Friday, October 28, 2011

Seth's 13th Birthday Party!

Happy 13th birthday, Seth! It was time to celebrate!



Joshua helped light the candles on the cake. Again, you wanted Cinnabon cinnamon buns for a cake.



Daddy "delivering" the cake.



There were so many candles on your cake I had to stick some on the side. Your cake looks like a tank.



Wonder what a thirteen year old boys wishes for?



As soon as you saw the candles on the cake you knew they were the trick candles that wouldn't stay blown out. We were all laughing because you blew them out on the first blow. They never relighted. So you were still tricked!



Time for gifts.



A gift card to a local sporting goods store.



A bag of candy.



And last but not least... A new bible! You have been wanting a new bible for a while now. I love to see you reading the word on your own.

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. Psalm 1:1-2



You had a great birthday surrounded by good friends!

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Happy 13th Birthday, Setharoonie

Well, it is official, you are now a teenager. We like to refer to this age as young manhood. Although some moms and dads shutter at the teenage years, we have come to really appreciate this special time in our kids lives. It can be a great blessing!



Here you are not yet 24 hours old.



One of your favorite places to be... Bapa's leather chair.



Your big brother was always eager to take care of you. Here you guys were watching TV together.



Here you are practicing sitting up.



Sometimes you were a little stinker... Like when you were suppose to be playing with your toys. I left the room for a minute and this is what I came back to.



This is a really cute picture of you wearing your daddy's hat.



One of my favorite baby pictures of you. I love your joyful smile!



After enduring colic for the first 3 months of your life, we cherished your smiles most of all.



Here you are at your one year birthday.



You loved your brother and always enjoyed playing with him.



Here you're around 4 years old.



I really like this picture of you at Nana and Paw-paw's beach house. You were dancing around the room with those dancing flowers on your head. From the very beginning you were a performer...



and you still are to this day. You continue to amaze us with your creativity, musical talent, and your determined spirit. Since you were 4 years old you have pretty much known what you wanted to be. We can see how God has blessed you with many talents to get you there. You have such a sweet spirit that is always eager to share with others. We continually thank the Lord for you. What a special blessing you have been to our family! Happy Birthday, buddy.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Our Braces"ville" journey

Today we arrived at Braces"ville". I have mixed emotions upon our arrival. I'm sure if you have been there you know what I mean. Some are fortunate enough to not have to go this route, but for those who are not, it is bitter-sweet. Thankful for the opportunity to travel this road, but shocked at the heavy taxes collected along the way. I know after our two year journey we will be glad we took the trip. And with two more boys I have no doubt we will travel these roads again.

Friday, October 7, 2011

Trip to Stuart Virgina

On one of our trips to Roanoke we met a cattle farmer at the local downtown market. He was selling grass fed beef. After talking with Mr. Sparks for awhile we knew we wanted to try some of his beef. The thing we like most about his beef is that he doesn't feed his cattle ANY grain or give them any antibiotics or growth hormones. Mr. Sparks encouraged us to come out to the farm and take a tour.



Here we are arriving at his home... look at all that green grass.



After spending some time chatting he took us out to check out the fields.



He has several fields so he can rotate his cattle among them.






And here we get our first look at his cattle.



This guy had been in the mud. Who knew cows liked mud?



This is where the cattle get their water. Fresh well water I might add.



Okay, here is the super cool part of his farming technique. When he puts his cattle in a field he only gives them one strip of land to graze on at a time. Then when the cattle have eaten all the grass in that strip he moves them on to the next strip. So that they are always eating fresh grass. When they have gone through the whole field he then rotates them to another field.



Happy grazing cows.



Here are just a few more pictures of his cows.









We had a great time at the farm. It is really nice to know where our meat is coming from. Mr. Sparks takes excellent care of his cattle and our family really appreciates it.



Healthy happy cows....


.... make healthy happy hamburgers. Eat on cows!