September 2012

It is official Mr. Masters has returned home!  We are thankful and blessed!  Praise God!

We have started going to a new church that is closer to home and we took a family pic of us before our first visit.  

 Nana came early to help because we were hosting a family gathering/ birthdays for the kids.  Here they are decorating their piggy banks that Grandpa and Nana bought them for their b-days.

 The cousins came early to visit and help.  Here we are having a campfire with smores..... yummy!

 Here is a picture of the family that came to celebrate with us.  We are so blessed with so many wonderful people in our family!  THanks to everyone who came to celebrate and visit.

Present time...

We visited our wonderful friends the Harpers and as always had fun.  They are so wonderful to put up with us and we love them dearly!  Here is to more fun times!!!

 Our sweet Phoebe got her ears pierced and did not even cry.  She was so excited! She also left the training wheels behind and is riding like a pro.  She will be ready for that triathlon next year.

 Mr. Masters did his first triathlon in over 7 years....so proud of him.  He had a personal best time too!  Way to go Daddy.  This is his friend Chris (which was his first one) and he did great!

Can not believe that summer went by so quick and that fall is here.  The kids are doing great in school.  Lula lost her 2nd tooth last week.  Greyson is still potty training!!! Until next time.....

Beach time

We headed to Myrtle beach for a week!  We went crabbing at night, body surfing, lots of beach time, and water park fun.  Greyson is liking the beach more and the girls were catching some serious waves.  The crabs were teeny tiny but fun none the less.  We had great weather and enjoyed spending time with Daddy.  Mr. Masters surprised me with an 1.5 massage while he took the kids to the beach.  I loved being spoiled but my favorite part was spending time as a whole family.  =)

He officially comes home in a week!

August 2012

Phoebe starts Kindergarten!  Her teacher is Mr. Crowder.

 Lula starts 2nd grade and her teacher is Mrs. Waldorf.

 They were excited to start school!

Got my new do!

 For my Birthday my husband spoiled me and her is a pic with my good friend Kara at a fantastic restaurant called Pampas.  We went dancing later that night.  My hubby brought flowers and cake home and showered me with presents.  I am one blessed woman with an amazing hubby.

Greyson got his first haircut.  He cried until they gave him a lollipop and then he was fine.  He looks like a big boy with his new haircut.

 We are still missing daddy terribly but he comes home next month for good.  We are so thankful for the time we have with him on every other weekend he can come to town.  We try to make the most of it then!

The girls did their first triathlon and did great.  It was in our neighborhood and Phoebe placed 2nd in her age group.  Once she crossed the finish line she ran with a friend the entire course again to encourage her.  I was so proud of them!!   They had fun and want to do it again next year!  Since Mr. Masters was out of town Nana and Grandpa came into town to help and cheer the girls on.  A big thank you to Grandma, Nana, and Grandpa!!!

July 2012

Lula Turned 7!  Can't believe my baby is so big.  She is a blessing with her compassion, her mothering, and her love of life!  She brings so much joy to our lives.....

We spent the 4th with Grandpa and Nana!  

Mr. Masters is still on his rotation in D.C. and we miss him terribly but looking forward to driving up to see him for 2 weeks very soon.  Can't wait! In the mean time we are hanging out at the pool with friends and the girls are going to stay with Nana and Grandpa while I head to Alabama to visit family.  Did I mention my folks moved to TN which is about 2 hours away....so excited to have them so close.  

 Marki and Grey had a blast!  We went fishing and Grey caught his first fish.  I enjoyed staying up late with the family visiting and it goes by too fast.  Looking forward to the next one.

Alabama was so much fun as always!!  

On our way to see daddy in D.C. we stayed with dear friends on the way in North Carolina.  

We are so thankful for this sweet family and got to spend time on the way up and the way back from D.C.

We were excited to spend time with daddy!  We went explored downtown D.C. and went to Ocean City, Maryland for a weekend. We saw a real cannon get fired, and saw How to Train your Dragon Live.

Mission Trip

We as a family decided to take a Mission Trip to Montana with the girls.  We left Greyson with Nana and Grandpa for 15 days!!  Thanks to them we could not have done this with out them!  We missed Grey so much but God blessed us with this trip.  We went with our church to Hungry Horse Montana where we hold a VBS (Vacation Bible School) for a week at a school that is empty.  We were nervous because this was our first and we did not know what to expect.  Mr. M was in charge of recreational and I was helping with crafts.  The girls helped by helping with music and dance.  They had so much fun and made lots of friends.  We enjoyed fellow-shipping with the other Missionary families too.   We loved it and loved being able to love on kids that need it. The team was full of amazing and inspiring people that are so dedicated to helping.  We were overwhelmed at the love these children gave to us and that will forever stay with each of us.

We decided to leave early for the trip and spend some time in Glacier National Park on the Canada side so the kids could get their passports stamped.  We then went to Hungry Horse for the week and then went to Yellowstone for about 4 days.  We saw every kind of animal and the scenery was amazing!!  I always feel we get a glimpse of Heave by such beauty....God is wonderful!  The hiking was fun and the girls did great.

It was great family time too and we want to do it again hopefully soon and take the whole family. Here are just a few pics because there were so many!  What a blessing this experience was to see glory brought to our Heavenly Father!!

June 2012

Our sweet Phoebe turns 5!!  She is our spunky baby girl that loves puzzles, anything that glitters, and puppies.  In this picture she just got bangs and they make her look like a big girl.

School has ended and we are officially into summer!  Our kitchen remodel is complete and we love it!  

It functions so much better and glad we did it!

We are excited and nervous about summer because we have a mission trip coming up and Mr. Masters has a three month rotation starting this month and ending September 7th.  We are going to miss him!

Happy SUMMER YA"LL!

November

November was great; we are so thankful for our Savior, family, friends, and undeserving blessings.

Here are the kids with Nana Carol. My dad and Carol came to watch the kids for the weekend while Mr. Masters and I went to Savannah, GA.

Here is a picture after running the Rock-n-Roll Half marathon in Savannah. It was so much fun and thanks to Amy and Casey for driving and being great running partners. Thanks to Helen too because without you we might not have pushed our selves and had our best time ever. Fun times!! Anthony pulled a groin muscle while playing tennis and was unable to run. Thankfully he is recovering well.

The girls were in a play at church called Happily Forever After and so proud of them both for the great job. They loved it and look forward to the Christmas performance.

We took the girls to Vogel State Park for a couple of days of camping. We all had so much fun with spending time with family, hiking, making new friends, and enjoying being in the great outdoors. It was our first time to Vogel and we give it two thumbs up. Very beautiful and family friendly. It was also 15 minutes from Baby Land, which the girls were no that into it. As you can see in the photo we let them pick something small and it was animal key chains... nothing to do with babies. They did get to see a cabbage patch born, which was pretty interesting.

A big thank you to Mamaw for keeping Greyson for us.

I did decorate for Christmas at the being of November. We travel so much during this season that I wanted to enjoy it as much as possible. The girls came home from school and Lula told me that it was so magical and loved it!

Here is a picture of the kids playing with a giant inflatable ball that Aunt Lynnz bought for there Birthday. They love it and a big Thanks to you Aunt Lynn!

We decided to have all the neighbors over for a marshmallow roast in the back yard. We had a great time and live in a great neighborhood.

Here the girls are playing dress up with sweet Ava... they moved in right behind us during the summer and they have become a special family to us. We feel blessed to have them in our lives.

We are trying to potty train... it is a slow go but we will get there. Looking forward to being out of diapers for good. =)
Greyson and Carlos in the tub. Carlos loves to take a bath and wants to get in the tub every time we give the kids a bath.

ThanksGiving

We are so thankful for so much and Praise God because we are truly blessed. We have wonderful family, friends, neighbors, our health, and the list can go on and on. I know that the thing that I am most thankful for is the love of our creator and that He sent His son for each of us. Below are some pictures of Thanksgiving with some of the family. We did not make it to Alabama because we as a family expired with trying to seeing everyone and traveling from one place to the other. Unfortunately my attitude and heart were not in the right place either. I remember being so glad to go home and sleep in my own bed and relax. My focus was on the stress....

The next day after driving home I went to the store and while standing in line I was talking to the man behind me. I was complaining about how hectic the holiday had been dragging three kids and a dog around. He looked at me and said that I was lucky that I had family because he had no one. WOW... That made me stand there and feel ashamed. I was embarrassed and told him thank you and he was right. I am so Thankful and glad that I was reminded of just how blessed I am!! I have so much family to be thankful for. I love how God continues to work on me and thankful that he does not give up on me. He is my rock!

It was a little tough to see my Granny Bert, whose is turning 92 this week, because for the first time she did not recognize me. I am thankful that I got to see her and hug her neck.

Had some neighbors over for a play date and the girls decided to paint their faces with chalk.

Greyson~ is talking really well and is such a good boy. He is still napping once a day and really enjoying my one on one time with him. He is growing so fast so i am trying to soak it up. He is turning two soon and it is amazing how fast it has gone by. We are trying to work on his hitting and the other day he put himself in time out.

Phoebe ~we have started calling her our little Democrat, because her favorite phrase is "It's Not Fair". She is doing great in school and still loves riding the bus. She still takes naps too. She is growing into such a sweet girl and so animated with her stories. Loves stuffed dogs and really into babies and playing mommy. She has taken a sudden interest in her brother and plays with him a lot now.

Lula~ Has become afraid of the dark so she does not like to go anywhere in the house by herself. She is to the point where she wants Phoebe to sleep in her room with her, which is not the norm. She is doing great in school and is in the top of her class with math and reading. She is turning into a wonderful young lady and pretty upset that she is the only in her class that has not lost a tooth. We told her that makes her special and her time will come. She also asked me the other day how long I was going to tell her what to do? Oh that girl and her spunk.

The girls have been arguing a lot lately so we are trying to work on that too.... but overall nothing major. So thankful for those rays of Sunshine in my life.

Really looking forward to celebrating the Birth of our SAVIOR

For you are great

O Lord God

For there is non like You

2 Samuel 7: 22