Look Who's Walking

It's amazing that in a span of three days a child can go from four steps to a marathon runner. She's having fun exploring all the new areas her feet take her around the house and mom and dad are winded.

Almost...

Puddin' is starting to walk. We found out she likes to knock down block towers that mom and dad built. So, if we build them she will "walk" over (four to six steps) and knock them over. She will do it until we grap the video camera and then she starts crawling again...so for now we have lots of video of one step and falling down and then Puddin' looking into camera as if to say, "You only thought you would get me on tape." So, for now enjoy these pictures of her climbing up daddy while drinking her bottle.

WE HAD A DATE!!!!

Mom and dad were finally able to go on their anniversary date last night. We went to a small town near us that decorates downtown during Christmas. We enjoyed it and vowed to make time for more of them in 2008.

Tulsa is back to normal this week. I have to give it to PSO and OG&E the two electric companies in Oklahoma. Tuesday there were over 800,000 people without power and by today there are only about a thousand left without power and they should get it on within the next 24 hours. Those men (from about nine states) worked around the clock to get the job done. It was amazing.

Please pray for dad's business, it got disrupted because of the weather and he didn't get to meet with some clients last week because of the storm and they were ready to do some new business. It's been tight, but we are thankful for how God has blessed us this year and the fact we accomplished our major goal--keeping mom home with Puddin' The Honda Pilot and Disney will have to wait, but we would rather have the blessing of mom being with Puddin' than those things anyways.

Aftermath of Ice Storm 2007

Today was a nice winter day, but it looks like Tulsa has been in a war zone. I've never seen so many trees on the ground. We have an additional 1,500 workers from various states helping people get their power back on. We had over 600,000 without power, but today I heard it was down to 350,000. We have been blessed we have had power both at our house and at my office, although work has been slow due to the weather. We've been so blessed I felt a little "guilty" yesterday as two co-workers were discussing being without power for the third straight day and not looking foward to the freezing weather and possible snow we have forecasted for this coming weekend. And then getting on the elevator to go home and out of seven people going down to the first floor I was the only one going home to "electricity," one lady even had a blow dryer she had brought to work to finish getting ready. On other news...Puddin' is close to walking. Last night she took two small steps.

Ice Storm 2007

This is the tree in our backyard, between dad's butchering (pruning) earlier this fall and the ice storm we're not sure this tree is going to make it.




This is a frozed bradford pear in our front yard.





A frozen leaf.



Our neighbor's tree that we are praying that makes it and doesn't fall and break the fence.

More fallen trees. As I'm sitting here blogging I can hear tree branches snapping from the weight of the ice.

This was a beautiful bradford tree our next door neighbor used to have. Thankfully it didn't fall on his car or house.

Our neighbor across the street had a nice surprise this afternoon when he came home. The tree split due to the weight of the ice.

We've had an ice storm last night. Over 200,000 people in Tulsa are out of power, thankfully, we are not one of them. While driving home from work this afternoon and seeing all the trees with ice and many broken branches it feels like the snow queen from Narnia visited our area.

Who would have thought that a snowman and a snow pup would provide hours of enjoyment. Puddin' first discovered this at may may's house, but we had one also, and it has become her favorite toy over the last few days. She's even learned how to push the button that starts the song (Jingle Bells) and as you can see she has developed some dance moves to go along with it. We are really enjoying this Christmas season, because last year at this time she basically just ate, slept, and filled her diapers and we were going through some other tough issues as a family. But this year, God has healed and we are all enjoying seeing Christmas for the first time through the eyes of our Puddin'.

I do, I do, I do

Today, we are celebrating our 5th anniversary. It's hard to believe it's been five years. We grow more and more in love with each other every day. It's hard to believe I would find my wife in Dr. Crawford's prayer class. We started in a 900 square foot apartment....moved to a house six months later (right when I was starting my own business), but through God's grace and our love for each other we have been able to add three to our family (we count the dogs) and although being in business for myself is the toughest thing I have done, God has been faithful and allowed Amber to be at home with our children. We are blessed...of course, being new parents meant spending the evening at home, but next week we will be able to get a night out and celebrate.

Across to H-town and Back To T-town

This is Puddin's other cousin. She's attempting to ride a bull ride, but it look like she's waving. She really enjoyed playing with her sister cousin Puddin'

Here were my other two kids welcoming me home and wondering why they couldn't make the trip and said they wouldn't stop licking until I promise no more kennels or being shipped off to other houses for a long time.

Here is grammy and Puddin' playing with lamb chop.

Here he is riding the bull.

Here is the future bullrider champion getting to ride the biggest baddest bull in Texas.

Here is grampy with all three grandchildren in his lap.

Puddin' did real well on the trip. She only slept for about 45 minutes on each of the nine hour trips, but she didn't cry. She entertained herself with a new toy she received before the trip (that made it sound like there were elephants in the van) and checking out her toes. She only made noises when she was hungry. She enjoyed the trip, but slept most of the day to day to catch up on her sleep.

Then...We Went To S.A.

Here is dad, puddin, and dad's aunt and uncle. Puddin' is more and interested in the toys on the floor than taking another picture.


Here's grandpa Steve and puddin'.

Here's puddin' getting kisses from granny.

Here is a four generation picture of dad, puddin' granny and great grandpa and great granny.

Here is Puddin' and her great granny.

This is Puddin' meeting her great granny.

Puddin' did so good on a 4 1/2 trip...we decided to test her patience on a 9 hour trip to S.A. to see some of dad's side of the family. Here she is with a late birthday present and balloons. Dad and his mom both used this chair as kids, so now it's puddin' turn. Right now, she just likes to walk around it. One day she will learn to sit in it.

Thanksgiving in Branson

Pop Pop and Puddin' waiting for the lightings of the tree at Branson.


Puddin' has had a busy few weeks. It all started out with a trip to Branson with May May and Pop Pop. We enjoyed our Thanksgiving in Branson, although it was our first trip with a Puddin' she did great and mom and dad adjusted and had fun, but realized vacations would forever be different.

A Character From Dr. Sues??

We found a charcter from one of our Dr. Seus books, playing on our bed.

A Girl & Her Balloons

Puddin' loves playing with balloons (with adult supervision of course), in fact, this weekend, she sat on her dad's lap for close to 1 1/2 hours and just played with the "Happy Birthday" helium balloon and laughed the whole time.

We are excited, we are getting an early Christmas gift and getting to go to Branson for Thanksgiving. We are also a little apprehensive, this is Puddin's first trip over one hour long, she will probably do fine, but we will have to wait to see how mom and dad do.

First Birthday!!!

At first Jorja wasn't too sure what to think of the hat, but once we started singing and she got a tast of the cupcake, she was all smiles.


Dad writes: "It really stinks having a tempature of almost a 100, so you can't really participate in the festiviities. But, it was a fun day. And puddin' has been such a blessing and joy to our lives for the past year. It seems like yesterday we were in the hospital awaiting her arrival.

Mom writes: "Praise be to God! He blessed us through our first year with our precious Jorja. She is a delight and we love her so much. The day was full of rollicking birthday fun. She enjoyed my lousy cupcakes and please note that the huge candle continually played happy birthday in a super annoying tone."

Puddin' Hugs & More Puddin' Firsts

Puddin' is getting tired of "baby" food, so she's starting to eat little pieces of cheese.




Puddin' has started standing on her own. Tonight dad counted to nine before she had to use his leg for balance. No, she doesn't stand sideways, dad just couldn't figure out how to flip the picture for the post.

Puddin' has learned to give dad a hug when he asks for one and sometimes she will give one without being asked. Dad thinks Puddin' hugs are the best!

Update on Dad's Goal and Prayer Requests

Dad's been trying hard, he still needs the 42 points, but this week could be a good week (prayerfully). Dad has been working with some clients that through their business they could provide 5-8 points. And then God blessed dad with a case this weekend that could provide 9-10 points that dad wasn't counting on...and there's some other things in the works. So, hopefully in the next ten days dad could get 15-20 points. His goal was to have 30 of the 40 points by the end of November and then see if God chooses to bless the rest of the way in December.

Also, pray for dad in the following areas. He needs to hire two people before January to get promoted to manager, and he has five potential good candidates, but they need to accept the offer to work for dad and past some security exams. And also, dad has helped develop a seminar on the basics of estate planning from the Christian perspective (with an emphasis on custodial issues with children), a local minister is interested in allowing dad to do the seminar with about fifteen couples with children. Pray that more opportunities to speak on this subject will open up, it's been dad's passion, especially since he now has a little puddin' to care for.

Jorja's First Halloween

We did not let Jorja participate in the haunted garage across the street, but we did have a nice time watching one of mom's favorites.

The Wait Begins

If you haven't seen "Flywheel" or "Facing the Giants" I would highly recommend viewing them. Both of them have been our family favorites and a source of encouragement over the past year. They were both produced by the Kendrick brothers, ministers at Sherwood Baptist Church, in Albany, Ga. Well...it's finally happening...they are working on their third film. You can find a synopsis of it at the following link
http://www.fireproofthemovie.com/synopsis.php

Also, check out this link. It is an upcoming film written and produced by a member of our church
http://www.treasureblind.com/movie.php?id=synopsis&cat=1

Sunday Outing

After church we took Puddin' to the park and played on the swing and watched the other children. Then we went to the riverwalk and mom and dad got their favorite treat...gelato.

One Last Goal For 2007

We have a system at work that if we get a high enough score, we win a trip. This year it is to Orlando. If I reach this goal it would also qualify me for membership into the Million Dollar Round Table (No, that doesn't mean I made a million, back in the day you had to write a million dollars of insurance to qualify and hence the name). Also, if I reached this goal mom could get a Honda Pilot for her an puddin'. So, today during a "boring" meeting I figured out what it would take to get there. I need 42 points, I can see 20-30 points, but I've decided to go for it. So, each week I will update the blog and let you know how close I am. It will help me stay focused. So, can Howard do it? Stay tuned to find out.

Belly Buttons

Puddin' has discovered her belly button, it facinates her. Then, last night she discovered that mommy and daddy had buttons of their own and if she looked hard enough she could find lent in her daddy's button.

Night of the Terriers

We like to take family walks as often as we can, which are the nights dad gets home before dark.

Pictured above is how we usually travel on these walks. Dad with the two dogs and mom backpacking a puddin'.

The other night we had an adventure. As we were walking down one of the neighborhood streets, out of nowhere came a lady on a bike and Eb and Lucy started going crazy. That’s when I realized that the lady on the bike had two Jack Terriers running beside her on leashes. I had to stop and let her coast by (her dogs had seen our dogs and now they were pulling her). We kept walking and she disappeared and disaster was avoided, or so I thought. When we were about one block from our house, we started hearing some familiar barking and sure enough the Terriers were back and they were running fast and furious, coming toward us. We moved over to the sidewalk and I had to choke up on the collar to make sure Eb and Lucy didn’t go after them. It was a sight. The poor lady was trying to stop the bike with her feet, but her dogs looked like a couple of sled dogs pulling her along. This time she had a hold of their leashes to her left side (we were on the right of the street), hoping her dogs would continue to pass us by, but one of them was not so smart and he cut in front of the bicycle and the poor lady ran over her dog and then went flying through the air over the handlebars. It was so shocking…Eb and Lucy stopped barking and just looked at the splatter in the middle of the road. We made sure she was okay (truthfully, dad was trying not to laugh while mom was making sure the lady was okay and Puddin’ was just enjoying the walk). The lady was more concerned about her dog than being hurt. But we reckoned that they both needed a good dose of aspirin that night.