The Moss Farm

Samuel's 1st tooth

2012-01-28T16:40:00.003-06:00

Yesterday Samuel lost his first tooth!

He didn't know even it was loose untill we were eating lunch and

he lost it about thirty minutes later.

Anna

Happy 89th Birthday, Mama Em!

2012-01-28T16:09:00.006-06:00

Every year, for four years, we have celebrated Mama Em's (Daddy's grandmother) birthday

by going to Aunt Emily's house and having a spa party.

Left to Right: Anna, Joy, Delie, Martha, and Elizabeth.

Washing Mama Em's feet.

Everyone together around the table.

Mama Em and Mamie.
Happy Birthday, Mama Em!

Anna

Over the river and through the woods...

2012-01-09T16:50:00.001-06:00

...to Mamie and Big George's house we go!

We spent the 22nd and 23rd with Daddy's family. From singing The 12 Days of Christmas to playing "Over" (hilarious!), we had some great family time with everyone.

The grandchildren in the family always dress up and "perform" the Christmas story.
We had a couple of the little ones back out at the last minute, but Win was happy to stand in as a Wise Man (and his wife, Liz, did a great job as a lamb, even when six year old "Joseph" accidentally hit her in the head with his staff.)

Delie, Anna, George, and I played some Christmas music at an assisted living home (Anna is behind the piano in the picture), and then I played the piano while all the grandchildren sang.

We've been taking music from the Smith family. Four of their daughters teach music, so George takes mandolin, Anna takes piano, and Delie and I take violin; all at the same time. Our teachers arranged a couple of hymns that we could all play together, and that has been very fun to do as a family.

This was our first time to have everyone together in several years, so we got a picture on the front porch.

~Joy

The 12 Days of Christmas

2012-01-07T16:56:00.010-06:00

Hello Everyone!
Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. December went by so fast this year, filled with get-togethers with family and friends. Here's a quick overview of what we've done over the last month:

We cut down two trees this year, but we don't have a good picture of the second.

The first turned out to be too big for our house - the living room looked like a forest when you first walked in - so we opted for a smaller one from the hundred that we planted a few years ago.

Oh, in case you noticed, Delie is taller than I am ;(

Our early Christmas present from Mommy and Daddy - a Snowball! Our three-legged Blue Heeler, Amos, died this summer, so we got a great Pyrenees puppy. Pyrenees are supposed to be great with children, chickens and goats, so Snowball met all our criteria.

On Christmas Eve, the boys camp out in our room, and in the morning we all sit on the front stairs and wait for Mommy and Daddy to come get us. All of us get what we call "Moss eyes" when we first wake up, and I think this picture really brings it out.

We took a two-night trip to Virginia between Christmas and New Year's Eve. Above is picture of ALL of the Moore, Moss, and Moody children in age order. Someone counted, and realized that we had exactly twelve boys and twelve girls in the house!

Our church came over for pizza on New Years Eve. We fellowshiped until midnight, and then some of us went outside to shoot some firecrackers - and some impromptu twirling under the security light :D

Hope ya'll had a wonderful Christmas and New Year!

~Joy

So much to be thankful for...

2011-12-08T16:23:00.000-06:00

For Thanksgiving this year, we went to Mamie and Big George's hunting farm, about an hour's drive from our home, to eat lunch with 60+ friends and family members (to those of you who were unable to come, we missed you!)

We always take a long walk after Thanksgiving dinner down through their 300 acres. The weather was beautiful, and so was the scenery!

Delie took this black-and-white photo of Anna, Thomas, Samuel, and me walking down the trail.

William and James decided to take a nap in the stroller. I thought they looked cute with their heads leaning in opposite directions.

William sitting on some of the wood we - I mean they - split and stacked. George IV spent most of his afternoon chopping.

George signing the family Bible that all the Georges have signed.

We ended up sitting around the fire - or playing spotlight - after it became dark.

I hope ya'll had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Joy

George's First Doe

2011-12-08T16:16:00.000-06:00

On Friday, George killed his first doe! (You can read about his first buck here.) He was hunting with Big George and they were able to see a lot of deer (even after he had shot his doe). They decided to process it in our yard and tan the hide to hang in the boy's room. I didn't get any pictures of him with the complete deer, but here's a picture of George and Big George (with Delie and William watching - William was fascinated with the deer) preparing to skin it.

The National Bible Bee, Nashville, TN

2011-12-03T15:48:00.017-06:00

Back in November, our family was very blessed to be able to attend the National Bible Bee, held in Nashville, TN. Daddy's aunt and uncle let us stay in their home and we drove back and forth to the Bee.

The 2011 National Bible Bee and Family Discipleship conference's goal is to encourage fathers to lead their families in studying the Word. The competition- similar to the spelling bee- was amazing! Children in three different age categories Quoted hundreds of verses to win the prize. We didn't get any pictures of the competition, but it was very impressive!

Anna took this picture of James on the way there. Isn't he the cutest little baby in the world?! (But maybe I'm a bit prejudiced:) )

Samuel and Thomas eating lunch. A few of us were comparing the nutrition facts on our individual bags of chips, and Cheetos lost. ;)

We really liked all the Bible teachers that we heard at the Bible Bee. Besides Voddie Baucham(above), Doug Phillips, Kirk Cameron, Brett Harris, and John Stonestreet were some of the speakers there.

Some of our favorite musicians were there, too. We were glad to meet Nathan Clark George and the Wissmanns during the course of the Bee.

Something else that I really liked were the plays. A very talented family, the Hendrys, did four of them about Corrie ten Boom, Anna Jackson, Max Rossvally, and hymn writers Fanny Crosby and Ira D. Sankey (above). Their family writes the plays, performs, and does the costumes and music.

There were classes on how to interpret scripture into art by calligrapher Timothy Botts.

The Bible Bee also had a family fun room that George and Samuel enjoyed. Above, Samuel is doing the "Flying Turtles".

George on the rock climbing wall. Incidentally, he pulled a muscle and ended up going to the ER the day after we got home because we thought it was his appendix! We are very thankful and relieved.

...and Happy Birthday, William!

2011-10-28T16:11:00.002-05:00

The day after Mommy's birthday, William turned two! Since all eight of us are c-section babies and we schedule the births, we had wanted him to be born on Mommy's birthday but the hospital was full (it happened again with James).

William did well at blowing out his candles, until...

he picked up the flaming candle! Daddy blew it out before he burned himself, but it scared everyone - except William!

Mamie (Daddy's mother) and Mama Em (Daddy's grandmother) came out to help us celebrate.

William opening his presents. Don't you just love that smile?

Mama Em and Demie.

Climbing a tree (Daddy's right behind him, he's just not in the picture).

Happy Birthday, William! I love you!

~Joy

Happy Birthday, Mommy...

2011-10-23T15:50:00.014-05:00

Mommy just celebrated her birthday! Our friends from Virginia, the Moores, came up for Daddy's fall break to celebrate with us. Every year, for Mommy's birthday, we like to take a day trip to a state park or historic site, because the weather is so beautiful. This year, we went to Reelfoot Lake State Park.

Eagles migrate to the lake every January and February. There are also a couple in captivity at the lake (like the one above).

Reelfoot has a museum about Indian life and the earthquake that formed the lake during the winter of 1811-1812.

George, Dobson, and Dain on the boardwalk by the lake.

It was really neat to see all the beauty of God's creation at Reelfoot Lake. I told Mommy that I would like to decorate my house with those colors some day. God's diverse creation is so amazing. When we visit the Moores, they have mountains and caves; when they come here, we have cotton and cypress trees.

When we last went to Reelfoot, we found a little secluded beach area, where we were the only people. We went there again with the Moores, and ended up spending most of our afternoon there.

William and Dabney enjoyed playing by the lake. Those two are so cute together.

Going back to the vans.

After Reelfoot, we went to Mommy's favorite pizza place - Alvino's! They serve the best pizza in Tennessee, and we had been wanting to take the Moores there. We practically took up the whole restaurant. You know you're a large family when you have to bring in lawn chairs from the van to seat everyone:) (and we still held some of the smaller ones in our laps).

We ended up standing out in the parking for a while, talking - a typical Moore/Moss day!

~Joy

Down To The River To Pray

2011-07-20T16:06:00.011-05:00

Last Sunday, Delie, George, Samuel, Anna, and I were baptized. It was a very special time for all of us, and lots of our extended family came (as well as some sweet friends of ours who were visiting from out of state). We were baptized in the cow trough, because it was near and snake-free (unlike the pond :)

As I went down to the river to pray,

Studyin' about that good ol' way.

And who shall wear the starry crown?

Good lord, show me the way.

Oh brothers, let's go down,

Let's go down, come on down.

Oh brothers, let's go down,

Down to the river to pray.

As I went down to the river to pray,

Studyin' about that good ol' way.

And who shall wear the star and the crown?

Good Lord, show me the way.

Oh sisters, let's go down,

Let's go down, come on down.

Oh sisters, let's go down,

Down to the river to pray.

As I went down to the river to pray,

Studyin' about that good ol' way.

And who shall wear the robe and the crown?

Good Lord, show me the way.

Oh sinners, let's go down,

Let's go down, come on down.

Oh sinners, let's go down,

Down to the river to pray.

Joy

The Life at Moss Farm

2011-07-07T14:37:00.010-05:00

Hello, everyone!
I'm sorry it's been such a long time since we bloged. Here's what's been going on:

James is now 2 months old. Here's a picture of him:

James makes William seem like such a big boy.
Recently, William started sleeping in the girl's room. He is so cute when he has his camo pj's on in a purple room that is very girly.

Here's something Thomas found for himself and William.

I hope you all had a nice Fourth of July,we did. In the morning we went to Paw Paw's house (Mommy's father.) Paw Paw bought a house about 15 miles away from us.

In the morning we swam, then we ate lunch, then Joy, Delie, George, Samuel and I, went exploring in Paw Paw's woods. Joy found a bridge.

After that we went back and swam again.
Then we went to the Bizzell's house.

George and Kirk Bizzell eating homemade ice cream.

Samuel playing TetherballRebbecca Bizzell and Miss Erin with Sparklers.

I didn't get any good pictures of the fireworks, but it was fun watching them.

~Anna~

It's a Boy!

2011-05-23T14:13:00.002-05:00

We're so late in blogging that most of you have probably already heard of the birth of

James Warren Moss

Born: May 6, 2011 at 7:51 a.m.

Weight: 9 pounds, 8 ounces.

Height: 21 1/2 inches.

He was born the day after Daddy's birthday and came home from the hospital on Mother's Day.

Congratulations to everyone who wrote that they thought he would be a brown-haired boy in our Which Will It Be? book! This includes Samuel, Mr. Bryan, Demie, Dandle, Dobson, and Daylie Moore, and Paw Paw.

We are all so thankful for this precious little boy!

"Sons are a heritage from the LORD,

children a reward from him."

Psalm 127:3

-Delie

Merry Belated Christmas and Happy New Year

2011-01-08T17:19:00.020-06:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I'm sorry we're so late in blogging about our Christmas and New Years celebrations.

We've been pretty busy lately but here the post finally is.

We celebrated Christmas with Daddy's family on the 22nd and 23rd. The Currie children came over on the 23rd, we made gingerbread houses with them. It was hard to see Anna and Martha's house through the candy and icing!

We had a Christmas recital that night. Mamie, Daddy's mother, has been teaching us piano for the past few years. This year Anna and I took a break and learned violin from Joy instead.

On Christmas morning we exchanged our homemade gifts. Every year on June 25 (half way to Christmas) we draw names and each person has half a year to make the person who's name they drew a present. Anna made Daddy this poster of pictures our family and of Daddy as a little boy.

Joy drew Samuel's name and made him stilts from coffee cans. He loved wearing them!

After Christmas we went to Virginia to visit our dear friends the Moores. The Moody family came over for New Year's, it was nice to meet their family.

All the boys enjoyed playing foosball! Erin Moody, Dabney Moore and William watched their big brothers play.

On New Year's Eve we had another recital with the Moores and Moodys.

The six oldest Moore children played this piece on their instruments. It is called "Star of Bethlehem." Darbie Lee (13) and DeLane (14) played the violin, Dain (10) played the mandolin, Dane' (17) played the hammer dulcimer, Demie (18) played the guitar and Daylie (8) played the tambourine (sorry, Daylie, I don't think I got you on camera).

We had a great time of fellowship and fun with them. They were wonderful hosts and hostesses.

I hope you have all had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

~Delie, for the Moss family

Christmas Doings on (and off!) the Moss Farm

2010-12-24T16:06:00.008-06:00

This is a quick update because I'm in a hurry. Lord willing, I'll do a picture blog post soon

We have been very busy here at the Moss home. We spent Wednesday and Thursday with Daddy's family in Brownsville. We got to see some family members we hadn't seen since Thanksgiving, so that was fun. With thirteen grandchildren under fourteen, there was always plenty of excitement. George and I take piano from Mamie (our grandmother name for Daddy's mother), and we had our piano recital yesterday.

Mommy's daddy, Paw Paw, is moving up here from MS! We have been helping him move, and we love his new house. We are very glad he is moving up here!

On Tuesday we went to Memphis for to see Mommy's O.B. for an ultrasound. We like to wait to wait for the baby to be born to find out if it is a boy/girl, but we loved getting to "see" the baby. We also went to Delie's doctor for her prosthesis.

On Monday we went to our pediatrician, and Samuel and William got shots. Samuel was such a brave boy, and he never cried. We were very proud of him. (It helped that he got to pick where we ate if he didn't cry. He picked Chick-fil-a!)

George and Daddy have joined a father/son Christian scouting-type program called ALERT Cadet, so on Saturday we went to a Christmas party to meet the other families in the group. The group is in Memphis, and Daddy would like to start a group closer to our home, so if you are interested in joining please let Daddy know.

Tomorrow we are having all our extended family that are in town out here for Christmas breakfast.

Oh, it's supposed to snow tonight. Not much, but maybe we'll have a white Christmas after all!

Hope you have a wonderful Christmas celebrating the birth of our Savior!

Joy, for the Mosses

George's Star Buck

2010-11-24T15:38:00.008-06:00

Last Saturday George shot his first deer. It is an eight point. (For all you non-hunters that is a really big deer!) He is eight years old, so we tell him he'll have to shoot a fifty point when he's fifty.

The proud hunter, George with his extremely proud brother, Samuel.

Daddy and the boys. (And, of course, the deer.)

The boys and Big George. George was hunting with Big George when he shot the deer.

George's notes:
We were about to get down when he walked out. He was on the other side of the field (about 200 yards). It took about 5 minutes for him to come to the other side where we were. When he was about 25 yards away I shot at him and missed him. (I brought 4 bullets). Then Big George put a bullet in the gun. The deer just stood there. I shot again and he fell down. We got down and I shot him. He kept breathing. I shot him for the last time. He was dead.

THE END

Moore visit: Part 2

2010-11-18T16:04:00.009-06:00

The Moores have come back through, and we have immensely enjoyed their visit. This year we celebrated the tenth anniversary that our families have known each other.

Now, after ten blessed years-and nine more children-we celebrated our tenth anniversary with pizza and cake.

One night Daddy, Mommy, Aunt Edee, and Uncle Shane went out for sushi. We had a great time here, eating burritos, talking, taking care of little ones, and watching a bird documentary.

We went down to the pond to fish on Sunday afternoon.

Sweet Delight, resting on the picnic blanket.

We played some football, as well as kickball, tag, Fox and Geese; we rode on the zip line and jumped on the trampoline.

We also played Whoonu, a fun personality game. Although we knew them very well beforehand, we learned a lot about the Moores as we played.

On Sunday we hosted our home church meeting. One family was sick, so only the Dawsons were able to come. This is a picture of combined Moss, Moore, and Dawson girls-minus Joy (behind the camera) and Delight.

We miss you already, Moores!

Joy

Philippians 1:3

Moore visit: Part 1

2010-10-31T15:16:00.010-05:00

Our very dear friends, the Moore family, came to see us on their trip to TX. We had a good time of fellowship. We went to my cousin's birthday party and got a good picture of the 20+ Mosses and Moores on the playground.

The boys played ball the day they left. We girls talked a lot, as well as playing Capture the Flag and Fox and Geese with the boys. (No pictures.)

The Moores are now on their way back from the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival
(Check out their documentary, Children are a Blessing, at Moore Family Films.)

We will miss you all, Moores, and we can't wait to see you tonight!

The Baby Conference

2010-08-01T17:00:00.001-05:00

Vision Forum had a conference called The Baby Conference in San Antonio last month. It was about the blessing of children. It was really good. Speakers included Scott and Deborah Brown, Doug and Beall Phillips, Jay and Kay Valenti, the whole Geoff Botkin family, Kevin Swanson, and Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar!

We didn't take many pictures of the actual conference, but here are a couple:

There were children everywhere, and strollers in abundance. They wouldn't allow strollers in the talks, so they had "stroller parking".

We enjoyed meeting so many families who live like we do. We hope we can see all of you again! (May be at another conference ?!?)

Joy

Where in the world are the Mosses?

2010-08-01T16:40:00.003-05:00

We went to a Christian family conference (I posted about it separately) in San Antonio,TX.

Pictures are below:

The Alamo was very interesting (and very sunny,too, from the picture!) A nice home school family took a picture of our whole family, but it's on Delie's camera, so we can't put it on the blog.

It's hard to believe we've visited two scenes of American patriotism already in my life time (this and Valley Forge). Someday, if I marry, I want to bring my children to the Alamo.

William had his first ice cream (chocolate and strawberry) at Haagen Dazz. We rarely go out for ice cream, so this was a real treat. Thank you, Mommy and Daddy!

We took a couple of walks on the River Walk. Sunday afternoon, it was not crowded and we were able to enjoy the beautiful scenery (which we were not able to do Saturday night because of the crowded sidewalks).

We did a lot of walking in the cave. They said it was the equivalent of 18 stories! Thomas walked the whole thing with his crocs on the wrong feet (I think he was the one who put them on!) We did make him hold a hand, because some of the surfaces were steep and wet. We also drank some cave water. It was good, but didn't taste any different.

We haven't really taken a trip like this since Samuel was a baby. We all really enjoyed it, and can't wait to do it again!

This a rather over due post because the conference was July 8. We've been busy.

Joy

My 8th Birthday

2010-06-13T14:30:00.010-05:00

We had a birthday party on our farm for Elizabeth (7) and me (8).

Us in the truck, getting ready to go fishing.

This is a picture of me.

I caught two fish.

We went fishing, and it was raining.

I had a chocolate cake with chocolate ice cream. I decorated it with a dead deer, and four men hunting. My cousin, Elizabeth, brought a cake with pink flowers on it.

Delie gave me this card.

I got a new Bible.

The Carpenters gave me a gift card to Gander Mountain.

Samuel's Birthday

2010-05-26T16:00:00.004-05:00

We went to the park for my fifth birthday! We ate fried chicken and strawberry cupcakes with our extended family.

Daddy and Mommy got on the balancing thing with me.

Thomas and Amy sliding down the slide.

I liked swinging on the tire swing.

I decorated my strawberry cupcakes with Skittles. This is a picture of Thomas, Martha, and me eating cupcakes.

I got to blow a party blower, and wear a birthday hat in the van. I got lots of presents and I got candy!

William is wearing a birthday hat. My real birthday is tomorrow.

Dictated by Samuel, posted by Joy

We're kidding! (again)

2010-05-03T15:08:00.011-05:00

Little Debbie

April 27th, 2010

Proud mother, Dottie

Also welcoming her: Cinnamon and Chocolate and the whole Moss family

We had another baby girl born last Thursday. She is black and white. This time, I actually got to see the birth! It was very neat, and once she got started, very fast. I was the only one who got to see it. The mama was screaming up a storm, so Mommy ran inside to call Big George (our grandfather and vet) to see what we needed to do. Little Debbie was born while Mommy was inside. I didn't have anything to do with it, though.

Dottie loves her kid, but she isn't a great caretaker and she doesn't come running whenever her kid calls.

All the goats wanted to check Little Debbie out.

Cinnamon and Debbie "talking". It looks like Cinnamon is telling her all about life. The girls are one week apart, and already very close to each other. Incidentally, we had hoped to get a kid on my birthday, but the first kid came a week after; the second, a week after her. I guess we'll always be able to remember their birthdays!

We're kidding!

2010-04-25T15:54:00.007-05:00

We had a kid this Thursday! Our Nubian/Alpine doe had an adorable baby girl. Her name is Cinnamon, and she looks like cinnamon toast! She is very cute and very friendly. Her father is a Nubian, and she definitely has that Nubian look. Here is a picture of Cinnamon and me:
Her mama, Chocolate is a very attentive mama and follows her everywhere.She is also very protective, and she gets very upset (much more than the kid) when we pick the kid up.

Our pregnant doe, Dottie, was rather jealous of the new baby kid, so we had to work with her on not butting Cinnamon. She's better about it now.

We like Cinnamon!

She is so sweet. I wish you all could see her, hold her, and play with her. Lord willing, I'll soon be able to blog about our other doe's kid/s.

William

2010-02-16T14:18:00.007-06:00

William is geting big.

Anna

Samuel's Picture

2010-02-12T16:10:00.004-06:00

Indian Night

Samuel drew this picture on the computer. He says, "Do you see how many stars there are?"

Snow Cream

2010-02-07T15:51:00.011-06:00

We put vanilla, peppermint flavoring and green food dye in it.

Today we put peppermint and cocoa mix in it, (we added sugar and milk both times, too.)

But we don't have any pictures from today.

It Snowed on January 30-February 1, and it snowed yesterday. Today it was good for snow men and snow balls. We got at least 6 inches. We had a lot of fun sledding and eating snow (and snow cream.)

George IV age 7 1/2

A haircut and glasses

2010-01-30T15:51:00.004-06:00

Last week (January 22) Delie had 11 inches cut off for Locks of Love, and Anna (I) got glasses.

Before...

After.

Anna

1,000 Days on the Farm

2009-12-29T15:15:00.019-06:00

Today we have had our farm 1,000 days.

And this is a little of what has happened.

Our neighbor baled our hay for us several times.

Amos, our three-legged dog came with the farm.

We got chickens the second summer on the farm.

We got a cat in April, 2008 and she multiplied by 20.
Attention: Free Kittens.

We got two goats this summer, named Dottie and Chocolate.

We planted a big garden.

And some herbs.

We planted 100 Christmas trees.

We also planted 45 blueberry bushes.

We now have two more children, Thomas and William.

We have taken walks,

and ridden bikes.

Last year we had a big snow.

It is beautiful!

~Joy

Adorable Brothers

2009-11-29T15:20:00.012-06:00

Here are some pictures of the boys.

Baby William

Samuel dressing up

Thomas by the fence

George

William

George, Amos, and the dead snake

Samuel

Thomas

Aren't they sweet!

William Lawrence Moss

2009-10-29T14:56:00.010-05:00

Here are some pictures:

Two weeks ago today at 1:20 William Lawrence was born. He weighed 8 lbs 8oz,and was 21 inches long, and like most Mosses had a big head. He is so cute!!!!!!! Thomas is so exited about being a big brother! Almost everyone thoght he was a girl, Samuel thoght it was a boy. It has been all he talked about. By Anna

Kittens!!! by Anna

2009-07-13T16:45:00.004-05:00

Today (July 13) our cat had kittens. They are so cute.We think there are six or seven. They were born in a old diaper trashcan. If you want one they are free. We have a cute kitten that got dropped off, but it is not for sale. Here is the kitten that got dropped off giving our male cat a kiss.

Anna

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

2009-05-03T15:08:00.006-05:00

Yesterday (May 2) Joy, Anna, and I (Delie) had our Ballet recital!

It was "Snow White." We were each Dwarfs. I was Sleepy, Joy was Doc, and Anna was Happy.

We were also each royal people. I was also a Lady-in-Waiting and Joy was
the Good Queen (Snow White's real mother).
It was a lot of fun but we are each very relieved it is over.

Delie Moss

Happy Birthday, Thomas!

2009-03-29T21:05:00.002-05:00

Today is Thomas's second birthday, and we are all so grateful and blessed to have him. He brings us so much joy.

Here Daddy is jumping him up and down and by his huge smile you can tell he is loving it.

We brought cupcakes to church and sang to him but he only wanted his "cookoo."

The t-shirt he is wearing is a birthday present. His best present of all won't arrive until October when he becomes the "big brother." We are so excited that God has chosen to bless us again with another child!

Snow, by Anna

2009-03-01T16:07:00.004-06:00

Yesterday Elizabeth, Martha, and Amy (our cousins) came because their parents were at a wedding. It started snowing soon after they got here, the more snow fell the more the ground got covered. Every thing was going pretty well until Mamie (our Grandmother) called asking us to pray for her, about 20 minutes later she called us saying that she was stuck, Daddy got her out. Praise God!!! They didn't really want to go back so they spent the night here. In the morning we played outside.

Anna

Ice (by Delie)

2009-01-20T16:06:00.012-06:00

This past Saturday our pond iced, after breakfast we went outside to "skate." It was so much fun! Thomas loved it (as you can probably tell by the picture below).

But he and Samuel did fall down a few times, (below).

I took this picture of George making an "ice angel."

This picture I took of Daddy and Joy sitting by the pond.

Mommy and Anna danced on the ice.

We had lots of fun!!!

Delie Marie Moss

Spa Night (for real!)

2009-01-19T14:07:00.007-06:00

Last Thursday, we Moss ladies had a spa night at our cousins', the Carpenters, house. It was their birthday gift to our great grandmother Mama Em. We ate pizza, played games, took pictures, did "spa things", and just had a fun time.

Elizabeth putting lotion on our feet. She can tickle.

We got a spa kit consisting of Kleenexes, finger nail polish, a nail care kit, a back massaging thing, and flip flops.

Anna painted her nails.

Massaging our hands. Left to right: Mama Em, Martha, Joy (me), and Elizabeth.

Joy

Island Vacation

2009-01-05T14:38:00.010-06:00

We just returned from a island vacation in the Bahamas. We took a private cruise, stayed there three days, and wore flip flops the whole time. I'm kidding.

In reality we went to Davis Island, a hunting island in the middle of the Mississippi River. All nineteen Mosses went to stay at a three bedroom lodge, because Big George (Daddy's father) has a hunting membership there.

Us on the barge crossing the river.

Davis Island is named after Joseph Davis, the brother of Jefferson Davis, the president of the south during the Civil War. Both brothers had plantations on Davis Island, but Joseph lived there more. There are several old ruins there, and above is the library.

Three generations of Campbells and Mosses. Big George's best friend growing up was Mr. Richard Campbell, and the two families have come to the island together often.

Uncle Philip shot a deer, much to cousin Philip's delight. Georgie was right in the middle of the whole gutting process. Sorry about the picture, I've built up a immune system through killing roosters.

We had a small accident. All the houses on the island are built on stilts or hills to prevent flooding. Our house was on a hill and Mamie and Big George's all terrain vehicle was parked at the top of the hill, while all the other cars (ours included) were parked at the bottom. We heard shouting outside, and saw the all terrain vehicle rolling down the hill (with no one in it) towards our aunt's Suburban. The hill was long enough and steep enough, that it would have been a big smash, but the all terrain vehicle turned and and stopped right between our van and the Suburban. It broke the one of our headlights, but Daddy fixed it. Thank you, God!

Joy

Some Things I Love About Christmas, by Joy

2008-12-25T16:27:00.000-06:00

Now that it is Christmas, I would like to share with you some of my favorite things about Christmas.

I love the smells of Christmas. Smells of hot cocoa and hot cider. Smells of chocolate just beginning to harden, and cinnamon wafting through the house.

I love the feel of Christmas. While everything outside is cold, inside everything is warm and everyone is full of good cheer.

I love the memories of Christmas. Memories of getting together with family and sharing the season. Memories of going caroling with the church in Bristol, VA.

I love the tastes of Christmas. Chocolate covered Oreos, peanut butter balls, cheese straws. I could go on and on.

I love the sights of Christmas. Wreaths on the windows, candles in the windows, Christmas trees in the windows...are you sensing a pattern here? I also love our nativity scene.

I love the spirit of Christmas. The spirit of giving and not receiving. Although we receive gifts too! And I'm not saying I mind!

I love the sounds of Christmas. Carols, Christmas piano recitals, Christmas wishes, laughter, Salvation Army bells. Christmas sounds are so pretty.

I love the true meaning of Christmas. I love that Jesus came to earth as a little baby, born in a stable in Bethlehem. I love that it's CHRISTmas.

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

MERRY CHRISTMAS, AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Joy

Kittens!!!! (and roosters)

2008-11-15T14:33:00.008-06:00

We have kittens! This morning Daddy fed the chickens and cats, and when he came inside he told us we have kittens! We have three black ones, and two black and white ones. That's the same as last time. Exactly.

Today we went to Brownsville and visited all the family there. George, Anna, and Delie are still there. George went with Big George to "The Farm" , the family hunting farm, to take care of things there.

And that brings me to the roosters. I love chickens. In general. But I'm a little, well, scared of the roosters. Needless to say, I was glad when we killed six of the roosters in September. But we still have three more. Samuel and I went out there today to see if there were any eggs. We got three and were walking hand in hand back to the house when one of the roosters attacked Samuel. Well, it pecked him and flapped his wings and jumped. I picked up Samuel (we were both screaming) and we ran to the house. Oh, and tonight I am making rooster pot pie. Samuel says it will make him feel better. I hope so.

Joy

Moore pictures

2008-10-30T16:09:00.018-05:00

Yay! I finally got the pictures up. Thank you Daddy and Aunt Renie (http://mosshouse.blogspot.com/)

On the front porch. Front row: George, Samuel, Dobson, Daylie, Dandle. Second row: Daddy, Delie, Anna, Dain. Third row: Mommy, Me (Joy) , Thomas, Dane', Delane, Darbie. Back row: Delight, Uncle Shane, Demie, Aunt Edee.

Darbie riding the Zip Line.

( Left to right) George, Dain, and Darbie on the Trampoline.

Demie and Dane' playing the dulcimer and guitar.

We caught two frogs. They both died, so we had a funeral.

Christening pictures are on Aunt Emily's blog (http://jamiecarpenterfamily.blogspot.com/)

Joy

Catching up (by Joy)

2008-10-28T15:51:00.004-05:00

Hello Everybody,
Sorry we haven't blogged in so long. In the past couple of months:

>Anna won the pie contest. Toll House pie, yum!

>I went to a math conference with Daddy in Clarksville, TN.

>Our chickens are laying. Oh, and we (well, mostly Daddy) killed 6 of our roosters. We ate them.

>Our cat Maggie is pregnant again.

>Our dear friends, the Moores, came from Virginia and stayed 5 days. We had 19 people here.

>My cousin Amy was christened, and her older sister Martha had her third birthday.

I hope to add pictures, but Daddy hasn't taught me how yet. Hope to be back soon.

Joy

Mmmm, blueberry pie

2008-08-09T07:18:00.002-05:00

We love blueberries, and we planted 15 blueberry bushes this spring. We won't be getting lots of berries from them for another year or two. We've only gotten about 20 blueberries this year! That didn't go very far in our family.

Last week we went to Beverly's aunt's farm to pick blueberries. They planted 200 bushes many, many years ago, and they produce huge quantities of blueberries. We left here about 6:00 so that we could pick early since it's been so hot. Everyone except Thomas had an ice cream bucket - Thomas fell asleep on the way there, and we let him sleep as long as he could. George picked almost a whole gallon, and Samuel added the few berries that he hadn't eaten, so the boys picked a gallon together. Anna and Delie each picked a gallon. Joy picked two gallons. And Beverly and I each picked a little over two gallons, so that we came home with about 10 gallons of blueberries in about 2 hours of picking!

We had blueberry pancakes for supper that night, and we froze the rest of the berries. Last night Joy made a blueberry pie. There's a pie baking contest at an upcoming homeschool picnic, and all the girls are planning to enter, so we get to enjoy them perfecting their pies until then. Joy's pie was delicious. As you can see, Thomas really enjoyed it too.

Farm Life (by Joy)

2008-06-12T14:58:00.003-05:00

We have had a very busy week. Our neighbor, Mr. Billy Joe had somebody bale our hay. We counted 37 bales.Each bale weighed about 1,600 pounds! That is not a misprint.We gave Mr. Billy Joe 70% of it.We went out after supper and got some cute pictures sitting on the hay bales.We all wore our Moss Beach Reunion 2008 T-shirts that we got at Gulf Shores, AL.

That same day Mr. Billy Joe brought us 27 chicks to keep! They were 3 or 4 days old.There are 2 blacks, 2 brown speckled, 1 golden,and 21 yellow chicks. One chick died. Boo hoo! We buried it.

Poor Amos,he must feel left out. Maggie, our cat is having kittens in 2 weeks. She is soooooo fat.

Our garden is coming along great. And I (Joy) have 5 kinds of herbs,Lavender,German Chamomile,Mint,Basil, and Dill. Thomas likes to play in this bucket of water while we work in the garden. Got2GO!

Hello, again

2008-05-23T22:56:00.003-05:00

My sister, Emily, just started a blog, and my sister-in-law, Renie, keeps us informed through her blog. Renie said it was time for us to update our blog. I guess if our most recent post is from a five-year-old three months ago, then it's hard to argue.

We've had a great spring. Maybe I'll write more sometime to fill in the details. But maybe not. Here's a recent picture taken after the girls' ballet recital. They performed an adaptation of "The Velveteen Rabbit." Delie was the child who loved the rabbit, Joy was her mother, Anna was a shopper at the toy store, and even George got into the show as Delie's brother. My niece, Elizabeth, was a bunny. Everyone did a great job.

george iv's post

2008-02-25T14:45:00.002-06:00

this is my sweet family: joy 10 delie 9 anna 7 samuel 2 thomas 10 months daddy 35 mommy 36 and amos our dog we have a farm it is so fun
BY GEORGE 5

Tornadoes

2008-02-06T10:49:00.001-06:00

Our family made it through another tornado warning just fine yesterday, although others in the area were hit hard. We're getting used to the warnings, although it's a little cramped trying to fit the 8 of us into the bathroom. It really wasn't as bad as it might sound - we took the radio so we could listen for updates but kept the volume really low, and I read a couple of chapters aloud from a book we've been reading together.

We were actually out trying to vote when the weather started getting bad. This was the first election since we moved last year, so we didn't really know where the polling place was (a rural fire station), and we spent more time driving around on lonely country roads than we planned to. The rain really hit while we were voting, and the sky was incredibly dark as we drove home. Beverly and I were praying quietly but fervently, and I imagine some of the children were too. Looking out across the fields, I expected to see a funnel cloud but never did.

As we pulled into the driveway, they put our county under a tornado warning (meaning a tornado had been spotted nearby). It was such a relief to be home. We ate supper quickly and then went to the bathroom for our read-aloud time.

I drove past some of the destruction on my way to work today. It's hard to describe how bad things look, but I guess most people have seen the pictures on the news, so you know what it looks like. The assisted living home where Beverly's grandmother lived for a couple of years had significant damage. The wing where Grandmother lived had the roof torn off and one of the walls was gone. I feel so sorry for all of those elderly residents who lost what little they had left. Union University (Lambuth's cross-town rival) had a dorm destroyed and other severe damage. I still find it amazing that no one was killed there. Rather than protecting them from the storm, I guess God was with them through the storm.

Spelling Bee

2008-01-21T22:17:00.000-06:00

The local homeschool group had a spelling bee today. The real competition goes through 8th grade, but they also have a competition for students in grades K-3 to allow the younger ones to get some experience. All three of our girls participated and did great. Delie won first and Anna won second in the K-3 age group! And Joy lasted about 10 rounds, making it to the final 8 contestants - that's great since she's only in 5th grade.

Beverly has been "practicing" with the children at home for the past week so that they would be prepared for the bee. She also had George and Samuel practicing with the girls. George is in kindergarten and just learning to read, but he can spell quite a few 3- and 4-letter words. Samuel is just 2, so he doesn't have any idea how to spell, but he liked practicing. Beverly would say, "Samuel, spell chocolate." Samuel would reply, "Chocolate. B-L-D-G. Chocolate." And everyone would tell him how good he did. At the bee today, the announcer was giving the rules very seriously at the beginning, and Samuel got a horrible expression on his face and said, "I don't want to be in the spelling bee!" He thought he was actually going to be in the bee! How cute.

The girls and George are all excited about being in the bee next year. Encouraged by her victory, Delie says she's ready to start preparing for next year when she'll be competing against the older children. Joy, excited that she did so well but exhausted by the competition, asked if she could have the rest of the week off from spelling.

Mama Em's Party

2008-01-13T22:40:00.000-06:00

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I've updated the blog. A lot has happened, and I may write about Christmas and other happenings in the next week or two. My parents gave us a digital camera for Christmas, so it's much easier to add pictures to the blog now. Here are some pictures from this weekend.

My grandmother - everyone calls her Mama Em - had her 85th birthday this weekend. The whole family went to Montgomery Bell State Park outside of Nashville to celebrate. We all stayed in the inn there, and we had a great time. The weather was nice enough that we had a picnic and hiked a little on Saturday. Here the boys are walking through a stream with Uncle Roy.

Mama Em held Thomas while we were in the woods.

Then we had a big party Saturday night. The highlight was playing "This is Your Life." We all dressed us and pretended to be people from Mama Em's life, and she had to guess who we were. Then she told us funny stories about the people. It was hilarious.

The two-year-old cousins got tired of that and went off to play their own games.

The big day

2007-12-14T22:09:00.000-06:00

It's been a long but great day. We left the house at 6:30 this morning to go to the ocularist in Memphis. Delie's appointment was at 8:30 and we were actually early - very rare for us. It was fascinating to watch him make a wax impression of her eye and then go through the steps of making the eye to fit perfectly and then painting it to match her good eye. We left the office at 3:30 with the prosthesis in place. Delie looks great.

We met my parents, Beverly's sister, my nieces, and the other children at a restaurant in Memphis, and then 8 of them went to the Nutcracker at the Orpheum. My dad and I took the 3 children (two of ours and one niece) under 3 home. Delie wanted to see the Nutcracker for her birthday. The local performance in Jackson was last weekend, and Delie (and her sisters) were disappointed that we didn't go, although they didn't really show their disappointment. Then Monday night my parents gave Delie (and everyone) tickets for tonight in Memphis. I know they're having a great time. Everyone will be exhausted by the time they make it home.

In other recent news, Thomas (8 months) now has his first tooth. All of our children have gotten teeth fairly late, and Thomas continued the pattern.

And we have a new dog. Yesterday a puppy showed up by our door. He's really cute and must have been well taken care of, but none of the neighbors know where he came from. The children love him and have named him Joseph since it's Christmastime.

Thanks for praying for Delie and for all of us. Delie goes back to the doctor next week for him to check the prosthesis and make sure everything is OK. It's hard to believe that we may be finished going to Memphis for a while. This has been such a part of our lives since September 13. We're glad to have this behind us, and we thank God for carrying us through it all.

Delie's big week

2007-12-09T16:08:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow is Delie's birthday! She'll be turning 9. She's excited about her birthday, but I think she's even more excited about Friday. That's the day she gets her prosthetic eye put in. It's supposed to be an easy process for her. The hard part was done when they removed her eye almost two months ago. At that point they prepared her eye socket for the artificial eye. Now that the swelling from the surgery has gone down completely, she's ready for the eye. We go to the ocularist Friday morning. They'll spend all day creating they eye and painting it to look like her other eye, and then they'll put it in Friday afternoon - no surgery involved. Please pray that everything goes as smoothly as we expect it to. We'll let you know how it goes.

Thank you, God!

2007-11-18T21:35:00.000-06:00

Our poet-in-residence, Joy, wrote a tribute to the upcoming holiday. We are especially grateful this year and hope that you all have a great thanksgiving remembering how great our God is.

Thank you, God!

Let's give thanks to God who has given us these things:
Leaves that are a'changing and birds with spreading wings,
For leading Pilgrim fathers to the land of faith and promise,
For brothers and for sisters all the way to Baby Thomas.
For parents that are kind, faithful and true,
Thank you, God! Thank you!

surgery follow-up, etc.

2007-11-17T21:39:00.000-06:00

We went to the doctor again on Thursday just for a follow-up to the surgery two weeks ago. It was an extremely quick visit, and the doctor said everything looks great. The swelling has gone down a lot since the surgery, and Delie has great movement of her eye implant. She just has a clear lens in now (no prosthesis yet), but the ball that the prosthesis will attach to is already connected to the muscles, and the muscles are moving great. This means that her eyes will move together once she gets her prosthesis, so it will look very natural.

Delie is scheduled to get the prosthesis on December 14. It takes all day for the ocularist to create the eye, but she should have it in by the time we go home that day.

Last week I told you that the girls had to miss dance on Wednesday because some of the children were sick. We had gotten over all of that until Wednesday morning when Georgie got sick again! At least one of the girls cried they were so disappointed about missing dance again. But George got better throughout the day, and Beverly was able to work something out so that the girls could go. When they found out they were going, at least one of the girls cried again. How sweet. Delie loved being back at dance for the first time in two months.

I mentioned our friend Callie's birthday party last week. Callie got a "Little House on the Prairie" dress and bonnet for her birthday, so we dressed up to help her celebrate. Here's a picture of some of the children that night. Samuel is the only cowboy in the picture, surrounded by his sisters and Callie and her sisters.

playing in the rain

2007-11-11T20:32:00.000-06:00

We had a really big rain a couple of weeks ago. The children got all dressed up and went out to play in the rain and the puddles. They had a great time.
Our dog, Amos, came with the house when we bought it in January. He's lived here for a while, and he was nice enough to let us move in. One of his front legs got run over before we moved in, and we had to have his leg amputated, although you can't tell it in this picture. He gets around great on three legs.

We've been free of the stomach bug all weekend. We went to our friends' house Friday night to celebrate Callie's 8th birthday, and we had our church here tonight. It's great to have everyone healthy.

this week

2007-11-08T22:15:00.000-06:00

We've had sort of an eventful week even though we haven't gone anywhere since Sunday. Georgie and Anna both got sick in the night on Sunday. They seemed to be better even by Monday morning, though, and nobody else got sick then.

Monday night just after we finished supper, a storm knocked the power out. It flickered a couple of times before it went out for good, so we had time to get flashlights ready. The children thought it was great fun to light candles. We cleaned up the kitchen by candlelight and then read for a long time. We try to keep most of our evenings pretty quiet, and having the lights go out made things even quieter than usual. Fortunately the power came back on before we went to bed.

George got sick in the night again Tuesday night. Delie and Anna also got sick Wednesday morning. That was a big disappointment because Delie was planning on going to ballet class for the first time on Wednesday. Everyone was much better by Wednesday night, and no one has gotten sick today. We pray that they don't start again in the night tonight.

Other than that, not much has happened this week.

family pictures

2007-11-04T12:36:00.000-06:00

Some of the children drew pictures that we scanned into the computer. We told them they could draw something to put on the blog. I hope you enjoy them.

George's picture. He says: "The blue thing is a pond. There's a fire burning beside the pond."

Anna's picture. She says: "These are the names of everyone in our family."

Delie's picture.

home again

2007-10-31T21:06:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note to let you know that we're back home again. Delie did great today, and the doctor said the surgery went just like he expected it to. He said Delie should sleep a lot the next couple of days, but she should be doing good by next week. He even said she could go to ballet as soon as she feels like it. I don't think Delie knows that yet, but I know it will make her happy. She's really missed dance the past several weeks.

Our next appointment is a follow-up on the surgery in two weeks. And in about 6 weeks she'll be fitted with a prosthetic eye.

Thank you for praying for us. I don't think today was as hard as we expected. Please continue to pray for Delie the next few days. She's been dizzy and nauseous since the surgery. She also says it hurts to open her eye so we've been mostly leading her around as she got ready for bed. These are normal side effects of the anesthesia and surgery, so it's nothing to worry about, but we pray she feels better tomorrow.

surgery tomorrow

2007-10-30T22:28:00.000-05:00

Hello, family and friends. I just wanted to ask you to pray again for us as Delie has surgery tomorrow (Wednesday) at LeBonheur in Memphis. The doctors in Tennessee agreed with the doctors in Birmingham that there was nothing they could do to restore her vision, so they'll be removing her eye tomorrow. This is the first step towards having a prosthetic eye. We think she'll have to wait 4-6 weeks to heal from this surgery before they can fit her for the prosthesis.

Delie's still doing great. She stayed up later tonight to eat "breakfast" (a bowl of cereal) since she can't eat after midnight until after the surgery tomorrow. I asked her when she went to bed if she was nervous about tomorrow. She thought for a while and said, "Ummm...not really. I've been there before so I know what to expect." I guess this may be harder on Beverly and me than it is for Delie - I hope so for her sake.

Thank you again for praying for us.

Delie's appointment

2007-10-25T22:46:00.000-05:00

The appointment went pretty well today. In some ways it was anticlimactic because we knew what to expect. The doctor was pleased with the way her bones have healed and said she won't need any more surgery to correct that. There may be additional cosmetic surgery in the future, but that will wait until after her prosthetic eye is in place.

The big news is that we have surgery scheduled for next Wednesday to either remove the eye (enucleation) or the damaged tissue in the eye (evisceration). The doctor says there's not much difference either way. The prosthesis will move with the other eye and look natural.

We wish Delie could see, and we still pray for a miracle, but we are comfortable with removing the eye now. We're really glad that we didn't have it removed 4 weeks ago (when we were expecting to) because it was so soon after the accident that I think we would have always wondered if there was something we could have done to have her vision restored. Now we know that there is nothing the doctors can do, so we are at peace and ready to move forward.

This will also be outpatient surgery at LeBonheur in Memphis.

We also went to a local optometrist (in Brownsville) today to look at frames for glasses and sports goggles. It's really important to protect her good eye, so she'll need to wear protective eyewear whenever there's a danger of her being hit, poked, etc. The optometrist recommended that she wear glasses all the time for protection even though her left eye has perfect vision. We didn't get any today, but we probably will soon. Delie found some pink frames that she liked a lot.

Delie continues to handle everything really well. And the rest of us are doing good also. We continue to appreciate your prayers.

Beach Pictures

2007-10-23T22:55:00.001-05:00

We wanted to post some pictures of the children for those who haven't seen them in a while - or ever. These were taken at the Moss reunion in Gulf Shores last June.

Anna (7), Joy (10), and Delie (8).

Samuel (2), George (5), and Thomas (2 months then, 6 months now).

Delie's next appointment

2007-10-23T22:22:00.000-05:00

Thank you for the comments, emails, and cards that you have sent to encourage us. It is amazing how many people are praying for us - we truly appreciate it.

We go back to Dr. Fleming in Memphis on Thursday. We don't expect anything big to happen on Thursday other than making plans for the future. Dr. Fleming's office finally got the results from Birmingham, so we'll get to discuss that on Thursday. We also had the results sent to Dr. Priester (family friend and retina specialist in Jackson, TN), and we hope to talk to him on the phone sometime before Thursday.

We'll let you know what happens. Thanks again for your prayers.

Peace

2007-10-14T07:20:00.000-05:00

Sometimes it's hard to know why things happen. A woman who recently died of cancer (a friend of several of our friends) wrote about that more eloquently than I could on her blog.

We've been wondering why lately, especially why did Delie see light and have our hopes raised only to find out that she would not regain sight in that eye? We really don't know, but we do have peace. And we have some ideas of why God has brought us down that path.

If Delie did not see light on Sept. 26, then we would have had her eye removed that day. At the time, we thought that was the right thing to do since she had not seen light. Since then we've found out that our doctors in Birmingham have had success with eyes that do not have light perception. If we had the eye removed on Sept. 26, then we would have always wondered if the Birmingham doctors would have been able to help. Now we know. Thank you, God, for sparing us from that uncertainty.

If we had not gone to Birmingham but had followed the retina specialist in Memphis, Delie would have had surgery last Friday. She possibly would have had multiple other surgeries trying to restore her sight, and who knows how long we would have held out hope for something that the doctors could not make happen. Thank you, God, for sparing Delie from unnecessary surgeries.

We went to Birmingham with great expectations and came away disappointed, but we are at peace knowing that we tried everything that we could. And we are so grateful that Delie won't be undergoing surgeries that had no chance of success. We still wonder why, but we know that God has a purpose for all things. Perharps He'll show us someday but maybe not. We are at peace knowing that He loves us and that His plans are not just for this life but for eternity.

back home

2007-10-12T22:18:00.000-05:00

Hi, all. Sorry we couldn't update from Birmingham. We're back home tonight (Friday), and we did not have surgery today. It appears that our hopes for Delie's vision will not come to be. We met with the doctors yesterday, and they said that surgery would not be able to restore her vision. They were able to tell from ultrasound and from their exam that her optic nerve was severely damaged and the ciliary body was gone from the front of the eye. Although they can do many things, they can not fix either of these problems, and so surgery would not be successful. Dr. Witherspoon and Dr. Morris are two of the leading doctors in the world in eye trauma, and they have a reputation for operating on eyes that others would not attempt to save. So for both of them to agree that surgery would be useless was very convincing.

After finding out we wouldn't have surgery, we decided to stay in Birmingham to go to the zoo today, and then we drove home afterwards. We just got home and got the kids in bed, so we're finally able to write.

We are disappointed but not despairing. We wanted Delie to be able to see with both eyes again, but now we are just back to where we were two weeks ago. We are grateful that she was not injured more severely in the accident, and we are thankful that her left eye is perfect. Delie was fine with the news - she said she is glad not to have so many surgeries. She's been without her right eye for a month now, and I guess she's found out that she will be fine with one eye.

I'll post more to our blog http://mossfarm.blogspot.com/ later, but I'll stop for tonight since it's getting so late. Thank you again for praying for us.

George and Beverly

Change of plans

2007-10-08T21:10:00.000-05:00

We've had some big changes in our plans since the last time we updated you. As of now, the plan is to go to Birmingham on Thursday to see a couple of doctors at UAB. They're supposed to be the best doctors in the world for dealing with eye trauma. After an office visit on Thursday, then hopefully they'll operate on Friday, depending on what they see Thursday.

We were strongly encouraged to go to Birmingham by a retina specialist, Brad Priester, in Jackson, TN - about 3o minutes from our house. Brad has done some work on George's father (Big George) in the past few years. Also, Brad's grandfather and George's grandfather were in medical practice together in Natchez, MS many years ago, and Big George went to high school with Brad's uncle. So Brad has been talking to Big George about Delie's case even though he hasn't seen her. He's recommended that we go to Birmingham from the beginning, and we finally decided that we should go just in case it might improve Delie's chances.

The doctors in Birmingham are Morris and Witherspoon of Retina Specialists of Alabama. We are excited and nervous as we wait to get their opinion. We continue to appreciate the prayers of so many, and we thank those who have left kind comments for us. I'm sorry we haven't been able to respond to all of the comments and email.

Delie's progress

2007-10-04T22:01:00.000-05:00

Well we've made it home from a marathon day in Memphis, and the results look very good. We saw the retina specialist (Dr. Calzada at Charles Retina Institute) this morning. He did an ultrasound of Delie's eye and found lots of damage of course, but he said, "I don't see any reason to remove this eye." Praise God! He didn't and couldn't give us any guarantees about how well things might turn out, but he is hopeful that he can restore "ambulatory vision" so that Delie could see a wall but not be able to read with that eye. We've got surgery scheduled for Oct 15 to reattach the retina and perform a vitrectomy to begin repairing the eye. There will be many surgeries to come including a cornea transplant over the next months and possibly years.

This afternoon we saw the plastic surgeon (Dr. Fleming at UT Medical Group) who repaired her bones last week, and he thought everything looked good. There are other cosmetic issues that we will deal with in the future if they do not correct themselves, but nothing serious. We have a follow-up appointment with him on Oct 25.

It is hard to believe that we were prepared to have her eye removed only 8 days ago. God has been so good to us. We know that God has a plan and a purpose for all things. We believed that when Delie was about to lose her eye, and we still believe that. We intend to follow Him joyfully and submit to His will, and we pray that His gracious treatment of us will cause others to joyfully follow Him too.

Delie's appointments

2007-10-03T22:39:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to remind you to be praying for Delie as she goes to the doctor on Thursday. We're seeing the surgeon just to follow up to make sure that her bones are lined up and that everything is fine from the surgery last week. And we're also seeing a retina specialist for the first time. Delie still doesn't see anything except light, but she believes that she can see light in our house - not just the bright light that the doctor shined directly into her eye. This seems like progress, if only a little. We believe the doctor will be doing an ultrasound of her eye to determine the extent of the damage and to see what, if anything, they can do.

We told Delie tonight that the doctor may say
- you've got some damage, but I can operate and you'll be able to see more,
- there's not really anything I can do to improve your chances of seeing, or
- because of the risk of damaging the good eye (sympathetic opthalmia), we need to give you a plastic eye.
Delie handled this (and everything else) amazingly well. She seems content knowing that God will take care of her no matter what happens.

We'll let you know what the doctors say. Thank you again for praying for our family.

Love,
George and Beverly

P.S. Today Beverly found a story Delie wrote a while back about six orphans. The oldest orphan is about to flee from the orphanage for fear of being sold and the other orphans quote scripture to her to encourage her before she runs away. These are the verses she uses:
"May the Lord answer you when you are in trouble. May the God of Jacob keep you safe." (Psalm 20:1)
"He gives me new strength. He guides in the right paths for the honor of his name." (Psalm 23:3)
"Here is what I am commanding you to do. Be strong and brave. Do not be terrified. Do not lose hope. I am the Lord your God. I will be with you everywhere you go." (Joshua 1:9)

We hope these encourage you as they encourage us.

Why a blog?

2007-09-30T00:02:00.000-05:00

We are amazed by the number of people who are praying for Delie and our family. We've been sending emails to people in our address book, and then many of those have forwarded it to others, who have forwarded it to others... We wanted a way to keep people updated without expecting everyone to continue forwarding every email we sent. We considered starting a caringbridge or caringpages site, but Delie wasn't too excited about that. A blog seemed like a good way for all of the children to feel involved - so there will be artwork and articles by the children occassionally. And a blog seems more fun, rather than just being focused on Delie's accident and health.

Delie's miracle

2007-09-29T23:56:00.000-05:00

We praise God for answering the prayers of so many. We went to the hospital on Wednesday to repair the bones in Delie's cheek and around her eye. We were also planning to have her eye removed if she still didn't have any response to light. George's mother wrote this:

I just had to write to tell you of the miracle we experienced today. Before taking Delie for surgery, George and Beverly asked the doctor if he would check her eye once more to be sure there was no sign of response. He said he would and went to get his light. He had Delie cover her "bad" eye and she saw the light with her good eye. Then he told her to cover her "good" eye. She put her fingers over her eye and he said, "No, I mean cover it with your palm to really cover it." She did and when he shined the light, she said "I see the light." He said, "No, I mean you really have to cover your good eye." He then covered her eye with his hand. She said, "I see the light. It's on...It's off...It's on...It's off. He turned to George and Beverly and said, "We won't be taking this eye out today!!!"

Actually he didn't say it with that much emotion. He was obviously pleased, but he told us we still have a long way to go, and there is no way of knowing yet if her eye will continue to improve or not. I'm sure the doctors would explain that the excess blood had drained from her eye allowing her to see, but we believe that it is a miracle no matter how God accomplished it. We have seen six doctors so far, and they all said that since she didn't see light immediately after the accident that she probably never would.

We still had the surgery on the bones, and the doctor said everything is lined up correctly now and the bones look good. He also said all of her nerves are there and should heal in time. There may be a need for additional plastic surgery at some point, but everything looks really good so far.

We planned to be at the hospital overnight, but they sent us home about 2 hours after the surgery. Delie is feeling good this morning, and she hasn't even needed any pain medication yet. We will see a retina specialist next week, and they will do an ultrasound on her eye to decide what the next steps will be.

Thank you so much for praying for us and for asking others to pray. We will send another update late next week.

George and Beverly

Prayer for Delie

2007-09-29T23:50:00.000-05:00

[originally written Sept 25]

"Sometimes a thunderbolt will shoot from a clear sky; and sometimes, into the midst of a peaceful family--without warning of gathered storm above or slightest tremble of earthquake beneath--will fall a terrible fact, and from that moment everything is changed. The air is thick with cloud, and cannot weep itself clear. There may come a gorgeous sunset, though."

A dear friend shared this quote from a 18th century Scottish preacher, George MacDonald, a few days after our daughter Delie's accident. Our life together as a family has felt like quite a storm over the past 12 days, and we certainly do feel the prayers of our friends and family along with many we have never met. We are so touched by the cards, gifts, and food and are overwhelmed by the number the people who have told us that they, their family, church, Sunday school, Bible study, homeschool co-op are praying for us. We ask you to continue to pray for Delie and our family. Wednesday at 1230pm we will go to Le Bonnheur in Memphis for a second surgery for Delie--for repair of the broken bones in her face and for the removal of her eye. Removing her eye eliminates the risk of sympathetic opthalmia--the body attacking the seeing eye, and we want to do all we can to protect this eye.

God has blessed our family so much and we praise Him for the miracle of Delie's life and her steadfast faith. She is such an encouragement to all of us and we await the "gorgeous sunset" that we will see through her life. We will try to update Thursday.

Much love,
George and Beverly

P.S. We've attached a picture of Delie taken this summer at ballet.

Delie's accident

2007-09-29T23:43:00.000-05:00

[I wrote this in an email on Sept 19 about Delie's accident on Sept 13. -George]

We have been boarding about 10 horses in our pasture for the past couple of months. Last Thursday, we were going out to catch one of the horses that we like to ride. Beverly, Joy, Delie, and George IV were in the pasture and had caught the horse we wanted when some of the other horses started running and bucking around. One of the horses accidentally kicked Delie (age 8) in her right eye. Anna, Samuel, Thomas, and I were watching this from the yard, and I immediately jumped the fence and ran to get her. I didn't see any big cuts, but she was covered in blood and her right eye was shut and could not open.

We loaded all the family into the van and rushed to the emergency room in Brownsville - the closest one. Delie wanted to go to sleep, but Beverly talked to her the whole way (about 15 minutes). We were encouraged that Delie made sense in her talking and had short-term memory. The Brownsville hospital is small, so they just did a CT scan and some x-rays and called for a helicopter to take her to Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis. The ER doctor said her eye was ruptured, but there wasn't any evidence of brain or spinal injury. We praised God that her injuries were not as bad as they could have been.

Beverly called her sister, Alison, who lives in Brownsville, to come get the children, and she was there within minutes. Alison and her husband, Jerry, took the children back to our house to pack some clothes for them to stay with her and for Beverly, baby Thomas, and me to stay at the hospital. Joy also had to go home to find her shoe - one of her flip-flops came off while running to the van, so she made it to the hospital with only one shoe. And we had left the crock-pot on, so Alison kept our house from burning down also.

So Delie was airlifted to Memphis while Beverly, Thomas, and I followed in the car. When we got to Le Bonheur they told us that the CD that Brownsville had sent with the images from the scan was either blank or incompatible, so they had to repeat the scan. An eye surgeon looked at the scan and checked to see if Delie could see a bright light shone into her eye. She could not see the light. He told us that there would be many surgeries (Delie also had several fractures around her eye), but there was a very good chance that she would not regain sight in that eye. The first step was to try to put the eye back together as good as possible, so they did that right away.

We stayed in the hospital all day Friday and talked to a couple of doctors from the UT Medical Center in Memphis - one an opthalmologist and one specializing in plastic surgery around the eye. They both checked for light response and didn't get positive results. They were encouraging about fixing the bones, etc so that she would look like the old Delie again, but they said we would probably need to consider a prosthetic eye.

We got to go home Friday night but had to go back to the doctor's office on Saturday. They were mostly checking for infection in the eye since it was a "dirty wound," but there was no sign of infection. Again they checked for a light response. It looked to Beverly and me like Delie could see some light occassionally, but it may be that she was just guessing when the light was on. The doctor did not seem impressed by her response to the light.

On Monday we went back to Memphis to check for infection and to talk to another plastics doctor. Again, no sign of infection and no (or questionable) response to light. Delie has fractures above, to the outside, and below her eye, and she is scheduled for surgery to repair that on Wed, Sept 26. They don't anticipate any problems or difficulties with that procedure.

They also asked us to consider removing her eye while they are doing that surgery. They say that usually if a patient cannot see light before the first surgery, that they will not regain sight. Because she still has not seen light and because of the severity of the injury, they don't believe that she ever will. The danger in leaving a non-seeing eye in place is that very rarely the body will attack the good eye. Obviously we don't want to do anything to put the good eye in jeopardy, but we haven't decided if we're ready to take that step yet.

We still hope and pray for a miracle, but we are very content with whatever God chooses to do. There are many things that we don't understand, but we know that God has a purpose for all things, and we gladly trust in Him.

We praise God that the injury was not more serious. As life-changing as this may be, at least it is not life-threatening. Delie is already smiling and laughing some (although it sometimes hurts). She seems very much like her old self in many ways.

We thank God for the tremendous support that we have received. Countless people are praying for Delie, and many people have brought us meals or plan to do so. One of the women in our church has organized meals for the next week, the girls' ballet teacher is organizing meals for us from her church, and we've had family, friends, and even neighbors we don't know bring us food and/or offer to watch the children whenever we need them.

We thank God that Delie has recovered so well already. She has a long way to go - many months - but she is doing very well. She is emotionally and spiritually very strong. She is a perfect example of "child-like faith."

We pray that God will heal her and restore her sight, but more importantly we pray that His will would be done. Please pray with us for her continued health and recovery.

Anna's artwork

2007-09-24T20:18:00.001-05:00

Anna (7) created this. This is a picture of a flower bed with an "L" in it for Lambuth University.

Georgie's artwork

2007-09-23T22:22:00.000-05:00

George (5) and the girls have been creating pictures using the Paint program on our computer. Here's one George calls "Bear Country." There's a deer stand at the bottom and two other buildings that you can shoot out of.