Experiencing the Circle of Life this Year

You may or may not remember this baby shower we had in September for a certain little pink bundle of joy that was coming our way.

Well, she made her arrival yesterday and I'm proud to announce:

Miss Mallori Jane was born on November 23rd at 5:47 pm.

7 lbs. 10 oz. and is 21" long.

Congratulations Tori & Jeremy!

May God bless you and your new little family.

I can't wait to go to NC tomorrow and see cute little Mallori for myself.

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In our family, Thanksgiving week always has excitement involved and this year we'll add another birthday to the calendar and celebrate two more at the end of the week all while giving thanks to Our Lord and Savior for the next generation.

While we're enjoying the Thanksgiving feast and blowing out birthday candles, this year something will be missing.....someone will be missing.

Thanksgiving 2008

This is the first major holiday without the head of our family and it's going to be difficult. I'm shedding tears already at the thought of Jack not being there to snitch a piece of cornbread as it comes out of the pan or him anxiously awaiting the dessert phase of the meal.

He loved family holidays. For him to see his children and grandchildren having fun and playing in his yard and around his house was complete happiness for him and I know that he's watching from above and has much better seats than we do, but it's still hard for those of us missing him.

I'm glad we have Mallori to show us how life goes on, but the circle of life is never easy and I thank God everyday for helping us find our way through.

Sending Happy Thanksgiving wishes to you and your family!

Easter 2009 & Prayer request

Sorry I'm a little late with the Easter pics, we've had a lot going on.

We had a nice visit with my sister's and their families (no pics of them - sorry). My mom had fixed a wonderful lunch complete with ham, potato salad, garden fresh beans and corn, deviled eggs, yeast rolls and strawberry shortcake for dessert. Yuuummmy.

We also got to attend Easter service at our old church. We miss that church family so much and enjoyed seeing old friends - well, they're not really old but you know what I mean.

While in town, we got to spend some time at the hospital with Jack (my step-dad) and he looked good & was laughing with everyone. It was a nice visit but since we've been

back home & he's started his dialysis treatments, things have gotten worse.

The Dr. thinks he may be having mini-strokes. We'll get the test results tomorrow but he's been moved back into CCU. He's also been hallucinating & talking weird.

I'm not sure what all of this means - it's in the Lord's hands.

If it is his time, please pray that it's peaceful and pray for comfort for

the grandchildren and all of his family.

We've known for a while that his health was slowly deteriorating so this doesn't come as a shock, but it's still difficult to go through.

I'll keep you posted as I can and thanks in advance for the prayers.