Emma's Surgery...Over!

Thank the Lord! Emma is safely out of surgery and the "bump" is removed. Apparently it was several blood vessels tangled together. As we watched my father get her out of the car she was fast asleep. We were told that her head hurts terribly and so does her throat (due to the tube being stuck down it during the surgery). We're all eager to see our little Emma up and about again, but we're waiting patiently (or trying!) for her to awake on her own. My parents said that she was very brave, of which we are glad. She's always been a very courageous little girl! :)

Thank you everyone so very much for you prayers and encouragement, they mean so much to all of us and especially to Emma.

jessica nicole

Liberty Day

Dear Friends (y'all),

I am excited to say that we were able to attend the 9th annual Liberty Day Celebration this year! And what a superb time we had! :)
Mr Phillips and Mr. Potter lectured on the history of Jamestown and of our Country, and they did an excellent job! With much enthusiasm they reminded us of our nations history, those who helped found it and the strong christian roots which formed it. It was wonderfully done *bravo*
Afterwards the celebration began! Everyone joined in singing our National Anthem, we heard several stunning piano (and violin) performances, singing (done by the Erberauntey singers), a hilarious performance of "Revolutionary Tea" (done by the same), as well as the reading of a winning Essay (read by Jessica Erber) that was beautifully written, and, of course, the reenactment of the 2nd Virginia Convention ( By the way, all the reenactors did an amazing job....for a second I thought I was really there...).
Afterwards we watched our brothers run off and join the military (militia or something...I can't remember exactly)...including Caleb. They left following the beat of a drum. I was almost tempted to start singing "When Johnny Comes Marching Home"...but managed to restrain myself. :) While most of the boys were off fighting for our Liberty (or marching somewhere) we had a lovely time dancing the Virginia Reel.

Unfortunately, the weather got pretty bad (a heavy amount of snow and ice) and we had to leave earlier than we had intended. But we were exceedingly happy that we were able to attend! After a long, long drive home we finally crashed into bed, happy and eager for Liberty Day 2008! Thank you Erbers (and all else involved!) for making this event possible!!!

BTW, We didn't get as many photos as we would have liked (do to the fact that we were having such a good time!) but here are some of the ones that we did get. Tiff already posted them on her blog but I'll go ahead and put them on here as well. Oh, and you can find more photos on Ashtons blog.


















Our family, except, of course, Caleb, who was away fighting for the cause of Liberty.

The Erberauntey singers performing "Revolutionary Tea" which was absolutely hysterical! :D






























Grace Bandy and I right before the dancing began (excited! We had been looking forward to that part! :D). Notice Grace's lovely dress was the one we were working on when she stayed with us a couple weeks ago!

Tiffany finishing sewing her dress (we always seem to be doing that at the last minute! *laugh*), which looked beautiful, by the way!

My lovely mother looking exquisite!






















Melissa and William enjoying Liberty Day!

William, our little Prince Charming and Patriot. He's a bit young to follow Caleb into battle though. I think we'll make him wait a few years. :)

















My brave brother showing me how strong he is (I thought the gun was heavy, but in the photo he's informing me otherwise.)!





















"Hurrah! Hurrah!" Marching courageously into battle!

William decided he wanted to play the flute. :)

__________

Quotes from the some of the men who attended the 2nd Virginia Convention:



"Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God!" - Patrick Henry


"I will raise at once a force of 1000 men, subsist them at my own expence, and march myself at their head, to the relief of Boston!" - George Washington


"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

Our Trip To Beloved Texas...

Right Before we left for Texas (below). Standing in the middle of our completly frozen lake...freezing, of course. :)





































H-E-B! We miss and love you!!! :)


























Daniel and Emma



























Downtown Houston!!! :)




































Myself, Tiffany, Christa, Daniel and Melissa at the Durens house.


























Mr. Duren, John, Mrs. Duren, Mom and Dad.

Christa, Dad, Mom and Daniel together at our dear friends, the Durens home.

Christa, William and Daniel at Goode & Co for dinner.

We watched the most adorable movie today. The Slipper and the Rose.

A lovely version of the Cinderella story. I've seen 3 versions, and this, I must say, is my favorite. The music was lively and fun, the costumes GORGEOUS (underlined, capitalized, italicized, bolded and underlined!), the dances (which we're bent on learning!) beautiful and everything about it, sweet and intriguing. I highly reccomend it. It was made by the makers of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Mary Poppins, so don't be suprised when the dances slightly remind you of Chimney Sweeps or a bunch of old men trying to create another flying car.... :)

But it was lovely and I really enjoyed it!

jess

p.s we go to Liberty Day tommorow! I'll be sure to post about it!! :)

Happy 21st Birthday Tiffany!!!!!!

This birthday wish goes to my dear sister, Tiffany Faith McDonald. A sister and a friend.

HAPPY TWENTY-FIRST BIRTHDAY, TIFFANY!!!!!!!!!

She's so amazing and so sweet. (Aren't I blessed to have so many wonderful friends in my family?? :) I love you, Tiff!

The Lone Star State...um...Yeehaw! :D

Y'all...

For those who were wondering about Emma, nothing has happened yet. She's scheduled for a visit to a surgeon (it's a certain kind of surgeon but I can't remember what he's called.) on the 20th. I will be sure to update after that though.

And...guess where we are right now! :) Texas! Wahoo! (or should I say "yeehaw"? :D) We had to do some stuff with our store, so we came down on Tuesday! We're all so happy to be back in the great Lone Star state...even if only for a week. We never realized how much we all missed skyscrapers, traffic and hundreds of stores only minutes away. We drove by our old house and saw a shiny black car parked in the driveway (a bit different than our 15 passenger E350! :D) and a junior high school sign planted in the yard.
Right now we're staying with my Aunt and Uncle in Houston. So far, the trip has been pretty uneventful. Though we've seen many of our very dear friends and relatives! Daniel and Christa also came down to visit us (and help out at the store.) and we've had a lovely time with them...it being the first time we've seen them since the wedding.
I do have one pretty humerous story before I close, though.

My aunt has this huge stuffed tiger by her front door. And it looks very real. Well, we ordered pizza while we were here and this little guy rang the door bell to deliver our pizza. Tiff opened the door and his eyes got wide as he saw the savage beast. :) He pointed (his hand shaking) "T..i..g..errr..." He trembled.
"Oh, don't worry, it's fake." Tiff assured him.
He smiled nervously, took the check gave her the pizza and ran for his car. LOL. It was pretty funny and we all had a good laugh afterwards.

I'll post photos soon! :)

jess

Emma Katherine

Since Tiffany already worded it so beautifully, I'll just copy and paste what she had to say on her blog.

Late last week a strange lump appeared on Emma's right hand. She visited the doctor today and he suggested that we take her to a pediatric surgeon right away. It looks like whatever is underneath the skin will need to be removed. He wasn't sure what caused it, and thought that it was so strange, he called a colleague in to take a look at it as well.

Thankfully, Emma thinks this whole thing is rather humorous. :) Last week, she came up to me and told me she had a bump on her hand. Later, she told my parents, "my bone is too big!" ;-) She has been good natured so far, and doesn't seem to mind that the doctors will make her go to sleep so they can remove the lump from her hand.

We would be very grateful if you could keep Emma in your prayers as she has doctor visits and most likely surgery. If you could also remember our family, especially our Mom, during this time, we would really appreciate it. I'll keep you posted as things progress.

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 551 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Abbott and Costello

I got this off of a friends blog and was really amused! :)

ABBOTT: Super Duper Computer Store. Can I help you?
COSTELLO: Thanks. I'm setting up an office in my den, and I'm thinking about buying a computer.
ABBOTT: Mac?
COSTELLO: No, the name's Lou.
ABBOTT: Your computer?
COSTELLO: I don't own a computer. I want to buy one.
ABBOTT: Mac?
COSTELLO: I told you, my name's Lou.
ABBOTT: What about Windows?
COSTELLO: Why? Will it get stuffy in here?
ABBOTT: Do you want a computer with Windows?
COSTELLO: I don't know. What will I see when I look in the windows?
ABBOTT: Wallpaper.
COSTELLO: Never mind the windows. I need a computer and software.
ABBOTT: Software for Windows?
COSTELLO: No. On the computer! I need something I can use to write proposals, track expenses and run my business. What have you got?
ABBOTT: Office.
COSTELLO: Yeah, for my office. Can you recommend anything?
ABBOTT: I just did.
COSTELLO: You just did what?
ABBOTT: Recommend something.
COSTELLO: You recommended something?
ABBOTT: Yes.
COSTELLO: For my office?
ABBOTT: Yes.
COSTELLO: Okay, what did you recommend for my office?
ABBOTT: Office.
COSTELLO: Yes, for my office!
ABBOTT: I recommend Office with Windows.
COSTELLO: I already have an office and it has windows! Alright, let's just say I'm sitting at my computer and I want to type a proposal. What do I need?
ABBOTT: Word.
COSTELLO: What word?
ABBOTT: Word in Office.
COSTELLO: The only word in office is office.
ABBOTT: The Word in Office for Windows.
COSTELLO: Which word in office for windows?
ABBOTT: The Word you get when you click the blue "W."
COSTELLO: Whatever, forget that. Can I watch movies on the Internet?
ABBOTT: Yes, you want Real One.
COSTELLO: Maybe a real one, maybe a cartoon. What I watch is none of your business. Just tell me what I need!
ABBOTT: Real One.
COSTELLO: If its a long movie I also want to see reels 2, 3, and 4. Can I watch them?
ABBOTT: Of course.
COSTELLO: Great, with what?
ABBOTT: Real One.
COSTELLO: OK, I'm at my computer and I want to watch a movie. What do I do?
ABBOTT: You click the blue "1."
COSTELLO: I click the blue one what?
ABBOTT: The blue "1."
COSTELLO: Is that different from the blue W?
ABBOTT: The blue 1 is Real One and the blue W is Word.
COSTELLO: What word?
ABBOTT: The Word in Office for Windows.
COSTELLO: But there are three words in "office for windows"!
ABBOTT: No, just one. But it’s the most popular Word in the world.
COSTELLO: It is?
ABBOTT: Yes, but to be fair, there aren't many other Words left. It pretty much wiped out all the other Words out there.
COSTELLO: And that word is real one?
ABBOTT: Real One has nothing to do with Word. Real One isn't even part of Office.
COSTELLO: Stop! Don't start that again. What about financial bookkeeping you have anything I can track my money with?
ABBOTT: Money.
COSTELLO: That's right. What do you have?
ABBOTT: Money....