Dedication Sunday of the New Sanctuary

I know this is hard to see, but Brent is in the choir.  It was such a great day of celebrating the work God is doing at Patterson Park Church.  So blessed to be part of it.

Happy 5th Birthday Caroline!

 The princesses of the true King!

 Elli and the birthday girl:)  Such a sweet little girl.

 They were pouring their own "tea" and eating off real china:)  Such proper little ladies.

 Caroline blowing out her candles.

The girls really enjoyed all the delicious food.  What a great morning.
Caroline had decided she wanted her gifts to be for orphans.  So, each of these little princesses picked out gifts off the "Show Hope" lists for orphans and brought them to the tea party.  It was so sweet to watch Caroline open presents for children we have not met and to hear the little girls saying things like, "so cute", "aww".  Elli seemed to really understand what she was doing and had a good time gathering gifts.  What a blessing to be part of this celebration.

Spirit Week

 Elli actually had cowgirl things to wear for Farmer Day this week at school, thanks to the cow-person parties we have been to lately:)  She was so excited to dress up.  She wore this adorable outfit for farmer day, her Rapunzel shirt for "movie character" day, and her pajamas on "Pajama" day. In this picture, she is obviously posing as if she is riding a horse!!!

Brent couldn't resist getting a picture with her.

Heather's Baby Shower, Sat Sept 24th,

 Lots of fun gifts for baby Gloria.  Heather is 33 weeks and 6 days in this picture.

 We had a cupcake cake made for Heather.  It turned out so cute and was delicious!

 The presents.  This adorable swimsuit was from us.  Gloria got lots of pretty clothes and other wonderful things.

 The Brown girls:)

And Grandma.  It was such a fun day celebrating Heather and Gloria.  We are getting so excited to meet her!

Fergi Ferguson, Aug 31, 2001-Sept 22, 2011

 This was the last picture we have of Fergi alive.  She was so weak she just wanted to sleep in her special spot on the couch.  I let Elli skip her nap this day and we spent lots of time loving on her and crying for her.  I will really miss my sweet little doggie.

 The day we brought her home from Chilecothe, we went to my parent's house and put Fergi on Leah's bed. Leah was not so "into" dogs, and we thought it would be funny to show her this picture.  Look how sweet and little she is!

 Fergi and AnnaBelle were not the best of friends.  Fergi would bark and try to make AnnaBelle upset.  AnnaBelle could really care less about Fergi.  Look at their sweet faces in this picture though!!!!

 We took Fergi with us on many adventures.  She helped us pick pumpkins nearly every year.  One year while I was holding her and walking, she started acting extremely scared.  I thought she was afraid of the horse in the field since we were getting closer to it.  However, she was really afraid of the scarecrow.  Since I kept walking with her, not knowing she was afraid of the scarecrow, we ended up right next to it and she peed on me!!!!  Gross:)

 By this picture, needless to say, she did not like getting a bath.  She would hide in my closet under all my clothes trying to hide:)  One time while I was giving her a bath in the sink and cutting her nails, she pulled her paw away from me and slipped off the sink into the toilet!!!!  Thankfully it was clean water!

 Fergi was a cuddle dog.  She liked to sleep in my lap, or anyone's lap, especially if they had a blanket.  But, that also meant she liked to find soft spots.  I would often find her curled on a pillow on the floor, or on a blanket, in a new pile of clothes from the dryer, under the Christmas tree on our tree skirt, in a warm spot in the sun, but never in the doggie bed we bought for her!  She also like to sleep in my curve when I lay on my side.  I miss that.  Fergi had a special blanket which we put on a pillow on one end of the couch.  Now anyone can sit there.  Sad.

Elli drew this picture of Fergi right after she died.  I was on my front step waiting on my parents to come and hold her for the last time.  I held her like a baby, pet her tummy, and talked sweetly to her.  She closed her eyes, then died.  I was so incredibly sad.  We are not sure what was wrong with her.  The vets had a few guesses but basically she refused to eat.  My baby for 10 years wasted away but let me hold her while she slipped away. Elli is doing ok.  We cry sometimes when we miss her, but overall she is fine.  We buried her behind our house.  The next morning Elli asked where she was.  I reminded her that Fergi died and wasn't around.  She told me the story on her eyes told her Fergi was alive.  I told Elli that may be God's way of letting her know He was taking care of her.  Just yesterday, Elli asked me if Fergi was in heaven.  I told her I wasn't sure if Fergi was in heaven, but I thought God probably had a dog like Fergi in heaven for us to enjoy.  Elli asked me if it was because Fergi was such a rotten doggie!!!
I will not miss cleaning up after her, her constant barking and her stinky breath, but everything else, I will miss.  She loved her toys, a lot!!!  She used to run around like crazy, super fast, and crouch down when she got close to us.  We called it the Fergi run.  There are a lot of little things that were unique to her.  She was fun.  We will miss her.

Seth Turns 2!

 They were playing in the play set!

 Tractor!!!!!  Seth loves tractors and Megan did an awesome job on his cake.  He was so happy with it.

 Elli cannot help herself.  She was helping Seth open his presents.  He got cars, trucks, trains,tractors, clothes, and Mater!  He was one happy kid:)

 Trying to blow out the candles and not get burnt:)  he sure loves cake!

What a sweet boy.  Seth, we love you.  You are amazing, funny, smart, cute, loud, handsome, and absolutely wonderful to be around.  Much love.  We have been blessed to see you grow these past two years.  Happy Birthday!

Lily's Par-Tea!

 All the sweet little girls helping to celebrate Lily turning 6!

 Lily taking her turn at the tea cup pinata.

 Funny seeing these daintily dressed girls swinging baseball bats:)

Elli picked out a gift for Lily that caused squeals, "thanks", and hugs.  A remote control "My Little Pony" car.  Fun to see the excitement in Lily with each gift.  What a great day.

Hike at The Narrows, Sat, Sept 17.

 Devin and Wes were a big help in holding these two sweet kiddos.

 The whole gang headed out onto this huge tree stump over the river.  Some sweet ladies walking by offered to take the picture for us.

 We spent quiet a bit of time throwing rocks in the water and saying, "oooh and ahhhh".  Actually we were all practicing skipping stones.  Such fun:)

Seth with his two grandmothers.  Thought this picture was pretty sweet!

This time we went to the boy's house!

Wesley's smile is so sweet. I was trying to get a picture of all four of his teeth.
"How big is Luka?" So big!!!
Up close with little Luka.
These boys are so sweet.
Luka was showing off his walking skills.
Elli was showing off her new missing tooth! She was also excited to sit in the front seat for the parking lot drive over to Once Upon a Child.

The many faces and outfits of Ells!

Elli picked out everything she is wearing in this picture. Girl gots style:)
This is the face I got when she lost her second tooth on Fri, Sept 16, in JCPenny.
Princess jams that are a bit too small, but she wears them all the time anyway.
Jeggings!!! Actually they are skinny jeans. I told Elli they were just like leggings, only we call them jeggings because they look like jeans. This is the first time she has worn jeans since she was about 2.

My new SPARKS clubber:)

The first game of the new year, crawling!
Elli got a little confused in the middle, but made it to the other side:) She is excited to be a Sparky this year.

First Day of Ballet, 2011

The big girls! Elli and Lily are now in the regular ballet class instead of pre-ballet (6-8). They are doing well trying to learn all these new moves:)
The little girls. So fun to have so many friends taking class on the same night. I think it helped them all enjoy their time.
My sweet Ellianna. She is doing really well and even practices at home:) She has always loved to dance. It is fun to watch her.