30 Days of Thankfulness: Day 12

Day 12: I am thankful for our freedom and for our veterans who have given us our freedom in the United States. May God bless you all each and every day! May we always remember and pay tribute and honor to you!

30 Days of Thankfulness: Day 11

Day 11: I am thankful for TAB! Most of you may not know about this secret beverage....or most of you do not appreciate it like I can. For some though (Cheri and Aunt Ann), this post is for you! One a day makes me a happy girl!

30 Days of Thankfulness: Day 10

Day 10: I am thankful for God's creation! When I am outside, I am in awe of God's creativity in making every creature, every plant, and every person. Wow! I am also thankful that I get to enjoy it!

30 Days of Thankfulness: Day 9

Day 9: I am thankful for this little guy. Jackson Hyatt, you are such a fun addition to our family. I am thankful that you have a love for dogs and balls. You continually point to a ball and say "buh-ball." You also point to the TV and say "buh-ball" too. That means, "I want to watch some sort of ball game on the TV." I know that your Dad loves this about you. You may be our little ball player.

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You love your Daddy the most!

Here you are having fun with Bambee!

You, too, are curious!

You are funny and not afraid to climb on or in anything. (Here you are in the drawer in our train table.)

About to climb in a box....

almost in....

Did it!

Getting in the fridge is also a favorite pasttime of yours, little J!

You are going to be my climber and my schemer! I am thankful for your adventurous heart!

30 Days of Thankfulness: Day 8

Day 8: I am thankful for Charlie's creativity and curiosity about EVERYTHING! Charlie asks many questions every hour. He is a puzzle worker, and he loves to explore nature. He will probably be my math and science kiddo.

Exploring a magnolia seed pod

Getting "butterfly" nets (aka fishing nets) ready for butterfly catching

The scientist in action

Where are those butterflies? (Notice that he has his train in his hand as well. Multi-tasking!)

Big Charlie will help me!

30 Days of Thankfulness
*Disclaimer....These next few posts will be a big catch-up for me. First, I am never good at "daily" disciplines (praying about that and working on it)...and Jackson did have a virus last week..(not a good excuse).  So here are Days 7-16. I will do a few with pictures and a few without pics. Thanks for understaning.

Day 7:  I am thankful for Charlie and Jackson's teachers. Both boys go to school a few days a week, and they both have incredible teachers that love on them each day. Thanks to Miss Emily, Miss Ann, and Miss Cindy for loving our sweet Jackson. Also, thank you to Mrs. Maddox for teaching Charlie each day. We love our school! I am also thankful for all of the teachers that they have at church. Both boys love it each Sunday. Adam and I are thankful that God has blessed us with these sweet ladies for our boys.

30 Days of Thankfulness--Day 5 (a little late) and 6

Day 5: I am so thankful for our church, Mountain Brook Community Church. When Adam and I got married, we searched for about a year before landing at MBCC. We had friends at many churches, and we were going to different churches ourselves. Coming from two different denominations, God led us to a compromise at MBCC. There, we found like-minded Christian friends in our same stage of life who encouraged us and welcomed us. We found strong biblical teaching which has strengthened both of our walks with God. Both of us have made many friends younger and older than us through our time at church. Our church family has helped us through many times...both good and difficult. For example, when Jackson was in the NICU when he was born, so many people prayed for us, brought us meals, and kept Charlie for us. We are so thankful to God for our church.

Day 6: This one goes along with our church. I am so thankful for our Core Group or Care Group at church. This group is made up of around 5-7 couples. Adam and I have been in a group for about four years now. Those couples (both the ones in our group now and the ones from groups past) have become dear friends. We have all spent time praying for one another, laughing with one another, and crying with one another. We have gone through tragedies together, and we have rejoiced together. If you are not in a small group in your own church, I highly recommend it. Our group has changed during the years, but each couple that we have gotten to know in there has kept our children, prayed with us, and played with us. Adam and I both know what a blessing it is to have friends that we both enjoy together.

Friday night at church, we had a Fall Family night. Our family really enjoyed it. Charlie got his face painted with his friend, Adair, and Jackson just loved crawling around (he is about to take off walking..a few steps today). Charlie mastered with a little help from a little girl, the big blow-up slide. We ate hot dogs and lots of candy. They even had a bonfire and some local fire trucks for the kids to climb on and explore.

Church friends from earlier this year

Another church buddy, Nathan

Julia and JT are church friends and Briarwood MDO friends

*As you can see, God has truly blessed us with dear Christian friends at church. For that, I am truly thankful!

Welcome Home, Ueltscheys!

Last weekend, we got to be some of the first friends to welcome home our dear friends, the Ueltscheys. They have been serving in Peru with Peru Mission as medical missionaries. We got to see them the day they left from Birmingham last August, and then they came through Birmingham on their way back to Tupelo last week. Whitney and I are friends from MSU, and we both served as each other's maid/matron of honor in our weddings. She is one of my "sisters" that I never had growing up. We were so excited to welcome them home. In our home that night, we had eight kiddos playing...seven boys...needless to say, it was a crazy night!

Marcus and Adam

Lynda, Whitney, and Sarah Caroline--I think the only person that I missed was Terry or Doodad...so sorry!

Jake

Sam

Whitney and Karen

Rebecca and Whitney

Graham, Sam, and Luke at the McWane Center


Ben and Graham-cousins

30 Days of Thankfulness--Day 4

Day 4: I am thankful for FAMILY! Again, I have to give all of the gratitude to God for placing me in a loving family that is still close today. Also, He gets the credit for giving me Adam and his family. Our whole family is close and for that I am truly thankful. Both sets of grandparents have kept our kids, fed our kids, and most importantly loved our kids! To Bambee and Big Charlie, KK and Bubba...thank you for being wonderful examples for Charlie and Jackson.

Bambee and Big Charlie--April 2011

Lily Kate and Price are our "Mississippi cousins." We love them so much. Here is to many more Smith Lake adventures with those two! Charlie loves to wear "Priceman's" clothes. Jackson and Charlie love their sweet Lily Kate and Price.

KK and Bubba at Smith Lake with the boys--May 2011

Shelby is here at Charlie's birthday party. We are so thankful to have a cousin that lives in town. She loves to read books to the boys and shows them fun dance moves for all of our dance parties.

Uncle G and Aunt April at Shelby's soccer game. We are so blessed to have them here in town right around the corner.

The Blair Family at Seaside in May 2011

Big Charlie and Bambee with Charlie at Surf Burger in Pensacola

Aunt Priss and Uncle Dean live in Mississippi. We love getting to see them there and at the Lake. Charlie and Jackson love having two Aunt Aprils...we call this one Aunt Priss :). I was blessed to knows sweet April as a friend before I even knew Adam. We have had so much fun together. Here's to many more memories!

Uncle Dean with Lily Kate and Price at Smith Lake. I actually knew Dean before I knew April, Adam or any of the Blairs. We love our Mississippi roots and friends.

As you can tell, we spend a lot of time with both sides of our family. We also love all of our cousins spread throughout the country....more pictures to come.

Happy weekend, everybody! Roll Tide Roll! (Don't worry, I will be cheering on for my DAWGS next weekend when they face the Tide...scary day.)

30 Days of Thankfulness-Day 3

If you know me well, this one will not be hard to guess! I am so thankful to God for my FRIENDS! Also, if you know me well, you know that there is not enough space here to list or show all of my dear friends. (Sorry ahead of time for not including everyone. I actually looked for more pictures, but they are on an old computer.) I have friends that are far (Peru and Uganda), and friends that are near (Alabama and Mississippi). God has given me friends that are younger and friends that are older than I. I am also a "friend mixer," so don't be suprised if my friends know each other. I definitely can share friends...and I am thankful for that too.

I think that I attribute my love of friends to my mom. She has a great group of Tuscaloosa friends that she still keeps in touch with several times a year. They are her "Tuesday Tuna" group, and they all keep in touch. She has shown me that you are loyal to friends and to family. You support them in their joys and in their sorrows. You cry with them and rejoice with them...and certainly eat and shop with them! I am so thankful that God has given us the joy of friendship in this lifetime. Thank you to all who have impacted me in my lifetime.

This is my sweet friend, Whitney. I just got to take this picture with her last week when her family moved back here from being in Peru for over a year. What a fun memory to have her family in my home last week. Including my kids and her nephews, we had eight kiddos here...seven which were boys. It was pure fun chaos! (More pictures to come of our reunion!)

Here is my dear friend, Lydia. She was in one of my first writing classes when she was in fifth grade. She is a beautiful young woman who is now a senior in college. She has advised me in many areas...decorating, fashion and boys (before Adam). She loves my children like her own. I treasure our times together.

Jennifer and I go all the way back to my first day at Brookwood Forest. We have shared many trips together, many "debriefings" together, many Diet Cokes together, and just lots of fun together. She is Aunt Jenn to my kiddos, and they love her!

Here is my dear friend, Meredyth. We were roommates for a long time and God has truly blessed us with a sweet friendship. She is known as Mimi to my kids and she is truly an aunt to them. Meredyth is my fashion consultant and just my listener.

I think God has given me such good girlfriends since he never gave me a sister. To Him, I am eternally grateful!

Thank you to all of these friends and the many more throughout the years...I am thankful for you!
--to my elementary friends who showed me how to be a friend
--to my junior high and high school friends...especially my Monday morning Bible study who showed me how to love each other and to love our God
--to my Chi Omega sister--what fun memories that we have
--to the G-rated hall my junior and senior year--you all taught me to have fun and make memories
--to my Samford ADPi sistas---you taught me to have more fun after college...thanks for adopted me as an ADPi
--to my Gresham friends--you all taught me to love the kids that I teach more than the subject that I teach
--to my BWF family and friends--you taught me how to love the students and their families that I taught each and every day
--to my MBCC and Briarwood friends...you all have taught me to love God and love others well
--to my MBCC moms' group and dear core group friends...you have taught me how to love my children and have helped me learn to trust and lean on others for any and all kinds of help
--to my mentors throughout the years (Mrs. Brandon, Lucy, Ellen, Missy, Peggy, Cheri, Jeanne, etc., etc., etc.)...thank you for investing in my life
--to Adam...thanks for being my very best friend and for always letting me have my 'friend' time.
--to our good Sovereign God who created friendship...I am truly overwhelmed in gratitude to You!

Sorry for the long post. I guess you can write a lot about something that is important. Thanks for "listening"...if you are a good friend, you know that I cannot just say one thing. If I left a group out, don't worry, I will write again soon!