IT'S A GIRL!!!!! A BEAUTIFUL SWEET BABY GIRL

Audrey Elizabeth

6 lbs 8.2 oz

18 inches long

12:00 pm

Congratulations Jeff & Bethany

She is truly a miracle.

Audrey Elizabeth arrived at 12:00 noon on December 26, 2008. She is absolutely beautiful and the whole family is in love with her. She weighs 6 lbs 8.2 oz and is18 inches long. She is a tiny thing but very healthy and doing wonderful. Bethany is doing great too. Audrey has more hair than any baby in our immediate family ever had. It is also dark which is a surprise we all just assumed she would have lighter hair.

We are so very thankful and feel so blessed. Welcome to the Wolfhill Gang Audrey.

Forgive Us For No Updates...Please

We are so very busy and will update as soon as we can. Thanks for checking back again.

Our daughter Bethany is on bedrest and has been for most of the month of December and should be having her baby sometime this week...a little early but she is having blood pressure problems. Please pray for Beth and baby Audrey... we are so very excited. Our miracle granddaughter!!!

Hope has been so very busy...a wedding...she was a flower girl (sweet sweet) and also practicing and performing in the Christmas production at church. She actually made it through the first song!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This time last year...she was just one of many in a cold orphanage in China and this year she has blessed our lives in more ways that we will ever be able to share. What a precious gift this child is to our family.

Merry Christmas to everyone...

Don't give up on us...

And check back soon for some very exciting news.

Love

Becky

Well...Ben DID it & We MISSED It!!

Ben made his goal in the basketball game tonight...and we MISSED IT. When I called him after the game he said "Everyone was Cheering"....!! The game was not a home game and with Ronnie getting home after 5:00 and needing to feed the cows..we have decided we will not make a lot of the out of town games this year but I really really wish we had made it to this game!!

Ben we are so very proud of you!!!

Happy Birthday Ronnie

A trip to the state park was the perfect setting on a beautiful fall day for Ronnie's birthday party/picnic. We had so much fun!!! I'll just post a few pictures and you can see for yourself.



Happy Birthday We Love You Very Much!!

Not the best "Hook em Horns" picture but you get the message !

Feeding the ducks and geese...they were friendly and hungry!!
Swinging in the same swings they used as little girls.Caleb enjoying the day.TylerCaleb Wade Misty and TylerBethany, Jeff, and baby AudreyCarmen and Sunnie Kay

Hope and me.

Becky

Ben's Goal

We are so very proud of all our grandchildren. They are sweet, kind, compassionate and lots of fun! They are individuals and each of them have different interests. Caleb, Tyler, Bradley, Ben, and Sunnie all enjoy sports but Ben is the least interested in sports. When he was little he played T-ball and coach pitch but when it came time to play on teams where other kids his own age were pitching he just decided there was no need in letting them "target practice" on him. I thought that was an excellent decision...

Last year when he entered junior high as a seventh grader he decided to play basketball. He had played basketball on the youth leagues for several seasons and enjoyed it. Ben is not aggressive or an extreme athlete he just enjoys basketball. Ben has made it known to players, coaches, family and friends that he has a set a goal for himself. That goal is to make a basket in a game! Word has gotten out and he now has a huge cheering section (like the entire school and all their families.) One night this week in a game Ben got the ball and made a score... the crowd erupted in applause and excitement but the ref said he fouled and the score did not count. Bummer!!

We were unable to be at the game that night but we will not miss another if we can help it. I want to be a witness to this milestone in Ben's life!! A few more facts that make this goal of Ben's so great. Bradley...Ben's brother who is only 14 months older is a sports natural and last year Ben was a bit discouraged with basketball and Bradley bribed him to stay on the team by giving him all of his points on a certain online computer game...(which makes me very proud of big brother Bradley) so Ben took him up on it and stuck with the team all year and even though he did not get much playing time he had a goal. In the last game of the year everyone was yelling "give the ball to Ben". In the end last year Ben did not accomplish his goal but was not discouraged and is playing again this year. His goal is still to make a score in a game!!!! Some players goal may be to score three pointers or steal the ball from opponents or make the most points in a game but Ben just wants to make a score.

Do I sound like a proud grandmother? Well I am very proud and the thing I am the most proud of is that Ben is so well grounded that he can look at his interests, (hey guys the world is not all about sports...) set a realistic goal for himself, and GO FOR IT!! Ben we are so very proud of you...and I have faith that you will succeed in whatever goals you set in the future!

Becky

Hope Goes To Vote

Becky needed to vote last week so Hope and I went with her to the local community center. I had voted early about two weeks previously. Hope wore her American flag shirt with blue jeans and a red ribbon.

We then went to a new park for a hamburger lunch. The park is on the site of the old cotton mill that once employed hundreds of local folk including at one time my dad, my grandfather and other family members. In the late seventies when I was needing extra work Dad and I worked on the demolition and salvaging of the old mill. Dad was paid a dollar fifty an hour and I was paid a dollar twenty five. There is very little evidence of the old mill still visible. When I was toiling on the tear down, what if I could have looked into the future about thirty years and seen myself standing on the old railroad track holding a little Chinese daughter? Life takes some amazing twists.

Becky grew up just a couple of blocks from this bridge in the house where her grandparents lived for over fifty years. I played along the creek that it crosses when I was a kid and my grandparents lived about the same distance away.

Fun Times

Our local church had a fall festival and it was Hope's first chance to experience this kind of Texas fun. Ronnie brought Hope a really cute shirt home when he was working in Houston, it said "My Magical Power Is Being Cute"...she looked really cute at the festival, so did friends Addison, Kerrigan, and Olivia. Sunnie Kay was a "rock star" and believe me she looked like one ...so cute !! We went on a hayride and had roasted hot dogs. Fun Fun Fun!!

Hope with Nanny. Nanny is actually Sunnie, Ben, and Bradley's grandmother but Hope asked if she could be her Nanny too and of course Glenna said yes. She is such a sweet lady and our whole family loves her a lot. Nanny is famous for her popcorn balls and the picture below is a milestone in Hopie's life...her FIRST Nanny popcorn ball and she loved it!!

Sabrina and daughters Addison and Kerrigan aka Wonder Woman and Dora!!

Little Miss Olivia who we have prayed many many prayers for and who continues to be a source of joy and evidence that God is still in the healing business.


Our beautiful grandaughter Sunnie Kay with Hope and "Sugar Baby" our Cat...the only animal Hope will even get close to.
Misty and Hope wearing her pumpkin and witch dress (so very cute) that her Aunt Patty found for her at a garage sale. By the way Hope calls Misty "Sissy".

It's A Girl!!!!!

We waited a while to make the annnouncement because it took 3 different ultrasounds to be sure. Miss Audrey Elizabeth is very shy!! Jeff and Bethany are having a GIRL. We are thrilled she will be loved and cherished by this big family here on Wolfhill. They are naming her after Jeff's great grandmother and Bethany's grandmother. Years ago Bethany told everyone in the family she wanted to name her little girl after Grandma.

Bethany is doing great. Little Audrey is about 2 lbs 14 oz and 14 to 15 inches long according to the latest ultrasound. We do look forward to January when we can welcome her with hugs and kisses into our family.

I shared before what a miracle this little girl is. We are so very thankful for her.

Becky

A Working Vacation

Get the message?

The home and buildings were unscathed.

One of the small towns in the area.

After five days: an almost clean alarm panel

This little business had a close call.

Ike 08

Three weeks ago I went to Willis, Texas to work on the Hurricane Ike recovery effort for my company. I was gone for eight days and missed Becky, Hope and the kids and grandkids tremendously. Hope missed me too and I talked to her every day. It was about the fourth night I was away that the she realized I was not coming home after she went to sleep, but actually sleeping somewhere else. The damage in the area where I went to was due mostly to the numerous pine trees being blown down into power lines. I was amazed at how few house were hit by trees. The damage could have been much worse.

We're Having Computer Trouble

Sorry we have gone so very long without posting pictures and updating about life here on Wolfhill but we are having some computer issues and I broke my camera. The girls have been taking pictures for us until we get our camera replaced but we are unable to get them posted right now. Ronnie and John are working on it and hopefully sometime this week we will be able to get back to normal. I love keeping up with friends and family reading their blogs and apologize that we are so far behind. Check back soon .... please!

Becky

Trouble Loading Pictures

I am having some serious problems uploading pictures to the blog...I do have several ready to add to the Catch Up post. Please check back soon.

Becky

Wolfhill Catch Up Time

He made the catch...but the runner was a little ahead of the ball...good try Caleb!!
We are so proud of all our grandchildren. It is so rewarding and FUN to go to their ballgames and activities. I really believe parents bless their children by just being there. Looking up to seem Mom, Dad or Grandparents and in our case Aunts and Uncles and Cousins supporting you at your activities is precious to these guys. (even though at their age you could not get them to admit it)
Hope visits "Miss Carmen" at school.
Fun with Sunnie Kay and friends.
" If Ty is not going to eat it I just might!!"

This week I hope to get at least some more photos of family and friends posted. Since Hope Marie joined our family our focus has been on helping her get adjusted and secure and we have neglected to keep our family posts up to date. Hope is such a joy. We are so very blessed to have been chosen to be her parents.

Now that I'm retired...........YEAH..........I thought I would have plenty of time to blog...but I have discovered that this precious little 3 year old has other ideas as to what I should do with my time, so I have decided that if something is important to me I have to schedule time into my day just like I do with time to read my bible and pray.

While I did get several posts made to document some of the summer activities I do have more to share so hopefully later today I can get some of those photos loaded.

Becky

Remembering Frank

We were saddened today to hear about the loss of a dear friend Frank Montgomery. Our prayers and thoughts are with Lena and the family. We love you all.

Thirty-Five Wonderful Years

On Aug. 31 Becky and I celebrated our thirty fifth wedding anniversary. The central AC in our house had gone out and we went to Pizza Hut to be able to eat supper in a cool place. As we enjoyed watching Hope eat crackers, I asked Becky if she could have possibly imagined thirty five years ago that we would have a three year old daughter from China when we were in our mid-fifties. I could not even have started to imagine a tenth of the things that we have experienced in our life as a family. I credit Becky for helping me learn to dream big in the ways that are most important. With Becky by my side, I believe that I can do just about anything, and of course with God, all things are possible.

Ronnie

July 4th on Wolfhill

I will never forget the first July 4th I spent here on this little farm. It was 35 years ago (wow that makes me seem old...:). The thing that stands out in my memories is how much fun the kids seemed to have. We had a picnic in the pear orchard and it was really hot but that was back during a time when most of us did not have air conditioning in our homes and it was probably hotter at home than in the orchard. We had a wonderful time and later in the evening watched the fireworks at the lake. I easily fell in love with Ronnie's family then and now 35 years later I love them even more. Our girls (all 4 of them) are blessed to have such a great extended family.




Now days the "orchard" is just a collection of trees that have grown up in what used to be a pear orchard. It is still beautiful there but years ago in the spring it would look like snow had fallen when the pear trees bloomed out...it was beautiful. We keep saying we would like to replant pear trees down there but we would have to re-fence to keep the cattle out of the area until the trees got more established. Maybe someday!




Here are a few pics from this years celebration...most of which was spent indoors...are we getting soft or what!!!

This is a perfect July 4th picture...don't you agree!!

Somehow Bethany avoided the camera this year but this picture shows Ronnie finishing up the gravy to complete menu ordered by Beth this year...fried chicken, gravy, corn on the cob, etc...of course we all cater to her cravings!!!!!!!!!!Hope and Sunnie Kay squeezing lemons with Misty for fresh lemonade.Sweet GwenBreaking in Hope's new pool.

Ben looking quite cute and comfortable.Austin forgot how to smile in this photo, but isn't he just so very CUTE!!Our little firecracker!!!!!!!!! Miss Hope Marie.The heat and excitement got the best of these four Americans!!Washer pitching a Wolfhill 4th of July tradition. The kiddos had a ring side seat in Grandma's Oak tree.


Ben, Carmen, and Sunnie Kay showing Hope how much fun sparklers can be.

A new American Citizen celebrating!!
My nephew Mike...who furnished a lot of excitement with his fantastic fireworks display.We did spend a little time outside after it cooled off a little!! Family .... that's what America is all about!!

Becky