Homecoming

Well, this is our youngest growing up very fast. This was fun for us because we got to drive them because they do not have their license yet, so we got to see a lot of them all dressed up. They clean up pretty good. It is such an exciting and challenging time in their lives I hope they are enjoying everything and learning lots! Ha She did have her sister drive her to dinner but it was too late to pick up so I got too. This was fun too because you get to hear a lot about the night. All good though. I always remember what I was doing at this age and I did not get to relax and enjoy as hopefully my girls are. I was working by age 15 part time and started working full time at age 16. So I have mixed emotions of teens working during school year. Summers are good but I think they should do church work and activities and school work and activities. This is just my personal point of view and I am sure there are many many views but this is mine. Yes, they are spoiled but most are. I did not mean to get carried away just sharing our fun weekend.

Jamie came home for the big day on Sunday and it was great having her here. We had her all to ourself and we enjoyed. I know her sister loved having her here.

First picture is from Sunday.

October 07

Well, I guess I will post every few months. I read everyones blog and I love it but it is pretty boring around here compared to everyone else. We got Jamie off to college. She is having the time of her life. We have only gotten her home once and she brought friends so we did not get to see her much. It was great though. We had a quick celebration of her 19th birthday while she was here. They hung out at the house Friday night and a lot of friends came by on their way to BSJ and it was wonderful having them here again. My fav. was when Rieder comes in and yells "yea,Moma P I am home". REALLY LOUD!!!! I just love each and every one of them. A lot of them gave me big hug even the guys. It was great. We are getting Jamie this weekend she has to come home to renew her license. Also, to stand with us on Sunday for the big installation.
The diff. between my girls is May's friends do not like to hang at homes yet they are always looking for something to do. I know Jamie and her friends went through this I just seemed to have forgotten. I love for them to be here but May seems a little less likely to invite them here. I wonder why? She has homecoming this weekend and if I can get it to work will try and post a pic. Not very good at that. May just got a new vehicle, only because his brother got a new truck and was getting rid of it. It is really nice and she is blessed to get it. She does not turn 16 until March so we have a few months. She is having a pretty good sophmore year has some tough classes but she is doing fine.

I wrote this one week ago. Will post today and add another.

Catching Up

Well, here goes. First of all the last post Jamie had her wreck, well, it is now 8/8 and still no car for her yet. Hopefully by this Fri. She leaves Monday for college. We will see. Kent said "they truly are cavemen that handles this insurance". Can you guess which kind the guy that hit her had? HMMMM!



We had a wonderful trip to Baja and had 5 Baptisims and a couple of more since we left. That is truly the reason we go. Also, just the wonderful experience of getting to know a lot of wonderful people better and serving together with them. Then to share God's word and love to those that do not know him or an encouraging hug or handshake. It is truly amazing how happy these people are with so little. I think my favorite thing was watching as Kim Whitaker share her tallent of teaching these ladies how to make a hand sewn dress for about 100 girls there in San Quentin. It was so sweet watching the faces of the girls who put on a small fashion show wearing their new duds. It was priceless. Also, the love of each lady and teen that particiapated in the making of these dresses. It brought together mexicans and grengos even with the language barrier.

My other special memory is of Rickey Bailey and Mitch Hamric working with a quadraplegic and helping make him a foot brace to prevent foot drop and finding out that he became a brother in Christ last Wed. That is what it is all about.



We arrived home on a Sat. night and May left early the next morning to play in U14 world series for her summer softball league in Orlando. They were there all week and we arrived that Friday to watch their last game which they lost but came in 17 out of 58 teams. They played hard and had a great experience. We arrived in Destin the next day and spent a wonderful week at the beach. It was hot but we had a great time.



We arrived home this past Sat. and spent Sun doing major shopping for the girls for college and school to arrive home that afternoon and realizing our air was going out. Well, after two days it was finally fixed yesterday. It is truly a wonderful thing to have working. Hopefully this will last for a while.



That is a quick up to date over the last 6 weeks. We leave Mon to take Jamie to college. She is so excited and we are excited for her. May dosn't think all of this stuff in our house is going to fit in her room but we will find out soon.

Back again

Well, I tried to learn how to put pictures in and I didn't think it did it and I come back and her pic is there. So I am still learning how to use this thing. Alot has happened, we got the oldest graduated and celebrated. We have attended two weddings so far. Our youngest is playing travel softball and has a tourney just about every weekend. They have won one and runner up in one and didn't do as good in the other two. She seems to be enjoying it, getting a little tired of practice but enjoys all of the girls she is playing with. Both girls just returned from Impact and loved it. They have talked quite a bit about it. I am so glad they got to go together this one and only year. Our oldest leaves this wed for orientation at Lipscomb. She is very excited about the whole aspect of college. Hope she stays that way after taking 17 hours her first semester. She is trying to double major and has to start off with a heavy load and will probably have to go to summer school some. We will see.
Well, here is our news of the day. The dreaded phone call all parents hate to get. Dad I have been in a wreck but I am ok. Her dad answered and it seemed like she had just gone out the door. She said the ambulance was already there but she was "completely ok". The story is a young guy was merging onto the parkway and did not see her. She tried to move over to the next lane after honking but he clipped her right front tire which locked it up and spun her around and hit the concrete wall and he tapped her again in the side. Soooo a prayer of thanksgiving that she is ok. The other guy was ok too. My first thought was her back but she said she was fine on the phone. Well, to pull up and see her front end on the concrete wall and her car sideways on the parkway, all I can say is "Thank You Lord". She was crying and still had her seatbelt on when we arrived. She said "all she could think of was her cousin Kimberly, and was afraid to unbuckle". Kimberly was killed on 565 several years ago after having a flat tire and did not get the rear all the off of the highway. She had unbuckled to get her cell phone and call her dad and was talking with her grandmother and was rear ended. We have indwelled in her to get off of the road but we were talking about flats or break downs. She was headed to a birthday party and ended up coming home with us. They had to tow it off and we will not know for a few days what the outcome will be. Cars can be replaced but your kids cannot. She is starting to feel a little sore already and I am sure tomorrow will feel it more. Her dad and sister and I are just so relieved she is ok. We told her she would learn alot from this and would make her a even better driver. Just glad we could get to her fast.
That is all of the excitement I want for a while.
Next thing will be our mission trip experience. Rapidly approaching.

March

March is here and half over and I have not posted in a month. This is always a busy time for us. Our youngest turnned 15 this month on the 3rd. We celebrated and had trouble finding the time to take her to get her permit. Well, we were successful in doing this this past Tues. We had a nice experience and beautiful drive to Guntersville. It is so hard to believe that she is old enough to drive. She is also playing softball on the JV team at school and so that is keeping her and us busy. The other big change for her is that she is getting braces next week. She has been bugging me for a while to get checked. She had one tooth that was starting to crowd other than that I didn't think it was bad. Well, we go for two evals with two diff. othodontist and the whole right side of her mouth did not touch each other. She said "I thought this was normal". So last Friday she had three teeth pulled so they can eventually have a good bite on the right side. The strange thing is the left side was perfect. She got her spacers on Wed and her mouth is sore and I think when it feels better she will get her braces and be sore again. We are looking at two years if she does everything she is suppose to do. The one thing that perked her up was they reward them with coupons if they do everything they are suppose to do and can trade them in for gift certificates and such to the mall. Well, she is competitive and they may regret offering that to her we will see. That is the news for our youngest.

Her sister is also having a busy time. We were fortunate to get to go to Lipscomb last weekend to receive her scholarship. We thought it was for the ones that had already accepted and was going there. They were still selling Lipscomb. She and I had a great time. We went up on Thurs night and stayed with my best friend from High School. They kept us busy all day Fri and then treated us to dinner at the Titans stadium Friday night. It was beautiful looking out over Nashville as we ate. Then the students went to Dr. Lowery's house for devo and dessert and got to stay on campus. We met up again early the next morning to receive the official scholarship and then were free until sing o rama at 2:00p.m. So we went prom dress shopping and were successful. We arrived back at Lipscomb for sing o rama, which was really good and by the time we said goodbye, run a couple of errands and get dinner were not back at our friends until about 7:00p.m. I was absolutely exhausted. I think the oldest was too. We were both in bed by 10:00 and not once had the TV on and had forgotten about the time change. Needless to say we missed church. So come to find out Kent and the youngest had too. We arrive home in time for huddles and crash that night. So then we sent her off early yesterday with the trip of her life. She was blessed to get asked by Rex to go with him to Baja for 12 days as his personal interpretor. If you know her at all you know this is a dream come true. She will be with a group from Lipscomb until next Thurs then she will be with the homebuilders from Mayfair until that Monday. This is her Senior trip and she couldn't be happier. Needless to say our thoughts and prayers are with them. Phil Kinzer is leading the group from Lipscomb and we were thrilled about that along with his wife Diane. Then we know just about everyone going next week so we feel very good about who she is with. Please pray that GOd will bless them and use them to further his kingdom.

Now on to us again. Kent's mom is coming and bringing our nephew so we will have a 8 year old here all weekend so we will be busy. Also, I am going with Mrs. Tommie today and help her with Amber's 6 month old picture. She is sad as she looks at pictures of Lisa so hope and pray this is a good experience for her. I am planning on keeping Amber after that while she takes a break. Hope everyone has a safe and happy Spring Break. Will try and not wait so long to post again.

We never know!

Just thinking about how we are here for just a short time. I have always wondered what the world does without having the hope of Salvation. I hear so many times with my line of work well, I am here instead of the alternative. I always say" well, if we are living right the alternative is suppose to be a lot better". Then they always say "well, I am just not ready". Well, we are suppose to always be ready. We went to Diana's brother in laws visitation last night. Diana said "we just never know". This is a 42 year old father of three married to his high school sweetheart. You would think would he would have a long life ahead of him. We waited for two hours just to speak to Diana and Bruce and Laura Lee. We never made it into the parlor where the family was. We were talking about all of the laughter that was around us and how everyone was enjoying themselves. It is so true how a funeral is like a reunion. This is such a tragic event and our hearts go out to this family. I cannot imagine life without Kent. I know we are suppose to be ready at all times but we are never ready when they are so young. We just have to always be ready because we never know.

P.S For some reason I did not post this when I wrote it.

The night before Winterfest

Our girls are packing for Winterfest and it is a little sad that their dad and I are not going. This is the first time that we have not been in many many years. Our youngest was sweet because she said she was kind of sad that we would not be there this weekend. She still loves us at least. Jamie has really enjoyed us not being with her the last 4 years. We have been on just a few things with her but she is enjoying her independence. We wore her out being with her every minute in Jr. High. The good news is that we plan on getting some things done around here this weekend. It has its pros and cons. Time is quickly passing and we are finding more and more nights at home. Never thought in a million years that this would happen this fast. It is fun just a diff. stage in our life. We said we were going to have to start playing cards and games again with our friends like we did before we had children. We have alot of good memories doing that with the Copelands, Smiths and Lunas. We used to go camping with Randy & Holly Norton and several other couples that no longer live here. Those memories we all still laugh about when we see each other. Our kids can't believe we had a life before them imagine that. Well, we will def. miss our girls but hopefully will get alot done this weekend. Hope everyone enjoys their stage of life they are in right now because it truly passes quickly. Softball games for May start next weekend so I guess the card games will have to be put on hold until after the season.

February is Here

Wow, I cannot believe it is February. Jamie's Graduation is fast approaching. She told me yesterday she only has 11 more Mondays. This is due to spring break and she will miss the next Monday after spring break due to the trip of her life. She has been asked to go to Baja with none other then Head Boss Rex Watson. She has finally gotten the o.k. to talk about it. She will get to leave on Thursday before Spring Break and will not return until the Monday after Spring Break. This is a dream come true for her. The first thing is she gets to go to her favorite place in the world and gets to be out of school three extra days. Also, she gets to be there with two awesome groups. The first part is with Lipscomb led by Phil Kinzer (former member at Mayfair) and the second is with the Home Builders class (which are alot of her Huddle leaders). She is so excited she is about to bust. She is so blessed to be able to do this great trip. So that is our big news for her. Kent & I are very excited for her. She is wishing she was already at Lipscomb but this will help her meet new people for next year. So she is on count down until Spring Break and Graduation.
May has started Softball practice and her first game is just a little over a week. I am looking forward to watching her play but dreading the cold. Kent bought us a heater last year which helps alot. She is having a good year so far, she told me the other day she is really going to miss her sister next year. I was happy to hear this but sad for her because just when they are getting more things in common they are going to be separated. They are both excited about being at Impact together and our family trip to Baja in July. God has truly blessed us with two wonderful daughters and for that I am glad. Just wish I could slow these years down.
That is about all that is going on at the homestead. They were so disappointed yesterday when they did not get out for the snow. It was not pretty around here yesterday. Will try and do better about posting.

Rude Workers!

I decided to post this after reading my friends Sunny's post. I wasn't going to because I thought it was just me. Our family was at American Eagle after Christmas and our youngest found a shirt she wanted to purchase. We proceed to the cashier and walked to the end of the counter where the two workers were standing talking and folding. They both looked up at us with the look they couldn't believe we were interupting them. Never said "may I help you or nothing". Well, I said "we would like to purchase this". One of the girls looked at us and said "you have to go on the other side". Let me remind you there was nobody else at the register so there was not a line or anything. Our youngest and me just looked at each other and I was trying to stay calm. If she had not wanted the shirt so bad I would have walked out. We purchased the shirt and she was not friendly at all. I was appalled. We told dad what just took place and without hesitating he said "it it coming from talking on line". These kids do not know how to talk to people and they are loosing their manners. LOOSING, it is lost. I am still amazed that these emplyees looked at us the way we did. My little one dosn't miss a thing and I think she was shocked too. They better be glad we do not go in there very much because the manager and owner would have heard about this. Their clothes are so expensive and to be treated like this, absolutely not. I guess I feel better. When I worked retail in High School the customer was always right, even now dealing with the public they are always given the benefit of the doubt. Oh well, I can just do eveything I can to teach my children to treat others with respect and hope others will too. It just seems to me but I think respect is going out the window and that makes me sad. Matt 12:37 (I need to remember this too)

23 Years ! YEA

Well, We just celebrated 23 years together. "and they said we would never make it" Ha! No just kidding. We met in December of 1982 and our first date was in Jan. of 83 and we were married the following January 1984. It was fast but meant to be. I believe that Kent has taught me to laugh alot and to stay calm. It has truly gone by fast and to look back over the years it has been a blessing. The many laughs we have had along with the tears have developed a closeness that no one can ever take away. Looking forward to many more.
Still thinking of the things we have gone through of my moms. We spend all of these years collecting things and stuff just so someone else has to go through it. I am still trying to downsize. We have cleaned out alot and still have alot to go. This brings me to the lessons I am trying to get back into. Seems like I got so busy and havn't stopped for spiritual time for me. The study is by :Beth Moore and it is about Daniel. There is so much depth to learn about him and his history and what he went through. She is comparing Babylon to today's world which is interesting. Quote from her study " How do we resist the world's titanic pressue?" She compared him coming from Jeruselum to Babylon as sheltered to sensory overload.
This brings me to always remember that no matter how bad we think today's world is that it seems it has always been just as bad since sin first entered the world. You can always find it in the Bible or history books. How Daniel is resisting the royal food and wine. To think that a (scholars believe) he and his captive friends were 15, and he was resisting food of any kind that in itself is hard to believe. I just remember how much my brother ate at this age.
So to resist todays temtation of wanting more is one of things I am going to work on this year. As she points out it dosn't start by just going to church of Sunday's Wed. and it is never accidental, it is a daily resolve and consistancy. I am going to try and spend more time in the word this year and show myself I can dig deeper without it being over my head. She ends today's lesson with a great quote: "The lifeblood of integrity is becoming the same person no matter where we are -- no matter who's around." I certainly married a man of integrity and I would love to leave a legacy of integrity to my children not stuff.