Mark, Charity, Freedom, & Courage

Spring is in the air...

2011-05-09T21:25:00.006-04:00

So, you can see that our little girl finally has some hair this Easter! We've enjoyed flying a kite in this wind! And, we've been watching some Man vs. Wild shows, so Mark helped build a torch (even using animal fat!).

Wow, has it really been that long?

2011-05-09T17:16:00.003-04:00

Time has just flown by, and I have not kept up. I do have some great "Compare These" photos for you!

Can you guess who these boys are? (Sorry the one is so grainy.)

My Birthday (Yes, last year)

2011-03-18T23:16:00.002-04:00

I celebrated one of the best birthdays ever this last year. Freedom woke me up by showing me a drawing that he had made of flowers for me and said, "Look, Mom, I brought you some flowers." Courage came bounding in behind. They really woke me up, however, when I saw them both dressed in aprons and they informed me that they were making me a cake. (That gets moms up in a hurry.) Turns out that they both had been working on a picture of a cake for me--whew! Later in the day, Courage said her FIRST prayer at the dinner table. :) A very, very sweet day!

We later celebrated Mark's birthday. He doesn't remember anything about it now. :) (I remember that we looked through his old pictures that his mom sent, and he's had his picture taken on nearly every single birthday he's had. So, true to tradition, I know that we took his picture, and chances are pretty good that he had a great cake.)

Now less than a month later, we celebrated both Courage and Freedom's. Courage's cake was inspired by my sister-in-law's baby shower cake (her pictures were just gorgeous, and my kids love the pirouette sticks, so there was our inspiration). I had made a joint castle cake with rocket ship candies for their birthday last year, but this year we made two different cakes. She got the two tier marble chocolate cake. Freedom was big into dragons and vikings after seeing the movie last summer, so we went with a viking theme for their joint party that was closer to Freedom's day. We made a viking long boat from a watermelon (complete with oars) and made a "viking helmet" from a stoneware bowl, waffle cones, and oreos. Not perfect, but a lot of fun. :) The cake was made from scratch from this great homemade butterscotch pumpkin cake recipe I'd found. I was even more thrilled about the cake when my dad brought us some fresh, mature pumpkins from his garden to use; they roasted up great! :) Yumm!

Yahtzee!!!!

2011-03-18T23:13:00.002-04:00

In honor of my brother's Yahtzee prowess, I am dedicating this post to him! Tonight when we played, he got 3 (yes, that's 3) Yahtzee's in a single game. If you haven't played Yahtzee that much, it's unusual to even get one...so needless to say, he smoked us.

Egg-cellent April!

2010-04-27T00:12:00.004-04:00

She finally got into the groove of finding the eggs at the end. Unfortunately these eggs were empty, but she had to check each one just to find out.

Freedom looking high and low. ...Now this is a HUNT!

The girls!

We had wanted to go get our pictures taken on Easter, but I forgot that most places are closed. So...we incorporated the help of some great neighbor's to hook us up.

Another shot at a family photo. (I had wanted to take one last Thanksgiving, but then I forgot, and I forgot later, and I forgot to take one the year before...so, now we have a couple!)

If Mamaw had asked, I could have told her that a bulk of those candies would never make it on the cake...but, I think she had just as much fun as they did.

Courage and Daddy at the Easter Egg Hunt. I don't know if you can see it very clearly, but Courage has on a shirt that Kari made for her. I love that shirt, and it inspired me to try some new things. Thanks, Kari!

Freedom at what my father has decided to call an "Egg Gather" as he felt that it was not a proper "Hunt."

These fellas have known each other a long time--each one of them was born in the land of the rising sun.

Who can resist a wagon on an Easter Egg hunt? (Plus, the walk did me good.)

Courage in an antique dress of mine that came from Germany.

She loves walking in anybody's shoes, I try to leave slippers around the house for that purpose.

Blessings.

This was my first attempt to put Courage in pig-tails. They slid right out of her baby-fine hair a little later, but she can wear them! (Daddy doesn't like them because they make her look older.)

Old college buddies. It was a good weekend!

just start where you are...

2010-03-22T12:05:00.005-04:00

The girls in Egyptian hats (compliments of Nana).

...Who knows whose nose...?

I got the hairbrained idea that I'd like to see if there was a way to recycle some of Daddy's old shirts into heirloom dresses, and this is the result.

A close up of the neck and details of the dress. I used the lace from some older potholders that my grandmother gave me over Christmas (circa 1960's-1980's fabric, etc.) It took longer than I anticipated, but I'm fairly please with the end result.

This was after our ice storm and snow from early January. I thought it was interesting how you can see the ice dripping off the table. The rain was freezing as sooon as it hit.

Our littlest leprachaun.

I thought if you caught a leprachaun, it had to tell you where the pot of gold was hidden--but this one is just starting out and only has $3.99 to offer. :)

A bigger leprachaun in a bigger hat. I wonder how much he's amassed?

This one was taken yesterday. They may be looking deep in thought, but these two are actually contemplating their next Cheerios move.

I think one of my biggest problems is trying to backtrack and always feeling so far behind that to catch up on my backtrack is stressful and more of a mountain than I feel I can move. So, let's leave it at this: During the last six months, Courage and Freedom had a combined birthday party with the theme of rocket ships and castles. We had some beautiful visitors that spent the day with us and had a great time. We enjoyed a "spooky" party over at the Ljs--complete with the cutest hot dogs that I've ever seen. Thanksgiving was spent with my family, and we've come to truly appreciate that time together enjoying good food, good time, black friday, and a jump on the holidays. Christmas was spent with the Chans, and we always have a good, fun, memorable time together too; and we were fortunate enough to get there in between storms (and somehow Brady and Laura escaped Omaha) and enjoyed a great day sledding and tasty Chan traditions.

Me and the Kids on the Fourth...

2009-09-18T00:46:00.002-04:00

I don't know if you noticed or not, but I tried to get my picture taken with both of the children in the same outfit on the fourth of July. This outfit was Mark's when he was a kid, so that definitely makes it special too. I wanted to duplicate the picture of Freedom, but Courage wasn't so into that. Here they are though, side by side.

40 Years and Going Strong...

2009-09-18T00:10:00.002-04:00

If you're married, you know that anniversaries are more about patience and longsuffering than romance. --Well, that's the way it seems to me anyway. Anniversaries are a tribute to putting up with someone else and choosing to love them despite the fact that we're all chalk-ful of imperfections. Now, I'm talking about myself here--I've got firsthand knowledge of my imperfections; and I know that Mark has that knowledge too. Perhaps there are couples out there whose life and relationships come easy, relationships in which there are no cloudy dark days--just ones filled with sunshine. Perhaps.

This particular post is devoted to couples who are sticking it out and sticking together. Mark and I both have the unusual blessing of having both of our parents still married to one another. Mark's folks just celebrated their 40th annivesary this last month. So...Congratulations!!! That's awesome. We were going to get together to commemorate the occasion with a professional photographer, but the family switched plans to head up to Minnesota. So, we all got together a couple of weekends later and tried our own hand at family photos. Mark's mom has the ones with all of us, but we have a few of the others. The place where we took the pictures was so pretty. --So, here's to 40 years of marraige and many more!

I really need to blog more...

2009-09-17T23:29:00.004-04:00

The days all seem to go so quickly, and the months just fly right on by. I tried to do better about trying to write down all the things that were going on this last year in a calendar because I have such a hard time trying to get pictures put in the right order later. But, life goes on and I am not always--okay, usually, not good at writing the things down. Blogging helps keep track of those things, so I really should do this more often. Anyway, a lot of things happened during the month of August. One thing that was pretty amazing to me was that on Courage's 11 month birthday (that day to be exact), I walked into the kids' room to see her STANDING on a rocking chair trying to get something that Freedom had put up out of her reach. Yikes! A couple of days later, Freedom thought that he'd try his hand at giving himself a haircut. Another Yikes (but not too bad)! We'd planned to go up to Mark's parents to celebrate their anniversary with a big shabang, but Mark's grandfather passed away just before that weekend. So, most of Mark's family (everybody except the kids and I) headed up to Minnesota. We missed getting to go up there, but I'm glad that the others were able to go. Some time during that month, the Campbells came through too--that's Laura with their new baby, Stephen. After that, we went up to Omaha to see my brother and to go to the Greenday concert. We ate too much, got to listen to live music, and also had the chance to hook up with Mark's brother and sister-in-law. We headed back and drove most of Mark's b-day, but we did get back just in time for him to mow the yard. :)

July 4th Celebrations...

2009-09-17T23:13:00.003-04:00

I know that I'm a little (lot) behind with my postings, but here I go again! These pics will be from the fourth of July timeframe. Things started with a great celebration that the Ljs invited us to with the congregation they've been a part of, then we went to my hometown congregation (where I grew up) and celebrated with them, and then we had a celebration at our house (in the garage, actually) where fun was had by all and a great thunderstorm came and God had His own fireworks, etc.
Oh, and I almost forgot to mention what Courage ate that night...If memory serves me correctly (Damon and Lj probably know better, as they were feeding her), Courage ate 2 hotdogs, a hotdog bun, some baked beans, an ear of corn, and four pieces of watermelon. I'm sure she had some other things as well, but let's just say that she can put it away!

Carrying a Cross (Literally)

2009-08-03T12:56:00.002-04:00

Recently, within the last week and a half, the kids and I were driving along the road when we saw a strange site. First we were driving on the opposite side of the road, and I thought that I saw a man carrying the frame to a very large door. (Some men were doing some construction right around where we first saw the man.) So, I thought it a little bizarre, but didn't think much of it. Later, we saw the man again, and this time we passed him on our side of the road. It was then that I said to Freedom, "I believe that man is carrying a cross. Let's go back and see." So, we passed him again, and I tried to take a picture (note man with cross in far right in photo). Then, we decided to wait for the man. And we waited and waited...and I couldn't see him anywhere. So, we decided to drive around the area where we last saw him, and Freedom saw the cross at a local sandwich shop. So, we turned around again and went to talk to the man with the cross. The cross is made from red mahogany wood that he timbered over 19 years ago, and he recently completed making it for a friend of his that is going to take it around the world. The man's youngest son suggested that he carry the cross to his friend in Tulsa (which he anticipated to be a 5 day walk). It was a cool thing to be able to see, and I appreciated the meaning behind what he was doing. The only thing that Mark and I commented on later was, "I don't think that meets the dimensions for checked luggage on a plane. Humm, how's his friend going to carry it around the world?" Maybe you can check it out on a different site--but for us, it was a great time to talk to Freedom about "carrying your cross."

Photos from the first part of June

2009-08-03T12:47:00.002-04:00

Are you keeping up? --This makes my third post today! Whew-hew! These were some more cute pictures that I was able to download off my phone--see a trend developing with the posts?--and they are of Courage and Freedom in their hats and of Freedom's first time "really" bowling with Stone. :)

Flutter of Wings...

2009-08-03T12:35:00.002-04:00

When I was pregnant with Courage, I was working on a couple of smocked dresses. I didn't think that I'd have much time to work on them after she came along, so I tried to get done what I could before she came. The day that I was in labor with Courage, I was working on a white dress. I really hadn't anticipated in keeping it for her because I figured that she would look better in a darker color; but because of how memorable her birth was, I decided to keep the white dress for her--after all, it was what I was working on while having contractions and sitting in the vibrator chair at home. (I was even smocking when Mom called to ask about what to get for dinner.) Anyway, these aren't the best pictures, but she looks pretty sweet. These were taken the weekend of "Women Walking with God" conference in Wichita (photos from my phone).

Like New...

2009-08-03T10:42:00.003-04:00

Ah, I know, you may fall out of your seat realizing that we have indeed updated. My computer that was making this so very handy to update crashed on April Fool's Day, and at the prompting of my in-laws (thank you) I called the computer company and they were able to set me back to zeros. (Which I was a little bummed about, but when you can't even access your computer, you're at zeros anyway--this way I at least get to use the computer again.) The only bump is the e-highway, I haven't gotten our computers to hookup wirelessly yet.

Okay, well, I finally got a chip to fit in my phone so I could download some pics off of the phone. They turned out better than I was anticipating, so I thought that I'd share some of those. These are from our trip up to see my brother back around Spring Break (actually, as I was downloading these photos, I was pleased to see that my phone actually tells me the exact day and time that I took these photos, so wow! I know that they were taken March 22.)

My favorite car overall was the yellow Volvo TP-21 Radio Command Car. It's a cool looking vehicle in and of itself, but the fact that it was also playing "Cars" in the back TV screen (in the boot of the car) sealed the deal for Freedom. Unfortunately not many were made.

Eight Months Means Many Milestones

2009-05-12T03:22:00.002-04:00

Courage turned eight months about a week and a half ago. She's really growing. Being a little sister means that she's got a lot of motivation to keep up with her big brother. She's been wanting to crawl for several months now, but she finally got all of her limbs working and can very effectively crawl to where she wants to go. I must admit that when Daddy puts a bowl of popcorn down, she moves faster than I've seen her move ever.

Food is a great motivator for our little darling as well. She can practically out eat her brother (and no, I'm not really kidding). She "demands" food by looking at something and making noises, and if that doesn't work, she begins to make a very loud growl--we liken it to a lion roaring. I'm trying to teach her that it's not very good manners, but how does one do that to an eight month old? She already eats a ton of stuff that I wouldn't have dreamed feeding Freedom at her age: whole pieces of bread, baked beans, eggs, "very small" pieces of lunch meat or bacon (not many as she likes to keep them in her cheek). She can easily devour a 4 oz helping of baby food and finish off another 2-3 oz of something different and follow that up with an entire slice of bread in one setting. It took me a while to realize that maybe my baby girl wasn't so content because she was sooo hungry--but I think we've got it down now. --She really likes food. :)

She also likes the great outdoors. Anytime we get ready to go out the back door, she gives whoever is there a very hopeful look and will swing her legs quite wildly. She loves to look around and see what's going on--especially if it is outside. Oh, and she has already begun the stages of trying to pull-up. She's moving much faster than I'm ready for. Yikes.

She will "kind-of" say three words, "Ma-ma" (usually when she is hungry), "Da-da-da-da" and will copy cat "Uh-oh." Yesterday she copied Freedom's sneeze, "A-chu." (Too cute!) Her first two bottom teeth are also in. The one on the left is all the way through, and I think the other is just a matter of days before it actually breaks through.

Freedom is growing up and wanting to do all kinds of things. Lately he's been a big helper and has been going out to the garden with me. He says he doesn't like hard work, but he always wants to go out to the garden with me. By his own admission, it's in hopes that it's a warm day and he'll get sprayed with the water hose mom is using. He's learning so much, and I am amazed at the different things that he can understand and relay back to me. He did a great job of explaining about Peter being told to go fish and find coins in the fishes mouth to pay the tax. I was very impressed with how he told the Bible story (and it made me wonder if I'd been talking too much about taxes back in March that it made a big impact on him with this story. :) )

I'll try to get a few pics up to go with our update.

Happy Easter!

2009-04-17T10:18:00.004-04:00

In anticipation of Easter, we decided to have an Easter egg hunt at our house. The weather was suppose to be good, but that day ended up being pretty chilly in the morning. Nonetheless, we had a great time and enjoyed both preparing for the hunt and participating.
Freedom and I decorated a special cake for the occassion. We also filled eggs with stickers and candy. We ended up hiding the eggs in the garage, but everyone seemed to still have fun. Thanks to everybody who ended up making it such a special day! We had a lot of fun!

Freedom's clothes and other things

2009-04-17T10:07:00.004-04:00

Freedom came out a couple of weeks ago in this great outfit. I thought he did a pretty good job color coordinating, so I thought I'd share. :) Next, we went to the zoo and got to see one of Freedom's favorite dinosaurs: the triceratops. (Thanks Nana for the little dinos at Christmas, he really likes the one that "is kind of like a rhino.") I got a great picture of the beautiful red buds that are blooming. They are soooo pretty. Wisteria is in bloom here as well. Courage is sitting up very well (and that picture was taken on her 7 month birthday), and she has been trying to push up and get her legs to moving to enable her to crawl. But, she mainly goes backwards and can go round and round in circles quite well too.

Hummm...What happened?

2009-04-17T09:53:00.002-04:00

I am using our old computer to make these posts, and I must say that I'm pleased to even be able to do that. My "new" computer that I was loving decided to crash on me on April Fools' Day. Guess it thought that my knowledge of computers fit in well with that day. So...alas.... I had been going to update you all and provide pictures from the last of our spring break on a bit when the computer crashed, so I guess I'll just have to tell you and provide some other pictures.

The beginning of Spring Break here was beget with sickness. Freedom and Courage both were running fevers and not so good. They were feeling better a bit later. However, since they were sick at the beginning of the week my planned trip to Georgia became unplanned (can you blame me?), but my brother had invited us up to Omaha like 6 months ago (and we'd said we didn't know what we were doing then)--so it seemed like a good thing to do at the last minute. So, off we went for the weekend. I'd hoped to see Brady and Laura too, but they were back visiting our nomadic mother and father-in-law. :) So, anyway, we went to a great hockey game (and even got to sit on the front row right behind where the home team sits--so that was great) and they won! The next day we went to the largest car show that I've ever seen. I got some great pics of that, but they are on my phone and I don't know how to get them off of there. We had some of the best food there in Omaha too! Yumm Yumm! I'll give a shout out to the Farm House Cafe and to the Wheatfields Bakery (I think I got that right.) BBQ is always good too! So, thanks to all for making it a great weekend!

Get your kicks on Rt 66...

2009-03-17T23:31:00.005-04:00

Freedom and Courage have both been sick, but we couldn't resist the invitation from the Ljs to go out to a park on such a BEAUTIFUL day. So, today we packed a lunch and headed to a new park (that's a bit tricky to get to). It was great, and I think the sunshine was good for my two kiddoes too. Here are a few pictures from today. Oh, and Freedom said that we had a good a time with Mitzi too (The Ljs' puppy). Thanks for including us, guys! (And unfortunately, I'm pretty sure I lost one of my favorite hats.)

More Sickies....

2009-03-16T00:14:00.003-04:00

Well, I guess this is what happens in families. Sickness just seems to get passed around. We tried to keep it from happening, but Courage is now sick again with what was ailing Freedom; and Freedom still isn't quite himself but is better than when I took his picture last week. So,looks like we may be staying home for the break.... (Oh, and I should mention that Courage tries to smile at the camera, but soon felt it wasn't worth the effort.)

Poor Boy

2009-03-12T13:03:00.002-04:00

After Courage got to feeling better, Freedom came down with something. He was running about 103.5 on Sunday night and we took him to the doc on Mon. That didn't go so well, but he did get some medicine and rest on Monday. I had thought he was doing better, but today is Thursday and he's now got a cough and is very whiney (I think most people are when they're sick). Hummm....

Poor Baby....

2009-03-07T01:30:00.002-05:00

This last week has been a busy week for Courage. Last Thursday I took her to the doc and she was diagnosed with strep. You can tell that she's not feeling so great in her picture. Doc put her on some med and she was feeling better soon, good enough to even start sitting by herself a bit in the mock picnic we had inside. The weather was great this week, and we ended up going outside a lot (I mean, who can resist 80 degree weather in March?)

Half and 3.5

2009-03-04T10:52:00.002-05:00

Love is in the Air...

2009-02-25T13:40:00.004-05:00

Here are a few pics from a photo shoot that I tried to set up at home--which I think is an almost impossible task--and a few others from the last couple of weeks. My mom and Dad always did up Valentine's Day in a big way, and so I think it's special to try to do cool stuff with my family too.

Just this last Sunday, the Ljs invited us to go to the Shriner Circus here in OKC. It was pretty cool, and Freedom said that his favorite part was the elephants. Mark and I agreed that the elephants were impressive. --Thanks for the invite, Ljs!

And it's only Tuesday...

2009-02-11T10:05:00.002-05:00

I know that as I'm writing it is Wednesday morning, but so much has already happened in just the last two days. :) We went to a cupcake decorating/Valentine's Day party on Monday at Joe's house and just yesterday (as we were preparing to go out) we had tornado sirens and three massive storm cells move into the area. We'd been having temperatures in the 60-70's, but after last night's wind and rain--we're back in the 40's. Here's some pics from the last two days (complete with taking naps in the closet).

January, a busy month

2009-02-05T16:03:00.005-05:00

January was a busy month as we rang in a new year. Wow, it's hard to believe that it's 2009! Where oh where has the time gone? My brother came down and helped us ring in the new year. Some friends from our time in Japan got together at the Ljs' house on New Year's Eve. My folks came and brought my grandma to see the kids. We went on several day trips with Kari and Stone (Kari's very good about keeping up with her blog, so I highly recommend checking it out!); Thank you, Kari! Courage started eating "real" food, discovered her feet, and likes to try to put her feet in her mouth and roll over at the same time. :) Freedom and I have been into "the food arts" this last month. We made and ate sugar cookies, a popcorn ball snowman, and pumpkin pie, cake, and bread from another pumpkin we roasted. My folks came down for a day, we had an ice-storm, Mark's folks came down for a Thunder game (which they won) for a few days, and Freedom now wears underwear. --A good month!

Happy New Year From Our Family to Yours!

2009-01-08T00:20:00.002-05:00

Here Comes Santa Chan...

2009-01-07T18:06:00.005-05:00

The week of Christmas, we spent time with Mark's family. We first stopped through Wichita and had dinner with James and Julie (Yummy Chili, James!) and saw David and Sarah (Howdy, thanks for the rockin' bread!) before heading to Fredonia. We stayed there and picked up Mark's grandma (whom we affectionately call "G.G." for Great-Grandma) the next morning and after some ice-covered roads, we finally made it to Grandpa and Nana's house.

The pictures from this round are of the kids with G.G., Nana, Daddy, Mommy, Uncle Brady, Aunt Laura, and Grandpa. The picture of Daddy with Courage is neat because she's actually wearing her Daddy's Christmas outfit from 34 years before (and Freedom wore it 3 years ago too).

The next set is Courage in her Christmas dress getting fitted for the "hat picture," Freedom wearing some cool shades that make the tree look awesome, Captain Christmas doing the same, Freedom's favorite aunt turning his world upside-down, and Courage "opening" a present.

Next it's The Girls and The Guys in some awesome flannels and fleece provided by the Santa Chans of Nebraska. Thanks for a great time!

Two Characters

2008-12-16T11:07:00.003-05:00

Like most kids his age, Freedom enjoys role playing or playing pretend. Lately he really enjoys playing like he is Woody from Toy Story. We decided to dress him up a bit like Woody the other day and he loved it. He ran all around the house with his horse saying, "Yeehaw!" and "Run like the Wind!" Courage just loves to be paid attention to. If someone will come along and give her a smile and a little love, she usually repays the favor with smiling with her entire being--and if you're real lucky (like Daddy usually is), she'll even pull her legs up and arch her back to show you how excited she is to see you. I love these two blessings.

North Pole City

2008-12-13T02:09:00.004-05:00

Kari invited us to go to North Pole City with her and Stone on Wednesday. We had a good time and even got to meet with Santa. :) The store sells a ton of Christmas things, but it also has a train that the store had just fixed that morning. Thanks for the invite, Kari!

Assorted Pics from the Last Week

2008-12-12T11:23:00.003-05:00

Last week I put Courage on Freedom's bed with his first cloth book from when he was a baby. She seemed to enjoy looking at the pictures. Freedom has been enjoying wearing his cowboy hat and boots around the house and saying, "Yeehaw!" On Courage's three month birthday I decided to put her in a 12 month outfit and hopefully will remember to take her picture in it on her 6, 9, and 12 month birthdays too to see how she's grown. ...And it's the time of the year for wearing "Christmas outfits." Freedom also got back to his roots by displaying a bit of "Japanese Enkai" spirit with the wearing of his tie on his head (you'd be surprised at what can happen at a Japanese work party).

Smith Christmas

2008-12-12T11:14:00.003-05:00

My (Charity's) side of the family came down for Thanksgiving/Christmas, and we went to Chickasaw to see the "Festival of Light." One can either drive through the park or walk. We opted to drive. The day that we celebrated Christmas was a good one--we had a great day and the Lord gave us a beautiful sunset to top it all off. :)

Ornament Exchange (aka Girl's Night Out)

2008-12-12T10:39:00.003-05:00

Last week Courage and I had the opportunity to be able to go to a great ornament exchange party. All of the ornaments were unique, the food was fabulous, and the company was warm. We had a great time.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-04T13:12:00.002-05:00

We're thankful for all of our friends and family, and we know that we have been richly blessed. Here's a few pics of our Thanksgiving Day.

Nana comes for a visit

2008-12-04T12:52:00.003-05:00

Nana came during the early part of November--OC's Homecoming Weekend--and we had a great time together. The pictures of Courage are in Nana's dress from when she was a baby--and I think they are some of the best pictures of Courage that I've gotten--thank you Nana for sharing!

Continued Pictures up to Courage's Second Month

2008-11-05T03:23:00.003-05:00

Months One and Two

2008-11-05T03:07:00.006-05:00

Courage Begins at Home

2008-11-05T02:02:00.003-05:00

I thought that the current title or "God Answers Prayer" were both appropriate for this post. Most of you reading this already know a bit about the way that our baby girl came into this world, but some of you may not. So, I thought that as her second month birthday was just yesterday--or rather two days ago now at this time--I'd let you know.

From the moment that we knew that Courage was coming, we had been praying for a very different birth than what we had experienced with Freedom. Both Mark and I were a bit traumatized by that experience, and we definitely didn't want a repeat. So, we had been praying that this labor would be short and as painfree as possible. We (me) did a lot of things differently this time, but we prayed and prayed this prayer. And...the Lord totally answered our prayers.

I began having small painfree contractions at around 11 am. My parents were at the house and I didn't want to get them all excited, so I didn't mention a thing about it...but I did call Mark in Oklahoma and tell him that I thought that today was the day. My folks wanted to go to Walmart--which we did (and yes, I was having contractions there too). I wanted to finish up making Blue's Clues candies for Freedom's birthday party--so I did that. I worked on packing my last minute things for the hospital, and we worked on packing up somethings for the movers. Around 6 pm I told Mom that they'd need to get ready to take Freedom to Bible Class (which he loves) and that I wouldn't be going with them. I explained that I had been having contractions and that they weren't bad and they weren't long. I told her that we were probably in for a long night. Well, they went and my contractions started getting much stronger and a bit longer. Still--not too bad (compared to the first time around). So...I worked on some smocking and took a shower and pulled out the heat seat massager thing. When the contractions got strong, I'd turn on the massage and sink into the heat. Around 8 pm, my parents called asking about getting some food for dinner. I told them to get take-out. They went to 5 guys burgers and were on their way home. In the meantime, my contractions got MUCH stronger, so I decided to fill the tub with water and try out what I had read about how sitting in a tub of water really helps with the contractions. I tried it once. It didn't help me a bit, but I did feel like I had to go to the bathroom. I remembered from labor with Freedom that about the only time I felt relief from the pain was when I would try to go to the bathroom--so that's what I did. I thought, "Wow, if the pain is like this now, I'm not going to make it without drugs. I don't think I can handle it." Mom and Dad came home around 8:45-ish. I said, "Mom, we gotta go." So Dad put Freedom back in the car and was packing up my things. I also was feeling like I had to keep going to the bathroom off and on, so that's what I was trying to do when Mom comes in and starts timing me and says, "Oh. That's not good. We've gotta go now." To which I say, "I know." I try to get ready to go, and say, "Sorry. I've gotta try to go to the bathroom again." ...And, low and behold, I was actually in the pushing stage and just didn't realize it until Mom sees her head beginning to crown. So, Mom starts pulling all these towels onto the ground in the bathroom and we go over there, and "Ta-Dah"...Courage begins at home.

Dad comes in to see if we're ready to go to the hospital and hears Mom talking to Courage and asks, "Are you talking to the Baby?" Mom says "yes." Dad asks if he should call 9-1-1. Mom says yes, I say no. Dad calls. Freedom gets to see a firetruck come to our home. Four burly guys come running in to the bathroom only to find me sitting on the floor holding Courage. They all stop dead in their tracks and look at me and each other. I believe I said something like, "Hi. Excuse me." (I had been told not to move at all by the people on the phone with Dad. Lovely. I'd have loved to have moved from the position I was in.) A bit later the ambulance medics show up (they'd gotten lost). I was wanting Mark to cut her umbilical cord, but they said that we'd have to cut it before they transported us to the hospital. So, a firefighter cut her cord (and pulled on it kind of hard--so she'll have an outie belly button and a good story) with his pocket knife. The story continues, but I've taken up quite a bit of space just writing about that. My brother sent out an email shortly after we made it to the hospital that is awesome talking about the experience. The Lord answered our prayers. I believe that I had Courage just about as fast and as relatively pain-free as was possible. I believe that I was only pushing Courage out for about 5-10 minutes. Pretty amazing. My mom said that she was born at 8:57 (right Mom?), but the EMTs have it recorded as 9:00 (when Dad called). Mark also thought that when they weighed her that night that she weighed 7 lbs. 13 oz., but they didn't write it on her charts until the next morning when I asked how much she weighed. The hospital then had her weight at 7 lbs. 8 oz. God is good. Very good.

The Duncan Phyfe...

2008-10-23T19:37:00.008-04:00

I understand that most of you were expecting to see pictures of Freedom and Courage, but a long, long time ago I had promised a few people (Damon to be specific) that I would put up some pictures of this antique that we aquired. I believe you can find the original state of this sofa in some of the pictures from the holiday time and my brother is sitting on the sofa before we began "reconstruction." I've tried to show a few of the stages in between. The pics of the living room were taken when we were trying to "showcase" the house for selling--if you know of anybody wanting to buy a house around Atlanta, let us know. :)

Freedom's birthday with Dairy Queen Ice Cream

2008-09-10T21:35:00.004-04:00

So our baby boy is already 3! Wow. Its hard to believe. Time really does fly when you are having fun! He has been such a blessing to us. The world truly is a better place with him around!

More goodness from God

2008-09-08T23:15:00.003-04:00

God is good. God is good everyday. In many forms, in many forms, God is good. I believe the birth of a child is one of those times when God's goodness is most evident. God has brought us his goodness once again in Courage Jubilee.

Courage Jubilee Chan, welcome to the world!

2008-09-06T22:09:00.001-04:00

And Jesus said, "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."

A Few Pictures

2008-08-29T16:41:00.004-04:00

Here are a few pictures from the last month. A squirrel came and ate ALL of our peaches off the peach tree--over 40 of them, I guess. Who knew squirrels liked peaches? Then, we've got a great one of Freedom after bath time and another one of he and Daddy blowing out the candles on Mark's birthday PIE. The other ones are from a sweet shower that the ladies here at our congregation blessed me with--and the theme was ladybugs. :)

Just in case you still check in...

2008-08-26T08:35:00.002-04:00

I (Charity) just thought that I would try to find a bit of time to keep those of you informed of what is going on in our lives. Mark resigned from his position with the foundation here in Georgia. It's a great organization and does a ton of good, and we still support the work--but the work that he would be inheriting would be 14 hour work days, weekends away to fundraise, and several months spent every year in China. So...we decided that it was time for us to move in a different direction. We enjoy getting to be around Mark, and children need their daddies. :)

So...Mark is moving to OKC and starting work at OC on Sept. 1. The kids and I will follow around the end of that month. (We're still waiting for number two to make her appearance.) The house went on the market over the weekend, and we've been praying for good news with that as well.

We know that we've been prayed for, and we feel that these transitions are blessings from the Lord. HE has always been so good to us. We give HIM the glory! :)

And...I'm sorry that I don't have any pictures. All the memory cards in our house seem to have disappeared--as have the cords that attach to the camera.

Best Blessings to you all!

Check it out!!!!!!!!!

2008-05-24T01:58:00.003-04:00

http//:www.markandcharity.net

Going to a "Crisis Center"

2008-05-08T15:24:00.001-04:00

Back when sugar plums were dancing in people's heads, a tiny miracle smaller than a plum (or the head of a pin, for that matter) began to grow. Now, we were fairly certain that this was happening (much like we did with Freedom); but unlike our first experience, we knew to wait at least three weeks before we could confirm our strong suspicions. And...confirm it we did.

Since that time, we have been waiting to see if our current insurance situation was going to change. We do not have maternity insurance, and all of the self-pay appointments that I was inquiring about staggered us. So...we waited and waited, and I got a little bigger and bigger.

Well, three weeks ago I decided I would make my way over to DFCS and ask some questions face-to-face with someone who I hoped could help us find an economical way to go about caring for and delivering this growing blessing. They told me that before I could do anything I had to prove that I was pregnant. Previously someone (over the phone) had told me that all I would need is confirmation from a urine test written on a paper with a doctor's stamp, so I had that ready. (You'd be amazed at how difficult that one task proved to be, but I finally found a clinic that would confirm that my urine test was positive.) However, it turned out that I needed also to have the projected due date also on the paper, so my little expensive piece of paper from the doctor will just be a nice keepsake for a scrapbook that I may get around to working on in ten years. The nice lady helping me told me that I could go to Coweta Pregnancy Services (a crisis center)and have a test done for free, and they would accept that as proof.

So, off I headed for the center, and the sweet ladies there took great care of me and gave me my proof of pregnancy (after a short counciling session) and sent me on my way--but not before they asked me if I would like a sonogram (for free!). I accepted and we set up an appointment.

On a nice Tuesday afternoon (about three weeks ago now), the three of us went to the crisis center and sure enough--a good sized little guy or girl (Baby was being modest, so we still don't know) was kicking and moving around inside my belly. (Which didn't surprise me too much since I had been feeling the baby move for the last several weeks.) I was surprised at how big the baby was at around 20-ish weeks--Wow! The director of the center spent over an hour with us showing us the baby and answering Mark's questions and telling us about the center. She let us know that we were a rare case for them to see in their center, and that most of the women they help and council are single, teenage moms who are contemplating abortion. She explained to us what the center does to help women who find themselves in a "crisis" situation and explained how they go about educating people so that they can make good, educated, informed decisions. She described some of the procedures used for abortions at different terms--and it really is quite ghastly and painful for both the mother and unborn baby. This crisis center has an above 90% rate of "saving babies" through adoption or helping support the new parents.

I was really impressed with how compassionate and loving the ladies at the center were. They truly love the people that come to see them. They offer parenting classes to new parents where they earn "rewards" (diapers, formula, clothes, etc.) for coming. They provide counciling and support throughout the woman's pregnancy. They put women in touch with professionals who can help them if they want to have others adopt their babies. They even have a "post abortion stress" counciling program to help women heal from that trauma using Biblical methods and even hold memorial services for the children they've lost. (They say the transformation that a woman goes through during the program is amazing; the women have such a restfulness and peace after going through the program that they never had before.)

The director of the center prayed over Freedom and Baby and was just a sweet, joyous woman who loves doing the ministry that the Lord has called her to do. She and the other ladies at the center were also interested in hearing about our work with the orphans in China and the "one child" policy that the government has in place.

In total, we spent about an hour and a half at the center talking with the director (who also did the sonogram) and the other ladies. I never intended to go to a crisis center, but both Mark and I agreed that we are so glad we did. We have been blessed in so many ways, and this was a rare opportunity to see the way the Lord is working in people's lives.

"For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book before one of them came to be."
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be."

2008-05-02T22:37:00.001-04:00

Freedom's favorite new game these days is Twister. He hasn't really figured out his left and right but he is still a pretty serious player.

Take me out to the ballgame...

kids are funny

2008-04-24T23:48:00.003-04:00

So Freedom and I were in the backyard the other night. I was sitting on the deck. Freedom was playing in the grass. All of a sudden a small green lizard appears and crawls across the deck between Freedom and myself. Freedom starts saying something but I don't catch his meaning at first. I usually understand what he says but I wasn't understanding this time. He repeated the word he was saying several more times and each time he became more excited. Arigata Alrigatar Alligator!!!!!!!!! And he starts pointing to the lizard. At this point, I could tell he was scared and he was looking for his Dad to slay the giant beast. I started laughing when I realized what he was talking about and I tried to explain to him that the alligator on the deck was really just a lizard and we had nothing to worry about. But Freedom wasn't buying it and he started to cry as he kept repeating alligator. I then went over and picked him up and hugged him and reassured him that everything was ok. And by this time the little lizard had run away. Anyway, afterward we talked about the differences between a alligator and a lizard some more but Freedom still wasn't really buying it. Since then, we have seen a few more lizards and he is still calling them alligators but hopefully he will get the two creatures figured out one of these days.

Freedom's party the other night. what were we celebrating? nothing in particular. Freedom just loves parties so we put up some streamers and blew up some balloons, ate some cookies and called it good. Freedom and I had a blast with the balloons.

2008-04-11T00:23:00.003-04:00

our little family

Batman with his samurai sword

Hot Off the Press...

2008-04-04T00:15:00.001-04:00

Create Fake Magazine Covers with your own picture at MagMyPic.com

Discount Magazine Subscriptions - Save big!

2008-04-03T23:23:00.003-04:00

Spring has sprung. This pic is of the peach tree I planted in the backyard last year. Reminds me of the plum and cherry blossoms in Japan.

Grandpa officially stickered by Freedom

No need for make-up when you have Freedom and stickers

2008-04-02T23:14:00.002-04:00

2008-04-02T00:19:00.002-04:00

Winter in Georgia

2008-03-13T11:42:00.003-04:00

I will admit that living in Georgia has made me soft. I love the weather down here, and it's generally quite temperate. However, just in case you think that it never snows around Hotlanta, here's proof that it does! (I had to take these pictures to show Mark too--it is very rare to have any snow actually "stick.")

Even the back deck and fountain area were covered in snow. Mark pointed out that the rocks around the fountain on the ground are not covered--good point. The ground must have still been pretty warm.

VALENTINES DAY!!

I signed up to take some cup-cakes to Freedom's Valentines Day party at our congregation, and I knew that a lot of people end up going to the grocery store and getting some pretty, colorful cup-cakes. So, I thought I'd try my hand at decorating some cup-cakes myself. We had a great time sharing these and eating plenty ourselves too.

Here's a picture of Freedom decorating his Valentines Day box. He's getting a little help from Grace-Anne, but he did most of it himself. He found some frog stickers that he just loved.

CHINESE DUMPLINGS

I was feeling ambitious one day and decided to make up a batch of Chinese dumplings from scratch and had so much left that we even made some spring rolls too. The dumplings were great the day that I made them. We had them with Ramen. But, I froze the other and saved them for Mark's parents. Um, the dumplings did terrible when trying to cook them, but the spring rolls turned out great.

Stopping by a Friend's House Part 2

2008-03-13T11:31:00.003-04:00

We were blessed to be able to stay with Nancy and Loren when Mark spoke in Burlington. Freedom looked at your pictures and started to talk about your cows. Thank you both for your warm hospitality!

David and Sarah, soon to be "newly-weds" over Easter weekend. Congrats!

Freedom and Stone sitting mighty high! It was sooo good to see everybody! Thanks for everything!

Okay, I just couldn't help but include this father and son photo in their denim coats.

Unique

2008-03-13T11:05:00.002-04:00

This picture is a four-generation picture from the Rindt side of Freedom's family, but these four happen to be the only four in the immediate "Chan" family to have brown eyes--the rest of us have blue.

Stopping by a Friend's House...

2008-03-11T08:29:00.003-04:00

Starting around Christmas, Mark was asked to do the fund-raising for Agape. This means a lot of time on the road, but we took advantage of that time during the holiday season to stop in on friends and family. I only found these pictures, but our thanks goes out to the Campbells, the Loomis Family, the Chans, the Smiths, the Reigers, the Gilliams, the Ljs, the Brittons, and all those wonderful people we saw during that time. We love you all!

Who can resist Campbell curry and chai?

Two moving targets are hard to catch!

The boys with their boys.

Aaron and Izumi outside their cozy "new" home. :)

Chan Christmas

2008-03-11T07:51:00.010-04:00

I finally found some Chan Christmas pictures. I know that it has long since passed, but looking at these pictures made me smile--I hope you'll do the same!

Nana's favorite picture!

Grandpa, Momma, and Freedom had a great time building this boxy snowman!

Ah-hah! The gang's all here! What unique hats!

Sisters and sisters-in-law. :)

Who could resist this? Freedom found his way into a drawer full of glasses.

Ringing in the Christmas spirit...

And, ah yes, the famous popcorn cake. I wonder who will get burned next year?

We took advantage of all the snow Manhattan had been getting and went sledding. This was Freedom's first time and my first official "sledding" outing. I think Brady was Freedom's favorite sledding buddy.

Thanks for the memories! We had a great time!

Blogger Update from Christmas Past

2008-02-20T04:00:00.005-05:00

We had a small Christmas tree in Japan the first year that Freedom was born, but we hadn't had one since. This year we all enjoyed decorating the tree, and plugging in the lights was almost always the first thing that he asked to have done when he awoke.

Freedom just can't wait to dig into his stocking.

Mom gets Freedom involved in the Christmas spirit--and yes, we too open our gifts one by one. :)

Freedom finds giving is as good as getting. What a helper!

We were all greatly blessed this year (by both sides of our family), but this particular day the "raking it in" prizes went to Justice and Freedom.

We talked Dad into wearing an old reindeer outfit that came from our AET days back in Japan. It was a lot of fun and just might become a Smith Family tradition.

A group picture of us smiling out in the cold! Burr! We had a great time though! Thanks!

(As soon as I can locate where the Chan Christmas pics went, I'll try to post those too.)

A few pics to pacify

2008-01-19T21:56:00.000-05:00

Back around Thanksgiving time, we were blessed to have my family (parents and brother) come down and celebrate with us. We took that time to enjoy not only Thanksgiving, but also an early Christmas. I thoroughly enjoyed that time, but unfortuntely most of our pictures of that time seem to have gone on an expedition with my better half--so you'll have to just make do with the two that I was able to dig through and find. :) Enjoy!

Before celebrating our "Christmas," Mom and Dad let each of us open one gift. Here we are enjoying ourselves. Thanks! (And hopefully I'll have some better ones to add soon.)

MAKE-UP

2007-11-13T12:48:00.000-05:00

So Freedom likes to do as we do. And well, he watches mama put on her make-up occasionally and so while unsupervised the other day he decided to give it a whirl and put lipstick all over his eye. when i saw him, i freaked. but he just looked up at me and was like, "what's the matter dad?"

NICE PUMPKINS

2007-11-01T01:54:00.000-04:00

WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET

2007-10-28T23:03:00.000-04:00

2007-10-24T22:16:00.000-04:00

its the fall and Freedom and Dad are out raking leaves.

freedom is a fast learner. watch dad, do the same.

My Small Project

Some of you know that I have been working out in the backyard recently. With the help of Spencer, my father-in-law, I built a deck on the back of the house. But then we didn't have any furniture to go on the deck. So I built a couple benches, a small table and a wooden planter to liven up the deck. And then to add some spice to the backyard, I built a small bridge. I am now in the process of making a dry creekbed to run through the backyard and to run under the bridge. who knows what i will build next?

now I have a place to sit.

2007-10-22T22:57:00.000-04:00

Well, I imagine some of you thought we went the way of the Titanic. yes, it is understandable. We certainly fell off the blogger horse for some time. And we really do apologize for it, honestly. But fear not, we are not sunk yet. The best is yet to come!!!!!!!! Stay in touch. We will try to do the same.

The other night we went to a fall festival at church, had lots of food, the kids all dressed up in costumes and even had a halloween like "Trunk or Treat," which basically just substitutes car trunks in a parking lot for houses. Anyway, Freedom dressed up like a baseball player. To be more precise, an Atlanta Braves slugger. These days he absolutely is nuts for baseball. No, not basketball, or soccer or football, just baseball. In fact, I thought he would really like basketball so to spark his interest we went to a Portland Trailblazer vs. Atlanta Hawks game the other day. He enjoyed it but he honestly was more interested in the popcorn we got at the game than the game itself. Yeah, he loves popcorn too. Absolutely nuts for popcorn, pretty much like his dad.

Dad may bear the big pants around the house but Freedom definitely wears the big socks around our house!

Freedom at the pumpkin patch. Fall is in the air and so Charity and Freedom have been getting out and doing seasonal type stuff like going to the pumpkin patch. Charity absolutely loves the autumn season, especially the foods this time of the year. In fact, she couldn't resist and already made a fresh pumpkin pie. And last week or so we had popcorn balls and carmel apples. They were super good.
Freedom at the petting zoo. He loves animals. Especially cats and dogs and lions. But the other day he saw sheep and a pig for the first time so he has been going around the house "oinking" and saying "baaaa baaaa."

Freedom and momma on a hayrack ride.

On a Roll! --Birthday Blogging!

2007-10-20T03:55:00.000-04:00

Freedom enjoys a ride up Stone Mountain thanks to Dada and Grandpa.

This boy is a baseball lover! Luckily these two have spent many a season on the ball field and can tell him all about it. :)

Freedom's "Numm-Numm" birthday meal--complete with baseball, basketball, and football cupcakes.

And, this lucky guy even got to go to the pool with his Grandpa! What a birthday! Thanks!

Pre-Birthday Blogging

2007-10-20T03:47:00.000-04:00

Over the Labor Day weekend, Mark thought that he and Dad would do just that: Labor! They did a great job, and in less than three days we had a complete deck. Wow! Thanks!

This is a great goofy picture of Freedom and Dada with the "pre-birthday" cake for Freedom and a "late-birthday" cake for Mamaw. (Great practice for the actual day!)

Who's winning?

On the way back...

2007-10-20T03:21:00.001-04:00

One of Freedom's best memories with Stone. (Thanks Ljs for the pic.)

We dropped by the Loomis' work place, and Freedom got spoiled.

Freedom meets "Krispy Kreme." Leave that "hot" light on!

A thoughtful moment with Freedom and Alex. Only they know what they were saying. :)

Oh, Look!

2007-10-16T01:01:00.000-04:00

Isao and Yuki at the Braves game!

One would think that the son-in-law of two yearbook photographers would know that if he can't see the camera, the camera can't see him. :) (Thank you guys for a great get-together!)

Selma and Evelyn celebrating Selma's 100th Birthday!

Phil and his family made it up to celebrate with Selma too!

Grrrrrrrrr....

2007-10-14T02:49:00.001-04:00

Just thought that I'd let you know that for the fourth time now I've tried to download some pictures for your enjoyment. But access to the external hard drive where they are stored is illuding me, and I feel that I have read quite a few tech posts about how to fix the problem--but I still can't get the computer to recognize that the HD is plugged in. I've tried several different options, but after about 2.5 hours of trying--I'm calling it a night/morning. :) Sorry. Perhaps another day. :) --C.

2007-10-08T16:50:00.000-04:00

Well, for those of you who were wondering if we were ever going to get around to blogging again after the China situation--yes! We'll see how much we can fit in the time I've been given. :)

First, the situation in China has been diffused for some time now, but the foundation is still not up to par finacially because of it. However, it was a great learning experience for all involved. Fortunately, nobody was SERIOUSLY injured physically; but unfortunately, several of our workers have been scarred emotionally by the experience--and the main director of the orphanage has quit. It will probably take a while for these hurts to heal for our workers, but for now we've got some other workers helping out in that area and the orphans are back to their usual lives of school and whatnot. So, YEAH! The Lord is good!

Briefly before the whole hostage incident happened in China (I specify which incident because there are several that we could write about, but that's China), we had two very special visitors that came to visit us. YUKI and ISAO came for a visit, and we had a great time. If you don't know these two, you're missing out--they're great! I hadn't been able to see Isao since he left for college, but I did get to see Yuki shortly after Freedom was born. Isao had been backpacking on a round-the-world trip and was ending in the US and took the time to see Yuki (who happens to be working in the US in Ohio, but doing business in Nashville). So, she gracioulsy drove down for the weekend. We had a great time at a Braves' game, and they just happened to be playing the St. Louis Cardinals (who has a Japanese player playing for them). Yuki went to college in Missouri, so she was totally thrilled. And, I guess that going to a major league baseball game in the states is the epitomy of "America" to a lot of Japanese people, so they were excited to be a part of that too. The Braves beat the socks off the Cardinals, but we had a great time together and enjoyed spending time with Isao and Yuki. We love you guys!

While Mark was in China, I made a trip back to the midwest. I got to see Lj, Kari and Stone. (Which is always a treat! Happy Birthday this month, Kari!) I also got to briefly see Greg and Arianne (newlyweds) at OC, and was surprised to see how much they've changed the insides and outsides of the buildings there. OC doesn't look like the OC I went to--which was nice then, but now it's like the Ritz! :) Freedom has a good time playing with Stone, but I think probably the highlight of this particular trip for him was getting to bounce on the air mattress with Stone.

I'd also like to take this time to congratulate both sets of our parents on the longevity of their marraiges: my parents celebrated 40 years this summer, Mark's parents celebrated 38 years! That's a lot of years of putting up with one another, of forgiveness, and of having fun! May you all have many more!

And speaking of years, Mark's great aunt Selma celebrated her 100th birthday this summer! Mark made it back to KS just the night before we celebrated her birthday! Hooray for Selma!

On our way back to GA, my parents met up with us on the way (after we met up with Aaron & Izumi in Springfield) and treated all of us to a night at the Dixie Stampede in Branson. Freedom was spellbound. It was quite a dinner show. I recommend it! (Thanks, Mom and Dad!) Then, we dropped in to see Rusty, Laura, and Alex in Memphis. Unfortunately Laura was working, so we didn't get to see her very long. Actually, we didn't get to see Rusty and Alex long either because I was concerned about getting back before 3 am. It was good to love on them a bit and see how BIG Alex is getting--he's about six months younger than Freedom but gives him a run for his money. (Thanks for letting us drop in and for the coffee & mugs!) We got to chat with the Woods too before we took off.

Then, a couple of days later, my parents arrived to celebrate Freedom's second birthday just a little early. We had a great time together, and they probably spoiled Freedom a bit too much. But, with the practice that Freedom got with this birthday celebration, he was ready to go when Mark's parents came the next week to celebrate his big day. Mark and Dad put a deck over our cement patio in the back of the house over the weekend (which surprised me at how fast they did it)! And then, when Mark's parents came, Mark put them to work clearing the grass on the side of the house (so we could plant some bushes and put down pinestraw). They did a great job, and Bev kept us from cutting any cables/wires which were not really buried but mearly under the sod, Yikes! (Thank you Bev and Jim, that was one hot day!) They also did a good job of spoiling Freedom! But I must say that after having both sets of grandparents here spoiling him, he was a little out of sorts for a couple of days when he didn't have any built-in playmates to do his bidding. --He misses you guys! Thanks to all of you for coming to visit and for the presents you gave Freedom!

At the end of September, I took Freedom to a aPumpkin Patch. I love pumpkins, and must confess that we've already had two pumpkin pies made from scratch! (Not that canned stuff, but the real deal!) Yummmy! Freedom really likes pumpkins too, so we took off on a Saturday and had a great time! He got to see farm animals, take a hayride, and see a bunch of pumpkins. (We brought home a pie pumpkin--which I'm eager to try because I made the pies out of a Jack-O-Lantern variety--and three baby pumpkins which Freedom picked out.) We had a great time!

Okay, hopefully you're a bit more caught up with us now! :)

China

2007-08-04T23:59:00.000-04:00

We almost never write about the work in China. The everyday ins and outs of the operation would probably bore you. However, this past week and a half has been an extremely difficult time for us.

We have changed the names of those involved in the situation.

On Wednesday of last week, we had a tragic accident in China. One of our workers, “a dorm mom” at one of the orphanages was cleaning the walls of the bathroom while standing on a ladder and slipped, fell, and struck her head. She died almost immediately. Jennifer, an American nurse at the orphanage, tried to administer aid to her but was unable to save her life. An ambulance was called and arrived within 10 minutes. The EMT workers declared her dead, and refused to take the woman to the hospital. The body was moved into the one of the boy’s dormitories (where it remained for the next 3 days). Our staff then immediately notified the family members. We instructed them to comfort the family members and help in any way they could (preparing meals for them, providing housing, etc). As a part of the process of notifying the family members, they also went the extra mile of bringing the family members from their residences to the orphanage (most of them did not have cars). Because of the large facilities at the orphanage, it was a convenient place for the family members to gather and mourn their loss together. We brought in a couple other workers (Chris from Guilin and Todd from Chengbu) to assist in helping and ministering to the family.

On Wednesday, the day of the workers death, the family members came in and there were no problems of any kind. Everyone was calm and reflective. The family members gathered and talked together while our workers served them. On Thursday, however, the mood and attitude of the family members changed dramatically. Early on in the day their feelings went from quiet and peaceful to mad and angry. They started calling Abby, our orphanage director, a murderer and saying that she was guilty of killing the worker by making her get up on the ladder to clean the orphanage. At this time the family members started yelling and screaming at our workers. They became very aggressive and in-your-face and even threatening our workers. They threatened to damage and destroy the orphanage building. They threatened to physically harm the workers. They threatened to kill them as well. In particular they threatened Abby, the orphanage director, and Chris, our lead representative in China. By evening on Thursday, the family members and friends had swelled to near 100 people. By afternoon, in a terrorist-like display, they took our orphanage workers hostage and demanded payment of 200,000rmb (over $25,000).

As per the laws in China, when a worker is killed on the job, it is required that the company or organization pay damages to the family of the deceased worker. The amount that a company or organization is legally responsible for paying to a family is determined by established government guidelines. After checking with lawyers, we determined that we were responsible for paying approximately 80,000rmb, an amount much less than the 200,000rmb that they were demanding. Therefore we refused to give into their demands, but rather said that we would pay them what is fair and reasonable according to the Chinese labor laws. We told them we would pay for the woman’s funeral immediately and then we would go with them to the correct government office to determine the amount we needed to give. This infuriated the family members and they proceeded to scare and threaten our workers more as well as holding them hostage through the end of Thursday.

On Friday morning, Chris was beaten by the angry family members and made to sit beside the body while they threatened to make his life like hers. Shortly afterward, Chris, Abby and a group of the family members went to the Department of Labor to try to settle the amount and come to a reasonable amount that should be paid. Their efforts to come to an agreement at the Department of Labor were frustrated when they were told by the Department of Labor they would have to come back in several days time. Finally, they made it to a law office where after several hours they settled on an amount of 180,000rmb. However, this agreement was signed without our approval. Our workers had been held hostage, and almost all of them had no sleep and nothing to eat since the incident Wednesday morning. They said they were scared and feared for their safety. As Chris wrote, “I have no choice. I have to pay the money or they will kill me.” Our workers were unable to communicate with us during the time they were in the office, and the family members set a tight deadline of eight o’clock Friday evening to come up with the money.

During the ordeal we made numerous attempts to request help from the local government. They were unsupportive and uncooperative. We tried to secure the assistance of the local police department, but they too were unwilling to help us. In fact, the police came out to the orphanage 3 different times but did nothing to protect our workers or disperse the mob of family members at the orphanage. The last time we tried to call the police, they even hung up on us. We also called the US Embassy in Beijing and asked for their assistance to help put pressure on the Chinese government, whereby they might in turn support us through the hostage situation. We also asked the US Embassy to escort Jennifer out of the orphanage. The US Embassy did not prove extremely helpful in supporting us through the hostage situation as their main concern is US citizens not organizations. However, the US Embassy did respond and provided an escort for Jennifer, but she refused to go when they arrived at the orphanage to take her. She said that she did not want to abandon the other workers.

Throughout the ordeal, we were in contact with Chris and the other workers by internet and phone. We did our best to communicate to them and give them guidance and direction. We repeatedly told them not to give in to the family member’s outrageous demands for money. We do not pay bribes and will not pay terrorists any kind of hostage payment. In the end, however, our workers did pay an inflated amount of money as recompense without getting our consent. However, they insisted their lives were in danger. And so for the sake of their own lives, and for the safety all the workers and children, they paid the money. Sometime late Friday afternoon, Chris paid the family the 180,000rmb from funds out of his own personal account (with most of it borrowed from his relatives and friends). This defused the situation because the family of our deceased worker got what they were after--money. We fear, however, that Chris’ action has set a precedent. We believe that other people will now try to extort money from us knowing that we are an organization that will give in to their demands. This is not right, and the situation has created some difficult problems for the leadership of the organization. The question of “How do we show concern and support for our brothers and sisters in this type of crisis while still sending the message that we do not honor terrorist type behavior?” is not easily answered.

If you wanted to help, we could totally use your prayers. This has been a stressful last week, and while the hostage situation has been diffused—the situation is not over.

Our head representative in China still needs to be repaid, and we haven’t raised nearly the amount that we need. If you feel compelled to help, please send a check earmarked for the China Mission Tragedy to Peachtree City Church of Christ, 201 S. Peachtree Parkway; Peachtree City, Georgia 30269

It's Freedom time! (in Washington D.C)

2007-07-20T15:58:00.000-04:00

Just chillin on the National Mall with my shades on

Me at another famous place

Me at a Washington National's baseball game.

Me paying my respects at the Iwo Jima memorial

Me playing outside of Ben's Chili Bowl. A famous eat spot in D.C.

Me at Freedom Plaza. They name all kinds of cool stuff after me.

Me taking a photo op next to the White House.

Can you see my relection at the Vietnam Memorial?

Me at Lincoln Memorial

A Trip Back in Time

2007-07-12T09:11:00.000-04:00

The week of the fourth of July, we went up to Washington D.C. to visit my brother, take in the sights, and make a couple of presentations. D.C. is a fascinating place with so much history that we would probably need several weeks to take everything in, but we did hit what we considered to be the main spots. Justice was gracious enough to host us for over a week--which is a long time to have company, particularly when one is not even two. (Thanks!)

I probably should have written everything down as we went, but I will do my best to give you a coherent recap. We arrived in Fort Washington on Sat. night, and the next morning Mark gave a presentation and sermon at the Eastside congregation in Baltimore. We went out to lunch with some folks from the congregation and enjoyed talking until mid-afternoon. Then, Justice took us to a huge circular mall where we enjoyed going to the Bass Pro Shop and walking "around." The next day was the start of a lot of action in the foot department--walking. We started the day going to the Metro--which Freedom loved. Then we went to the mall area and saw the Library of Congress--which has exquisite hand crafted sculpture and mosaics. Then we briefly saw the outside of the Supreme Court, walked by the Congress building--which is under construction, and had lunch at "Ben's Chili Bowl" (which is a bit of a D.C. icon for both it's place in Civil Rights and the people who've dined there). From there, we took the metro to Chinatown, went through the International Spy Museum (cool, but overcrowed), visited Ford's Theatre (which still has live productions), ran into the Hard Rock Cafe, walked by the FBI building and the Department of Justice. Quite a day!

A While Back

2007-07-11T10:17:00.000-04:00

Seth and I on the top of Stone Mountain

Charity, Freedom and I hiking up Stone Mountain

Freedom loves hitching a ride on Dada's back

More than double trouble here

Seth and Andrea

Some friends of ours came all the way from Texas for a visit, and I realized that I had not included any blogging about that trip. So...here you go.

Seth and Andrea came on a break from school for a weekend visit. We had the opportunity to visit a few places in downtown Atlanta with them, and unfortunately we forgot to take our camera the first day. We visited the Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial and civil rights museum. Fascinating. Obviously we had the same idea as several other school groups, and we were able to witness firsthand what our younger generation is learning. We visited Ebinezer Baptist where King, his father, grandfather, and brother all preached. We were also able to see the house where King was raised, and the park service is doing a great job of trying to preserve that portion of the street to resemble what it would have looked like "back in the day." We were surprised to learn that the particular street where King grew up was one of the richest black areas in the world at that time, and right across the street from his house was a little store run by whites--so it's easy to see that these early experiences help shape the man that he became. Very cool.

The next day we headed out for a place called Stone Mountain. It's a stone carving in a monolyth of the great figures of the South. It was started by the same guy that did Mt. Rushmore--but finished by another. We climbed to the top of the mountain and came back down to a park that is located at the base. We were able to get a few pictures from the park that were pretty good.

And Seth, if you are reading this, your break dancing was a big hit! (Watch Hitch.)

Freedom at Camp!

2007-06-29T14:12:00.000-04:00

Here's our little guy by the main gate! Doesn't he look like he's having fun!

Here's the director of the camp with Freedom. This was actually Freedom's second camp, but probably the only one he remembers. And this one was for a week!

Freedom was not the youngest camper, his buddy Jackson gets that prize. Here's a group shot of several of us from the congregation.
This is Ms. Deceita, one of our room-mates. She slept on the bunk above us, and she was sooo sweet to Freedom.

Okay, I know it's a butterfly. But, if you know me, you know that butterflies are special to me. This little guy allowed me to get really close and take his pictures. I got to see all kinds of the Lord's beauty out there.

Some Shots of "the Family"

2007-06-29T14:02:00.000-04:00

I don't know what I was thinking because I have very few pictures of people that I love and got to see briefly. I guess I was thinking that I'd take shots of them all dolled up at the wedding--but then, I forgot the camera. Yikes! I guess you and I both will have to do some blog-searching to find some pictures from that time. Anyway, if you are our friends--you know we love you and would love to have some copies of the pictures that you were good enough to take! Here are a few that I did get...

A Trip to the City--Oklahoma City

2007-06-29T13:44:00.000-04:00

For those of you out in blogger land, I'm finally getting around to showing you the highlights of this last month. It's been a little crazy, but it's been a bunch of fun. The only bummer is that Freedom thinks that we should be able to just go out the door and go see whoever he wants to see--like his friends in OKC and grandparents who came down to see him. If only it were that easy, it'd be great--huh? Maybe one of these years technology will advance to that, but for now--pictures can take you there in a minute. Enjoy!

It's always a joy to get to see these wonderful people! Thanks for putting us up yet again! Best Blessings on all "y'all!"

Here are some pictures from Greg and Arriane's rehersal dinner. I got to sit at the host/hostess table and beside the wedding coordinator! Wow, what great company!

Arianne's Dad pointed out that most of the people in the right half of the room were folks that were in Japan with the happy couple to be. That's true. It was a bit of a Japan reunion for us--complete with two girls that flew all the way from Japan to be there!

This is yet another picture taken at the dinner. It was great. And, in case you are wondering where the pictures from the wedding happen to be--well, I just happened to have forgotten the TWO cameras I had in my haste to get there. This one is from a disposable camera provided on the table that I was to have taken to the wedding. (I'll send you those photos, Gillhams.)

And this is none other than the Happy Couple!!!! Congratulations you two!!! We love you!

Getting Dirty with The Chans!

2007-05-10T16:49:00.000-04:00

Several weeks ago, we were blessed with a visit from Mark's parents. It was great to have them down. This was their first trip and--aside from all the traffic they hit--it was a good one. Mark took over the kitchen and pretty much ordered everybody out while he was in command. (And he did a great job, Thanks!)

Somehow, Grandpa and Nana B had the most productive walks of anyone that I've ever met. They'd go out for a walk and return with the lowdown on how to get a load of dirt. Next, they'd come back with someone that would give an estimate on how much a fence might cost. Mark and I were constantly impressed with how much good a walk could do. And, because of these walks, we were able to get an entire load of dirt dumped on our driveway. The next 5-6 hours (I'm not sure exactly how long it took, but at least that--right?) were spent with Jim and Mark attacking the heap with some borrowed shovels and wheelbarrow while Bev and I took turns leveling out the dirt in the back and watching Freedom. At the end of the day we were all tired, but you know, that was some of the BEST Tex-Mex food at dinner! I love how hard work makes food taste!

Travis came down later, but unfortunately he wasn't here to help us with the dirt. However, he did accompany us on a small tour of Sharpsburg and ran me to the post office to get my taxes in the mail on time. Thanks! He was also here to check out "Chinese Freedom."

We had a great time working and playing with the Chans and look forward to when we can do it again. Thanks for coming--we enjoyed it!

Easter with the Smiths

2007-05-07T10:31:00.000-04:00

Over Easter weekend, we were blessed to have not only my brother but also my parents come for a visit. We usually don't venture outside our established 20 mile area, but family and friends provide the perfect excuse for us to explore the world around us.

So, Justice accompanied us to the Coca-Cola Museum. We went on the last day that one could go and still see the "original" Coke museum. It was interesting. The "old" museum is located right beside "Underground Atlanta," so we had to check that out too. While there, we found a Johnny Rockets diner and induldged (the last time I'd been in a Johnny Rockets was in Tokyo before they closed it several years ago). It was an exciting day!

Later, my parents were able to come and we enjoyed finally being able to see the "entire family." Mom let me know that it had been at least 4 years since she'd had the "entire family" all together, so that was pretty cool. Mom and Dad brought a chair that Dad had refinished that was his when he was a kid. He also brought one of my old tables (with new chairs) and a bookcase he'd made for me as a child.

THANKS! Of course, it wouldn't be an Easter weekend without some good chow, and we celebrated in a great way: Ham, strawberry pie, peanut butter pie, tasty dishes!

We also had to have a mini Easter "Ball" hunt. I say ball because that's what the eggs look like: a variety of sports balls. :) We had a great time. Thanks for coming!

Mark's Galavanting and Working in China

2007-05-01T00:07:00.000-04:00

Mark spent almost the entire month of March in China. He did ride planes, trains, and automobiles. He also walked a lot--a whole lot. His first stop was in Shanghai. Neither he nor I had ever been to Shanghai, so I was a bit envious. He assured me that it was much like any major city in the world; however, unlike any major city in the world--his parents were able to accompany him on the first part of his trip.

Here's a shot from Shanghai. I just told them that I was glad they didn't get shanghaied in Shanghai. :)

From there, they travelled south and enjoyed the Karst Peaks (aka Chinese Mountains) around Guilin. As far as impressive natural land formations--these mountains rank among my favorite in the world. They are beautiful.

While the beauty of these mountains can take your breath away, so can the conditions that they found some people surviving in. Poverty runs rampant, but fortunately, Agape has an orphanage in this area where children can be cared for by people who love them.

In this same province--in an area that Mark was investigating for a proposed new orphanage, our workers found these two orphans. They were living in a house with their uncle who is barely able to live on the sustenance farming he does. Mark said the house itself looked abandoned and the children not much better. However, that should change with Agape's help!

What a contrast between the last picture and this one! This picture is from one of Agape's orphanages. Here the children are a part of a family--and it shows in their clean happy faces.

Mark's trips to China are always filled with adventure--some good and some not so good. However, the Lord has always taken care of him and we are so thankful for the opportunity that we've been given to be working with Agape again and being a part of this great work. Mark visited most of our workers, all of the orphanages and one new proposed site, some people interested in working for Agape, and several of our foster care orphans. On his flight home, he was able to hook up with his parents again while accompanying a young burn victim who is being treated here in the US with the help of Agape and some seriously generous hospitals.

I know that I didn't do a great job summarizing his trip; but hopefully you got a general idea of what he did. Freedom and I are sooooo glad he's home.

Charity's Whirlwind Trip

2007-04-24T23:02:00.000-04:00

During the month of March, while Mark was gallabatting around China, I learned that Kari and Stone were going to be visiting her sister and that some friends from Kunming, China would be the closest they've been to us since we lived there. So, that coupled with the idea that I'd like the chance to see Rusty and Rachel and Jason and Nicole gave flight to my idea of a roadtrip. This wasn't a Georgia-Kansas or even D.C.-Georgia sized roadtrip; but for just Freedom and I--it was plenty big. I'd used my internet tools for mapping out the best course I should take and off I went. The internet tools do not factor in gas stops or little boys that need to get out of the car, but if left to my own devices--I'm sure that it would have taken me much longer than it did to get to each destination. Unfortunately, we didn't have a lot of time at any of the places we stopped--but I was thankful for the opportunity to see friends again. Here is a blurry picture of the time that we were able to spend with Kari and Stone and her sister's family. (Thanks for the pizza and hospitality! We loved getting to spend time with you guys and PLAY!)

(That's Stone at the bottom, Zach is the blur, Kari's sitting behind him, Freedom is beside her, and Kari's mom is in the background. Maybe you can check out some clearer pictures someday on their site; this is the best one I got that day. I was using an old 35 mm as the digital was accompanying Mark.)

Next we headed off for Memphis! On the way there, I had to get some gas so I stopped at a BP gas station that should have been named, "Smokers' Paradise" instead of whatever it was named. Despite the smoke, I had a nice conversation with a young man that was talking to me about growing up with unique names. It all started with Freedom and some comments he made to me about hating it as a kid but really embracing it as an adult (one's name), so I asked if he had a unique name. Indeed, his name was "Immanuel." Pretty cool. Anyway, we pulled into Harding Grad around 9-ish (I think), and we were met by Rusty and Rachel. Rusty guessed the radio station I was listening to as I pulled in, and I joked that when I put Freedom on the ground he'd be "Walking in Memphis." :) Despite all the studying that Rusty had to do and the two jobs that Rachel juggles, they welcomed us in to their spacious abode. (Thank you for everything, it was great to see you guys!) Talking with them was great, and it didn't even seem that it'd been A YEAR since I'd spoken with them. We briefly got to see Jason and Nicole; but as they were entertaining guests from Down Under, we didn't want to interrupt Nicole's Aussie refresher course. :) Here's a pic of four good looking folks, and three of them just had some cinnamon rolls that Rusty baked followed by the Grand Tour. Whew-hew.

Following our short visit there, we headed off to Tupelo where we rendevouzed with the Hills. It was awesome to see them again. I hadn't seen their daughter since she was 3 (I think). It was so good to catch up with them and soak up all that had been happening in their lives. When we lived in China, these guys were our friends and mentors. We didn't have much time together, but I'm thankful for what we did have. That same sentiment could be said about everyone we saw. Thanks for letting us come see you. We enjoyed it.

Okay...Okay...Okay!!

2007-04-16T18:46:00.000-04:00

I know that we have somewhat fallen off the update blog bandwagon. It's easy to do. We apologize. Mark spent almost the entire month of March in China, and had a successful trip. He's got some more crazy stories to add to his repretoire of odd things that can happen in that country. Freedom and I did some "scooter-pooting" of our own while he was away. We did a small but furious circuit here in the South--going from GA to TN to MS to AL! Wow! We got to see Kari and Stone, Rusty and Rachel, briefly Jason and Nicole, and the Hills from Kunming. Freedom was a great traveller but let me know when we got home he wasn't ready to go again for a while. He was SOOO EXCITED to see his Daddy when he got back! After that, my brother and folks drove down/over for Easter weekend. Other than some crazy cold we caught, it was a great time. We even got to see the Coke museum in Atlanta before it moves to a new location! Then, Mark's parents drove down and we all participated in moving an entire dirt load (do you even know how much dirt that is?) to a steep part of our backyard in an attempt to keep from breaking one's neck when walking to the trees in the back. Travis even jumped into the mix over the weekend. Hopefully we'll have some various pics to share soon. Love you all! Happy Spring to you!

i spy a peeker

2007-02-18T23:18:00.000-05:00

just us, just livin

2007-02-15T21:56:00.000-05:00

Life is pretty good. We feel disjointed and a bit seperated from the ones we love most in this world (YOU GUYS). But things are good nonetheless. Little by little we are getting adjusted down here. Meeting people, etc. Freedom is awesome. Growing like a weed. Anyway, just some more pics of us added for your viewing pleasure.

Random pic of the day

2007-02-15T21:50:00.000-05:00

We have seen the light!

Happy Valentines Day!

2007-02-15T21:36:00.000-05:00

Momma and Freedom all decked out in Red
...making a Valentines Day box for the Valentines day party at church

...enjoying the love
...uh, well, maybe not everyone
...its all good!

2007-02-15T21:29:00.000-05:00

BIG NOSE

2007-02-15T21:24:00.000-05:00

On the left side of this picture you can see my nose. And then behind us, you can see the shadow of my nose on the door. GOOD GRAVY, is my nose really that big that is would create a shadow the size of Texas in a picture?

2007-02-15T21:23:00.000-05:00

jacket. like? yes, me like jacket

2007-02-15T21:18:00.000-05:00

these are those kind of pictures that are worth 1000 words (at least)

2007-02-15T21:12:00.000-05:00

yes, our child has abnormally large feet. just kidding. We love our little cowboy.

2007-02-15T21:11:00.000-05:00

peace and love to my homies!

2007-02-15T21:03:00.000-05:00

my box

I miss Beta...

2007-01-30T16:23:00.000-05:00

The title of this post is, "I miss Beta." And if you can't even see the title of the post, then my point is even more justified. Ever since Blogger has switched over out of Beta, it seems that it takes me forever to blog and that it takes you equally as long to see what we've blogged. However, change must come and I'm sure that this too will pass. So, please be patient with us while we (and blogger) transition out of Beta into this new century. (I still miss Bloggerbot--the program that allowed us to download pictures lickety-split.)

Time for Freedom

2007-01-30T16:10:00.000-05:00

Freedom shows his new haircut! --Well, more like a trim, but it's his first!

We received a package that contained some styrofoam "snow" yesterday. We had a grand time playing in the snow until it was time to clean up--that stuff takes on a life of its own.

And that's it for now. Have a great week! Bye!

House Happenings

2007-01-30T15:59:00.000-05:00

Travis travelled over to see us the weekend that we moved in, and we put him to work right away. --Thanks, Trav!

Mark is out in our backyard trying to do a little cleaning up and cutting of some firewood. Our property currently backs up to some beautiful woods. You can see from our neighbors fence just how far "back" our yard goes.

In the Midwest, receiving "a pounding" isn't a good thing--more like you just got on the wrong end of someone's fist or your team just seriously lost a ballgame. However, in the south, receiving "a pounding" is a good thing indeed--and here Freedom takes it all in (with the exception of the video and hoola-hoop). FYI: the term "pounding" came from when folks used to welcome in a family or couple by bringing them a "pound" of something like flour, butter, or sugar.

Christmas in Ulysses...

2007-01-30T15:50:00.000-05:00

Getting together for a group photo proved to be much more difficult than any of us imagined, so here's the best that we got out of the many that Mark was trying to shoot. (Mark made it in the next posting.)
What a perfect stocking stuffer for the daughter of a retired postal employee!

Everybody gets excited when it's time to open presents!

2007-01-30T15:30:00.000-05:00

Here's one of Mamaw with lots of goodies to be opened.

Umpaw waits his turn to see what he can get into next....

And just in case you wondered, yes Mark was there too (if not but a bit blurry!)

Hot, Hot, Hot!!!!

2007-01-21T00:07:00.000-05:00

We've only been down here in Georgia a short while but they have
already declared Charity as the new Ms. Georgia 2007. Well, can
you blame em? From what I heard the other contestants just dropped
out of the running completely after they caught one look at Charity.
That's my girl!!