as for God...His way is perfect

so often our finite minds are troubled by the things of this world. life throws things at us that we don't/can't understand.
so we begin to question:
Why God?
Why now?
I don't understand Your ways...will You show me?
nothing...I don't hear anything...are you going to answer?

then You answer in a way only You can...through Your precious word...

wait on the Lord;
be of good courage
and He shall strengthen your heart...
as for God, His way is perfect;
the way of the Lord is proven

thank you, Jesus... 'as for God...His way is PERFECT'.

...and the winner is...

what better way to complete a christmas gathering than to have a gingerbread contest.

with three teams competing... and let me just say that the competition was fierce...

first, we have bluebeard's manor...

secondly, we have your creative, colorful, typical gingerbread house...

and lastly, the church in the wildwoods...

and the winner is...

the church in the woods!!!

a hiking we will go.

what better way to spend time in Tennessee than to go on a long hike in the beautiful smokey mountains.

a group of us made the 24 mile car trip to cade's cove (an old community of farmers and their families who lived and survived in the smokey mountains). we drove and hiked from homestead to homestead to see the various houses that were still standing from the 1700 and 1800's.

community church, methodist church, or missionary baptist... choices, choices, choices

in this small community there were 3 churches. we only went to one... in the church yard was a small cemetary.

it was exciting to see all the different people who had lived and died in the area. some were alive during the time of the revelutionary war. another was killed by north carolina rebels. the saddest thing to see were the graves said... 'infant'...lived and died the same day.

eric and i decided that we could move into this quaint cabin. the only problem... we couldn't find the outhouse.

then the real hike began...

six of us went on a hike to abram's falls... it was a gorgeous hike with a rushing stream running right beside the trail.

there were several log bridges that we had to cross.

we passed one sign that said...'be cautious, there have been 4 drownings at abram's falls. please don't be the next.'

thankfully there were no accidents or incidents...just pure pleasure...it was beautiful!

tennessee here we come

what does...

• a 12 room cabin
• unique village shops
• 33 people
• christmas
• a 22 hour drive (just me and my honey)
• and lots of snacks

...have in common...

all of this is what eric and I are looking forward to in the next few days!

tennessee here we come...

calling all farmers

spending the evening playing games... what a great night.

If only Eric and I were getting paid for our advertisement of this amazing game. The FARMING game.

Eric and I had 3 of the guys from our church over last night to enjoy supper and games. any game in particular... The FARMING game! what else

twas the week before christmas

twas the week before Christmas and what better way

to spend the night with friends for the holidays.

with friends and with family all gathered around

while coffee and cider and cookies abound.

to listen to music sung with guitar and fiddle

and watch as the children do wrestle and giggle.

a great time was had as we held our friends tight

to all merry Christmas and to all a good night!

happy birthday, Jesus

watch two of the cutest boys ever... singing happy birthday, Jesus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vJ2YyStcJ4#watch-main-area

new hobby

i have become an aspiring photographer. i need a lot more work, but that's what it will take-WORK.

my wonderful husband bought me a magnificent camera.

the next step- learning all the quirks and quips of my new olympus.

beyond words

one picture is worth a thousand words... several pictures... beyond words...

two down one more to go...

Eric and I had great time with the family this last week.

We celebrated another early Christmas... this time with my entire family...

So far we have had two Christmases and one more to go! I LOVE Christmas!

We are sending out our FIRST ever Christmas card. Any guesses as to which picture we are using for our Christmas card?

We went to C of O and took some formal pictures...well, as formal as our family is... it was fun...

okay...confession time... so at the time it wasn't a whole lot of fun because I was having problems with my camera,

...But after many tears, torment, and two hours of trying times, things turned out okay for the most part.

(was that an exaggeration...you bet, but for the sake of my 'triple t' phrase it had to be done)

I can no longer say "here are 'the nephews'", since there is a niece in the group now... they did a great job staying happy most of the time...they were real troopers.

you know...

You know that you're in the Ozarks when walking down the one way street you see a sign like this...

You know it is the Christmas season when you attend a Christmas parade in the freezing weather...

You know you have a wonderful hubby when he willingly lets you celebrate Christmas together three weeks early...

family, fixins' and fun,fun,fun

What a grand time!

Family gathered around and we enjoyed a good ole' midwestern Thanksgiving with all the fixins'.

My cousin was able to come to the gathering...her husband is in army training right now so it was just her and her cute little baby girl...Adorable!!!

Family gatherings just aren't complete without a little card game...

The proud winners display the winning hand...alright, so it isn't really the winning hand...but they are the proud winners!!

It was fun to have a new member of the family there.

M really was good the whole time. She just didn't enjoy her new headband very much. N, however, thoroughly enjoyed it.

Can't believe I got this shot...aren't they fun?

I also can't believe that this is Eric and my second holiday season to celebrate together. What a wonderful man I am married to. It has been an incredible year and a half.

I can't wait to celebrate many more seasons with him!!!

the next aunt sally

The whole process was new to me...Alright so I HAVE baked a cake before, you have to give me a little credit. So I guess it isn't the WHOLE process, just the shaping, cutting, and frosting part (ya know, the artsy part) You can just call me the next aunt sally. I actually DID call her to get some tips.

I organized a small shower for Adrian and Maya at mom and dad's house...my SMALL trailor isn't quite sufficient for gatherings like that.

After the shower several of us went to see the new Twilight movie...New Moon. Dont' worry I am not TOO obsessed.

FUNnel cakes

Working at Cantina definitely has its benefits. 50% off our meal, a lady giving me a tip even though I don't even work there, and...getting free tickets to go and see the Sight and Sound show...Miracle of Christmas.

A few months ago a man who worked at S & S gave Eric free tickets to go and see the Christmas production. Along with this GREAT deal, since Eric works at Cantina he can get himself and one other person in for free. We thought that we would take this perfect opportunity and invite my dear friend S and her new husband M. (You might recognize her as the one who's wedding i was in recently)

We enjoyed the show and then spent the rest of the evening at S and M's apartment.

Mr Game Guru himself was very pleased to learn a new game while we were there called 'water works'. It is an old Milton game, fun, but old.

We then, of course, had to challenge the boys to a game of Taboo. Girls...notorious winners...why? is it because we are good talkers? maybe I should say we like to talk. I will just say in the end... no matter what transpired between the beginning and the end...the girls...VICTORS!

Following the game we proceeded to make some carnival funnel cakes. the boys offered to make them since they were the losers. How thoughtful! as you can see S and I ended up finishing them.

Some fun memories and some forgettable memories were made. We only took pictures of the fun memories...the rest...well they are fleeting and hopefully will soon be forgotten.

If not...well at least we can laugh about them later.