It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Rogers family!

As December rolls around, our thoughts turn to getting ready for the Christmas holidays. When I think about Christmas, I think about all the beautiful lights we see along roadways, on the outside of homes, and twinkling in windows. I think about the true focus of Christmas when God's Light entered this world in the form of a babe and lit a path for us to follow. Following Him and his example gives joy to each day and hope for the future, even as we pass from this world into eternity. I am so thankful for that hope.

As we spend time together during the last month of this year, we think back on the celebrations we have enjoyed and the struggles we have shared. Both have given stronger bonds of love to our relationships. Both have taught us not to take each other for granted and that we are capable of giving strength to each other through words of encouragement, ministering to physical needs through acts of kindness, and lifting one another up in prayer. This is the best gift of Christmas, the gift of selflessness. May we all have a very, very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Blessed  New Year!

Saying Goodbye to November

Our Thanksgiving meal hosts.

Lazy Sunday hot tub party!

Happy Birthday, Jen!

November has certainly been a month of thanksgiving! We had two wonderful Thanksgiving meals. The first, Alf and I attended, was with the Rogers family at Lloyd's house on Thanksgiving evening. It was great to get together with such a large crowd and share food and fellowship. The second meal was hosted by Nana (Mamie) and Paw Paw (Poppy) at their house. I contributed the turkey and dressing and we ate an awesome meal with Alf's folks, Josh, Jen, Ashlyn and Jax, Jarrod, Blair, Noah and Grey and Aunt Jeanette. We are so blessed to have so many close family relationships. Don't know how folks manage without family and we are so thankful for every person that makes up a part of our family!

We had the pleasure of having our grands over for a play date the Sunday following Thanksgiving. We played games, ate cookies, and watched a Christmas movie. I think their favorite activity was playing in the hot tub. What a fun day!

We took Jen, Josh, Ashlyn and Jax out to Cracker Barrel to celebrate Jen's birthday. Jen is such a precious member of our family. She certainly has been the answer to the prayer I prayed for a loving wife for Josh. She is such a wonderful wife and mother, as well as, our treasured daughter. You are precious to us, Jen, and we hope you have many more happy birthdays! Love you!

Great Performance!

Thursday evening, our preschool performed their first program of the year. We did a Thanksgiving program this year with songs for the whole group and and a reenactment of the first Thanksgiving by our pre-k class. The whole school did an outstanding job. Of course , I thought our own little pilgrim and indian were shining stars!  Outstanding job, Jax and Grey! Your whole family is so proud of you! Love you so much!

Ashlyn's Gymnastics Meet

Ashlyn had a gymnastics meet this afternoon and she performed with confidence and grace. She was rewarded with placing first for her floor routine, her bar rountine, and her balance beam routine, and second for vault. She received a trophy for best all around. She has been working so hard at practice and it really paid off. I am so thankful that she has been blessed with a healthy body and a positive attitude that allows her to excel. Congratulations, Ashlyn, great job! Love you so much, Sweet Pea!

Veteran's Day and Thankfulness

For the last several years, since Ashlyn has been attending Belaire Elementary, we have attended their annual Veteran's Day program. The music teacher is excellent and instills strong feelings of patriotism in all the children. The songs they sing are filled with those emotions that patriotism inspires and all the children do a great job! I am so thankful for the staff at the school and their dedication to instilling positive values in the children. Ashlyn performed beautifully!

The children and I created thankful banners for their parents using their hands as feathers. I think they turned out well and the children enjoyed doing it. They added their names, in their own handwriting, and the date to complete the project. Thanksgiving may be a day set aside in November but, for my family, thanksgiving is a part of every day. God is good and blessings are plentiful!

Happy Halloween!

Mario (Jax) and Godmother (Ashlyn)

Pocohontas (Noah) Devil (Grey)

Well, it is Halloween and our grands are celebrating in various neighborhoods with friends. They had a trial run last night at church with our "Trunk or Treat". They made the cutest spooks on earth and we enjoyed watching them have fun!

October Happenings!

Happy Birthday, Robin1

Happy Birthday, Alf (Paw Paw)

Handsome and Beautiful Sunflowers!

Fun for Noah and Grey with Daddy, Aunt Amanda and Uncle Jeff

Looks like Noah is gaining on them!

Grey is in the lead?

Though Robin  had a September birthday, it was early in October before we got together to celebrate. Mom fixed a delicious Sunday lunch with birthday cake for dessert. Yum!

Alf celebrated his birthday at Amanda and Jeff's house. We had a quiet day with Amanda, Jeff, Jonathan, Alf's folks, Aunt Jeanette, Eric and Ginger. We had our choice of taco soup or chili and both were delicious! Alf got two pairs of new boots and left wearing a new pair! I think he liked his gift! He is such a gift to all of us, checking on and doing for everyone without complaint. He blesses my life every day and I feel so fortunate to share my life with him. Happy Birthday, Honey!

Noah and Grey made a trip to Grandaddy's Farm with Paw Paw, Daddy, Aunt Amanda and Uncle Jeff. What a fun way to wind up fall break week! The activities offered at this place seem endless and everyone appeared to have an awesome time!

Catching up!

Happy Birthday Eric and Becca!

Jax is bushhogging!

Ashlyn earns Principal's Award and Character Award!

Halloween's a comin!

An eye popping experience!

We have had a lot going in September but I just got lazy and didn't post. Thanks to Holly for posting our sweet boys in the hammock.

Our first event was Eric and Becca's birthdays which we celebrated at Cracker Barrel. About mid September, Becca left the country for a semester in Austria. I think she is touring Italy this weekend and next week. What an awesome experience she is having!. We miss her but know she will have a lot of experiences to share when she returns.

We were excited to share Eric's birthday. He has been having some health issues for a while and spent the last week at the Mayo Clinic in Florida. They think they know what the problem is and a regimen of various vitamins should help him regain a grip on a healthy life. We are so thankful he finally has some answers and look forward to celebrating many more birthdays with him.

Now that fall has arrived, my sweet husband has been doing some bushhoggining. He had some expert help on Wednesday last week as Jax bushhogged the garden for us. Way to go, Jax!

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to attend awards day at Ashlyn's school. She won the Principal's Award, which is the highest honor given as the student must excel academically and be a role model for others. She also won the Character Award which honors a student with positive character attributes. How proud we are of Ashlyn! She is not only a beautiful young lady on the outside but is beautiful on the inside as well!

Though Noah did not have an award ceremony, she made the distinction of making all As on her report card! She is a beautiful, shining star in her school, too! Third grade can be tough but she is doing a great job with her assignments! We're so proud of you, sweet pea! 
Both of our girls bless our lives so much!

Ashlyn was trying out some new looks for Halloween just to get us in the mood! What do you think?

hammock fulla fun...

Is there anything better than cousins? Grey, Stetson & Jax would answer with a great big NO!  Jacki, James, Stetson & baby Stella came to visit end of august and the boys had a fine time swinging and running up and down the hill at Gigi & Gida's house.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

We celebrated Dad's birthday tonight with a family dinner, all those who could attend. As you see, two great grandaughters got a birthday hug. Those celebrating were Mama, Holly and Troy, Josh and Jen, Ashlyn and Jax, Noah and Grey, Amy and me. It was a fun group that completely filled up our table. Blair joined us later after work.We are so blessed to have Daddy in our lives. He is 83 years young today and is still an active, loving part of all of our lives. My prayer is that he will have a productive, healthy and enjoyable life for the rest of his days and that he will never feel taken for granted. Sure do love you, Daddy!

Chickin Pickin

This past Saturday, our family increased by ten, ten hens, that is. We have had chickens for a while but our brood become extinct due to aging hens and preditors. Our grand girls took turns picking out chickens in earlier years and, since we planned to purchase two cages, both grand boys went along with Paw Paw. Noah went along in an advisory capacity to Jax and Grey. We now have five black hens and five Rhode Island reds. They pretty much stayed with their own breed for the first few days, but now they are one big happy family. The great news is that we are getting 6 to 8 eggs a day already! Great pickin, guys, and thanks for your input Noah. (You may have noticed that Grey likes to pose for the camera! Ha!)

A Week Celebrating Birthdays!

Noah's 8th birthday!

L to R Grey, Noah, Samerra, Ashlyn, and Jax

Jarrod's Birthday Pumpkin Pie

Jarrod's new Grillmaster, gifted by Blair and the children!

This had been a week of birthdays. I am finally posting pictures from Noah's party that we had last Saturday. The family, including great grandparents, cousin Amy, Jake, Jamie, Skylar, and Samerra, gathered here to celebrate. Following the dinner, cake, and present opening, the children went swimming, then the girls went home for a sleepover with Noah and the grandboys stayed here. Hopefully, a good time was had by all! You might notice on Noah's cake that there is a 7 and 1 candle. Being the goof ball I am, I did not check my collection of numeral birthday candles before the party and I didn't have an 8! Booooooo! Anyway, I added 1 more candle and begged Noah's forgiveness. She was cool with it and was so excited about her DQ ice cream cake!

Thursday evening, we had a family dinner and celebrated Jarrod's birthday. His birthday is tomorrow but he and Blair are going camping with friends so we celebrated early. Jarrod requested a birthday pumpkin pie an, since that isn't the most popular dessert among the crowd, I made brownies ala mode for everyone else. It is hard to believe my youngest son is all grown up with a beautiful wife and family. Sigh!!!! I am so proud of the man he has become and always enjoy his ready smile and sense of humor! I love you sooooooo much! (He claims to be not at all ashamed of being a Mama's boy!)

Catching up!

Miss Noah is 8 years old today!

Twinkle toes, Noah's birthday gift from Mama!

Ashlyn excels at gymnastics!

Chase's Family: Liam, Chase, and Rosalie

Jax and Liam, cousins getting aquainted!

Grey's first week in Pre-K

Jax's first week in Pre-K

Today is Noah's birthday and it was our privilege to be at the hospital 8 years ago to see our sweet, first grandbaby come into this world! She has blessed our lives tremendously through the years and watching her grow has been a wonderful experience! I will be posting more after her party tomorrow night. Her Mama gave her a pair of twinkle toe sneakers that she has been wanting so she has been lighting up our world all day! Happy Birthday, sweet Noah, your grandma and Paw Paw love you so much.

The last several weeks have been pretty hectic around our place. Our garden is coming in so I have been canning and freezing food for the winter. Ashlyn had a gymnastics exhibition and she did a beautiful job, as usual! How graceful she looks during her performance! My brother Steve and wife, Vicki came to visit our folks, along with my nephew, Chase and his beautiful family. We met for breakfast before Chase, Rosalie and Liam had to head back to Vidalia, Georgia.  Preschool has started for Jax, Grey, and me. I get to be their pre-k teacher this year! We had an awesome first week! Yes, life is busy around here but I really wouldn't have it any other way.

Each morning when I wake up, I thank God for the new day, a fresh page of life to fill with love, laughter and the hope I have in Him!

Just the two of us!

This time last weekend, we were returning from our mini vacation to Panama City Beach, Florida. It was a wonderfully relaxing time for us and we really needed it! Our lives tend to be so busy with daily responsibilities and I had begun to feel that my sweet husband and I were living parallel lives that rarely intersected for any length of time. It was so great just to spend alone time together and just "be", with no real schedules or agendas! I can tell you it was a terrific time of renewal for both of us! Note to self: Never, never let so much time pass without just a small oasis of renewal!
We returned home through Enterprise, Alabama, where we attended church on Sunday and touched base with our former church family. There is a wonderful group of people there. We were stationed at Fort Rucker when we had no children, when we had young children, and when we had teenage children so they have known us through many seasons of our lives. We lived there 10 out of the 26 years Alf was in the Army.
Alf and I laugh at the commercials that show grown children's perception of their parents really having no real life apart from what they are aware of. Even though we are older, we still have the passion for life and each other that has always been there. Even after almost 40 years of marriage, I am so very thankful for our life together and the lasting love we have for each other! I am especially thankful for our relationship with our Heavenly Father who has been the glue that has held us together through the years! Ah love........Sigh!!!!!!

4th of July Weekend!

Ready for the cook out!

Homemade Butterfinger ice cream, Yum!

Ashlyn

Noah

Grey

Jax

Grey, patiently fishing!

Noah, waiting for a bite!

The catch of the day!

Our 4th of July weekend started with a cookout and fireworks on Friday evening. Our children and grands were here to eat and enjoy fireworks. The children especially enjoyed the sparklers! Josh, Jen, Ashlyn, and Jax left for Gulf Shores for a vacation at the beach on Saturday morning. Noah, Grey and I spent the better part of Saturday fishing at Gigi and Gida's house. Noah caught several little fish and we threw them back but she loved the thrill of the catch! Fish robbed Grey's line of worms and we spent some time getting his line untangled from the brush along the bank. It was a fun day and Gida even joined us to fish for a little while! Sunday evening, we had our traditional church cookout at the Harder's beautiful home. We had a great crowd and loads of food! What fun! Yesterday was quiet for us and we finished some chores around the house. Alf mowed the yard so that is finished for the week!

It is a humbling experience to think about all of the freedom that we have in this beautiful country, America! Even the name of our country sounds majestic! How thankful we are for the men and women through the ages that have fought and died for our continued independence! Hope everyone had a blessed 4th!