Two Years

I just realized that September 28 has come and gone with nary a thought. What is September 28 you may ask. Well it's the day Russ and I first "met" one another...Well not exactly but that is a different story.

I now can say that I've known this wonderful man for two whole years. To think that just 2 years and a few months ago the idea that I would be happily married to the man of my dreams, be a mommy to a sweet little 7 month old boy, and live in a beautiful house in North Carolina was, inconceivable to say the least.

Two years and a few months ago I was sitting in my office at Providence with the prospect of telling over 60 families that we were going to charge them $3,000.00 more tuition than we had said they had to pay when they enrolled, I was answering phone calls from bill collectors that I had no way of paying while sitting across from a bill collector who had come to pay me a personal visit...And that was just part of what was going on. Add to that a broken heart, some of the most difficult teacher/staff issues I had ever encountered, gossip that was threatening to tear the school community apart and that for a time came between me and some of my most trusted friends...What craziness!!!!

But the Lord took care of it all. He took care of me, he took care of the school, he took care of the parents and the students and he received all the glory and credit for all the good. I am so glad he is my Father and I'm so glad he has given me the family I always desired. Praise his name.

Russ and I at City Lake at the end of the week I first came to visit him in NC. Jan 2007

Johnson's Visit

Recently some good friends from St. Louis came to visit. I love when people come to visit! It’s wonderful to be able to cook for them and show them around town and try to make them feel as relaxed and at home as I can. I don’t know why, I just really enjoy hospitality. I hope too they will see some of the Lord’s great love, kindness and joy through us.

Susan and Ed have a little guy, Peter, who is about 15 months. So it was great fun to see Peter and William together. Peter just wanted to hug on William all the time. It was so funny to see. Of course Peter has not quite got “gentle” down yet but he did very well with William and William did great with him. No tears on either side.

Susan and I both wished she could have had the camera!!

William in Carolina Blue

Here are just some more cute pictures. I love this outfit he had on and I wanted to see how I could do at taking pictures like they do at Sears. Guess I’ll have to keep going back to Sears! :)

Weathering the Storm

I never would have known this but hurricanes can reach us and if they are bad they have devastating affects on our area. I can't remember which ones have been the worst but about 12 years ago there was one that took out the entire town's power, downed all kinds of trees and pretty much reeked havoc. Another one flooded half the town. After Russ lived through the one that brought over 60 miles/hr winds that blew a tree on his roof and of course knocked out the power, he bought a whole house generator. When there is even a hint of a storm we batton down the hatches so to speak.

So when Hannah was expected we brought everything in from the porches, invited his parents to spend the night and had a wonderful time. Hannah didn't do anything. It did come right through but by the time it reached us it was hardly even a storm. We just got some nice rain and that was all.

I had picked almost a bushel of butter beans that morning so Mom and Dad Ayscue shelled them for me. Most of you have never shelled a butter bean I bet. There is a certain art to it and also to knowing when they are ready to be picked. I'm proud to say I've now acquired the ability. Haven't quite quite got the art of it yet but give me another year or two.

William enjoys his first tropical storm with Grandma.

Russ shows Dad our blog.

Labor Day

On Labor Day we went to a church picnic with the folks from the Reformed Baptist Church. It was a beautiful day and we had fun eating hamburgers and hotdogs, fellowshipping with brothers and sisters and walking some of the trails.

I didn't hold William all day. I love when different people take him because I really want him to feel comfortable around others. The young lady who is holding him is Melissa. She's a sweet friend and loves William. So does Joseph. He's the boy patting William's head. He loves stroking the top of his head. Its so funny to watch. Anytime he gets anywhere near William he just has to rub the head.

Next Door Neighbors

We have the best next-door neighbors. Chris, Jack, and little Jack live in the log house they built themselves. Jack knows how to do a little bit of everything and he's always working on some project like rebuilding an old jeep or putting in a front walk way to his house or mowing lawn. If he is not working on something at his house, he can often be found at one of the neighbor’s houses helping with their projects. He helped one neighbor who was pouring a concrete driveway, he has helped us with numerous things, and sometimes he even mows some of our lawn for us.

Chris is a caterer. She bakes us cheesecakes and other delectable goodies. When I had William she made us meals for about 2 weeks, went grocery shopping for me and did some of my laundry. She baby-sits William for me and I always feel worry free when he is with her. She is very kind and has shown true friendship towards me even before I moved here.

These are pictures of her two granddaughters who were visiting from Richmond.

Cute Pictures

Don't really have much to say. Just thought these were some adorable pictures. We did go to the doctor yesterday. He got his immunizations-yuk! He weighs 12.78 pounds and is 24 inches long.

Our Favorite Rooms

We have two favorite rooms in our house. One is the FROG room as we call it. It stands for "finished room over garage". The other is our screened in back porch. Russ especially likes the porch. We just bought some new furniture for it at Lowes. Russ was eyeing it for several weeks and when it was marked down by 50% I met him that afternoon and we brought it home. We like to begin our days there drinking coffee before he goes off to work. Then after dinner Russ takes his cup of coffee and whatever sweet stuff we have in the house along with William and sits out there while I clean up dinner.

Cousin Stephanie

Denise, Russ's sister had Stephanie Paige August 20 and a few days later we went to see everyone at the hospital. Stephanie and Denise are both doing well. It was fun to hold a new little baby and think about she and William playing together as they get older.