Madeline Who?.......

First she tells us she wants to change her name to her first name and no longer go by her middle name of Paige. We all try and accommodate her on this very difficult task. Try calling someone a new name after you have called her that for 15 years. It is hard for me. She is Paige to me. She has grown into her name. The latest she has been begging me to let her get her hair colored dark. I am starting to wonder what is going on with this child? First the name now the new hair? Should I be worried? Is this normal for a teenager to want to change so much? Nelson is so sad. He likes her hair Blonde and her tomboy name of Paige that he named her at birth. Just when I am starting to get use to the idea of the name change. BAM she goes and changes something else. I know she is just trying to figure out who she is, But honestly I am not sure I can take anymore. I know a girl has to "Represent" but come on!

Sick but never alone

Peyton has spent the last 2 days sick. She has not been this sick since July when we were in Guatemala. We were reminiscing about how nice it is this time to have a normal bathroom and a washer and dryer for the accidents. We are so blessed to have a couch to sleep on. As things progressed we tried to keep our focus on the "at least we have". The most amazing thing was that Sugar was the best nurse of all she never left Peyton's side. And as many of you know this dog is not one to be so compassionate. I just had to take a picture of it for proof that she is a dog worth having around.

Friday Night Fun-BB at Bracken

Here are just a few pictures of Madeline playing basketball at Bracken on Friday night. They played so good. Check out the only kid with her arms crossed. Madeline is so funny she is such a joy to watch her play her heart out. I am so sad that the season will be ending soon. What will we do with our Tuesday night and Friday nights free?

Family Fun.......

My Youngest brother Tyson and his sweet family came to see us during the Christmas break. Here is some pictures of our day at the park. We are so sad to see them leave. We just love having family around and lazy days to enjoy them. We took them to one of Madeline's basketball games. She was so proud to show off her cousins. They have a new baby on the way in June and we are excited to see all the fun we will have next Christmas. (Tyson and Melissa if you are reading this THANK YOU THANK YOU for the visit. I know it can be a pain to travel with small kids but we sure enjoy having you here.)

Really Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

We drove to Katy getting there just in time to meet the family for the candle light service at First Baptist Katy. It was a wonderful service and we saw so many old friends. Christmas morning was filled with opening presents of course. This year was a sad one for all of us and at times really hard to keep the tears back. Nelson's brother Robin went home to be with Jesus last February. God did an amazing thing he made it possible for the WHOLE family to be there 44 people what a blessing. I know Robin would have really liked that.

Christmas Eve

Actually it is really Christmas eve eve. We are usually traveling on Christmas Eve to Katy to be with Nelson's family. We have a tradition in our family we all get dressed up and go out to dinner to eat Mexican food and this year we had so many choices. Some of the places we have lived made this tradition hard to keep. When we returned home we went to a neighbors house for cookies and hot chocolate. They read the story of Jesus birth from the bible. Thank you Jesus for giving us neighbors that love you as much as we do. When we returned home we allowed the girls to open one gift which every year is their new PJ's so they will look great in pictures in the morning. The next morning we opened gifts slowly. Another tradition the kids are still willing to do. This was our first Christmas in the hill country and we just loved it.

Tagged.......

My sister in law Melissa tagged me and asked for me to write about my miracles. I am new to this tagging thing and not quite sure how to do it so here goes-----Well I had to actually sit and think about what to write. I have so many to choose from. The past 6 months has been one big miracle to me. I have a husband that loves and adores me (in spite of my OCD tendencies). A husband that loves adventure has much as I do (that is why we have moved so many times).It is a miracle that I have so many friends that live all over but I talk to them as though they still live down the street. God provided a miracle for us to move to the hill country. It was a miracle that we sold our house in less than a week in this economy. It is a miracle that God changed Nelson's position so that he could work from home and be very active in our girls lives. It is a miracle that God provided a school that Madeline loves. She was so unhappy in school in The Woodlands and we just did not see any other options for her. Private High school was more than we could afford in The Woodlands. I prayed so much about this because I just could not see. Little did I know that he had it all under control. I am so mad at myself for worrying so much about that for a year. It is a miracle that I work for a company that is very generous and loves Jesus as much as I do. I could go on and on...................