Mama

"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints..." -Ps. 116:15

Dear friends and family.... our sweet grandmother, Mama, passed away this morning surrounded by her sons and family. She lived to be 89 years old.

Mama and her sweet smile.

Nicole, and Mama

It has been a long, long year of ups and downs for Mama and although we are deeply saddened by her earthly passing, we are joyful and confident that because she trusted in the Lord, she is with him today in heaven. Her body is healed and she is struggling no more. 

"He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." -Rev. 21:3

Thanksgiving 2011

Thanksgiving with the grandkids

I am personally so thankful for this sweet lady, and so glad that I was able to call her my grandmother for the last 25 years. She was one of the kindest, most thoughtful, strong-willed, and loving ladies I have every known. Her love for the Lord and her family were her two priorities. Her passion were those relationships, and we will forever be changed because we knew her. 

With two of her sons, Uncle Jerry, and my dad, Scott

"Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue....Her children rise up and call her blessed....Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised."

-Proverbs 31:25-26, 28,30

with Austin in 2010

I praise God, that even in the face of death, He has provided a way for us to truly live....though our bodies decay and our flesh fails us...we are promised a new life with Him by trusting in Christ's finished work on the cross on our behalf. A trust that Mama took with her to her very last breath. 

"Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God, through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them." -Hebrews 7:25

Sweet Mama, I love you and miss you so much already....but rejoice in the promise that, even today, your faith is now sight! 

"So we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For these light and momentary troubles are achieving for us eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, and what is unseen is eternal." -2 Cor. 4:16-18

We love you.

Hello New Year!

Welcome to the world Nolan Brown! Our new nephew was born at 11:36 p.m on New Year's day...that's one reason to celebrate the new year!

Nolan weighed 8.5 lbs and is 21.5 inches long. Melissa (sister-in-law) is doing great and we are all thankful for a healthy baby boy! Can't wait to meet him!

Christmas in Atlanta

Al...it was so good to see pictures of you guys with Bjorn's family at Christmas. I actually forgot that this was your first Christmas in Sweden, since we were all in Dothan last year. I remember my first Christmas away from home, and even though it was bittersweet at first, I'm so thankful for such a sweet second family.

So this was the second time to spend Christmas with Sam's family in Atlanta. We missed Jon and Melissa, and Parker, but I don't blame Melissa for not wanting to travel when she's about to have number 2 any day now.

We spent a long weekend soaking in family, and friends, and everything Christmas. We ate a lot of food, played games, told stories, and enjoyed being together. Here's some highlights from the weekend.

Saturday, I had to go and get some Starbucks, and on my drive I passed by a church and did a little double-take...."Did I just see a camel?" Oh...yes...I did. There was a church having a live Nativity play, and I was hooked...I really wanted to go back and see them and go to their candle light service. I asked Sam and after he looked at me like I was a 4 year old asking to go to a petting zoo, he humored me and we went. 

Obediah the Camel

 

There were probably 1000 people at this candlelight service, but it was a lot like being at Calvary in Dothan on Christmas Eve. We were reminded of the miracle of Christ's birth and the real reason for Christmas....and we sang all of my favorite Christmas hymns with our candles lit. I decided that a candle light service will be our tradition Christmas eve, wherever we are, live camels or not. 

Eileen was a champ the whole weekend, even though she had had all 4 wisdom teeth removed a couple days before Christmas. She definitely took it a lot better than me...that's for sure:)

my favorite of Sam's presents

Christmas Night, the Brown's like to do their annual Lobster dinner. It always gets interesting when you throw in Lobsters. Unfortunately for me, I don't like Lobster, so they decided to make some Coconut Shrimp for me. 

I was in charge of getting the shrimp ready.....I think I did a pretty good job for my first attempt.

We had a great dinner, minus me having to leave the table early...the Lobster smell finally proved to be too much. I was little embarrassed, but it is what it is. I have a weak stomach around certain things.

And finally.....it wouldn't fully feel like Christmas until you see a house with 14,236 inflatable Christmas toys in one yard. Haha. Sam told me about this house, and he had to show me our way out of town. No surprise it was causing somewhat of a traffic jam down the street with people stopping to get pictures.

There were even things coming out of the windows. Whoever thought of this was a genius...whatever they were trying to accomplish, most likely just having the most inflatables in a confined space, I think they took home the gold. I'm sure their neighbors loved it too.

Well that's about the gist of it. Speaking of gifts Al, even though I'm super jealous you got tickets to see Coldplay this year, Sam and I might be getting a new little nephew tonight....we're super excited:)

Happy New Year!!!!

Whit