A whole hand-full

John's FIVE! He requested a cookie cake . . . .thank you, John! Yum.

In the picture, he's wearing his new-favorite shirt. He thinks it's perfect for playing hide-and-seek at night.

I can't believe it's already been five years. John was born on a beautiful Georgia day. The girls were treated to a visit to 3 (or 4?) parks and eating lunch at the pizza parlor that day - thank you, Garriotts!

December 29, 2008 was a beautiful day, too. John spent his birthday fishing with Dad. Didn't catch anything, but you know what they say . . . "A bad day fishing beats a good day at work."

Happy Birthday, our sweet John. You bring such joy to our family.

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

Here's the official Christmas Eve 2008 photo, on our way to Mass. John did NOT want to be in the picture. He's not fond of anything with a collar, so he was convinced he looked "ridiculous". I think Ellen had a pretty good hold on him, and my double-flash camera tricked him into smiling just in time for the actual picture-taking. Merry Christmas from us to you . . . we pray that your 2009 is full of blessings.

So Long, Farewell . . .

Just before Christmas, we had to say "See ya later," to our sweet, beautiful, fun, loving, generous friend, Renee Johnson. We met Renee at church. She was a student at the University, a temporary transplant from Texas and we quickly made her part of our family. Ellen, Mary and John consider Renee an older sibling and we have been so blessed to have her around for about half of 2008. As a sweet nun once said, "Friends of Jesus never say 'Goodbye.'" So on December 18, we enjoyed one of Renee's favorite dishes - taco ring - (did I even feed you dessert, Renee?) sent her on her way, packed to the ceiling with all her belongings and sadly said, "See you later." And we will. Texas isn't that far away. Neither is the phone. We love you, Renee.