Happy Birthday to Me!

I had such a great birthday yesterday!  The best thing about it was that I was given the opportunity to do anything I wanted on this day, WITH MY SWEET HUSBAND!!!  It began with a visit to Jivan's Wellness Spa!  I have told you about it before.  The greatest place earth for a massage, facial, etc.  I had a 2 hour massage!  Have you ever heard of such?  Then it was off to a great lunch at Atlantic Seafood Restaurant.  After that, we went shopping!  Yes, shopping.....of course, I made Johnny stay in the car (I am sure he talked on his phone) while I went in a few stores and purchased some 'necessaries'!  It was like having my own personal chauffeur while I shopped!  We then picked Katie up from dance lessons and went to Deanna's for a yummy, yummy steak dinner by chef Jake on the grill and then roasted marshmallows, of which I was not very good at!  The family all presented me with great gifts (the best thing about a birthday) that I just loved!  Here was the most interesting gift of the night.....Jake knows that I am in the market for another car so the gift from him and Deanna....a new broom!!  No joke!  It was such a fun night with the family!  I have now reached another double digit milestone!  However, the bling helped to ease the pain!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!  We have escaped the ghosts and goblins and have found 'sweet serenity' at PCB!  The weather is here.  Wish you were beautiful!  Happy Trick or Treating!

October Family Night!

Our October Family Night was great..again!!  Papa Johnny was so good to us and treated us to the perfect October treat of going to see "Wicked" at the Fox Theater.  It was fantastic!  Before the show, Mary Mac's Tea Room was the hot spot for the family dinner.  I don't have pictures of us because I thought the battery had died in my camera, but actually, the battery was in the camera the wrong way!  Oh well, Hollie had her 'new' camera so maybe she'll post some of us 'in the act'!  It was Deanna's month to choose the place for the party and she did good!  Next month we get to have a Family Week rather than a Family Night and it will be held in Mexico!!!!  I can't wait!!  We'll be celebrating our 38th anniversary and Deanna's 30+ birthday!

What will she say next?

This child never stops making us wonder where she came from!  You never know what she is going to say next!  Last week Hollie had her hearing checked.  The doctor said that she needed to have one of her ears checked further by the ENT doctor which is not totally abnormal for a child her age.  Addie was asked if she had a hard time hearing just some of the time or all the time and she replied, "I can't hear on Wednesdays and Fridays"!  She also said that she is not smart during the week but she is smart on the weekends!

MiMommy Time!

I finally got to be MiMommy again!  Hollie and Pete went to Gatlinburg for their Church Staff Retreat and I was able to keep Hope and Addie while they were away.  They were very good!  They are getting older which is good and bad!  They are easier to handle but growing too fast!  It was certainly different for me having to get up at 6 am while it is still dark!  I was outside seeing my precious Hope onto the school bus in my bathrobe every morning and I still can't believe it did that, but, it is so dark that time of morning that all I had to do was not turn on the porch light and the bus driver would never know it is not Hollie!  Then, the challenge of little Addie getting ready for school and deciding if I am going to let her wear what she chooses or not!  Of course, I let her wear what she wants, after all, I am leaving on Wednesday and I AM the MiMommy and can get away with things like that.  I don't believe it ever really hurt a child to wear clothes that don't exactly look good together anyway.  Hollie can deal with her when she gets back!  We have had a great time this week doing all the fun things like getting Halloween costumes and going to Chuck E. Cheese.  Yes.  I do find those things fun.  After all, I AM the MiMommy!

We are definitely spoiled!

What a way to travel.  This has definitely spoiled us!  It is just like the Lord to provide just what we need but only when we need it.  In all of our years of ministry, we have never had people offer such generous resources as we have had in the last few months!  The "Presidency" hasn't changed our schedule tremendously because you can't be away but so many days in a week anyway, but travel in planes such as this certainly makes dealing with the travel so much easier and less tiresome.  BUT, there IS a consequence of taking advantage of such gifts.....you get very, very spoiled!!!  I dread to think what life will be like later!  But in the meanwhile, we will just thank Jesus for His generous followers!  Last week Johnny spoke at Thomas Road, Liberty University, Noonday Association, Southern Seminary, Southeastern Seminary and a ministry banquet!  A bench was purchased at Southeastern Seminary in our honor last year. We now have a Chair, Bench and Furnished Room at SEBTS!  We love that place, especially our sweet friends, Danny and Charlotte Akin who it was great seeing last week.  

And you thought I had passed away!

No!  Just VERY busy!  We have been soooo busy that we just HAD to get in some 'alone time' for just me and the husband!  We were scheduled to go to a foreign land, but our visas were denied which left us with a week that there was nothing on the schedule and it was a GOOD thing because the schedule had just about done us in!  Therefore, we spent a few days in Grand Cayman at the Ritz!  It was just as fabulous as it sounds!  We did nothing but rest and rest and rest!  Never went into a store (or church!), except for the gift shop at the resort and didn't spend a dime!  It is bad when you purchase something at the airport gift shop so that you don't have to put $0 on the Customs Form entering back into the US because you didn't purchase anything, so I spent $15!  (The $0 always looks suspicious when Grand Cayman supposedly has such great stores for shopping, but who needed to shop?.....we needed rest!)  The "bed of roses" was a gift from a friend who is an Executive with the Ritz Carlton.  She knew about our upcoming anniversary so that was a special touch! (We were at the Ritz Carlton downtown the night before our flight so we had two nights of roses!  I need to give her the keys to my house!)

Jubilee-Gatlinburg '08

Jubilee in Gatlinburg is about to come to a close!  This conference is such a blessing to so many senior adults.  It is so funny to watch as the doors open 1 hour before the start of the session and see the 'runners' for each group take off as fast as they can to save seats for their group as the rest, some with walkers that actually break into a run, come along behind them as quickly as possible to get a seat close to the front!  They are evidently not the 'back row baptists' but the 'front pew fundamentalists!'  Jake does such a marvelous job putting together this conference for around 6,000 adults in Gatlinburg.  Our next trip to Gatlinburg will be for his Xtreme conference for the teenagers which will include about 20,000 of them right after Christmas.  (He is sure a brave human being!)

Johnny with Ricky Skaggs

What I think about the Fair.....

The fair is NOT for people who are on a diet, do not want to be turned upside down or tossed around until you want to throw up!  However, I really enjoyed being with the kids and seeing friends at the fair.  The three girls were the highlight of my night!  Carson is not pictured because he was too busy being turned upside down and tossed around too fast for the camera to take his picture!  I actually was able to get in two years of the fair in just one night!  We arrived early and stayed until they closed....I mean closed as in the lights were out!!!  Next year I'll be able to stay home, probably with Johnny!  

Halloween already?

Indiana Jones and the Candy Corn Princess!  How cute!!

I can't believe my eyes!  It's Barney & Betty with Fred and Wilma!  (Disney World must do strange things to your mind for Jake Carswell to do that!)

Baptist Press

The SBC President's Address:  You can listen to it at www.bpnews.net

Happy Birthday, Lindsey!

Happy Belated Birthday to Lindsey!!!

Tonight at Disney's 'Not-So-Scary Halloween Party'...Taylor has hair, again!

The Loveless Cafe and Motel

"The Loveless Cafe and Motel"....a down-home place to eat good ole' country cooking!  The wives of the Executive Staff of the SBC had a fellowship and lunch today at this cool and very old (since 1951...long before I was born!) restaurant today.  The motel part is closed now and houses several quaint little shops but believe it or not, most of them were closed today because of the gas shortage!  Johnny is still meeting and I am enjoying meeting new friends from around the country.  I wonder if we'll be able to find gas to get home...too bad there is not a beach between here (Nashville) and home where we could be stranded!

He Knocked It Out of the Park!!

Tonight Johnny addressed the Executive Committee in Nashville.  This was the first 'biggie' that he has done since becoming President of the SBC.  He did sooo good (and he looked really good, too).  All of you would have been proud of Pastor Johnny!  I certainly was!  A group of men from FBCW were kind enough to drive all the way to Nashville just for his SBC address.  The room gave him a standing O at his introduction which shows how well respected he is among the brethren.  In his opening remarks, he commented on how his first love is being the Pastor of FBCW......however, you already knew that!  Thank you for praying for him tonight....your prayers were answered.  

Timothy+Barnabas 2008!

Dawn Campagna two years ago! She lost 200 lbs. by dieting and excercise!  No surgery!!!  What an inspiration she was to us all.  She was extremely deserving of our afternoon of pampering at the Atlanta Timothy+Barnabas!

Dawn Campagna....before the pampering session

Dawn Campagna....after the pampering session!

Tricia Denney....before the pampering session in Gatlinburg

Tricia Denney.....after the pampering session!

Week before last, we had our first Timothy+Barnabas in Gatlingburg and it was a huge success!  This week we ended the Timothy+Barnabas Conferences for 2008 in Atlanta.  I want to thank my very good friends, Beloved, for coming to bless our ladies.  Also, the great and wonderful, Lori Salierno along with my friend from way way back, Lois Jane!  As usual, my sidekick, Sarah Hill was along in rare form helping to keep me all together and the extremely talented hair stylist, Julia Basich did her magic once again.  Another kind and wonderful friend of mine, Nancy Burgess was there to help counsel those who needed her.  Our good friend, Greg Moss, donated lots of diamonds to give away.  After all, those ministers wives are definitely deserving of the best of the best and we all know DIAMONDS are the best!

I invite you to visit the websites of my gals who participated in the Timothy+Barnabas conferences this week.  www.belovedga.com/www.celebratelife.org/www.loisjane.com/www.heartandsoulconnection.com

This Can Spoil You!

~The Friendly Skies~

Mr. President!

It is certainly nice to have friends who love you and offer you their resources!  We have a few friends who have offered us their jets lately and it has been so nice to take them up on their offer when needed and the last few weeks has been one of those 'times of need'!  Mr. President has been able to get from point A to point B in a timely fashion and in style!  I was thankful for the fast transportation but most of all for the good weather and safe trips!

The Official Photos of THE WIN!!!

My friend, Sarah Palin!

I Love Sarah Palin!  I was able to meet her and have a memorable conversation with her at the Republican Governor's event that Johnny and I attended with the Perdues back in February.  I left her thinking what a likeable, smart, impressive, cute, extremely friendly lady she was!  When I returned from Washington, I was so impressed with her that I did some research on my own and was still intrigued by her.  When the announcement was made that she would be the running mate, I literally screamed!!!!  I am hitting the campaign trail!!!  Great choice, Senator McCain!   She is a devoted Christian and very much pro-life.  It is disappointing to find out that her 17 year old daughter, Bristol, is pregnant.  As we know, these untimely things happen even in Christian homes.  We really need to more even more fervently pray for the Palin Family during this time and wait and see what the Lord is going to do in and through their family who definitely has the ear of the world at this time! 

Another win for the #98!!!

Another win for the 98!!!  What a way to celebrate Jake's 35th Birthday!  I can't even begin to explain to what an exciting night we had at the Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, NC this past Saturday night!  We were the fastest qualifier which means we should start on the pole, however, this series makes the top 10 qualifiers draw for their final starting position.  Justin, our driver, drew #2 which meant we started on the outside pole.  It looked as if we were going to have a #3 finish when lap 122 out of 125 arrived, however, things got extremely exciting and even more intense and we ended up winning the race!!!  I was so wired that I could have walked home after that race!!!  That's two in a row for the #98!!!!!!  Congratulations, Justin and Happy Birthday, Jake!  Would this be a winning streak???  We have another race next weekend in Newport, TN......Stay tuned!  I can't wait!!!!!!

Senior Staff Retreat

One of the highlights of our year is the Senior Staff Retreat!  This year we went to Amelia Island.  We have determined that all of us (girls...since we are the only ones that count) really like to go to the beach, so our retreats are almost always held at the beach.  We have such a great time together and it is about the only time we get to spend any time together other than our brief Christmas gathering.  In this picture, the girls (some of them...you don't see me) are about to throw Kathy Law into the ocean.....after Linda Taylor gets up off the ground from laughing so much!!  Us girls spent the day on the beach catching up on what is going on with our families.  When the guys finally got a day to play, but enjoyed boccie ball and a new game we found, lasso golf.  The lasso golf got pretty competitive.....it came down to the winning guys playing winning girls.  Yes, the guys won, but only by the skin of their teeth!  They were quite frightened they would lose.  You would never believe who the MVP of the game was....Roy Blankenship!!!  Go Roy!!!  We had a great time!

Bristol Race!

Bristol!!!!   I love that track!  Derema, Lindsey, Taylor and me were able to go to the Friday and Saturday night races last week and had a marvelous time!  My brother, Greg, also met us there.  We have friends in the Motor Racing Outreach for Nascar and they arranged for us to go to the start/finish line with the children of the drivers who sang the National Anthem before the race began.  It was so cool to be right there with some of the drivers.  Here are a few of the photos from our cool race day!  Yes..I made it back in time for church on Sunday morning, thanks to Taylor's expert driving skillls!  Thanks, Arden and Dianne Taylor for putting us up for the night!

Family Fun!

We finally got back to our "monthly family outings" after a busy summer.  It was my turn to chose an activity for the family and I chose to visit our friends' ranch!  We had a blast!  We had a lady who came and fixed our meals, went fishing, horseback riding and four wheeling!  It was a great time together and everybody had sooo much fun.  Here are pictures of some of the highlights.  I am sure the girls will also have some to post on their blogs!

Johnny rests up for the big weekend.  He couldn't possibly have a family outing without the famous "NAP".......This fish is really much larger than it appears!  It is actually about 3 feet long!  Pictures are deceiving!

Hope and Addie caught fish with their little "Dora" rod and reels!  Yes, they really work!  Addie caught 5 fish!  She may not like horseback riding but she loves to fish!  And who would that be like???

Family Fishing!

Johnny rescues Hollie from her fish!

All smiles from catching fish!

Do you think the 'chief' rode the horses or the four-wheelers???

Katie with one of her many fish she caught with her "Barbie" rod and reel!  I didn't know Barbie liked to fish!  However, I didn't find a "Ken" rod and reel.  I wonder who took Barbie fishing?

Even the Spiderman rod and reel worked for Carson!  Spiderman and fishing....???  somehow that doesn't sound right either!!

Jake....he's a cowboy!!

Katie is finally comfortable on the horse and Pete is like Jake...a real cowboy...he's from Iowa, remember?  They have corn and horses in Iowa!

Carson was brave enough to gallop!  He got so tickled when he started bouncing!  He loved it!

Below:  Two little Indians!  A white Indian and a.....dark Indian!

 
Hopie just LOVES horses and riding them!  She was the most comfortable of the girls on the horse! She would have ridden the horse all day if she could have!  I think she is the #1 fan of the horses.....unlike some of the rest of us!
Addie rode the horse, but couldn't get off quick enough!  However, she definitely won the best dressed award for the day!  After all, she had rather look good than break her other arm!

Oh no!  The horse is moving!!!!  Yes, she really is an Indian!