Cool Customers: A very ingenious Dalmatian Party!!

Cool Customers: A very ingenious Dalmatian Party!!

2011 Siesta Scripture Memory Team: Verse 1!

2011 Siesta Scripture Memory Team: Verse 1!

I am so excited about the potential of what the power of God's Word is going to do through this opportunity to memorize 24 {yes I wrote 24} verses this year! I need the power of God Word to sustain me more than ever before. I feel that Daddy's death has really weakened my faith legs a bit...so what better to strengthen my faith...The Word! Wishing all of my family and friends a Christ-filled 2011!!!

She is Getting Her Wings

Well, less than 4 months and our baby girl will be married. I am not sad at all! It is obvious to me that God has prepared me for His plan for her. I am incredibly proud of her and how she is handling the preparations for their wedding. If you have not read her blog, you should... It's incredible!
I have a lot of little things to iron out, but we have been blessed with great family and friends to help with the details! Hoping to get started on the craftiness of a Kids station tomorrow!!!

2010 is looking good...

Ok so I have done a poor job of keeping up with my blog. I want to do better, I really do! This year is going to be great! I am being challenged by Scripture and some mission writers as never before. Wonder what God has planned for me? My favorite team won the National Championship on January 8th and our one and only "baby" girl is getting married on July 10th! WooHoo! Can you yell BLESSED? Well, this is just a get ready post to get me back into the swing of things. See ya later!

Be thankful for what you have!

He is just the cutest! His parents and grandparents were thrilled to have us taking his picture. Children are a blessing and treasured beyond our wildest imagination in China. I will post more on this later. Everywhere we went in Beijing, families had their small children outside playing in the parks. With nothing but high rise apartment buildings, they treasure outside adventures. But I kept noticing something everywhere we went....



little heinies shining everywhere. I really thought the heat may have been getting to me at first. Finally, I asked Dana and Natalie if they were seeing the same thing. All the toddlers had split pants on with nothing underneath!!! I asked a young mother about it later and she told me they use the split pants for potty training. No pull - ups for them...just split pants and bare bottoms!!!! I bet it makes you young moms thankful for disposable diapers/pull ups! Can you imagine the funny stories if you used these? Not there....WAIT!!!!

Chinese Silk Dresses

Beijing 2009
I love China! These are two of the dresses we had made by some wonderful Chinese Tailors at the Silk Market. We got to pick out our material, style and the next thing you know we have beautiful, made to order dresses! We both ended up with two dresses and a tunic top each! Couldn't help ourselves. I'll post more from the trip soon!

The life of Faith

As I sit here today, I am praying for my friend Courtney. She is something special. You can't help but fall in love with her sweet manner and her calmness. Everybody who knows me, knows that I am always at a break neck speed, going from one thing to another. Getting it all done so that tomorrow I can move on to the next thing. But not Courtney. Today, she sits by her son's bedside along with her husband, Jason, focusing on her sweet Tucker. He has his 3rd cancer in his short nine years. And the past few days have been difficult to say the least. But Court and Jason stay focused on Tucker. No distractions. FOCUS on the moment.
I am being taught volumes about faith watching them. I read this quote by Elisabeth Elliot on Saturday and I cannot get it out of my mind.

"The life of faith is lived one day at a time-
and it has to be 'lived' - not always looked
forward to as though the 'real' living were
around the corner. It is today for which we
are responsible - God still owns tomorrow."

How many days do I find myself saying "if I can just make it to such and such day...then it's going to be GREAT". Or, "when I don't have this anymore it is going to be so much easier." When God meant for us to live by faith TODAY! Having our eye on the prize, yes, but living by faith today, as a witness for His Glory. And that is what Jason and Courtney are doing. Cherishing the day (TODAY) that God has given them. Not worrying about what comes tomorrow, but thankful for the gift of today. I hope you will join me in prayer, lifting Tucker, Courtney, Jason and Lily up to Jesus.

"The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak." Is. 40:28-29.

The Cat's Away...

Allie finds her way to "the big bed" when Darrin was gone. She just hopped up, found her spot and made herself comfortable!

Updating Bart's Condition

God has been so faithful to answer prayer over and over again for Darrin's youngest brother, Bart. We just wanted to give you all an update as best we can. Bart's levels are unfortunately showing his his kidney function is really at a dangerous level. He is past the point of beginning the full time dialysis but Bart has really been praying that the kidney transplant would happen before that point. While we do Praise God that his transplant is set for March 10th, we just so want him to be in good physical condition when that date gets here. His diet and medications are crucial at this point. Between Courtney and Janie he is getting great care and we are thankful! Please continue to pray for him. We also thank God for LaDonna as she prepares to give Bart her kidney. We pray for her, Scott, Mary Katherine and Elizabeth. Also, please continue to pray for Don and Janie...I just cannot begin to imagine the depth of emotions they are feeling. It has really been hard on them. We just are praying and believing...God for good things!

"It's Been A Good Day"

You know some days are just better days than others. Darrin and I just talked about today being a good day! Our Connect Group is super! Seriously, we have some of the greatest friends in our group! It's just enjoyable! Then, what can I say about our service! Our prayer in Connect Group was that Pastor Randy would speak the Word boldly and clearly and that we would worship as never before. It did not take long to see that God was up to something!!! And then tonight, Darrin and I are part of a small group that meets at Bob and Jennifer Foster's and WE LOVE IT! The honesty is refreshing and its just an enjoyable group... and not to mention we get to spend time with Raegan "Baby Cakes" too! She blessed my heart tonight! She is funny and smart and just a joy! And we are getting to see Kayden get such a personality! CUTIE! She is just going with the flow with all these people invading her home.

I don't know about you but I just needed a good day and God provided.

This is a hysterical video of the cutest little boy! We have laughed until tears are streaming down our faces! You feel sorry for him but you can't help but laugh!

I am SOOO Sick of being Sick!

Once again, I am still sick! I have coughed until I feel like my lungs are on the outside of my body... and I still have shopping and things to do before Thursday. Yuck! Friday p.m. we had several friends over for a open house, and I coughed and coughed, but still had a great time! Last night, we had Christmas with Darrin's mom over at Wayne and Val's house...my nephew Carter had me so tickled! He wrote a letter to Santa asking for a dirt bike for Christmas. He received a letter back from Santa this week, which was hilarious! Santa explained to Carter that a dirt bike this year would not be good because the elves had too much to build and how getting a dirt bike would be unfair to Carter's dog Molly, because she would not get to ride with him like she does on the four-wheeler. Well, this letter did not upset him at all. On the contrary, it just "proved" to him that Santa was for real. His reaction:

"Santa must be real or else the post office has camera's set up in our houses."
Hysterical! Only Santa would know about him and Molly riding together, so he has his mind made up!

I am looking forward to a laid back Christmas this week. I urge you to take time and go to Hello, my name is God
devotion blog! This week is all about Jesus!

Christmas at The Holmes'

My den tree!


My dining room tree!


The entry tree!

The kitchen tree!

The door wreath!

I love having our home decorated for Christmas, I love the smell of Christmas trees, I would absolutely LOVE a White Christmas ( I LOVE SNOW!!), I love beautiful wrapped packages to give to family and friends! I LOVE JESUS! who btw is the only reason for this wonderful holiday!

Initially 4 U Ornaments

Dana and I debuted our new business this Thursday and Friday at the Briarwood Christmas Shop and it was so much more than either one of us could ask or imagine of God! We had an incredible time and we sold out of all our ornaments and frames and lots of our letters! We have SO MANY orders to fill! Thank you Lord for blessing this! Here are some pictures of the ornaments and letters! You can go to Initially4U for more information.

Cutest pumpkin EVER!

Raegan the "Pumpkin Fairy"! She was so cute dressed in her costume at the Halloween Party!

Fall Pictures

I Love Fall! I know I say it alot, but I really do! Here are some pictures of our recent trip to Gatlinburg with The Waldrops and The Humphryes!

It was a great trip and of course going to watch the Tide beat the vols was great too!

Indescribable!

Check out our new church blog
Hello, My Name is God!
It's a great devotion each day following a series our pastor is preaching until Christmas!

Also, the basic website for Initially 4 U is up! We still have a lot to add, and you can't pay on the website yet but it's coming soon!

Have a great day! And GO VOTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Halloween

I can't believe it is already October 31st! I can't wait to see all the little goblins tonight, but am especially excited to see one little pumpkin tonight at our church's Halloween Fun Night! (????) I bet I have some pictures to post of the little pumpkin after tonight!

We are looking forward to Homecoming at Alabama tomorrow as Darrin, BB and I will be having a great time with family and friends...and we are excited to get to go see our own Jennifer, Ms. Crimsonnete herself, join the other former Crimsonnete's on the field to twirl her stuff!!!! If John Thomas joins her on the field, I can assure you he will be the show!!!! Bart, Cortney and Coda will be hanging with us as well!

Have a great and safe Halloween! And ROLL TIDE!

P.S. Happy Birthday Nick Saban!

Too Much!

Ever have too much to do, too little time to do it in, and too few hands to do anything with? Well needless to say, I have been there lately. So, unfortunately, my blog has been one of the things that has been neglected. Sorry! But here are some great things that I have been doing since I last posted!


Darrin, Britt and I went to Orange Beach the weekend of the 10th and were hosted by some wonderful friends, at the Caribe! This was our welcome gift! Thanks to Richard and Virginia! We had such a great time!


This is the gift we took to Richard and Virginia for being such gracious hosts!

Then, its home to a busy week of working, painting, cleaning and such!!!! The 17th I had a little time to scrap, but not near enough, didn't even get one thing finished. But, I did get a GREAT package from my Secret Santa!!! WooHoo! Cute Halloween dish towels, GREAT Halloween papers, and even some cute BooHoo bandages, which Raegan loved! Thank you Santa! Then on the 18th it was the Ole Miss game.Fun!
But, alas, one of our metal letters was stolen! How mad does that make you? It's just ridiculous when someone takes something that doesn't belong to them.

Then, on the 19th it was the Pumpkin Patch!!!! It was so much fun!





I loved getting to hang out with family and friends. Watching Tyler and Raegan was hysterical! She worships him and Britt.

Then, we left Wednesday to head up to Gatlinburg for some R & R and the Alabama game! I will post some pics later, but it was wonderful! The trees really had not hit their peak autumn colors, but all the harvest decorations were beautiful! We had a great time at Cades Cove, and the game was another W for the Crimson Tide. I did hate to come home! We needed another few days just to sit and relax! But I did love spending time with Darrin, Britt, The Waldrops, and The Humphryes!

Just Ordinary, Everyday Goings On!

I love Alabama Football!!!!!!!!!!

Cody Terrance aka "Mount Cody" at the Alabama vs. Kentucky game
He is one of the biggest fella's I have ever seen!

Shannon S, Me, and Shannon A. at the Women's Fall Prayer Dinner

Fall is such a busy time for me! I love Alabama Football and so most Saturday's are spent down in Tuscaloosa or traveling to wherever the game is! Lots of stuff going on with the ministry passion God has given me, trying to launch a new business, and helping Darrin out at the office can wear a body out! So we are headed for some R & R! Just Darrin, me, and BB! I am so looking forwarded to it!
Just a word about the prayer dinner Monday p.m....D.L. Moody said that "Every great movement of God can be traced back to a kneeling figure". Well, I can't even begin to imagine what God will be doing among us after Monday night! The presence of God was so real and so incredible! I thank God for doing above and beyond what I could ever ask or imagine! Thanks for stopping by!