Mary's Moments

Oh, I love this time of year! I personally don't care for the cold weather, but I love this time of year and all the fun, family, and parties it brings. I love decorating our Christmas tree, and every year I try to add some new aspect to the tree, whether it's jut a new ornament or a whole new theme. This year we don't have money to go with an entirely new theme, so I chose to just use the new "adds" I had gotten from last year. And I usually find my new "adds" after Christmas from the huge After-Christmas sales which are always so much fun. This year, I added red beaded garland, a few new ornaments, and white snowflake ribbon (last year I only had gold). I always love just staring at the tree:)!! Last night we had our annual Ladies Christmas event at our Church and it was spectacular! I'm always so impressed at how the ladies in our church come up with so many creative themes for their tables. This event is an outreach event where women from the chu...

Sorry this post and these pictures are so late, but we've been busy the past 1 1/2 weeks. On Halloween night, we actually took the kids trick-or-treating around the neighborhood, which we haven't been able to do in the past due to other activities that have gone on that night. The kids, especially Matthew, could not get enough! He wanted to keep going all night long! And somehow, he managed to sweet talk his way into getting more candy from everyone...I promise that boy is going to be a business salesman someday! Watch out! Here are some pictures of their costumes....Katherine was a Snow Princess, Matt was Batman, and Christopher was a Farmer (although he also dressed up as Darth Vader on the actual Halloween night). I'll never forget this Halloween night as it seemed like our minds were filled with Great Grandpa as he was in his last hours as we were going back and forth with relatives on our cell phone getting updates and praying for him as we went door-to-door getting ca...

Romans 8:38-39 - "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. " Today Grandpa Farmer went home to be with Jesus. He was 92 years young and an amazing man that was an example to us all. A few weeks back when we went to visit, I asked him what his favorite hymn was and he said Blessed Assurance. Isn't it wonderful that today he is in Paradise and is able to praise HIS Savior ALL DAY LONG!! Hallelujah! We will miss hearing your voice, Grandpa, but look forward to seeing you again soon. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! O what a foretaste of glory divine! Heir of salvation, purchase of God, Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood. This is my story, this is my song, Praising my Savior, all the day long; This is my story, this is my song, Praising my Savi...

Today we ventured out to Sweet Berry Farm in Marble Falls, TX as we have done in the past. It's such a neat place to go to pick pumpkins and much more, like go through a Texas shaped corn maze, feed goats, ride horses and ponies, paint pumpkins, stuff scarecrows, eat home-made ice cream, go on a tractor ride, have a picnic lunch, and just have fun taking family pictures! Not to mention the breathtaking scenic drive there through the hilly countryside...and today was a beautiful day for it! There's almost too much stuff to do for one day! I was amazed at how many people have learned of this fun place because every year it gets more and more crowded! We also have fun going in the Spring and Summer to pick strawberries and blackberries. Here are a few pictures from our adventure today!:) Christopher talking to a goat :)- The kids climbing on the "Ugly Wart" pumpkins (Katherine called them the Old Fat pumpkins because they looked like an older person:-) Matthew stopping ...

Last weekend, we made a trip up to Kansas to visit Daniel's 92 year-old Grandpa Farmer. We were so blessed with a wonderful trip and wonderful memories that we'll never forget. While we were there, the hymn he sang to us the most was "Revive Us Again" and I don't think I'll ever forget that song now because of him. I was amazed by Grandpa and his selfless and loving spirit he showed to us even though he is in his last days of life. We love you Grandpa! -Revive Us Again- We praise Thee, O God! For the Son of Thy love, For Jesus Who died, And is now gone above. Hallelujah! Thine the glory. Hallelujah! Amen. Hallelujah! Thine the glory. Revive us again. We praise Thee, O God! For Thy Spirit of light, Who hath shown us our Savior, And scattered our night. All glory and praise To the Lamb that was slain, Who hath borne all our sins, And hath cleansed every stain. All glory and praise To the God of all grace, Who hast brought us, and sought us, And guided our ways....

This year, Daniel's company picnic was at Reunion Ranch, about 5 miles from our house! In years past, the events have been at Sea World, Fiesta Texas, and other places that are a longer drive so we appreciated the very short commute this year! The Ranch had a completely different feel than a large amusement park, but it was so fun and I think all the kids really enjoyed themselves. Katherine kept saying how that was "the best place ever!" She wished she could live there she said... There was a lot of fun activities, like horse riding, rock climbing, a large playscape with zip lines for the kids, tepees, paddleboats, relay races, basketball, BBQ, icecream and Snow cones, and more! The kids really seemed to have a blast and it was very nice not to have to wait in long lines to ride a ride with small kids. Plus it was nice not to have to worry about the kids running off since we had the whole park reserved and there was a large green field the kids could run on, so we didn...