Family Shots by the all famous photographer Christopher DeWitt!!!

Chris does such a great job and as you look closely at the pics you realize not only is he a good photographer he is a magician!! If you click on the pictures they will come up full size. I don't know who that old woman is, but he sure got some good shots! He captured some special moments in time for all of us! I am so proud of him - and he truly loves what he is doing - to see more of his stuff go to his website, there is a link on the right.

Christmas at the Braleys

We had a great day - Happy Birthday Jesus!

Get ready for the big day!

Reading books with Aunt Terry Playing, shopping, cooking and cookie decorating busy busy busy! Alot of activity - all in preparation of the day! Tonight we will go to the Xmas eve service at church - come home to eating and watching favorite Christmas movies and tomorrow morning we will start the day reading the Christmas story from the book of Luke and remember the real reason for the season - our Savior is born!!!! Thank you Lord for family, friends, and the babe in the manger!

Frosting on the cake

Some would say this is "adding insult to injury" with the ice still on the trees , but I love snow, so to me it is the frosting on the cake. It is beginning to look alot like Christmas - Lord help us to focus on the true meaning of Christmas - the birth of Your Son - our Saviour and Lord if there any reading this who do not have a personal relationship with you, I pray they would come to know you personally during this season.

Family pics from Louisville

Here are some shots from Louisville, Christopher did the family portrait of Dans family as well as the picture of Nick (he did not get his picture taken at school - so this is a much better option!!). The rest are random shots - we had the best time - I love being with my family !! Thank you Lord that they love being with us too!!!

Ice Storm Dec 2007

This is what we came home to on Monday!! The pictures tell the story - the bottom 4 pictures are looking in different directions off our front porch - what a mess! We thank God our home was not damaged and no one was hurt!!

Dans Graduation

What a great day!! Dec 7th will go down in history for a very good reason in our family! After a bachelors degree from bible college, a Masters of Divinity from Southern Theological Seminary, being ordained as a minister of the gospel, and a Doctorate of Education from Southern Theological Seminary - he's done. Please note the great pictures taken by the photographer and older accomplished brother Chris! My what talented sons I have!!! Thank you Lord for working in my childrens lives, they have all 3 grown up to love you and serve you and lead their families to know you too! You have been soo good to us - Thank YOU.

Christmas is coming!

The navity set is out, but the tree is not up. We are headed to Louisville tomorrow for Dan's graduation, so we will put our tree up when we get back. We are so excited to see everyone.. Chris, Jen, Jordan and Caylee are going to be there, we have not seen them since February! It will be a whirlwind weekend - Dan graduates Friday, April is making Lasagna and there will be others there to celebrate, Saturday is Caylees 6th birthday, so we will have a party - Sunday we'll go to church and then just relax (or shop) the rest of the day. I decorated a bit outside and if you look close you will see it was snowing this morning!!! Not enough to accumulate, but enough to see it was white. Hope all is well in your world, we are coming into a season of celebration. First and foremost the birth of our Savior, a more costly gift was never given! A time to enjoy family and friends. Both the boys and their families will be here for Christmas - we are looking forward to a good long visit then. Hope your season is merry and bright!

Burning bushes.

Our fall color was late in coming , but when it arrived it was beautiful, as seen in here in our row of burning bushes , you'll notice the dead grass, still reminders that we need moisture so badly. I took this picture yesterday, and I think the paper said we are about 9 inches below average moisture for the year - it would be great if we would make it up over the winter - in snow! People down here hate that word, but us displaced yoopers don't!

Cappucino!

Here is the quilt - don't look to close at the points, I had a terrible time getting it all to come together, I never did figure out the point square, but did the best I could. I like the way it turned out and then decided to quilt the coffee mugs in the snowball square centers.

Wall of pictures

I repainted the entry way and so changed the wall art. I found this plaque in a store here in town and it was just perfect to place in the center of all the family pics. Our stories do begin at home, none of us have the same story, but our own unique story. That is our beginning, we can't change that, but what we do after that is up to us. I thank God He touched me, changed my heart, made me a child of His and changed the course of my life. And so it is with each of you - how's your story going? I pray wonderfully!!!!!

Beautiful Fairies!!

Aren't they gorgeous - I would love to have them come and knock at my door for candy tonight!!

Haircuts, baseball cakes and presents!!!

Isaiah and Micah have completed their first year and it was celebrated by a their first haircut, Baseball birthday cakes - created by mom, lots of presents and their first taste of cake! It was a great day and a fitting celebration that included grandparents, aunts and friends!

In the pumpkin patch.

Jordan and Caylee in the pumpkin patch - don't you love the pumpkin earrings!! Jordan is looking too grown up - getting closer to being a teenager - time is going too fast! They both did OUTSTANDING on their report cards - I am so proud of them.

Thank you Lord for my family - my children who love You and are raising their children to love You. Thank You for special times together and sweet memories! There is no more special time than a family together enjoying the day and each other.

I hope I never get over the joy of seeing my children grow into amazing adults raising their kids wisely. Ok - they are not perfect. Neither was I, I think back over all the mistakes I made and I am amazed they turned out as they did, but God gives grace and works through good and bad. All the trials give us the strength we need and turn us toward Him on our knees begging for help. Thank You Lord for ALWAYS being there and being patient with me and working in my kids lives in spite of me! You are so good to us - I love you.

There's a Doctor in the house!!

By george - he's done it! Dan defended his dissertation yesterday and was SUCCESSFUL- he has completed his Doctorate and is now Dr. Daniel DeWitt. He received his Doctor of Education and will go through graduation on December 7th at Southern Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. Woo Hoo!! We are so proud of him and his wife April for her support of him through all these years and hours of study. Dan is 30 and has been in school since he was 5 years old! Way to go Dan!

Chris and Family

We are looking forward to seeing you guys in December - just 2 more months!! Love you guys!

Happy 1st Birthday Daphne!

I am so jealous - I would love to be able to dive into a whole cake! Isn't she a doll - Happy Birthday Daphne!

Sink mates!

Aren't they too cute!

Nick and his Oldest Sister

Kim Boydstun is 13 years old and they have not seen each other in about 4 years! They used to see each other once a year, but that has not happened in the past 4 years - so they are going to make up for lost time. She is going to come down for the weekend so they can catch up!

2 peas in a pod.

Ok - not 2 peas in a pod, but 2 boys in a basket. We are headed off to the Zoo today. There is a small zoo in Springfield that will probably be just perfect for their age.