Fire Department Fun....

Can you guess what kind of birthday party we went to today?

I'll give ya a hint, this little fireman turned 2!

It seems like just yesterday, we were welcoming you! I love this picture (fuzzy & all), Max is looking very concerned that Landon is doing so much screaming. You see, his baby sister, Maggie, was due to arrive in just a couple of months. Also, do you notice any resemblance in that other baby Papa is holding and this one......



Sweet Maggie.....boys aren't the only ones who like climbing on fire trucks!

Max is getting so big!

Lilah loves her Papa!

I can't tell you how much I love love LOVE this picture!
p.s...if you click on the pictures, you see them bigger! Also, I have been playing around with Photoshop and have played with most of these......just in case you think my camera is acting weird. It's not. I am! haha!

fPhoto friday

Canon XSi
f/1.8
ISO 100

location: kitchen

These are the first "flowers" given to me by my little boy yesterday. Pretty cool looking, and hey, at least I don't have to worry about them dying.

Ever.

Thanks Natalie for hosting!


P.S. Carter & Lilah have a new baby cousin. Spencer & Kelly have a 6lb 11 oz baby boy, Hensen Lee McCrary, Feb 25 via c-section.

.....and yes, this means Uncle Manson is a grandpa! I bet there was never one more proud!!

Update

I found this post yesterday which includes an email update from Bob's sister Barbara. Here is a link to en email Jungle Mom received from Neiba's (Bob's wife) brother as well. Please continue praying for these families, as of last update, their plane has still not been found.

Love is.....

Love is being married to your sweet heart for 70 years.

Love is watching your children grow up together.

Love is patient and kind. (lots of patient!)

Love is growing old together.

Love is the name of my sweet neighbors.

Mrs. Love is 88 years old and still lives at home. Mr Love lived at home too until a little over 2 years ago he fell and broke his hip and had to go to an assisted living facility just a few minutes away for what was hoped to be a short time. It turned in to much longer.......

For 12 years they have been my neighbors. They have been my husband's neighbors for his entire life since we actually live on the land he grew up on. The very first time I ever saw Mr Love in his yard I nearly wrecked my car. He looked so much like my Papa Kirby I could not believe my eyes! I used to walk by their house every single morning just about the time he was going to get his paper. We chatted for a few minutes then both went on our way.

One of my favorite things about Mr Love was although he was about as ornery as they come when he wanted to be, he had such a big heart. For this reason (the ornery part AND the big heart part!), and so many more, he so reminded me of my Papa (who died when I was 14)! Mr Love didn't know me the last time I went to see him. I didn't go back, I didn't want to confuse or upset him.

Mr Love passed away on Saturday. He died on his 92nd birthday. His wife, who is one of the sweetest people I've ever met, has been in the hospital. As of last night she wasn't going to be able to attend the funeral today which broke my heart! I had actually planned on going to the hospital to sit with her today so she wouldn't be alone, but her daughter in law called me this morning to say that the Dr was going to let her go to the funeral.

Thank goodness!

My heart breaks for sweet Mrs Love who today has said her last goodbye to her Love of 70 years. I stop by her house a lot, just to check on her. (Two of her kids live beside her, but I figure it's nice to see a non related face now and then!) Carter gets a kick out of calling her "Miss Love".

Kyle was a pall bearer. As I ironed his clothes this morning, I thought about the fact that the only time I iron that shirt and suit seem to be for sad occasions. Just over a year ago, I ironed it when he was pall bearer for another neighbor.

The drive down our short 1 mile road looks different now. Stella now sits in Paul's chair by the window at night...not Paul. Mr Love isn't mowing the grass or working in the garden, Mrs. Love now sits on the porch alone. Abby's house is empty. She hasn't had me to return anything to the grocery store in utter embarrassment in several years now. I do still go pick her buttercups though. She'd be happy about that. (or shoot me...not sure). Marcia drives by our house alone now. Her Ed, the local part store owner/former rocket scientist, is no longer by her side each day.

Kyle just came in and said that Mrs Love didn't get to go to the funeral after all. I sure wish I'd known.

If you think of it, say a prayer for her tonight. I'm sure she's missing her Love so much.

Morning Visitors

....these visitors have stopped by for several days now. Often a couple of times a day! We see deer in our yard/pasture all the time, but rarely are they this big or in this big of a group. I counted 10 this time.

You can imagine how much my boy loves this!

......oh, and Carter likes it too!

Missing Plane!!! Please Pray!!

Update!: I have spoken to Ronnie and also to Bob's mom this morning. They don't have much more information than is listed below, but are so very grateful for every single prayer going up on behalf of those on the plane and their families. Ronnie is such a sweet soul and he is very much worried about his dad. I can't even begin to imagine!! Bob also has another son, Robbie, who is Ronnie's twin brother. Please continue to lift all involved up in your prayers!


Adventist missionary pilot Robert Norton with his wife Neiba lead out the Adventist Medical Aviation based in Gran Sabana, Venezuela. Their plane went missing in southeastern Venezuela Monday, February 16. [photo courtesy AMA]

For those of you who are local, this is Ronnie, who I worked with at VZW's dad! His family lives on the far north end of our mountain. Bob and his wife came and shared a video with our youth a few years ago and told us about the work they were doing in Venezuela. He is one of the kindest, most soft spoken men I have ever met! Please join me as I pray for these and their families!

In Venezuela, Adventists continue search for missing medical plane

National aviation authority ceases search after 72 hours; church hiring rescue service

February 19, 2009 Gran Sabana, Bolivar, Venezuela

Libna Stevens/ANN

Seventh-day Adventists continue to search for a missing medical missionary plane, which disappeared Monday, February 16 in the jungles of La Gran Sabana, a vast southeastern region in Venezuela.

The Cessna 182N plane piloted by Robert Norton, who volunteers for Adventist Medical Aviation (AMA) in Venezuela, is believed to have hit turbulent weather after taking off from the community of Carun en route to the community of Bethel.

Also in the plane were six passengers: Neiba Norton, wife of the pilot; Gladis Zerpa, an Adventist teacher; a woman accompanying a 14-year-old and a woman traveling with her young son.

"Our church is really distraught about the news of this tragedy," said Rodolfo Escobar, Communication director for the church in Venezuela.

Escobar said church members in Gran Sabana began searching for the missing plane as soon as they heard the news. The National Civil Aviation Institute, along with several air rescue and non-government organizations, immediately began their search but stopped after 72 hours.

The church has continued today to search the area by contracting air rescue organizations.

Escobar said there were several accounts from villagers in the adjacent areas of Carun who heard the plane's engines go silent at some point during the stormy weather.

"We have formed groups to search in the air and several more groups on foot to scour the region where the plane communication was last heard," Escobar said.

Norton, the pilot, has more than 20 years of flying experience. For the last eight years, he has served as director of AMA Venezuela, which is based on the campus of La Gran Sabana Adventist School in Santa Elena de Uairén in Bolivar. His wife Neiba is a registered nurse and works with indigenous people in the region.

The AMA is an international project established about 12 years ago. AMA provides emergency medical transportation and evangelistic support to dozens of otherwise inaccessible villages.

Thank you, Rita, for letting me know about this!

fPhoto friday

Canon XSi
f/1.8
ISO 400

Taken on Feburary 14 in my neighbor's yard. Is Spring springing?

For more fPhoto friday, visit Natalie!

Par-Tay!

I have zero time to be blogging this morning, but I just HAD to stop in for a minute to say that the Children's Valentine party at church last night was fabulous!

Tons of fun, tons of food, tons of chocolate!

Went off without a hitch!

If someone tells you otherwise, don't fall for it!

........especially if they mention something about a fire!

...........or a flood!

Like I said, went off without a hitch!

Yep, that's my story!

Valentine's, Church, & The NRA

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day! We did!

You'll all be shocked to know that I'm not really the lovey dovey PDA kind of girl.

(I'm waiting, you know, for the shock to wear off.)

Anyway, so when Kyle asked me what I wanted for Valentine's Day, I barely let him finish before I said, "Breakfast at Cracker Barrel".

I love to eat breakfast at Cracker Barrel. It's like a vacation thing. We never have time to eat breakfast out unless we are on vacation or it's a holiday. Since I am also doing the "diet thing" the last month or so (with the exception of our Siesta trip to Atlanta) a big honkin' breakfast was about the best thing he could have bought me!

Don't worry Thea & Brooke, I sooooo worked it off later!

I worked on decorating the fellowship hall for the Valentines festivities tomorrow and I climbed a ladder at least 740 times, held a screaming Lilah for an hour, dumped a screaming Lilah off on Papa & Gran so I could get some work done, loaded my car, and just as I was about to go back in to take some pics of my work, I almost had to shoot a strange man in the church parking lot.

It's been a full day.

Now I'm off to bake some brownies for my little (and very demanding when it comes to their snacks) 4 & 5 year old SS class cuties!

Have a great Sunday!





Disclaimer: I did NOT shoot anyone in the church parking lot, but as I was coming out of the fellowship hall with my arms loaded I glanced back toward the sanctuary entrance and saw a man go around the corner of the building. I didn't know him. As he disappeared into the darkness, I shoved my stuff in the car, grabbed my gun, and took off in hot pursuit.

lol.

not really.

I did get my gun(because I DO live in the boonies with hillbilly, redneck, freaky Jason types....God love 'em), then hurried back to the door to switch off the lights and lock the door. Just as I turned and started down the steps the man was coming back toward me. I jumped in and locked my doors and headed out of the parking lot.

Then I saw a truck I didn't recognize parked close to the office door. Being as I had my gun and I was safely locked inside my vehicle, I suddenly became brave enough to go see what was up.

I blew my horn and rolled my window down a bit and asked him (because I'd never seen him before) if I could help him find someone. He then told me his wife was inside painting and he was just taking the garbage out.

"Ohhhh, okay. Well then, I'll just put my gun up and be on my merry way! Have a great night, so nice to meet you! I hope to see you at church in the morning!"

I hope never to miss an opportunity to invite someone to church. (Even if there ARE firearms involved.....hopefully always MY firearms)

Goldfish?

Goldfish anyone? We have plenty.
I will go ahead and mention this occured mere moments after I vacuumed.

On My Knees

Today has been "one of those days", so was yesterday, and the day or two before that.... I actually went to Twitter to request prayer for myself when I saw another prayer request.

This family just lost their precious 11 month old daughter, Cora, to cancer. They just found out she had cancer at the end of January......just a couple of weeks ago!

I can not even imagine their pain.

Please help me pray for them. A memorial service for Cora begins in a couple of hours at 1:00. I will be lifting them up until then, during, as well as after and in the days and weeks to come.

As I look at my sweet Lilah, who is less than 1 month younger than Cora, I CAN NOT imagine their unbearable grief.

fPhotoFriday

Camera: Canon XSi

Location: Pasture

Setting: f/1.8

ISO 400

No Flash

For more fPhoto Friday visit Natalie!

Pam's Story

Thanks to Wendy L for sending me this. I just had to share it! Pam knows about the pain of considering abortion. More than 21 years ago, she and her husband, Bob, were serving as missionaries to the Philippines and praying for a fifth child. Pam contracted amoebic dysentery, an infection of the intestine caused by a parasite found in a contaminated food or drink. She entered into a coma and was treated with strong antibiotics before they discovered she was pregnant. Doctors urged her to abort the baby for her own safety and told her that the medicines had caused irreversible damage to her baby. She refused the abortion and cited her Christian faith as the reason for her hope that her son would be born without the devastating disabilities physicians predicted. The doctors "didn't think of it as a life, they thought of it as a mass of fetal tissue," Pam said. While pregnant, Pam nearly lost their baby four times but refused to consider abortion. She recalled making a pledge to God with her husband, "If you will give us a son, we'll name him 'Timothy,' and we'll make him a preacher." Pam ultimately spent the last two months of her pregnancy in bed and, eventually, gave birth to a health baby boy August 14, 1987. Pam's youngest son is indeed a preacher. He preaches in prisons, makes hospital visits, and serves with his father's ministry in the Philippines. He also plays football. Pam's son is Tim Tebow. Last year, the University of Florida's star quarterback, became the first sophomore in history to win college football's highest award, the Heisman Trophy. Tim's notoriety and the family's inspiring story have given Pam numerous opportunities to speak on behalf of women's centers across the country. She was the keynote speaker at the Oct. 23, 2008, benefit banquet for two Louisville ministries. A Woman's Choice Resource Center offers such services as free pregnancy tests, post-abortion counseling, adoption information, and material support. Necole's Place is a companion ministry that provides support services for women in need. Several Louisville-area Kentucky Baptist churches and Long Run Baptist Association help support both ministries. A Woman's Choice board chairman, John Schmitt, reported at the banquet that in the 20 years since the resource center opened, 4,500 children have been saved from abortion -- 400 in this year alone. Speaking of the thousands of lives saved, Pam Tebow said, "That just blows my mind. Every little baby you save matters."

Hormonal, Erratic, & Audited...Oh My!

....I turned on the news tonight.

Big Mistake.

I made it just fine through the local news, mainly because they just do "local" stuff. I got busy with supper and didn't manage to change the channel before the world news came on. I usually just can't stomach it.

Tonight it took about 2 minutes to make me mad.....or, as Carter says, ....."veeery mad".

So now I have a thing or two to say.

Can somebody PLEASE tell me why in the world I was audited on our taxes ( I say "I" because hubs had to work and I had to go all by myself ) last year, WHILE I was PREGNANT, and HORMONAL, and ERRATIC, when apparently nobody needs to pay their taxes in this country??? Let alone file AND be audited!!

Geez! We could have just not even bothered with paying them and maybe been nominated for.... oh, say, a presidential cabinet position?!

Because I am certainly no longer pregnant....or hormonal and erratic!


(Disclosure: Our audit only showed a discrepancy of 3$. Which is amazing considering I walked in with a big rubbermaid tote full of awesomely organized farm receipts. I shorted us $3. .........just so you know! The process was still a nightmare though! UGH!)

One more thing, have you seen the H&R Block cubicles in Walmart? Does anyone really use those? For Real?

There...I got it out. I feel much better now!

25 Things you are dying to know about me.....right?

So, this is going around Facebook, and I've been tagged a ton of times and just now finally got around to doing it. It took me forever and since it also takes forever to tag everyone on Facebook, I'm sharing it with all of you too.

I Know! I should have totally kicked things off by telling you all just how generous I am.

But then, you already know that, right? ha!

Here goes:

1. I love to talk. (sometimes even to myself....I am great company:)

2. I hate to talk on the phone. I don't mind texting.

3. I have worked at 2 phone companies.

4. I took ballet & tap dancing lessons as a kid....(now you know where my dancer's body comes from...ha!)

5. I also took banjo & piano lessons.

6. I have an very high tolerance for pain. My OB says I'm his toughest patient ever. (2 c sections)

7. I used to run/walk 5-6 miles a day (pre children).

8. I am relying on my friends Brooke, Theia, and Shannon (who does triathalons!) to motivate me to get back into that run/walk groove. (get with it girls!)

9. I love to watch House, MD.

10. I think if I were a dr, I would probably be a lot like him (well, minus the drug habit thing). Lucky for everyone, I'm not a dr.

11. My dad taught us how to shoot a gun and a bow and arrow when we were little.

12. I can shoot a gun way better than my husband.

13. I am passionately, unapologetically Pro Life.

14. I love to take pictures. Photoshop (and most anything else to do with computers) makes my head come reeeally close to exploding!

15. I rear ended my husband once on the way home from church. He was driving Dwayne Chapman's truck home for him. It did about $6000.00 in damage to my vehicle and a couple of thousand to Dwayne's. It was super incredibly humiliating to explain the situation to the cop who took the report. "yes, both our last names are Pike. YES he is my HUSBAND. No we were not arguing, I just wasn't paying attention" so not fun.

16. I will never EVER EVER live that down. (do you know Dwayne? or Kyle?)


17. I LOVE fast pitch softball and very much wish it had went to the college level back in my high school days.


18. I love to people watch. If you see me at a ball game, I probably have no idea what is going on....at least on the field. (unless my niece or nephews are playing of course!).

19. I love to watch the mall walkers. You can always pick them out by their shoes. NOBODY else wears stark white Puma's and a visor to the mall.

20. I love God, my husband and my children more than anything.

21. I would love to have more children. (I don't know when or if.....don't ask. lol....no really, don't ask!)

22. I have 2 babies in heaven.

23. I don't bleed when I get shots or IV's. I took fertility drugs/shot for years, most people think giving myself shots and getting blood drawn so often for so long is the reason for that little phenomenon.

24. The 2 babies I have in heaven were conceived while on fertility drugs. The 2 babies I have now were conceived only AFTER we had given up on having children of our own. No drugs (except for progesterone shots after I found out I was pregnant...as a precaution!). Just God.

25. I believe in miracles. (see #'s 20-24)

Tag! You're it!

Favorite Photography Site Links

(This is a "List-In-Progress"....what are your favorite sites/photographers? Leave me a comment so we can all check them out!)


Here are the links to some of my Favorite Photography sites! Some are full of tutorials, some just for fun. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do! My favs are constantly changing, so check back for new and updated sites!

ClickinMoms

Life Is Sweet

Pioneer Woman Photography

I Heart Faces

Digital Photography School

Short On Words

MCP


Photographers and their sites:

Beth Armsheimer

Mandy Owens
The Image Is Found
Kelly Vasami

Anna Kuperburg

Tara Whitney

Patti Scmidt

Audrey Woulard

Jasmine Star

Digital Scrapbooking Sites:
Oscraps

Paislee Press

The Shabby Shoppe

Scrap Girls