Visitors Of the Past Few Months

 

In the beginning of November we, or my wife I should say, had a surprise visit from her sisters.

They had left me in on it a few weeks before they came and then of course I was trying my best to keep it from her.

So they showed up one night at 10:30 and came trick or treating to the door.  A neighbor friend helped me out and brought

them to the door introducing them as her friends who are looking for a treat.  We had a lot of fun planning this and

my wife was thrilled to death.

They did a real good job at disguising themselves!  Until one of them bust out laughing and the surprise was revealed.

Above pic shows all the goodies that they brought with them.  Unbelievable the way people have given to us.

This was gifts of food, toys for the kids, and lots of kindness from different family and friends.  It was like an early

Christmas party, we had a lot of fun and felt so much support.

The question might be what did me and the kids do?  We just stayed out of the way!

No, it was a lot of fun for us all. My wife had no idea of them coming and had no problem finding things to do, I guess

you call it a sister thing.

The next visit we had was on Thanksgiving weekend when my brother, his wife and three kids stopped by.

They arrived Thanksgiving morning and we were glad to be able to have family to “feast” with. The boys had

a grand time with each other.  Thankfully the weather wasn’t to cold yet, they spent a lot time outside. 

My brother, Jadon is at the end, his wife Gina on the right, Madison you can’t see on the high chair,

Reagan is the oldest on the left, and Braden on right is two weeks younger than Dexter.

                                              

Ava and Madison are real close in age, they seemed to enjoy each others company.  The guys above on the right

are showing off the candy grandma sent down for them.  I guess mom thought they needed more energy.

It was very thoughtful, don’t take any insult by that mom! 

The picture above shows a lot of what was going on with the boys.  The four-wheeler was given to Dexter from

a neighbor friend a few weeks ago.  As you can see Braden was not ready for the take off and took a hard fall

off the back, it just so happened I caught that on camera. 

 

 

 

 

 

Just this past week Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Steve made a trip south to visit us for a few days.

Again we were very happy to see them again and it gave the children an opportunity to be with grandma and grandpa.

The boys loved all the attention from uncle Steve and hopefully didn’t get on his nerves to much.

Mom helped Charmaine with some projects that needed to be done and goes lots faster with more hands.  Dad

fixed a problem in the bathroom and Steve spent time with me at the prison. Time pasted all to quickly.

Grandpa spent quality time with the boys, here he had bought them small painting projects which

they were working on.  What a blessing to have godly parents/grandparents who support us like this and

enjoy spending time with the kids.  They are missed a lot and being with the grandparents is always time will spent.

A thank you to all who have made the 850 mile trek from Pa.  We never get tired of visitors and we always welcome any

more who would like to come see us.  Merry Christmas to all and may we never take for granted the gifts that are so freely

given to us by the one who’s birth we celebrate this time of year!!

Ava’s First Birthday

 

This soon to be young lady arrived on a Friday evening, Sept 4, 2009.  It was about 9 pm and my wife was thinking

that we should be heading to the Birth Center.  Well, I was thinking hold off to make sure this is the real thing. By 9:30 this

wasn’t a joke so we got family to be with the boys and off we went by 10:00.  The last 5 miles of our 10 mile journey

was running stop signs, passing anything moving slow ahead of us and wondering if this was gonna happen in the van.

We made it and 30 mn later we were holding Ava Marie.  Looking back thats the way it should be, get there quick and

leave quick.  By the way I do not care for long drawn out deliveries. 

This post has been long overdue since this birthday was celebrated September 4.

But I had to let you all in on the life of my little girl and how much a year can change an infant to a little one who

is active, determined, and tries her best to let nothing stop her.  Is this part of the female gender or

do we have on our hands an energy that needs some direction and/or a will that needs some breaking?

Look out teenage years, adulthood, we’re on our way and time is not stopping for this one.

I have to give credit to my creative wife who loves to make cakes for the birthdays and she does a great job.

This little lady has the sweetest smile and in public she will look for the attention of those passing by and then let

‘em have that smile.  It will soften anybodies heart.

 

I am the dad so I am allowed to be proud and  show a pic with her and not have to apologize! 

This was the gift which was to help her get on her feet and walking. She pushes that thing around so recklessly like

she is trying to make a statement, “who says I cant handle this”.

 

 

  

Ava loves being outside and chasing after her brothers.  We need to keep a close eye on her when we’re

swimming,  she loves the water.

 

Me-ma, who is our kind neighbor Ms Jean, came over on her bithday with a gift and had a recording of Happy Birthday

to play for Ava. Me-ma has won Ava’s heart and Ava just loves being with her, she spend a lot of time teaching Ava

how to hold up one finger.  Bless her heart the boys  love her to death as well.

Below and to the right you will notice Ava helping mom clean the cupboards, its a God given trait, right.

Cleaning, being a homemaker, I try to give her the benefit of the doubt.

 

Like I said, she loves to keep up with her brothers outside, dirt and all.  It is amazing as I see her

personality develop and wonder what kind of impact she will make in her world.  How thankful we are for a healthy baby girl

and being able to  celebrate her first year.  And how much she adds to our family. We love you, Ava!!

A Day at The Homestead Hollow

This fall we visited a place called the Homestead Hollow, where they have different events throughout the year.

This one weekend they had the harvest celebration.  They took a step back in time and showed how

things were done in the “good ole days”.  

 

  They even provided babysitting service!

These folks were “a pickin and a grinin”.  They were playing some southern gospel and country music.

Dexter was fascinated with the man who was doing some magic.

 

      Just more pics of different things they were doing to take you

      back in time.  Was wondering to myself if they knew that there is still

      people who dress like they, the Amish. 

 

 

       There was a lot of vendors set up trying to sell their crafts and also a lot

       of good food being made.  Below, Isaiah is enjoying a fry pie, which was

       a pie filled with custard, sweet potato, pecan , and few other varieties.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The boys had fun getting a ride on the wagon pulled by some mules.  This man was very proud of his

wagon, telling me that is still the original and over 100 years old.

They also gave rides on ponies which we couldnt pass up.

                                                                                                      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Visit from Family

In the beginning of September, we enjoyed having Elvin & Lena and their kids spend a few days with us.  It’s always fun to have friends and family come and spend some time with us in the south.  We made the most of the short time they were here with us. 

  

One day we took a picnic lunch to the park.  A great place to relax while the children ran off to play on the merry-go-round and splash in the creek. 

We made a trip to Down-Town Birmingham to visit “The Vulcan.”  It’s the World’s largest cast-iron statue.  That’s what you see towering over the children’s heads in picture above.

A view of the city from the top of the Vulcan

  

After coming down from climbing the “tower” the children had fun running down a grassy hill.  Nice green grass is something that we don’t see much of in the south- it makes us miss the nice lawns in PA.

  

And the parents took snapshots:)

The kids had a great time with their cousins.  Thanks Elvin and Lena for making the trip to come see us!  Don’t wait too long to come again!

Projects and Visit to the Country

     In the last 7 months since we moved there have been quite a few small projects we have done to improve things to the house.  One of those have been removing the old steps out the back door, making the first step out of the house deeper and the same level as the floor of the house.  And then the second step deeper as well.  This makes it much more comfortable to step in or out of the house.  Thanks to Vintage Landscape for the donated material and my brother Jeff, for the free delivery service.  One amazing thing about this project was the way I had just enough material. I had a slight idea of how much material I had and needed, but never measured exactly.  So when all was said and done, I had just enough to do what I did. I should have counted the pieces before I started to see if the Hand of Providence multiplied as I needed them.  I believe God takes an interest in the small things of life whether we take time to notice it or not.

 

 

   Here are a few before and after pics of the back door.  As always I have willing and good help to assist me in any of the projects I undertake.  Its great to be able to teach him hands-on.

 

 

This piece of furniture below was one that we refinished recently.  We picked it up along the streets of Strasburg for free, maybe 3 years ago or more.  It has traveled with us on our last 3 moves and now found its place in our home.  When we first saw it my wife agreed that if we pick it up, she would take full responsibilty to refinish it.  Now we needed it and it still wasn’t finished.  Little did she know that as the little one’s came along, also came less time to accomplish the restoration of this piece.  A few Saturdays ago we made up our mind that the day of reckoning has come.  So we (notice the we) sanded, sweated, painted and at last it found a new look.

                                              

This past Saturday evening we drove a 30 minute drive into the country to take in a horse show.  It was advertised at a local hardware store as a horse show and barbeque.  It was a nice drive into part of the country we never were before.  They had a $3 fee for parking and the rest was ours to do what we wanted.  It was a real back country experience, where everyone knew each other( they might have all been relatives).  Either way we soon felt comfortable, people being friendly and making us feel like its alright we were there.  The barbeque was very good $5 bought a plate of potato salad, baked beans, piece of bread and real good barbecued beef. Notice their advertisement on the fence, it seemed to me you could buy your space and sell your business.  We had a good time and the boys loved it.  The guy in the orange shirt offered a ride to the boys as he rode by.  He must have over heard Isaiah saying that he wanted a ride.

  The building you see (to your left) with stairs going up the side was where the announcer overlooked the arena and made his comments.   What intrigues me in these back country places is the looks of their buildings, you gotta like it.  No one feels pressure to have the buildings in perfect condition,  its like an after thought.  The enjoyment of life is not affected by everything being just perfect and looking better than the Jones’ down the street.   Its not a bad thing, unless its a result of laziness which in some situations it is.  

 

    Isaiah still has his love for horses,  on the left he was giving the miniature horse a kiss as we were about to leave. 

I will admit (the picture on the right) we might       have been trying to fit in a little.  Something was telling me that we didn’t appear as locals, but know one seemed to mind.                                              

                                                                     

   

    This kind young lady (below) was more than glad to give the boys a ride on her horse.  She was giving all the details of the horse and the prizes she has won with him, very proud of her horse.  You could tell it was in her blood and she didn’t have a  choice but to love horses. 

 

 

We have enjoyed exploring you might say or driving to new areas and seeing what else you can find especially in the back country areas.