days and knights

Laps overflowing with love...

2012-01-15T15:18:00.000-08:00

Bud and Honey

Will (4), Emma (2), Owen (7) and Clay (5)

Taken Christmas Day, 2011

Back blogging...

2012-01-15T15:14:00.000-08:00

I was really hoping to start my new year off with a fresh blogging start...but here I am again...playing catch up! I just can't seem to keep all my balls in the air...I just keep dropping something and to be honest, blogging has been the one who falls to the ground most often! :) So here is a quick catch up on the Holiday Season at the Knight House!

Though Larry and I were busy decorating, putting up lights on the house, cooking, baking, etc..the REAL fun began when the kids showed up on Saturday, Christmas Eve. They all arrived at the house within 10 minutes of each other...David, Ashley and Emma arriving from Mansfield and Zach, Meg, Owen, Clay and will arriving from a few blocks over! :) Larry and I had been super busy in the kitchen. If I haven't mentioned it on here before, I am in love with Pinterest. I have a very big board of recipes to try. I have been trying to at least try one recipe a week...but I thought during the holidays I would try as many as I could. :) Good excuse! So, we fixed a big brunch for everyone and all the recipes were new and some quickly became new favorites! :)

Here is the table before the crew arrived....

And here we are busy doing what we love to do...eat! And yummy new recipes!

Then it was time for one of our favorite and oldest traditions. The Christmas Eve Morning Hunt. Not a terrible original and clever name...we have great traditions but we sure need to work on their names!
Here is the tradition explained. The little kids went first. In the past, I have taken pictures of things around the house that I knew the little ones could find but this year I hid some really cute paper Santa's around the house. I would show them a sample of one and tell them the room to find them in and off they would go. They were really sweet to help each other. We got tickled because we had told the boys to be sweet and help Emma. But it quickly because obvious that she didn't need help and was spotting them right along with the boys. After they found all their Santa's, they went to the couch (which has become a tradition! The boys think they need to get in the couch ANYTIME there is a surprise and close their eyes and hold out their hands!) so off they went and I love this picture that David captured of Emma...she at least had the hold out the hands part! :)

Here are the four digging into their gifts!

While the "big kids" wrote the next chapter in their crazy Christmas Story (which they did an amazing job once again...talented group!) the kids and I played Emma's game.

We originally had planned to make gingerbread houses but everyone was having such fun relaxing and playing games with the kids so we decided to not try to rush through another activity. We spent the afternoon relaxing, visiting and then got ready for our annual Christmas Eve with my brother and his family. We had such a good time. We had our traditional snack food buffet, which is always a big hit. Then my brother read our Christmas book this year with some help from Owen and Clay. Afterwards, we played Bingo, yes, another tradition. We all bring an amazing and awesome wrapped $5 gift and fight it out to come away with the best gift of the year! This year, I played Christmas Bingo with the little ones. I think they were so excited to get to play too and of course had fun picking out a gift from the little wrapped packages.

After the party, we got the kids in their Christmas PJ's and off to bed. We had a chance to visit as adults before heading to bed ourselves. It was so fun because Zach, Meg and the boys spent the night as well. Christmas morning started with hot coffee, a beautiful fire in the fireplace and a very sweet and memorable devotional with our family. David did our communion thoughts, Zach and Meg shared the Christmas Story with a really sweet video. We sang songs and prayed as a family. It was precious.

Then the little ones opened Christmas presents, it is always such fun to watch! Here are a few pictures of the fun!

I love how it doesn't matter who is opening a gift, the kids get so excited for one another!

Clay opening his set of Lego's. The boys had a Lego Christmas this year and it was a huge hit!

Owen's turn!

Emma sporting her new apron! She got lots of goodies to go with the kitchen Santa brought her!

Will opening one of his gifts.

After the kids opened their packages, we stopped for brunch. We have a very traditional meal...French Toast Casserole and Bacon-Mushroom Strata Casserole (thank you Pioneer Woman) plus sausage and lots of drink choices. The kids were very excited to have Chocolate Milk! :)

Another tradition...we always have new ornaments on the plates for each child and the couples.

As is the tradition (I know...another tradition) the little kids got an ornament to reflect the theme of their birthday in 2011. Thus, Owen got a Lego ornament, Clay a fishing ornament, Will a Superhero ornament and Emma a monkey. David and Ashley got a New York Ornament to reflect their trip to NYC and Zach and Meg got a pop up trailer ornament to reflect their love for taking their family on camping trips each year.

Then it was back to one of our families very favorite parts of Christmas...STOCKINGS!!!

Afterward the little ones had finished opening all their goodies, the adults exchanged gifts. This year we made the decision to really cut back on our giving. Because we are all so blessed and truly don't need a thing! Even though in my heart I know this is a good thing, it was really hard for me not to stuff my kids stockings...after all we have been doing that for 30 plus years. Each adult was to buy a $5 gift for every adult. It was amazing to me how creative everyone was in their gift giving. Lots of fun little treats! We enjoyed playing with the kids for the next several hours...the boys were so excited to put together their Legos! I am pretty sure the adults had just as much fun.

We spent the afternoon playing, visiting, snacking and enjoying our time together to the fullest.

That evening we drove to Hawley and celebrated Christmas with Larry's family

It was fun to see everyone and of course, we ate. We always eat.

Monday morning, Meg, Ashley and I did a little after Christmas shopping. The nice thing was we had fun but certainly didn't take the shopping too serious! It was fun to find a few things to tuck away for next year! We returned to the house and fixed lunch.

It was another relaxing afternoon of playing, visiting and vegging!

Late afternoon the fun had to come to an end as David, Ashley and Emma packed up and headed back to Mansfield and Zach, Meg and the boys headed back to their house.

We are so very blessed.

We cherish these times and always enjoy our children being home for the holidays!

Another tradition...a new one of sorts...

2011-12-17T12:03:00.000-08:00

Okay, our family loves traditions. We have lots of old ones that I have written about here, here, and here and ... okay, I am gonna stop there...cause there are so many of my blogs (19) that are about traditions! Since we didn't have enough, we started another last year! Ha. However, the wonderful thing about this one is how easy it is for Larry and I! As I have written about in the past, we always have a Christmas Eve Morning gift...which always involved hunting for your gift around the house. This tradition, involved poems/hints that lead you around the house. Well, writing poetry is not my strong suit. In the past, I have received some chuckles...with good reason...for my lack of rhyming skills. Or, worse, it would rhyme but made no sense! So, last year I had an idea to get me out of this role of writing poetry! Here is what they received:

Mr. and Mrs. Claus’s poems have been laughed at

Their rhyming abilities, they say, are weak and flat.

They’ve looked at us as if we were crazy

When we tied them together and no one could be lazy!

So we have decided to turn the big kids loose

And just see what kind of story they can produce!

The words on the enclosed list must all be used

To make a story or poem you will choose.

Enclosed are a notepad and a pencil too

Work as a team, we look forward to your debut!

The clock is ticking; you have only a 1/2 hour to work

As yes, your results, if done well, will produce a perk!

In order to receive your prize

You must delight our ears and eyes!

Bud, Honey, Owen, Emma, Will and Clay

Look forward to your most CREATIVE display!

Larry and I came up with a list of random and I mean random words...
Today I was getting the list of words ready and pulled out the last years (which by the way, the story will be a "continued" story) and it just made me laugh. This 4 did a great job! It made me laugh this morning, so I thought I would share it with you...and maybe it could be a tradition that would fit into your family!

Chapter One:

The icy wife was hanging plastic Christmas bells while the kids were mixing a green concoction in the blender. A fuzzy blanket of snow glittered at midnight as the sleepless President texted Santa on his iphone while listening to his ipod. The cold salami wrapped eggrolls burned Santa's nose, while hearing the news of the blizzard approaching the North Pole which would affect the elves toy making in the workshop. The blizzard was so cold that not even crazy buzzards giddy with hormones wearing red socks on their toes could survive. Made aware of the eminent threat of the snow-melting green concoction, Santa danced a silly jig while slipping his legs through the holes of his pants and strapping on his jingle gun, then hopped into his sleigh filled with presents and acted as a taxi to deliver lipstick and earrings to the boring wife who's jaw never stopped moving. Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight!.

As you can see, when these 4 get together, random, silly and amazing things happen! By the way, it did make Bud, Honey and the kids laugh and thus they were rewarded! We are anxious to see how they do this year!

Our Special Little Tradition

2011-12-09T11:56:00.000-08:00

I just came home from a wonderful little trip to Mansfield. Last year, Ashley, Emma and I started a little Christmas Tradition. We went to North Park Mall for a day of shopping at fun little stores but much more importantly we took Emma to see Santa!!! We started this last year and decided right there and then, that would be our little tradition! We got to North Park Mall, grabbed our ticket (it gives you what time Santa will see you!) and then did a little shopping and looking around until it was Emma's turn! First stop was the Disney store. She is VERY in to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse..as in she loves that show, so of course she loves all those characters. When we walked in the store, she looked around and exclaimed "COOL"!!! :) We just looked around a fun stores that we sure don't have around here....Paper Source, Gymboree, Janie and Jack, Anthropologie, Lego Store, H&M...before and after our appointment to see Santa! I had wondered how she would do. Ashley thought she would do great. Ashley was so right! She waltzed in to his little house, crawled up in his lap, handing him her letter and acted like she could have stayed all day! She was quite taken with the guy with the white beard! I have to say that Santa was so precious with her as well. He was so tender and sweet to her!!! I think if we had left her there she would have been just fine with that! She talked about him all afternoon! Him and his beard! So, that of course made the day super special. Then we went to eat at la madeleine...always a favorite!!!

First sighting of Santa

Waiting to see the big guy!

Reading her wish list- a Kitchen and a balloon

Checking out the big guys beard, she was quite taken with it!

Love this picture!!!

We had such a fun day!!! Emma was so sweet and good the entire day...especially since we missed her nap! She did take a mini-nap on the way back home. We finished the day at another favorite place to eat, Chuey's. Yum. It was so fun to get to spend some time with my girls! Tonight, we have a sleepover and Christmas Shopping night with our boys...so I will blog more later but for now, I will close with a few of MANY fun pictures of a VERY fun day with Emma and Ashley!

Because it looked fun...

2011-11-21T08:46:00.000-08:00

I love this girl. Annalee is always so clever with her blog. I have been suffering from Blog BLAH. I have so many things I need to "write" about but life has just been so busy. When I read Annalee's blog this morning, I thought "I love these things, because I learn such fun and interesting things about people"!!! I thought I knew a lot about Annalee, but I learned so much today that I didn't know! So...just because it looked fun...I will copy! Love you leeper!!! (Ha, you didn't mention that name!!)

it's THREE days until thanksgiving.

i hereby declare a THREEs survey is in order.

(friends attempting to blog everyday in november, here's your easy post!)

THREE NAMES I GO BY:

1) mary kay

2) honey

3) mk

THREE BEVERAGES I DRINK FREQUENTLY:

1) coffee--every morning!

2) tea with sweetner

3) water

THREE THINGS I WOULD LIKE TO LEARN:

1) to quilt

2) to knit

3) to write a book

THREE SONGS THAT GET STUCK IN MY HEAD:

1) "hot dog, hot dog, hot diggidity dog"...thanks Emma!

2) "it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas"

3)this version of "rolling in the deep". Love this group. www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBaskRZDbNA

THREE MOVIES I COULD WATCH AGAIN AND AGAIN:

1) Sound of Music

2) Anne of Green Gables with Ashley

3) Curious George with Emma, Owen, Clay & Will :)

THREE TV SHOWS OF MY CHILDHOOD:

1) bonanza

2) password

3) i dream of jeanie

THREE CAREERS I WOULD ENJOY DOING:

1) interior decorator

2)owner of a stationary shop like Paper Source!

3) art camp teacher-just like annalee!

THREE CAREERS I WOULD NOT ENJOY DOING
(but i'm thankful someone else does them):

1) police officer

2) fireman

3) C.P.S.

THREE THINGS I AM WEARING RIGHT NOW:

1) jeans

2) sweatshirt

3) hillcrest youth trip t-shirt

THREE THINGS I CAN HEAR RIGHT NOW:

1) coffee pot turning off :(

2) squirrel playing in the leaves in the backyard

3) tea maker making tea

THREE THINGS TO-DO TODAY:

1) celebrate meg's birthday tonight

2) help larry with work at churches

3)keep boys tonight while Zach & Meg go shopping

THREE end.-

Our little houseguest

2011-10-21T19:45:00.000-07:00

It was a pretty exciting call. We got the call from David and Ashley to see if we would like to keep Emma Grace for a few days. We had to think long and hard before we gave them an answer...NOT!!! We were so excited and had a blast. We went over and celebrated with our birthday girl, Ashley. Then the next morning, we played a bit before heading out right after lunch with our little girl in the backseat! She slept most of the way home, which sure made the trip go faster for her.

Emma does the cutest little thing when she is sleepy. She loves this blanket. It is a very soft knit. She usually gets the corner and rubs it very gently back and forth across her nose. Love it! She also likes to cover her head when she is getting sleepy.

Then the fun began!!! She was so excited to be at Bud and Honey's house! Ashley had been a little concerned about how she would do. She has been suffering with some separation anxiety recently but she did amazing! We played outside after we got home. Let me just say, this girl loves the dirt. She crawled right into the sandbox and proceeded to cover herself with sand.

Then it was time to break from all that playing for a little dinner....

before playing a little more before taking a bath, reading a stack of books and heading to bed. She goes to bed so easily. She went right to sleep and we weren't far behind her! Saturday morning started off about 7:30 with a very sweet chatter coming from her bed. She wakes up so happy. First she watched a little Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, while eating her breakfast picnic style.

We were expecting rain midday so we made the most of being outside ALL morning. We picked up leaves, feathers, dirt, played on the see-saw and did lots of walking around the yard...those chunky little legs got a workout!

We have these two little statues in the backyard, named Zach and Ashley. Emma was so intrigued by them, she wanted to touch their noses and hold their hands, she even gave the little girl a flower, but of course she wanted her to smell it! So sweet!

Really, how cute is she!

This little girl to draw, as does Honey!

Then after a full morning of playing, we had us a little lunch before making our house guest do the dishes of course! Ha, she was pretty excited to get to play in the bubbles!

Then after lunch, we read more books before putting her down for a nap. She once again goes down so easy and took a great nap. When she woke up she had company...her 3 cousins and uncle had come to see her. She was so excited and played hard with them for a few hours before we all went to get a little pizza for supper. She loves those boy!

Her sweet chauffeur, Owen

Sunday morning, a very happy girl woke up, we ate breakfast and got ready for church.

A little Pat-a-cake on the way to church....

Get those things rolled up and throw them in the pan!

It was so fun to have this precious little girl with us at church, she was so good and even got to go to Bible Class for the first time! Course, Honey went to class with her! :)

We came home for lunch and a little of play time before it was time for a nap! We had one tired little girl! After her nap we had a very excited Mommy show up, I think maybe she missed her girl just a little bit. Ashley stayed for several days which is always so fun for us! We appreciate so much David letting us keep them a few days longer! We basically stayed around here and played but made a few fun outings...like a trip to the Pumpkin Patch, but those pictures are on Ashley's camera! :)

Here are a few more of MANY pictures we took while we had sweet Emma:

Love this picture, Bud and Emma coloring...oh so sweet.

It was a wonderful first "sleepover" with Emma...we look forward to many many more!!!

We love you Emma-girl! Come back soon! Bud and Honey

Celebrating with the Birthday Girl...

2011-10-21T15:36:00.000-07:00

Larry and I drove over to spend the day with Ashley...her 29th birthday. We had such fun.
Emma made Ashley's day. On Ashley's birthday Emma and I took Ashley shopping. We hung out while Ashley tried on clothes and looked for a few new items. But the highlight of the day, was Emma took Ashley on a carousel ride! It was Emma's first time and she loved it! She smiled and waved the whole time! It was so cute but I am afraid my pictures aren't the greatest! It is hard to get good pictures when things are moving!!! After David got off work, we went to The Cheesecake Factory for supper AND dessert! Then the next day, we packed up Emma and brought her home with us! Yahoo...I will hopefully get that blog written soon! :)

We continue to pray and ask you to join us...

2011-10-19T07:01:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, Emily, our sweet precious friend that we have asked you to pray for in the past will go in for her c-section. We can't wait to meet Little Girl Macht! We of course are anxious. We are anxious to know all is well with baby and mom. We love this family so much and are praying that Emily will sail through this c-section with NO problems and be able to truly enjoy the birth of her baby girl. We continue to pray that Crohn's will also leave Emily's body! We know God is able to accomplish more than we can ever imagine and so we are anxiously await all that he has planned for this sweet family!! Dave, Emily, Emmett, Pam and Gordon...we love you so much and can't wait to meet little Miss Priss!!! Please know the Knights are praying without ceasing and that we are so thankful that God has blessed us with your sweet friendship!
Feel our hugs...

Two very special ladies to me...

2011-10-17T07:01:00.000-07:00

My heart is heavy today, it has been for days. I am writing this more to let my heart speak and to ask you to join me in prayer for these very sweet and special women that God has put in my life and I am so much richer because of them. They have all taught me a lot about faith.

Two hearts breaking.
One daughter today will attend her mothers funeral.
One mother today will attend her daughter's burial.
My heart does not have the words to express my sorrow. The ONE thing that I hang on to...is that they will be reunited one day. A daughter will sit at her mother's feet again and a mother will hold her daughter again. I love both of these ladies so much and my heart is so heavy for them! They both have such incredible faith and have taught me so much through their separate journey's. One has cared for and loved on her mom while seeing her body fail her. One only got to spend a little time with her daughter but the love is so incredibly deep. Both know they have gone to sit at the feet of Jesus and can rejoice in that even though their hearts are breaking. I love you both and will continue to lift you up in prayer and thought. One thing is for certain...Heaven just got a lot sweeter this week!

2 Thessalonians 3:16
Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.

29...how can that be???

2011-10-06T04:01:00.000-07:00

Our baby is 29 years old today. I remember when I was turning 29...so how can it be that our sweet baby girl is 29 today! So, to our precious daughter...Happy Birthday Sweetie! We love you so much and are so thankful that God was so gracious to give us a boy and a girl. To experience both, as different as day and night (Knight!) and yet we could not love two people anymore than we do you two! Thank you for the wonderful Christian woman you have become. We have loved watching every stage of your life from the moment we held you, to now watching you hold your own little girl! Thank you for living your life for God, for putting Him first in all your decisions and for all the ways you love your family. We are blessed to have you and thank you for the part you play in making this family so precious to us! Have a wonderful day and may God continue to watch over you and your family! We love you Tater! :)

A Very Special Trip to Denver for 3 Girls!

2011-09-28T05:00:00.000-07:00

In August, Ashley, Emma and I made a trip to Denver. We went to see and help some very dear friends, The Trice's and The Macht's. We have been wanting to go for such a long time but it is just such a long car trip for a little girl. However, one night David and Ashley were searching the Internet and found some tickets that made the trip possible for us! We quickly made a call to the Denver crew, ironed out the dates and quickly booked the tickets! I drove to Mansfield the morning we were to leave, we ate lunch and then made our way to the airport. Emma was so excited but thankfully took a little nap on the way to the airport as it was going to be a LONG day! We checked in, watched the planes till it was time to board. I cannot describe how precious Emma was the whole way. She is such a good little traveler! Ashley had packed lots of new things...stickers, coloring book, snacks, etc and it made the trip go so quickly and our little girl was so entertained! Once we arrived in Denver, Pam picked us up and we headed to their house. One wonderful thing is they live right down the street from one another...I mean it is just a nice little walk between their houses...so Ashley and Emma stayed with Emily, Emmett and Dave while I stayed "up" the street with Pam and Gordon! It was so perfect. They have beautiful homes and you can see the mountains!!! I loved being outside!!! As always, the mountains just always amaze me and make me wish for a home in Colorado! :) Really wish. I hate to say after this summer of heat and no rain...I could sure see myself living in Colorado...or Oregon. :)

We spent 5 days there and were able to help Emily get her house ready for a new baby girl, organize her basement closet, work on fun things for the nursery, play with the kids, etc. Ashley and I had planned a little surprise baby shower for Emily and this sweet baby girl that soon join their family! It was so fun and we totally surprised Emily! Little did we know, that Emily was planning a little early surprise birthday party for Emma! Do you get why we four ladies get along so well...I think we share a brain! The week was super busy and the only down thing was Emily was having some contractions and was put to bed rest! It was so fun because we could all be together and then we could have time where Emily and Ashley had time with their kids to play and talk and Pam and I were able to do the same...talk that is! We also made time for a movie. First we sent Emily and Ashley to see "The Help", then later in the week Pam and I went. If you have not seen it yet...GO NOW!!!! It is so good as is the book!

We were so excited to go and have 5 days but as usual our time together flew and it was time to leave! We were ready to see our hubbies but at the same time, we hated to leave! We still had so many more things on our "to do list" but I guess we will just have to plan another trip! :)

This family is so very dear to us and it is so amazing to me how we ALL get along so well. I never thought when we first met them, that Emily and Ashley would be so close as there is 9 years difference in age. But then they have always had so many similar interest and now share motherhood together...so they just have really bonded...like sisters! Emma has been blessed with another Aunt! That is how we look at it! Pam is like my big sister too...so as you can see...Ashley and I are both very blessed.

Here are a few pictures from our time together and of some WONDERFUL pictures that Gordon took on our last day there. I had requested a picture of Emily and Ashley but we ended up taking lots and they are all so good! Thank you Gordon...you should really think about doing that for a living! :)

Love you Trices and Machts!!!! We continue to keep you in our prayers and we are pleading to God to bless the last few weeks of this pregnancy, bring a perfect little girl into your family and as always we also plead with God to take Crohns away from Emily!!!

Emma and Ashley hanging out in the airport

My two sweet girls...it is so fun traveling with them!

So sweet...watching the planes!

Ha...this makes me laugh. We were trying to get a picture before we took off...I think we really should have asked someone across the aisle!!! :)

We wrote a silly poem, of course, which was a "hint" of what the package held...

we tried to fix her up with some very girly little things.

Emily and Emmett watching "The Letter Factory"...
obviously Emma was to "into her movie" to smile! Ha.

Look Emma, what Emily made for you! Such cute monkey cupcakes!!!

Time to put on our party hats and PARTY!!!

I think Emma liked the cupcakes Pam and Emily!

Playing with Gordon

Hanging out on the porch with Emmett, enjoying some nice cool mountain air! Ahh.

Emily got out her "My Little Pony' collection and let Emma play with it! I don't think Emma had any idea about how really sweet and special that was!

Sweet Pam having some play time with Emma

And now to the photographers shots...ha...

I don't think I would have had to tell you which ones were Gordon's! Hehe.

Emma and Ashley-oh I love this picture!!!

Sweet sweet friends...Emily and Ashley

Emily, Emmett and Baby Girl

Emily, Emmett, Ashley and Emma...ha...we don't need anymore names

that start with EM!!!!! Hehe.

Emily, Emmett and Pam...precious family

My girls...love this picture too!!!!

My very favorite baker...

2011-09-27T05:00:00.000-07:00

Yep, baker not bakery. Though I do love a good bakery! Yummy.

But today is about my very favorite little baker...and she can bake a VERY mean little cake!

She knows just how to pat it out just perfectly...

Then she has very good rolling skills...knowing exactly how much to roll it!

And finally she knows when it is ready to go in the pan..

and she has such a flair in getting it there!!!

So, if you need a cake...

I know a baker that will steal your heart preparing it! :)

Love you Emma girl!!!

Honey's Art Institute

2011-09-26T06:03:00.000-07:00

Yep, sounds pretty official, huh! Zach and Meg asked me if I would like to teach Owen and Clay Art this year! Zach and Meg are homeschooling their kids and one day a week they attend a Homeschool Co-Op where they take some special classes. Last year one of the classes was Art, but this year it is Music. Not only will that be such a fun subject for me to teach, it will be such a great way for me to be involved in their homeschooling...in a small way. If you know me, you know I love to do Art Projects! But this will be more than just drawing, painting, etc. We will also be learning about famous Artist and different elements of Art, which is where we started. I am so excited and cannot get over all the ideas I have floating in my head of things to do with them. They have been SO well behaved and we are off to a great little start! Here are just a few pictures from our first lesson, I had them do their self-portrait.

We are pretty excited about all the things we will learn.

I am pretty excited about watching my little budding artist!

We talked about having an Art Show at the end of the year...

I have a feeling we will have lots of amazing art work to show off!

They wanted to know if we could serve refreshments...like a real Art Show!

Also, Owen asked if he could sell some of his pieces!

Gotta love that boy...he is all about making money right now!

Well it is off to plan my next little lesson...

Happy Birthday Son!

2011-09-25T05:29:00.000-07:00

32 years ago today, a 9 pound bouncing baby boy blessed our lives and

he hasn't quit blessing us since then! We are so blessed!

I choose this picture because this is what makes my heart sing...

seeing him teach his young boys to be great men of God!

This is of Owen a few weeks ago.

Owen has been taking a class at their church to teach the young men to serve communion,

pray, lead singing, even preach! Owen was very excited as he got to serve!

Of course the sweet dads were there to help, if needed.

Thank you Zach for making family such a priority! We love to watch you as a husband and a daddy!

We love you more than words can say.

Have a great day!

We are still praying...

2011-09-24T19:03:00.000-07:00

Emily has been in the hospital again but went home today! Yippee. She went to the doctor on Thursday and was sent straight to the hospital as she had developed a blood clot in her leg. But though she had a roller coaster 48 hours, she has been sent home. We are happy about that..less likely to get any infections! She is still about 5 1/2 weeks from her due date and we covet your prayers for these last few weeks. We are praying for a healthy mom and baby! Thank you for your continued prayers!

"The faster I go, the behinder I get"...

2011-09-24T18:58:00.000-07:00

Yep, that would be the quote of my life right now. I know I am not alone in this...life is just busy!
But I must catch up on some journaling...sweet things have been happening and I don't want to forget a thing...just where to start. I think since this is kind of how I feel I am going about things right...I will go in reverse! So...

Two weekends ago we went to Mansfield to celebrate a certain little girl's 2nd Birthday! Yes, hard to believe but Emma Grace is 2 years old!!

Ashley had picked the theme several months ago, it was a pretty easy decision...after all that little girl loves Monkeys! Ashley did an amazing job at making everything look so girly and cute! We had such a great weekend celebrating with our family and with David's family. Emma was such a happy little birthday girl! I could go on and on but I think I will just let pictures do the talking!

Thank you God!!

2011-08-13T08:53:00.000-07:00

This morning we awoke to the sound of thunder...were our ears playing tricks on us? NO!!! It began to rain. We got 1 1/2 inches. I cannot describe how beautiful the sound of rain hitting the windows was this morning...even at 5:00 a.m., I didn't mind one bit being woke up!! Since the rain has stopped the sound I am enjoying now...the birds! They are singing at the top of their little lungs! It thrills my soul!
Thank you God, you answered so many prayers and we pray you will shower us again with your great mercies!

These are a few of her favorite things...

2011-08-05T06:20:00.000-07:00

Emma loves to "read" books. Well, she isn't reading yet though she does know all her letters and the sound they make! But she will sit as long as you will read. Never seen a kid love to read as much as she does. I loved these picture I snapped while we visited a really cool bookstore in the Garland area called "The Real Bookstore". Fun place and such nice staff!

Another favorite thing: Emma loves to color and draw! How delightful it was to watch Emma enjoy her new easel. Ashley, Emma and I also enjoyed a trop to IKEA last week. How fun. Love that store. Love the prices! This little easel was such a great find and I just have a feeling it will be well used by a little girl!

Don't hide those sweet little buttons...

2011-08-04T07:20:00.000-07:00

I had a jar of buttons that were my grandmother and mom's button stashes. I sorted through them several years ago and put all the shades of white/tan/creme in one jar, but still it just sat in my utility room. Recently I saw a fun idea on Pinterest (which could be highly addictive so I am trying to refrain from looking at it but once a week now!) and decided that while I was at Ashley's last week...we should put those buttons to good use! So one night after we put Emma to bed, while we watched a really dumb movie, we did a craft. Crafting with my girls is always such a fun treat for me so I was so happy when we made time to work one in while I was there!! I LOVE the way these turned out and I loved even more that we enjoyed such fun conversations about the buttons and the two women who we will always hold dear to our hearts! It was a fun and easy craft! We just bought the initials at Michaels and used Elmers White Glue! EASY!! My grandmother saved EVERY button...really...every button! What a fun way to honor and display all the beautiful, ordinary and unusual buttons collected through many years of homemaking!

All dressed up and having such fun!

2011-07-10T15:23:00.000-07:00

We (David, Ashley, Zach, Meg, Larry and myself) did something last night that is rare...really rare. We all got dressed up and went out! We went to a wedding, in Lubbock for Taylor Potts. The Potts family are very very dear to us and we were so excited to celebrate with them as Taylor and Erin became man and wife! What a sweet couple! What a beautiful service and reception. The six adults in our family have not had a chance to do something with only the adults since Owen was born. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE having our grands in tow but this was a fun time to get all dressed up and do something together! A HUGE thanks goes out to Meg's parents who kept not only their three grandsons but also kept Emma too! They had so much fun and in turn we were able to have a very fun grown up night! We don't have many occasions to dress up...so it was really fun for the girls and the boys were very sweet and tolerated the ties! :) Thank you boys and thank you girls! We had so much fun sharing our dress up stuff, jewelry, etc. Here are a few of my favorite pictures of the family!!!

Zach and Meg...looking good!

Larry and I

Ashley and David

Zach and Meg...waiting for meal time!

David (I think he was tired of me taking pxs) and Ashley

Me and my girls...Ashley and Meg

My beautiful girl!

Meg insisted...I really hate having my px taken!

Meg and her fascinator

My adorable daughter-in-law Meg

Ha. I had to include this. Notice my two kids. They crack me. I was trying to get a picture of us on the pew before the wedding, and when I looked at this later...who are the two clowns! Yep, and they didn't even know each other was acting crazy! I love these four!!!

Fun times with Miss Emma Grace

2011-07-08T05:50:00.000-07:00

Ashley and Emma came to spend the better part of the week with us last week, before the rest of the family came in for the July 4th Celebration. It was WONDERFUL to have her here and I am not sure we could have packed more into the week! We swam, decorated for the 4th, visited friends, visited family, cooked, ate and played played played with Miss Emma. Oh how she makes me laugh! She is such good medicine. I was not on my A-game when Ashley and Emma arrived, been having a few issues with my back so I was so thankful for Ashley's help and Ashley and Emma to cheer me up! :)

I just had to share a few pictures of some things that made us laugh this week.

#1 The girl loves monkeys, and loves Curious George or as she says, "George". I just LOVE the way she gets so engrossed in the movie...like I am pretty sure the house could fall down around her and she would never know! She doesn't get to watch a lot of TV, which I really appreciate but when she does, the girl takes it in. She would sit on the couch and not move a muscle! So sweet.

#2 I bought a baby at Target, nothing special, but just a baby for Emma to play with when she is here. Seemed like to me, we are a little heavy on "boy-toys" and so I felt it only fair! This baby just so happens to be one that you can take a bath with. She really hadn't given this baby a lot of her attention the last few trips, but oh my, that changed this time! I asked her if she would like to take a bath with her baby and the mothering skills came alive! She had so much fun bathing her, putting her clothes on, putting her to bed, etc. She carried that baby around most of the week. When we would get the baby and Emma out of the tub, she wanted to make sure baby did everything she did...get wrapped up in a towel, lotion on, diaper, etc. We even showed her how the baby knew how to pee pee in the potty and Emma wanted to do the same thing! This picture cracks me up! She would want baby right beside her each time she was getting dressed, etc. I think Emma for sure is going to be one of those little girls that loves to play with babies and is already showing amazing mothering skills! So sweet. But let me just say, she just as easily will sit in a pile of dirt and pour it over her head! :)

#3 Okay, as you notice in the above picture, Emma has goggles on, or as she calls them "Doggles". I need to back up a little on this story. The first day we met Meg and the boys at the pool (which by the way, thank you so much Meg for letting us come swimming!!!) Emma noticed the boys "doggles" right off the bat and could not quit talking about them. She wanted them badly. So, the next day when we headed to the pool, we made a quick stop at the store for Emma a pair of goggles. I cannot describe and sadly I wish I had taken a video of her walking through the store holding those "doggles". She said "Doggles" OVER AND OVER AGAIN and was so excited! It took a lot for her to hand them over at the check out so they could scan them and she never took her eyes off them! All the way to the pool, the little voice from the backseat was "Doggles, Doggles, Emma's Doggles"over and over again. She was so proud...but we had no idea how attached she would become. For the rest of the week, she held on to those goggles...sometimes wearing them on her face, on her head or had a death grip on them in her hand. It was priceless. Mom and Dad have had to pry them out of her hand before bedtime on several occasions. The funniest was when we first put them on her, they made her eyes kind of pull like when you have a really tight ponytail! She would look around with those squinted eyes and you could just tell she was trying to figure out what everything was...so funny...but she kept them on!!! So, I am pretty sure we will all refer to goggles as "doggles" from now on out and remember this precious little girl who could not have been more pleased with any gift than she was these cheap little "doggles"!

It was a GRAND ole' time in Abilene, Town!

2011-07-07T13:28:00.000-07:00

We are so blessed. Our sweet neighborhood hosted their 15th July 4th parade this year. It is such a fun event for our grand children. They love decorating their bikes and wagons and it is such a big deal to them! You would think it was the Macy's parade...and yet better! We decided this year to see if David's parents, Patti and Joe could join us for the holiday weekend. It was so delightful to have Patti, Joe, David, Ashley and Emma for the whole weekend! Zach and Meg and the boys were able to hang out with us too...so it was a perfect holiday weekend! :) We did LOTS of eating, sitting around watching the kids on the water slide that we set up in the backyard, eating, visiting, eating at Perini's, loving and playing with the kids and sadly, eating some more! :) Ashley came in earlier in the week and was a huge help to me! Thank you sweetie!!! So, I will stop typing and let the pictures tell about ALL the fun we had!

Ashley made these fun labels for all the food items...such a cute touch!

We made Pioneer Woman's Pulled Pork with this yummy slaw on top...Big Hit!!!

Will

Owen

Clay

Darrell, Larry's dad watching the kids on the slide. We love you PawPaw!

Zach and Larry just hanging out

Larry and Joe Snow sharing stories!

Marie, Larry's mom talking with the girls!

Ashley and Emma before the parade

Emma girl, styling in her shades and decorated wagon!

Owen

Clay is ready to go!

Will is ready to ride his bike in the parade! Big Boy!

Ashley, Emma and David before the parade

Check out sweet Will, his hand over his heart for the pledge! Adorable!!!

Three little boys...ready to ride!

Will, Emma, Clay and Owen

Owen, Clay and Will

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-19T06:14:00.000-07:00

First I want to say thank you to my sweet husband for being such an amazing Dad to our two children. He gave them so much love and taught them so many life lessons through the years and continues to watch over them and support them...He is good Daddy! I am so blessed to be his wife and to have enjoyed that journey of parenthood along beside him. He is also a wonderful granddad...his grands love him!!!

I also want to thank two young fathers, Zach and David. Thank you for the way you love your wives, which is a HUGE example to your young children. Thank you for supporting your family...in all sorts of ways...financially, physically and most importantly, spiritually. Thank you not only being involved in a church yourself, but showing them how important that is for them as well. Thank you for being a spiritual leader in your home. Thank you for allowing your wives to be stay at home wives, not always an easy job, but one of the most important things you can give your kids, your wife, yourself!

Thank you for loving on those precious kids, playing with them, being there for them and for also teaching them life lessons all along the way. We love you, pray for you daily and want you to know how much we appreciate you!!!!

Zach showing off Will to Owen, Clay and Larry

David holding Emma

A little getaway...

2011-06-14T06:28:00.000-07:00

Larry and I escaped from Abilene last week. The good thing is we got away, the bad thing is we weren't able to find cooler weather. I am so very thankful for the a/c in the pop up camper. If you know us very well, you know we are neither big fans of the heat. Why do we live in Texas? Hmm...good question! Normally we will escape to cooler country, but this week off came up very quickly and we made a quick and maybe not so smart decision to go to Broken Bow, OK to Beaver Bend State Park. Larry had been to this area when he and Zach took a fly-fishing trip there once...when Zach turned 16. So, a few years ago! Also, they went in November. November would be a better choice. Actually, I think September or October would be a good choice...there are lots and lots of trees...and thus I am sure the changing of colors would be incredible. Plus, fewer campers. This probably sounds like we are camping snobs. We don't mean to be, we just don't like a campground that is crawling with people. We go to get away...to enjoy nature noises...not people noises. Are we snobs? If so, I apologize. Camping to us is all about cool weather, quietness, enjoying God's country, hiking and fishing. You can do all of that at Beaver Bend, but in the summer it is HOT, HUMID, LOUD and they don't practice "Leave No Trace" there. They may try, but they aren't winning the battle. Larry and I were both so discouraged with the amount of trash that was left by the streams and rivers. Come on people, if you haul in a six-pack to keep you company while you fish, that is your business, but really...it was a lot heavier to hike in with it then it would have been to hike out with your 6 or 12 empty beer cans. OKAY, I am now stepping off my soap box. Sorry...I was really just going to post some pictures of our trip. This is a beautiful area---tall trees, lots of variety of trees and some pretty rivers (minus the trash!). We did not have good luck fishing but I did get THREE books read while we were there. That is more books than I have read all year. I love to read and was reminded on this trip of just how much I love to read. I wish I could be a disciplined reader...like have a book around my house that I pick up and read a chapter or two a day. But bottom line is, if it is good...I am worthless. I just want to read. :) I will post the book titles on another entry...just in case anyone is looking for some good reads. Now, on to some of the fun "snaps" I took last week.

My sweet fly-fishing buddy

A red headed woodpecker-that was CRAZY loud and we laughed so hard at the amount of wood that fell on our campsite by this little guy...he was busy!!!

Hiking buddies

Can't you just imagine this with all the trees in blazing fall colors...ahhh.

Pretty little water falls

TALL trees-don't you like how I tried to give you a visual of really how tall the trees were!

I was intrigued by all the rock formations...layers upon layers of rock. Pretty cool!

Still needing our prayers...

2011-05-19T06:38:00.000-07:00

I texted back and forth with Pam, Emily's mom last night. Emily had a doctors appt with her surgeon yesterday and he said she had a "serious surgical infection". I won't go into details but once again I ask for you to keep them in your prayers. Emily is home, but weak and having to be extra careful! Her incision has been opened in order to let things "drain and heal" so they will be giving it special attention for the next several weeks. I just ask you to continue to pray to our Heavenly Father for him to shower down on Emily an extra dose of healing from this surgery and to take Crohn's away from her body!! I know Emily and her family are so thankful to each and every one who is lifting her name up! I also ask for a God to give Gordon, Pam and Dave a huge dose of energy and endurance!!

We love you Trices and Machts!!!

Easter 2011

2011-05-17T12:38:00.000-07:00

Like I said earlier, my posting has fallen quite behind. But for memory sake, and since this is "my diary-journal" of sorts...I will try to do some catching up.

Easter 2011-A blessed time indeed!

We had the great joy of having all our kids home for the holiday. It just gets better and better. Now that Emma is old enough to "romp" around with the boys and they have realized she wasn't always going to be the "baby on the blanket", they are just having so much fun playing together! She loves her cousins and since they are the only cousins she has...they are pretty special to her!

David, Ashley and Emma arrived on Friday evening and so enjoyed a little Emma time before she was put to bed for the night.

Saturday morning, David and Larry went hunting while Zach, Meg, Ashley and I took the cousins for a little photo shoot! It cracks me up to look at ALL the pictures (which trust me I want post all since there were over 500!) because it would make a great flip book! Each picture shows a slightly different facial expression on one of the kids! So funny and yet so challenging to really get one good one of all of them! Here are just a few of my favorites:

Will, Clay, Emma and Owen

Owen, Clay, Will and Emma

Will taking his job serious in holding Emma's hand!

This one cracks me up...well there were LOTS like this...the kids just weren't as in to having the pictures made as the adults! Ha.

So sweet! Though not all look at the camera!

After we finished with the group pictures, the parents took some of their own kids. Problem is, I don't have Zach and Meg's pictures yet. One of these days!

Here are a few favorites of Emma:

After pictures, we all met at Lucy's for a burger! (Yum. Abilene folks, if you haven't checked our Lucy's burgers on North Treadaway, you must go!!). Then it was time for naps...for the little kids.

The evening was filled with play time, making an Easter Gingerbread House and just hanging out as a family with a little dinner mixed in there too!

Easter Sunday

We decided to try for a few family pictures before hunting eggs...but we made it quick because we had some very excited little kids!

Okay, now FINALLY we had taken enough pictures and believe me, I am sparing you the agony of all of them...though of course if you want to see them all...I am HAPPY to show you! :)

It was Easter Basket Time!!

This year, the kids baskets were "colored themed" with all sorts of fun little trinkets in their basket color!

Then while we were having "basket time" something crazy happened...

THE EASTER BUNNY CAME!!!! Sneaky, huh!!!

So, it was time to gather eggs...and yes...you could only look for your color! Made it a little more challenging for the big guys and gave Emma a little help too!

Okay, once again, I apologize for the lack of pictures. I didn't even take my camera out this year, because Ashley, Zach and Meg all had one in their hands. So...as soon as I have more of the boys, I will have to post. Ashley had her cord with her so we downloaded them right on to the computer that day, which made it so easy and I had instant pictures to look at!

We are so blessed by these two families. They are raising good kids! I love to watch my kids being parents. It is another joy in life! It is pure blessings for Larry and I to watch them in action. We are so proud of the way they are living their life and being an example to their own kids.

Easter 2011 was a very SWEET holiday!

Emily is home!!!

2011-05-17T11:47:00.000-07:00

We received word last night that Emily is home! She wrote Ashley that she had no idea how weak she was until she tried to climb the two steps into her house! CRAZY!!! We are so thankful she is home with her family and we pray that is exactly the medicine she needs to get strong, better and of course we continue to pray for complete HEALING!!

Take Crohns away from this sweet girl, oh God! Let her body be completely healed as we know ALL is possible in you!

Thank you all for continuing to pray and the sweet concern you have shown. Isn't it the greatest feeling in the world to know your family and friends are on their knees whenever you ask!

Love you all dearly!

Knight Camp 2011

2011-05-16T16:17:00.000-07:00

This is a month late, but once again, I just can't seem to catch up with "life" right now! So without further excuses...may I present....

KNIGHT CAMP 2011

It is hard to believe this is our 5th Knight Camp!!! We always have so much fun coming up with themes, planning activities, art, food, t-shirts, etc. This one was especially fun because of the theme...

COWBOYS IN THE WILD WILD WEST!!!!

We always send them each an invitation, which details the theme, where we will go, etc. I always love making those!!

We picked them up on Thursday at 1:00 PM. They were so excited so after a couple of pictures and loading up, we hit the road...destination...Fort Worth Stockyard Area!! Seemed like the perfect place to talk about Cowboys!!

We had tons of fun in the car talking about cowboys. I had checked out and borrowed lots of books about cowboys so we had fun reading a new book every 30 or so miles! Between reading books, each boy got a box with some fun car activities inside. Colors, color pages about cowboys, stickers, etc. The box also had some fruit snacks and a roll of Fruit Flavored Mentos inside for a little treat. Funny story about those Mentos. The two older boys were excited about having candy but kind of took it in stride! Will was another story. Those "mento" consumed his every thought! We got so tickled at him. I told him he could open his package and have two, which he did QUICKLY! Then about every 5 minutes, he would open his box and say "Honey, just checkin' on my Mentos." He would look at them, smile and close the lid. Then he would repeat it every few minutes. Other comments would be, "My tummy says thank you for those Mentos!", "My tummy is sure happy about that Mentos", "Honey, my tummy was wondering if it could have another Mento?". It was so funny, those Mentos totally consumed him! Kind of like me when there is chocolate in the house! :) Guess he takes after me in that area! I feel his "pain".

We talked alot about the "gear" Cowboys wear and why, what life was like for cowboys, etc. It was fun to hear their thoughts. I had also found a really cute DVD on Cowboys and so that took about 45 minutes, so really the trip to Fort Worth went fast...oh yeah, we also had a fun Texas Car Bingo game...where they looked for things on their card...they had tons of fun helping each other spot things as we traveled! Clay was very into that little task!! Again, Ashley was very helpful in making the game so cute!! I guess you could say she is the resident Art Designer for Knight Camp!

We told the boys that we were going to try to make it to Fort Worth in time to catch a train! We did just that...barely! They were loading up for the last run of the day as we drove into the parking lot...but thankfully they waited for us to board! It is the little train near the Fort Worth Zoo, very fun little ride and we again talked about how cowboys used trains to transport their cattle or if they needed to take a long trip! It was such a fun relaxing little ride! Here are a couple of shots from our ride.

We had hoped to take a ride on the big train that is located in the Stockyard area, but the week of our trip, we learned it was closed for repairs! Ugh. But, this was a perfect little train for them!

After the train ride, we stopped for a burger and then to the hotel!

The boys were quite excited when they learned we were staying in a hotel (kind of a big treat as we normally camp out!) and they were VERY excited to learn that it had an indoor pool! Yep, you guessed it...the theme of Knight Camp quickly changed gears once they realized they could swim. Maybe next year will be a "Swim Theme" and we will just hang out at a pool all day! :)

We had a very fun time swimming, we have three little fish!

After our swim, we went back to the room for a snack, got in our PJ's and built a campfire!

Yep, you read it right...after all we had to have a "campfire" to read our books by

and to tell cowboy stories! Don't worry, we didn't violate any fire codes! :)

The last thing before bedtime was something Larry had been waiting for since the boys were born...really. He wanted to buy them cowboy boots when they were tiny...but I just kept putting him off on that purchase as I wanted them to really be old enough to enjoy them...and wear them more than once before they outgrew them! (Will is the one of the group that will really benefit from this purchase...he has boots for years!) Anyway, we had purchased them in Abilene but they had no idea!

Before bedtime, we gave them to them! We had some very excited and thrilled little Buckaroos! I am surprised they didn't want to sleep in them! It was a fun moment, especially for Bud!!!

Owen with his blue top boots

Will with his green top boots

Clay with his red top boots!

It took them a little while to wind down and get to sleep but after a good rest we were ready to go learn all about how cowboys lived long ago!

This is the design Ashley made for our shirts! The star was on the front and the cowboy on the back!

Here it is on our cute little buckaroos!

We ate in the hotel and it was a special surprise when we found out their waffle maker made waffles in the shape of Texas! That was so nice of them to work with our theme! :)

After breakfast, we headed to the Log Cabin Village. What a fun place this is. It is across from the Fort Worth Zoo and has so many fun houses to walk through...all done in period time decor with a tour guide in each location to teach you about the family that lived it that house. One house had lots of hands on stuff for them to touch and we even got to pump water! It really gave them a feel for time in cowboy times!

Here is a few OF many pictures we took while there:

Clay

Will in deep thought about something

This one cracks me up...I was trying to get them to be "bow-legged" and they couldn't figure out how to do it...Owen had to use his tongue to get it right!

Bud, Will, Owen and Clay

Will, Owen, Clay and Honey
We would love to take them back to this when they are a bit older, but we highly recommend it!

Next stop, Fort Worth Stockyards!

First thing we did was spend some time at the Petting Zoo. Okay, basically it was a bunch of goats...

but they had so much feeding them, especially our little Clay, He is such an animal lover. I think he will be a vet one day...if he can stand to give them shots! He is so sensitive and he was totally in his element.

Next stop was the mechanical bull! I really didn't know if any of them would do it but they all three said they wanted to...after Clay watched Owen and Will do it, he decided he would save his ride for another day! I really don't think he was scared to do it, but of course we had drawn quite a crowd of "watchers" and he is just a little shy! I took videos and thus have no still shots of this...and I can't get the videos to load. Grr. Just have to take my word, it was very cute!

Next we went to "meet" the Longhorns that would be in the cattle drive later in the day. They had the pictures of each Longhorn, with their name so we had fun looking at the picture and then trying to find them in the pens and trying to determine why they were named that!

Before the cattle drive began, we made a visit to an old fashion candy store with barrels full of candy...each boy got to pick a few little treats. It was quite a decision as there were SO many choices! It was fun to munch on while we watch the cows go by!

Waiting for the cattle drive to begin

Bud and the boys then did the maze while I took pictures from one of the look-out stations. It was fun to watch them weave their way through and fun to watch Bud try to keep up with three little boys with different ideas of which way they should go! :)

After the maze, Bud sharing a story with his three little guys. Love these pictures!

We ate some BBQ and then headed back to the hotel for a little swim and a little nap! Learning about cowboys is hot and hard work!

Will was one tired little puppy after his swim!

After our nap, we read a few more books and played another little game that a friend at church helped me make. Shanna is super talented and just free handed the pattern then I made it out of different papers that two girls, Stephanie and Brandi (who help me in the workroom at church) had given me! As you can see, Knight Camp has become a group project!!! These girls have been so much fun...they love hearing what the theme will be and once they do, they are always looking for ideas!

Here is a picture of the game!

The boys loved it.

After that we headed back to the Stockyards, for a special treat! Ashley and Emma met us there and I cannot tell you how excited the boys were about Emma "coming to Knight Camp"! Next year will actually be Emma' first "official" time but since we were in the area, they came to join the fun, eat at Coopers with us and then back to the hotel to swim. David was able to join us there. Here are some pictures of the boys and Emma enjoying the fun "rides" at the Stockyards!

Honey and Emma Girl!

Buckaroo Clay

Outlaw Owen

and Wild Will

Clay and Will

Owen, Will and Clay

Will

Clay

Owen

Really...can you get much cuter than this! He loved his boots and the jeans...well...they were always tucked in! :)

Clay

My boys

Clay and Owen...sweet brothers

Bud, Emma, Owen, Clay, Honey and Will

Bud, Owen, Honey, Clay and Will

Before we left the Stockyards, we had to break these three out of Jail!

Outlaws Clay, Owen and Will

Then it was back to the hotel for swim time with the boys and Emma!

Love those thighs!!!

Three precious little guys!

Everyone slept really well, in fact Owen fell off the bed on top of Will, who was on a pallet between the beds and he never budged, now I say that is sleeping pretty hard! I am not sure Owen even woke up!
We got up, enjoyed another yummy breakfast and let the boys swim one more time before checking out!
We had more books to read on the way home and "crafts" to do so the trip went fast.

It is hard to explain how much fun we have planning these little Knight Camps! It is so fun to "study" something and base all our activities around it. We once again are thinking about next year and looking forward to adding a girl to the mix! Emma we look forward to your joining our crew!

More prayers needed...

2011-05-16T09:13:00.000-07:00

I am copying what was posted on Emily's blog this morning. A dear friend of Emily's has been keeping her blog while Emily has been in the hospital. We received word yesterday that there were new concerns, so as you can see, we all need to continue to pray pray pray!!!

Friends,

Emily did not go home yesterday because doctors are concerned about possible infection. Please pray against post-surgical infections. Please also pray for her appetite to return as well as normal body function. They are thankful that all seems well with the baby. My limited communications with Dave and Emily always are full of steadfastness and gratitude on their part. They are a great team.

As you continue in prayer for them, I hope you'll be encouraged by this quote as I was this morning:

"We must repeat the same supplications not twice or three times only, but as often as often as we have need, a hundred and a thousand times. ... We must never weary in waiting for God's help." -- John Calvin, quoted inPrayer by Richard Foster

Update on Emily...

2011-05-13T13:23:00.000-07:00

Sorry it has been several days since I updated. It had been much of the same with Emily. She continues to rest in ICU. BUT today, I have been texting back and forth with her! That says a ton to me. She is feeling better! She really is hoping to be moved to a room, when one opens up. Then she even says they are talking about sending her home in a few days...but first she needs to eat and things need to "process"! Please pray that eating today goes well. She is anxious and nervous! Of course, it has been 11 days since she ate last! Ugh. Please continue to ask God to not only help her heal but to take this nasty Crohn's away from her and to keep this little baby inside her safe!!! We know He can do anything! SO pray big people!!! Thank you to all who have been faithful prayer warriors! I love you and I know the Trices/Machts do!!!

Emily

2011-05-07T12:30:00.000-07:00

Dear friends, I come again asking for prayers.
Emily was moved to ICU last night with fever and a heart rate of 160.
The good thing is she is in an area now that she can be monitored even closer and they have lowered the temp and the heart rate.
But of course, we are still quite concerned.
Her poor husband is carrying a heavy load as are her parents.
Pam and Gordon are in the process of moving to Colorado...this week! The moving van unloaded a house full of boxes and furniture Thursday. They are living at Dave and Emily's house, taking care of little Emmett but you can only imagine all the craziness! Their hearts, minds and energy is totally going to Emmett and Emily! Please continue to lift this precious family up in prayer!
Thank you again for all the kind words and more importantly, your prayers!

A new day...

2011-05-07T05:48:00.000-07:00

and I am asking you to join me again as we keep sweet Emily Trice Macht in our prayers. The doctors said yesterday that the recovery, especially the next three to four days will be very painful and difficult. We know that is what the doctors say...but I am begging God to show the doctors here on earth that the Great Physician can do anything he desires and my prayers are that Crohn's will disappear or remain dorment in Emily's body for the rest of her LONG life! I am going to pray boldly and BIG! I ask you to join me!

Thank you friends.
Mary Kay

She is out of surgery...

2011-05-06T16:22:00.000-07:00

Pam, Emily's mom, just called.
Emily is out of surgery and we are so thankful.
Crohn's has taken a toil on more of her small intestine and more had to be removed. This same thing happened in December. This is very concerning. We all NEED our small intestines!

We need to pray that God will remove Crohn's from sweet precious Emily's body!
We know He can!

The recovery for this surgery is horrible. Please pray that God will wrap Emily in His loving arms and keep the pain at bay. Pray God will bless, strengthen and comfort her precious hubby and parents as they care for her through this long road of recovery.

Still on our knees...

2011-05-06T14:59:00.000-07:00

Emily's surgery begin at 12:30 Mountain Time. We still have not heard anything, though we were told the surgery would last at least 3 hours.

PLEAD with our merciful Father to HEAL this young lady. She is a young mom, with a year old son, one on the way and a precious sweet hubby! We all need her well and healthy!

We know God is able to make anything happen...we know He is MIGHTY TO SAVE! We are praying big prayers right now for big things...please join us and keep this sweet family in your prayers!

Love you Emily!!

Ashley, Me, Pam and Emily-2009

(This was at a beautiful party Emily threw for her Mom's 60th birthday!)

Prayer request

2011-05-06T07:46:00.000-07:00

Blog friends. I am pleading you will join me in prayer! Our dear friend Emily, is on her way to surgery in a few hours. Emily suffers from Crohn's and for the past few years has really suffered from it's horrible effects. She appears to have a blockage in her upper GI somewhere and they have no other choice but to take her in and try to find out. She has been in the hospital since last Saturday and is very weak! To complicate things in surgery, Emily is 13 weeks pregnant. I PLEAD with you to lift Emily up. Emily has requested for us all to be in prayer for her and her baby! This young lady is like a daughter to me and a sister to Ashley. She has been through so much and we are praying for HEALING! Thank you.

A little catching up...

2011-04-08T06:58:00.000-07:00

Okay, I have a list in my brain of things I need to blog about, but the problem is...when! Things have been quite busy for the Knight family. First of all we took on several new accounts with our business (in case you don't know...Zach and his Dad work together...running a company called So Simple...a facility maintenance and janitorial service). That keeps us hopping but we decided we weren't hopping fast enough so we bought a company, Central Flooring. Long story, and since my time is short, I won't go into all the details. Bottom line, we own a new business, we are learning a lot and somedays just doing good to keep our nose above water! :)But we are excited about this new business, so if you live around Abilene, come see us! We would LOVE to help you with any flooring needs!

One thing that we knew immediately we would have to work on was the actual store. This business has been on Pine Street for 40 plus years, but at least for the last SEVERAL years it has not been updated, etc. SO...we have a lot to do and we are only able to do it in baby steps. For one thing, Saturday and Sunday are the only days we are closed, so that is really the only day we can do BIG projects. Second, money. We are trying to get the biggest bang for the least amount of money right now...after all, we need to see how this little business will fare! Good thing is, we do know a few things about remodel work! We are very fortunate to have one very amazing employee, Pat. Pat has been with them for over 20 years, and she knows her stuff! :) She has been not only wealth of information and help to us...but she is just a precious and sweet lady and a joy to work with. Oh yes, one other thing...she is our sister-in-law! She is married to Larry's oldest brother, Steve. Just another perk!!! We love you Pat!!!

Back to fixing the place up. We have SO much to do but as I said...it is one step at a time. First thing we attacked was the customer/employee bathroom. I could tell you how nasty it was but I think I will just let the pictures speak...and they speak rather loudly! One project down...ten million to go!

Before...yes this is a company that sells tile! :)

After...see what a little tile and paint can do for a place! :)

Before...one more view.

After...I am loving those glass tiles!

Because the list is rather long of things to do...we are really trying to be smart about the money we spend on these projects. I am saying this because I think as homeowners we are all wanting to get the most bang for our buck! I love how this little project came together. In cleaning out the back room and storage sheds, we found a lot of odds and ends of tile. It was my goal to use those tiles. We were able to use one tile for the floors and up the walls and then a smaller tile as a border. The only thing we purchased were the glass tile and even then we took the 12" pieces and cut them into strips and got "more mileage" out of each piece! The sink...found it at our local Habitat for Humanity Store! Score!!! The commode looks like new once a little elbow grease was applied! :) Then I shopped Hobby Lobby for several weeks...making the most of the 50% items to put together the final touches. One thing is for sure...we aren't embarrased for our employee or our customers to visit our restroom now!! :)

Many more projects to do...so until later...

A picture is worth a thousand words" Wednesday

2011-04-06T06:00:00.000-07:00

Here is a sneak peek into what is happening very soon...Honey and Bud are busy getting things ready!
More to follow on Knight Camp 2011

(This is the t-shirt design our sweet daughter Ashley designed!)

alphabet soup...a b c's of me!

2011-04-04T12:21:00.000-07:00

saw this on another blog, thought it could be fun.

{A} Age: 54. can't believe it, don't feel that old, but oh well...it is what it is.

{B} Bed size: king. no other way to sleep. i don't like to be touched when i'm snoozing...sorry larry.

{C} Chore you hate: taking out the trash. mopping our floors...thankfully larry does it for me most of the time. :)

{D} Dogs?: none. our lab, bj, died about a year ago. miss him. not so much that i am ready for my backyard to be destroyed again.

{E} Essential start to your day: coffee and then a shower and then more coffee.

{F} Favorite color: blue

{G} Gold or silver: silver now, though my wedding ring is gold.

{H} Height: 5'2" and eyes of blue!

{I} Instruments you play: none.

{J} Job title: part-time stay at home wife/honey/mom. part-time helper for larry and zach's companies. basically, i help where ever and when ever i am needed.

{K} Kids: two grown. zach, 31 and ashley 28. four grands, 6,4,3 and 18 months

{L} Live: abilene, texas

{M} Mom's name: to me, mom. to my children it was, nanny. my name to my kids, mom. my name to grands. honey

{N} Nicknames: mk, used to be called punkin by my dad.

{O} Overnight hospital stays: babies '79 & '82. thyroid and hysterectomy surgeries.

{P} Pet peeve: being late. rude drivers...maybe that is why they are rude...because they are running late. :)

{Q} Quote: Be still and know that I am God. Psalms 46:10. easier said than done sometimes, but i am trying to listen.

{R} Right or left handed: right.

{S} Siblings: one brother, three years OLDer than me. love you bro.

{T} Time you wake up: 6:00ish, but on occasion when i can stretch it to 7, i feel spoiled.

{U} Underwear: yes. (seriously? why is that a question?)

{V} Vegetable you dislike: i love all veggies

{W} What makes you run late: ha, since that is my pet peeve i try not to let that happen, though having longer hair takes so much more time to get ready!

{X} X-rays you've had done: back, dental, foot, back, ribs. wow, i should be glowing!

{Y} Yummy food you make: larry is in love with my newest attempts at pizza

{Z} Zoo, favorite animal: i am going with monkeys and the adorable baby lion cubs we have right now at our zoo.

A picture is worth a thousand words" Wednesday

2011-03-23T05:39:00.000-07:00

Isn't this so funny? Emma loves monkeys! She makes the cutest little monkey sound . She gets so excited when she sees a monkey. So, this picture just cracks me up. Her monkey has velcro on it's hands...and obviously she likes to wear her monkey too!

The four cutest things around....seriously!!

2011-03-07T06:38:00.000-08:00

I know other grandparents may disagree, and that is okay...I understand. But to me, these are the four cutest and sweetest things around. Really. When Emma and Ashley came to town a few weeks ago, we did a little photo shoot with these sweeties. I have about 500 pictures to short through...but here are a few that melt my heart!!

Owen Austin-6 years old

Clayton Grant-4 1/2 years old

William Texas- 3 years old

Emma Grace-18 months old

Where does the time go?

2011-02-28T07:25:00.000-08:00

Several have mentioned to me lately that they have missed my blogs. It is hard for me to remember that anyone really reads them...I do this for selfish reasons. I am not good at keeping a diary or journal (like my friend Karen!) so this is kind of my stab at keeping up with "life events" or thoughts. I would like to think if I had more time on my hands, that I would be much better at journaling but the truth of the matter is there is a long list of things I wish I had time to do. Play with my grandkids more, craft, sew, dig in my flower beds, go camping, start writing my life story, etc. But somehow, life just seems to be so busy right now! I am thankful to God that he has brought many new opportunities to the Zach and Larry Knight families. At the same time, things are a bit crazy...a good crazy but crazy nonetheless! But having said that, I don't want to forget to write about all the fun times we have snuggled into our daily schedule lately...so I will try my best to let the pictures talk for me!
In the past few weeks, this is what has brought me the greatest joys..

Emma enjoying some backyard time

Having a little "weee" time as she calls it!

Sweet times...Bud and Emma checking out the front yard

Emma taking a bath in the kitchen sink...don't you love the "do" I gave her!

Emma giving Honey some snuggles

Honey and all her grands..Emma, Will, Owen & Clay

Love how Clay and Emma are holding hands and looking at each other!

Emma playing with her "new" doll at Honey's house-we had to get a few girl toys!!!

Sweet picture of Emma and her mommy!

Emma being silly! Such a cutie with a fun little personality blooming!

Phil

2011-02-24T05:43:00.000-08:00

I love this man! No, he isn't my husband but I still love him! He has been there for me through thick and thin. He tells me when I am out of line and comforts me when family issues weigh down on me. Larry isn't jealous, he understands and allows me to have this man in my life. Okay, before you freak out...he is my brother. My only sibling. My older brother. I could fill this blog with all sorts of memories I have with him. But today, I just want to thank him. He has been a fireman for 22 years in Abilene. He worked his last shift recently. I have always been so proud of my brother. I have always looked up to him. When he decided to become a fireman, it was just another way that I would admire him. To protect and help others. He is a good man. Abilene lost a fine fireman when he retired. It was time, he is ready to move on and do other things...like train horses, travel, etc. He is a gentle man. He can tell a great story, in fact, he should be a writer! He is a wonderful father to his two sons. He and Carolyn, his wife are faithful Christians. He is also a great uncle to our kids.

Today, I just want to thank him for choosing an occupation that allowed him to not only be an example to his co-workers but also all the people he touched in his 22 years of service. I know him. I know he treated the individuals he encountered with dignity, caring words and humor, when appropriate. I know that because that is how he lives his life. I know his heart was heavy many times when he made tough calls at work. He saw a lot. Some was heartbreaking and other times encouraging and even a few calls were quite funny! He took it all in stride and thankfully God watched over him through each shift.

A couple of weeks ago we surprised him with a Family Retirement Party. Of course, he had instructed his wife and kids that he didn't want any kind of party...but he didn't tell me! :) We fixed all his favorite foods and decorated with lots of fire trucks and pictures! It was a wonderful time to celebrate as a family. My Mom was so proud of him when he joined the Fire Department but also so fearful for his safety. I wish she had been here to celebrate with us, but I like to think she was smiling down on this day.

Phil, thank you for the example you have been to me, our kids and our grandkids. The little ones think you are about as cool as they come! Thank you for the tours of the fire station, letting them try on your bunker, sit in your truck, and lay on your bed in the station. Those are sweet memories! So, here are a few pictures from our celebration...I love you brother!!!

If only she could talk...

2011-02-04T13:14:00.000-08:00

My Singer that is. Actually, my Mom's Singer. As long as I can remember, this was the machine my Mother used. Dad bought her another Singer once, and as she said, it was a lemon! She would get so frustrated with it, then I would see her back to sewing on her tried and true first Singer. She really tried her hardest to teach me how to sew. I was a hard case! I wanted to learn, but I was so impatient. I wanted to be good from the start. Mom tried. Then I took sewing in High School. What a disaster. If my Mom was ever unhappy with one of my teachers, she never let on. She never talked badly about them. But my Home Ec. teacher let us go to Cloth World and pick out whatever fabric and pattern we wanted for our sewing project...no limits! I came home with a pattern that was super complicated. So complicated, my Mom said she would have NEVER selected it and she knew how to sew! Mom was not happy. Probably because she was so hopeful my sewing teacher would be able to teach me to sew and to love it! Well, as you can imagine, my time in class was miserable. I tore out seams so many times that I wore out the fabric! I really don't know how I even finished it. All I can remember was it had many ruffles, puffy sleeves, french cuffs, a zipper, buttons, etc. Not really a good first clothing item! I should have made elastic waist pajama pants, that is challenging enough for me! At the end of the semester, we had a fashion show and we wore our garments. I remember I could not breathe! The bodice on my dress was so tight that I thought I would pass out before I got across the stage. I am sure my Mom was a nervous wreck that her daughter would pop all the buttons and zipper before I finished modeling. It was one of those experiences that more or less scars you for life. The thing that makes me so sad, is I WANT to sew so badly! There is really no telling what this little sewing machine would tell us, if it could talk! She has been there through my whole growing up years...the years when I would sit by my Mom and watch her sew me clothes, make my babies and my Barbies clothes, make curtains for my bedroom and that was just when I lived at home! Then after I married, mother made curtians for our first home, then dust ruffles, etc. for a nursery and the list goes on and on. I don't know how many times, I have wished I could rewind the clock and take those lessons again. I am trying to teach myself. I am not a good student, I am sure my Mom is nodding her head right now! I don't want to make all my own clothes! I would love to be able to sew for my granddaughter. I would love to be able to make a simple quilt for all my grand kids. It is more the "crafty" home decor sewing I aspire to do. I am determined to take baby steps. Today, I pieced together a table runner. I finished the top and it was actually a lot of fun. I didn't have to rip out one thing! Yahoo. Of course, it isn't finished but I went as far as I could today. Now I must find time to go back to Cabbage Rose and find some fabric for the back and binding. As I was sewing today, as that Singer was making those little stitches, I got to thinking about my Mom. She sat at that machine so many hours, creating things for her family and for her home. I may not have taken after her in that area but she would be thrilled to know that someone has...Ashley. Ashley isn't afraid of trying. She thankfully doesn't have a scar from a bad experience lurking over her! I didn't teach her to sew, but she is learning on her own and she is doing a great job! Mom would be so proud! I know I am!

A picture is worth a thousand words" Wednesday

2011-02-02T05:15:00.000-08:00

These picture comes with a few words. Words of encouragement to you...to take pictures of your mom, grandmothers, aunts, sisters and your children. I have realized recently, after sorting through ALL our family photos, that even though my Mom and I spent much time in the kitchen together growing up and even more after I was married...I do not have a single picture of the two of us cooking together. I cherish the few I have of my mom and my grandmother...but oh how I wish we had gotten some of the two of us together. I think we often forget to take pictures of the ordinary day-to-day stuff. Working together in the kitchen is something most of us women do a lot of! Next time you are cooking with your mom or your child...take a picture!!! This past Thanksgiving, Ashley and I were busy making the dressing and other sides for our meal and Larry and David snapped a few pictures of us while we were cooking and talking! I will cherish those pictures forever! Do it for your children! I love that Zach and Ashley have these pictures of my Mom and Murdee (yes, that is what we called my grandmother!). There are lots of things in these pictures that I love...how my Mom has her hand on my grandmothers back, the memories of that kitchen, but my favorite...is seeing those two ladies hands. They wouldn't be chosen to advertise jewelry or nail products...but those hands are so beautiful to me. Those hands represent two ladies that served others and God with their hands!

(Thank you Karen for scanning the pictures of my Mom, so I could post them! You are the best! If I ever get my scanner to work, I will probably bore all of you to death with old pictures!!!)

A picture is worth a thousand words" Wednesday

2011-01-26T05:32:00.000-08:00

Today's picture is 30 plus years old, yet it still warms my heart! This truly does represent Zach and Ashley's relationship. They loved each other! (Well, I am pretty sure they still do love each other! Or they had better or they will be in big trouble with Mom! Hehe). They played together so well. Zach was always so protective and such a good big brother and Ashley has always looked up to her "bubba" and would shed many a tear if he got into trouble! So sweet!

A picture is worth a thousand words" Wednesday

2011-01-19T05:45:00.000-08:00

Can't beat a game of peekaboo!

Especially when they involve chubby little hands! Love it!

Emma, 13 months.

Our Senior Huddles Group

2011-01-18T12:57:00.000-08:00

Larry and I, along with another couple have been Huddles Leaders at Hillcrest for 3 years. We were asked to take the Freshman class toward the end of their Freshman year. At Hillcrest, when you are Huddle Leaders, you take a class and you walk through their high school years with them. At the time, it seemed like a pretty long commitment but it has flown! They are now the Senior Class! They are in their last semester of High School! I can't believe it. When they were Sophomores, we told them when in January of their senior year, we would take them to Ruidoso skiing, so to start saving their money! Last night we returned from a four day trip with them. We did go to Ruidoso, but the snow conditions weren't so great. In fact, there was so little of the mountain open for skiing that our group opted to just play and have fun as a group...so our Senior Ski Trip was a non-skiing trip! We still had tons of fun. It does my heart good to see these teenagers! They have a deep love for the Lord, they want to make the world a better place and they can have good clean fun! We did lots of laughing, eating, playing games, singing, eating, a little sleeping, tubing, go cart racing, eating, shopping, pedicures (well not everyone but some of the girls!) and just being together. We talked some about the future and reminised about the past few years together. It was a great weekend. I love these kids. They make me feel young again! They make me feel good about the future of the church!

Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

The first is of our group minus the 5 who did not get to go! (We missed them alot!)

We surprised them with Hoodies as a token of our time together! You really can't see the graphic too well, but it says HYG Senior Huddles Ski Trip 2011...OR NOT!

Gangster Style!

Our group at the Pro Track Place

Go Larry!!!

On your mark...get set...GO!!!!!!!

When we were first asked to do this by our youth minister I had no idea what to expect. It seemed like a huge task. It has been such a joy, I have grown through them and I have grown to love them!!! They have bright futures ahead of them, it will be so fun to watch them and see what they do as adults!

A picture is worth a thousand words" Wednesday

2011-01-12T05:35:00.000-08:00

Okay, three pictures.

Love the expressions on all three faces.Love the lift Clay is giving his brother Owen.

Love how this shows our little stairsteps!

Owen, age 6, Clay, age 4 and Will, age 3.

A picture is worth a thousand words" Wednesday

2011-01-05T05:24:00.000-08:00

I already know one thing that Emma and Ashley have in common.

Their love for books!

Ashley loves to read and right now she gets to read a lot...to her precious little girl!

Emma will sit in your lap as long as you will read to her.

Ashley is SO good about reading to her...I imagine hours of her day are spent reading.

Keep up the good work Ashley! These moments are priceless!

Happy 1-1-11!!!

2011-01-01T06:37:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year Everyone!!

My prayer today is I will be more aware of my surroundings

and look for ways to bless others in all ways!

I feel so blessed by God and all that He has given us

and all that He is doing in our lives.

May this be a year for us all to serve Him in big ways!

My love to all and a very Happy New Year!!!

A new Christmas Tradition...I hope

2010-12-30T06:23:00.000-08:00

This year as I have already mentioned, we had Christmas really early. The next week, David had to leave on a business trip so Ashley asked if I could come hang out with her and Emma! Oh how fun! Of course we started making the plans right then!!! We always have a million things we want to do but we wanted this week to be special!

We decided to take Emma to North Park Mall to see Santa and to spend the day shopping and eating somewhere special! It was such a perfect day. We even dressed up a bit but Emma outdid us when she her put on her Christmas dress! So adorable!
We arrived at North Park at 10, just in time to see Santa and his cute little dog arrive for story time. It was so sweet!! Then we picked up our ticket to see Santa later in the day and did a bit of fun shopping. Fun in the respect that we had both finished our Christmas shopping so this was just fun looking with NO pressure!

Lunch time was very special. When I was in the 6th grade, it was determined that I had curvature of the spine. We began seeing a team of drs at the Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas for the next four years, which required me wearing a back brace, a brace that went from my chin to my pelvic bones. Not fun. I had no idea the sacrifice and tough love my mom had for me till I was a mom myself. She knew how embarrased I was to have to wear that brace 23 hours a day but she also knew if I didn't I would be very crippled later in my life. I realized much later on in life, how hard she worked to make our trips to Dallas fun! She knew how I hated to go to this clinic and it was usually a very long day for us both. But she worked hard to make the rest of the trip amazing. We would stay in a Hotel, which was a huge treat for me! We would ALWAYS go shopping at North Park. Of course it was very hard to find clothes to fit me with this brace, but we would try things on and she would figure out a way to alter them to fit or how to copy them and come home and make me something similar. She was amazing. One thing we always did was eat at the Mermaid Bar in Neiman Marcus. It was the highlight of the trip for me. I had not thought of this place in years. When Ashley and I were making plans, I was on the computer looking for somewhere special for us to eat and that popped up on the screen! My heart soared! I knew it had to be the place I would take my daughter and granddaughter!!!! We had such a special time and we hope to make it a tradition!

North Park is just a fun place to window shop! A lot of the stores, we just walk on by but it then there are some of our favorites...PAPER SOURCE, H&M, PAPYRUS...and some amazing children's stores to ooh and aah over the clothes! They also had so many fun holiday decorations, puppet shows, etc. Here are Ashley and Emma watching a puppet show...Emma is being silly!
Here are my girls with Santa's sleigh and reindeer flying above. I remember these decorations when I was a girl! They are so neat!

Finally, it was time for Emma to have her turn in Santa's lap. It was a very long day but she did amazing. She really got only a short morning nap while we drove to Dallas, so she was way overdue for her afternoon nap. But, she was so sweet and happy. Now, she wasn't too sure about the man with the beard...but we were thrilled because there were no tears! She just sat there taking him in! It was so cute!!

Then we let her get a nap in the car, while we drove around and checked out things in the area...like stopping at SPRINKLES for a few cupcakes to take home for a evening treat! Oh yum. That was my first trip and Ashley sat in the car and let me go in and pick out which ones to take home...WHAT PRESSURE!!! I may need to do that again, Ashley!

It was a perfect day! I loved every second of it!!

The rest of the time together we watched movies, played with Emma, ate good food, Ashley worked on a wreath, etc. As always the time flew and it was time for me to come home! I loved getting to sit in the floor and play with Emma. She is growing and changing so much so I relish these moments so much.

Again, it was a precious time and I really hope it is a new tradition for us girls! I like to think that my mom was smiling down upon us as we sat in the Mermaid Bar and carried on a sweet tradition set into place many years ago!

Christmas Trip 2010

2010-12-26T19:21:00.000-08:00

Since we had already had "Christmas" with our kids..we planned a little getwaway...if time and work allowed. It did and we were thrilled! We had such a good time. We drove to downtown Fort Worth and here is a sampling of the fun we had...Amazing Food (and way too much I hate to admit)

Fireside Pies-oh yummy! Probably one of our new favorites!!! Thanks to Jessica for blogging about this one!! If you go, sit at the bar and watch them make your pizza!
Fuzzy's Taco's-so good! Chicken tacos are my favorite...so fresh! Not your typical taco!
McKinley Bakery-best cakes and pies ever! My new favorite cake...Chocolate Italian Creme Cake! Oh my...anyone have the recipe??
Cowtown Diner-good but not our favorite! Larry had deep fried deviled eggs! Crazy!
Corner Bakery-always good and I loved sitting there on Christmas Eve morning sipping coffee and planning our day together! It was so relaxing and fun!
Worthington Hotel Christmas Day Buffet-Whew. It was crazy good. Our favorites...boiled shrimp and the salmon dish! Ugh. I could have even my weight in it...oh wait...maybe I did! :)
Cooper's BBQ-always good and we had a new cobbler...Pecan Cobbler...oh goodness...I don't need to go there too often!

Fun Shopping!
We went lots of fun places...lots of looking and bought stocking stuffers!
Central Market-yes, a "grocery store" but we love this place!!
World Market-so fun!
Aaron Brothers- I love looking at their frames and artsy stuff!
Barnes and Nobles, Pottery Barn, Anthropologie, Target, Decorators Warehouse, Williams-Sonoma--Always fun!

We had so much fun just shopping, looking...and there was no pressure! We had finished our "Christmas" so this was like the sugar on top of the icing! It was fun to relax in the room, watch a movie in the room, went to see True Grit at the theater and my favorite--just hanging out with my hubby! Fort Worth had decorated downtown so pretty so we walked around every night and just took in the sights and sounds...and the Starbucks! :)

What a fun ending to a wonderful year! Larry and I talked so much about how blessed we are! Our prayer is in the coming year we can be even better stewards of our money and our resources. We have lots of new business and though it can be exhausting we are so blessed to have it and we are so thankful! We had so much fun talking about our kids and grandkids while away from them...we missed them but are thankful they have two families that love them!!!

(It was a little hard to take pictures of the two of us...we aren't very good at asking others to take them! So, here is our best stab at a picture in front of the tree in Sundance Square.)

Merry Christmas!!

2010-12-25T05:23:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas Family and Friends!

May your day be blessed with sweet times, memories and fellowship!

This little fellow is one of my all time favorite Christmas decorations. It is such a sweet little Santa "vase". Why is it one of my favorites? It was my Mom's. She bought it in 1950. That would have been their 2nd Christmas as a married couple. It is fun for me to think back on her selecting it at a store and how delighted she must have been to have it decorating her home! It was one of her favorite pieces as well. I have to admire her, it is such a great little piece and back then, I am thinking there weren't the TONS of decorations available to her as we have today! It is the decoration that I ALWAYS remember being in our house growing up. One Christmas, when I was married and had kids, I mentioned to her how much I loved that piece. She went and got a pen and wrote my name on the bottom of it right then and there. That is how she was, she wanted things to be passed on and so she took care of that little bit of business right then! I love the Santa, I love seeing my name written on the bottom in her handwriting. She loved Christmas and she loved family. I hope she knows how much I loved her!

Our "Christmas Morning" 2010

2010-12-23T07:53:00.000-08:00

I think I am still just a kid at heart! I can never sleep the night before Christmas, whenever that might be. So this year was no different, I couldn't sleep and woke up super early. Oh well, it gave me time to get ready, drink some coffee and finish readying the house for our fun morning. While we were waiting for Zach, Meg and the boys, David, Ashley, Emma, Larry and I had some time to drink some coffee! Emma loved this rug in our kitchen. She kept going over to it and talking to the snowmen! I love this picture of her and her daddy! David is a good little daddy!!!
I should go ahead and explain, this blog will have lots of pictures! I couldn't narrow it down anymore than this! There were just so many sweet ones!
First order of business once we were all together...I just had to have some sweet "under the tree" pictures of the four grands in their new Christmas PJ's. I have to admit, I had moments of being afraid the PJ's we made wouldn't fit but they all fit perfectly and I think they looked so precious!!! I couldn't NOT have done the sewing this year without Larry's help. He was so great to help me figure out how to make the patterns bigger and smaller in order to fit 4 different little ones. I am a little challenged when it comes to resizing a pattern!!! :) Here is my favorite picture of our adorable little ones!!
Next, I recruited some little elves to help pass out all the gifts! The boys love this job, getting to divide the gifts up into piles!
Here are a few of my favorites: First up, our oldest grandson, Owen.

Then comes Clay, our second grandchild.

Next up is Will, our third grandchild.

Then comes our youngest, Emma Grace.

I have to include just a few random ones also. One thing that was so precious, is how intrigued Emma was with all the trucks, guns, etc. She would open her gifts, but quickly crawl over to one of the boys to check out the boy gifts!

We let the kids open their gifts first, then had a big breakfast with all our favorite breakfast casseroles! Yum! At each person place on the breakfast table is another one of our traditions, giving each person or couple a new ornament for their tree.

Stockings are a big deal at our house. A few years ago, we started just doing "big" stockings for the adults. Of course, it isn't always possible to get everything in the stocking...as we say at the Knight house, sometimes the stockings just kind of "burp"!
Anyway, here are a few pictures of the crew opening their treats! We love stocking time! I need to apologize. We always share pictures and I haven't had a chance to load all the ones that Ashley took, so I don't have one of everyone loaded yet! Sorry David and Will!!! Plus, I don't have any of Larry and I opening our stockings...but let me just say that our children did amazing stockings for us this year! So many fun goodies!!!

One thing that is so sweet, is how excited the little ones are to watch their parents open their stocking!

The last "gift" of this year was something Larry and I were VERY excited about. We first just talked about how very blessed we are as a family and how we truly don't "need" anything. We wanted to give our kids a chance to spend the afternoon giving to others! We gave each family some money in a envelope and told them they were to go out for the afternoon and bless others! When they returned they shared with everyone what ways they found to use the money! It was so cool! Zach, Meg and the boys put together care packages to give out to the homeless! They even made enough to share with David, Ashley, Larry and I! They felt this was a way for their boys to be a part of the giving. The kids are noticing homeless people on the street corners and have been asking questions so now they have a way of giving them something to hopefully keep them warm and help supply a few of their needs. David and Ashley visited the pediatric ward at Hendricks and discovered another real need. The nurses talked about how often they send kids home from the hospital in hospital gowns because the kids don't have PJ's, socks, underwear or blankets. David and Ashley went to Wal-Mart and bought supplies for the nurses to at least give a child something new to wear home! Zach, Meg, Larry and I were so touched by the needs the hospital had, they we went back to Wal-Mart and bought some more items to take to them. Our kids blew us away with their giving spirits!! They were so excited about this "activity" and we all decided it would be a tradition every year!! Really, that is truly what Christmas is about!!! I hesitated whether to blog about this part of our Christmas because I don't want this to come across bragging! However, very few read my blog anyway and this is just my way of journaling our family events.

It goes without saying that our time together was sweet and full of memories that I will treasure up in my heart. Our time together is never long enough but I am just so thankful that when we are together we always have tons of fun, the house is full of laughter and we leave longing for more!!! We love you all and are so thankful for family time!

Christmas came early at our house!!

2010-12-21T08:29:00.000-08:00

This was our "off" year as we call it around our place. One year we have our kids on Christmas Day and the next year they are with their "other parents". On the off year, we find a weekend in the month that works for everyone...this year it was quite early but nonetheless it was "Our Christmas" and it was tons of fun! To start off, we had a bit of tree dilema this year. You see, we got rid of our tree last year...it needed to happen. Old. Broken. Lights not working. Had to go. We thought since this was our off year, we would be "off" somewhere with the kids for our Christmas. Didn't happen. When we decided to just meet here...then there was the question of "what tree will we use??". I didn't want to rush into a tree purchase (especially since they will put them on sale later!!) so I just clumped a bunch of my trees that I use other places in the house/porch during the holidays together and this was the result. It worked. I missed seeing all my favorite ornaments, etc. but that will make getting them out next year even more fun! :)
The fun began on Friday night as soon as David, Ashley and Emma were able to get to town. Zach, Meg and the boys were here at the house waiting and watching! We had our traditional meal of snacks! We have done this for years. Everyone just brings holiday goodies and/or some new recipe they have been dying to try...we always have lots of goodies! Finger foods. Yummy!!! It is a continual feast on the island for hours...basically the meal last all evening!

After eating, it was time for our Traditional "Christmas Eve Hunt". The grandkids had picture clues. Pictures of different things in Bud and Honey's house. When they identified the item in the picture, they would run to that location and find another "picture-clue". After running all around the house, the last place was our bed where they found sacks containing Christmas PJ's and a new movie. The clue also told them someone might be waiting to meet them on the couch. When they ran to the couch, this is what they found: Owen got a puppy
Clay got a penquin...he loves penquins!
Will got a monkey, very fitting!
And Emma got a bee...couldn't resist Honey giving a bee!

Pillow Pets must be quite the hot item this year. The boys have been wanting one for awhile and so Bud and Honey decided to surprise them with one. It was so fun. It made me think back to a time when our kids wanted a Pound Puppy. It was the hot item one year and we couldn't afford to buy them. My parents surprised the grand kids with one and I can remember how delighted I was! To watch how thrilled they were! The four cousins played with those puppies all afternoon. Fast forward, we were able to buy the Pillow Pets and it was if I was watching my own kids years ago...our four grands were so delighted and snuggled and hugged on their little pets the whole weekend! What a fun treat for us!!

Then it was time for the "big" kids to do their Christmas Eve Hunt. I will readily admit that my rhyming skills are lacking. For some reason in the past, I have tried to write poems. They haven't worked so well. The kids have had fun making fun of me, which sadly, is deserved. I stink at writing poems. I would like to say, I have been doing this 30 plus years...so my ideas are running low. This year we provided them with a list of 50 words and the two couples had to write a Christmas story using all the words! It was adorable and funny and they had such fun that each year from now on, we will just provide them with 50 more words and they will have to write the next chapter! I am so excited!! It will fun to come up with the list of words and I don't have to come up with any more poems! :)

Here is a sweet picture of our "big kids" getting their instructions!
It was such a very fun evening! We ended the evening with the kids all getting in their new Christmas PJ's and reading a Christmas story before bedtime! Next blog...our "Christmas Morning"!!!!

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-12-20T15:10:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving 2010 was a wonderful week long celebration! David, Ashley and Emma arrived on Monday, which meant we got the party started early!! David had the entire week off and we were blessed enough to have them with us most of the week! Sweet times!

Tuesday, one of our very sweet friends, Kim Watson, took time at of her CRAZY schedule to take some pictures of our family. Getting us all dressed and in one place at the same time is quite an accomplishment these days! We had an idea for our Christmas card so we all wore red, white and blue and Kim snapped away! She was so sweet to help us out! Thank you again Kim!!! We love and appreciate you, and the pictures are wonderful!!

Here is a few of my favorites:

Then is was off to Lucy's in Tuscola to celebrate Meg's 30th birthday. The birthday, girl or boy gets to pick where they want to go and Lucy's was Meg's pick! Way to go Meg, we LOVE Lucy's! We all enjoyed great burgers and of course some homemade ice cream!!

Wednesday: Was a busy day, baking pies for the Pie Supper and getting things ready for Thanksgiving lunch. But we had time to play with Emma too! I love all her little jabbers right now, so sweet! I had planned on having a little video right here, but I cannot get blogger to upload it! Grr.

Thursday: There is nothing sweeter than getting to cook with my family. Ashley and I enjoyed a few hours of cooking and getting things ready for our noon meal. It was such a sweet time for me, I love sharing this time with her. I remember many times when my Mom and I would be preparing meals, sharing recipes, tips on cooking and I would often hear some of the sweetest memories that Mom had of past Thanksgivings. I cherish these memories now, she is so much a part of our traditions...I use all her recipes and even use her China on many special occasions. Mom loved to entertain and cook, she shared that love with me and I hope I can pass that on to my kids. Sitting around eating a home cooked meal as a family is something you just can't top in my book! Thank you Ashley for all the help in the kitchen!!!

Several of our family members had other commitments but those who could joined us for lunch and some good old family time! In the late afternoon, Zach, Meg and the three boys, Ashley, Emma, my sister in law, Carolyn and nephew, Cameron went to the Firestation that my brother works at, to take the firemen some treats and to see my brother on Thanksgiving! I don't think we can ever thank our fireman and policeman who work on holidays enough, in order to make sure we are safe! Phil is so fun and the kids LOVE him. So, he gave them a tour of the firestation, let them crawl all over the firetrucks, etc. He will be retiring soon, so we wanted to go one last time before that happens! We had so much fun!

Later that evening, Ashley, Meg and I snuck away and went to the movie.

That was a treat to have a little girl time

Friday and Saturday: We found out that Abilene High had made it to the play-offs and they were going to be playing in the new Cowboy Stadium on Saturday! We decided to pack it up and move the party to Ashley and David's house! David left on a fishing trip but the rest of us went to their house for more family time, eating out and went to the football game. It was a great way to see the new stadium, even if our beloved Eagles lost! :(

Sunday: Headed home, tired, full of good eats and our hearts even fuller of precious memories as a family! We are so very blessed with healthy kids, grandkids, good jobs, homes, wonderful churches where we can freely worship and a country that allows us so much! We are so thankful! It was a great Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Pie Supper

2010-12-17T08:34:00.001-08:00

Okay, I am REALLY behind with blogging. Really behind! I have so many things I want and need to journal about and so little time. I will take one "activity" at a time and maybe by the New Year, I will have caught up...maybe.

Pie Supper

Years ago, I read an article in a magazine about a lady who on Wednesday night before Thanksgiving, hosted a Pie Supper. This lady and I would be best friends. She said, "I love desserts. The problem with desserts on Thanksgiving is who really enjoys them after a HUGE meal of Turkey, Ham, Dressing, Sweet Potatoes, etc." She decided she would host a Pie Supper the night before Thanksgiving. It had become a tradition in her family. They would sit around and eat pie and sip on coffee and basically start the Thanksgiving weekend a day early! I loved the idea, so this year, I hosted our First Annual Knight Family Pie Supper. We gathered at our house around 7 PM and each person had signed up for a pie. I made it easy, I sent out an invite via email and each person replied as to what kind of pie they would bring. Each family could bring a tried and true recipe or try something new! Our island was FULL of wonderful tasting pies! And the lady was right, you truly enjoyed the pie and the pressure was off on Thanksgiving Day! I am always determined on Thanksgiving to have pie, after all, I have waited all year for a slice of Paradise Pumpkin Pie (my sister-in-law, Carolyn's, amazing recipe!) but this year, I was able to enjoy the yummyness! We had such a great time and there were some amazing pies! This year, the pies we enjoyed were:

Pecan Pie-PawPaw

Paradise Pumpkin Pie-Mary Kay

Caramel Delight-Chandra

Banana Creme Pie-Meg

Flat Iron Apple Pie-Ashley

Chocolate Meringue-Jan

There were several family members unable to attend but we are hoping to make this an annual event so maybe next year more can make come! Thanks to everyone for bring such wonderful treats! We love you all!

A picture is worth a thousand words" Wednesday

2010-12-01T08:18:00.000-08:00

Somethings never change...boys will be boys...even when they are men!

This picture was recently captured by our sweet friend Kim Watson!

Thankfully, Larry & Will didn't act this way for all the pictures!!

Thank you Kim! You did a great job!!

Thankful

2010-11-25T05:59:00.000-08:00

We are so thankful.

Thankful for a God that is so gracious and very good to us.

Thankful for Jesus dying so we could live.

Thankful for family.

Thankful for parents who raised us to love God and to love others.

Thankful for our children.

Thankful for how easy they made it for Larry and I to raise them.

Thankful for the good choices they made growing up and great choices in mates.

Thankful for the way we see them teaching their children to love and follow God.

Thankful for our health.

Thankful for our country, though it has its problems, there is no place I had rather live.

Thankful for our church family.

Thankful for our jobs.

Thankful for wonderful friends.

Thankful for freedom.

The list could go on and on.

But I will just show you one more thing we are so very thankful for...

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

A picture is worth a thousand words" Wednesday

2010-11-24T05:53:00.000-08:00

Where's Owen? Having some fun at the pumpkin patch with a little game of Hide-n-seek!

"A picture is worth a thousand words" Wednesday

2010-11-17T06:00:00.000-08:00

Emma Grace Snow, July 2010. I never want to forget those cute chubby arms! Too sweet!

"A picture is worth a thousand words" Wednesday

2010-11-10T05:36:00.000-08:00

Ashley and Owen dancing at the wedding, something Owen was very excited about! He loves his Aunt "Allie".

Halloween Happenings!

2010-11-04T14:34:00.000-07:00

Halloween 2010 was a very busy one but it was so very fun. Here is a quick update of how we spent this holiday:
It was our 4th annual "Orange Like a Pumpkin Dinner" for the grandkids. Emma was unable to attend this years event, but next year we will do better planning so that ALL our grands can be there!!! I always send an invitation to attend the dinner, where all the food is orange! Yummy huh! Our dinner consisted of Mummy Dogs, Carrots, Mandarin Oranges, Cheetos and "orange" Ranch dip! Nutritious huh!?!?! I told Larry I could make a few black options, but opted out of burning dinner in order to make that happen! :) Over dinner, we discussed how many different options we had for our pumpkins...scary, goofy, silly, happy, sad, or just plain crazy!
Then we carve a pumpkin together. The boys were so sweet and I think everyone had a really good time. Carving a pumpkin with 6 little hands holding various scoops and knives is an experience everyone should have! I am proud to announce no band-aids were needed! :)

They came dressed in their costumes this year...they were "hunter men" and were decked out in the camo! Very cute!!

The boys each picked a card which revealed which feature they would be in charge of designing and cutting. Clay picked eyes and wanted "triangle eyes". Owen was in charge of the nose. He immediately said he wanted a "cross nose". I made an "x" and he said, "No Honey, a cross like Jesus died on. I made more of an "plus sign" and he then replied "That is it, you know, kind of like a hospital cross"! He makes us laugh!
Will got the mouth! And he wanted a happy smile, just like his!Here is the finished product with 3 adorable little guys sitting so proud!
On Halloween weekend, we drove over and spent the night with David, Ashley and Emma. Ashley, Emma and I did a bit of shopping on Friday and then we had dinner, which was delicious, thanks Ashley! We enjoyed an evening of visiting and Emma got dressed in her Halloween costume so she could "Trick or Treat" us...and it was all TREAT for us!!! She was so cute and funny and seemed to know how cute she looked! And cute she was!!!
Check out this adorable little lamb!We left the next morning and spent the rest of our weekend with our dear friends, The Trice's. Fun times as always and no pictures to show as always! We always laugh, that Gordon is an amazing photographer but we have very few casual pictures of us with them...we just don't think to get out a camera!! Oh well, we had such a good time and cherish our time with this sweet precious couple! Thanks again Gordon and Pam, we had such a good time!

Check it out!

2010-11-03T14:28:00.000-07:00

Okay, if you are like me, I seldom go to the actual blog on anyone, unless of course, I am leaving a comment! Otherwise, I just use my trusty Google Reader to let me know when someone I "follow" has updated their blog. HOWEVER, I do have to say the one thing I miss about that is you don't get to see everyone's clever and cute blog design! I bring this up because my very precious and talented daughter created a "new look" for my blog and I just love the little header!!! As most of you know, I am Honey to the grandkids (and other sweet little ones in our lives) so it just seemed fitting to have a "Honey Header"!!! Ashley recently gave me a cute little wall hanging that had the same wording so she decided to design me a little updated header! Check it out!

Thank you Ashley for sharing your creative juices and giving me a new look! I love it!!

"A picture is worth a thousand words" Wednesday

2010-11-03T04:29:00.000-07:00

Meg is amazing! She not only comes us with the cutest Halloween costumes for her three boys but she also finds the time to dress up herself! AND she and Zach will decorate their "trunk" to fit the theme for their churches "Trunk or Treat" party. So talented!

"A picture is worth a thousand words" Wednesday

2010-10-27T05:00:00.000-07:00

Clayton Grant and Emma Grace. He is such a lovie. Sitting in a field of bluebonnet's that my Mom started years ago. Sweet memories.

We are so thankful...

2010-10-23T08:14:00.000-07:00

It's raining. I have the windows open and I can hear the rain and the rumbling of thunder. We needed this so badly. In my book, this rates right at the top of all time favorite ways to spend a day at home! I love the sound of rain and you should hear the birds chirping! I have a feeling they are already planning a nice bath later in the day! :) I am so thankful that on my day home, this is the sound I get to enjoy! :)
Thank you God!

"A picture is worth a thousand words" Wednesday

2010-10-20T05:00:00.000-07:00

Clayton Grant Knight. Mr Blue Eyes. I suspect he will melt girls heart...I know that because he already melts Honey's heart!

My sweet little pumpkins!

2010-10-16T20:26:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, Ashley and Emma came into town so we had to make a quick trip to the pumpkin patch for some pictures of the four grands! I have 100's but I will only share a few of my favorites!

"A picture is worth a thousand words" Wednesday

2010-10-13T05:00:00.000-07:00

Owen and Clay. "Washing dishes" for Honey. Too precious!

"A picture is worth a thousand words" Wednesday

2010-10-06T17:00:00.000-07:00

David and Emma, July 2010. When Ashley was pregnant, David would play to her at night and then when Emma was born, he has continued to play to her. Now when David plays, she likes to sit in his lap and "help". It is so sweet!

28 years ago today...

2010-10-06T05:00:00.000-07:00

We welcomed into our arms and heart our sweet daughter, Ashley Jo. If you are the parent of more than one child, you probably went through these feelings. We had so much love for Zach and we wondered how could we ever love another child as much...but we did!!! It was like our hearts just expanded the second she was born. Ashley has been a complete joy! As a little girl, she was always playing and taking care of her babies and stuffed animals, so it came as no surprise that motherhood would fit her perfectly. It is so much fun to watch her with her own little girl. We love watching her as a wife, mom, daughter, sister (and in-law), daughter-in-law, friend...she makes our hearts smile! Happy Birthday sweetie, we hope this day is perfect in every way! We love you so very much!

31 years ago today...

2010-09-25T05:00:00.000-07:00

I gave birth to a 9 plus pound baby boy. Beginning that day, he has brought us such joy. He was such a fun little boy, full of life and energy! Just like his three. From the time he was able to go outside, he loved the outdoors! That love for the outdoors is now being shared with his little guys. We love watching him as a daddy. He is doing an amazing job! Zach is a large statured man, but that doesn't even compare to the size of his heart. We are amazed at the way he lives his life, always doing for others, loves and cares for his family. Sometimes, I worry that he doesn't stop and do much for himself but then that is our son. We hope today though, he will stop and feel the love that we have for him!

Happy 31st Birthday Son! We love you a ton!

"A picture is worth a thousand words" Wednesday

2010-09-22T05:00:00.000-07:00

Zachary Austin Knight. If I had a scanner that would work, I could show you 100's of pictures like this...his whole life...he has loved to put things on his head...mostly things too small to fit!

Sneak peek to what I will be doing this Saturday...

2010-09-18T07:02:00.000-07:00

It is my hopes if I decorate for Fall...Fall weather will arrive! :)

"A picture is worth a thousand words" Wednesday

2010-09-15T05:00:00.000-07:00

Larry and David. October 21, 2006. This is what happens when the boys have too much time on their hands.

A very sweet little party for a very sweet little girl!

2010-09-11T05:00:00.000-07:00

As a Mom, I always loved planning my kids birthday parties, so it has always been fun to watch Meg and now Ashley as they plan and throw adorable birthday parties! My two girls are so talented. This past weekend, we were very honored to be the host home for Emma's birthday party! For the past several years, the boys of the family have gone dove hunting on Labor Day Weekend. It has become a tradition. David's father and usually his brother (missed you this year Blake!) come and so Patti, David's mom comes along to play with the girls. Since we were all going to be together, Ashley and David made the decision to have Emma's birthday party while everyone was here...so that all the grandparents and little cousins could attend.

I am SO very proud of Ashley. She did an amazing job on EVERY little detail, as you will see in the pictures!! It was fun to get to help decorate and help her with food prep but the best job was holding and playing with Emma while she worked on things! :) It was such a fun weekend.

Emma was a complete doll for her birthday! She took every thing in with such cute little squeals, oohs and aahhs. She loved all the decorations! She pointed at them and got so excited every time she would come into the dining room! Emma is such a sweet mannered little girl and she was so precious the entire weekend! She is so easy going and just took it all in!! It was a wonderful weekend with family and friends!

So...here are some of the fun details and sweet moments of the weekend!!

My two precious girls!

My wreath, reworked for the party!

Ashley made adorable little signs for everything...adorable!!

The cute little bean bag toss game

Ashley, Emma and Honey

Her favorite part...squeezing the cake between her fingers!

Yummy!

Now that is a sweet little hand!

Precious cousins...Will, Owen, Clay and Emma

Emma Grace is ONE YEAR OLD TODAY!!!!

2010-09-10T05:00:00.000-07:00

Wow, where has the time gone? Today, one year ago, we welcomed another grandchild into our hearts. Emma Grace Snow, like the three before, has just stolen our hearts. We have so many wonderful memories of this past year, watching you grow little girl. You were placed into the loving arms of a wonderful mommy and daddy. We have watched their hearts expand beyond measure. We have seen their eyes opened to the love that God must have for us, that I think you truly understand when you have a child of your own. We have watched them delight in every "firsts" you have made! We love you so much little girl. We continue to pray that God will richly bless your life with good health, good decisions and we pray that you will continue to grow in God's sweet love and always rely on Him to show you His plan for your life!
Here are just a few pictures from our sweet times together through the last year! Love you baby girl!!! (Or as Bud refers to you Tater Tot. Sidenote: Larry has always called Ashley "Tater" so when Emma came, he started referring to her as "Tater Tot").

Happy Birthday to my Man!

2010-09-09T05:00:00.000-07:00

Today is Larry's birthday. I day of real celebration for me because I am so thankful that God not only made this incredible man, but then He blessed my life by giving him to me as my soulmate, my best friend, my precious sweet hubby! He is the hardest working man I have ever known. He just gives and gives. He loves God and lives his life that way. He supports me, spoils me, encourages me...and even taught me to fly-fish. Hmm...we need to practice that some more. I can't imagine life without him. As we get older, the more I realize how rich my life has been because of him. I love watching him as a father and grand "Bud". He is so patient and loving with them all! There is two things though, that I would like to thank him for, the sweetest gifts he could ever have given! First, giving me the HUGE gift of being a stay at home mom. We have talked about that a lot lately. Would we financially be in a better place had I worked...for sure. Would we trade being in a better financial place today for that...NEVER! We know we made the right decision!!! I encourage other young mothers and fathers to really consider it. It isn't easy, you might live on beans, potatoes and rice but what you will give your children is unmeasurable! Second, picking up the slack around the house and taking care of things so that I could care for my Mom when she was ill. I will never be able to thank him for giving me the time to literally sit at her feet during those days. My heart is full of talks and moments that we were able to have because of the time Larry allowed me to be with her. Those are moments I will cherish my entire life. So, though today, is your birthday Larry, I want to thank you for the gifts you have given me and our family. Point proven: You are the most giving man I know! Love you babe! I pray that these little boys will always follow in the same steps as their Dad and Bud...and become amazing MEN of GOD!!!

"A picture is worth a thousand words" Wednesday

2010-09-08T06:00:00.000-07:00

Emma Grace Snow, 5 months old. Who can resist those cheeks? Seriously, they are too full of sweet sugars!

"A picture is worth a thousand words" Wednesday

2010-09-01T06:00:00.000-07:00

William Texas Knight, 2 1/2 years old at Knight Camp 2010. The cutest thing about this picture, other than the fact that he is just so cute, is how he was trying his best to cross his legs. We were all sitting in our camp chairs and Larry had his legs crossed, then we notice Will doing his best to get his little chunky legs to do the same thing! So sweet!

"A picture is worth a thousand words" Wednesday

2010-08-18T06:00:00.001-07:00

I have so many pictures that either tug at my heart strings, make me smile or crack me up. So starting today and hopefully every Wednesday...I will post a picture of the day. I will TRY to let the pictures do all the talking unless it is little journaling on my part!

Owen Austin Knight, 7 months old, on our first "family vacation" to Sugarland, Texas to visit Ashley while she was interning at First Colony Church of Christ for the summer.

It's a sewing Saturday...

2010-08-07T11:05:00.000-07:00

Okay, if you know me well and you just read the title to this blog then you probably thought someone else was writing my blog today. I have always been a little sewing challenged. Okay, maybe A LOT challenged. I am not sure what it is. I just have a hard time following instructions on a pattern. If someone told me that I could have TWO new talents, what would they be? I would love to be able to really sing well and to be able to sew and enjoy sewing. Instead of needing to see a chiropractor after a few hours behind the machine. I am determined, though I realize I am getting OLDER, I still have the deep desire to really be able to sew and I am going to keep working at it. My seam ripper and I are best friends. Well, it is kind of a love-hate relationship really, but still, if I can't find my seam ripper then you know I haven't been sewing much!

So, today's project...I am attempting to make a quiet book for Emma's first birthday. Shh. Don't tell her! I bought a piece of fabric at Cabbage Rose (my all time favorite store) right after she was born. It is a printed "quiet book" so basically the pages were there, it was a matter of cutting it out and putting it together. RIGHT! First of all, one of my many problems is, I can't leave anything alone. My brain starts thinking of ways to embellish, make it cuter, etc. There is where I start getting into trouble. My brain can think up lots of ideas but my brain has no idea how to actually make it happen! Thankfully God has blessed me with several friends who are wonderful seamstresses but also very patient! Case in point: Pam. We had talked about doing quiet books for our latest grandchildren. I love that she is a grandmother because it opened up a whole new world of crafts for us to share in. Anyway, after visiting last Friday morning and looking over my fabric purchase, we returned to the store to buy her a piece of the same fabric and some fat quarters for the pages. The ideas were flowing through our veins. Okay, maybe Pam has a better flow than me and she certainly knows how to make an idea a reality, but still we were cranking out ideas! So, we gathered up our supplies and headed to her sewing room, which is amazing! We quickly went to work. Pam was cutting out our squares, I was applying Wonder Under to the backs, etc. We got ready to start sewing...then we realized...we cut the pages the wrong size. Long story...I will not go into it but we recut all background pages and I begin to iron the ABC'S on to the pages while Pam crank up the Bernina (oh how I would love one of those!!!) and we started making progress, though we were way behind schedule. We worked till late Friday night and both went to bed dreaming of how we would finish them up on Saturday. Well, things didn't really go as planned. It was just taking us longer than we thought. After all, the alphabet has 26 letters plus front and back covers and then mulitiple that times two books...you get the picture. To add to the "fun" we kept thinking we were just both having major hot flashes...being the HOT women we are...but after lunch, when we started climbing back upstairs...we realized we weren't so hot...we were MELTING! Come to find out, the upstairs a/c had decided to quit. Upon checking the thermostat we realized it was in the high 90's and rising! So, we had to haul all the stuff and machine downstairs, regroup and start up production once again! The really sweet and fun part about this story, is the fact that even though we were melting and having some cutting issues...we were having the best time talking and working together. By the time we stopped on Saturday evening, we had both completed the first step of each page and were down to putting them together and the last bit of handwork stuff. I have been dying to work on it all week. So, this morning after finishing up my housework or the housework I HAD to do, I have started. I have made some mistakes. No surprise...let's just say I know where my seam ripper is today. I miss Pam. I miss having someone to laugh while I rip out stuff. I miss all of Pam's ideas. I have named her the QUEEN OF EMBELLISHMENTS. I like things cute, I like to add details. I have always prided myself in the fact that I like to take things to the next level. BUT, my brain isn't as big as Pam's. I cannot believe all the ideas that she can think of, plus the fact that her sewing room has a better stock of embellishments than Tinsel Trading Company in NYC! (If you haven't been there before, you should look them up!) The printed pages were cute, but we wanted little touches on each page that our little ones could touch and feel and that would hopefully hold their attention while Mom and Dad are trying to listen to a sermon! That's the plan anyway!

Because I needed to give my neck muscles a break from the sewing machine...I thought I would blog about the book thus far. Like I said...don't let Emma see these pictures...after all I don't want her to see her birthday present early. Actually, I am just hoping I have it ready in September! :)

It's not finished, which means I should stop writing and get back to the machine. But, I just wanted to stop and thank my sweet and ever patient friend Pam. She inspires me. She teaches me skills I so desire. She loves me warts and all. She also understands my relationship with my seam ripper. Thank you Pam.