Christmas 2007 - Part 3

Christmas Morning. Our most precious gift is specially wrapped and waiting to be opened first; God's word, with the story of Jesus birth marked and ready to be read aloud. This year Shane read the story for us. I love listening to his deep voice.



Another tradition, for the girls at least is the Christmas Jammies. Mom even got into the spirit of things. We couldn't find a match for Shelby so we got something in the same color family. Phil took the picture of 4 generations in their jammies :)



Later in the morning Dad and Lena joined us again. Great memories!

Christmas 2007 - Part 2

The other blessing of Christmas is FAMILY!

We were able to fly Mom in from Texas for a visit, and Dad and Lena joined us for the festivities as well.

Since Christmas Eve is the "Mac" side of family traditions, we hosted everyone at our house. Joyce started a great tradition years ago by having an ornament exchange, so we kept that tradition going by making ornaments this year. As you can guess the guys werent too thrilled at first but later got into the creative fun of it all.

I made homemade spaghetti and meatballs and others contributed the yummy sides and desserts. Needless to say, we didnt go to bed hungry.

Yet the blessings I saw around the table were that each person here knows the true meaning of Christmas. Hallelujah!

Christmas 2007 - Part 1

Yes, I know that it is currently 109 degrees and I am finally reflecting on Christmas. Goofy, isnt it?

The Christmas Programs at Scottsdale Bible Church are always incredible and this year was no exception. We had performances on Thursday the 13th, Friday the 14th and two performances on Saturday the 15th. The fun part about Saturdays performances was the Christmas festival we held on campus that included games, real snow and food for families.

One creative element I was able to contribute was more live painting. With the help of Kelly Crum and Jennifer (with Shleby attached) we painted a nightime Bethlehem countryside scene on 6' high panels that wew 4' wide and we did 6 of there. During each performance I painted live, Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus in the manger. My favorite part of this experience was the children that came up after each performance to ask questions about painting and that they recognized who I was painting. I often sent them on a search through the other panels to see if they could spot the three wise men on their camels. Great Fun.

This is such a blessed time of year and I always feel doubly blessed that we get to focus on the real meaning of Christmas very early through the preparation of these performances and other activities at church.

Shelby at 4 weeks

It is hard to believe that Shelby is four weeks old already. I was able to spend a few hours alone with her this past Friday after I kicked her mom out of the house. (Sorry sweetie, but you know you are supposed to share :) )

We had a nice time together but mom came back soon because she was going through "baby withdrawals" already. Jenn snapped a few pictures of me with Shelby. My apologies to the viewing crowd, it was my day off and I did't have any make-up on; you should be looking at Shelby anyway, she is waaaayyyy, cuter.

Dad Cook - Surgery update

Dad had knee replacement surgery this past week. The surgery went well and we praise God for that. He will be sore for a while and then have to go through rehabilitation. Our prayer is that once he is healed that he will be ready to be as active as he has always been - look out Milly.

FINALLY!

There are times in my life where I feel like such an airhead. I lost my blog password, couldn't remember my login to request the password...Man, I'm getting old!

So I was able to get into email for the first time in months and started cleaning out the 5, 368 emails in there and I found my initial sign-up for the blog. Yippee, I was able to get in, change my password and now I am updating for the first time in 2008. (I know, its pathetic)

My only prayer is that my family and friends will love me anyway in spite of this great lapse of communication.

So over the next few days, I will be adding lots of updates and posts.

And the Winner is...

The children of Tanzania!
After a very long day (14 hours), Phil was victorious in his class.
He raised so far $380.00 for the children of Tanzania and lifted 822 lbs total in three events - Squat, Bench press & Dead lift.

Phil entered two classes:

• The Masters Pure Unequipped-Ages 45 to 49-181lb class (this class mean he has never taken any steroids) and


• The Masters One Unequipped-Ages 45 to 49-181lb class (this class mean he has been steroid free for three years or more)

Unequipped means that he didn't use any special suits or other equipment to enhance his performance.

The Lord has truly blessed Phil with strength and wisdom in using his body to glorify God. We give a BIG Thank You to those of you who contributed to the children of Tanzania. It is still not too late to contribute your tax-free donation - just send a check made out to Scottsdale Bible Church and in the memo write "Phil Cook-Bike Tour", since Phil piggy backed onto that event.

Announcing Shelby Lyn Bonesteel

Shelby Lyn

Born: October 20th, 1007 at 10:21am

Weight: 6 pounds 14.9 ounces

Length: 20.25"

Another Baby Shower

On October 13th we had a lovely baby shower for Jenn at the home of David and Kelly Crum. Attending were: Kelly Bomar, Kelli Taggart, Nancy Nixon, Joyce King, Jilian King, Cheryl Woodring, Kelly Crum and Myself, with special gifts from Grandma Mac and Kathy Moore.

Ashley is 2!

Ashley Faith Moore is two years old...already! She is so fun, bright and energetic. Ashley was a non-stop ball of activity all evening even as the evening wore on and it was past her bedtime.

We had a lovely time at Eric and Kathy's home with some cousins and Eric's Mom. She made the best gumbo, mmm, mmm, good. We always feel so privileged to be a part of Eric, Kathy and Ashleys life. Now that Kathy is pregnant with twins, we are excited about that as well; not just for Ashley to have siblings but for the joy they will bring to Eric and Kathy.

As you can see Jenn is getting closer. If you asked her she would tell you that she is ready for Shelby to come out. Soon, sweetie, soon.

Mom's Birthday-Epilog

Here are just a few more photo's from Mom's big weekend. On Saturday we drove into San Antonio to do some shopping at a very large outlet mall. Other than being quite warm, we had a good time looking in the shops. I think the most fun we had was when we started looking for baby clothes for Shelby.

I am so grateful that we were able to do this. I am even more grateful for Bev & Kal for their incredible friendship to Mom. Mom is truly blessed to have such wonderful and kind friends. And because of them, Mom now has many more wonderful friends as well. Thanks to the Kerrville Kinship Crowd for your hospitality and the love you give to our Mom.

Happy Birthday Mom. We love you!

Mom's Birthday - Part 2

On Friday, Bev and Renee (with the help of some other special people) created a lovely luncheon for Mom. There were about 25 people there. Bev mentioned that Mom has many more friends but it would have been too large of a crowd for that facility (not to mention all the additional food that would be required).

They made a beautiful cake that was also delicious and had a nice spread of food items. The best part was seeing these lovely people and how they have so eagerly embraced Mom in their midst. After years of working hard, it was just wonderful to see her building relationships and having fun.

Mom opened some gifts and was incredibly touched by her friends love and generocity. What Mom sometimes forgets is that it is her sweet spirit and caring attitude that draws people to her. Of course as Mom opened the gifts...she cried!

After the luncheon, Mom was able to show off her cute little home to some of her friends and you could tell how proud she was.

Joyce unfortunately was tortured by Chaz, one of Mom's cats during the night and was not able to get a whole lot of sleep. We dubbed Chaz "PC" or Psycho Cat. Rocky was a perfect gentlecat the whole time we were there.

Happy Birthday Mom-Part 1

Well it was finally here, the moment that Mom was waiting for...her 70th birthday.

Joyce and I decided to surprise her at the last minute and fly to Texas to spend a couple of days with her. Bev was in on our little secret so that we knew what Mom's schedule was. When we arrived at her door and the recognition hit her face, Mom did what we know her best for; she cried.

Mom had a busy couple of days scheduled. The choir that Mom is in was privileged to sing before the Baptist Pastors organization for the region. It was great fun seeing Mom in a choir again. You could tell that she was really enjoying herself as well as all of the members of the choir. They had a very nice sound. This is the same group that will be traveling to Missouri to do some concerts and have some fun pretty soon. They were just lovely.

After the concert we went to Mamacita's Mexican Restaurant. Of course the birthday girl had to have a margarita!

Tomorrow - the big party!

These Hands - Communion Sunday

This morning I had the privilege of painting in all three services. This was totally outside my normal comfort zone. I dont mind singing in front of lots of people but, my art has always been somewhat personal. This year has brought some changes for that and I have heard God calling me to use the gifts that He has given me for his Glory. I am humbled by that call.

I had two songs and one poem to complete the painting; about 10-14 minutes (depending on which service). After I completed the painting, I sang a song and then led the congregation in joining me. I had some positive feedback from that experience and I am so grateful that in spite of being terrified, that I did it anyway. There were two different gentlemen that approached me after the third service, one gentleman wanted to buy the painting and the other shared a poem he was inspired to write while I was painting. It was truly a blessed morning. I am so grateful to family and friends that prayed for me this morning. I can't wait to see what God will do next.

1st Baby Shower

We enjoyed the first baby shower for Donald and Jenn at his dad's house; Don and Patty, Candice and Tammy. Other family members there were Mimi, Donald's mom Kelly and her husband Tom, brother Mykel and Aunt Sue. Many friends were there too - Jenn can fill in the blanks but here are the names I can remember; Brian, Brandon (Toogood), Brandan Maren (or B-rad as we know him), Daniel (Cookie). We had some good elk vittles-burgers and swedish meatballs, beer-butt chicken (don't ask) and other yummies.

Jenn and Donald received some cool things from his mom; Donalds christening outfit and his old baby shoes and some other heirloom items. The guys brought them diapers. There were many other great items but I will let Jenn handle that post. Here are some pictures. A lot of them didnt turn out very well but I think its because my batteries were dying. Sorry Jenn.

Painting - These Hands

I was tasked to create a painting to match a poem that we will be doing on September 2, the pictures follow the sequence of the poem. I could include all of the items mentioned but this was my stab at it, but it was long and had too many items to include. My prayer is that God will use the painting to bring people closer to Him.

Another Prayer request-For babies!!

Eric and Kathy are trying invetro again in hopes of giving Ashley a little sibling. Her egg retrieval is happening Wednesday at 2 pm. The embryo transfer will be either Saturday, Sunday or Monday, and they will do a blood test to see if she's pregnant on the 30th. Please keep them in your prayers as they are already fantastic parents and would love more children!

Action Jackson

We had Jackson for a couple of days last week. He is such a bundle of energy!
It was a challenge to keep him busy so I resorted to what I know...Crafts!

While he was here he:

1. Created Pirate gear as seen above
2. Colored a Tiger Poster
3. Painted and glued a race car
4. Made his own game of tic-tac-to with shark and lighting pieces
5. Played with dinasaurs
6. Painted and made a collage for his mom
7. Watched some movies - Star Wars, Second Hand Lion and Harry Potter
8. Played games with Shane and Daniel and taught them how to use a Chinese yo-yo

And that was on the first day...just kidding! I don't know how Joyce and Jeff keep up with him. But the funny thing is that he reminded me sooooo much of Shane at that age.

I hope to have some time with Peri over the holidays, and who knows maybe next summer we will have a week with all the kids together like a camp/sleepover.

Prayer request

Hi everyone, just an update from the new section of family being added. Donald's step-dad went into the hospital yesterday for his third angioplasty and had two stints put in. He's getting out of the hospital today but his doctor said that he desperately needs to stop smoking and start taking better care of himself. Please pray for strength for him to get through this hard time and for the entire family to be a good support system for him. His name is Tom Bomar.

Timberrrrr!

It was sad to see it go but we are so incredibly grateful that it didn't do any damage to John's carport, to our house or land on someone. Praise God! Phil is already planning on what can go in there next; perhaps a pomegranate or lime tree.

The Tree

I'm sure Mom has better pictures than this on her camera but this is what happened to one of the large trees in the front yard at the house yesterday. Due to the large amounts of rainfall we had the night before, the tree decided it didn't want to stay in the ground anymore and now the yard is going to look rather empty. Luckily no one got hurt and no serious property damage happened. Hope everyone else's trees are still there!!