I wish you all a very "MERRY CHRISTMAS"!!!!

"THE REASON I CELEBRATE THIS SEASON!"

About two thousand years ago, in the town of Nazareth, there lived a young woman named Mary. She was engaged to be married to Joseph, a carpenter. One day an angel appeared before her and told her she had been chosen to have a special baby. The baby would be God's son and she must call him Jesus.
Soon after the angel's visit, Mary and Joseph were married. Mary was due to have her baby when they were told they had to go on a long journey to Bethlehem, which was where Joseph came from.This was because they had to pay a special tax. Mary had to ride on a donkey for a few days over the hills of Gallilee.
At last Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem. It was crowded with other people who needed to pay their taxes. Mary was very tired and needed a place to stay. At each inn, the story was the same. There was no room for them. Eventually, one kind innkeeper said he had a stable where he kept his animals. They were welcome to stay there.
And so it was that a few hours later, Mary gave birth to her son in that stable. She wrapped Jesus in strips of cloth and laid Him in a manger full of hay.
At the same time, on a hillside overlooking Bethlehem, some shepherds were watching over their sheep. A bright light appeared in the sky. They were very afraid. It was an angel sent by God. The angel told them not to be afraid, because he had some good news. He said the Son of God had been born and they would find Him in Bethlehem.
The shepherds wanted to go and see the baby. When they arrived at the stable, they were filled with joy at seeing Jesus lying in the manger. They knelt down and worshipped Him. They told Mary and Joseph how the angel had appeared in the sky and told them that Jesus was to be the Saviour of the world.
Far away in the East, Wise Men saw a new star shining high in the sky. These men studied the stars and they knew this was a very special star. They studied their scrolls where it said that whenever a bright new star appeared it meant that a great ruler had been born.
The Wise Men decided to find this new ruler. They went to Jerusalem to see King Herod, as they thought the baby would be in the palace. They asked to see the child that would be King of the Jews. The king was troubled. He thought this new king may take away his throne. He told them to return when they had found the baby so that he could worship the child himself.
The Wise Men set off to find the baby. They were guided by the star to the stable in Bethlehem. Here they knelt down and worshipped Jesus. They gave him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. That night, the men had the same dream where an angel warned them that King Herod wanted to kill Jesus and told them not to go back to his palace.
The Wise Men went back to their own country without calling to see Herod. Soon after Joseph had a dream where an angel told him to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt as King Herod had ordered that Jesus be killed. They left Bethlehem right away. When the wise men did not return, Herod ordered that baby boys in Bethlehem be killed. They did not find Jesus as he was safe.

Where's Crystal?

Crystal decided she liked the tree so well that she would dress like it!! This was probably Christmas of 1991.

"HAPPY BIG '30' CRYSTAL DAWN"!!!!!

"The True Meaning of the Candy Cane"

A candy maker in Indiana wanted to make a candy that would be witness for Jesus, so he made the Christmas Candy Cane. He incorporated several symbols for the birth, ministry and death of Jesus Christ. He began with a stick of pure white hard candy. White to symbolize the Virgin Birth and sinless nature of Jesus. Hard to symbolize the Solid Rock, the foundation of the Church and firmness of the promises of God. The candy maker made this candy in the form of a "J" to represent this precious name of Jesus, who came to earth as our Savior. It also represents the staff of the "Good Sheperd" with which he reaches down into the ditches of the world to lift out the fallen lambs who, like all sheep, have gone astray. Thinking that the candy was somewhat plain, the candy maker stained it with red stripes. He used three small stripes to show the stripes of scourging Jesus received by which we are healed. The large red stripe was for the blood shed by Christ at the cross so we could have the promise of eternal life. Sadly, the candy bacame known only as "the candy cane" and its original meaning has been lost.

My Christmas Village and a few of my most favorite ornaments.

My Tree Topper

I LOVE the ole' timey, Country Santa.

Crystal's thumb print ornament from 1984. She was 8 years old.

One of my MANY mice ornaments!

I finally decorated!!

Danny, Crystal and I got up this morning, got all bundled up for Alabaster's Christmas Parade. We left here about 9:00 am and swung by McDonalds for a biscuit then drove down and found us a place to park so we could get us a good place to stand to see the parade. Mercy and Lindy were riding on the Corky Belle float. It started off pretty cold, but it turned out to be a beautiful day. Danny got hit in the head with a piece of candy and I came home with a pocket full. I also got two strands of beads and I didn't even have to flash for them.

After we got home I got out all my Christmas decorations, moved a few pieces of furniture around and Crystal came over and we got my tree up. Actually, Crystal got the tree up and decorated and she did a awesome job. THANKS Crystal Dawn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
While Crystal was working on the tree, I put together my first little Christmas Village. There are some pieces that I have had for several years, some I just bought and a few that have been passed down. This is something that I want to add to every year and make it bigger and better. I would like to add a train and some people to it as well. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

OH WELL!! Blogger won't let me upload any more pics right now, GGGRRRRRRR!! I'll post them as soon as it will let me.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY" to my little sister, Diane!!!

MISSIONARIES IN AFRICA!

There is a couple from our church that are missionaries in Cameroon, Africa. Their names are Joel and Kristen (<-- go here) and they would love for you to go thru their adventure with them thru their blog. Kristen's Dad is one of our Pastor's at Kingwood, Pastor Larry Jones. They need our prayers as they live with and witness to the wonderful people there in Africa. Please visit their blog and leave them a comment. Thanks and God Bless!!

"I LOVE THANKSGIVING"

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. Mama always found a way to make the holidays special. The awesome smells of roasting turkey, corn-bread dressing, giblet gravy, green beans, sweet potato casserole, macaroni & cheese, deviled eggs, stuffed celery, olives (green and ripe), cranberry sauce (jellied only), ambrosia, million dollar pies, carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, pumpkin pie, sweet potato pie, rolls and sweet tea!! I'm sure I've left some things out.
We would wake up to all these wonderful smells. We would all hang out in our pj's helping mama prepare the food while watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and couldn't wait till we saw Santa riding on his sleigh with all his reindeer at the very end. Such a warm and fuzzy feeling I get remembering that.
We would eat till we were sick. Go lay down on the sofa or in the floor on a pallet with pillows, take a nap, watch movies or sometimes sit around the table playing games till we decided we were hungry again. I think we actually ate one meal that day: continuous, ALL DAY LONG!!!
I wish I could turn back the clock sometimes. I pray that everybody has a wonderful Thanksgiving this year.

"HAPPY THANKSGIVING"!

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY" LEIGH-LEIGH!!!

"IN CHRIST ALONE"

In Christ alone my hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song.
This cornerstone, this solid ground;
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love! What depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease.
My comforter, my all in all;
Here in the love of Christ I stand!

In Christ alone who took on flesh;
Fullness of God in helpless babe.
This gift of love and righteousness;
Scorned by the ones He came to save.
'Till on that cross as Jesus died;
The wrath of God was satisfied.
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the depth of Christ I live!

There in the ground His body lay;
Light of the world by darkness slain.
Then bursting forth in glorious day:
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory,
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me;
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in depth:
This is the power of Christ in me.
From life's first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
'Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand!

We sang this song in Church last night during praise and worship and even though I have heard and sang this song many times, last night these words really spoke to me. It is an awesome song!! Hope you enjoy the words as much as I do!!

NEW LOOK!!

I have a NEW LOOK and a NEW NAME!! I LOVE it!! Cherries are one of my most favorite things and I decided that since I personally have a new look that my blog needed one too. Although I will be keeping my old name I wanted my blog to have a new one.

A great BIG "THANKS" goes out to Crystal for creating it for me!

I LOVE IT, I LOVE IT, I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!

GOD IS GOOD.......

ALL THE TIME! ALL THE TIME GOD IS GOOD!!!

I went to the doctor yesterday for him to check my neck from where he took the knot out and he said that everything looks GREAT!! The biopsy came back NEGATIVE!!!! Thanks for all the prayers that went up for me.

A Little Excitement!!

After I got most of my housework finished, I grabbed my book, pillow, bottle of water and my phone to go spend some time in my swing on the front porch reading in this awesome weather. My FAVORITE time of the year. I was sitting there reading when I heard someone talking. I layed my book down to listen. I then heard Crystal laugh so I thought I would sneak over to see what was so funny when I all of a sudden saw Crystal leap off her porch then I heard her scream, JAMIE!! Then I heard this weird grinding/scraping noise then a big crash. I took off running towards Crystals driveway when I saw Jamie's car in the ditch up against a tree. I got there about the same time that Crystal made it around the house. Crystal went to Jamie and I went to the boys. I just wanted to keep them from getting upset. I checked them out and they were ok. Crystal took them into the house and I went to Jamie. I looked her over to see if she was bleeding or if anything was broken. The boys seemed to be able to find a little humor in the situation even though the adults were pretty shaken. That's what is so great about being little; they can find the humor in the moment when the adults are having all the WHAT-IF'S going thru their heads.
Jamie did manage to get a stump busted up that Danny had been wanting to get rid of and the wrecker plowed up some rotten yard timbers that needed to be moved. THANKS JAMIE!!!
I hate that this happened but I am so glad that since it did it happened here and they were not hurt. Jamie is probably gonna be a little sore and maybe bruised up from her Rambo-Roll but other than that she'll get to go car shopping.

TRULY AMAZING!!

Amish mourn neighbor who killed 5 girls

GEORGETOWN, Pa. - Dozens of Amish neighbors came out Saturday to mourn the quiet milkman who killed five of their young girls and wounded five more in a brief, unfathomable rampage......

"It's the love, the forgiveness, the heartfelt forgiveness they have toward the family. I broke down and cried seeing it displayed," said Bruce Porter, [a fire department chaplain from Colorado]who had come to Pennsylvania to offer what help he could. He said Marie Roberts was also touched.

"She was absolutely deeply moved, by just the love shown," Porter said.

Remarkable! Forgiveness is a most liberating choice.

We all need to learn from these awesome people!!!!!

The Shelby County Antique Car and Air Show!!

Danny& I were given tickets to attend the Air Show today at the Shelby County Airport. We got there around 10:45 am and it was \~HOT~/!! We walked around to all the boths and I got all kinds of free stuff (pencils, pens, rulers, calculator, Channel 42 News coffee mug, pencil sharpener, little hand-held fan, tootsie rolls and a couple Christian bracelets). Then we walked over to look at all the antique cars, found a shaded spot for our chairs ate a italian sausage (4 me) a hotdog (4 Danny) and waited for the Air-show to begin.
While sitting there we watched the planes taking off that were taking passengers up for a birds-eye view. As the last plane took up in the air Danny noticed a little boy waving from the plane to somebody down in the crowd, which was probably his Mom. We found out later that it was the plane that crashed at the end of the runway, killing the little 11 year old boy, his Dad and the pilot. We didn't see it go down ourselves because of the way we had our chairs facing. My heart goes out to the families. I can't imagine what the Mother to this little boy is going through; losing her husband and son while watching. So tragic!!
I have the article about the crash posted below.

Fatal Plane Crash at Shelby County Air Show!!

Plane Crash In Shelby County
News42 WIAT
Saturday, September 23, 2006
It happened in a blink of the eye. A small four-seat plane nose-dived to the ground, just seconds after taking off.
The accident happened just before 1:00pm on Saturday.
The pilot of the Beechcraft Bonanza was giving rides to the public when tragedy struck.
The victims were a father and his 11-year old son from Brent, and a 62-year old pilot out of Indian Springs.
Witnesses at the scene reported hearing the engine stop. "It sounded like the engine backfired, quit and made a sharp left turn, trying to comeback to the runway, it stalled and went down at the end of the runway," said James Hulgan.
"I turned around, heard the plane engine shutdown, when I looked at it, the landing gear was up and it just disappeared," said witness Rusty Moore.
The airshow was delayed thirty minutes. It got underway at 2:00pm, and will continue on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA are investigating the cause of the crash.

This story can be found at: http://www.wiat.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WIAT/MGArticle/IAT_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149190785181&path=!news

MY 55th Birthday and 1st Anniversary!!

Friday was my 1st Anniversary for my Gastric By-Pass. I have lost between 116 and 120 lbs, and I have gained a new freedom. No ,more panic disorder. It still raises its old ugly head at me sometimes thru certain situations but I am able to work my way thru it. After 10 years of dealing with it you learn the ropes and meds 'DO' help. Don't let anyone tell you they don't. They can always find one that will work for you. Just don't abuse them!



Yesterday Danny took me to the 'Heart of Dixie' Railroad Museum in Calera, Ala and we took a train ride. It was so much fun. It took us thru the backwoods of Calera. The weather was very pleasant and there was a nice breeze. From there we went to Cracker Barrel and ate a really nice meal. We LOVE Cracker Barrel. After we ate we went and parked ourselves in a couple of those nice rockin' chairs on their front porch and enjoyed watching the people coming in and out of the restaurant. Then we went on down to Wal-Mart and I got me a yummy watermelon and some yarn that they had in a clearance buggy (Crystal informed me about and I couldn't pass it up) to make me a shawl out of. That will be my present to me plus the fact that I refuse to cook today even though Danny keeps telling me how hungry he is!!

4 THINGS!!

4 jobs I've had:
GM Manager at Pelham Winn Dixie
MIT (manager in training) at Lane Bryant at the Galleria
Book-keeper for Kmart Automotive on Greensprings Hwy
Book-keeper for Siluria Textiles

4 Movies I can watch over and over:
The Quiet Man with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara
Jesus of Nazareth
Gone With the Wind
Any Shirley Temple movie

4 Places I've lived:
Birmingham, Ala
Beville, Texas
Helena, Ala
Pelham, Ala

4 Places I've vacationed:
Cheyenne, Wyoming
Gatlinburg, Tennessee
Panama City, Florida
Gulf Shores, Alabama

4 of my favorite dishes:
Pizza with lots of mushrooms, olives, onions and cheese
Sushi
Anything Mexican
Rueben Sandwich

4 sites I visit regular:
ebay
amazon
several blogs
my email

4 places I would rather be right now:
Sitting out on the beach after sunset with Danny.
Back in High School knowing what I know now.
Having a fireside chat with all my deceased ancestors.
At my front door, being handed a check from the Publishers Clearing House for
several million dollars.

SO VERY SAD!

We may not agree with her Anna Nicole's life style but she loved her son. This is so tragic to me. It totally breaks my heart. I can't imagine the heartbreak she is going thru at the moment over the sudden death of her son and on top of just giving birth to her baby girl.
Entertainment News- Anna Nicole's Son Died During Hospital Visit - AOL News :

Birthday Celebration!

Mercy taking my picture as I took hers.


We celebrated Danny's birthday today. I cooked beef-tips and gravy, rice, green beans, yeast rolls, sweet tea and home-made coconut cream pies instead of birthday cake (Danny's choice)!
Keith, Lindy and Mercy came over as well as Danny's brother Mike and his wife Donna. Crystal and Daniel are still sick so I carried them some food over to them.
We had a great time. Lindy went to lay down with Mercy to get her to sleep but Mercy got Lindy to sleep instead. Keith went on to church and we stayed here to have some fun with Mercy while Lindy slept. Mercy is so full of energy and she has a very short attention span. The only time that you can get her to be still is to put in a Dora dvd. Praise God for Dora!! hahaha.
Danny and I enjoy her so much.

THANK YOU STACI!!

September 17th will be my 55th birthday! I got a early birthday present today from my adopted daughter, Staci. She knows I love cherries and teapots. She has contributed to my collection of treasures several times. I received this beautiful cherry vase today in the mail. I LOVE it!! Now every time I go buy groceries I will be buying me a bunch of fresh cut flowers to display in my vase. Thank you very much Staci. It will be displayed and used proudly!

"CONGRATULATIONS"!!

My sister, Diane and her daughter, Laurie, were baptized today.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STAN!!

Danny and Stan share the same birthday! September 7, 1953! Was a very GOOD year.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY" DANNY!!!

Just wanted to wish the most desirable and intoxicating man alive, MY husband, Danny, a wonderfully blissful, and very blessed "HAPPY BIRTHDAY"! May God bless you with many more to come and that you get to spend them all with ME!!

Pappa and Mercy at the Petting Farm

Pappa and Mercy!

WAR EAGLE!!!

WAR EAGLE!!!!!!!!!

Our week-end with "MERCY"!!

Danny and I had the great pleasure of being able to have our Grand-daughter, Mercy, over to spend all day Saturday and then spend the night with us Saturday night. She is such a joy!
Danny went and picked her up Saturday morning. When he got back with her I was still asleep but not for long. I heard "WAKE-UP"! I turned over and there they stood grinning from ear to ear. I guess my day was to start whether I was ready or not.
We messed around the house for a couple hours, ate lunch, and while Mercy took her nap, I took a shower and got ready to go to the Petting Farm at Oak Mountain. Danny has been planning this for weeks.
After she got up, had a snack, we loaded up. On the way there Mercy spoke up, "Pappa! Don't take me home!" Danny didn't hear what she said, so I told her that we weren't taking her home, that we were going to see the animals.
We finally got to the petting farm and she was so excited. The only problem was, we got there 15 minutes before they closed. We weren't aware that they closed early on Saturday so we had a quick visit with all the animals. Mercy and Pappa had a great time. Dannt kept reminiscing back to the times he would bring Keith to the Petting Farm when he was little. We see so much of Keith in Mercy. It didn't take much coaxing at all to get her to pet the donkeys. She loved it. I think she petted everyone of them there. She even wanted to go into their corrals with them. We had a rushed visit but Pappa promised to bring her back one day when we could stay longer and maybe get to see more.
From there we went in search of the swings and slides. We found them and the swings were great but the slide was VERY tall. We only let her go down it twice with Danny climbing all the way up with her and me meeting her half way down. I'm too old for that. Nerves can't handle the though of her maybe falling over the side. This is why God gives babies to younger people.
After that we walked the nature trail and then down by the lake.
When we got back home, Mercy and I made some sugar cookies with sprinkles. That was fun.
Then I break out the play dought and play dough factory. We had a blast with that.
She spent the night with us and then we took her to church where we met up with Keith and Lindy. We hope that this is just the beginning of many more fun filled times with Mercy.

This would have been posted days ago but I have been trying to download pictures with it, but for some reason BLOGGER won't let me. GGGRRRRR!!!

This is my third bottle of Tresor. I LOVE this stuff. It smells good enough to drink. I have not smelled any parfume that I can afford that I like better. Crstal and Daniel gave me a bottle of another fragrance, which I asked for, this past Christmas but I couldn't wear it. For some reason it just smelled different on me than it did on that magazine strip. I finally took it back to the store and swapped it with a little extra cash and bought me another bottle of TRESOR!! I got a free gift from the Lancome counter because of my purchase.
From there we went to Hobby Lobby and I bought me a skein of yarn on sale and I am matching it up with a skein of beige I already have to make me a scarf and I also bought me two pattern books. One is for Crochet and one for Knit. The Crochet book has a patter in it for a Cherry throw and pillows I want to make for myself as well. The books were originally $18.00 a piece and I got them for $1.99 ea. I LOVE a bargain.