This Christmas was blessed but a little different than usual.  Jessica was admitted to the hospital on Christmas Eve with a kidney infection which caused multiple problems for her.  We were able to keep Emma with us and enjoyed having her.  It was Emma's first Christmas so we took all of her gifts to the hospital so Mommy and Daddy could watch her open them.

Alyssa's a Teenager!

Our number three daughter has just turned thirteen.  She is now older than her two sisters were when she was born.  (Victoria was 11 and Jessica was 12) That seems like a lifetime ago.  From the first minute we knew Alyssa was on the way she has been a blessing to our family.  Her kindness, personality, and good nature have always been like an oil on troubled waters with all of our ups and downs.  She sees everything with enthusiasm and enjoyment.  Well, almost everything.  Not the most enthusiastic about room cleaning...although her room is looking better. :)
Jessica took Alyssa out to get her ears pierced, took her to lunch, and then took her jewelry shopping.  How sweet!  Alyssa's birthday fell directly on Thanksgiving day this year.  We decided to do her birthday cake on Sunday afternoon since there were so many pies sitting around on Thursday.  She didn't mind, that's just the way she is. Praise the Lord!  She has seen someone saved every week for the past few months.  We're so grateful for Bro. Josh and Mrs. DeAnna, Miss Sharon Carstens, and the other bus workers who encourage her each week.  Her Sunday School teacher, Mrs. Dickerson, gave her a beautiful pink Bible and it means so much to her.  During the service I noticed that she kept looking at her wrist.  Her Aunt Marsha and Uncle NuNu gave her a charm bracelet.  It is beautiful and she was so pleased.
Lord, I thank you for Alyssa and for the people who set the example and show their love for her with their kind words, actions, and thoughtfulness.

"Grateful"

Today I'm sitting and typing (resting). I love the Thanksgiving holiday but my feet and back are always sore the day after!  Scott and I got the notion to paint the living room last week.  Ha! We're not 20, 30, or 40 anymore, we are just plain dumb.  We energetically chose the paint (my brother's home color), prepped the room, moved furniture, etc.  Then Scott edged the room and painted on Monday.  Peter and Krisha Gabucci visited with us on Monday and just walked through the mess, bless their hearts!  We had a wonderful two-hour plus visit, it could have been longer!

 Room Before, above, Room after, below

The paint dried, we slowly moved the furniture around and hung up the last picture on Wednesday afternoon.  All this plus babysitting Emma, preparing the rest of the house, food, decorations for Thanksgiving.  Somebody, please keep reminding us we're not 40 anymore!  Ha!
When all of the family and guests arrived and made themselves at home it was all worth it.  I always love it when all have their plates and are seated at the table.  There's no feeling like it - very blessed.
Our daughter, Victoria, and her husband, Leonard, hosted their first Thanksgiving dinner with guests from the base.  German ovens are small, so they cooked steaks instead, with all of the other trimmings.  I am very proud of their hospitality and effort for others.
This was our granddaughter, Emma's, first Thanksgiving.  We are so grateful that the Lord has allowed them to live close by (around the corner) and that they are so faithful and active at church.  We can see the family several times a week.  She was sick this week and at the hospital ER and doctor's office, but she made it here for Thanksgiving day.

(Martin, Jessica, Emma - Thanksgiving day, 2012)
About 8:00 p.m. I started to log my calories on my calorie counter app.  After breakfast, the appetizers, etc. the calorie bar chart went from blue (calories remaining) to bright red (calories over).  For fun and honesty and I decided to go ahead and log every bite I could remember taking.  Well, now I know why we only have Thanksgiving one time a year!  I only had one bite of dessert and I still logged in enough calories for a family of four! :)

We were so honored to have a street full of cars and tables full of guests at our home for Thanksgiving. We may not always have this opportunity and we are so grateful to the Lord for His blessings and kindness to us.

"Chubby Bunny Kimber"

Victoria sent a photo of our three-month-old granddaughter, Kimber Layne.  Her friends gave her a baby shower, for which I am very grateful.  While at Ramstein Air Force Base it seems like they have made some very sweet friends.  Kate is pictured with a dear lady, Corinne, who seems to always be there for Victoria.
You would think that seeing pictures would help you stop missing your family but, for me, it makes me miss them even more!  I do pray with greater fervor and I guess the Lord knows that I need to!

"Blessed Beyond Measure"

We might be feeling a little creaky and old, but there are some benefits to getting older!  I'm just posting a cute series of pictures of our granddaughter, Emma, eating her first whole cupcake!

Fall outing

Scott had Monday off after working a lot of long hours last week. The weather was beautiful, so we decided to take Alyssa out after school and take a drive out to Jordan's plant farm and Christmas village. It doesn't take much to thrill her. A drive, a few candy sticks, and a meal and she was in hog heaven!

"Proud of our Christian Heritage"

Photo 1 - Ernest and Emma Simmons, 1970
Photo 2 - Simmons family on the farm, 1934 (Joe Simmons, age 4, in front)

Photo 3 - Harold and Mary Petticoffer, 1997

Photo 4 - Victoria Costa, Jessica, Alyssa, Jennifer Petticoffer, Kimie Simmons

With our nation's morals and common sense in the state of decline and with many second or third generation Christians dropping by the wayside as "victims" of their parents' religious beliefs, I just feel like saying - "I'm proud of being a Christian, a native Texan, an American, and a Baptist!"   I wholeheartedly believe that the Christian values my grandparents and parents taught us by example have been a major cause of the happiness and contentment in my family.

Were all of our forefathers Christians? I don't know, that is between them and the Lord.  Were they all church goers?  Probably not.  The generations that influenced us were both.  Were they perfect? No.  Did they try their best? Yes. Do I honor their memory? Yes.

I just read an article written by the daughter of a Baptist preacher.  She called her childhood and young adulthood unhappy, her father a cult leader, and she is no longer a professing Christian. She makes her living by telling her story of being a victim of Bible truth and then becoming a free spirit to healing powers of positive attitudes.  I thought, "What a bunch of sad hogwash".   The Bible is still true, God is still alive, the Holy Spirit is still powerful, and Jesus still is the Son of God.  Unhappiness is not a reason to turn your back on these truths.  

If you are unhappy, move to a happy place or take Zoloft, but love God.  Start a new career path, but love God.  The Lord never deserves to be abandoned because of the misbehavior of men on the earth.  Men may misbehave, mistreat, or disappoint, but Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and to day, and forever.

The Petticoffer home owes whatever success we have experienced to the Lord and to the Simmons, Chapman, Gerhart, and Petticoffer values taught to us by loving examples.

1. The Bible is true.

2. God is a trinity: God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

3. Salvation is by grace, through faith, in the Lord Jesus Christ.

4. Baptism is a picture of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

5. Be faithful - to church, to your spouse, to your job

6. Work hard.  Play hard.  Have fun.

7. Keep a clean and neat home.

8. Eat meals together as a family.

9. Welcome guests into your home.  Be hospitable, generous, and friendly.

10. Dad is the authority in the home.  Mom backs up Dad.  The children sit at the kids' table during holidays. lol

11. Live by principle, not personality.

12. Love unconditionally.