Wyatt is 3!

November 20, 2005


Today

My nephew Wyatt is 3! I can't believe he is 3 already.
I still remember when Sage called to tell me she was in labor. We were living in Sumter, but had already bought our house in Florence and were moving in 2 weeks! We couldn't wait to be closer to Sage, Wes and Wyatt so that our children could grow up together. It seems like just yesterday and it is hard to believe it has already been 3 years. Wow!

The new family picture on November 20, 2005


Sage, Wyatt and Wes today
(Walker left with my parents)


A few more pictures from the day Wyatt was born....
Aunt Kayne holding Wyatt for the first time.


Anna Grace meeting Wyatt for the first time.
So sweet. AG couldn't wait to hold the baby!


My dad (Big Pop) holding Baby Walker at Wyatt's birthday party today at the park.


The cake Sage made - a caterpillar


Everyone eating hot dogs and cake


Ethan and AG crossing over troll bridge


Sage with the boys under the tree


Aunt Sage and AG


AG, Krista, Wyatt and Micah play with their new horses in the sand.


After the party we spent the day at Wyatt's house. We enjoyed watching him open his presents and then everyone went down for a nap or went shopping. Mom and I went shopping and when we came back to Sage's house, Thomas was asleep on the couch, Sage and Wes were out shopping and Wyatt was still asleep. We found Big Pop and AG having a special tea party in the kitchen. Big Pop made hot chocolate for them to share with AG's favorite food - oranges. What a special moment.


We had a wonderful day celebrating the birth of Wyatt! What a special boy he is and is becoming.
Wyatt, we are so happy God brought us to Florence and allowed us to be a part of your life. It has been amazing getting to know you these past three years. You are such an amazing young man and I love hearing what your mommy and daddy are teaching you. I also love to hear about your love for God and Jesus. I love your sweet conversations you have with your parents, us and Anna Grace. I love watching you and Anna Grace together. You have such a sweet, special love for each other. We enjoyed spending your special day with you and look forward to many more birthdays in the future!!

Anna Grace's Thanksgiving Play

A few weeks after school started in September I received a phone call from Anna Grace's teacher at school asking me to be the room mother of her class. I was the room mother for AG's late three's class two years ago, so I accepted the request. I figured it would be about the same as the last time - the main job I had was calling parents to help bring food to the holiday parties.

So, imagine my surprise when AG's teacher asked me to come in and meet with her about the pilgrim costumes I needed to make for the children to wear in the Thanksgiving play at school. The What?? Does it require sewing?? When did I agree to this?? These were all questions that quickly ran through my head. I was relieved when I saw that the bonnets, hats, and collars required no sewing; just some staples, scissors and glue. Now I could handle that!

Remember last week when AG was sick?? Well, in addition to decorating my house for Christmas, I also made pilgrim costumes for the Thanksgiving play at AG's school. They turned out well and the kids did fabulous in the play!
AG's teacher is from Scotland and she has family in town visiting for the week, so she wasn't at school on Friday. Guess who was the substitute teacher?? Yes, it was me. I enjoyed the day spending time with AG and her friends.

Time to line up and walk to the fellowship hall.


Is it time to go in yet?


Waiting out in the hallway while the parents are seated.


Singing in the play. Different classes were corn, turkeys, pilgrims and indians.


Enjoying the feast in the classroom.


Happy Thanksgiving!!

The Truth Project

Wow...
Thomas and I have re-joined a small group we were a part of when we first moved to Florence. They are an amazing group of people and we have missed them, so we are so happy to be a part of their small group again.

What we are studying and learning right now is amazing...
It is a program called "The Truth Project". It is so wonderful and just what I need right now in my life. It is a good dose of reality and exactly what I need to keep me grounded in my faith and secure in my faith. One of the questions the speaker asks is, "Do you believe that what you believe is really real?" Something to really ponder. How can we share our faith with others if we don't believe that what we believe is real??
He asks some powerful thought provoking questions with such simple answers. It all goes back to the bible - and the simple truth that is so black and white. Society has taken the truth and corrupted it into lies, but I am being brought back home to the truth and it excites me to no end. Whenever I am brought back to the feet of God I am filled with awe, wonder, amazement, excitement and such joy!!!

We have only had one night of this bible study and I am anxiously awaiting our next Monday night meeting. One exciting thing I have already learned (and you would think I would have already known this) is the answer to the question,
"Why did Jesus come into the world?"

Of course my immediate response is that He came into the world to save it. But guess what?? He actually came into the world to testify to the truth.
This simple answer is found in the book of John when Jesus is testifying to Pilate.
John 18:37-38 says
"You are a king, then!" said Pilate.
Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason
I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.
Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."
"What is truth?" Pilate asked.

Wow. Jesus came to this Earth to testify to the truth. So what is the truth - as Pilate asked? Do we even know what the truth is? Our world today teaches us that the truth is relative. Everyone has their own version of what the truth is. The truth is different in each person's eyes. But guess what the bible says truth is?? The amazing speaker takes us thru many scripture references that point us to God.
The truth is simply - God.

Jesus said earlier in John - John 14:6 - "I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

Colossians 2:2,3,9-10
...attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.

Jesus was God in human form. He was sent to this Earth to testify to the truth.
The opposite of truth is lies. God is truth.

So back to Pontius Pilate asking Jesus what is the truth?
After he asked this, Pilate turned and walked away.
Ravi Zacharias (one of the experts in the video) states, "Pontius Pilate walked away from the greatest authority asking the greatest question and committed the greatest crime."

Wow....I am speechless...

If you have a moment, I highly encourage you to take a look at the trailer for the study. There is a short and a long trailer. Both are great. Click on the one you want to look at and enjoy!

Click on this link to open up "The Truth Project" website.
The Truth Project

John 8:32 -
Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

Cabin Fever - Day 4

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care....


Well...Christmas has officially begun at our house....
One of our trees is up. AG enjoyed helping me decorate the tree today.
But she had to take breaks when she didn't feel well.


The fireplace


Call me Martha....I made some ornaments today...
A "K" for Kayne


An "A" for Anna...
I also made a "G" for Grace...


This was the sweetest part of my day.
AG drew a picture. When she was done she told me it was a picture for Santa.


So, we put it in an envelope.


And put it in the mailbox with a stamp on it. (Don't tell AG, but I later took the letter out of the mailbox b/c I wanted to keep it.) I plan to give it to her when she gets older (and no longer believes). What a sweet memory!! Love it!

I do have cabin fever and am ready to get back to my life. But like I said before, it has been nice spending time with AG too.

Please continue to pray for her. She had a fever of 102 this afternoon. Then she complained about how hot she was, so I think the fever may have broken. She felt cooler tonight, so I am praying she is healed!!

Trapped at home - Day 3

What do you do when your daughter is sick for the third day in a row? It is rainy outside and you have no where to go?
You put up Christmas decorations!!

That's right! AG and I decided to put up Christmas decorations since she still has a fever and we could either put up Christmas decorations or watch Noggin again...and there is only so much Little Bear that I can handle before I start falling asleep.

I always enjoy watching AG go thru the boxes of Christmas decorations as she finds treasures she hasn't seen in a year.It is precious and means so much to me. I took a few pictures as she unwrapped some of the treasures.

What could it be??
Such excitement and anticipation - it is almost like unwrapping presents before Christmas!


One of AG's favorite things to do??
"Talk up" her manger scenes.
She LOVES her manger scenes and enjoys playing with them so much.


She took time to set up each manger scene.
I love to watch her set up the manger scenes and play with them...


and decorate her Christmas tree.


We had such a special day together today. Sometimes it takes my daughter getting sick to force me to slow down, give up commitments and spend some special time with her. I enjoyed today so much. We had a wonderful day. AG still had her fever this afternoon and was back on the couch lounging around, so I gave her some more tylenol to help her feel better. By evening, she was feeling better and ate dinner! That is the first real meal she has eaten since Monday. She has an ulcer in her mouth that is making it hard for her to eat food.
She took her antibiotic and we played a few games tonight before bed. Thomas is out of town for the weekend with some guys from Sunday School, so it is just AG and me. We had a very special night and I enjoyed every minute of it. We decided to watch a video together before bed. As AG laid on the couch, she said to me, "Mommy, get a blanket and come and lay with me." It was so sweet. I love my daughter so much and am thankful God gave me a special day with her today! I am praying she will be healed and back to herself soon!

Trick or Treat

AG was upset that Shug never wore the Halloween costume she picked out for her on Halloween. So, we had our own "Halloween" and let Shug go trick or treating in the backyard.

Trick or Treat


Time to fill Shug's candy bag up with treats


Shug enjoyed finding the treats!


Shug wanted to trick or treat again!

Pets

Well, we now have three pets.
We have two cats that we inherited from the neighborhood named Little Foot and Sylvester. A neighbor was feeding them and then he decided he was too old and couldn't keep up with them, so he brought their food to me (knowing I wouldn't say no). So AG and I feed the cats twice a day every day. AG loves them and is so glad we have cats. Thomas is glad they stay outside ALL the time. They are pretty easy and low maintenance. The only thing we really do is feed them, talk to them and brush them. Well, I was out in the yard the other day and my other neighbor (Mr.Dave) told me he had some mail for me. He went inside and brought me an appointment reminder card from the vet for Little Foot. Yes, he is due for his shots. So, I guess that was his way of officially turning the cats over to me. So they are "ours" now. I guess we will have to find them a warm place to sleep for the winter. We don't want them to be cold.

Here are some pics of our cats

They love to eat their food.


Sylvester loves to catch some rays in the pine straw beside the shed.


Little Foot loves to taunt Shug...
You can see Shug barking at Little Foot.
Shug can't get out of the fenced backyard.


Shug isn't too sure about our new pets. She has chased them out of the backyard many times. I am surprised the cats keep coming back in the backyard. They are sweet and we have enjoyed having them around. It is nice to have low maintenance pets.

Cooking away at Mitch's party...

AG LOVES to cook, so she couldn't wait to go to Mitch's birthday party and make pizza and decorate cupcakes!! Mitch celebrated his 4th birthday at the Young Chef's Academy in town. We had a great time at his party.

The birthday boy - Mitch Tunstall


AG, Lucy, Caitlyn and Riley anxiously wait to start cooking!


Olivia and Mitch measure their flour.


Coop, Hunter and Cameron measure their flour too.


Now that our dough is made, what do we do?


Coop knows what to do...


Time to roll and knead our dough. AG rolls her dough while Ben and Lucy watch.


Ta da! AG was very proud of her heart shaped dough.


Next - Add sauce! Caitlyn and Riley add their sauce


AG adds some sauce too!


Will and Will add some sauce


Mason, Maddie and Lauren add some sauce


The girls add some cheese - the best part!


Everyone loves some cheese!


While the pizza cooks, the kids ice their cupcakes.
And some kids eat their cupcakes....sweet Coop!


Icing the cupcakes...


Adding sprinkles....


The pizzas...AG's heart...do you see it?


Time to eat!


Everyone is eating their pizza!


Happy Birthday to Mitch!