Thanksgiving 2012

Over the river and through the woods

To Grandmother's house we go!  

John, Anna, and Christopher bundled-up in the backseat on Thanksgiving morning to head for West Virginia.

We had a great time catching-up with relatives over Thanksgiving, including my 2nd cousin Neal and his mom, Judy.  Neal came all the way from South Padre Island, Texas, and I hadn't seen him for close to 30 years!   I found it interesting that even though we live about 1500 miles apart and never see each other, we talk EXACTLY alike.  I always feel at home when I speak with folks who have a West Virginia accent.  :)

I had the chance to visit with Mamaw Rita, my 92-year old grandmother who recently moved into a nursing home.  Although she has advanced Alzheimer's disease, Tim and I were thrilled that she remembered us, and that she even remembered that we had three children.  It was a happy visit.

Clough Pike Baptist was busy during Thanksgiving week.  We packed 25 boxes to hand-out to folks for our new Hispanic church plant.  The boxes had non-perishable food, plus a gift card to buy a turkey from a local grocery story.

We also had our annual Bountiful Blessings Dinner and Annual Business Meeting.

The dinner afforded everyone a chance to to enjoy the three new baby girls born into our church family in recent weeks:  Lily, Charlotte, and Natalia.

 

 

"Oh, give thanks to the Lord!
Call upon His name;
Make known His deeds among the peoples!" -Psalm 105: 1

Big Tree Climber: Christopher, Age 10

Long before we moved into the parsonage 7 years ago, God grew the PERFECT tree for climbing right beside our house.   It's incalculable how many hours my Christopher spends up in that tree...

Welcome Prospect!

We recently added a new member to our family, a beagle named Prospect.  We adopted her from a rescue shelter on the West Side of Cincinnati.  Prospect was 7 months old when we adopted her.  She had spent her life bouncing from place to place: shelters, rescues...even living as a stray.  She is certainly happy that she has a warm and cozy home now!  

The top picture is the day we got her.  We completely surprised the kids, who had been begging us for a puppy for some time.  They were shocked when they saw her waiting for them in the yard!  We had hoped to put the puppy in a box and have them unwrap it, but her legs were so long, she wouldn't fit in the box.  :)

I have learned not to leave laundry sitting out in baskets.  Prospect turns my laundry into a bed. (above)

(below) Prospect chews-up EVERYTHING, including our office chair at our computer!

 Prospect's favorite activity in the whole world is treeing squirrels.  So we bought her a stuffed animal that looks like a squirrel and squeaks.  She loves it:  she carries it around all the time.

Prospect is a GREAT dog:  she should be the poster dog for rescues and shelters.  When we got her at 7 months old, she was already cage-trained and housebroken.  She doesn't bark too often, she's gentle with the kids, and she greatly enjoys taking walks with us, especially if we're heading for the woods.