Two Short of A Dozen!!

A long week!

2008-09-04T21:18:00.012-05:00

Sammie looking at grandpa.

Guns!! Guns!!

Stephanie giving DJ a hug for helping her shoot the gun. Bryon and BJ Goodman in the background,

I love these pictures.

By the way, Stephanie took all of these pictures. I think she did great!

Well, we have had a very long week. On Monday we went to mom and dad's house for a cook out. It was A LOT of fun! The guys all enjoyed target practice with the many guns Frank and dad have accumulated. Tuesday and Wednesday were not good days. Many of you already know that I miscarried yesterday. We were very sad, but feel peace at the same time. Doug said it well. He said "we cannot question God when we can look at all of the wonderful things we see Him doing in our family and the work He is doing in our boys. He knows best, even when we do not understand." If a quiver is 6 (that's what I've heard, but I'm not sure), then we have half a quiver with Jesus. We are anxious to see what the future holds for us. We appreciate your prayers! I hope you enjoy the pics!

Blessed Again!!

2008-08-30T22:10:00.005-05:00

Many of you have already heard the news! We are expecting baby #10 in April! Doug and I are both very excited. The whole family is excited! We feel very honored that the Lord is blessing our home once again! Doug and I made the decision for me to quit school and work about a month ago. In the process of making that decision, Doug also felt the Lord changed his heart regarding how many children we should have. So... we may get that warrior's quiver yet!
It has been a very busy, crazy couple years. We both have re-evaluated things and feel the best thing we can do for our family is for me to stay home-full time! It has been a wonderful decision. I have felt like it has been a long vacation this month! We both regret it took so long. I have always felt Proverbs 31 and Titus 2 were clear to me where I needed to be and what was important, but finances are a real thing in this life. Doug has spent a lot of time in prayer and feels this is what we need to do. It is what our children need and what we feel is pleasing to the Lord for our family. It is a HUGE step in faith. We both are at peace that God will provide. God pays for what he orders. :) About a year ago, I asked Sis. Smith for some advice. She said "Teresa, live the life before your kids." I have thought about that sentence many times over the past year. I have thought "well, I don't have any sin in my life, I attend church faithfully,I am a faithful member of The Church of God, I live the life as I should," but...all year in the back of my mind, I wondered, is this busy life, with very little quantity, much less quality time with the kids what I want to show them and teach them. BUT, once again, finances were a concern. I admire Doug for making the decision he has. I feel like I am getting the good end of the deal! It has been neat to see how God is working in our family already this month! Wonderful changes! Doug and I are more in love than we have ever been, peace is coming over our children, one by one. DJ and Tim went to Tennessee's family camp this weekend. Bro Smith took DJ into the church tonight!!! How exciting is that! We are thrilled! Tim quit football 2 weeks ago because he felt like God was speaking to him about the influences he was around when at football practice! If you know Tim, you know he LOVES football! It was a big deal that he quit. He was telling me a couple nights ago that since he quit, he has had the opportunity to talk and witness to several kids at school. Please keep our family in your prayers. Our big gang is a work in progress for the Lord and we want to please Him more than anything! We appreciate your prayers!

We went to Missouri last month for DJ's graduation from basic training and AIT. It was very neat. Several of my siblings came to it. Of course, my parents did to! We are all very proud of him. It has been wonderful to have Josh home also. Angie and Josh flew in a couple days before we went to Missouri. He grew up and matured so much while he was there.

The Goodmans have moved here!!! We are VERY excited about that. It has been great to have them here! They are going to be an asset to the local church. We love them very much.

Updates

2008-06-03T12:03:00.006-05:00

Before (Becky Goodman and kids visiting!)

Living Room and Kitchen gutted!
After

It's been awhile, I know. Let's see. In January we went to WI for my grandma's funeral and while we were gone, a valve busted in our upstairs bathroom and flooded our house. A friend was taking care of our animals and thankfully came to the house and found the disaster. He was able to turn the water off and called some other friends (local men) and they all spent several hours vacuming water out of the house. Thank the Lord for friends! We drove home the next morning to evaluate the damages. It was not good. The insurance sent a drying company out immediately. As soon as they got here, they started tearing out ceilings, floors, walls. It was sad. The insurance had a 40' RV delivered so we had a place for the boys to sleep and a place to cook. It is also where we hung out during non-sleeping hours. I think the insurance has paid out approximately $95,000.00. It has been a very stressful 4 months, but we basically have a brand new house with brand new furniture now.We were able to re-arrange the floor plan a bit throughout the house also.We built a wall that seperates the kitchen and living room, but the dining room and living room are open. I love it! When they re built the basement, we also changed some things and now have a HUGE family room! So in all, we now have 8 bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths, living room on main level, family and game room in basement, a den for my sewing machine, computer, and books, and a kitchen I never dreamed of being blessed with. We had a second kitchen in the basement before the flood, so the insurance company paid us to replace all the cabinets on both levels. We didn't want the second kitchen, so we were able to buy all new appliances with the extra cabinet money. It came out almost dollar for dollar. I am very thankful!!
Well, on a different subject, Josh has been with Angie and Scott since March. He has been wanting to spend time with them for a few years and this was a perfect time for him to go. He is doing very good. We miss him alot! DJ also left in March for basic training. We went to Missouri last weekend to visit him. He is also doing very well. I am proud of the stand he has taken there spiritually. He has chosen to grow spiritually and draw closer to the Lord through this. I am very excited about who he has become. Everyone else is doing great. Busy!! Here are a couple pictures. I will put a few more on later.

Rex!

2007-12-25T17:51:00.000-06:00

Here is my dad's new German shepherd. He is about a year old. He is a great dog. He is very good natured. Great with the kids!! Dad is very happy with him!

Following in his dads footsteps

2007-11-21T18:58:00.000-06:00

Just a quick post. We've been extremely busy. I wanted to post a picture of DJ's new look. He joined the Army National Guard about a month ago. He joined under the education first program so he still can go to college and not worry about getting sent to Iraq or anywhere else for a few years. I will try to post more pictures later. All of the kids are doing good. They are all growing up way too fast! Sammie and Connor are sooo CUTE!!!

Some more pictures

2007-05-26T22:27:00.002-05:00

Here are some more pictures .

DJ Graduated!!

2007-05-21T16:48:00.000-05:00

Well this has been one extremely busy month in our house. DJ graduated Friday night and we had his graduation party Saturday. It was wonderful. We had a very nice time visiting with friends and family. All 6 of my brothers and sisters were able to be here. Sam, Michele, and Keven and Michele's kids were not ablel to be here. That was the sad part. We all thought about them all day. My grandma became very ill Wednesday and it did not look like she was going to live, so my parents drove to Minnesota Thursday (about a 12 hour drive).It was one of the hardest decisions for them. They knew if they left, there was no way they could get back by Friday night for Dj's graduation ceremony. My mom cried and cried. She really wanted to try to see her mom before she died, but has waited DJ's whole life to see him graduate. I think they made the right choice. When they were almost there, miraculously grandma took a turn for the better. Mom and dad got to spend some time with grandma and get some pictures. Early Friday afternoon, they got on the road again and headed back home. THAT is alot of driving in 2 days, especially at my dad's age and considering what his body has been healing from. God was merciful and kept them safe and awake. My Uncle Bob, Aunt Wendy, and Uncle Merrill all came down from Wisconsin. They also had made the trip to Minnesota and then to Kentucky. I really appreciate all of them. I know they all were so exhausted. I think mom and dad finally got some sleep last night. Johnny Furlong and his son Ethan drove over form Oklahoma. It was sooooo good to spend time with them. It was just like old times. :) Becky Goodman and her kids were here also. Bryon had to work. :( Becky and I always have a good time together! Huh Bec!

It is hard to believe DJ is 18 and graduated. We were working on his class schedule for Murray State this morning. He is going to college to be a chiropractor. He will spend 3 years at Murray (about 45 minutes from us), and then 3 years either at Logan Chiropractic or Lee University. He is excited. It will be alot of hard work. His first 4 years are Pre Med.

Here are some pictures from this weekend. The picture of several of us ont eh wood pile was a "16 years later". Angie has a picture of the same people at Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs 16 years ago. Time flies!!

I will post some more later, Sammie is wanting to eat.

Sam and Connor

2007-03-30T12:18:00.000-05:00

SOOOO much fun!!!! Doug, David,Sam, and I went to St Jude yesterday. We met Cathy, Debbie Wantulok and Connor there. Everything checked out wonderful for David. The Lord is so good. We had such a blast. The boys are so cute together. SO, here are some pictures. Can you guess who is who in the first one?!?

For Aunt Angie

2007-03-12T16:37:00.000-05:00

Aunt Angie and Sammie had a great time together!! As usual, love at first sight. :) We are looking forward to seeing you in April Aunt Angie!!

I'm Back!

2007-03-12T15:55:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone. I can't seem to find the time to update my blog. I wanted to add some pictures. Angie got to meet Sammie for the first time in January. This weekend Doug, 5 of the kids, and I went to Nashville to see the Goodmans. It was Julia's 9th birthday and Stephanie and Abbie wanted to be at her party. It was so much fun. Everyone is doing well. We are all enjoying the warm days we have been having. Well I am going to get a few pictures on here. Oh, DJ cut his hair. It looks nice. He just got hired on at WalMart in the garden center and Andy is working at McDonalds. Andy LOVES it! He couldn't wait to start working. Got to go. :)

2006-12-30T15:55:00.000-06:00

These are for Aunt Tammy and Aunt Becky

2006-12-30T13:11:00.000-06:00

My sweet Sam!

2006-12-30T12:12:00.000-06:00

Ok, Sammie is alseep, at least for a few minutes. He is a wonderful baby. We have been so blessed. On Christmas Eve we had him dedicated. It was a nicededication. Bro. Kevin Brown and my brother Keven did the dedication and Sam (Tammy's husband) prayed over baby Sam. It was really neat. Stephen and Danielle Brown were also here. They also dedicated Connor on Christmas Eve. After the dedications we had our Christmas Program. Frank wrote the play. I was really impressed. He used alot of great music and it was very interesting. He did a good job.

I have a prayer request, quite a few of us (Steve, Michele, Connor, and several of the kids) have gotten sick with the flu in the past week. It has been a rough several days. It seems to be making it's rounds. I am thankful that Sammie has not gotten it though. I think it is because he is nursing. I have been very sick so he is getting the antibodies my body is making. Isn't it amazing how God made our bodies to work. Oh, I have another request, many of you know Sis Bell, Scott's grandma, in Arkansas. She fell and broke her shoulder and ankle. They did surgery. Angie is there now to help take care of her. Please pray for the Bells.

Sam's awake aqnd hungery, so got to go.

2006-12-28T22:16:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone. I have not done a good job keeping my blog up to date. Let's see, in November we had our youth rally. It went well. Johnny Furlong was our guest speaker. I really enjoyed his messages. It was really nice to get to spend some time with them too. It has been way to long. Here are a few pictures of the kids. Abbie and Hannah are only a couple weeks apart. Joey and Ethan are close in age also. They all became buddies. It was great. The Goodmans came up for the rally and of course, that made Stephanie and David happy. Steph and Julia are great friends (like their mammas :) David and Mikey are also very close. It is a blessing to know that my children have good friends in this world.

The end of November we went to Wisconsin. We stayed at Dwight and Michelle's house (Doug's brother). We had a really good time with them. It was a vacation we all needed. While we were up there my uncle Bob took some of DJ's senior pictures for him . We went to the high school were Doug and I graduated from and got a pic with DJ. it was fun.

Well I have more to update and more pics from Christmas, but I have a hungry, sleepy baby waiting for me. I'll add more soon.

2006-11-04T13:14:00.000-06:00

oops! I thought I put Tim's picture with the last post. Sorry Tim!

2006-11-04T11:44:00.000-06:00

Ok, here are a few more. I love the picture of Abbie, Steph, and Becky looking at Samuel. He was about an hour old there. The looks on the girls faces was so sweet. They were just in awe of him. His face was bruised pretty bad, that is why he looks so blue. It is fun to watch all the kids with him. Even the older boys adore him. He gets kissed and talked to non-stop. We are very thankful the Lord blessed us with him. Well, got to go, since it is saturday, there is a line wanting to use the computer :).

2006-11-04T11:05:00.000-06:00

Here are a few more pictures of everyone. They are all growing so fast. DJ and Andy are going to Bowling Green today to watch State Finals for the band. DJ was talking this morning about this being his last band trip.I can't
believe it. He will start college this fall.
Andy starts driving in a couple months. How do I type this and get my pictures to stay where I want them? UGH! I am not very computer smart! I have tons of pictures I would like to share with you all. I guess I need to learn what I am doing on here. I am going to try to figure out how to add more pictures.

2006-11-03T16:42:00.000-06:00

Here is the picture I meant to post in the previous post. oops!

2006-11-03T15:47:00.000-06:00

Well, I think I have this up and running. I hope so at least. If anyone has any pointers, feel free to let me know. I have been following many of your blogs for a few months now and thought it was time to join blog world. I have not figured out how to put a small picture with my profile. If anyone could tell me how to do that, I would appreciate it.

This picture was taken this summer at our Lewis Family Reunion in Alabama. As you can tell, I was still pregnant with Sammie.

Speaking of Sammie, Here is a picture of him too. He is such a sweet baby. Well, I will try to put more pictures on soon.