Funny Video

Drum playing

Anthony playing the drum

Christmas Day

Life is tough, but God is faithful!

I was at the bookstore the other day, looking for Christmas gifts, and I came across this book on the clearance table. It's called, "Life is tough, but God is faithful," by Sheila Walsh. I just finished the first chapter, and it is incredible. She talks about a cancer doctor's office she took a family member into, and there was a sign on the wall -

What Cancer Can't Do

Can't steal your memories.
Can't rob your joy.
Can't touch your eternity.
Can't remove you from God's care.
Can't stop you from loving and being loved.

I would say that you could substitute pretty much any heartbreak or hardship in there for "cancer."

She goes on to write, "This is the purpose of our lives. To learn to love God and to love one another. To let the light of Christ shine through the dark moments as well as in the glory days when everything is wonderful."

She also writes, "It is one thing to say that the Lord is my shepherd; it's quite something else to be unable to walk one more step by yourself, to lean on that staff, and to be held up. It's just as Job said, "My ears had heard of you before, but now my eyes have seen you." (Job 42:5)"

My new mantra -
Life is tough, but God is faithful.
Life is tough, but God is faithful.
Life is tough, but God is faithful.

Christmas dinner/dance

Friday night, Darrell and I, along with friends Dan and Gloria, went up to Oak Glen (about an hour from here, in the mountains) for an old-fashioned Christmas dinner and dance. We had a blast! It was held at an apple orchard/farm, in the back of their little store. It was all decorated for Christmas, and there were carolers entertaining everyone as we arrived. There were snacks before dinner, along with both hot and cold apple cider, coffee, etc. Dinner was scrumptious - apple-butter glazed ham, chicken pot pie, fresh green beans, red potatoes, and buttermilk rolls. After dinner, a band got on stage and led us in singing Christmas carols for a while, and at one point, they passed out hot, freshly-roasted chestnuts while we sang "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire..." Then they cleared the tables and chairs to make a dance floor, and they taught us all how to do a bunch of different dances. We certainly worked off our dinner, between the actual dancing and the laughing hysterically as we all tried to figure out the steps. Dessert was served during a dance break - warm bread pudding with rum sauce - delicious! A fun time was had by all. Anthony got to hang out with his auntie Chrissy and uncle Eric, whom he hadn't seen for a few weeks.

Thought for the day

The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts.
-Marcus Antoninus

Isn't that the truth?!?!

Tree decorating

This is Anthony doing his best to try to help mommy decorate the Christmas tree. He just couldn't stand not to touch it! Those beads were just too tempting, and mommy was touching them and arranging them on the tree, so why couldn't he just try it???

Who me? I didn't do anything! I don't know what you're talking about! See? My hand is securely at my side - I'm just looking!

Disturbing Movie

Okay, so for Darrell's birthday, back in August, I subscribed us to Blockbuster Online, and I put a bunch of movies in the queue to be sent to us, 3 at a time. So this week, one of the movies we received was called "Match Point." If you plan to see it, don't read any further, because it will spoil all the fun for you!

Darrell put it in tonight, and we sat down to enjoy a movie together. For starters, it is a British film, and was rather flat from the get go. We kept watching, thinking it would get better, but soon the main character was married and then having an affair. Darrell kept asking me, "Did you know what this movie was about when you ordered it?" I assured him I didn't, and wondered myself what in the heck I was thinking when I put it on the list.

Then it gets better. The main character gets his lover pregnant, and when she starts pressuring him to leave his wife, he goes off the deep end. He kills the lover's neighbor, then his lover, making it look like a robbery gone bad. The REALLY disturbing part is that in the end, he gets away with it and goes on to have a child with his wife. That's how it ended. We were left with our mouths hanging open, dumbfounded, saying, "That's it????"

So I went online to read what the trailer said, wondering why in the world I would have thought this would be a good movie to rent. It was directed by Woody Allen - THAT'S why I thought it was a comedy! Clearly, not!

Photo shoot pics

I love how the pics turned out. These are only a few of the 218 photos she gave us!


Anthony and mommy


I can't believe she caught a decent one of him in between his screaming and trying to take the hat off!


My sister Karen and my niece Emma. So cute in her stocking!


My mom, sisters and I all had pedicures a couple days before the photo shoot. My baby sister Kristina, of course, was the odd ball without red!


Brother-in-law Heath, sister Karen, niece Emma, then me, Anthony and Darrell.


The kids were so cute together. Anthony loves his little cousin and showered her with kisses all week, though not so much on the day of the photo shoot.


I love this.


My mom and her two sons-in-law!


All of us with grandma - 4 generations.


My mom and grandmother.


What a beautiful family!


The boys. Aren't they handsome?!

Oops - forgot one thing

I forgot to tell you all about a very touching thing that happened. Yesterday I went and visited a patient whom I have had on service since July. She's an older woman with leukemia. In the beginning she and I didn't really connect, and I later found out she thought I was too young to be of any help to her. Over the weeks and months, we did form a strong connection, and I think I enjoyed our visits as much as she did. I had been visiting her weekly or biweekly, but then with the miscarriage and vacation, I hadn't seen her for about 3 weeks. When I walked into her room yesterday, it was clear to me that she was very near to dying. She was still awake and aware of everything, but was really having difficulty breathing. Her daughter was there visiting her, but left the room for a bit while I was there. When she left the room, my patient asked me why I had been gone for so long, and I was honest with her about the miscarriage. She said she thought something like that had happened and expressed her sorrow. Then she told me that she had been holding on, waiting for me to return before she died. Of course my eyes welled up with tears immediately! I told her what a pleasure it had been knowing her. We talked some more and then my visit ended. I told her that I would visit her again today.

This morning I checked my voicemail and learned that she died early this morning. How powerful is that?! I guess you just never know what an impact you can have on another person. I really felt blessed by this.