Merry Christmas

Wow... in a nutshell... our year is ending with a bang! We are hosting a little girl from a Russian orphange for a month... two weeks down and two weeks to go. It happened rather fast... found out one day and she was here the next. She has numerous health issues and so we have spent the last week and a half making and executing numerous doctors appointments.

So far, she has gotten glasses and has some very special lenses on the way from Japan to help her vision. She has her second cast on one of her feet to stretch the foot for braces that have been ordered and will be here just two days before she returns home. She gets her third cast tomorrow.

She speaks only Russian and so you can imagine that it has taken some adjusting for all of us to get into some sort of groove. But we are blown away with how very brave she is and how much God has sent in the out poring of gracious doctors who are helping her free of charge. I have also made about three pages worth of Russian words and phrases I have been using and so we have some rough communication! But we also have two Russian speaking friends who spend time with her and she loves it and them very much.

We are being stretched but feel so very blessed to be God's hands and feet for this little one. We pray that God will continue to guide us on this journey and bring her a family soon.

Christmas cards did make it out, although gifts are still piled in the guest closet, waiting to be wrapped and boxed and shipped... New Year's gifts this year!

I am highly considering selling Georgia Jewels and have already listed it for sale in one venue to get an idea of some feedback. I need my time and mind back. This is the short version... more maybe to come.

We are starting Abby in a 12 week brain therapy program in January. After some initial testing and evaluation, she is testing on a 4 year old level and her cerebellum is way under developed. We are very hopefull that this will open up some great new opportunities for her in learning and just daily living. She will probably need two 12 week programs. More to come on this for sure.

Lastly, I am considering making my blog private. After watching a news report on privacy issues and just the vanity of our "hey look at me" society... I am feeling that the information we share here should remain among family and close friends. I have given it much thought and discussed it with Don and we think rather than erasing and stopping our blog... making it private will be the best option. I don't want just anyone having access to our private life, comings and goings and photos.

SOOOO... if you would like to continue to read our blog, please email me at

allfromhim@bellsouth.net and I will make a list of people to email with the information once I make it private... probably next month since I put our address on Christmas cards.

Thank you, as always, for your cards, your prayers, your love and your friendship. We look so forward to what God has in store for us next year... and the arrival of Caroline!!!!!

Love to you all... very Merry Christmas and Happy Blessed New Year!

Dawn

Buy Handmade! Shameless plug ahead...

Send a Christmas gift that packs a great big punch of love... BUY HANDMADE! Everyone loves to get a handmade gift. Not only was it made with careful attention, it often is unique in some way. I've bought many of my gifts this year from etsy.com and still have a few more to go. So please show some love to some artisians (I did leave out "starving") and BUY HANDMADE this year!!!

Visit georgiajewels.etsy.com and receive free shipping... for friends until Christmas!! And if you are local... just call me and pick it up. I am even offering FREE giftwrapping! I will be posting gift wrap OPTIONS tomorrow on my site!

Turkey Day Breakfast

It's a day to bask in thanks, family, and tastebuds! Need I say more? But of course...

MANY THANKS GIVEN...

Wow, what a year full of thanks and praise to be given to our gracious and ever loving Father in heaven! My family over flows with blessings and I absolutely LOVE the holiday of Thanksgiving. I love traveling HOME and having family gathered to play, relax, and EAT! We played games for 4 straight hours on turkey day. Soon after confessing that I cheated by eyeballing the "I" in the scrabble bag to make my triple "q" word... I was pretty much fried!

This holiday was wonderful as always but we missed several family members... including Don who ended up flying.

Abby and I left to go on Tuesday. She had fallen last Saturday off of the deck onto the fence... yes... stradled it and had a very bad injury. I was afraid our traveling would be delayed but we found a donut for her to sit on and it worked out great!

The girls, (my mother, sister, and Abby and I) had a portrait made on Wednesday. That night mom and I went to the auction. It was the greatest entertainment I have had in months!

We spent five hours people laughing to death and left with great stories and some really great buys!

Thanksgiving Day was wonderful. I LOVE turkey and cranberry sauce. I love laughing with my brothers and sisters and playing games, watching movies and just hangin. I love the chill in the air and the hint of Christmas around the corner. I love the pumpkin cheesecake and left overs! I love being home. Abby loves being with everyone too and its always just a treat.

Oh Christmas Tree...

Friday the Christmas tree was bought... cut... measured... recut... and then put up! The smell is so perfect and is the most wonderful thing to start the holiday off with (along with the first official glass of eggnog and shuffle of Christmas cd's)! Mom and Dad always have the most beautiful tree... there are enough lights on it to light a small city.

Fear the Spear!

The best part of Friday was David's high school football game that night. Sherando High School has won the past 20 something games and played for the regional championship. It was 32 degrees and there we sat... OUTSIDE on bleachers! But boy were we prepared! We all had on about three to four layers of clothing... sat on folded comforters... had two huge things of coffee and another of hot chocolate... a bag full of food and candy... hand warmers for our gloves... and much energy for yelling! The warrior on the gorgeous and majestic horse came out and ran down the sidelines (always just an amazing sight) and Abby wasn't sure what to think. When Sherando quickly scored and the fireworks went off... she was very happy about being there.

The warriors won 38 to 0 and became regional champs! It was such a fun time and now they are off for the semi-finals next week for state! Go SHEEEEEEEE-RAN--DOEEEEEEEEEEE Warriors... or simply, "Fear the Spear"!

Going back to Georgia...

We came home yesterday and Don was waiting for us with Dusty and snacks in the car. We are glad to be back home with daddy and also glad we get to go back to Funchester (Winchester) in just four weeks. After days of going full throttle, staying up late and being much of the entertainment, my precious girl (who is almost healed) fell asleep before we got off the runway and slept the entire flight home. When I woke her up after we landed, she looked up with very droggy eyes and said, "Can I have the cookies?" I had told her when we got on the plane that after we took off, our flight attendant would bring her some cookies. You should have seen her face when I told her she'd slept right through the cookies!

My Georgia Jewels

Please visit my new jewelry blog!

mygeorgiajewels.blogspot.com!

Thank you! You should all buy hand crafted for Christmas! I have free shipping through the end of the month! In December, I'll be offering 20% off to all friends! Come and play!!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I totally love Thanksgiving with my family. It's my favorite holiday with Christmas being a VERY close second.

What I love about Thanksgiving is just the feeling of love and thankfulness that saturates the entire visit and day. My family has SO many things to be thankful for and we really celebrate them... together. I love the smell of burning leaves, the warmth of a great sweater, the crackle of a fire, and the smell of a roasting turkey! Add in permission to play Christmas music, the anticipation of buying the tree that weekend, the yearly family photo, laughter and lots of games... you've got a perfect holiday.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my precious friends and family. We love you and pray you are blessed with many blessings. xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

A moment with Daddy and Abby

Our camping trip was such a joy. To watch Abby run up trails to the top of a mountain was just a blessing. We just smiled the entire time. We hiked a trail to a waterfall. Poor Georgia is almost dry of water and so the fall was more like a trickle but at least it wasn't dry after all that climbing! We saw deer (reindeer as Abby calls them) on the way up too.

A fellow camper told us of a trail that led out to a swinging bridge... one of the largest in the country. It's on the Appalachian trail and was just beautiful. Abby and Daddy were admiring the river below it.

Our journey for Caroline continues. We are almost done with the homestudy and then can move on to the last piece of the puzzle before getting our dossier done. We are hoping to be done with the Dossier by the end of December and maybe travel late spring or early summer!

Hello Friends... been a while

I am sorry I have been gone for so long. So much has happened and it's just so hard to get caught up! We had a trip to Virginia to visit my dear friend Karen and her new and third baby, Rachel. It was a wonderful visit.

We had a camping trip to the mountains and had a blast. Abby is our adventurous camper girl. Her favorite part was peeing in the woods... of course! I took lots of photos and this is one of my favorites! I LOVE TREES.

We bought a new car for mommy... a Toyota Solara CONVERTIBLE. So much fun and we even had two warm days this week to enjoy it! Abby just sits in the back and smiles from ear to ear... she just giggles when the top goes down... too cute.

P.S. Blogger is being a BUG and it has taken me 5 attempts to get this photo!!!! ughhhh

make it 6...

PTC's 1st Annual

Dragon Boat Race

And the winner is... What a fun day we had last Saturday as Daddy and many of his friends raced in a dragon boat race. It was at a festival here in the Peach City and was so very cool. The boats were fun, the competition was even more fun, but the huge little boy smiles on big boy faces was the funnest! (yes, I know that's not really a word) AirTran sponsored a boat and they ended up coming in third place! There were about 19 boats in the competition and they raced all afternoon. This is a picture of the final race with the top six boats. Don's team was in boat #5... and they had the best time of the day, and won third place! The two teams that won first and second are teams that compete on a regular basis and the winning team was one made up of many breast cancer survivors who meet and row for support... VERY COOL! I think we may be doing this again next year... although they are going to have it in August... Georgia, in August... what are they thinking!?

Daddy's Girl

Abby was so excited to see her daddy race. She squealed and jumped around and was so happy to see him... before I could stop her, she was running to him for the winner's hug! It was too cute.

Pilots, Pastors, and Postman... Oh My...

Poor Don was on the phone for about 72 hours before this race trying to be sure he had 21 guys! Pilots did not answer the call from the crew lounge and so Don resorted to every directory and phone book we have in the cabinet. We ended up with a STELLAR group... pilots, pastors, and yes... our postman! Throw in my dad (who was visiting from Alabama) and a few others and you have our award winning team... and a lot of fun!

21 guys... check. Life vests... check.

The guys getting ready for their first race. What a great job they did. They seriously were looking like professionals... WHO KNEW? They did... just ask them!

The greatest blessings...
Tonight, as I prayed with Abby, this was the first part of her prayer... "Dear Lord, thank you for me... for my mommy... she's my best friend... my bestest buddy in the world, I love her and you made her and she's my best friend..." THAT, my friends... is the best moment in the whole world. I might add she was playing with my hair as she prayed this. It doesn't get better than that...

Home Sweet Home

I went to Virginia this past weekend to see my brother march in his high school band. He is a Senior and I have never been to one of his games. His band is award winning and he also plays in the jazz band, also award winning, and so I wanted to go. Well... it had rained the two days before I got there and so wouldn't you know it... Friday afternoon their band director decided they weren't going to march since the field was way muddy and they had competition the next day... didn't want to compete in dirty uniforms! Ughh... anyway... it was still way fun and I at least got to hear them play.

It was also just a great weekend to be home. I miss my family so very much. I went alone and so I was able to just hang out and relax... it was great. I got to play and laugh and rest... very much needed. I also got to spend a lot of time with my nephew Christian, my sister-in-law Rachel, and see my sister's new apartment... adorable... go Cynthia!

I had a great time laughing with my mom (much laughing) and I can't wait to go back again for my favorite holiday... Thanksgiving! I love you all!!!!

Friday Night High School Football...

Sherando vs Handley... GO Sheeeerandooooo!

Wow, I think I aged about 10 more years after being at my brother's high school football game. I honestly haven't been to one since mine... high school anyway. Whewww, what an eyefull! But it was super fun. Right before the game begins... Sherando's beautiful horse comes running out, with the warrior on it... who carries the spear. It charges full speed down the edge of the field, hits the corner and then tunrs and heads to the middle of the field where the warrior throws the spear into the ground and the horse reers up on it's back legs... what a wonderful way to start a game!!!!

And, what a way to play and end a game. Sherando won it's 20th consecutive game that night against their biggest rival, Handley High. Yeah... I am so glad I was able to come. I love you David!

The Majestic Mascot!

What a wonderful way to start the ballgame... very dramatic for sure! Fear the Spear!

Saturday Morning...

It was so much fun to get up on Saturday and everyone met at the apple orchard for fresh pastries and coffee. There was a chill in the air, the air where dancing pastries lingered and frolicked... tempting your very last wisp of will!!!! The sun was warm and it was a wonderful morning. We took a little bus ride and Christian very much enjoyed playing on the ark!

Cyntee and Brutie!

My parents dog Brutus is just a hoot! He is so precious and of course, just wants to play. So Christian was getting all the attention and so he went and found this rawhide and just walked around with it... over one eye... looking for a play partner! So Cynthia played dress up with him and got him ready for Halloween. Don't think he'll make it home with the treats!!!

Giving Back

I give back a portion of sales from georgiajewels to various charities. This month, I have sent 50 bibles to Asia though sendbiblesnow.com You can send a Bible for just $4. It's amazing what people do in countries like this... taking pages out of a bible and passing around in neighborhoods and villages just so people can read the word of God. PRAISE HIS NAME! So if you have a few extra bucks and want do to something special with it (I don't mean a manicure either! :0), then check out this website. You never know how many people may come to know the Lord through a bible you paid for and had sent! How powerful is that!? Even more powerful, you will be able to know in heaven!!!

And We Are Off Again!

Yeah... our journey to Caroline continues and we are fast moving on the path! We are back with our adoption agencey we used for Abby's adoption, World Partners Adoption, and we are so very very excited that we can return to Kazakhstan! Our application was accepted yesterday and I have already started on the dossier.

Abby is thrilled and is so very precious. Her favorite nickname has been "Scooter". If we said, "OK, honey"... "that's fine precious one"... she'd reply, "I'm Scooter."

So the other day, we were talking to her about the process and stuff and Abby declared, "I'm going to be "chicken wing" (one of Daddy's nicknames for her) and let Caroline be "Scooter".

How precious is that!!!! So now... everytime we slip up and call her "beautiful, precious, honey, or little one" we now here... "I'm chicken wing and my sister Caroline is Scooter!"

This is our official family photo with our application. I thought it very appropriate they wanted Abby in the picture too. We will be in Kazakhstan for 5 weeks when we go to get Caroline and Abby is coming with us too. We are so very excited we can take her back to her country... maybe even to some very special places if we get to go to Almaty again! Hopefully we will be going to get Caroline in 8 to 9 months!

So anyway... that's the latest on the adoption journey... very exciting stuff!!!!!!!

HUGE

Day for

georgiajewels

WOW, I am just amazed out of my mind at how God keeps blessing my business. I got another store today and am set up to kick off an artist's trunk show for another one! I am so excited... and worn out.

I am now the jewelry supplier for a little pharmacy and gift store in Newnan. It's located inside a large healthplex and is just too cute with antique apothecary jars and old wooden table everywhere. She has wonderful gift items and didn't have jewelry yet! YEAH for me!!!

Don was in there getting his poor injured elbow looked at and stopped in to get me the cutest "love present". He mentioned my business and the rest is history!

My other opportunity is at The Vintage Flea in historical downtown Newnan. You can visit them at thevintage-flea.com. I will be the featured local artist for the first week in November. We are going to have a "meet the artist" day on Nov. 8th. I am very excited and look forward to future opportunities with the very talented flea girls... Jennifer and Valerie.

This gorgeous necklace lasted less than 24 hours! I wore it to the appointment because I had to just get one wear out of it. I made it yesterday, along with three other coin pieces she also bought. Back to the studio and I just got a new shipment of beads!!!!

Open your mouth Mommy...

I had the most HORRIBLE visit to the dentist on Monday. I had broken a front tooth the week before (yes, my moment of becoming a true redneck) and Monday was the earliest they could get me in. With the appointment at 2 p.m. and Don on a three day trip, one babysitter not being home from school in time and the other out of town... Abby went with me.

I am thinking it is going to be about a 2 hour procedure and then we'll be on our way. I am thinking it will be a good thing for Abby to see me at the dentist and give her encouragement for her future visits.

Well.... 20 MILLION shots later, one temporary crown flying on the ground, two jumps out of the chair onto the ceiling, FOUR HOURS and twenty minutes, and yes, finally tears.... it was over... for now!

I have NEVER in my life. MERCY does not do this experience justice. After the doctor had been gone so long that the shots wore off, he came in and stuck something in my tooth/gum and I shot through the roof in utter utter utter HORRIBLE pain... Abby jumps into my lap and YELLS..."Don't hurt my mommy... get another doctor in here!" At this moment I am fighting back tears, trying not to further scare her, and trying to convince her that everything is ok and that the doctor is not bad and that he didn't hurt me... that I just jumped for fun!

It goes down hill from there and I have to go back to the dungeon of torment again tomorrow to FINISH what was not finished in FOUR HOURS and 20 minutes the first time! MERCY!!!!!!!

SO Abby put on my "eyewear" and said, "Hi Mommy, I'm the doctor... open your mouth." I felt confident she could do a better job and so I complied!

I HATE going to the dentist!

Saving a Bee

I found a bee inside our porch that was trapped. It was so weak it just fell into my cup. I was heartbroken and put my lunch eatting outside on hold to try and revive him/her. So I put it on the table and tried to give it some water. Then I plucked some blooms and set him on one. He got a bit of pep and started climbing all over it and putting his little sucker thing out and so I was hopeful.

Then I went back to my lunch and had an idea. I raced back over and gave him a piece of apple. He ended up on the apple and going to town with his sicker thing (really should look up this much needed term here).

So here is the precious little creature. I also petted him for about 5 minutes and gave him encouragement on "coming back". As I made jewelry, I went back to the window to check on him. About an hour later, after several times of checking, he was gone. I am going to think he flew off to live happily ever after and was not lunch for some bird or something. So, yes, he made it and I am thrilled!

It's a Girler Squirrler...

When my precious brother David was younger... much, much younger... every time he'd see a squirrel he'd say, "It's a girler squirrler." So... insight into the title. We can't EVEN keep the bird feeder full. We have brazen squirrels who watch Dusty through the window as he watches him. He jumps down out of the chair and they jump back onto the fence. It is hilarious!

georgiajewels.etsy.com

I am thrilled with what God is doing with my business. He keeps opening doors for me and leading me in directions that allow me to serve people and "care" for them for Him. I feel so excited and priviledged. I have two stores I am in contact with to show them my jewelry and am hopeful. One also has an art studio and so I may also be able to do classes there. Teaching classes has also turned out to be a great blessing. I love to see the excitement they have when they have made something. I have a bracelet class this week too and a show on Thursday... hopefully it will be a blessed week.

One of the most exciting things is how I have decided to tithe what God blesses me with through the business. Don and I already give to our church in several ways and so I wanted to do something different and special with this money. SO.... I am using 10% of my monthly income to donate to the operation smile organization. Doctors volunteer their time and money and travel across the world to operate on children with cleft palates. I am so EXCITED out of my mind to contribute to such a wonderful and selfless cause. So with each sale I make... I am able to help a child have a smile and a better life... how SUPER cool is that!!!!!!!

PEP TALK...

Abby had her first soccer game of the season yesterday. She is so cute in her uniform. She seems much more focused on the game this season and less interested in holding hands! Our games are at 10:30 a.m. and so it heats up pretty quickly and Abby doesn't handle heat well. We are hoping Fall will fall upon us SOON!!!! We praise God that Abby is able to run and play. We praise Him for the way she continues to develop and is able to enjoy life.

Saturday was a big day for her. We took her to her first Atlanta Braves game and she had a great time! There were two home runs and so the fireworks went off twice... she was thrilled.

We had great seats and the weather was wonderful. They won too... yeah!!!!

Waiting for EEG Results...

Abby was such a trooper with her many cords hanging from her head... a better trooper than mommy was for sure! We are still awaiting the results. Two neurologists will be giving us feeback and we are just PRAYING for some sort of new perspective that provides some sort of new approach for stopping her seizures. So that is the prayer there and of course we covet your conversation with Lord on her and the cdoctors behalf. Thank you.

Happy Birthday To

My Beautiful Mother...

How very blessed I am to have such a wonderful and special relationship with my mother. She is such an amazing woman and I am so much of who I am because of the woman she is. Her birthday was Sunday and again, we weren't together. I HATE being so far away. Flying standby at LABOR DAY is not an option either. So we have vowed to try and be together next year.

So here is a small picture of my mother... she walks in the light of the Lord and reflects it upon all she meets, she loves life and makes small things into big celebrations, she has a heart that loves to give and also secretly likes to receive, she is creatively talented in many, many ways, she is not afraid to laugh but she totally HATES to cry, she is a wonderful friend, she is an even better mother and wife, she loves her children, she is a BUSY bee (oh... and her name means "the bee"), She is one of the greatest blessings in my life...

Happy Birthday Mom... happy birthday to you... I love you crazy!

Wow... It's been a while!

It seems like forever since I have blogged... I think I have forgotten how! All my time on the computer has gone to etsy! More on that later.

Abby started school three weeks ago. She is repeating kindergarten and was blessed to have the same teacher again. She is already moving forward and it is so encouraging for us.

She is still having seizures. She just had a 24 hour EEG this past week, and we have two neurologists looking at it and giving us interpretations. We are hoping for some new insight that will lead us to a way to stop these last seizures.

Speaking of neurologists, I had a health scare a couple weeks ago. We were eatting dinner out and basically, half my body went numb and was followed by muscle spasms. It was a long couple weeks as we underwent MRI's and scans and tests. Once the tests for MS came back negative... we all had a huge sigh of relief. Going to the chiropractor turned out to be the best thing for the moment. I had some swelling in the muscles at the base of my skull that attach to vertebrae that affect nerves running down my shoulders and into my arms. With the swelling, came the pinched nerve that made my arms and back go numb... bringing about a panic attack that jolted me into muscle spasms and spinning sensations. Mercy... festive... always... never a dull moment. SO... I am better and have the final bloodwork this week. Once several more things are ruled out... we can move on.

On to better things... etsy is a fabulous thing right now. I had one of the best months last month that I have ever had with three jewelry classes, a sale to a store and the website. I have been featured on three treasury lists and have had my first international customer from England! God is good. I always remain in prayer for God to lead my business and guide what I do. I have just been asked to teach a bracelet class at a women's shelter for victims of domestic violence. How wonderful is that! I am blown away that God has given me the opportunity to serve in that capacity and use my talent as a way to share His love! Very cool.

Ummmm... our adoption process is on hold. We were not feeling peace and I was really torn about the whole thing. We remained prayerful about it and I finally shared my honest feelings with Don. After doing so, the door to adopt from Kazakhstan was closed, our homestudy agency shut it's doors, and the woman we were working with at the adoption agency retired and left... all in a few weeks time. It was so crazy... so GOD. SOOOO... we are waiting for a 12 to 24 month old girl to arrive on our door step! Ha... We are back on our knees and just waiting. Waiting for guidance and for peace and for answers. So we'll keep you posted.

Thank you all for your continued prayers and love for Abby and for your emails and love and friendship. We love you all and I will try hard to not be gone so long again.

Napping with Daddy

Our Abigail is hanging in there. She started having a morning seizure again last week and so we've shifted her dosing times from breakfast and bedtime (8:30 p.m.) to 11ish a.m. and 11ish p.m. to see if that will carry her through the morning and allow her to SNEAK past that last stinking seizure that is a BEAST and doesn't want to let go. So we've tried it 4 nights and so far we are 4 mornings seizure free... HOPE! It's sometime very HARD to wake her up for the dosage but she seems to be getting better at it. Just awake enough for one swallow... and a slap at my head!

It is so hard to believe summer is almost over and she'll be in school again in less than three weeks. I am excited to see what this year will bring. She's excited too. Back to school shopping (and classroom supply list as LONG as my arm) here we come!

Loving Etsy

I am about to go crazy... my usb cord blew today! Guess I was downloading a bit much! Now I have to wait to get it in the mail because NOONE carries it in store. So I have a camera full of pics I need to download, they are lonely! Anyway, I can now focus on getting my studio a bit more organized and some marketing that needs to be done... the not-so-fun part of the business.

My friend Ryan is my Etsy buddy. We both are spending way too much time on there but both are loving discovering new things. I made my first Etsy purchase today! It is now my gift giving source... other than my jewelry. I've got a baby gift coming too... hint hint Erin!

I am OH So Happy with the site and it is an answer to being blogless and website building challenged! Now if I can just figure out why the mini-etsy icon won't appear on my blog!

georgiajewels.etsy.com

My First Class!

I taught my first jewelry class tonight at "Coffee and Cones". It's a monthly class called "Girl's Night Out" and it was a great success. I am having two classes next month and may try and squeeze a third in there. Thank you to my precious friends who support and encourage me so much... I love you!

Three Happy Girls

How wonderful it is to see such smiles on the faces of people who have just made something... I love it! Tonight was such a blessing. It was so much fun to "play" with six other girls and teach them how to make a pair of earrings. They are already asking for the next class!

Happy Birthday Daniel

I can't believe that my "little" brother keeps having birthdays! Here he is with his "little" son, Christian. It's so hard to really believe that my little brother has a son... and another baby on the way... crazy for my head to really wrap around.

Anyway, my "little" brother is no longer little... he's grown into a wonderful man who loves the Lord, his wife and his son and his family. He loves the outdoors and has a passion for fly fishing... and cooking. He has a wonderful sense of humor and a great smile and laugh. I love him dearly. Happy Birthday Nano.

ETSY, ETSY, ETSY

I am loving my "store" on the incredible website... etsy.com Haven't been there...? Gotta go!!! It's a site for people to sell things they make and it is full of FABULOUS artists and FABULOUS things. My store is at georgiajewels.etsy.com Please stop by and

take a look at some of my "favorites".

Party with the Pickett kids!

Oh how we love Emma, Claire and Shane! What precious and adorable children they are. We spent the day with them on Tuesday to "start" celebrating Abby's birthday. They started off with a couple hours of jumping at "Jump 2 It", played some games and had pizza at "Partner's Pizza" and then we ended at "Bruster's Ice Cream". Very fun, "pre-birthday" festivity.

Don and I took Abby to Six Flag's White Water theme park on her birthday for a quieter "family birthday". She, of course, had a BLAST and LOVED the water slides. It was so fun to see her have so much fun... second hand fun from your kids IS the best!

Abby's SIX years old!

I can't believe Abby is six. Yesterday, (18th) was her birthday and we started celebrating on the 17th and she had her "third" private party tonight at Josie and Abby's house. She seems like she has grown so much in the past six months... much less a year. Crazy how fast they (years) are going by. Our wish for Abby is continued health, protection and blessings.

Grammy's Gifts

Abby LOVES to open presents and Grammy, Poppy and Cynthia hooked her up with serval minutes of unwrapping fun! Thank you guys... wish you were here.

Georgia Jewels!

I miss some of my pieces! My goal is to either have a new blog up and going by the end of next month... or to have someone teach me how to do a "real" website for my gj's... OK... I am stepping away from the computer now and promise not to picture grid again... at least until next week!

OBTW... you can click on the picture and see it better!

Seaside 2007

I am going to become a collage-aholic! Thanks Teece!!! Just a glance back at the beach. Hopefully we'll go back in September!!

Halloween 2005

I couldn't resist. I just got this new software that does some fun things with photos and found these photos from Halloween 2005. We were just on cloud nine... Abby was walking again, able to eat candy, and was all about ladybugs! What a blessed and festive day! I am LOVING her haircut. I just looked over at her and said, "Think you need a haircut baby..." and she said "No, mommy...". So maybe just a trim...

Creativity Inspired

Well, this week has turned out NOTHING like I thought it was. I had plans to purge and declutter and have a big yard sale this weekend. We found ourselves deeply involved in a situation with a family we know and God needed us/me to do something else. So the week has been spent doing that instead. It has been very trying and emotional and yesterday I was bombarded with a surge of creativity and started making jewelry. I've been playing around with rings and this was my third attempt and creation. I LOVE it. New inspiration and burst of energy... yeah! Now I just need to find someone to help me build a website as I still can not access my jewelry blog... ughhh. Anyway... wanted to share!

Triple the Fun...

My three latest rings... I am addicted... need more fingers!

Our Miracle Revisited

I was in a closet, going through things... getting ready for a yard sale, and there she was... my precious miracle in May of 2005. When I pulled the pictures out of the envelope, emotions overwhelmed me in an instant... took my breath away. Then when I saw the date, I was dazed to think this was just hardly over two years ago... Abby was four.

We had just started glyconutrition in late January of that year. Abby had spent months, lying on her back, unable to sit, stand, walk, or even hold her head up. She weighed just 23 pounds. She had an average of 20- 30 seizures a day. Her hands were curling in and I'd pry them open each day... making her hold blocks or small half pound weights. The paralysis on her right side affected her face when she smiled... but you could see her... all of her... in her eyes.

When this picture was taken, she was learning to feed herself again. She was learning to walk again. She was learning to talk again. She was learning everything again. We had just been seizure free a little over two months.

Several people tell me that they never saw Abby when she was so sick and can't comprehend her being less than she is. I feel, to not know the Abby in this picture, is not to know her.

Abby is a fighter... she has a spirit that blows me away. She is so driven... and determined. Just two years ago, she faced frustrations beyond belief to bring herself back from the depths of darkness. She is a bright light from the Lord himself. She has a spirit that lights up a room and fills your heart with the purest of joys.

She is a precious gift that God has given us to love and to care for, for Him. We have been challenged with parenting lately and it is amazing how God can show you something... to remind you of what's important. Here is my God sighting for the summer. A picture. A picture that speaks a thousand and one words. And a hope that can carry us through the most troubling storms. Our God is an awesome God.

A Special Moment Caught

I totally LOVE it when I snap a picture and then later, when I go back to it, something speaks to me that I had not seen before. This is one of those pictures.

I love the way the shadow anchors them onto the ground. The shadow moves me almost as much as they do. But then I noticed, amid everyone bustling in the background... some not even looking, many talking and looking for the next thing, the police officer has stopped and is saluting. That is the coolest thing in this picture... respect... from one man... a moment of respect caught... I think he makes it a perfect picture.

The Parade is Here!

I love this parade. It is so down home... so quaint and community inspired. The BOYSCOUTS made the float with the dinosour and I was very much impressed! It moved with a certain lightness and grace as it came down the street. Very Cool.