Gone Fishin'

Sunday was a perfect day! Church, Sunday School, Lunch, and an afternoon at the fishin' hole. Dear friends of ours live on a farm and have the best fishing pond. Carm & Woody have always been generous to allow visitors on their land to fish. In fact, I can remember going out there with the high school youth group to fish. For the past couple years, Woody would always invite us to come out and bring the boys. Unfortunately we never did. Woody passed away this winter and went to be with Jesus. His daughter, Candise, still wanted us to come out and fish. It was a bitter-sweet day because Woody would have LOVED to see Zachary & Elliott at his pond. From the moment we cast Zacharys pole in fish were biting. As soon as he would reel in the fish, get a new worm, and cast it back out someone would be reeling in another fish. My dad brought my sister & my cane fishing poles that we used when we were little. Seeing those brought back a lot of memories.

Candise with Zachary

Elliott and his Daddy catching a fish!

Z & Kevin showing off their catch!

Zachary & Pops

I was not sure who Kevin was more proud of fishing...me or Zachary. I don't think Kevin has ever seen the "biology girl" in me. He could not believe I was putting worms on the hooks, holding the fish, etc. Kevin was very proud of Zachary too. Zachary would cast, reel in his fish with much enthusiasm, and then he would want to pet the fish before throwing it back in.

Zachary with Uncle Matt!

We caught LOTS of bluegill. I stopped counting when Z caught #15.

Unfortunately, I don't have pics of Grams & Aunt Rachel. They were our photographers. It was a blessed day.

We're OFF to see the Wizard...

Zachary had his first date last Friday. Of course it was chaperoned. HA! Zachary and I met Melody & Charley for dinner at Red Lobster and then we went to the Off-Broadway production of The Wizard of Oz. Oz is one of my all time favorite musicals, stories, and movies. It thrills me that Zachary loves it too. He calls it the Zizard of Oz.

During the evening, it was quite comical to see the difference between a girl and boy at this musical. Of course Charley loved Dorothy, Somewhere Over The Rainbow, and the Munchikins. Zachary being 100% boy loves the witch, the fire, and the flying monkeys. Charley was adorable in her Dorothy dress and ruby slippers. It was a fun, memorable evening with great friends.

Pre-Photo before his first date!




Dinner & Show Date

Walking out of Red Lobster hand in hand. I could not count how many Ohs & Ah's I heard from all the people waiting for a table. These two kiddos enjoy each other so much. Their personalities make me smile!
Zachary & Charley posing with the poster with their Toto dall and Witch doll.

Mr. Birdman

When we were in Hot Springs my wonderful cousin, Leslie, watched Zachary for one of the days we were away. She actually saved us because my inlaws were going to keep Z but they went on a trip instead. I thought we were going to have to forgo our hotel reservations and miss our trip. But Leslie saved the day. Zachary LOVES Leslie and he LOVES for her to watch him. While we were away Leslie would text me with updates about their day and one update she sent was this picture.
We finally got the bird house in the tree....well to be honest we did this about 3 weeks ago. BUT I did not put it in the tree very well. We came home about 24 hours later and the bird house was on our front porch. Thankfully we have wonderful neighbors and they found the house in their driveway. It blew out of the tree. Yesterday my father-in-law put the house back in the tree the proper way. HA!

Thanks Leslie! Zachary loves the birdhouse and he had a BLAST with you.

Jerrytt's (Peacock) Baby Shower

This past weekend, my "Peacock" aunts & cousins hosted a baby shower for my sister & Baby Jerrytt. It was a very nice shower with yummy food, awesome cake, and fun games. It was so good to see most of my aunts and cousins. Rachel & Jerrytt got a lot of good stuff for his new nursery. Unfortunately, my mom was super sick with strep throat so she missed it....BUT my sweet dad came to stand in for Grams. Seriously, I don't know a lot of guys that would go to a baby shower but my dad had a blast. He was the life of the shower and participated in every game. It was very sweet.

The entire group:
Back: "Aunt" Max, Lisa, Aunt Sharon, Natalie, Donna, Dad
Front: Me, Zachary, Rachel, Elliott, Aunt Mary, Natalie, & Cathy


Lisa made the cutest diaper cake for Jerrytt
The delish cake that matches Jerrytt's nursery Dr. Seuss

Dad listening to the rules of the shower games.

The shower hostesses Lisa, Natalie, Rachel, Donna & Aunt Mary
Dad & Rachel comparing their bellies
Pops & Rachel (dad is standing in for my mom in this photo)

Up from the Grave He Arose!

Easter morning 2010 was quite eventful. Zachary woke up super early insisting he heard the Easter Bunny spill his jellybeans in the middle of the night. He was right. The EB had his hands full and spilled the beans on our porch and entry way. Then Z headed downstairs for an indoor egg hunt. After we had breakfast and then rushed around to get ready for church. Church was bitter sweet because our friend Jason had a cardiac arrest the night before Easter. The church was celebrating Jesus rising from the dead but praying for Jason to make it. After church my inlaws stopped by for pictures. Later that afternoon we went to my parents for a wonderful Easter dinner. Funny part of the day was both Zachary & Elliott fell asleep on the way to my parents. We had to wake them up after at least an hour nap to get them to go outside to hunt eggs. Neither one of them wanted to. They just wanted to take naps. I could not believe it. After about 30 minutes of waking them up they went outside forcefully to hunt eggs. After dinner we celebrated my moms birthday with Coconut Creme Pie and cake. What a great day!

Here's the beans the EB spilled
Zachary's basket
Photos after church

Karen, Marvin, Zachary, & Kevin


Zachary wanted a family photo with Matt, Rachel, & Elliott
Celebrating Egg Hunt...Z is overloaded with baskets!
Elliott showing off her Big Brother shirt
The boys with their loot!

Gram's Birthday on Easter Sunday
Praise God for sending His Son to die for our sins!

Prepping for Easter

The night before Easter we had my parents, and my sister's family over for dinner and egg dying. We had a great evening and the boys LOVED it! Zachary could hardly sleep knowing that the Easter Bunny was going to be hopping through to drop off a basket!



The final product!

The boys were a mess after the dying so we popped them in the tub.

Praise God! Jason is healing!

*****JASON IS OFF THE VENTILATOR, HE IS TALKING, AND MOVING!

After a roller coaster week, we have word from Jason's wife, Buffy that he is responding to commands and his eyes are open. There were countless times last week that I thought Jason was going Home to be with Jesus. I could not get him, his wife, and his two daughters out of my mind. Our church held a prayer vigil last Monday night. I can honestly say people were begging and pleading for Jason. It was an emotional, God-feeling evening. The neurologists and physicians cannot explain Jason's healing. There is no medical explaination for him surviving the cardiac arrest and coming out of his coma. It is 100% a MIRACLE! Unbelievable! Of course Jason has a long road of recovery ahead so keep the prayers coming. They did diagnose Jason with Brugaga Syndrome. Click here to read more about this rare genetic condition.

I am praising God for this miracle. Thanks again for praying for our friend.

Prayer request: Please pray for Jason!

Attention Blog readers!!! I am a firm believer that God answers prayers. Right now a friend from our church is in a fight for his life. His wife, Buffy and him have a 3 year old little girl and a 10 day old little girl. Their newborn was in ICU for the first week of her life. The day that they brought her home from the hospital he collapsed and went into cardiac arrest. His wife called 911 and started CPR. When the first response team arrived they took over and had to shock his heart. He was life flighted to a local hospital. He is currently on a ventilator and non-responsive. One of the treatments for cardiac arrest patients is hyperthermic therapy which is when they cool the body to prevent organ damage. They kept Jason's body super cold for 24 hours. Currently they are starting to warm his body at 0.3 degrees per hour until his body temp reaches 98.6. Once he is back to regular body temperature the neurologist will be able to determine his brain activity. His wife, Buffy, recently posted on FB that the doctors have informed her the EEG findings are not promising. Jason NEEDS a Miracle! Please say a prayer for two for this family. I can't imagine what they are going through. Here are a few pictures of Jason, Buffy, and their oldest daughter.

Jason was a God-send to our MOPS group in December. He came to our MOPS meeting "secretly" to video tape the preschool aged children as they shared their version of the Christmas Story. Jason edited his tapings and made us this video. The moms loved it! If you want to view this video click HERE. The adult male voice that you hear is Jason.