The Quilt/Comforter is Done!!!!!

Hooray the comforter is done! Last Saturday Brandy helped me bind what I thought was a quilt but understood later to be a comforter. I apparantly had WAY too much batting to qualify it to be a quilt. We spent lots of hours trying to fit my "quilt" slash comforter under Brandy's awesome sewing machine (I'm so jealous of her machine). Anyway, Rebekah loves the end result. Below is the work in progress and the finished product. Please ignore the hair as it was a long day for Brandy and I. A big thanks to Dana and Brandy for their time, advice and help.

The Leaves have Fallen

We waited forever for the weather to change and the leaves to drop. Finally the day came where it was time...... to JUMP in the leaves that Daddy raked.














In the end Mommy and Daddy all jumped in the leaves together.

Christmas came early for the Jenkins

Well Christmas came early at our house. The kittens came home today. They are now ours to keep. Judah and Rebekah were even counting the days down until they arrived. Look how cute they are.

The first picture is Anastasia. The second and third are of Ariel. Yes we did have one named Hercules but he died so we adopted Ariel instead.

The Quilt is going

I know you guys have all been waiting to see how I'm doing on Rebekah's quilt so here goes. I know I'm behind due to work deadlines but I've made HUGE progress this weekend. Here is a picture of the first row and another one of the first 4 rows - not too bad. Only 1 more row to go and then sew the rows together.

Trick or Treat

It's that time of year again, and while Judah was a little under the weather before the main event, he pulled it together in time to grab some loot.

State Fair

Of course it's that time of year again - the State Fair. This was a fun year for me (Angela) b/c Judah wanted to ride ALL the fun and scary rides. In fact we had to hold him back on a few that I thought would scare him. Our daredevil of a child named Rebekah turned out to be the one afraid. Wonder where she gets that from hmmmmmm. Here are some of our pictures.

Happy Faces

You know you have too much time on your hands when you set the camera's timer and start making faces. Here are a few we did. And yes Rebekah is wearing goggles, what's a mom to do?

Say CHEESE face............................ HAPPY face

My FIRST BIG sewing project

Okay I've looked everywhere for 2 months for a pretty girlie bedset for Rebekah that matches her crazy wall but I have not found one anywhere. SOOOO someone told me to just to make my own. WOW what a task that will be for me. I've sewn before but nothing that required precision which makes me nervous. I plan on posting as I go so all can join me in this process haha. Enclosed is a picture of Rebekah's wall and a picture of her fabrics.

MOPS Day!

If you are a mother of preschoolers and are looking for an activity for you and the kids MOPS is the way to go. I just LOVE my MOPS group. I was new to the area and a new mother but had no idea how to meet other moms. I tried the library, McDonald's and other places but it just wasn't working. Someone introduced me to MOPS and aaahhhh I feel at home. Finally other women that share my interests, great meeting w/o kids (always refreshing) and those darn crafts that I'm just not good at but love trying. Well here's my craft for this month and FINALLY after 2 years we find a craft that I can actually do. The topic this month was gardening with your children and our craft was to make a gardener's toolbelt.

Look what the kids are getting for Christmas!!!

Shhhh it's a secret (or maybe not) but the kids are getting kittens for Christmas. We've talked them OUT of the dogs. Not because I don't like them (actually I prefer dogs) but because I simply cannot potty train one more thing or I'll lose my mind. SO we chose an animal with the LOWEST possible maintenance thus a cat. Growing up we had every kind of animal in the world at one point or another (thanks bro) so I'm familiar with who requires what maintenance. The cats names are Anastasia and Hercules (can anyone guess what movies we watch). The solid grey one is Anastasia and the grey and white is Hercules. They are only 4 days old in the picture and will come home the first part of December. More pictures coming then.

A Trip to the Pinnacle

At the end of summer, our little family set off on our first ever camping trip, tent, camp fire, and all. For our destination, we chose Pilot Mountain. Someone promised her son that we'd go camping in the mountains in the Fall, and Judah never, ever forgot that. So, Pilot Mountain is at least A mountain, and that would suffice.

It turned out to be a great trip. We did a little hiking around the pinnacle and on a couple of trails, and we even managed to sleep fairly well while there.

What Were They Thinking?!

Angela went to work on her birthday expecting to be able to use a sledgehammer to help demolish a McDonald's in Selma, which is now being rebuilt. Personally, I thought they were a little off their rocker to even give her that tool. They apparently don't know my bride like I know her.

However, neither of us expected what she would actually get to do. Now I am sure the people in charge in this are certifiably insane, and I have the pictures to prove it.

The Fourth

We spent this past 4th of July down at Atlantic Beach. It was a short trip but a lot of fun. Click HERE to check out our time with the Pattersons.

Sink or Swim

Okay. So we didn't just throw Judah into the pool and hope he made it. With Rebekah, the challenge is keeping her from jumping in and hoping she makes it.) However, we did get Judah into swimming lessons this year over at Pullen Aquatic Center in Raleigh. Click HERE for more.

Return to Emerald Isle

Back in May, the week before Memorial Day, we made our annual excursion to Emerald Isle. It's our main vacation each year, so of course we really look forward to it, especially since some of our best friends come up from SC to meet us there. We took a couple pictures of the trip, which you're welcome to look at by clicking HERE. Enjoy. We did.

Happy Anniversary!

Do you ever stop to count anniversaries (other than your wedding)? This July 31st will be 5 years. Five years since the doctors diagnosed me with a fatal lung disease. Five long years and yet I now have the opportunity for many more. Back in April 2002 I became ill. I spent the next few months trying all kinds of meds and in hospitals running tests. Finally on July 31st we would have the answers we were waiting for only our answer was PPH a lung disease that has no cure and no answers. I was given the bad news that I only had 3-5 years left to live. Paul and I were shocked. We were young and thought we had our whole life together. For crying out loud we were still newlyweds so how could this have been happening.

The next month we experienced emotions that neither of us knew we had. I kept thinking of all the things I never got to do. Before I knew it I was telling God about my list of things that I thought I would do one day before I died. Didn’t he know it wasn’t time? The emotional journey was rough, and in the midst of it all God asked us to have a child. Paul and I were like Gideon [Judges 6:11-18, and Judges 6:36-40] asking for signs and testing the fleece. We thought we were crazy, but against all odds I was pregnant.

Long story short some miracle happened in the birth of our son Judah that doctors can’t understand. After labor I died and was brought back to life but the strangest thing was I no longer had the lung disease. No one knows where it went. I had test results showing it there before I was pregnant and then was tested again after I had Judah and no disease showed up anywhere. Paul and I believe it was our miracle. Our prayer warrior had informed us prior to Judah’s birth that she was praying for the disease to be birthed. Well I guess God answered her prayer. She also prayed that Judah and I would both live [I went into the hospital in April 2003 to die and to give up my life for my unborn son]. God had answered that prayer as well.

Even though I no longer had the lung disease it had severely damaged my heart. I spent 9 months in pulmonary rehab. During my pregnancy I had not been given the correct meds and dosage and was severely overweight from fluid retention. I had also spent 1 year in a wheelchair and had atrophy of most of my leg and arm muscles. It was hard in the beginning – I was too weak to both take care of my son and try to manage rehab. In 2004 I achieved incredible results that puzzled my doctors. I was improving when they thought that I couldn’t. The 5 years they had given me left to live became the 5 years it would take to get my life back and I was achieving it in 1.

Also in 2004 I was given the green light for another child. After getting pregnant we learned that my heart damage would not allow me to carry more children. With proper meds and a lot of prayer I did better delivering Rebekah. Back to outpatient rehab I went.

Fast forward to 2007. I have lost all of the weight from my pregnancies and almost all from the initial lung disease gain. For the first time in 5+ years I’m able to ride a bike, lift weights, vacuum my carpets (yes, I wanted to do that again), clean my house and run with my kids. Also in 2007 we paid off the final medical bill. AND TODAY July 28th I helped my husband haul 1.5 TONs of rocks to form a ditch (we have 12 more tons to go).

As this July rolled around I have experienced a different set of emotions – joy, happiness, contentment, love, and peace. Peace to know that God is in control. Prayer, well it just darn works. There are still milestones left to accomplish but I no longer fear dying. I no longer look over my shoulder wondering about my future. Yes, right now I still have a heart disease (more like damage), but if I follow my cardiologist instructions I’ll live a full life. I’ve been given a second chance. It’s been a hard 5 years but there’s a beautiful rainbow at the end of this storm and in the midst of it we learned to live 1 moment at a time.

Remember the list of things I wanted to do before I died; well, I just checked off another one this week. I got my first tattoo. Yep, a symbol of the Japanese word for prayer. It’s to remind me of these past 5 years, to remind me of prayers that were answered. Prayers from family members, prayer warrior friends, yet mostly from Paul and I. For those that walked with us thanks. As we watch our children grow we will never forget your prayers and your love. Happy 5th Anniversary!

She's already two?!

Time, it seems, has steadily been moving forward, and our little girl is now, well, a little girl. She's not a baby anymore. Half angel / half... not - all cute! We celebrated her birthday with some family and friends, and had a great day for it. You can click HERE for some more on her little to-do.

Myrtle Beach

Angela and the Dynamic Duo took a little adventure down to Myrtle Beach back in May to visit one of Angela's best friends and her family. I'm noticeably absent because, well, I wasn't there. Had to save my vacation time for our annual trip to Emerald Isle later that month. You can click HERE to see part of the trip.

Replenishing Our Supply

Back in May we took the kids on their 2nd annual Strawberry Picking. (This event will be annual until they move out whether they like it or not.) Angela actually took them twice this year, though I only made it for one of the trips. While it was a bit cold for early May, we still had fun, didn't eat too many berries while picking, and Angela took some great shots like the one below. (Pretty much anytime you see a great shot in any of our pages it was her taking it. I'm the tech person; she's the photographer.) As always, click HERE to see more of this outing.

Judah's 4th Birthday

We had a great day for Judah's 4th birthday party. This was really the first year he was old enough to be able to know what friends he wanted to come, what cake/theme he wanted (Dora), and what he wanted - a bike.

Fortunately, we were able to deliver. Now, when it's a car someday instead of a bike, well, I'll direct him to a good paying job. In the meantime, click HERE for some more pictures.

Breckenridge

Back in February, Angela and I had the privilege of attending her brother's wedding in Breckenridge, Colorado. While we expected the trip to be a bit nippy since it is the Rockies in the dead of winter, we didn't expect 0 to be the about the high. (I don't want to talk about the wind chill - even now on a NC summer day I still get cold thinking about it.) Anyway, we took a couple pictures of the festivities. You can click HERE to see them. Sorry, no commentary yet, so I hope they speak for themselves!

O Tannenbaum

The saga of Christmas tree continues down the ages. The newest generation of our families are now beginning to get involved.

As usual, the picture will take you to some more candids from this event.