Brunch

On Christmas Eve us girls got together in the morning for a nice brunch and gift exchange. It was so nice to have everyone together again, it has been awhile since we were all in the same state! To add to the excitement of the day, Froujke has been living with Keri in Gainesville and is an exchange student from The Netherlands at UF. She came home from UF with Keri to celebrate Christmas with her family so she was able to join us for brunch and our adventure in St. Augustine (another blog coming soon). This was the first time Froujke had ever experienced an American Christmas, and the picture of her is the first Christmas present she ever opened! If you were wondering, in The Netherlands they celebrate Sinterklaas which is like Christmas in some ways. On December 25th the celebrate but it is not about gifts, Froujke explained it to me and described it as a day filled with family and food :) We all love Froujke and enjoyed having her around throughout Christmas!

This picture has a funny story: I thought this nice man looked a lot like Santa so I asked him if he wouldn't mind taking a picture with us. He was more than happy to and as it turns out he is a professional Santa from Texas and was in FL for Christmas. He is used to taking 900 pictures a day, so he said one more was not a problem :)
The girls all got glittery crosses from me (and Stephen, because he actually bought these for me) and they loved them. The pink one was perfect for Keri!
Here is Froujke opening her first Christmas present ever in America...I'm so glad we all got to be a part of that experience for her!

Sadly, Froujke is back in The Netherlands...but we will meet again :) There are more Christmas posts and New Years post from my trip to Indiana coming...

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve we had a nice dinner at my parents house and then headed to church together for the Christmas Eve Service. The puppies had on matching red Christmas sweaters and were so cute. See for yourself in the pictures :)





Hope everyone had a great Christmas Eve with family and friends!

The forecast for this week is...

SNOW!!!

I just got home from an amazing day with some girls friends and new friends for Brazil and The Netherlands and it is really late, but many people have mentioned that I need to update my blog so I thought I would try and get in a short post. Life has just been crazy busy with working full time at the dentist office and part time at Hallmark, and preparing for Christmas with family. I am looking forward to my break this week for sure!

I am so excited to be in Indiana and spend New Years with Stephen and his family :) I have lots of blogs in the process hitting on some special Christmas traditions so more posts will be coming soon, I promise! I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and has a blessed New Year too!

There are lots of pictures coming soon with the new blogs...just a heads up!

Prayers...

I wanted to thank you all for the prayers and outpouring of love towards the Stratton family. The prayers now need to be directed towards the parents. Lucy Lynn went home to be with the Lord last week. I know many of you were praying for this little girl and her family even though you had no connection to them. My heart is heavy for her parents as they trust and lean on the Lord for his support during this tough time. Please continue to lift this family up in prayers!

Tonight was Lucy's viewing, and on a happy note-it was a blessing to see a spend a few minutes with each of her parents. In the short time we were together their love for each other, Lucy and the Lord has been an encouragement to me. Eric and Christina, I want you both to you know that you are incredible people and love and prayers are coming your way for many days ahead! Please let me know if you need anything...

Matthew 5:4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted."

update on Lucy Lynn

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends and family, I had a special treat this Thanksgiving...Stephen drove down from Indiana to spend Thanksgiving with my family :) I got an update on the precious baby girl that is in need of all our prayers and love. Here is the email her mom sent me this evening:

Hi Emily! I just googled "Lucy Lynn Stratton" and your blog entry came up... you are so sweet! Update on Lucy... she got transferred to Shands Gainesville yesterday. She is still critical but stable so they went ahead and transferred her then. She did great with it! She's moving around a little but still has a wicked infection that has ravaged her precious body. After she clears her infection (we're talking weeks from now) she might be eligible for a liver transplant, which we're pretty sure she will need at this point. So as for specific prayer requests... please pray for her to remain stable while her body fights this infection! Hope you have had a good thanksgiving.... we certainly have! Our thanksgiving dinner consisted of Pizza Hut delivery in our Gainesville hotel room! But we're not complaining, as it is an absolute miracle that Lucy has made it past Monday and we have a LOT to be thankful for!

Thank you for your love and prayers!!

Much love,
Christina
(Lucy's mom!)

Keep praying, this little girl needs to be strong ready when a liver becomes available!

Pray for Lucy Lynn!

Please pray for Lucy Lynn Stratton. She is only 15 days old and in the ICU at Wolfson's Childrens Hospital in Jacksonville with a massive infection of the liver. No one knows yet what the cause is but the outcome doesn't look positive. She has been put into a drug induced coma and is being pumped full of drugs to try and keep her alive. All we can do is hope and pray for a positive outcome!!!

Last I heard, they were running more test to determine if there is brain damage. They were also doing dialysis today and hope to stop the internal bleeding. Pray that she will be strong enough for surgery when a liver comes available from the transplant list. List this baby up in prayers!

Photo Shoot

My good friend Robyn is pregnant with twins and we did a fun photo shoot a few weeks ago. She is so beautiful and these twins are already blessed! Here is a peak at the edited pictures:

One week...

...and he will be here :) I cannot wait!

Happy News!

I got a job at Hallmark working part time (YAY)! (I am really excited to be working for such a great company with values during the time I have off from the dentist office :) I start on Saturday...and guess what the dress code is? Something Christmasy and seasonal. If you know me, you know that this is right up my alley. I am so looking forward to dusting off my Christmas earrings in November this year!

I will be sure to post and let you all know how my first day goes working in one of my favorite stores!

What's on your mind?

A lot has been on my mind lately, in fact it doesn't seem to ever shut off anymore. I find myself going to sleep and then thinking about all kinds of things from things I need to accomplish at work, places I need to send my resumes too, what I am going to cook for dinner the next day, and making plans with Stephen for the holidays. It is crazy! Recently I have been plagued by some serious thoughts too.

You may have seen or read about the little girl that went missing while walking home from school in Florida and was then found 2 days later at a landfill in Georgia. The little girl's name was Somer Thompson, she was 7, and she lived 5-10 minutes away from me. I have been thinking and praying for her family a lot the past two weeks. My heart really does go out to them, as I cannot even comprehend what they are going through.

Today, a woman in Orange Park got out of the shower while getting ready for work only to find her husband had woken up and killed their two children and himself while she was getting ready. The children were 16 and 11. As I read the story online about this happening in my community, my heart broke for this woman. Please lift her up in prayers!!

I am going to continue to focus on this verse that has stood out to me a lot recently with all the stress, uncertainty, and negativity in the world:

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. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Phil 4:6-8

Isn't it encouraging to know that we can surrender all the things going on in our families, our communities, our minds and hearts to the Lord and he will take care of it and give us peace? Praise God!

do it yourself art...

20 dollars-
216 2 inch squares-
several hours-
8 different colors...and you get this masterpiece:




Last time I was in Indiana, Stephen and I went to my friend Tina's apartment and she had a painting that I loved! When I asked her where she got it, she said she painted it herself. I thought, "wow, I bet I could do that"! Last week I went to the local craft store and got everything I would need and got right to work. I took an old painting that I had bought at a flea market and painted over it. I really was not sure how it was going to turn out, but in the end I absolutely love it!

What do you think?

Baby pictures: Savannah Rae!

My cousin had a job interview today so she asked me to watch her youngest child while she went to the interview and ran a ran a few errands. I told her I would take some pictures while she was gone and she laughed, but was not surprised at all. Savannah is so beautiful and taking pictures of her is always fun! Here are a few good ones taken today of the newest member of our family:







Isn't she georgous?!? She is such a happy baby too!

Fall Adventures in Indiana :)

For the first time I have experienced fall in another state! Here in Florida nothing changes colors unless it is dead so it was a treat to see all the leaves changing colors, and falling. Indiana in the autumn is beautiful! I flew into Indy late Thursday night and Friday we went to a pumpkin patch and corn maze with Stephen's nieces, Emma and Ainsley. We did the corn maze in the rain, but still had a great time. Saturday we spent a lot of time driving (because I wanted to look at the leaves) and taking pictures. I can still not get over all the colors of nature! The pictures really just do not do it justice:







15 days until Stephen is in Florida for a weekend :)

Brad

After the concert in Jacksonville last week I might as well be one a first name basis with Brad Paisley, but sadly I am not. Last Thursday I headed downtown with some friends to catch his show and it was incredible! There were a few bazaar things that happened...like Dierks Bentley taking a beer from a girl in the audience and drinking it. Who does that?!? We all thought that Brad Paisley put on an amazing show. After the concert we went to Steak N Shake because Keri's roommate who was with us had never been. We enjoyed some great milkshakes (note: you have to try the carmel apple milkshake!)

another project...

I have recently had a thirst for change in my house, and after lighting the cabinet with my salt and pepper shakers in it I knew I needed to do something else. I decided instead of getting a new floor lamp that I could modify the one I already have. I have had this lamp since I was in high school and its home is the the corner of my living room. After a bottle of special spray paint and an hour drying I have a new lamp in my living room that I love! Here are the before and afters:






It is am improvement, don't you think?

Home Improvement Project

Last weekend I took advantage of having a man around, thanks Stephen! For a few weeks I have been thinking about making the cabinet in my kitchen with glass doors lighted. I have some china and my collection of salt and pepper shakers in there and I thought it would be nice to have it lighted for display. I thought it would be easy enough and it was! All Stephen had to do was drill one hole and then I put a sting of lights in the cabinet and ta-da!




In the end, this only cost me 5 dollars which was the cost of a timer for the lights :) I love my new lighted cabinet!

Thank you for your help Stephen, xoxo!