Christmas in AL 2010

Well, in 2 hours it will officially be Christmas day! We were blessed to get to spend Christmas with our family for a long weekend last weekend. We actually like going home early and then be at our house on Christmas. It makes for a very relaxing Christmas with just the 3 of us. More on Christmas in Kentucky later.

We left for AL last Wednesday night (a day early) because of the ice that was coming to Louisville. Due to work schedules it was about midnight or so before we left (early Thurs.) Once we got about an hour out of Louisville all was good. Grace did great going to and from Louisville. She had only one real moment that she started to get fussy going to and from and then fell asleep.

We got to Nana and Paw Paw's (my mom and step-Dad's) on Thurs. We decided to stay with them the first 2 nights and Adam's parents the last 3 nights. Emily (Grace's cousin by marriage) was there for those two days so we all took advantage of spending time with Emily! Friday, we went shopping and had a meal at Mom's with some of the family and even opened some presents. Saturday, we went to spend time with Adam's family. We went to Carey's (my sister-in-law's) and spent some time with cousin Vann, Kyle, Brandon, and Granny and Papa. Later we ate!!:)

That night, we went and saw our dear, long time friends, Eric and Shea and their brand new baby Naomie. This was our first time to see Naomie she was just a month old. She was the BEST baby. Just precious!! It was great to see all of them too!

Sunday, we went to the much anticipated visit to the Church at Brookhills-- David Platt's church in Birmingham. It was awesome!! I just love his preaching/ teaching style and his passion, and heart for The Word, and for our mission. A great Christmas message! We followed our friends Jason and Maria Ellen and their kids to that church.

After that we went to my Grandma's to see my brother Greg and his fiance, Kelly who came from GA. We went to lunch at the Cracker Barrel and then spent some quality time with them and some other of my family that afternoon. It was good to see them!

Late that night we ended up being invited over to some friends house, The East's house to hang out with some old and new friends for a soup dinner. We left Grace at Granny's house to spend time with her while we went. It was late too.

Monday, ended up being a day of more of Adam's family. A hospital visit to see my step-sister Tracey.. who ended up back in the hospital the last 2 days of our stay, and to see my cousin Charles. I was so glad Adam and I went because Adam and I also shared Christ with my cousin Charles.

Later, we all went to Noccalulla Falls that is in my home town.. A beautiful park, Falls, and campground. They put on a FABULOUS light display every year and it has been YEARS since we have went to it. Let me just say.. it is GREAT! We were able to ride the train through the park and see the lights and then they even had Santa there in one of the cabins.. and Grace got to sit on his lap and tell him what she wants and we even got her picture with him at NO extra charge. She was such a TROOPER! Didn't cry one bit and was SOOO proud of her self for sitting on his lap! She just LOVED all of this. She smiled the whole time. She LOVED the train, the lights, and Santa. We are going to have to make that a yearly occasion!

I know this is a lot. I am posting a slide show because it is so much. At the end of this slideshow I believe it will go into an old slideshow so you can just stop then. It may already be at old pics/ videos when you scroll done so just bring the arrow down to the right bottom corner and you may have to arrow back for the pics. I didn't get it in a separate one. Merry Christmas every one!!!

Performing Grace:)

Here is a couple of videos for your enjoyment. The first she is quoting scripture verses the other, singing. Don't mind the outfit or the "do" in the 2nd video. We had just got in from playing out in the snow and we had dressed in layers and that was her bottom layer..:)

More on the snow later.. we are going to leave for AL tonight and travel during the night due to the bad weather that is coming. We are suppose to get snow tonight and 1/4 to 1/2 inch of ice on top of that by the morning so we don't won't to get stuck on our road. Because of that, we had a change of plans.. we'll see how traveling with Grace in the middle of the night goes..:) She is SUPER excited about it right now! I am working for a few hours soon and we will leave late tonight. Lots to do..More later~

I Dare You to Pray This..

This is a video that I saw on another friend's blog.. Very convicting so I had to share~

Fun in Dec. 2010

We have stayed pretty busy lately but also had some fun too!:) Last Thursday we watched our neighbor's boys while she had to work for a few hours. Of course, Grace was ecstatic when she found out Andrew and Mattie were coming over to play for a while at our house! The boys got a kick out of 'beating up' on Adam!=) They all played hard for the 2 1/2 hours they were here.

That Thursday night I went to my work Christmas party/ retirement party for a fellow employee. It was so much fun! We packed out a room at Rafferty's and had so much fun just laughing and hanging out outside of work.

Grace and I have also been spending a lot of time with Holly F. and baby Evie lately. They ended up going shopping with us again on Friday and we went to lunch. I am LOVING that she is HOME now that she had Evie!! Then on Sunday we ended up including our hubbys and ate Mexican together after church.

This week I have been busier trying to finish up Christmas shopping, Christmas cards (that I am still working on..=) and wrapping gifts, house chores, taking care of the dogs yearly check-ups, baths, before Bud is boarded at Christmas and Allie goes to AL, etc. It 'hit' me that we leave ONE week from today to go to AL so we need to have our Christmas done early. Thankfully, the Frasure's are also going to watch Grace tomorrow night while Adam and I finish up Grace's Christmas and Adam and I get a date night out of it too. Which is much overdue!!=)

Last Friday, Adam went over to rake leaves at one of our neighbors house as a service project to serve her. I went out and helped Adam get it done before it got dark on Friday and to get the bags all picked up on Sunday. Then yesterday Ms. Shirley knocks on our door and has a gift that she made for us. I was so upset that she felt like she needed to give us a gift. We wanted to do it for FREE just to serve her but she went to the trouble to make the most special gift for us. It was ornaments with each of our names on them. They are SO pretty. We just LOVE them. Of course, we had to accept them but now I am trying to figure out what I can do for her to give back to her=) You can see the pic below..

Adam is trying to wrap up this Semester of school BEFORE we go home. He also taught the adult Bible Study last night at our church. So he has definitely been busy with work and all of that. Adam will be working 9 days in a row before we go home in order to have 5 days off for our trip to AL. So he is going to be BEAT!:/ He decided to do it that way since he only has 1 day of time right now. He is swapping other days so that makes him work so many in a row. We are super excited about having some time off together though, as a family!!

I have also been spending time practicing with the Choir at Fegenbush for the Christmas Celebration. Our choir is joining them and the East Choir for The Highview Family Christmas that will be THIS Sunday. I just LOVE singing with them and it is gonna be so great on Sunday. Grace also enjoys going to "big" church to play with the "new" kids and toys on our practice days.

In all, getting ready for the Christmas Celebration has continued to remind me the reason for the season. I just love how it brings my heart back to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords that should have been treated as majesty but instead came to be born in a barn and live a humble life to ultimately be killed for MY sins! Thankfully, he is now seating at the right hand of God in Heaven and because of that he lives in ME! Praise the Lord for what an AMAZING gift!! No gift gets any better than THAT!!

Pics from the week..

Thanksgiving Weekend 2010

We spent Thanksgiving this year with just the three of us. It was a good day. I cooked southern cornbread chicken and dressing with gravy, apple-glazed pork tenderloin (that was yummy--we didn't do turkey), tater tot casserole, fried okra, black-eyed peas, cranberry sauce, deviled eggs, and a oreo cake. Every thing was great except the oreo cake.. the icing was a bit too rich. Don't recommend the recipe I had for that one..:) Grace even helped with the cooking and it was a VERY special time for both of us! It was also a relaxing day with the exception of Adam having to work every night through Thanksgiving.

On Friday, Holly F. and I (with our girls) went Black Friday SHOPPING!! It was fun. We didn't get up super early, just when Grace got up we left. I got some really great deals for Christmas that I was very happy with.

On Saturday, we all put up the Christmas tree. Grace really got excited and actually helped this year, with the decorating. She just LOVED it! I let her put ornaments on the tree and of course they were all going in one spot :) So I was reminding her we have to move around the tree. You will see in the pics:) We listened to Christmas music and had great family time.

On Sunday, me, Adam, and Grace went out to eat with the Frasures and the Dunn's for lunch. We went to our favorite Chinese restaurant in the Jefferson Mall Food Court. We walked around together as Adam was looking for a pair of sunglasses. (FYI- he got contacts so he needed non-prescription sunglasses). This was fun as the guys goofed on trying on different crazy sunglasses! We just love these two families!

It was a great Thanksgiving weekend!








Grace's ornaments all group together:)

Enjoying Life And Our Blessings

This past week we have been enjoying the blessing of friendships. Last Friday, we had a girls game night at Becky's house. We had pizza, an amazing dessert, and played Scattergories. I picked up Holly F. and her new baby Evie and we rode together. I just love Holly and I really enjoyed our chats while in the car. While, the ladies and the kiddos got together, the Men had a guy's night and played ball, etc. in the gym of our church. It was all A LOT of fun!

On Saturday, Holly F. invited me to come along with her and Lynn S. (another friend) to go shopping at the Mall. Us three and our kids went and we even had lunch together. Holly had some coupons for free food at Chick-FIL-A so we couldn't beat that!! I just love both of them.

Sunday night, was combined worship at Fegenbush and we all REALLY look forward to this as it comes quarterly. It didn't disappoint! It is always such a blessing to me! After the service, the Valley Station crew went to the local Mexican restaurant to eat and hang out! It was a BLAST! Let me just say we also found our new favorite Mexican restaurant (Puerto Vallarta) that was GREAT and AFFORDABLE!!

Now on to Thanksgiving! Sadly, Adam doesn't get any nights off this week but thankfully, he will have this evening to eat Thanksgiving with us and enjoy the day. He caught up early on his homework so he would have the end of the week free (besides work). So I am cooking our Thanksgiving meal and it will just be us. But we are fine with that. It is a special time for our family. Grace has already been helping me in the kitchen and I DO cherish those times! We know we are TRULY blessed and forever grateful to the Lord!

On Friday, Grace and I are going Black Friday shopping with Holly F. and Evie. We are SUPER excited about that!:) Then the Iron Bowl!!

Trying to focus though, on what this whole season is about!!

Enjoy Thanksgiving every one!!

Pictures Done!!

We have been meaning to take Grace to get her picture made for a long time now. We attempted to when she first turned 2 years old and she just cried and we had to leave with out getting any done. So we prepared her better this time and we also got a long overdue family pic made. It is always an experience but we are glad we did it!

I am adding a slideshow. You can click the arrows to make it go faster if you would like..

Family/ Grace pics Nov. 2010 - slideshow maker with music

It's a First!

You see this little girl...


She can now wear a REAL pony tail:)



Knows her right from her left..



And can play a video game:)

Baby Frasure is HERE!!!

Some of our very best friends here in Louisville are Isaac and Holly. We have gotten so close to them. We always have a blast with them and they both just crack us up when we get together. They are really so much fun and so down to earth. We just LOVE them!! I remember them telling us not so long ago that they thought they were ready to start a 'family'! Before we knew it, little Evie was on the way!! I helped host a baby shower for Holly at our church and on Oct. 14th little Evie was born. She is just beautiful and we are very happy for them!!!

Some of us from church were providing meals for them for two weeks. Last Friday night, Adam and I took them supper and we were happy when they asked us to plan on staying and eating with them!! So we took them up on the offer and had dinner with them and visited for a while on Friday night. Evie was so sweet and slept most of the time but did rouse up to check us all out:)

We thank God for their friendship and ever so thankful for the precious little healthy blessing that has been added to them!!



Grace was so sweet and gentle with little Evie..

Birthday Party for Two!!!

Our next door neighbors Andrew (5) and Mattie (3) both have a birthday very close together this time of year so their Mommy and Daddy decided to celebrate both together. Grace just LOVES our neighbors little boys and plays with them every chance she gets. She had been anticipating this party every since we got the invitation. Every day, she would say "Andrew and Mattie's Birthday party is tomorrow??" She did that day after day until the day finally came.:) They had a dinosaur party that was decorated ALL boy, of course:) They got so many dinosaurs for presents, had a dinosaur pinata, dinosaur cake, etc. They even rented a bouncer and she had so much fun!!







Andrew and Mattie with their Mom and Dad (Ben and Staci) trying to bust the pinata:)

Halloween 2010

Last Wednesday night our church Highview Baptist at Valley Station hosted a Fall Festival. We always have a great turn out and the kids just LOVE it. Grace was Minnie Mouse and the weather was great with the exception of being a little windy so her Minnie ears didn't want to stay on to well:) Grace could play most of the games at least in a simple version so she still managed to collect a good amount of candy. Daddy even got in on a game. (You can see the pic of him sitting on the balloon to pop it:) All her little buddies were there too and they all looked SOOO cute. They also had a bouncy that is always a hit with Grace these days!!




Madison and Grace


Paige, Grace, and Maddy






Grace and Maddox

On Halloween all three of us went Trick or Treating in the neighborhood. We were excited about it this year because Grace could actually do the trick or treating. She was looking forward to it. I even put a little make up on our little minnie mouse and we all had a lot of fun going door to door and Grace kept saying "trick or treat" in the faintest little voice but when they gave her candy she would say "mank you" very clearly!:) She got so much candy she could hardly tote her bucket back home! Grace was very excited with all the candy, of course!! Now, what to do with all that candy. Ha! We don't need it!:)









Here is a little video of her in action..

Adios Paci:)

Well, today is the big day!! I made the decision yesterday that the paci would be no more starting TODAY!! As you all probably remember, right before her 2 year old Birthday we worked on getting rid of the paci and it was SUPER hard for her. She got SOOO furious when we cut a whole in her paci that she kept climbing out of her crib and hitting her head on the floor. It was like she would stop at NOTHING to get our attention that she was NOT ready for that. It was SOOO traumatic for her. So at that time, with the direction of our pediatrician, she recommended giving her the paci back to only have when she sleeps and just work on the adjustment to a toddler bed. She said the paci can come later after she gets past adjusting to a toddler bed. So that is what we did, and she did great after that adjusting to her Dora toddler bed. Since then, we have had excuse after excuse to wait a little longer; travel, big event, etc. etc. But I felt like she was ready now at 2 and 1/2 years old, she was starting to realize that pacifiers are only for babies and she is not a baby. We have been talking about it for a while now and it is like she almost felt guilty using it knowing she is a 'big girl' now.=)

So this morning we talked about it and I told her we need to get her pacifiers and put them in the mail and send them to another baby that needs a paci. We talked again about how she is a big girl now and she could share her paci with a baby that needs a paci. She said "okay". So I thought, here's our shot!! So I got her 2 pacifiers and I let her put them in the envelope and we addressed them TO: BABY, FROM: GRACE. We let her stick it in the mailbox and we put the flag up. She was very happy with what she did and kept talking about how sweet it was to give her paci to another baby:)

So nap time today, she started to ask for her pacifiers but we reminded her that we mailed them off and she was okay with that. We put her down and she talked for a little bit and then she started crying some. I went upstairs and had to explain to her about her pacifiers again and I comforted her a little by singing to her and rocking her a little bit (because she asked). It was starting to get hard for her:( So with a little more encouragement, she is ASLEEP after an hour of mostly talking with little crying. I heard her upstairs telling her babies in the bed with her, that "I'm alright, I don't need my paci, etc. etc. Very cute!!

We will see how the night goes but as of right now I am happy with how strong this little girl is!! For Mommy, it is actually sad to see this chapter close in our lives. That may sound silly, but that was her LAST 'baby' thing that we have clung to. It makes me realize that she is REALLY not a baby any more! Over all, I am very HAPPY to see it go though, because this is something I have worried about off and on for a long time, because I knew the day would have to come sooner rather than later.

I will keep you all updated on her progress!!:)