Merry & Bright

Christmas 2009

"Be near me, Lord Jesus,

I ask Thee to stay

Close by me forever

And love me I pray

Bless all the dear children

In Thy tender care

And take us to heaven

To live with Thee there."

so blessed

d

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have so much to be thankful for this year!

God our Father, our source of joy, wisdom and strength

Our marriage and the ups and downs

Anna, Stewart and Silas and the joy they bring us

Our health

Family who understand why we aren't traveling this year for the holidays

Friends who love and support us

The reminder that God does answer prayers

Surprises...not our plan but His

Hard times that draw us closer to our God and make us less and Him more

Our country, our military and their families who sacrifice

May your day be filled with joy!

Happy Thanksgiving

The Myricks

Happy *Halloween*

Our Three Punkins

Our little lady bug
Our sweet boys

Oh the joy of trying to photograph three children under the age of 2.

Good Times.

so blessed

d

Franklin PumpkinFest

Happy Fall!

Thanksgiving 2008 Laurel, MS

1st Halloween

Our little Punkin

We took Anna to pick out a pumpkin for her first Fall/Halloween/Thanksgiving. Patti's Flowers is this local place and she displays the flowers and pumpkins as if they are already at you house. Beautiful!

This is on our front porch with her pumpkin and my mum. :)

so blessed

d

Happy Mother's Day

Mommy,

Keep singing to me every morning. Pretty soon I'll start singing with you.

And keep giving me kisses - I love them.

And keep talking to me. I'm just putting words together in my head.

Pretty soon, they will explode out of me and I'll talk as much as daddy! :)

love, anna rose (thanks to daddy for dictating)

I took these on May 9th. Anna is growing and changing every day! She is so fun! She "talks" and sings. She also found her thumb and loves it as much as she loves her paci...only for a few minutes. It is a good thing for mommy and daddy because she now pacifies herself in the mornings and we do not have to keep putting the paci in her mouth. :)





Happy Mother's Day! Just remember...every day is Mother's Day and let your mom know how special she is!

love,
me

He is Risen!

Yesterday was Easter Sunday...Anna's first. Although she is small, we still shared with her why we celebrate Easter...our Saviour is risen! We hope each of you celebrated this joyous day with friends and family. We are blessed.

Our first family photo.
We celebrated with our friends at Hope Fellowship with lunch at the Burton's house. Here is Anna with her new friends, Betsy and Luke. Luke was born in January and Betsy was born Feb 1st. Anna has another friend that will be arriving in a few weeks!
The kids hunted eggs and then posed for a picture with all their goodies.
Our sweet baby girl.

Now They Love Christmas

Last night, Jeff and I had dinner with our dear friends, Susan and Houston. The plan...dinner, Starbucks and then drive around and look at Christmas lights.

My first time to do Starbucks and lights was Christmas 2004 with other dear friends, Mike and Rachel and baby Rose, when Jeff was in Afghanistan. It is such a good way to visit with friends during the holidays and not feel rushed and to enjoy a festive part of the holiday season. So we decided to make it an annual part of our holidays.

I don't have pictures from last night (so mad because I forgot the camera) and I would love to have pictures to go along with these favorite comments from the night.

• "wow, wow, wow, Hous can you slow down because we need to talk about what is going on over here at this house"
• "Now, they really love Christmas" (this was reserved for houses that really went all out with their decorations and it wasn't always the best design, but a great effort)
• "This house owner said 'forget lights, it is all about the inflatables'" This house had a village of the inflatable holiday characters. I've never seen anything like it. So wish I had a picture.
• "I think the kids helped with that tree" Various colors of lights that looked like they just threw them on because they had other things to do.
• "The wife did the tree and the husband did the outside using random sets of lights he found in the basement"
• "Now this one...the husband said 'honey bud light sign or the neon green runner lights?' 'Neon green lights'" Yes, neon green lights around the window while the rest of the house had white and multi lights. Again...need a picture.

And there were houses that we loved. Some of our favorites were the snowflake lights hung in trees, the old world nativity scenes, the lights that wrapped the entire outline of the trees and the beautiful swags around doors. More importantly we loved hanging out with Susan and Houston!

Merry Christmas!

Debra

Holiday Decorating

December 2nd

Jeff and I are so excited to be in our new (new to us) house in Franklin. We love it and have been looking forward to decorating for the Christmas season. Because the house was built in 1971, we wanted to keep the decor a little vintage. We found the large, colored lights and put them on the house. The rest of the decor was kept simple: a wreath and a couple of swags and a greenery cross.

We got up Saturday morning (the 2nd) and went by a local coffee shop for breakfast. Next was Home Depot to pick out a tree. We spent the day decorating the outside, went to dinner and then came home and decorated the tree. It was a great day!

Jeff on the house. It was a bit scary at first, but he was pro by the end of the project.

Our tree. We just love it! When I was growing up, my parents got us a Hallmark ornament every year. It was so fun pulling those out for the tree.
The Front Door. It now has colored lights around it too, but I don't have a picture.

Debra with her swag for the mailbox.
The Retro lights

Something is Missing

There are two blogs listed on the right side of this page that I read on a consistent basis. From those, I often get introduced to other families on the web. Jaymum, Ivey and Ashley are three that I just met via Sarah over at In the Midst of It. These are sick children that Sarah prays for and encourages their families. As I read their stories, I experienced exactly what Sarah titled her blog entry...a wake up call.

I haven't been very excited about this Christmas season. I have felt a sense of restlessness lately. As so many have written, at the end of the day, I feel like I've missed something but I can't quite describe or really know what it was. We went to Andrew Petersen's "Behold the Lamb of God" Christmas concert last Wednesday. No fancy decorations, no manger scenes. Just musicians singing about the story of Jesus from the prophecies to his birth and what an amazing story it is! But do we believe it? Do we believe Jesus is the Prince of Peace? Do we believe that God promised a Savior? Do we believe that Jesus' story, the gospel, saves? Do we believe that the gospel changes people, including believers?

I'm not a journal keeper, so I only have my memory to fall back on and as I look back at the story of my life, I believe. He has delivered me from situations and relationships that did not glorify Him. He is glorified in my valleys and when I am on the mountain. He has blessed me with a husband who loves and supports me and a dear friend to remind me that Jeff and I really do compliment each other. He has pointed me to Sarah's blog where I am reminded that I am not alone. He is a Good Shepherd!

After reading the stories of these three precious children, I realized that perspective is what I'm missing. It's not about the gifts; it is not about the parties. It's about the birth of child who was God in flesh who lived for one purpose...to die so that I might live for one purpose...to know and glorify Him.

Celebrate Him this season!
Debra

Let Us Give Thanks

November 21st - 26th ~ Thanksgiving 2006

When Jeff and I were engaged, we agreed that Thanksgiving would be spent with his family and Christmas with mine. Thanksgiving is a reunion for Rose's family, the Holifield family, in Taylorsville, MS. It is a fun time to see Jeff's aunts and uncles and cousins. The most anticipated time of the day is (besides the eating of Wylene's dressing) is the music. This family is extremely talented and everyone gets the chance to participate in the singing and playing of instruments. I'm thankful that this a part of Jeff's life and is some of his favorite memories of growing up. Here are some pictures of the Thanksgiving holiday!

Debra, April and Barbara (Jeff's cousins)

Rose playing and singing with her brothers, Rickey and Bob.

Bob and Rose
Caleb and Shadow

Us

Jana, Danny, Brayden and Caleb

Christian, Robby, Cameron, Sheryl and Blaire (we traveled to the the coast to see Robby's family Thursday night and Friday)

Back in Taylorsville...Uncle Rickey's family: Barbara, Zirkon and April & their girls, Wylene and Ricky.

Jan and Jana

Waiting for the food.

Uncle Bob and Flora and their grandchildren

Janelle, Bob and Flora

Psalm 100 ~ A Psalm for giving thanks.

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
Worship the LORD with gladness;

come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the LORD is God.

It is he who made us, and we are his;

we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving

and his courts with praise;

give thanks to him and praise his name.

For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;

his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Thank you God for family, safe journeys during the holidays and your enduring love.

Debra