Sharpes in His Hands

2009-12-12T18:12:00.000-08:00

My little sister Amber turned 30 earlier this month. It's hard to believe! She still looks like she just turned 20.

2009-02-13T20:07:00.000-08:00

Here are some pics of our newest member of the family, Little Miss Trouble Abby. We call her "Abby" for short. She loves to bite, jump, chase, bite, and "smiff" (as Samantha says it).

2009-01-11T03:13:00.000-08:00

As a Christmas present, we gave some of our family some pictures of all the cousins together. Chris and Melissa were so nice to agree to the idea and came to our house and took the pictures. The kids started off strong, but by the end of the "photo shoot," there were tears and screams of "No more pictures!" But it was all worth it because some of the pictures turned out really well! All of them are just growing up too fast.

2009-01-04T13:11:00.000-08:00

Here are a few Christmas memories to share with you!

1) Caleb was Santa in his school play. We were SO PROUD of him.

I will include a few more pictures from the play later. And you can watch the DVD
with us anytime you come and visit! :-) 2) Here is Samantha in her Christmas jammies.
3) The kids "cooking" Christmas cookies. 4) Tim and I were able to go to a
Wake Forest game just before Christmas, and we had a great time. The Deacs won!

2008-12-19T13:34:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas, everybody! To our friends in Serbia, we miss you and pray for you each day. We know your Christmas is not until January, but we are thinking of you and what precious gifts you were to us from our Father. It is also a blessing to be with our friends and family here during this Christmas season. It is one of our most favorite times of the year, and we are trying to enjoy and treasure each moment. May God bless you!

2008-12-07T13:19:00.000-08:00

The kids made some cute Thanksgiving decorations at school. It was hard to decide what to throw away and what to save for next year. How do you like the turkey Samantha made with an apple, Froot Loops, and a marshmallow?

2008-12-06T07:22:00.000-08:00

Here are the kids enjoying some fun in the leaves.

2008-11-22T07:09:00.000-08:00

The morning after her birthday, Samantha got to open her present from Uncle Chris and Aunt Becky. Before opening it, she had to wrestle with Caleb (her regular morning work-out). Samantha's special uncle and aunt gave her a Dora tennis racket and some Dora tennis balls! She absolutely loved them, and Caleb thought it would be a good idea for her to begin practicing right away (inside, of course). We need to work with her on keeping her eyes open, but she can smack the ball surprisingly far.

2008-11-22T06:57:00.000-08:00

Samantha had a little help with opening presents from her cousins at the party. After opening two presents, she decided that she wanted to go ahead and get her Papas to open those two presents so that she could play with them. The cousins didn't mind opening the other presents for her. :-)

2008-11-22T06:54:00.000-08:00

We had such a blessed time with family on her birthday. Tim's mom made the birthday cake. Isn't it beautiful?

2008-11-22T06:53:00.000-08:00

The joy of trying to get a toddler to smile a "pretty smile" on her birthday!

2008-11-22T06:45:00.000-08:00

Our little girl turned 3 on Tuesday, and we have had a fun week celebrating her special day. Here are some pictures from her preschool class. The kids seemed to enjoy the cake (I love the picture of the boy facedown in it), and it was cute to watch Samantha's face when they all sang to her.

2008-11-06T04:12:00.000-08:00

This Halloween, we went to Nana & Granddaddy's church and enjoyed their "Trunk or Treat." The kids had a great time saying "trick or treat," getting candy, playing games, and watching a puppet show. They were also thrilled with all their "loot" when we got back home.

2008-11-06T04:10:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of our princess and knight!

2008-11-06T03:29:00.000-08:00

Last week, Caroline and Claire spent the night with us for one night. I loved these pictures of Samantha "reading" and of Caroline putting on Samantha's shoes for her.

2008-10-29T09:30:00.000-07:00

Last week, Caleb's school held a fall carnival, and it really was a lot of fun for us. The teachers had games for the "little ones" too, so Samantha enjoyed playing "pick up ducks" and (of course!) she had to do the cake walk. She won some cupcakes, and it was really cute to watch her walking in the cake walk circle with such a serious expression on her face. She meant business! Caleb's principal was in a dunk booth, and the kids could try to make him fall in if they could hit the target. Caleb came SO CLOSE one time - maybe he missed it by an inch. But it was a chilly night, so I was secretly happy that the poor man didn't have to fall in the water on account of my son.

2008-10-29T09:26:00.000-07:00

I just love this picture of my sister's dog, Duchess. She is a sweet dog and was very patient with me as I took about 20 pictures of her. Maybe I'm starting to get that "itch" to have a puppy now that we are settling in more to life in the States.

2008-10-29T09:24:00.000-07:00

Thanks, Aunt Amber, for helping Caleb carve his pumpkin!

2008-10-23T03:46:00.000-07:00

2008-10-23T03:43:00.000-07:00

Here they come down the 80-foot slide!

2008-10-23T03:28:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, we visited a farm on a beautiful autumn day. There were MANY people there on a Sunday afternoon, but we still had fun and the kids had a great time together. Here are pictures of a maze and our hayride.

2008-10-16T06:08:00.000-07:00

Happy Fall, everybody!

2008-10-14T09:50:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of Samantha in her big girl bed. She is a Dora fan and loves all her Dora accessories! Sometimes she will speak a little Spanish, call Tim "tata," and then tell Caleb to "get outta here" in plain ol' English.

2008-10-14T09:39:00.000-07:00

Ok, here are the last of the pool and beach shots. I was a little nervous when Caleb said he wanted to hold Samantha in the pool, but she really enjoyed him spinning her around. It was a great trip filled with lots of sweet and fun memories.

2008-10-14T09:35:00.000-07:00

Here are some cute pictures of my nieces Caroline and Claire. I had a cuter shot of Claire in the sink getting a bath, but Tim rejected it b/c it showed too much skin. :-)

2008-10-09T03:56:00.000-07:00

It's been almost a month since we went to the beach. We had a great time with mom and dad, and my sister Amber and her two kids also stayed with us a few days. I'll post some of my favorite pictures (I took way too many!). How do you like Samantha's hair in a ponytail? I think she looks like Pebbles. :-)

2008-09-24T10:54:00.000-07:00

Here is Caleb's picture from his first day of school - can you tell that I am running behind? He started school on August 25th so it's almost been exactly one month since he started - wow. He has made some good friends, done well adjusting to the school schedule (better than his mom!), and seems to be thriving in this new environment. His teacher told him a few weeks ago that she was so glad that he was in his class - of course - I teared up when she told me this. We're so grateful to the Lord for placing Caleb in this school at this particular time in his life. Thank you for your prayers for Caleb. Pray that he would be a light to the school and that we would be a blessing to his teacher and classmates.

2008-09-09T12:39:00.000-07:00

One of Caleb's first requests after returning to the States was to go to Putt-Putt. Caleb and Samantha had a lot of fun, but my putting ability has dramatically worsened. My highlight was when my sister bought a hot fudge cake from the Creamery (a restaurant next door to Putt-Putt) and shared it with me. It was so good! Here are some other pictures of Dad and Amber playing ball with the girls and a cute one of Caroline.

2008-09-04T06:44:00.000-07:00

Our church family gave us a wonderful shower to welcome us home. And they "showered" us with good food, sweet hugs, and gifts to help us during this transition time. We felt so loved, and it was a blessing for all of us. The kids enjoyed seeing everyone and sampling all the food. Caleb especially loved the sausage balls! The cake was also delicious!

2008-09-02T14:22:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of little Claire. Samantha and Caroline decided to join her on her playmat!

2008-09-02T14:10:00.000-07:00

Once we had been back in the States for about a week, we headed to my aunt and uncle's home in Virginia. They have four sons who are like brothers to me. We had a great time! Here are some pics of the cousins together and of Uncle Tim showing off his baby skills. Chris and Brandon show that they know how to play with dolls too, and Caleb loved playing with their cats - this is Pebbles. The last one is of Gamma and Caleb together.

2008-08-25T18:06:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of when we arrived at the airport and a cute pic of Caleb and Samantha.

2008-08-19T05:34:00.000-07:00

What a blessing it has been to spend time with our loved ones! The weather has cooled off some, so we have been outside a lot. Here is a picture of my niece Claire - isn't she a cutie? Uncle Matt and Caleb in the hammock and some of Caroline and Samantha "helping" Papa pick tomatoes.