So much to be thankful for...

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

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

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!

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...

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