WOW....

"Wow"....That is really just about all that I can muster right now. I have just been thinking about getting to see so much of our family this Christmas, the fun times that we have been blessed to share with them, memories being made playing with the boys and watching them discover new things. We were able to share time here with my mom and step-dad, then traveled down to South Padre to visit a lot of family down there.

And yet, there are so many all around us hurting and suffering. People with no one to share their Christmas with, or maybe unable to get to them right now. Others who may be hurting in a different way....As I type this some friends of ours are losing their mother to a battle with lung cancer and Zach is visiting another friend who is very ill in the hospital. It just really makes you appreciate and cherish the time that you do have with your family. I feel quite helpless because I want to change their situations, to take their pain away. Father, please help us show them your love and bring them your perfect peace, joy and comfort.

Spend some time with your family today. Turn off the television, stop working on whatever you are doing and just cherish your family and the time that you have been given.

Here are just a few of my favorite pictures from this Christmas (in no particular order---I was having issues loading them!). We have been truly blessed....

Christmas Parade

I forgot how big of a deal the Russellville Christmas Parade really is until we got to attend this past Thursday night! It was so much fun to get the whole family all bundled up and then watch all of the floats and area bands pass by! I wasn't aware until last week, but it is either the first or second biggest Christmas parade in the state! (Pretty impressive for a town of only about 26,000 people!)

The Refuge had a float in the parade, so the kids actually had their choice of being in the parade or watching it. They have only really seen one other parade that they are old enough to remember,

so they decided that they would rather watch this

year.

Two of the ladies from our church work for Arvest Bank and allowed our church to meet and

park at the bank. The kids loved it because they were giving away free hot chocolate, popcorn and balloons, as well as a warm building to stand inside of until the parade actually started.

C wanted a front row seat for the parade, so he sat up with our friend, Ashlee. (She is such a sweetie!)

J snuggled up with our friend Audra in the front row. Audra is great and also an enabler for J's gum and candy obsession!

Here is a picture of The Refuge's float. My photography skills don't do it a bit of justice. It looked great! The globe in the center was spinning and there is a live nativity scene there that you can't really see.

After the parade was over, we hurried home to get warm again with some homemade hot chocolate by the heater!! It was a great way to kick of the Christmas season.

Halloween with the Wojteks

This Halloween we had a very fun, exciting, action-packed day! We started off at the soccer fields, where C had a game in the morning. They don't officially keep score, but trust me, the kids know what the score is at any given point in the game! C did a great job and scored two goals! Technically they lost the game; however, he had a blast and got a great life lesson out of the loss. Their team had been winning all of their games and some of the kids had been bragging about it to the other teams. C was very frustrated because the other team at this game was now doing the bragging. It gave us a chance to talk about what it really means to win and how it feels when someone else is talking smack!

Daddy and E had to head off early for the downtown Fall Festival, where Daddy got to be a judge for the chili cook-off! He was able to do it with his great friend, Todd, and had a lot of fun. He said that there were only a couple of questionable chili entries, but most of them were excellent!

We headed there after the game and met my Mom, Step-dad, and aunts and uncles there. The weather was absolutely God sent! We have had weeks, I kid you not, weeks of rain! Halloween was absolutely perfect weather. C decided to head off with the other men to look at the fire truck and antique cars. J and E stayed with me and some of the other family members to ride a pony. E seemed a little skiddish, so he didn't end up riding one, but below is a picture of J riding. He really liked it a lot and had an adorable grin the whole time!

Watching bubba ride the pony. (The sun was in their face.)

After the fall festival, we went home to relax for a little while, then over to my Uncle Gary and Aunt Pam's house. My Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Pam were in town, so Gary had a fish fry and invited everyone over. You must know, my Uncle Gary makes WONDERFUL fried fish. Even C mentioned hours after we had gotten home that "Uncle Gary sure make some goooood fish!" We don't get to see Jimmy and Pam often, so it was great to be able to catch up and spend some time with them. The men talked around the fish frier and we played ball with the kids in the back yard as we talked.

Next, it was time to take the kids trick-or-treating.

C magically transformed into Batman, J became a red Power Ranger.....

and E grew a trunk and became an elephant!

The older boys with Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Pam.



Trick or Treating at Gary and Pam's

AND THEN....

Enjoying their Candy!!!!

Above all, this was one very special day. We had a lot of time together as a family and in the outdoors. It was just one of those days that you can't help but realize how much you have been blessed!

"Horse Stick Radio"

C recently had his Kinder Stick Horse Rodeo, which C and J somehow started calling the "horse stick radio"! Each child had a family project of making and naming their very own stick horse. C's initial name for his horse was Lucky, but it later changed to Punkin. The only rules were that we had to make it, not purchase one, it had to have reins and needed to be durable because they used them for practice and other projects throughout the whole week.

The rodeo had a huge turnout and was held at the county fair grounds. And I am not exaggerating when I say that the stands were FILLED! There were 7 kinder classes that "competed" in different rodeo events. They had a grand entrance and each child and their stick horse were introduced, as they made a big lap around inside the arena. They said the pledge and sang the "Star Spangled Banner". Then they had one event that we cannot remember the name of, where one rider rode across the arena, picked up a partner and then rode back. The next one was "Shoot Out" where they had to ride up to and "shoot" at a target. They also had different teams of wagon races. I think that the group favorite had to have been the "Buckin' Bronco", where they all had to try and stay on their stick horse for 8 seconds. It was hysterical to see them all bouncing up and down on their stick horses, as if they were about to fall off! Finally, they ended the rodeo as they all sang "Proud to Be an American", waiving their American flags and had a ribbon ceremony. C was on cloud 9 as we left and for the rest of the night!

Praise God!

Our newest little niece, I will call her Little P, got to go home from the hospital last Thursday! She was born at 33 weeks on October 6th, which was obviously a big scare for the whole family. She was actually breathing on her own when she was born; however, had to be kept in the NICU for several weeks after she was born. We are so thankful for this newest addition to the family and can't wait to meet her! Please keep them all in your prayers as they all adjust at home. Little P has two very sweet protectors, Big Brothers W and D!!

Missing Sweet Vidalia Marie

Our sweet Vidalia Marie, otherwise known as "Vi" and on the rare occasion, "your crazy dog", has been missing since last Thursday. Z and I got her after I moved to Maryland, before we were married. We have not given up hope, but do fear that we may not see her again. She is 12 years old and had developed some tumors on her chest. The vet said that we should not worry about them; however, Z's childhood dachshund also had the same type of tumors when she passed.

Vi has been extremely loyal to us, very protective of us and the boys. She had the attitude of most dachshunds, which mean that she may have had a small body, but she truly thought that she was the biggest dog around! She had a reputation for starting fights with our much larger boxers, even our 90+ lb. Krash!

Although she was only a couple of months old when we got her, she already knew how to fetch! Vidalia has always been "ball obsessed"--and I am not kidding in the least! When we were stationed in Enid, OK, we purchased a "big for her" red rubber ball. We gave it to her and she chased it ALL OVER the apartment. At about 9 in the eveining we were tired of her game, so we hid the ball. I woke up at 2AM to hear her still searching for the ball! She has the God given ability to sniff out a tennis ball from any location, assuming it has been popped from its original container. In Corpus Christi, she even learned how to throw the tennis ball back to us by picking it up by the fuzz with her teeth! In Pensacola, we tried taking her fishing with us, only to find that she thought that we were trying to play fetch with her when we would cast out a line! No fishing for Vi!

Below is a video that we took just days before she became missing. As you can see, she is very tolerant with our wild boys! We hope and pray that we find her, but know that both the situation and Vi's care is in God's hands. We love you, Vi!

J-Man's Spidey 4th Birthday Party

J had his big 4th Birthday Bash about a week ago and we had so much fun! This year he wanted his party theme to be Spider-man, of course! He had lots of his wonderful friends over, snacks, games and lots of fun!

First the kids played a little bit together and than had snacks (apples with caramel, chips, & drinks). Then we went outside for some "Super Hero Training". It was a beautiful fall day, which was amazing considering the amount of rain that we have had around here lately! The kids started out working on their coordination with a ball passing activity. Then they made a huge human spider web to test their teamwork. This is what you see Jacoby tangled up in to the left.

Their final activity trained them on their web slinging techniques! They got to sling webs with silly string at the bad guys. Of course everyone had a blast with this, other than the fact that the silly string evenutally ran out, just as they were turning it on the parents! Note to self: Next time, more silly string!

Last, but not least, we had J's Spidey cake, ice cream, and opened gifts! J is such a sweetheart and a blessing to us all! I can hardly believe that he is already 4!