our church. She used to work in the office at the church and never failed to greet us with a smile!! We were thrilled when Emaline moved into her 3-4-year-old Sunday School class. Val was an amazing woman, and she will be missed more than I can express. Please pray for the family she left behind: Ray her husband, Andy her oldest son, and Jimmy, her youngest, who will graduate from high school next Thursday. We love this family very much!! May God be with them through this loss!!

KCS Recital 2008

What a beautiful ballerina!! Tonight Emaline danced in the Kingwood Christian School (KCS) recital with all her ballerina friends!! They danced beautifully and had a very good time!! The third picture is of Emaline and her teacher, Ms. Robin. This is Emaline's third year with Ms. Robin. Thanks Ms. Robin for another great dancing year!!!

News and Updates

Wow! What a year we have had! I finally finished school on Thursday! Now what? Emaline has a lot coming up! Tomorrow is her last soccer game of the season, so the party is after the game. This past Tuesday was the tumbling show which was very cute. On the 10th, Emaline has dance recital #1, followed on the 17th with dance recital #2 at the BJCC. We will have wonderful company during the week of 17th! Grandaddy and Grandma Karen should both be here!! Emaline will graduate from preschool on the 22nd. Then...time for a break!! I think we will all need one by then!!

Good people

Do you wonder whether or not there are good people anymore? You hear of the horrible things that people do every day. Do you ever hear of the good things? I mean the really good things. Do you wonder if anyone would help you if you were 79 years old and had a blow out on I-65S. Well, my Papaw had a chance to find out a couple months ago.

Papaw decided it was time to go and visit his sisters in north Alabama. He lives in Columbus, Georgia. Being from an older generation, he did not take his cell phone with him. On his way home, he indeed had a blow out on I-65S near Pelham. After sitting in the truck for a while trying to decide what to do, he decided to get out and try to walk to the nearest exit. Luckily, a young lady saw him and decided that she would pull over and check on him. She offered her cell phone and the two of them tried to find help. He had no phone numbers with him and could not remember any useful ones. They thought they had found a wrecker service, but no one ever showed up. It is, after all, late Saturday afternoon. This young woman, a restaurant inspector, doesn't normally work on Saturdays either. Papaw insisted that God sent her to him that day!

This young woman, Tracy, stayed with Papaw for almost two hours that Saturday afternoon. When no feasible help showed up, she drove him to the nearest exit. This is when the next good person showed up! They drove into Med Center Mazda and found a man who was more than glad to help. The service manager sent a service man and a service truck to follow Papaw and Tracy back to the truck. The service man changed the tire and refused payment.

Papaw could finally continue his trek home. Tracy cared enough about him to follow him the next few miles down the interstate to make sure he was okay. He made it home safely a few hours later.

Papaw gave me the mission to find Tracy so that he could call her and thank her. I finally found her today! She sounds like a wonderful person! I wanted to tell her thank you and let her know just how much her kindness meant to our family.

There are definitely still good people in this world, right here, in Birmingham!!

Maybe!!!

We will see if we can handle a blog!! The real excitement in this family lies in the hands of a four-year-old girl. Is there anything to share in a blog? We shall see.