Photo Shoot...Help!!!

While we were on our field trip today, I decided to do a little photo shoot with the girls, and take advantage of the beautiful scenery. At first they did not want to cooperate, but then they got in to it. I was very pleased with how the pics turned out. Now it is your turn. If ya'll could just take a few minutes, to let me know which ones you think are best, I could use the help to narrow down the choices. I can't decide.

Field Trip...

We have not gotten our field trips in for this year yet, so we decided to take one today. It could not have been a better day. It was in the low 80's and beautiful. We started the day out by going to the local museum here in Iva. For such a small town it was a very impressive place. There were a few things that really caught the girls eyes. Ashley was fascinated with the old type writer. She wanted to really type with it. She asked if she could get one. Lauren really liked the old sewing machine. She asked her Mom-Mom if she had one when she was little. It was so cute. After we left the museum we headed to Anderson to go to the park for a picnic lunch. The girls had so much fun. It reminded me of the Kids Kastle we used to go to in Pell City, Alabama. It is a huge play area that sits in front of a nice size pond. The girls loved walking around the pond to feed the ducks. Overall I think the girls really enjoyed themselves and that made it all the more enjoyable for the rest of us. Below are a few pics of our day.

Mom, I really want one of these...

Lauren thought this sewing machine was neat...

I'm not quite sure what caught their eye, but they sure were engrossed in it...

Lauren is definetly our monkey...

Weeeeeeee...

Our First Garden...

Yesterday, we went out as a family, along with my in-laws help, to plant our first garden. We have never had a garden before and with the economy the way it is we decided to give it a try. A couple of the guys from church plowed the land up and got it ready for us. Neither Paul nor I had a clue what we were doing, but with help from my in-laws and a few people at church, we were able to get it started yesterday. We planted 3 rows of corn, 2 rows of peas, 2 rows of green beans, and 1 row of lettuce, tomatoes, and pepper plants. We still want to plant cucumbers, potatoes, watermelon, pumpkins, squash, okra, cabbage, and onions. Please pray along with us that the Lord will bless our efforts and give us a good turnout. It would be very disappointing if we didn't get much of anything. Below are just a few pictures I was able to sneak in.

Ashley planting corn seeds...

Lauren planting more corn...

Ashley watering the garden...

Lauren watering with Sandy supervising...

Paul watering the pepper and tomato plants.

Paul's second dedication...

Back in January, Paul did a baby dedication at the church for a couple that had just had a baby. When he did it another couple, that has just recently been coming to the church, realized they had never dedicated their daughter and asked him if he could dedicate a child. He told them he would, so they wanted it done Easter Sunday. The little girl, Little Emma, was as good as gold. She did everything Paul told her to do. It was so cute.

Kailey Rae

dedicated by Paul on January 18

Paul telling and showing Emma how to fold her hands to pray...

Paul praying with Emma during the dediacation (sorry it's so blurry)...

Paul doing the dedication service for Emma and her family..

Emma Caroline, dedicated by Paul on April 12.

Easter Egg Hunts...

Our girls got to enjoy two Easter egg hunts this year. We had one for the church/bus kids, on Saturday, and we had one for our girls, on Easter. For the one at church we had some of the older kids, Ashley included, volunteer to hide the eggs, for the little ones, so that worked out nicely. We had 5 little kids hunting about 150 eggs. It was sure fun to watch them get all excited. When they got done finding the eggs we had a hot dog lunch with all the trimmings. I think everyone really enjoyed themselves.
We have had one for our girls every year ever since they could walk. Paul has always hid the girls eggs. The past two years he has recruited help from other family members. This year his brother and mom helped him. They hid them in tough spots, so the girls had to really look. It was more of a challenge than they are use to. I think they enjoyed themselves though. I know I enjoyed watching them.
Below are some pics of both Easter egg hunts...

Lauren finding eggs at the church...

Little John finding eggs at the church...

Looks like Lauren and Kenslie found a bunch of eggs...

Michael are you flirting with Emma, or trying to get her eggs?...

Ashley found one in the flower pot at Mom-Mom's house...

Lauren found one on the meter box at Mom-Mom's...

Mom this is fun...

Mom we got them all...

Sandy had to get in on the action...

Easter Sunday Dress Up...

Ever since the girls were real little I have always enjoyed dressing them up for Easter with gloves and bonnets. I curl their hair and go all out. This year we didn't have the gloves, but we did everything else. They have always enjoyed it. Then we try to get good pictures of them while they are dressed up. This year the pics did not come out as good. The girls were both extremely tired from getting up at 5:40 for the sunrise service and they did not want to cooperate. Here is what we did get...

Lauren, smile pretty...

Ashley, says hurry mom...

Stay Tuned...

I will do some more posting of the past week, and Easter, when I get some of the pics off of my mother-in-laws camera.

Holy Week...

Last week was one very busy week with nightly services for Easter. Paul came up with an idea to do a Holy Week. We had an "Information Revival" as he called it, with services every night. He went through all of the happenings in Jesus' life, that last week. He went over everything from His last parables to His dying on the cross. Then on Sunday we had a 6:30 a.m. sunrise service at the foot of the cross. A man in our church, made a 20ft. cross to put in front of the church. He did a fantastic job. We have had it their lit up at night for several weeks now. Our sunrise service was beautiful. We sang several songs and choruses and read some scripture. We also had some reflection time to think about what God did for us. It was wonderful. Paul ended the service by playing Larnell Harris and Sandy Patti's song "I've Just Seen Jesus." The week was very busy with services, company, and trying to get ready for Easter, but it was a wonderful week reflecting back on what Jesus did for us by
dying on the cross to pay the ultimate price for us. Thank you Lord!!! Below are some pictures of our sunrise service.

We Are Still Alive...

Are you ever just sooooooo... busy with the everyday mundane things of life that you just don't know what to blog? Well, that has been us. It has been the normal crazy everyday things that are just not worth blogging about, unless of course you want to bore your readers. I do want to share this past week with you. It was quite the week, so stayed tuned for pics and details.