The Yard Sale - Brought to You by the Letter "A"

Wow! God provided in a HUGE way! We raised $1500.00 for Baby Abel Ancelet! A kiss of gratitude and a BIG Thumbs up!

FOR YOU

LOVELY

Sitting on the Throne - NICE!

The Kid's Concession Stand raised $90!

What can I say? God was faithful to provide!
My prayer was to top $1,000 for Baby Abel, but "God always does abundantly more than we think or ask!" It was incredible to be counting the bills at the end of the day and see that we were already over $1,000.

Why did I call it "The Yard Sale Brought to You by the Letter A?" Because the things closest to my heart on this day all begin with the letter "A."

This took place on such an emotional day for me. It was Ansley's Birthday - September 29th. All the memories of shared birthdays are precious to my heart! I am thankful to be celebrating it in a way that honors her, and the things we shared together! Oh the tears flowed today, but I know Ansley would LOVE being a part of this!

This week we have enjoyed having Andrew with us from High Point. As his family is walking on the suffering road that I traveled with Ansley, it was special to have him with us. He truly enjoyed helping with the Yard Sale, and even took home an Army Tank from the Sale. It was precious having him here, and just getting to love on him a little!

All of the money is going to help bring a child here from Africa. So many memories there, So precious to my heart!

The money raised is for baby Abel Ancelet. Our family is already praying for this child. Wherever he is right now! It will be a joy to see him grow up. I am thankful that our family could be a small part of bringing him home - for we did it "as we are ABLE!"

Today was for the Ancelet Family! It was a blessing to serve them and bless them as they have been such a blessing to us! We love you! Always!

There were so many funny things from today! Tracie captured it all so well on her BLOG! here's what she had to say...

Wow... I feel so incredibly love and blessed! Over 30 families gave of their time, their items and baked goods to help us get baby Abel home from Ethiopia. My friend, Robin, hosted a garage sale in honor of Baby Abel. We have a bit of expenses to cover due to the adoption and she came up with this great fund raiser. Not only did we have a blast doing this (it truly was so much fun!), the Lord provided! We made $1500 on the sale and the LOVE we felt was INCREDIBLE! Today was Robin's best friend, Ansley's birthday. Ansley went home to be with the Lord on Feb 13th, 2007. In Robin's grief, she served our family and it amazed us. Through lots of hugs and tears today we praised God for how he blessed our sale with incredible weather, people, and funds. It was truly a GREAT DAY!
Here are some of my favorite moments from the sale
-me, Robin, Cindy and Kaitlin all decided to find an outfit and dress up... so we all went around the yard sale and dressed up and then came back to see what each other had on. It was hilarious.
- Robin has the best "loud voice".... it is real high pitched. So hearing her scream (at 2pm)... A Bag for a Buck... stuff a bag for a buck or stuff ten bags for $8.00 that's 80 cents a bag! WHAT A DEAL!
- Seeing different people pose on the portable toilet we had for sale to have their picture taken (we ended up giving away the toilet).
- Having Addison sale drinks... she was saying "drinks... one dollar". It was ADORABLE.
-wearing this UT necklace. IT SOLD! A girl who lives in Robin's neighborhood bought it for her mom. I sure hope she wears that BEAUTIFUL necklace!!
- hearing the kids price the different items. We'd say "what do you think we should sale this for?" and they would say "one hundred dollars"... and it would be something we'd sale for a dollar.
-putting labels on Emily Card, Lauren, and Katie... we played a game of Pit last night and I think there were a few cheaters in the group... I won't name names but their's start with an E AND L.
- Hearing Emile Sloan use her favorite word "jankie"
-watching the kids run the concession stand (which made $90)
-just hanging out at the garage sale... it was SO MUCH FUN!

Finally, my gratitude to everyone who made today so special for the Ancelet Family. Thank you especially to Patti and Carol for coming at the end of the sale for the job that no one enjoys doing - CLEANING UP! What servant hearts you have! Thank you!
And, Baby Abel, wherever you are, please know, "This was for YOU! YOU are so loved!"

Cherebim and Seraphim

Our sweet friend, Andrew Pardo is staying with us this week. The boys have had so much fun together.

Last night we were playing the Bible Trivia game. I asked, "What are the seraphim and cherebim?"

Andrew replied, "They are ryhming words."

So funny!

Quotes that make me SMILE

Weston and I went to WalMart to get some supplies for the Yard Sale. I need to find some masking tape. As we were walking through the school supply section of the store, Weston said, "Mom, here's the masculine tape!"

When I returned home, Braden had been running hard! He had been playing with his older brothers! He told me, "Mom, I ran so hard I could hear my heart beeping!"

And the one that brings the biggest smile to my face...

Last night was a late night for the boys. Reid had a meeting and I finally got all of the boys to bed about 10:00 pm. It was late for me, and my patience was beginning to wear thin when they were all finally down for the count. While I am washing the dinner dishes, I hear the padding of feet coming down the hall. After a deep breath to keep my cool, I think to myself, "Here we go..."

"Mommy" whispers a sheepish Braden.
"Yes" I reply as I turn around with my wet hands to face Braden.
"Mommy, can I tell you something?"
Deep breath..."Yes, Braden, you can. What do you want to tell me?" Deep breath...
"Mommy, I want to tell you that I just love you so much!"
I scoop him up with my dish-pan hands and hold him tight! Oh, how precious and sweet are those words! What a blessing are our children!

Home School History Field Trip - Williamsburg, VA

In the Public Stocks - What are we thinking??
Our trip started with a flat tire. The camper had a flat tire just an hour out of Knoxville. Too far to turn back!


The Governor's House




Running into the Kari and Taylor from HP was such a TREAT!

The boys would have been great in the militia!

Kaitlin as Pocahontas

Firing a Matchlock Gun
Jake is all smiles
Franklin is playing an Indian Game
Weston is fascinated by the craft of making a wooden sheath for your sword

Very cool that Mason's name is at Jamestown
Kaitlin with Sarah, a home schooling friend we met at the campground
Mason is trying a game of the colonists
Oh yeah, attractive!
Rhonda and I were all giggles! We laughed whenever the kids wanted to take a picture!
This trip was so much fun! We did too many things to list them all! And, I took too many pictures to post them all.

It was such a joy to see the kids understand history as it came to life before them. I think they have an understanding of early America that can only come through a trip like this.

Thanks Rhonda for letting us tag along in the camper. It was a blast to travel with you!

Sam's Home

We enjoyed a precious visit with Sam. He was home for a few weeks before heading back for more intensive training in the Army. He will not be deployed this fall, so that is a praise, but we continue to lift up all the men and women fighting overseas right now. We are so proud of Sam's commitment to our great nation.

AJ shared his pet snake with everyone - OH MY GOODNESS! It makes my skin crawl! AJ is heading out for some rigorous swim training for the Junior National Team at the Olympic Training center. Their parents have so much to be proud of when they look at the two young men they have raised! What a blessing!

Our First Demolition Derby!

Our precious friends, the Suchomskis, gave us tickets to go and enjoy the TV FAIR. We had a lot of fun!

The boys rode some rides, we explored the Discovery Center, and we ended the night at the Demolition Derby - a FIRST for our entire family!

At the Derby with Paula! Who would have ever believed we would run into each other again after working together 20 years ago! Amazing!

What a romantic date! Watching cars pummel each other! Kissy-kissy!

Even at the Demolition Derby you can be reminded that "Jesus Saves!" But, really now, is that the best way to tell people??!! Just something to think about!

Yes, now we are official Tennessee Hillbilly Rednecks!