Calling All Prayer Warriors

Normally I would not make a post about something this serious without knowing more details, but right now all I know is that a special family needs prayers!!! Shea's cousins' 4 year baby has been diagnosed of leukemia as of late last night. All of this has happened so fast. Yesterday the mother took the baby to the doctor because of a fever and she had noticed she was bruising easily. Her white blood count was extremely high and they sent them to Jackson immediately. Sometime in the middle of the night they confirmed what everyone prayed would not happened...she does have leukemia. From my understanding they will run more test today, do a bone marrow and in the next few days we should know what stage she is in and what the next course of action will be. I will keep you all posted.

I know that our Lord does not give us anything we can not handle, but right it seems so hard to see this in that kind of light. Pray for peace and comfort on this family...strength for baby Danika as these tests are so hard for children...doctors...and most importantly that this family will turn to our Lord for strength and guidance.

With Love,
Bethany

Girl's Night Out

This weekend our church had a men's retreat with a special guest speaker...Joe Easterling who ministers a church in Thomasville, GA. Well the ladies decided we needed a girl's night out while the guys were away. We met up at Oscar's Mexican Resturant. This was my first time to eat at Oscar's but it was very good.

I must say a special note about this group of ladies. We are all in a Sunday school class together. Some of the ladies here I knew growing up, but most we have met through church. During my pregnancy I was very lucky to have such a strong group of women that love the Lord as much as I do. I feel very fortunate to have such a great group of friends that we can get together...laugh...cry...or just talk! Our Sunday school class is so wonderful and Shea and I could never re-pay them for everything they did during our pregnancy with Mary Glenn. Ladies if you are reading this...I had such a great time Friday night. We must do this again soon. Thanks for being so special to me and I look forward to making many more memories together.

A Nice Deer

One thing some of my blog friends may not know about me is my love for the outdoors. I love to fish and hunt. Growing up my dad always was hunting or fishing during their seasons. So sometimes my sister and I would be lucky to go. Looking back I feel sorry for dad because I know I wasn't the best little hunter...I could never be that still!!! Thankfully Shea enjoys the outdoors too and we can spend time together outside. Usually once a year during the deer hunting season I will go for a few days and hunt. Most of the time it is around Christmas time, but this year it didn't work out. So I got the itch really bad one day and decided to drive over and hunt with dad, Shea, and Danny one Saturday and Sunday. Well it wasn't the best weekend for dad and I, but Danny and Shea had great luck. Unfortunately I do not have a picture of Shea's deer because I left at lunch and he stayed with dad...but neither had a camera. Shea killed an average 8 point and Danny's deer is below. It is a 9 point...22" spread...weighing in around 220 lbs!!! Congrats Danny!

Magdalena Grace Roberts

In honor of sweet Magdalena Roberts a few of us at work wore pink on the day of her funeral as requested by her family. Below are Bridget Lee, Jessica Loftin, and myself. Our prayers will continue for this family as I know too well the days ahead will be tough and prayers will be needed. If you have not read about this sweet baby that changed so many lives please click here visit their website: http://www.noahandjulieroberts.blogspot.com

It's Birthday Time!

Here are a few pictures from our birthday supper. The month of January...all in five days...we have three family birthdays. Terry's birthday is January 10th, dad is January 15th and then I am January 12th. Happy Birthday to me!!!


Terry, Dad, and I


Mom, Georgia, Nannaw, and Jo Ellen

Mouse Play

Ok a little background before this post...I HATE MICE!!!! I am actually disgusted when I see a mouse...they are gross...sneaky...and for some reason I am scared of them. When Shea and I first got married we lived in the house that he grew up in. It is in Bassfield in the country. I would see a mouse and freak out. I will never forget that one time I saw a mouse in the laundry room and I didn't wash clothes for two weeks. Poor Shea. Well when we moved to our new house I thought...new house...no mice...right??? WRONG!!! Now when I post this please do not think our house is nasty because it's not. It is very clean actually...thanks to my friend Vicki who helps clean my house every other week. When Shea and I were cleaning after taking down our Christmas decorations we found mouse droppings in our laundry room. Well of course I made Shea clean out the cabinet...throwing away everything in the cabinet...I know that is a little extreme...but once again I HATE MICE!!! Shea succeeded in cleaning the cabinet where he found two dead mice. They had fallen into a tall vase and couldn't get out. I thought great the mice are gone. Just kidding. Shea had gone to the hunting camp and I was home alone on the phone with my mom when out of the corner of my eye I saw something...my first thought it was a roach...but worse...A MOUSE!! Mom says to let the mouse go hide and when Shea gets home he can put out a trap. So about 30 minutes later I was texting Shea telling him about the mouse when I look up and the mouse is back out...waving at me! I scream and it runs away. Shea gets home and the first attempt to the kill the mouse was horrible...no peanut butter on the trap...but no mouse. We have a smart mouse on our hands. Shea tries again and success!!! Yippee!!! In the midst of all of this Shea is going through our house fixing any little hole they might can get through. Which now people tell me they can come in anywhere because they can make their bodies get as flat as a pancake. Well we set another trap just in case that little mouse had a friend...and guess what...IT DID! We got another mouse. Then Shea was about to leave again to go hunting and the night before I told him I smelled something horrible...is it a dead mouse??? Shea says no. Well by 3:30 the next morning when Shea was leaving the smell had gotten worse and it was in fact a dead mouse. Poor Shea moved the dishwasher...looked in cabinets but he couldn't find it...it must have been stuck in the walls. I must say that the smell was BAD and lasted for like three days! Well we went like a week with no mice until one day Shea and I were playing rock band and another mouse came out. I screamed and the mouse was running in circles. Shea claims the mouse was sick but I don't care sick or not...I want it DEAD!!! So Shea traps the mouse in a closet where we keep the vacuum, brooms, and cleaning supplies. I stare at the door to make sure the mouse doesn't come out while Shea tries to find something to kill the mouse. He finds a mop and starts trying to kill it. I can say this now but at the time it wasn't funny...but now we laugh about it. Here are a few pics of my dear husband killing the mouse...it was priceless!!!



If you look real close you can see the mouse's tail...!!!

Girl Time

Since college a few of my sorority sisters try to get together at Christmas time and just hang out. As the years have passed it seems harder to get us all together at the same time. Some of us live here in Hattiesburg, some on the coast, Mobile, and New York. This year Lori brought Carson and Melissa brought Cole. Let me tell you these boys are precious, but all over the place. They kept us entertained. Carson got mad when his Uncle Shea wasn't home so we called him in...Thank Goodness! Shea played and played with boys and they loved him. In fact Cole would have stayed with us I think...he cried and cried when he had to leave to go back home. I sat there watching and praying that maybe one day God will bless us with our own children to play with. As this year has passed a few of us have faced things in our lives that are very difficult..it was nice to all get together...talk...cry..and just hang out. I love you all very much and I hope we can keep this tradition for a very long time.

Christmas Day 2008

Christmas this year brought on a total different meaning for Shea and I. I would be lying to you all if I said this Christmas was not emotional. I had planned on having a baby at Christmas time if not the week after. I planned on getting cute baby stuff for Christmas gifts. I planned on all the family coming out to my house to see Mary Glenn's nursery. I planned a lot, but God had a bigger plan. I must say God's plan was much harder but bigger and better. But as my dad has told me since I was a little girl...nothing worth anything comes easy.

I unfortunately did not take many pictures of the family...but I do have some cute pictures of my sister with her favorite Christmas present...a new dog! When Shea and I went to Nashville we brought home a Brittany Spaniel for my sister as a surprise. As you can the surprise was pulled off!!!



Georgia and Dixie

A Much Needed Getaway...

Last year Shea and I had several trips planned that got cancelled for different reasons. Well when we got home from the hospital Shea and I planned a trip to Nashville, TN. We had such a great time. We stayed at the Opryland Hotel...WOW! That place is unbelievable. We spent an afternoon just walking around the hotel in amazement at the flowers and Christmas decorations. While in Nashville we toured the Ryman Auditorium where later in our visit we wen to the Opry, toured the Hall of Fame, went to How the Grinch Stole Christmas on Ice, Louise Mandrell's Christmas Dinner Show, and saw the Radio City Rockettes!!! ICE was wild. We had to wear these HUGE parkas and it was COLD! Everything in the building was made out of ICE. My personal favorite was the Rockettes Show. If you have never seen this I would highly recommend it. Shea liked everything about Nashville. It was right up his alley! The last night we were there we went to an old favorite restaurants...Chappys. For those of you who don't know Chappy's was located in Long Beach, MS but Hurricane Katrina destroyed the restaurant and Chappy relocated to Nashville. The food was the same...DELICIOUS!!! That night we also hung out at the famous Tootsie's Bar. TOO MUCH FUN!

This trip was such a nice getaway for Shea and I. We had such a roller coaster year...and one that we would not change. Shea and I enjoyed each other's company and we were able to relax!



Manger Scene - ICE!



IT'S COLD!!!



Your a Mean One...Mister Grinch



Decorations Outside the Opryland Hotel



The River Inside the Opryland



Louise Mandrell



The Country Music Hall of Fame

Shows Dearman & Waits...Having Fun

The Shows Dearman and Waits Christmas party was held at Conestoga Steakhouse. As always the party was a lot fun. We added karaoke this year...who would have ever known such talented employees we have at SD&W!!! Rick was the big draw down winner. Congratulations Rick!!!



Pam & Mike Waits



Machelle...Is something funny???



Mark & Valerie Sanders



And the Winner Is...RICK!!!



Nick, Shea, and Kyle

Playing Catch Up

Well, I haven't blogged much in the past couple of months so I am going to play catch up. I finally got pictures downloaded from my camera to the computer. I hope I don't bore you all with the posts! I will start with company Christmas parties. At the M.G. Dyess Christmas party we exchange gifts during the day and then at night we party down with a band. Unfortunately I do not have pictures from the night party but here are a few from the day time party. I absolutely adore my co-workers and I can honestly say that I work for an awesome family and have wonderful co-workers. Words can not express my gratitude towards my work family as they supported me throughout my entire pregnancy with Mary Glenn. If you are reading this post...I love you guys!!!



Brian and Jessica



Smile!!!



I love this man...Glynn Dyess!



Sarah, Nicci, and Tammy