Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Welcome to Gracie's Farm! We've been busy this 2007 and thought we would try to share some of these moments with pictures as well as words. Most of our news centers around all the "critters" that we have now.
The first of the year, of course, was cold and we spent many nights by the fireplace. By Spring I had planned and attended our Church Ladies Retreat in Helen, GA.
We have had a long year with Mattie's (our youngest Spitz) cancer and finally the Monday after Easter we knew it was time. It seemed fitting that it snowed that day and we had a frost that just about wiped out all the folige...We already had our little Beagle Sadie and then a month later a close friend gave us a spunky little Affenpinscher named Di Di. The two girls get along great and they supply all the love and wet kisses anyone could ever want. There are pictures of Sadie asleep in a "sun beam" by the front door and Di has her favorite ball toy "blow fish" that she chases and retrieves until you lose your mind.
In June we were walking the dogs when we heard a little "meow" up the road and we discovered a little gray kitten. We rescued her and named her Gracie. She is an adorable kitty that loves to prowl our property and keep an eye on everything. She just seems to be everywhere, so we call this Gracie's Farm. She and the dogs love each other and play together, so we are blessed to have critters that get along good.
Also in June our family celebrated my parents 50th wedding anniversary in Orange Beach/Gulf Shores. We all had a great time with beautiful weather and a lovely condo that some friends let us use for the week. Mom and Dad are doing well, stay busy and make it up to Jasper from time to time!
In July-August I left Outdoor Expeditions since the corporate office had moved to McDonough. It was truly hard to do since it has been such a wonderful place to work. I started in August at AGI Worldwide as the Office Manager and make a drive to Alpharetta each day. The great blessing in this is the hour I get to spend with the Lord or listening to christian music and seeing all the beautiful horse farms on the back roads I take. Greg is still building his home based business "Technology Machine Components".
In September we got back into teaching Sunday School - we have little 6 year olds that are just adorable. They truly bring us a lot of joy. They are really insightful and have a lot to share about their world. (Keeps us young!!!)
In October all the Fall Festivals started and of course there is all the leaf color to soak in. It's a beautiful time of year here. My parents wound up with circumstances that enabled them to travel to Hawaii for a week at very little cost. The long travel was hard, but the awesome scenery was well worth it. For them it was the trip of a lifetime - a place my Mom had always wanted to see. So dreams can come true!!!!
In October we also got a couple of goats - females, "Little One" and "Skittles". We got them from a friend and before we picked them up they had had a visit from the Billy goat.....that means we should have little baby goats soon. We always seem to get more than we bargined for! The goats are cleaning out our back woodsy area and are quite social animals. It also gave Gracie a little more to watch after.
It's getting colder and December is here....of course we're behind on decorating, but have most of our shopping done....online shopping is great!
We've been so blessed this year to have good health, a lovely home and lots of critters to care for. It's quite peaceful here on our 2 acre farm......a quick update, Little One had 2 babies on December 16th - two little black and white kids that are just adorable! (Pictures should be posted soon)
Let us hear from you - our email is phillips1078@yahoo.com ......We trust each of you have a Merry Christmas - a celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It is our hope you will know him more, deeper, and better than ever before. He is the Reason for the Season, and He is our Reason for living!