Pictures and Thoughts on Mother's Day

Caught! Exiting our shower, one of Titus' favorite places to sneak into!

Our sweet Hannah on Easter Sunday

Four happy munchkins!

Helping Daddy prune the apple tree

Fun in a laundry basket! Titus and Micah

I love my family - God has blessed Travis and I richly! We are thrilled to be adding another little Payton to the family and look forward to #5's arrival toward the end of December. What will be different about this little one is that he or she will most likely be born in Birmingham, Alabama. After a long process of prayer, hours of phone conversations, and much wise counsel, we are excited to be committed to be a part of a team (Travis' good friend, Will Chenault, from college days in Alabama) to do a church plant in Birmingham. Lord willing, we would like to be moved there sometime this Fall. Pray for our dump truck, chipper and house to sell! You can click on the link on the right side (Church plant in Birmingham) to see a short video Will put together expressing the vision for the church plant there.
I know that's a lot of big news since my last post way back in November 2008 - isn't it amazing what the Lord does in a short amount of time? I could write pages of details of how it all came about, the burden placed on our hearts, etc... but I don't have that much time to put it in writing now! Hope all of you Mommy's had a great day - but isn't every day a joy and privilege to be a Mommy?!

The Innkeeper

This is a wonderful poem written and read by John Piper. Follow the link and listen to these moving words. Have a blessed Christmas.

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Poems/ByDate/1353_The_Innkeeper/

Thankfulness

Thought it would be a good idea to get the Thanksgiving pictures posted before Christmas comes! Things are busy, God is always good, and we are so thankful for the many blessing He has given us, most of all forgiveness of sins through His Son, Jesus.

We spent Thanksgiving at Dad and Mom's...

with our friends the Simmons and Mr. Kelly...


The boys helped me make personalized napkin holders for everyone.



Shooting skeet was a lot of fun. Travis and Darren are blasting them here. I actually got a few this time around, though it seemed easier the last time I did this. (if you click on the picture to enlarge it, you can see the smoke from the gun, then up toward the right you can see the wad and the shot string - pretty neat!!)

Isaiah and Micah got to pull the string to release the skeet for us to shoot. Isaiah's showing off his ear protection here.

After the shooting was over, Daddy and the boys hopped into the canoe to retrieve the costly, unbroken skeet (yes, we missed a lot). Would you believe they picked up 49?! We all definitely need to do some more practicing!

The Boys

Our Davey Tree Men at the Fall Festival. Daddy made them saddles (complete with their toy chainsaws attached to carabiners), rope bundles, and so on. They were beyond excited to be dressed up just like Daddy!

Isaiah is doing great in first grade and loves to read. Here he is reading a book at his brother's request. Micah has started reading lessons and is doing very well. He looks forward to his time with Mommy every day and loves to tell Daddy his new sound when he comes home from work.

Cheesy smiles (after they saw the camera come out)

Titus ~ 6 months old on November 18th

Our very happy baby boy who loves to laugh at funny books being read to him. Also, there are some nights when I'll put him down and he just wont settle. I'll go in to check on him (around 8pm) and Hannah will still be awake and inform me as I walk in, "Titus talking." I'll pick Titus up and he'll look longingly at Hannah. So we sit down on her bed and Titus will giggle and coo at her, kiss her and play with her for about 10 minutes, then he's ready for bed and goes right to sleep. It's amazing how young the bond forms between siblings. We love our little guy.

The Terrific Twos!

Hannah turned 2 on November 14th. Big Brother Micah was very eager to "help" Hannah with her presents, cake, and anything else heading her way!!!






















Getting ready to start the fun...













Cake time. I asked her what kind of cake she wanted and she said, "chocolate cake." My Mom was glad to know that the genes are being handed down in good order!








Our sweet blessing from the Lord. She is truly a joy to our entire family in so many ways.

Dr.'s appointment in S.F. was great. The MRI showed no indication of the cyst returning. Praise the Lord! Travis will return in 2 years for his next appointment.

Zazie's ~ delicious as always.

Family Time

We just got home from enjoying a 4 day vacation up to Fall River. We had so much fun together as a family exploring the lake, playing at the playgrounds, making ice cream, drinking hot chocolate by the fire, having picnics on the floor by the fire for every meal, playing hide-and-go-seek in an empty house with lots of great hiding spots, reading together, seeing old friends, "camping out" in one room together, and so many more wonderful things. We made lots of memories ~ here are pictures of some of those memories.

Daddy and his kiddos.

Fire truck drivers

We love the Forest Service station in Fall River. Each time Travis has gone in to buy permits for cutting firewood, the kids always get a goody bag. This time was the best of all - pencils, pencil sharpeners, Smokey bandannas, frisbees, coloring books, erasers, stickers, and as this picture shows fun Smokey the Bear tattoos. They all thought this was so much fun (a sticker that stays on for a really long time!).

Hannah at the lake.

Daddy and Titus at the lake.

Fireman Isaiah

Titus hanging out at the park in his cozy car seat.

Micah and his "fishing poles"