Children's Mansion 5K

The kids begged to run the Children's Mansion 5K on April 30, so we headed to Tupelo at 5:30 in the morning in order to arrive for the 7:00 start. It was a beautifully cool morning and that made for a great race day.

There was a great turnout for this well managed race. It is chip timed and the finish line support staff was AWESOME! Alec gets a hand from Mr. Jimmy as he heads for the finish line.

He ran one of his fastest races ever. Way to go ALEC!

Kirsten ran one of her fastest races in a year and has definitely picked up her running in the last month.

The girls visit while awaiting the awards.

Such sweet girls! And boy are they fast too!

Hunting Easter Eggs at Nonie's House

What a CREW!!! All these kids enjoy hunting Easter eggs, so we just hide a bunch of eggs and they have fun finding them. Keith shows off his HAUL!

Scarlett and Claire are proud of their eggs.

Alec checks out the contents of his eggs.

Scarlett, Claire, and Sophia pose for a picture.

Carson, Luke, and Jackson take time out for a picture.

The girls count eggs to see who found the most.

Kirsten didn't want to hunt this time, but joined the girls in the counting.

The little kids had a GREAT time!

Eating candy and counting money.

Alec found the most eggs!

That's a lot of eggs!

Hunting Easter Eggs at Grandma and Grandpa's House

After an inspiring Easter Sunday service at church, we headed to Middleton to celebrate Easter with Mitch's family. We ate a great lunch and then went outside to hide eggs so the grandkids could hunt them.

Kirsten, Wesley, and Alec are RARING to go!

Easter Portraits

Every Easter, I try to get the kids in their Easter finery and take their pictures. They don't even complain anymore, cause they know, it just won't work with me. I will take pictures!!

Nehemiah 5K

April 16 was a great day for a race. Alec wanted to run in Pontotoc in the Nehemiah 5K. This race was organized to raise money for a missions team. Many Spartans ran this race and it was fun to see them all run their hardest.

There was a pretty good turnout for this race. Alec time was 25:57 and we were very happy with his effort and finishing time.

Alec's Birthday Party

Alec's COOL birthday cake! On April 12, we celebrated Alec's birthday with a NERF party. WE had a great time and so did all the boys! About 25 boys showed up to do battle on our hillside. They all came armed with Nerf guns and bullets and were raring to go. Some of the boys had marked the time to the party, from about a month out.

Boys, boys everywhere!

We found bullets EVERYWHERE!

The moms hang out visiting while the boys were shooting each other.

All the boys gathered around Alec as he opened his presents.

Alec blows out his candles, so that we could dive into this delicious cake, lovingly made by Sherrie Thomas. She always turns a cake into a masterpiece.

Several girls came to run with Kirsten and visit while their brothers were having fun.

We even bought Camo face paint so they could feel like "real soldiers."

After hotdogs and chips, cake and ice cream, the boys headed back to the field for more shooting fun.

Alec loads up one of his new guns, while Parker looks on.

Andrew Jackson 5K, Half-Marathon, Full Marathon Weekend

On April 8, Kirsten and I traveled to Jackson, TN, so she could run in the Andrew Jackson 5K and so that we could watch some dear friends run their first full marathon. It was a great weekend for me, but all of the runners really struggled due to extremely hot temperatures -- actually they were called RECORD breaking temps. We missed the start of the full marathon but arrived to see several of our friends start the half marathon.

There were over 300 participants in this year's half marathon. Kirsten, Hannah, Sarah, and Julie stretch before the start of the 5K.

I don't know how many runners ran this race, but it was not a large race.

The runners head off down the beautiful Union University Campus.

Kirsten struggled a lot in this race. The temperature was almost 90 and she was not ready to run in this warm weather.

After the end of the 5K, we all watched the finishers of the half marathon, while waiting on the finishers of the full marathon.

The girls hold up a BIG banner cheering for Roan and Lynn.

These women are so impressive! It was a very difficult race to finish, they did not achieve their goal, but were still able to raise their arms and be excited about their accomplishment.

A Sermon in a Picture

My precious friends, Aaron and Susanna, sang their newborn son home to Heaven. This is the true picture of faith in God. The song they sang was called "How Sweet To Die."

"Farewell, vain world I'm going home, My Savior bids me come,

Sweet angels beckon from on high, Then, O how sweet to die.

I'm glad that I am born to die, From grief my soul shall fly

Sweet angels beckon from on high, Then, O how sweet to die.

I'll praise my Savior while I've breath, I'll praise Him after death,

I'll praise His matchless name on high, Then, O how sweet to die.

I soon shall pass this vale of death, When I shall lose my breath,

And then my happy soul shall fly, Then, O how sweet to die."

Their heartbreaking story began last Monday. Susanna delivered a very healthy baby boy named Jackson Emmett. About four hours later, he suddenly stopped breathing. Even today, they still have no medical explanation for what happened in his precious body. Six days he stayed at The Med in Memphis, while doctors did so experimental treatments on him and his tiny brain. But yesterday, they made the excruciating decision to remove the ventilator and sing him home to our merciful Heavenly Father. These two precious people, even in extreme grief, clung to His promises to never leave us or forsake us and praised God as He took their firstborn home to be with Him. The above picture should leave no on unaffected. The grief on their faces is so evident and yet they sang "How Sweet to Die." Jack's young, brief life affected me and thousands of others in ways that few sermons can do, and my life will forever be changed by the testimony of his family's faith in trial.