They're moving on out. To the west side...

Today was moving day for Bethany and Peter.  What a joy to be able to help them...along with many other able bodies!  Kudos to Bethany and Peter for having everything packed and ready to go!  With several trucks and trailers and various and assorted vehicles everything was loaded and moved in one fell swoop...AWESOME!  Enjoy some photos of the day...

 

Poppa Simmons surveying some of the job to be done.

The kitchen stuff, mostly glassware, awaiting gentle transport.

Well...that didn't take too long...an empty kitchen!

Where did it all go?

Oh!  There it is...at least some of it...

Voila!  From the trucks, trailers and vehicles to the new garage.

Bethany and Peter actually close the loan on their house Monday at 4:00PM.  The owners were very gracious to allow them to put all their things in the garage so they wouldn't have to move it twice.  

After they sign on all the dotted lines (hand cramps!), everything will be moved into these lovely rooms...

(captions are underneath photos)

 

The family room...yes, the wallpaper will be coming down...SOON!

Can you say, "Wallpaper Party!"?

The library / office...nice.

The dining room...yes...more wallpaper to be removed.

But, a lovely room nonetheless.  Can't you see Hudson, his siblings and buddies enjoying delectable PBJ sandwiches in here?

  

The kitchen...thankfully, no wallpaper.

The downstairs powder room...YIKES!..more wallpaper.

Then upstairs to the bedrooms.

The master bedroom...it's really nice and roomy with a walk-in closet

and bathroom...and no wallpaper!

The guest bedroom...lovely room...uh-huh...covered in wallpaper.

There must've been one heck of a sale!!

The hall bathroom...no wallpaper...but...interesting counter-top.

Master Hudson's soon-to-be nursery.

The wonderful, level, fenced-in backyard...and deck.

I think I overheard something about cigars...aka "Man Time"...

Here's a back view of the house.  The tree in the right of the pic is

a dogwood that has buds on it. How fun to discover what color it will be!  We saw daffodils already pushing their shoots up through the soil anticipating the warmth of spring...

I just love reminders of new life!  ...buds, tender shoots, pregnant bellies...smile...

Here's a front view of the house.

Here are the proud soon-to-be-home-owners.

CONGRATULATIONS, BETHANY AND PETER!

May you enjoy many days, months and years in your new home!!

Whew!  We're pooped!  Let's have some pizza!!

Ten weeks to go. How time flies...

A few weeks ago I announced we are soon to be grandparents. Well, we are at 10 weeks to go and counting!! The excitement in the air is becoming electric (around our family and Peter's family anyway...smile) Hudson Jude Hedger is going to be surrounded with grandparents, aunts, uncles and 1 cousin (at this point), who are looking forward to loving on him, playing with him, pretty much just acting foolish around him... Isn't it funny the lengths people will go to solicit some sort of response from a baby? Decorum totally goes out the window. Facial contortions and baby voices commence. All for a few little spit bubbles or maybe a full diaper, if you're lucky! I don't care! They'll be the most awesome spit bubbles and poopy diapers ever made!!!

Bethany has been a trooper during this pregnancy. After a very hard, very sickly first trimester, she has felt really good. I'm very impressed with how she has taken care of herself. When I was pregnant, rumor had it the GoodYear people were considering flying me as their new blimp. Whoa!! I was HUGE!! Bethany, on the other hand, truly has that "pregnancy glow". She looks beautiful! Don't you agree?

We had the opportunity to see the inside of Bethany and Peter's soon-to-be new house this afternoon. The Lord has BLESSED them abundantly with a wonderful house in which to make their home!! It is in a great neighborhood...only a couple of miles from Jake and Loren (one of our sons and his wife)...and in very close proximity to many church friends who also have young children and will be great sources of encouragement! The house has three bedrooms, two and a half baths, a nice living rooom, dining room, family room, kitchen, two-car garage, a great deck for outdoor entertaining, a nice concrete patio / slab (potential b'ball court), and a wonderful level fenced-in back yard that Dublin (their boxer) will LOVE!  I'm sorry there are no photos of the house at this time...I forgot the camera!  ARGH!!!!!!  But...here's the main man...Dublin!  Doesn't he look excited about his new yard?!?

It's so sweet to be able to experience these precious moments with our children. We are truly thankful that God in His incredible mercy has allowed us these days. How I desire to be ever mindful that they are evidences of God's grace...totally undeserved...and given as reminders of His tender loving care for us.  He is the giver of all good gifts!  May I be quick to be thankful and slow to forget...fixing my eyes and my heart not on the gifts but on the Giver.  He alone is worthy to be praised!!

It's Friday. It's time to slide...

Perhaps I'm a bit behind the times...but, just last night I was introduced to the "Sanctified Slide". The video I really wanted to post is not allowed to be embedded anymore because it was getting more hits than the original. Just between you and me...if you go to You Tube, search for "Sanctified Slide," and select the Paul Eugene aerobic version...you'll see why I prefer that one.

But, since Paul Eugene is on restriction from being embedded, you'll enjoy "sliding" with this video. You gotta "walk in the Spirit...shake the devil off...stomp Satan lower...dance like David danced!!"

Don't wait another second...press play and slide with me!!

Celebrating a half-century. No, make that an eternity...

On February 8, 1960 a precious bundle of boy was born to Mike and Janice Simmons.  They named him Michael Marlon Simmons...yes...as in movie star Marlon Brando.  Michael Marlon's mother (say that three times fast!) was quite the fan.  The name Michael, of course, is the formal version of the nickname Mike...the name his dad went by...even though his given name is Robert Milton Simmons, Jr.  So...not really sure from whence they got "Mike" .  But, it got passed to first son, Michael Marlon...also affectionately known as "Mike".

 

Here is Michael Marlon Simmons at 9 months old.

Whew! He takes my breath away!!

Is it the onesie?  ...or maybe the thigh rolls?

Book him...he's mine!!

We celebrated Michael Marlon Simmons' 50th birthday on February 6, 2010.  It was a precious time of family and friends.  It was a wonderful time of encouraging and honoring words.  It was a celebration of the redeeming power of the gospel.  It was a time of exalting Jesus and exulting in God's handiwork to the praise of His glory.

 
 

Blowing out the candles proved a bit challenging...

you gotta love some trick candles!

Thanks to my co-conspirator, Mike's boss, I was able to whisk my birthday boy away for a surprise night at The Whitestone Inn followed by February 8...the big day...the birthday...to be spent together...just the two of us.  It was a sweet time of rest...in the spa tub, reflection...over what it would be like to have a spa tub, reminiscing...about the gently massaging spa tub bubbles, and rejoicing...that we now know a little taste of heaven (called a spa tub) is but a 45 minute jaunt from Brewer Street.  (sorry...no photo...it wouldn't do it justice!)

As I prepared and planned for my sweet hubby's birthday weekend, the words "Welcome Home" kept going through my mind.  I believe it was the Holy Spirit's way of helping me shop for the perfect birthday present (pictured below). See, I have had the privilege of witnessing the miracle of God's grace in my husband's life.  Just as the father ran to embrace the prodigal...the Father scooped up His child, Michael Marlon Simmons, cradled him to His breast, and said, "Welcome home, my son. You were lost...but now you're found!"  Michael Marlon Simmons hasn't been the same since...the old has passed away...the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Thanks to Christopher Koelle for expressing the parable of

The Prodigal Son so beautifully.

(pretend the slight reflection of the photographer isn't there...)

So...Happy 50th Birthday, my love!  Thank you for loving Jesus more than me.  Thank you for encouraging me to love Jesus more than you.  I am deeply honored to be your wife.  I am profoundly thankful to be your sister in Christ.

 

I love you more today than yesterday and less than tomorrow!

You're still just as cute as that 9 month old a few paragraphs up!!