By the time you’ve finished reading this post, you should be well-informed as to what we’ve been doing…. At least for a few days…. until we go off and do something else. Rolling on the floor laughing Sometimes you just never know what we’ll do next…. in fact, sometimes we don’t even know what we’ll do next. Who knows, we may decide to take a trip to the moon!! (Well, that is a little “far out” – literally, and there aren’t any plans right now to do something that drastic…. but then again, you just never knowWinking smile)

The Monday following Christmas, the Staddon family came for an all-too-short visit. It is hard to accurately put into words everything that happened. There’s an old saying that goes something like, “A picture is worth a thousand words,” so we’ll just show you the pictures. Smile

The "to do" list --- I think we got everything done!! :-)Fellowship begins...IMG_8861Shoveling the neighbor's driveway....Mr. Staddon hard at workIMG_8878Esther and Amanda carrying a sled full of snow to dump on the ever-growing pile!Esther supervising Bethany :-)IMG_8893James breaking up the iceAmandaPartners --- Mr. Staddon and HermanAfter the sled was emptied, someone had the idea of riding down the snow pile... Hannah's giving it a try.The whole "Snow Team" (they were pretending to eat the ice-covered gravel, otherwise know as "Peanut-Butter Brittle"Two on a couch enjoying a nice talkCatan... lots of fun!IMG_8949One of the Catan teamsIMG_8965Playing "Green Alligators" -- Bethany won every time!!I think something funny had happened... :-)IMG_8933James helped us with a project for DadPreparing the gingerbread house to be.... ummm.... destroyed.... (we hope. :-))The house is now readyGetting it all set up...Were they trying to be sheltered from the cold... or from the noise?? :-)IMG_9074IMG_9075IMG_9078IMG_9080Family timeIMG_9089Checkers -- Michael and BethanyI think Dutch Blitz was the most played game-- so much fun!Encouraging talksIntense on the game!The Blitz playersIMG_9110IMG_9111Two wonderful mothersWorking hard to get a perfect group picture :-)A van.... full of such great friends.....so sad to see it leave our driveway.... but we're looking forward to seeing in pulling into our driveway next time! Thank you, Staddon family, for your ministry of encouragement!

Next on the schedule was a trip to Bainbridge, GA to visit Grandmama (Dad’s mom)  and “Uncle Fudge.” Long-time friends of the family, “Uncle” Bill and “Aunt” Peggy Chapman, who we hadn’t seen in three years, were also there.

We had been asked to sing in two churches down there, one pastored by one of Dad’s science teachers, and our aunt, uncle and cousin go to the other. Both services went really well, and we praise the Lord for the opportunities to minister!

We also did some hunting while we were down there, but unfortunately did not have the opportunity to pull the trigger, except on a couple of armadillos. Oh well…. maybe next year…. Smile

We are disappointed to not have any pictures of that eight-point buck, or even a nice doe, which we were really hoping to see…. but we do have some pictures of the times that we weren’t in the woods. Winking smile It was truly a wonderful time to visit with friends and family for a few days!!!

The four-wheeler was a big hitWatching Grandmama look through her new scrapbook :-)"Uncle" Bill and Herman making a creation with pillsMeet VitaMan :-)Grandmama and "Uncle Fudge"More four-wheeler funHannah, Victoria, and TitusThe most doted-on little boy on the planet!Dad and Mom headed off to the woodsTalks with Aunt Myrtle and Uncle Willis, learning more about family history"Uncle Bill" entertaining the little ones"Uncle Fudge", Cousin Allison, Bethany, and HannahFriends"Uncle" Bill and "Aunt" Peggy - such dear friends!IMG_9248Allison opening her birthday presentAllison being "dressed up" with tissue paperUncle Blaine and BethanyUncle Blaine and SusannaAmanda and a new friendStory time with "Aunt" PeggyDad and "Uncle" BillThe whole group :-)

We were home for a couple days, and then friends from Atlanta, the Barnes family, came for two days. And it was a great visit! We even got to go sledding… with snow and real sleds.Smile

Playing games... such  fun!IMG_9326Mr. Barnes and Kevin putting together a puzzleTwo sleds... two teams... a whole bunch of people getting ready for a race down the front hillGetting ready to push offThe winner is determined!!Kathryn and Wesley playing "snowball" (if you look close, you can see the ball made of snow flying through the air... and Wesley hit it probably nine out of ten times! Simply amazing! :-))

Whew! Now I think you have been pretty much updated… oh and two weeks ago all of us had dentist appointments, we got a foot of snow, and Mom and Dad went away for the weekend and left us kids home with a friend. This week we’ve had more doctor’s appointments, and day trip to Greenville, and more company… life moves on. We look forward to what the Lord will bring across our path in the days to come… and hopefully we won’t fall too far behind in our blogging! Winking smile