One of our favorite songs!

Big Sandy Singers
Click on and listen to "Down to the River to Pray"
Awesome song!!!!!

Christmas 2007

Our Christmas Eve family tradition started with sticking the cookies in the oven for Santa and then running outside to sprinkle the reindeer food on the lawn. After the cookies were done, we sat down to listen to John tell the Christmas Story. While Santa and the gifts are always fun, we don't want our children to lose sight of the true reason we celebrate Christmas. Our lives would go on without Santa, they wouldn't without Christ. Our prayer is that each of you had a wonderful, meaningful Christmas and that Christ was exalted to the highest!

Christmas morning was exciting for all. Surprisingly enough, the kids slept in until 7:30! We couldn't believe it. We actually had to wake Dillon up! Faith was super excited Christmas Eve, telling everyone to get in bed or Santa wouldn't come. Dillon got lots of fishing equipment, Faith got a red/white/blue .22 rifle and lots of "horse" stuff and Audra got toys (she had more fun with the paper than the toys). After our Christmas at home, we packed up and drive for 4 hours to Glasgow to spend the holidays with family. We landed first at John's cousin's house with all of his extended family. Upon leaving there, we went to my grandparent's home to see my family. The morning after Christmas, we celebrated with John's parents and his brother's family. That evening we went to my parents to be with my brother's and their families. We had such a great time visiting with everyone and we all got awesome gifts! When asked if they had a favorite present, both Dillon and Faith couldn't stop with naming just one item. They got such wonderful things. We returned home on Friday and started the unloading process. . . and a process it was, as you'll see in the picture. Hope you enjoy the slide show!

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, except for the mouse. The stockings were hung by the. . ummm, front door with care, In hopes that St. Nick would soon be there. The children were FINALLY all snug in their beds, while visions of presents jumped in their heads. Momma in her flannels and me in my shorts, had just settled down for a long nap of sorts, when out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, I sprang for my 12 gauge to see what was the matter. Away to the window I flew like a flash, peeped through the blinds and then heard a clash. The moon shining bright on the ground gave me sight, when what should appear, but a tiny little sleigh, pulled by 8 reindeer. With a hefty ol' driver, so happy and quick, I knew it must be ol' St. Nick. I couldn't take my eyes off the deer, I remembered my gun and trembled in fear. All 8 were there staring, their fate in my hands. Could this be real or is it a dream, no out of their nostrils came the steam. My body was shaking, oh what should I do, their meat would make such delicious stew. As I drew up my hand, and was turning around, through the front door St. Nick came with a bound. Dressed all in his camo from his head to his foot, where was his orange, it was covered in soot. A bag full of hunting things flung on his back, he looked like he'd just left Blaine's Ammo Shack. As he emptied his goodies beneath the Christmas tree, I couldn't believe what he allowed me to see. Everything we needed from mossy to realtree, he knew what we needed, how could it be. When everything was done, he turned with a smile, his job here was complete and he'd done it with style. As he shut the front door, I jumped from the floor. As he sailed through sky, I heard him exclaim, Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight!" ***Some of you may think I'm goofy, but this is what you do while waiting for the kids to go to sleep!*** :-) Might as well humor myself!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

From our family to yours, Merry Christmas. May God bless you this season and may joy overflow your soul as we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Boy Scout Awards

Last Tuesday night, the scouts had their Christmas party and award ceremony. Dillon got his Diamond Patch, which is the first step in his Wolf Trail. It was also Wesley Depoy's 7th birthday.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY WESLEY!!!!!!

School Visitor

Ma and Papa (John's parents) came to visit this weekend to see the Cantata. Monday during school, Ma listened in and spent time with Audra while I taught. .

Fitzpatrick Baptist Church Cantata

It's hard to believe it's been a year since the first time we stepped foot inside Fitzpatrick Baptist Church. As we entered the church last December, we realized it was the morning of their cantata. Who would have thought that the next year, we would be members and would be participating in it! Wow! How God works! Is He AWESOME or what?!?!?! We feel so at home at Fitzpatrick. The folks there make us feel so welcome. . .even if I am referred to as "Sunshine" (a few figured out I'm not a morning person on our mission trip to Pennsylvania). The kids absolutely love their teachers and are always eager to go, and baby Audra, well, she has become the "church baby", getting passed from one to the next, which doesn't bother her at all. Think we'll start charging people. . .it would be a good college fund starter :-)
Back on track. . . as I said, this year, we all participated in the Christmas Cantata. I sang in the choir, Faith was an angel, Dillon was a Shepherd, John was the angel Gabriel (talk about stretching it . .LOL), and Audra was Baby Jesus. Yes, we know that Jesus was male, but at her age, it's not like anyone could tell what sex she was, and she did a wonderful job. It was a great musical and the songs were awesome.

BBD!

BBD-BIG BUCK DOWN! John was really bummed that he didn't get to enjoy opening morning of muzzle loader season trekking through the woods, but priorities took front line. He had to attend a class for his continuing ed. to keep his Master's Electricians License. He and Steven did hit the woods that afternoon, but as luck would have it. . they saw nothing.
After debating on where to go this morning, he and Blaine took out to the woods in hopes (once again) of bringing back some venison. While I was in a deep sleep, dreaming of the ocean and the beach and the warm sun, I was awaken to the tune of "you ask me if I love you, if I always will, well, yoooooooooouuuu had me from hello" (that would be my lovely husband calling me) "BBD", I heard. . was this dejavu? My son had just called and gotten me out of bed a month ago saying the same thing. "Are you for real? I mean are you serious? I mean WAY TO GO HONEY!!!" After hearing the stats., along with the moaning and groaning as he pulled it through the woods, I TRIED to return to my peaceful state, to no avail. "How big was is mama? I don't know. How many points was it mama? 8 points. Is he on his way in mama? Yes. Where did he shoot it mama? I don't know. When's he gonna be here mama? Shortly." After all that, I knew it was no use to even TRY to go back to sleep; time to get dressed and start school. We managed to get MOST of the way through their lessons before Dillon and Faith heard their daddy pull up. It was definitely break time from school. They had to run out and check out their daddy's trophy. They were definitely 2 proud kiddos. We can't wait to eat some yummy venison! Even though John didn't get to enjoy opening day, God was definitely good to him and I believe he would tell you, it was worth the wait!

Daddy and Dillon the builders

John and Dillon worked hard all day Saturday (while the girls were in Glasgow) on a "surprise" for Faith. Every time they called us or we called them, we'd ask questions trying to figure out what they were up to, but they wouldn't budge. When we got home, Faith found the surprise in her room. . . a new loft bed, built with lots of love from Daddy and Big Brother Dillon.

Cox Family Reunion!

This past weekend, we girls took a trip to Glasgow. The main reason for going; my big brother got to do a little dental work on his little sister. The 2nd of 3 visits, I'll be glad when the work is done. I had the pleasure of having a root canal done a few weeks ago and got my temporary crown this trip. My next trip, I become a full fledged Queen. Thanks Kev. for going easy on me. . as much as I love ya, I don't wish to go through the process again any time soon.
This weekend was also the bi-annual Cox reunion. Since I missed the one in June, I was eager to see everyone. There has been a HUGE baby boom in our family over the last year. Since December of '06, there have been 9 babies born! If you check out the group pic., they are in order from oldest to youngest (my brother Brian has the youngest, Carson - 4 months). It was so neat to see all the babies. Reunions in the future should be exciting with little kids running around everywhere.

Christmas. . ALREADY!!!!!

Christmas time is upon us. I didn't do very good taking pictures over Thanksgiving, however we have so much to be thankful for. God has blessed us in amazing ways throughout this past year.
It was nice to spend time with family that we don't see very often since we moved. So many times we take for granted our extended family, until we aren't able to spend as much time with them. The time we spent at Allen and Juanita's (my aunt and uncle) with my family was precious to me. Thanks everyone for a great time and yummy food! We were able to spend a little time with John's family but are looking forward to spending more time with them while we are in for Christmas.
And, speaking of Christmas. . .we decided to put the Christmas tree up, pre-Thanksgiving. I'm not a big advocate of this, but didn't want the hassle of moving furniture and all after we returned from our Thanksgiving festivities in Glasgow. John put the tree up while the kids and I got the ornaments ready. We blasted Christmas music. . it was awesome! Today, Faith decided to put on her Christmas dress, so I dressed Audra up in hers and it was PICTURE time!

Big Girl at the Table

Audra decided if everyone else was going to be at the table, it was time for her to be there too. We tied her in with a necktie, stuffed blankets around her, scooted her up and had a nice, quiet supper :-) P.S. She loves biscuits!

Never to young to learn the CHICKEN DANCE

While we were in Glasgow last week, we paid a visit to MaMa (John's grandma). Faith found a card on her side table that played the all famous 'Chicken Song', and the fun began. Whoever said you had to be young to move, hasn't seen MaMa move. After a couple of lessons in the moves, she was ready to 'shake it'. Not sure when her public debut will be, but we'll keep you updated as tickets will go FAST!

Scouts conduct Food Drive

Dillon's scout troop conducted a food drive this last week. A week ago last Sunday, they all went out in the community and left brown paper bags with notes to fill them up on door steps. This past Sunday, they went back to those homes and collected the full bags. Tonight, the food was divided and distributed to 3 different ministries in the area, with GAP being one of those. Way to Go Troop 802!

Sisterly Love

Thought this was a cute pic. of Faith and Audra. Hope they are always this close!

Dillon gets deer number 2

John took Dillon to the woods opening morning and around 8:00 I received a phone call with Dillon proclaiming "BBD". "BBD?" I asked. (guess I don't watch enough hunting shows) "BIG BUCK DOWN", he said excitedly. He tagged a nice 2. . uuuuhhhh. . .3 pointer (depends on who's doing the counting). It's an interesting story listening to Dillon tell it. The deer was on it's hind legs in the process of breaking a branch. I don't believe he got to finish what he started. We are looking oh so forward to eating the harvest! We've already made some jerky, which was yummy!
Still another week and a half of season left, so we'll see if Mama can bring home some venison as well :-) Guess now I've got a little competition. Great Job Dillon!!!!!

Pack 802 Space Derby

John Takes Nathan Hunting. . (for the 1st time ever!)

Now picture this; John, an avid hunter of anything that moves, well. . . almost, introduces Nathan, who has never experienced nature at its best, to the wild outdoor life of bow hunting. It all started one night when Nathan and Celina came over for dinner and John let him shoot his bow. That was all it took, Nathan was "hooked", and wasted no time making his way to Blaine's to purchase his first bow. After the date was established to go hunting, Nathan met John at the house around 8:00 (Nathan is NOT an early riser, so this was EARLY to him). After practicing a few rounds at the still target, they decided it was time to journey to their destination, with their blind in tow. On the way, they spot some turkey poo. . Nathan is amazed that John knows it's a Jake because it signed it's initials at the end of it's poo. . **snicker, snicker**(all turkeys leave the signature 'J') On up the mountain they go, with Nathan learning more and more about this wonderful creation that he knew so little about before the journey began. After reaching "the spot", they put up the blind and climb inside. John begins using his grunt call at which Nathan starts laughing at, only to get John tickled. So, now you have 2 laughing hyenas in a blind TRYING to get a deer close enough to shoot with a BOW! Is this not Jeff Foxworthy material?!?!? Although they didn't see anything, I think it was a fun trip regardless. It's absolutely hilarious listening to them tell all of the details. Not sure if they have scheduled the next trip :-)

It's CEREAL time!

As of tomorrow, my baby *sniffle, sniffle*, will be 5 months old *sniffle*. Time is so precious. . I find myself just sitting and holding her. . for NO reason! I guess when they say the "last born gets spoiled a little extra", they weren't lieing. It's like there is some sort of finality and we have to hang on as long as we can. We have said we are done. . AND WE ARE, but babies are so precious, and who could resist cuddling with such a beautiful baby girl. Since Audra is the last, I want to remember EVERYTHING; her little whimpers, her coos, her laughs, her stretches, her little breath on my neck as she sleeps, and of course, her first time eating cereal :-) So, if she gets spoiled a little bit in the process, well, it's me that has to live with it, not anyone else, so spoiled she shall be. . . and I'll just call it. . extra lovin'.

BFF

Friends come and friends go, but best friends are forever. Iris and I met my freshman year after she moved from Calloway Cty. She sat behind me in Spanish class, bad spot for 2 talkers, and her name was Teresa. . well, guess what, so was mine! So we became Teresa y numero uno and Teresa y numero dos, and ultimately inseparable. We worked together in ADvantage Network (school run TV station), played basketball, and acted goofy most of the time. We could laugh about anything! After high school, Iris moved to many different places, finally landing in Ohio with her husband Matt, and two girls, Taylor and Isabell (and soon to be son--Bo). If I get down, I can always remember back to high school and laughing over something so ridiculous and thoughts of our friendship come back to me and before long, I'm laughing all over again. While we were in Northern KY, we crossed the border into Ohio and got to visit with Iris. Isabell thinks that we LIVE at a McDonald's b/c that seems to be our "meeting place" when we are on the road. It was great to see her before she **pops** and can't wait to meet the new little fella!

Intruder Update

Well, we aren't sure exactly what happened, but it's safe to say the sergeant at arms position is vacant once again. Dillon and Faith went back up to the Club House a couple of days later and the owl was lying in the gully. We aren't sure if he was sick or what. When we returned from being gone over the weekend, he was gone altogether. . . maybe another animal needed him for their sergeant at arms (????) If you know anyONE or anyTHING that would like to fill the vacancy, let us know :-)

Creation Museum

While in Northern KY we were able to visit the Creation Museum. It was awesome and we would recommend it to anyone visiting the area!

Happy Halloween!

First Baptist Garrett held a Halloween Festival tonight where the kids could dress up and come and play games for candy. The kids had a great time! Audra was a Pea in a Pod (she tried to eat the other peas), Faith was Wonder Woman (tried her best to fly), and Dillon was a rain cloud. (when someone would ask Dillon what he was, he'd say, "A stormy day, with a chance of rain" and would squirt them w/ his water bottle) :-)

Sharing GAP and making new friends

This weekend we traveled to Northern KY, just outside of Cincinnati to share GAP with a couple of churches. Mentor Baptist Church's WMU adopted our family back in February of this year. They have been such a blessing to our family and it was nice to finally put a face with a name and get to know the rest of the church. Beverly Wilson had been our main contact person and she went above and beyond anything we would have expected. She took care of our accommodations, took us out to eat for John's birthday at Mitchell's Fish Market, and rallied the AWANA children and adults to collect personal products for GAP. We had a great time fellowshipping with everyone from the church and we look forward to them visiting us at GAP. The second church was First Baptist Cold Spring. The pastor, Bro. Ronny, took part in our marriage ceremony 11 years ago in Glasgow. We were able to spend some time with him and Angie (and Daisy) before the church service Sunday night. Angie even had a birthday cake for John. It was a blessing to share with the people of First Baptist about what God is doing at GAP. They collected numerous household items and personal products to stock the shelves at GAP. We thank both of these churches for opening their doors for us to share with them the ministry of GAP. It was a blessing to meet so many new folks and we look forward to serving with you in the future!

An Intruder of the ClubHouse

Dillon and Faith have journeyed far enough up "the trail" behind the house to find a perfect place (still in view of the house) to build the ultimate Club House. They have spent endless evenings working on their new found hobby. After a month, they have finished the floor. They look for odd things lying around that will benefit their endeavor. Anything from scrap wood, to a thrown out rug. The only rule that John and I imposed upon them. . .nothing is left up there after their work is done for the day. So right now, there is a wood floor. (pictures to follow at a later date) We aren't sure how they are going to construct walls and have yet to inquire. We want to see where their imagination leads them. It's so neat to watch them work together and actually get along (sometimes a rare sight) all the while building their perfect clubhouse.
Today, Dillon and Faith decided they would go on a scavenger hunt. I made them a list of things they had to find and out the door they went. First stop, the clubhouse. As they approached, they realized they had a visitor, an intruder in the CLUBHOUSE! They came running back to the house to inform me of their find and wanted the camera to take a picture. I decided I needed to see this excitement for myself. So, off in the rain I went up to the Clubhouse to see this creature that was causing such a stir. There, perched on log, (doing what we later would call protecting the clubhouse), was an Owl. So a new journey starts . . .trying to figure out just what kind of owl is their new sergeant at arms.

A visit from Nana and Granddaddy

Nana and Granddaddy (my mom and dad) came to visit with us this weekend on their way to Lexington for the ballgame. They babysat while John and I went out on a date!!!! (our first one since moving) Thanks Nana and Granddaddy!!!! (Dillon was MIA for the pics.)

A Day with the Parker's at Archer Park

Sunday after church we went with the Parker's to Archer Park for a picnic and afternoon of fun. It was a beeeeeeautiful day! I'm sad to see the cold weather coming. . I'm not sure I'm ready!

Audra

Just thought I'd pass along a few pics. of precious baby Audra :-)

A Day (and night) with the Robinson's

John, Dillon, Casey and Gunner all headed to the woods to camp and hunt at Carr Creek, so the girls (and baby Westin) decided to have a sleepover! We had S'mores before watching Mary Poppins and then heading off to Sleepy Town. The next day we spent at the park swinging, feeding the ducks, learning the monkey bars and just making memories. Thanks gals for a wonderful day! (Thank you Casey and Gunner for the hunting trip)

Kentucky Coal Mining Museum

We took a road trip (field trip for the kids) to Lynch, KY today. The beauty of God's Creation just left me speechless. The mountains in their grandeur. They were just magnificent and breathtaking with all of the leaves changing. Every time I turned my head I was seeing a postcard picture. It was awesome. When we got to Lynch, we visited Solomon's Porch and had a great time sharing with Lonnie and his staff. God is truly doing amazing things with that ministry. After leaving Solomon's Porch, we went to the Kentucky Coal Mining Museum and checked out the local heritage. It was very interesting and eye-opening. The kids had fun seeing all of the different ways people lived and going in the mock mine.

Pumpkin Carving. . . ALREADY!

Talk about time flying! I can't believe that it is already fall. We've gone from 95+ degree weather to the 60's in just a matter of days(and I'm freezing!). John and the kids took full advantage of our last warm day last weekend and carved their pumpkins. Faith has already gotten her Halloween outfit and Dillon is working on his. . stay tuned for future pics.

Faith starts Girl Scouts

Tonight was Faith's first official night as a GIRL SCOUT! She was very shy at first but by the end of the meeting she was having a great time. They made noise makers (and noisy they are!), S'mores and decorated a plate. We now have 2 scouts in our midst :-)

Bathtime/Beauty Shop fun!

Faith and I had fun giving Audra a new "do" while she was taking a bath. She was such a good sport and even said she would revisit our beauty shop :-)