January

We just wrapped up the end of our holidaying and visitors. This was our year to spend Christmas with Philip's parents in Asheville. We had a great time there and then we were able to visit with his grandparents and his Aunt and Uncle in Greenville. Philip's sister Jenny got engaged right after Christmas in Pensacola (congrats guys!)I headed down to Tampa the Sunday after Christmas to make it so a funeral of family friend who meant a lot to us. Johnny and I were able to catch a ride with my Aunt, Uncle and cousin who spent their Christmas in Gatlinburg(thanks again guys!) I know not many people would volunteer to take a 2 1/2 year old on a long car trip. We ran into a ton of traffic and it ended up being a wonderful time of fun fellowship. We made it for the Funeral Monday and then I rode back up with my family New Years Eve. Less traffic but a lot more cramped. They stayed with us until Sunday. Dad had business in the area and came back on Thursday and stayed until Saturday morning. It was great. We hit Chuck E Cheese and hung around downtown. After Dad left my Aunt and Uncle came in with their family and stayed the night with us. It was great to see them again. Johnny loves his cousins and is still pretending to play with them. They head back to Africa in March and we will really miss having them in the States with us.

We are settling into a now too quiet house and we are excited about a new year and wondering what God has planned for us. We already have two wonderful things to thank him for in 2009 and that is our new little nephew due in March to Kari and Nathan and a new little niece due in May to Susie and Ryan. We could not be more excited.

We hope that everyone had a great Christmas and New Years!

LB