Clay's Birthday!

My DU Idea!

 

 

Yummy Cake!

The Table set up!

Blowing out the candles!!!

I

Clay wanted a bouncy house for the party!

Some of the kids who came! Fun Times!!!

A Christmas Elf

An awesome Christmas Elf dropped these by my house the other day!  These are absolutely the best donuts I've ever had! A local donut shop---Mark's!!! Nothing better.  They even had a "love you guys" note on them!  I have some really awesome people in my life! Love them bunches!!!!

Drake

Drake was sleeping with this baseball!

Christmas Lane

 I took G to Christmas Lane, an outdoor event that is hosted by a local church.  We took a carriage ride through the neighborhood, had hot cocoa & apple cider and a wonderful time! The funniest thing was when we got into the carriage & I said "put on your seat belt" he sat down quickly & began looking for it.  Then he said...."Stephie!" 

Carriage Ride

G with Santa!

A Glass that makes me Smile!

A very sweet elf bought me this glass a few weeks ago. I've been using it every day since.  It just makes me smile. 

Let it Snow!

We enjoyed our first snow of the fall/winter months. Beautiful!

B-17 Bomber Adventure!

A B-17 bomber briefly stopped over in our city for a few days so we took a quick tour of the historic aircraft. This bomber is one of only fourteen of these bombers is still flying today.  Pretty neat to look around and actually see this restored aircraft.

 The B-17 & the guys!

 I'm sure this coming toward you would be intimidating!

 The size of the aircraft is visible with the guys standing under it!

 A pose...plus looking at the geese fly over!

 B-17

 The guns were impressive.

 More guns!

The Cows Come Home

Back in October, we purchased a cow. He's being fed out right now, & he will soon find his way into our freezer.  This is a first for us and a new adventure, but hopefully we'll be able to save a little money in the long run.  A friend of mine was telling me about buying a cow and it sounded intriguing so she brought me some of her beef to try.  It was absolutely delicious! Very lean and wonderful.  The ground beef she gave me didn't even have to be drained when I browned it.  I asked around and another friend's father actually buys and sells cows and so the process began.  We made a trip out to choose the cow we wanted.  Clay made the final choice.  A few days after Christmas, we will be picking up a whole lot of beef.  My parents & our freezers will be full since we're splitting the cost!  I'll have to let you know how our purchase tastes.  We're excited about it!

Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving at our house this year with Tom's parents, my parents, the boys, and our friend, Joel.  We had a great relaxing day with great food.  A time to be thankful for what we have and who we have in our life.  Sharing just a few pics of our table and our preparations.  I wish I had taken a photo of all of the food to remember how we feasted & shared! We are all blessed! I love my family & friends!

Our Table!

Chandler's place setting!

Clay's place setting!

Turkey Lurkey

Clay debuted as Turkey Lurkey in the Mystery of Turkey Lurkey in the Thanksgiving Play at our homeschool program.  The kids did a great job!  Fun Times!

Our Guys!

 

Son #1 & Son #2 

So proud of our guys! 

Love them so very much! God has blessed us with them!

Mismatched Socks

Life is full of so many different things.  The good, the bad, the ugly, the fun, the not-so-fun. But in the whole scheme of things, life is pretty much what we make it.  Are we happy?  Truly have joy?  Happiness is really not about the situations or circumstances in our life, but how we handle them and understand that those things are just temporal and that we can truly be happy even during the times in life that don't bring happiness.  We can have a sense of knowing that all will be well.  We can have a peace that God is going to work things out for our good if we seek Him and serve Him and love Him.

I've gone through a lot of things in my life that weren't so fun or good or lovely and while going through them wasn't all that great, I have been given a peace that passes all comprehensible understanding that God was going to take care of me simply because He is God and He is good and his mercy endures forever.  He allows in His wisdom what He could easily prevent by His power.  He allows things in our life to help us to grow in our Christian walk with Him; if we are wise enough to realize He is trying to help us grow.

We have to understand that even if life gives us mismatched socks, we can look at it one of two ways. Negatively or positively.  First, that woe is me, my socks don't match and one is tall and one is short and what am I going to go. Or we can choose to see the good in the midst of whatever we're facing. And that while my socks don't match and one is tall and one is short, well, at least I have two and they don't have holes in them and they are fulfilling their purpose.

I never discount what someone is going through, but I do want to encourage you to take a good look at your problems and find the good your life and even in your problems, learn what God has for you to learn & be grateful for mismatched socks! You never know where they will take you.............

©Stephanie Thompson

The Nina & The Pinta

 We recently had an exhibit come to town & Clay & I were able to explore it.  Exact replicas of Columbus' caravels, the Nina & the Pinta, moored to the dock on the Arkansas River.  It was absolutely fascinating.  We enjoyed it so much!  I would highly recommend taking the time to see this exhibit if it comes near you!  Such a fun way to explore history!