God's Creation

Each day, Lily's class has a "servant of the day" whose role is to help serve the class by passing out supplies, leading lines, etc.  When they are assigned to be servant of the day, the child also brings in an item from home for show and tell.  Mrs. Worrell changes the "share topics" that the items relate to each time they get through all ten kids.  In the past, these topics have been your favorite toy, favorite picture, etc.  It's a big surprise for the kids each day on what the show and tell topic will be, so they love it!  Currently, the share topic is "God's Creation," and the kids bring things from home that show something God created.  Last week, Lily told me kids brought things like rocks, leaves, berries, etc.  Lily was servant of the day on Monday, so on Sunday night when I asked what she wanted to take for her share topic, her face lit up and she said "Me!"  On the way to school Monday morning, she was so excited and telling me how she was going to pretend to pull something out of her book bag, and when the kids asked "what did you bring?," she will turn around and say "it's me!"  She was so excited about this, and she told me that afternoon it went great.

I couldn't agree with her on a better example of God's amazing creations than this precious 5 year old!

The Greatest Show on Earth

It's tax season right now which means Ryan and I work more than usual, and we don't get to do as much fun stuff with the kids.  However, a few weeks ago we saw that Ringling Brothers was coming to town.  We knew we needed to take last Saturday off and take the girls - it was definitely the right decision.  We took Lily and our nice Molly last year, and they both loved it; we knew Lily would be thrilled to go again, and we were right.  Mia has never been to the circus before, so she didn't really know what to expect.  For the first 45 minutes, she sat on the edge of her seat, eating popcorn with her eyes wide open.  She also got up and danced a few times with the music.  For about the last 5 to 10 minutes of the first half and the entire second half though, she was pretty restless.  She was exhausted, and the whole thing was just overwhelming; the sights, sounds and smells were too much.  She sat in my lap most of the second half.  When we left, she said she did not like it, but on Sunday (and each day since then) she has said she liked it a lot and wants to go back.  She and Lily have been playing circus, calling it "The Greatest Show On Earth," each day too.  Overall, I think this was a success.



Three girls waiting on the show to start.

 Most of the acts walking out at the beginning.  Both girls loved the elephants!

 Mia on the edge of her seat; she was captivated for quite awhile.

 Both girls loved the tightrope walkers, especially when they got on this bike.

 This picture shows why the circus might be a little overwhelming to a 3 year old.

 The elephant act; I loved them!

Lily said her favorite part of the circus was when they did "Fire It Up," a song just before they shot a human cannonball across the arena.  Mia said her favorite part was the acrobats; I think she means tightrope walkers.  I'm glad we were able to share this experience with the girls.

Daddy Daughter Dance

Last Friday night was the Daddy Daughter Valentine's Dance at our church.  Lily couldn't wait for her special night out with Ryan!  The week before, she, my mom and I had gone out shopping to find a great dress.  She loved this beautiful white one with pretty pink flowers around the waist.  Spoiler alert: I bought a 3T one as well so you'll see this dress again at Easter.



She was so excited!

 I love this sweet girl to pieces! 

 What a great pair.

 Lily loved the little pink corsage Ryan had for her.  It was a tad too big so it kept sliding around her wrist.  She didn't mind though.

 Love these two!

Ryan said they had a great time at the dance even though Lily didn't really want to dance a whole lot.  Lots of our friends have kids the same age, so they both had lots of people to talk with.  They had a delicious dinner, danced a little, talked a lot and played some games.  One of the games was something of a treasure hunt around the children's area of the church.  Part of what they handed out were pieces of paper meant to be "conversation starters" for the parents and kids.  Lily has loved pulling one out each day and discussing it with us.  For instance, one of the questions was "which of your friends do you think I like the most and why?" 

After the dance, Ryan and Lily went to Toys R Us to pick up a little treat.  After examining the entire store, she was very excited to settle on a Tinkerbell umbrella.  Her princess umbrella broke awhile ago, and apparently, she has been in need of a new one.  Anyway, it is very cute, and it's been fun for her and Mia to fight over play with.

This dance is such a fun Valentine's tradition, and it is part of the reason why Valentine's Day is Lily's favorite holiday (yes, even more so than Christmas she claims; for the record, she informed me this morning that Groundhogs Day is her third favorite holiday).  The other reason is because everything associated with Valentine's Day is pink, and there are lots of hearts and flowers; her words, not mine.  Such a girly-girl!  I can't wait for next year's dance when Ryan gets to take both girls!

Funny Mia

When Mia saw Ryan put on a tie last Friday, she wanted to try one on too! 

Mia and I were supposed to have a Mommy-Daughter date last Friday while Ryan and Lily went out but the power steering going out on my car on the way home from work that evening sidetracked those plans.  Luckily, at three she is pretty easy to impress.  Watching the tow truck come to our house and pick up my Jeep was very exciting.  She talked about it for awhile afterwards.  Then we met my brother and two of his kids at Steak and Shake which always makes her happy.  Not exactly how the evening was planned, but my sweet little monkey was happy as she could be.  Love this little girl!

Mia insisted on holding the new Tinkerbell umbrella while she and Lily played on their LeapPads.  I guess you never know when the rain is going to come...

Tea Party Girls

Lily and her best friend Jill have been planning a play date for awhile now.  Almost everyday after school Lily would ask me when she and Jill could play together.  Finally, Jill's mom and I were able to work out a time.  Beverly picked up both girls from school last Thursday.  They went to Jill's home for lunch and playtime.  Another little girl from their class, Grey, lives very close by so she came up after lunch, and the three of them had an adorable little tea party on the back porch.  Beverly sent these pictures to me.  Lily is on the far left, Jill is in the middle and Grey is on the right.  How cute are they?

Ryan and Mia's Date

Saturday night was Chick-fil-a's Daddy/Daughter Valentine's Date.  Mia was soooo excited about her date with Daddy!  She loved that she got to wear a "fancy" dress.  I helped her get dressed, she spun around and said "Oh, I am fancy!"  Such a precious little one.

On our back deck before heading out.

Look at her smile!  She was beaming!

A kiss for Daddy.

Meeting the cow during dinner.

After dinner, Ryan treated Mia to Haagan-Daaz ice cream; she loves strawberry ice cream.

They also made a little stop at Toys R Us where Mia fell in love with this little golf set.  She and Lily have been having a lot of fun with it today.

I think Ryan and Mia had a great time on their date.  While they were out, Lily, Mom and I went to dinner and shopping.  We found the girls beautiful matching Easter dresses; Lily's will double as her Daddy/Daughter Valentine's Dance dress next weekend.  She is really looking forward to her date too!  I am so thankful that Ryan loves spending time with the girls and showing them how they should expect to be treated some day down the road.  I know what it's like to have a great relationship with my dad, and I am very thankful that my girls will have that with Ryan too.

Miscellaneous Pictures

The last few weeks have just been "normal" around our house which is great.  Church, work, school, family, friends...life is just moving right along.  Not a whole lot to report, but here are a few pictures that I have snapped recently.



Mia found Lily's old dance recital costume.  She had to try it on.  How adorable is she?

 Mia's hand prints angel project.

 Lily also made a hand print angel and then decorated the page.

 At school, Lily drew this picture of our family by an apple tree.

 Mia's fingerprint apple tree.

 At Christmas, Mia received a craft kit meant to help with her scissor skills.  We used that kit to make these projects on afternoon.

 I took this picture simply because Mia makes me smile.  She is so precious!

 Is this one a future SU cheerleader?

 Or maybe this one?

Ryan has been playing soccer with the girls a lot in our front yard.  They absolutely love it.  For the record, I had nothing to do with Lily choice of outfits to wear (pink dress, rainbow striped knee socks and pink sparkly dress shoes).  She picked it and Ryan approved it.  I'm just saying...

 The future Hope and Abby!

Mia and Money

This morning as I was packing my lunch, Mia asked "Why do you go to work Mommy?"  I explained that I go to work to help people put papers together, and that they pay me for that.  When they give me money, we can use it to buy our food, toys, books and clothes.  She asked "They give you coins?" so I said "Yes, they give me coins."  She thought about that for a second.  Then, she put one hand on her hip, and started shaking her finger at me from the other hand.  She said "Okay, take those coins and get some toys and blananas okay? And yogurt" ("Blananas" is how she says bananas).  The look on her face was priceless; she cracks me up!  And thus begins trying to explain the value of hard work!

Sweet Lily

Monday was Mrs. Worrell and her husband's second anniversary.  She happened to mention it to me the week before (since we just celebrated our anniversary), so on the way to school Monday, I told Lily this and reminded her to tell Mrs. Worrell "happy anniversary" if she thought about it.  On Tuesday, a note was sent home with Lily that said:

"Had to share this - Yesterday we started the day with prayers of thanksgiving -just a quick praise from each student.  Lily's was my anniversary.  I had to hold back tears!  Lily obviously has a wonderful example of a godly marriage in you and the importance of it.  What a gift you're giving her!  Just wanted to encourage y'all in that and also tell you how greatly it blessed me too.  Best, Annie Worrell."  How sweet is that note?  I really appreciated this note.  We are so thankful for Mrs. Worrell!

Deacon Ordination

I am so proud of Ryan.  He was recently nominated to serve a three year term as a deacon at our church.  Out of the 8,000+ members of our church, he will be one of the approximately 150 men who serve in this capacity.  Nine of these men (including Ryan) are first-time deacons while the others have served before and were coming back for another term.  This is a huge honor, but also a big responsibility.  The purpose of a deacon is to serve the church body by praying for it and helping in many roles.  I am confident Ryan will do a great job with both of these.

We returned from our cruise on Thursday the 12th.  On Friday, Ryan left for an overnight retreat for the deacons.  The new deacons shared their testimonies, and from what I can gather, this was a wonderful experience for all involved.  On Sunday evening, we got to go to the deacon's ordination at the church.  All the new deacons were introduced by our pastor, Bryant Wright, and then they were challenged and charged by chairman Pat Abney with the new duties requested of them.  We all joined in singing several worship songs together, and one of the deacons, Trevor Lang, gave his testimoney.  After that, each deacon kneels to pray at the front of the church.  Each had asked three experienced deacons beforehand to come and pray over them.  Ryan had asked Brian Fox, Shane Gary and John Gary who are all really good friends of Ryan's, and they each share his passion for missions.  It meant a lot to Ryan to have them pray for him.  Additionally, our former Sunday School teacher, Ron Hughes, and Bryant prayed over him as well which was greatly appreciated.

After this, the new deacons and their wives stood at the front of the church for everyone to come up and encourage us.  We greatly appreciated all the deacons, their wives and church members that came to speak to us.  We were both truly grateful too that Liz, my mom, my dad and my cousins, Sid and Elaine, were able to come be a part of this very special evening.

We are both very excited about Ryan's time as a deacon in the upcoming three years.  I can't wait to see how God continues to use Ryan in furthering His Kingdom.  I am so proud to be married to Ryan, and watch him grow in his faith and love of the Lord.

Thanks to Shane for snapping this picture before we left:

10 Years Ago

This was our big day ten years ago.  What an amazing and wonderful day January 12, 2002 was.  I can't help but smile anytime I think about it.  I feel so fortunate to be married to my very best friend.  Ryan is an incredible man who seeks God's heart and direction.  He is a loving father to our two precious girls.  He makes me laugh every single day, and he has such a great laugh to hear.  You will never meet anyone more loyal than him.  He has a sense of adventure that makes travel with him lots of fun.  I've always thought that we're not perfect, but we are definitely perfect together.  I cannot imagine a better match.  I am so thankful God brought the two of us together.  I can't wait to see what the next ten (and many more) years have in store for us.

10 Year Celebration

Can you believe Ryan and I have been married for 10 years?  What an amazing ten years it has been too.  We have been blessed more than we ever could have imagined, and we are so thankful for every one of our blessings, especially our two little girls who make us laugh every day. 

We couldn't wait to celebrate our first decade of marriage.  Even though the beginning of the year is a pretty hectic time around the office, a 10 year marriage anniversary only comes around once, right?  So we decided to take a week off and go on a trip.  You know we always love to travel!  We were very excited to spend a few days in Fort Lauderdale before getting on Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas ship.  It was awesome!  Here are a few pictures to show what a beautiful week we had.

The view from our hotel room in Fort Lauderdale.  We had beautiful weather and enjoyed resting and admiring the view.  It was the perfect way to start our vacation.

 A quick little story.  As the boat was leaving, we passed a row of very nice houses.  There was a pretty old man standing on his back patio wearing a bathrobe.  As the boat passed by, he yelled into his megaphone "You're going to have a great time!  Those of you on the back of the boat, the captain doesn't even know you're alive, but you're gonna' have fun!"  Cracked us both up!

A little while later, as we were standing on the balcony of our room, we realized we were passing by Cuba.  You can see it in the distance.

 One of the coolest things about this ship is it had a "Royal Promenade" going down the inside of it.  Here, there were several neat little shops and restaurants.  One of our favorites was a little Italian place called Sorrentos.  We visited every afternoon to get a little salad or some fresh meats and cheeses; it held us over until our 8:30 dinnertime!  Another favorite on the Promenade was The Cupcake Cupboard.  Yum is the best way to describe it.  On day two of the cruise, I took a cupcake decorating class there.  Since Royal Caribbean partners with Dreamworks, Princess Fiona stopped in to try her (huge) hand at it too!

 My finished puppy cupcake.  I thought it turned out pretty well given I have never attempted anything like this before!

 Liberty of the Seas has an ice rink on it too.  We never made it down there during an "open skate" session but we did go to see their ice show on day two.  It was awesome!  The skaters were amazing.  A lot of their music was from Broadway which we love, so that made it even better.  Here they are at the end of the show.

 They had another show called "In The Air" which was interesting.  It was in the main theater, and it was mostly made up of aeriel acrobatics.  It seemed a little bit like Cirque du Soleil, but not nearly as varied.  It was neat to see though.

We couldn't resist having a meal at Johnny Rockets.  It's on the 13th deck which is really high above the water!  We sat along the edge and were able to look out while we enjoyed our burgers and milk shakes.  What a fun meal!

 On day three, our ship stopped in Belize City, Belize.  Neither of us have ever visited before.  However, we knew that they have the largest barrier reef in this hemisphere, so we were excited to go snorkeling there.  Here are a couple of pictures from that hour of fun.

 I haven't really cleaned up the pictures yet, so it may be tough to see, but there are a lot of fish swimming around the reef in this one.

 Our self-portrait.  FYI, it's really difficult to get a picture like this while you're floating.

 This snorkeling excursion was different than other times we have snorkeled.  Usually, it's very calm water, the reef are about 20 feet or so under you and the fish are right up in your face expecting you to give them food (Can fish really expect things?  I don't know but if feels like they do).  This experience was very different though.  First, we were in a lot of waves that had a pretty decent current to them.  This took us both by surprise.  However, we also liked that we were so close to the reef; at times, we didn't even want to kick our legs for fear of hitting the coral; we would just float by and use our arms instead.  Also, the fish stayed pretty much away from us which we both appreciated.

After snorkeling, we went to a little beach in Belize for awhile to rest up.  Not a bad view, huh?

 The sunset as we left Belize.

 On day four, we went to Cozumel.  Ryan and I didn't even leave the boat.  We have been to Cozumel a couple of times before, and we guessed it would be more relaxing to pretty much have this huge ship to ourselves.  We were right.  We sat by the pool for a long time.  They had a huge high-def tv above the pool playing ESPN, so we enjoyed watching that and listening to our music on our iPods.  We also tried out the hot tub that sits over the side of the ship so you're looking down at the ocean if you look over the side.  Oh yeah, we took a nap too; that became part of our daily routine.  I think we'll miss that now that we're back to the real world!

I love the little towel animals that the room attendant makes for you when you're out of the room.  I had never seen a bat before, but it made us laugh!

 The water as we left Cozumel.  Amazing doesn't begin to describe it.

 Day five was spent at sea on our way back to Fort Lauderdale.  It actually rained some but that was alright with us.  Didn't disrupt our naps at all and allowed us to not feel guilty about reading and relaxing on our last day!  That evening, we went to the ship's "Farewell Show" which had a lot of recap videos in it.  However, it ended with Charles Peachock performing.  He was a juggler who did really well on a season of America's Got Talent.  He was really impressive, and we thoroughly enjoyed his show.  Here's a picture near the end of his show.  He had a keyboard on the floor, and he juggled five small balls downward to play it.  At this particular moment he was playing "When the Saints Come Marching In," but he also did "When You Wish Upon A Star" and Beethoven's Fifth.  Unbelievable.

Those are the quick highlights of the trip.  What a wonderful way to celebrate.  It was nice to be home though on Thursday afternoon and see the girls again.  Thursday was our actual anniversary, and we all went out to dinner that evening.  We went to dinner at Buckhead Diner which was a lot of fun.  It ended with Ryan and Mia sharing a milkshake and Lily and me sharing one.  No better way to celebrate the occasion!  Of course, it was back to reality as Lily came into our room about 3:30 Friday morning, and Mia followed shortly thereafter for help using the potty.  Welcome back!

A big, huge thank you to Liz and my parents who kept the girls this week.  Mom and Dad had Lily spend the night on Friday night along with my niece Molly.  They had a blast!  They also took the girls to church on Sunday which I think everyone enjoyed.  They were able to help Liz on Monday and Tuesday to give her a little bit of a much-needed break then too.  We truly appreciate the three of them being so willing to help, so we could relax and enjoy our anniversary.  Thank you for making the big day 10 years ago so special and for all the amazing things you do now!  We love you!

December 31, 2011

I cannot believe it's New Year's Eve.  I feel like we've just started!  And, given the mid-60 degree weather we had today, it doesn't feel like it should be December 31 either.  What a wonderful year we have had. 

It's been a great year as we've watched the girls grow up; I can't believe they are 5 and 3 now.  They are real, little people now, not babies anymore.  I love watching as they grow and learn.  They are truly fascinating to me.  We are so pleased with the new school Lily started this year; we look forward to being with them for a long time.  We are very grateful for her teacher, Mrs. Worrell, and all she is teaching her.  Of course, the changes in Mia over this year have been incredible to watch.  These girls light up our world!

It has been an interesting year at work.  Most notably, I acquired another local accounting firm at the end of October.  I'm very excited about the possibilities this will bring.  Of course, this means tax season may be even a little more hectic than usual, so we'll see how excited I am in a few months!

We were fortunate to travel a good bit this year.  Best of all, Ryan was able to go on four mission trips during the year.  He went to Ambler, Alaska three times which absolutely thrilled him.  He has formed some really good friendships with several individuals in that village and with those in Kotzebue and Anchorage which are on the way to Ambler.  It has been incredible to see the work God is doing in Alaska, and it's wonderful to know that Ryan has a part in it.  Additionally, Ryan spent about a week in Lebanon in early November which was a very interesting experience, and one that we're grateful he was able to have.  Thought not really a mission trip, Ryan was able to attend mission-focused conferences in Minneapolis and Chicago during the year where he learned quite a bit.  We also had the good fortune of taking a wonderful cruise together last January; it was a fantastic getaway.  We went to New Smyrna Beach with my dad's big family in July, and our family of four went to Gulf Shores with our great friends, the Hendersons, in October.  We also took smaller and shorter trips to Birmingham and Fort Payne a couple of times.  Travel is always fun!

All in all, this has been a great year.  We were blessed to see Ryan's grandfather and one of my grandmothers celebrate their 90th birthdays.  We have amazing families, great friends and, most importantly, a God who loves us.  We have our health (though that has some room for improvement!).  We have a comfortable house, food, clothes and cars.  Really, we are blessed with so much more than we could ever ask for.  With all these gifts and opportunities, I can't wait to see how God uses our lives in 2012.  I hope you can say the same.  Best wishes for a wonderful 2012!

Even More Christmas Fun

We had a Christmas celebration with Liz on the 26th.  The girls didn't really understand why I made them wait in our room with me for a few minutes after telling them we were going to exchange gifts with Bama.  When they came out of the room though, they realized why, and this was their reaction:

 Bama had given them a basketball goal and ball!  They couldn't wait to start playing!  Here's Mia taking a shot.

 Lily trying to score too.

 They have been having so much fun with this set over the last few days.  It's the perfect size for them, and we can already see improvement as they practice.  What a great gift!

The girls had a few more items to open from Bama though.  They were excited to receive new baby dolls that they named Brooke and Whitney.  She found really pretty growth charts and princess puzzles for each of them that is personalized with their name.  I've never seen a puzzle with a kid's name on it.  The girls love things that are personalized, so these were big hits.

Here's Mia showing off the cool new jungle puzzle from Bama.  She is getting pretty good with puzzles.

 Lily admiring her new calendar.  She is working on learning how a calendar works and this is one she can color each month and hang up in her room.  She can't wait for January 1st to arrive so she can hang it up!

What a great way to wrap up all of our Christmas celebrations!