An oceanfront New Year's Eve!

Boys in the (not heated) outdoor lazy river

Boys in the ocean! View from our balcony New Year's Day
The weather has been beautiful at Myrtle Beach this week. We came down to bring in the New Year oceanfront. The Dunes Village Resort is the best place to stay anytime of the year. I have some photos but did not bring my cord to upload from my camera so you will have to wait til I get home and post the photos. (photos posted 01-02-09) Yes, the boys got in the ocean and the outdoor lazy river that is usually heated but not this time for some reason. We spent most of the time in the waterpark under the Dunes which is fabulous and heated! They have put in some new super body slides that are sooo fun. You gotta go!
My honey and I sipped the Sparkling Apple-Grape Juice that my sweet friend Alicia got us for Christmas (along with a truly beautiful cutting board that she and her honey MADE). I bought 2009 champagne flutes and gave them to Barry for Christmas. He packed them and surprised me with them and the juice earlier tonight. So, it was just the 5 of us bringing in the New Year watching the fireworks on the pier from our balcony. Now the boys have crashed on us.
Last year was a scary one for us with Barry going blind in January. We have enjoyed a lot of extras with him being out of work and able to spend more time with me and the rest of our family too. The Lord has been good to us and we are grateful for the blessings we share. We are excited about the upcoming year and more fun changes in our lives. I love being in love with my husband. Happy New Year! Be safe!

Stocking Swap goodies from Ruth

I got this great package in the mail last week. I was a good girl and gave it to my husband so he could stuff my stocking with all the goodies inside the box. Boy, Ruth really loaded me up with some great stuff. See the one hour photo album, the fragrance diffuser, the penguin slipper socks (who told Ruth that I LOVE penguins) the snowman potholders and the snowflake dishtowel, a 2 year pocket planner and some candy. The stocking swap was arranged by Tara and might become a yearly thing so add her site to your favorites: http://www.thewell-roundedwoman.com/ so you can participate next Christmas.

Service at the Gaffney Soup Kitchen

My church sponsors The Gaffney Soup Kitchen. Our family serves there once a month. In December we were blessed to be able to serve twice. We heard that they would be closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day so our Bishop arranged for us to serve lunch on Christmas Eve. The above photo is of some of our youth serving at the buffet (two boys on the left are my sons, Michael and Barron) Below are the youth helping in the kitchen. That's my sweet son, Adam standing on the bucket so he can help wash dishes. A priceless photo for a mom to sneak!

My sons really get a lot out of this service. Their hearts are so big and full of love for the sweet people that we serve. They amaze me when it's our Saturday to serve. They wake up early and keep asking if it's time to go yet. The Lord has truly blessed me. It broke my heart that we ran out of chicken this week before everyone was fed. We continued to serve the final 30 minutes with no meat. There were a couple of us in the kitchen with tear filled eyes. I want to make sure that does not happen to us again somehow! We did have an unually large number of people to come on Christmas Eve so we were not as prepared as I like to be. We fed over 70 people!

Tastefully Simple

I just signed up to be a Tastefully Simple consultant>>>>see the Logo to the right>>>>>>>
I went to a friend's party and loved the stuff. I went searching info online and found Liz Baxley. She and I had dinner Monday night and she gave me so much information and the great advice to wait until today to sign up. I get some extra goodies for signing up today. So, I will begin to party in January. Hosts get double benefits in January! Call me if you want to book your party before anyone else!
Ooopps letting time get away from me. Gotta go get the kids at school.
Be back later.

Stocking Swap

I got my package in the mail today from the Stocking Swap. I handed it over to my husband to stuff my stocking on Christmas Eve. It was so hard not to open the box up but I want to get some surprises in my stocking on Christmas morning too. Tara arranged the swap. See her blog here http://www.thewell-roundedwoman.com/2008/12/start-shopping-for-tiny-treasures.html and then bookmark her site so you can participate next year. It is very exciting!
Thanks Ruth for the package. I can hardly wait! Thanks Tara for having such a great idea and doing all the matching for the swap. I will post a photo on Christmas of all of my stocking goodies so check back.
I also went to Asheville, NC again this year to see the Food Network Gingerbread houses from the 2008 competition. They were all awesome. The contest is held at the fabulous Grove Park Inn. You can tour the Inn and see the gingerbread houses and Christmas trees on several floors. It's FREE! We took a group of teens from our church and some adults to help chaperone. I think everyone had a great time. I will post some photos later too.
I have to get to church. We are taking our youth singing to some shut-ins tonight.
Thanks for checking my blog and see ya later.

Family Fun magazine

The greatest kid crafty magazine will be $4.59 a year tomorrow only at http://bestdealmagazines.com/ . There is a deal a day this week so you can check each day for the deal of the day. Woodcraft is one and so is Daily Walk which looks like a good magazine. I love this website and have been a customer for years. I used to pay full price for Family Fun but I have ordered from here now for about 6 years.
Sorry that I didn't get around to posting the photos yet. I will do it real soon. The camera is in my purse all the way across the room! I am snuggled in bed watching PS I love you with my DH.
Got the boys 2 puppies today. Really cute puppies! I have to take some photos of them to post too.
Lights out the movie is getting good!

Stocking Swap

http://www.thewell-roundedwoman.com/2008/12/stocking-swap.html
This is such a great idea. It's like the old Secret Sister fun we used to have at church.
I signed up for this. I hope I remember this next year so I can do it locally with some friends.
Are you ready for Christmas?
Jacob and Lindsay are heading to NYC for her audition for Fiddler on the Roof. Y'all keep them in your prayers. This is a call back from the open audition that she went to last month.
Jacob came down this morning to borrow my punch fountain and I got to cook breakfast for Journey. She is talking so good now. I took some photos of her last Wednesday when we all met up at Scrapbook Creations and then went to lunch together. I hope to post them tomorrow. She had on the cute little coat that I got her several months ago and the sweetest little boots I ever saw. She is a total doll.
My cousin's wedding was beautiful today. The reception was awesome too. We had a great time. The band was terrific and Cherokee National was never decorated so elegantly. It's always nice to see a couple start their lives together.