My Best Year (Spiritually Speaking)

In Sunday morning's sermon, the preacher asked when was your best year spiritually?  My answer was this past year.  In January of 2016, I made a resolution to start a personal Bible study plan and actually stick to it through out the entire year.  I have always done something along these lines, but have ALWAYS allowed life to get in the way.  The typical strong start would last a month or so, but by mid year I would be discouraged and behind because I had allowed different things to get in the way of my personal Bible time.  

But not this year!  For the first time since I completed a "Read Through the Bible in 1 Year" program (quite a few years back), I actually stuck to and completed a personal Bible study plan.  Some weeks were really hard but even with those hard times I was able to stick to the majority of my weekly plan.  I did different things each day to try to keep myself from getting in a rut and it worked well for me.

I participated in the Revive Me in 2016 a 52 week Bible Study, you can begin here:
Revive Me, Week One
I also began Bible Marking different topics.  I got started here:
Bible Marking at Come Fill Your Cup
Since I was new to this, I did one topic every week.  A new topic is posted every month or so but there are (at this time) about 8 pages of topics, so you have plenty to do while you wait for new topics.
I read different spiritually minded articles mainly from these 2 websites:
Come Fill Your Cup
The Colley House
And I listened to different Pod Casts from here:
The Light Network
The podcasts are especially great for those days when it is just hard to sit down and have quiet time, which is very often when you are a SAHM with not-yet-school-aged littles.
I also read our Ladies Devotional and Ladies class books that we did this year with our church family at Southaven and prepared for the children's Bible class I teach every Sunday.

I am hopeful and praying that this year will be another spiritually successful year.

Fall Recap

Fall is my favorite season: cooler temps, soccer, camping, hay rides, being outside most of the day, leaves changing, fires, smores, Halloween!  

School: Hilton loves his 2 day a week MDO/preschool, but we still work on schooling at home.  We are making a  letter handprint keepsake book and he loves doing it.  Aylin is having a great year in the 2nd grade!  Weston loves getting to go to story time once a week by himself; he is trying to learn new words too.

Hilton's NICU reunion!

Soccer:  Aylin and Hilton both played this year and I helped coach both teams.  It was a long season but a great one!  Hilton almost scored a goal in his last game and Aylin really showed some improvement.  Her team ended the season in 2nd place and then beat the undefeated team in the championship game to win first in the tournament :)

Night at the fair!

Camping: We had a wonderful time with our church family at our annual camp out.  We stayed 3 nights even though one night it poured and our tent leaked and site flooded!

Annual trip to the pumpkin patch!

Fall break zoo trip!

Trunk-or-Treat: Trunk-or-treat with our church family was great this year too.  The weather was amazing and we still have candy left over, although none of the really good stuff.

The boys and I went to the Fire Museum of Memphis!

Aylin and I went to see HHS put on Tarzan!

Halloween:  I couldn't talk the kids into doing family costumes this year, Aylin was dead set on being MAL from Descendents.  So I let Hilton and Weston pick out their own costumes.  Hilton was a green Power Ranger and Weston was Superman.  The big two and I went trick-or-treating with friends again this year and left Bobby and Wes home to hand out candy.

Hilton's MDO/preK had a Halloween parade and party!

Aylin was a flag holder for her school Veterans Day program!

Thanksgiving: The kids were out for the whole week, so we drove to Jonesboro to visit my grandmother who was staying with one of my uncles at the time.  Then spent 4 nights with Bobby's family in Heber Springs and even got to see some of the extended family.

525, 600 Minutes

A year ago today, my dad got off work, jumped on his motorcycle, and started heading towards his home.  A few days before, he came over to see my kids before we would take off on a surprise trip to Disney.  We ate dinner and the kids had a jam session with their PawPaw on our toy piano, guitar, drums, and microphone.  They sang a lot of songs, made up some songs, and of course sang my dad's favorite, "Jeremiah Was a Bullfrog" (the Grandpa Version).  He made plans with the kids and myself to start trying to come over after work once every other week for dinner and jam sessions, unfortunately that night was the last one we had with him.  We don't know what happened.  There were no real witnesses, at least none that stuck around.  Did an animal dart across the highway?  Did a car not pay attention, not look twice, and come over into his lane and then drive off?  Do they even know they killed someone?  For some reason, while traveling down the highway, my dad slammed on the brakes of his motorcycle and lost complete control.  The skid marks showed that he tried to gain it back, but never recovered.  He and the bike hit the highway.  My dad was wearing his helmet, but the impact was just too much.  The bike was totaled and he was gone.

Five hundred, twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes.  That's how many minutes you have missed over the last year.

Weston is still just as skinny as ever.  He is crazy wild, as in NEVER stops moving!  I think he is going to be our sports star :) He loves running, and he is QUICK!  He can already dribble a soccer ball better than his big brother and sister!  He is a fish too.  He loves the water, has no fear of it.  Jumps off the diving board, sticks his head under the water, everything!

Hilton played his first season of t-ball and soccer.  He can hit the ball pretty well off of the tee and he almost scored a goal in his very last soccer game, but I think he is going to be more like Aylin when it comes to sports.  He says he liked both okay but really wants to play football!  So when he is old enough we are going to let him try that out.  He loves going to his preK 2 days a week and is a super sweet kid.  He says he is going to be a firefighter when he grows up!  He participated in his first young men's training class at church, he memorized a verse and a song to lead in front of a group.  His daddy finally took him fishing, he loved it and can't wait to go again.  And he is turning into a big Razorback fan, just like you would have wanted!  He asks about you quite often, he still loves motorcycles and plays with the one you got him a lot.

Aylin, you would have been so proud of her this sports season!  She improved so much in softball!  She got a hit almost every time and she fielded a couple of grounders!  With soccer, she has learned how to use her big kick and she is trying to become aggressive, but I'm not to sure that the aggression is ever going to come - lol.  She is doing great in 2nd grade, really improving with her reading skills and becoming more confident.  She is still doing the theatre thing.  (I'm dealing with it-LOL!-really trying to embrace it, promise)  Everyone says she looks like you and she randomly busts out singing Jeremiah Was a Bullfrog (your version of course) all the time!

I coached both Aylin's and Hilton's soccer teams, so I guess I am officially back into that like you wanted.  I finally went to the DR about my BP, and they put me on medicine :(  Bobby is still preaching at Southaven, we are starting on our 10th year here!  Things are going great :)  

We went and visited grandma a couple of times; I think Grandma really misses you the most.  :( Uncle Tony and Uncle Mike are taking good care of her.  When we visited with Uncle Tony and Aunt Sheila, Hilton was really struggling with the fact that Uncle Tony was your big brother and Great Granny was your mom - lol!  He was hilarious sitting there arguing with them.  He just might have a little of that hard headedness that you passed on to me ;)

The kids had a great first trip to Disney!  I introduced them to your man, Figment, and we bought one for all the grandkids to have as a reminder of you.    We had the most amazing first day, it was perfect in every way until that night after the Christmas parade, standing behind Cinderella's castle in the middle of the firework show of all places, when we found out you had died.  We got mom back on a plane the next morning so she could get home to Tessa.  She and Tessa held it all together and stayed strong through everything.  They are still doing well, although we still haven't got Tessa back to college.  Richard and J and kids are doing great too, but we miss them being close by.  Bobby and I are trying to sell our house, we don't want to move away or anything, just want a little bit more space.  We took the kids back to the Little Red and I told the kids about the first time you took me fishing, they seemed to really like that story. Hilton says he wants you to take him fishing too!  :(  Uncle Tony said he would take him fishing and hunting for you, he would be a PawPaw!   I'm sorry that Weston doesn't get to know you, but glad that Aylin and Hilton have some memory of you, all good ones too!  

We miss your goofiness.

AUGUST

The kids started back to school!  Aylin is in the 2nd grade and Hilton is going to a 2 day a week preK.

I had my birthday!  Bobby took me out to The Cheesecake Factory and to a movie :) My very best friends from HS just happen to be in town from Chicago and DC, so we met a few times throughout the week to eat and hangout, and some of our HS basketball girls got together one night, and Aylin took me out for a pedicure ;)

Hilton got to go with Bobby to Polishing the Pulpit!  He absolutely LOVED his classes!

We even squeezed in a few last swim days!

Aylin hurt her ankle, even though she has no idea how.  She just started complaining one day and it just kept getting worse and worse and was swollen.  After 2 Drs visits they put her in her very first boot.