Thanks for the prayers for my dad. He is resting well tonight after having quintuple by-pass surgery today. The doctor said he did very well! :)

Went to the Joyce Meyer Annual Women's Conference in St. Louis this past weekend. It was awesome! T. D. Jakes kicked it off Thursday night and I'm tellin ya, if it had even just been that one night, I would have been good to go. He is an amazing preacher. He has a blog! Check it out! http://www.tdjakes.com/site/PageServer?pagename=resrc_blog The music was done by Delerious and CC Wynans. Delerious was a little rocky for me at times, but I enjoyed the praise music they did and CC Wynans was her usual... beautiful in every way. It was a life changing weekend for me. Joyce just speaks straight to my heart. She doesn't mince words... she just gives you the message that God has put on her heart and you'd just better be ready cuz she's goin in full force! Thick heads like mine need that though. :)

Hope you all are having a great week!
Mel

Prayers for my dad

My dad had a heart cath this morning and they found significant blockage in 3 of his arteries. They are going to do open-heart surgery (triple by-pass) on him Monday morning. Please keep he and Margaret in your prayers.

Levi~ born September 12th

I got a great nephew for my birthday! This is Levi Jones, my brother Paul's grandson. Pic one is Levi and his daddy, Chris who is Paul's middle son. Pic two is Grandma Kathy and Levi. Isn't he a sweetie!

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

Well, tomorrow is the last day I will be with the twins. I am going to miss them, but I have been told I can come and visit any time so this is good! I had orientation Monday and Tuesday at the hospital. Next Monday I start training! I am really excited to be a part of the business world again. Everyone I've met at the hosital so far has been very friendly. It's going to be nice to converse with adults on a more regular basis. :)

Next Thursday, a group of gals and I are heading to St. Louis for a Joyce Meyer Womens' Conference. I can not wait! T.D. Jakes and Cece Winans are going to be there as well. As one of my friends put it, we are going to be "getting some MAJOR religion"! (And Lord knows I need it!) If you've never heard of Joyce Meyer, check out her web-site... www.joycemeyer.com. She is an awesome Bible teacher.

John's mom is having open heart surgery this morning. Please keep her in your prayers!

Hugs all around!

HOLY COW!

Holy cow! I turned 38 today. Kinda bothered me. I'm not sure exactly why, but it just did. 38 sounds SO much older than 37 to me. I'll be 40 in 2 short years! Oh my gosh! Oh my GOSH!!! Yikes! ANYWAY... my hubby got me a "ragdoll" kitten for my birthday. He is SO very cute! (The kitten too!) I'll post a pic, but the one I got doesn't do him justice. His eyes are so blue...my camera and photoshop only make them look red or white. "Ragdoll" is a certain breed. They are supposed to be docile and very friendly. The docile part must kick in after kitten stage!

Mom and John and Dad and Margaret came to our neck of the woods to celebrate my birthday. That was really nice. The pic from left to right is Dad, Margaret, John and Mom. Yes, we are one big happy family. I am blessed to have parents and step-parents who all like each other!

Here are a few more with me and the kids...

Remembering my brother

This is my brother Rob. He died of AIDS on September 10th nine years ago. He was one of the finest people I've ever known. He was loving, kind, and hilariously funny! Those of you who knew him know I'm tellin the truth! He really knew how to make people laugh. He brought joy to all who knew him and broke the barriers of homophobia continually because to know him was to love him. It was just that simple.

Rob died the same year Jake was born when Jake was 6 months old. Jake is named for him... Jacob Robert McLaughlin. Rob was very proud of his name-sake and I consider it such a blessing that he got to hold his nephew and know him if only for a short time. The second picture here is of Rob and Jake when Jake was probably only a month old. Sarah never got to meet him of course, but she often says that she misses her Uncle Rob, and so does Jake. We talk about him quite a bit... helps to keep him alive in our hearts and helps Sarah to know her Uncle. I miss you my sweet brother.

Thankful

I was just thinking today how abundantly blessed I am with good friends. I am SO THANKFUL for my friends. I'm thankful for the friends I see every day, once a week, once a month and even once a year! I'm thankful for my Tennessee friends, my Alabama friends, my California friends and my Indiana friends. I am thankful for the friends who send an e-mail now and then to let me know they're thinking of me. Each one of you holds a little piece of my heart and just incase I haven't told you lately, I am thankful that you are in my life!

Catchin up

Hello Everybody! Hope you all are having a nice Labor Day weekend! We kicked it off by going to the High School football game Friday night. It was fun. I'm not so sure what happened in the game, but I certainly had fun chattin with my friends and I know the kids had fun with their's too. I'm pretty sure the only one who actually WATCHED the game in our family was Ed. I do know we won though! That's all that matters, right?

Saturday morning Sarah had her first softball practice of the season. She is doing such a good job! She's not crazy about the sweating, but the rest she likes I think. We got to go swimming afterword so that made up for the sweating! Last night we got together with some friends to "grill out" and sat around singing old Beattles songs (redone by Country singers) while we watched the kids play. What a pretty night too... the weather was great! Nothin like good friends and good food! Today was church of course and then we went out to our favorite "Los Portales" with more friends. Why is it every time I eat Mexican I feel like I need a nap afterward? I think that's what I'll do next!

Many of you know that I had been trying to get an interview at Dyersburg Regional Hospital over the summer but to no avail. I ended up taking the job with the twins and then they called me for an interview like a week later. I didn't go at the time because I had JUST accepted the babysitting job. Well, they called again this past Wednesday and I interviewed Thursday and was offered the job on the spot (pending my drugscreen which I'm FAIRLY sure I won't have a problem passing.) :) I will be working in Admitting, E.R. and Central Scheduling. I think it will be right up my alley... I'm excited! I will miss the babies, but this is the kind of work I've always loved to do and I think that, coupled with the fact that I won't be with kids all day will be much better for me and my family. Please pray for Joan and Drew to find the right person for their childcare needs.

Ed is finally getting that reprieve I was hoping for. He is actually off the whole weekend AND Monday! Right now he is napping on the couch... much deserved rest!

Hugs~
Melissa