2008 Christmas Tree Lot Opened Today

Well, we opened the East Hill Christmas Tree Lot today. This is beginning our fifth year of running the tree lot. The tree lot is our largest fund raiser for missions at East Hill. Last year, we netted just under $16,000 for missions. We hope to top that this year. Here are some pictures of our opening day.

Thanksgiving Day

We visited Taylor, Kristen and the kids for a short time before going over to our friend's house. Kristen received good news from the NICU nurse today. She said the Victory would most likely be going home by the end of next week. Yea! Thank that Lord, for He is good.


After seeing Kristen and her family, we went to the Chamber's house and had our Thanksgiving meal there.



The other day, Brooklyn showed us one of her new talents. It's pretty funny to watch and she is quite proud of herself. She thought it was pretty cool when Grandma could cross her eyes too.

Preston has learned how to put on the cheesy smile.

Something to be Thankful For

We didn't think we'd see these kinds of prices again. WOW!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We want to wish all our friends and family a Happy Thanksgiving.

Philippians 4:4-7
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again; Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all, The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Pictures of Victory with His Brothers and Sister

Preston with Victory

Cowboy Dylan with Victory

Brooklyn loves her new brother.

Jermaine and Ashley

Jermaine and Ashley just stopped by so that Jermaine could say good-bye. They came by because Jermaine's plans changed. He found out that he leaves tomorrow morning at 6:20am instead of after lunch like they thought. He will be gone for nine weeks but this time he can get e-mails and he can call once in a while. Of course I expect that Ashley will get the majority of those. Jermaine is sick with strep throat but he has started antibiotics so that is good. Please keep him in prayer as he leaves for SOI (School of Infantry) tomorrow.

The Wedding

Today was the big day. Jermaine and Ashely were married and it was a wonderful wedding. The bride was beautiful and I must say that the groom was quite handsome also.

Kodi, Ashely's mom, is helping her get her dress tied.

James and Erin. He cleans up nice, doesn't he?

The expression on Jermaine's face was priceless when he saw Ashley enter the room.

The Bridesmades and Matron of honor.

They're really getting married.

The signing of the marraige certificate.

Such a cute couple!

Some of Jermaine's siblings and his niece and nephew came. We were glad to see them there.

The first dance.

The garter and the flower toss.

Reception Pictures

It's the Wedding Day

Today, at 4:00 PM., Jermaine and Ashley get married. I have a couple pictures from the rehearsal last night. Jermaine is standing at attention. I think he's trying to look good since he was late to the rehearsal.

Update on Victory

I talked to Kristen tonight and she said that things went well today with Victory. He nursed and took a bottle today for one full feeding, needing no feeding tube for that feeding. Praise God! She said he nursed really well. She did find out that the reason he was not keeping his temperature some times was because some of the nurses are putting him in just light clothing and then a light receiving blanket and expecting him to stay warm. Kristen talked to the doctor and told him that she wouldn't even do that with her full term baby so how can they expect a preemie to hold his temperature in such light coverings. The nurses now have orders to keep him more snuggly bundled up. Kristen is not expecting him to be home by Thanksgiving. They are thinking that by the beginning of December he may come home but they are not getting their hopes up. If he comes home sooner then it is an added blessing. Thank you for continuing to keep them in your prayers.

Victory - 1 Week Old

Taylor with Victory
I think this hat is a little big but it's warm.

He is so cute!

Victory is doing well. He is keeping his temperature and gaining weight. On Sunday he was 4 pounds 11 ounces and he is now 4 pounds 13 ounces. That is great news. He is taking the bottle more and no longer needs the cover on his bed to keep the warmth in. In order for him to go home he needs to be able to take enough nourishment from a bottle and keep his body temperature up while still gaining weight. The feeding tube allows him to get the extra calories without burning them doing these two things. Please pray that this will happen soon so that Taylor and Kristen can take this precious blessing home with them. Kristen is still pretty sore but she is coming along. She had her staples removed today so that is a step in the right direction. Please keep her in prayer for a quick recovery.

The blanket Victory has on in the pictures was Kristen's first time crocheting something. She did a great job! Her mama's proud of her!

Kristen and family

I talked to Kristen today. She said that Victory did take some of his feeding yesterday with a bottle which was good. She is very tired and is still recovering from the c-section. She goes tomorrow to have the staples taken out. Hopefully it will feel better after that. I have never had surgery with staples so I have no idea what that's like. I have been fighting laryngitis or a cold. I am not sure which but in case it is a cold, I am not going to see the baby again until my voice is back so that I know that I am over it. I am sad I am not able to go up to see him but he'll be around for a long time. As long as I am getting better tomorrow, which every day it is getting better, I will watch Dylan, Brooklyn and Preston while Taylor takes Kristen to the doctor to get the staples removed. I will try to remember to send my camera with her so she can take pictures for me and then I can post them here for everyone. Thanks again for all the prayers.

Thanksgiving with Jermaine and Ashley

Last night we celebrated Thanksgiving with Jermaine and Ashley. Jermaine will be leaving on the 25th for his SOI (School of Infantry) training so her won't be here for Thanksgiving and Ashley has to work on Thanksgiving. So, we did it last night. I look forward to being able to spending some time on Thanksgiving with Kristen and her family and with James. I love this time of year!

Update on Victory

I just talked to Kristen and she has been discharged and is home for the night. Victory is still in the NICU and having a hard time eating. Right now, he is totally feeding with a feeding tube. Although Kristen has gotten him to nurse, he is not getting the nourishment from that. They also are having a hard time getting him to eat from a bottle. Today they tried to work on his sucking by giving him a pacifier. Hopefully this will help to strengthen his suck. He is also borderline on being able to keep his temperature up where it needs to be so they have put a type of blanket over his bed that helps to keep in the heat. They should see more improvement once he gets through what would have been his 34th week if he had not been born early. He was born at 33 weeks. Keep praying for his improvement.

Kristen is needing to get more rest in order to build up her milk supply so she and Taylor have decided to have her come home at night and go up to the hospital during the day. She is still pretty sore from the c-section and needs to get more rest to heal from that also. The kids were very happy to have her home tonight. Kristen said that Preston (14 months) laid his head on her chest and then would look up at her and smile as if to say, "You really are here aren't you?" Then he would put his head on her chest again and then look up at her again.

Please continue to keep them in your prayers. I will keep you updated when I can.

Our Precious New Grandson

I know you have all been anxiously awaiting pictures of our new grandson and here they are. I was able to see him today and that was a wonderful thing. He is so cute! Of course I am not bias in any way, right?




Brooklyn was the most interested in seeing her new baby brother.