Teeth Drama

Taken on May 20, 2008 the day Abbie got her braces put on. 

Holly had already had hers on for 2 1/2 months at that point. 

Holly was 13 and Abbie was 11.

Taken February 16, 2011 the day Holly got her braces removed. 

Holly wore hers for 2 years, 11 months and 2 weeks.  

Abbie was told that hers would be removed that day too.  When we got to the appointment the Dr. told her that a tooth in the back had turned. So the braces stay on for one more month. It was a sad day for Abbie.  Hopefully March 15th will be a MUCH happier day for her.

Look at that BEAUTIFUL smile!!!

She was SO happy to have her first gumball in 3 years.

Blast From The Past

The girls dressed up for Samantha's 80s Themed 16th Birthday party. We had so much fun shopping for all of these clothes.  We found most of them at the Goodwill store.  Every time one of them would come out of the dressing room I would just laugh!  It took me back to my days in high school.  I cannot believe that we REALLY dressed like this! 

We even found Gracie some gummy shoes.  Remember those?  UGH they made your feet stink and sweat but they were all the rage (thankfully only for a little while).

Caitlin with her acid washed jean jacket, ultra mini w/leggings and of course Keds.  Her curly hair was perfect.  I recall many of us paying big bucks for a curly perm to get that look.

Abbie with her flybacks/wings and her flashdance look.

Holly with the acid washed pegged jeans and deck shoes.  Of course she's sporting the ultra popular side ponytail with scrunchy.

They look like they could have stepped right out of my highschool yearbook.

India

Can you guess which daughter would happily go back tomorrow if she had a plane ticket?

Too Much Coffee Maybe?

I love this picture because The Doty's look so normal and my girls look like I've had them on a strict 2 day Espresso and Jelly Bean diet.  

My Delight

In what do I take delight?  What makes me happy?  What do I treasure? If I did not give it much thought and quickly made a list right off the top of my head of the things that please me most what would it look like?
Let's take a look.
Things that I delight in:
My Husband and Daughters
Coffee
Food
Sleep
Books
Computer time
Free time
Money
The latest gadget or cell phone
Time with friends and family

I could go on but these are the ones that came out before I stopped to try to think of more, so this is where I stopped listing.  Notice what is not on the list?  I do.

Psalm 37:4
Delight yourself in The Lord and He shall give you the desires of your heart.

I have made people and things my delight and the source of my joy.
The problem with that:
Husbands and Daughters sometimes do not live up to expectations
Coffee and Food are a temporary comfort
Sleep is sometimes elusive and isolating
Books are an escape from reality
Computer and free time etches away at my productivity
Money cannot buy me what I really need
Time with friends and family replaces time spent with
God, my truest friend and Father

Neglect and Change

I've been neglectful of my blog lately.  I blame Facebook!  Nowadays when I have a picture to post or something to say I just run to the easy way, Facebook. Originally when I started this blog back in 2006 we lived on the other side of the world and Mark Zuckerberg was probably in the midst of many the battles involved with getting Facebook off the ground.  Back then Facebook was something only teenagers did.  We've come a long way baby!  The blog was a easy and fun way to share the latest news and photos with family and friends back here in the States.  Even when we moved to Virginia I continued to chronicle our life on the blog.  Several things have changed since then.  The first thing is that now we live fairly close to almost all of our family.  Many times they are present for celebrations and get togethers that I would have otherwise reported on the blog.  To get on the computer and blog about that event would almost seem redundant.  Secondly, there's Facebook!  It's just so quick and easy to use.  Anything that I want you all to see or hear gets posted there and usually there is some immediate response.  It has done for communication what the microwave did for food when it was invented.  Instant gratification!!!
I say all of that to say this; I want to get back to blogging and I have a plan.  No, I'm not giving up my Facebook account!  I do however intend to spend less time there.  This past month our church got a new pastor.  His messages are amazing and difficult and convicting. What does this have to do with blogging you ask?  For me it means that each week I am given A LOT to think about.  I think better when I write things down, so my plan is to use the blog to journal some of what I'm thinking and working through spiritually.   Keep reading if you'd like and feel free to respond or leave comments.  The one thing I will tell you is that I will NOT enter into an argument and probably not even a spirited discussion here.  Those talks have their place but here on the blog is not where I consider the right place.  I can elaborate more on that topic later if it ever becomes necessary.  Don't worry, I do still plan to post pictures and funny stories about my beautiful and wonderful girls.
Until then, I'll see you over on Facebook.

What Superbowl?

Earlier tonight there was a crowd in our cozy little house.  A few in the crowd actually watched the football game. The rest of us played a little game of our own called "Pass The Baby"

Sarah brought her sweet little 8 week old nephew over, game on!!

Caitlin and Abbie both got their fill of baby snuggles.

Precious!