Last time we were at home, they told me that I needed to teach Britt to squeeze and grunt. When we were small and were taught to give hugs, you were suppose to put your arms around Grandmother and Granddaddy's neck and squeeze and give good tight hugs. According to Mother and Daddy, Benji was such a pro at it that he could squeeze and grunt over the phone. However, that's nothing to what Britt has been doing all week when you ask him for a hug...

He is just too funny. He squeezes those shoulders up, gets all stiff, and strains to give the most long distance hugs I've ever seen. With everyone asking him to give hugs and laughing, he'll never learn to do it right...

Britt loves animals, however, he doesn't like it when they lick him. That's probably why he prefers cats to dogs. Today, after Church we all went over to Nicholas's house to visit with him. Nicholas has a 1 year old beagle, that has tons of energy. She is especially excited to meet new people. After Lexi finally calmed down and chewed on her bone awhile, she discovered that Britt could be a great playmate who also had endless amounts of energy. Britt quickly discovered that playing chase with her was just as fun. By the time we thought to pull out the camera they had been at it a while and Britt was getting short of breath but he was still laughing. It was alot of fun watching them go...

One final prayer request, Granna (Gary's mother's mother) hasn't been doing well for several months now. She has been coughing up fresh blood from the remaining portion of her lung for awhile. It has increased over the last two weeks to the point that they have been carrying her up to the hospital to have the blood vessels catterized. This evening it was as bad as ever and they carried her back around 5 to have it done again. They aren't sure what the next step needs to be. They are really heistating to do surgery because she only has about half of one lung now, and they are concerned about it. Please keep her in prayer and as the doctor's make a decision I will update.

Bro. Charles Carlton is continuing to improve. This past Sunday he was able to get around with his walker some instead of the wheelchair. He is getting stronger and stronger. He has one final surgery coming up to finish repairing his trach.

Bro. Jim is still looking for work.

I haven't heard a recent update on how Hailey or James are doing. Though from the pictures I see of them both on Facebook they seem to be healthy, happy, growing children.

Nathan Ferrel has had some great labs lately. He could afford to gain some more weight, but for the first time in a while (last fall I believe) he is back on the charts. The other concern as we come into the hot Florida summer time, is that he overheats and tires out so very quickly. Keep the sweet boy in your prayers.

Gary's cousin Megan is due with her little girl the end of the month. She is really hoping for a May baby rather than one in June so she just has a few more days. Keep them in mind.

Parker Allen continues to struggle. Sometimes it 's hard for the family to see him struggle so, but they continue to pray that the Lord would intervene in the situation.

As for us, many of you may have heard that Gary will most likely be starting on his Masters June 28th. Going back for his Master's has been something that we have talked about off and on for a few months now, and after the last job came back and said that Gary would be a much stronger candidate if he had his Masters in Agribusiness, Soil Science, Resource Management, or some other agricultural field, we revisisted the idea again. After 9 months out of work, we felt like we had to do something different, so Gary asked me to fill out a FASFA to determine whether or not we might qualify for any aide in going back to school. We did. Then we looked into a few different ag programs. There were two very good fits at the University of Florida. After talking to a professor last week, he thought Gary was a perfect fit for the program and even though all the deadlines for it had been back in April, he told Gary to plan to start for that program at the end of June. We cannot help but feel that the Lord must be in this situation, because everything has come together so smoothly and quickly, even when it seemed unlikely. From my experiences with trying to get into a grad school, it's not an easy process, which makes this even more of a blessing. We are suppose to be getting all of our official paperwork within the next week or so, and will be heading to Gainesville next Thursday to meet some professors and look for housing. Please keep us in prayers as we take this next step on faith.

Ruth has made it to week 26. Her inner ear is developed enough that she can hear just about anyone in the room with me now. She's also practicing breathing her amniotic fluid now. She weighs around 1 and 2/3 lbs and is measuring in at 14 inches or the size of a hot-house cucumber. And believe me! I can tell she's that long, because I can feel her all over now. She is currently on a nerve in my back, and has been for just over a week now, I can't recall Britt ever sitting so low. If she were born to day she has made the benchmark week of 80% survival. We are hoping that she plans to wait a while longer though.

We are looking at cribs and bedding now, and probably will have to buy something in another month or so. For now I'm enjoying window shopping, and I would have picked up the prettiest green frilly dress the other day, but Gary said it was entirely too soon to start buying baby clothes. Things are going along right on track.

They say that you can't choose your family, that you are just stuck with what you get. While that is true I can say that I would still have chosen this miserable lot of brothers (of course if I still had to live with them I might not say that...)

Today Ruth begins her 25th week. She is approximately 13 1/2 inches long now and around 1 1/2 lbs. The nerves around her mouth are becoming more developed. As early as 25 to 26 weeks she might begin practicing to nurse by sucking her thumb. She is starting to grow hair and if we could see it we would know if she if is a red-head (something her Daddy doesn't really want) or a brunette (like I picture). Of course there's no guarentee that it would stay that color...

Morning sickness has gotten worse again in the last week. They gave us some new ideas to try at our last doctor's appointments which seem to help a little, but at the same time we think I may have gotten use to the zofran, because it doesn't seem to be doing me any good. We are beginning our third and final trimester (YEAH! only 3 months, or so, left of morning sickness). I'm finding that I wear out fastern and when chasing Britt I'm more short of breath. They say my lifting limit is 35 lbs, and even though Britt isn't there yet, he is just about too heavy to haul around for long.

Today Daddy and I had a good time playing at the park after lunch before my nap. Momma took pictures.

Thursday was my 25th birthday. Apparently turning 25 is a really big deal. I really thought it was just one more day/year/birthday whatever. I don't mind having birthdays. I see no reason to celebrate the 2nd anniversary of turning 24 or anything like that. God has blessed me to live another year, and I'm happy to be whatever age I am 25, 30, 50, 0r even 80 one of these days.

It reminds me of the year Daddy turned 40. Benjamin was sad all week and went on and on about how he didn't want Daddy to turn 40 on Friday. Finally, Daddy looked and him and said, "Benjamin, what happens if I don't turn 40 on Friday?" Benjamin got very serious and thought a minute, and said "Daddy I hope you turn 40 on Friday." See the alternative to getting older is being dead. You can't stay one age forever.

But apparently being 25 is a big deal. Some people told me every chance they got that I was now a quarter of a century old (which is apparently suppose to make you feel old). Others just flat out told me that I was getting old. Apparently 25 is a big enough deal that some of my younger friends thought I needed a surprise birthday party. They surprised me back on first Sunday (because second Sunday is Mother's Day). We had pizza, chips, and banana splits, oh was it good. A bunch of us got together at the Church that evening and we had a great time, talking laughing, and dancing (well I watched the dancing - and laughed the whole time). We then watched a really good chick flick "The Young Victoria"

For my birthday, Gary and Britt made me a cake. Oh I wish they had taken pictures. I was banished from the kitchen, but all the noise and commentary coming out of there was hysterical. I had a rather delicious strawberry shortcake. Then that evening the Hulls kept Britt so that we could go out and eat at the steakhouse (they give you a free $24 steak for your b'day). It was a wonderful evening.

Gary asked if there was anything I wanted for my birthday, and I told him I would like to see the new Robin Hood movie, but since it came out on Friday we left Britt with Mom during the day, and we caught the afternoon show. It was a really great movie and we had a good time just the two of us. All in all it's been a marvelous week, and I don't mind turning 25 one bit to get to have this much fun.

Today we had another check up. We have met 3 different midwives so far, and today's was our favorite so far. She had lots of good news for us, in that everything is looking normal. Oddly enough, from her ultrasound and all of our measurements she appears to be measuring to her due date exactly. We got some advice on trying something a little new to deal with morning sickness, and a script to get our gestational diabetes test here in town before going back in another month.

Our Ruth has reached a big milestone this week. She has put on another 4 oz this week and is about the size of an ear of corn. She recognizes the voices that she hears most now, and after she gets here she will prefer and turn toward those voices. She likes to play with her surroundings, in addition to walking around her main amusement, her only toy really, is to play with her umbilical cord.

If I could I would spend all day every day outside. There are so many sticks, pine cones, and leaves to examine. There are plenty of places that need digging, I'm sure there are all sorts of buried treasures in the backyard, I've just yet to find them. I like to follow the chickens and cat around they do all sorts of interesting things. Sometimes we feed grapefruit to the cows, and just yesterday Momma let me eat some of our cherries off our cherry tree. I didn't care for it though.

Unfortunately, Momma won't let me stay out there all day. Mainly cause she says it's just too hot. I don't think so but I guess Ruth makes her feel hot. She says it's also cause I get too dirty, and that she isn't interested in giving me half a dozen baths a day. So right now we go out about 6ish and stay out until either Daddy gets home from Census work or until the love bugs and mosquitoes run us back inside. Then I get my bath and we have supper. There's usually just enough time then to play a little and read before bed.

I would like to welcome two friends to the blogging world, that I think you might enjoy...

Borrowed Poppa aka Bro. Sonny has been popping in from time to time for about 2 years now leaving comments both funny and instructional. We have often said you need a blog of your own. Well now he has decided to give it a whirl... he's not started posting yet, but you will be able to find him here.

Also our wonderful, banjo playing, young Old Baptist friend Isaac has just started a delightful blog. He really is a very funny guy, you should check him out over here.

Another week has come and gone, and I think time is speeding up on me. I'm not quite ready to go through Britt's scary closet and dresser to make room for more little clothes. I'm not ready to think about buying another crib and bedding. I'm definately not ready to debate whether the kiddos should go to our room (so that we can keep the guest bed in the house) and us move into the smaller bedroom.

There are so many small projects piling up around the house - bathroom and kitchen haven't been cleaned since... well let's just not talk about that one, I'm not quiet caught up on our photo albums and Britt's scrapbook (been working on that one all week to complete), I outta finish up Sis. Kerry's baby blanket (since the baby is due any day), oh and I still haven't finished Julia's and she'll be 1 in a month, and I really need to finish piecing Rebecca's quilt so that it is done before Ruth arrives. I would like to finish a few sewing projects and give this one a whirl that Kelly got me interested in. With all of this left to work on why in the world is time speeding up on me?

At 23 weeks, Ruth is now the size of a large mango (yummo). She can now open her eyes, though she won't do it much for another month or so. Her skin which has been see through until now, is starting to make pigment - lets hope for a nice dark complexed child. Maybe she could even get Grandmother's beautiful olive complextion and brown eyes. Her lips are starting to plump up and she continues to put on weight. And finally if something were to go wrong, she is developed enough that with alot of help she can breath outside the womb. From here on out her major development is in strengthening those lung muscles and rapid brain growth. This week, she is practicing walking, by rolling her feet, and using them to "walk" around my uterus. Believe me I can tell it too, she's strong enough that we can sit and watch her move, through my shirt without any doubts as to whether or not she's moving. Many babies at this point love to swing to music, and when Britt and I dance and act silly during the day, I like to think that she is dancing right along with us.

Britt,

This past weekend Gary, Britt, and I all travelled over to Vero Beach to attended Antioch's Annual Meeting. They invited in Elder Michael Gowens. We were blessed beyond measure, not only in the preaching, but in the good fellowship with friends that we don't see often enough. Friday night the crowd was a little small (and in my opinion that might have been the best sermon that I heard), but Saturday morning we had a great crowd.

Friday night Bro. Michael preached on Elijah and Elisha. He compared the ministry of each of these Old Testament prophets and illustrated how today's preachers need to have some of both in each of their sermons. He talked at length about how Elijah was given a harder message to preach. One of how the Lord was dealing harshly with his people for their stiff necked, hardhearted, and rebellious ways. He talked about how it is often hard to stand for the truth, particularly when it is not what people want to hear and even more so when we stand alone.

He used many examples throughout Elijah's ministry, but he most particularly drew from Elijah's experience standing against the prophets of Ba'al. He stood against the corrupt King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, and several hundred prophets of Ba'al. From 9 till 3 the prophets of Ba'al called upon him to accept their sacrifice, and Elijah taunted them a bit suggesting, that perhaps Ba'al had better things to do, was talking to someone else, had taken a vacation, was sleeping, etc. Then after a 3 year drought, Elijah took his sacrifice, and dosed it in water to the point that the sacrifice, wood, and alter were soaked and they even filled a trench around about it with water. He prayed and immediately fire came down from heaven and consumed the sacrifice and licked up all the water. Elijah stood alone, and showed great courage. In many ways we are to be like Elijah. (I Kings 18)

He then talked about Elisha ministry, that his was one of compassion. In each of the acts of Elisha his miracles toward others is born out of compassion. Elisha's message was "Yes, the Lord has punished us for our ways, but he has not utterly cast us off." He continually spoke of the goodness and mercy of God. If we honor Him and turn to Him that He is there. He told us while we must never bend on truth, and we must remind ourselves that there are grave consequence for our actions, yet God still remains faithful, he never says that he's had enough, we remain His children.

Friday night we stayed with the Gervasoni's. We visited and talked until 1 am, when we just had to hit the bed. They are such a gracious couple allowing us to stay with them and we talked about all sorts of things. They had several very unique fans that of course fascinated Britt.

On Saturday, Bro. Michael took Zechariah 3 as his text and painted the most amazing picture of God's judgement and mercy. In this chapter Zechariah sees Joshua the high priest (the best of the best) standing before God to represent and plead for all of Israel (God's children), and Satan stands by as the prosecutor to accuse him. Joshua in the best his has to offer stands before the Lord in filthy rags. Bro. Michael talked at length about how we have nothing beautiful or of worth to offer to God, how even the best of our best is undesirable to say the least. He asked us to imagine a court here in the US, how if we were accused we would do our best to act and look good and respectful to make others think that we were such things. But here Joshua has nothing but filth to present to the Lord. Everything that Satan can say is true that we are a brand plucked from the fire, that we were worth nothing, dirty, and were in a position of hell; but God in His infinite mercy didn't leave us there. He throws Satan out of court, and commands that Joshua be given the best clothing, and because of all that God does for him Joshua desires to walk after God and live the way he instructs. God tells him that if he will do these things, Joshua will receive even more blessings. Joshua did nothing to receive the pardon, but if he follows the Lord he will be given even greater blessings here. He then talked about just like Joshua we were set free, we were Barabbas, and Jesus paid the price, justice was fulfilled yet we didn't have to pay. It was a very moving picture.

Afterward, at lunch we all sat around visiting for a long while. Amber Ferrel and family were there and while all the kiddos ran around in the Church and played. We all sat around and visited and swapped stories, and just laughed and laughed. We don't make it over to Vero as often as we would like, but we sure are glad this was a meeting that we didn't miss.

I've been meaning to post now for over a week, but this week has had alot of good news to go on the list so I guess it works out after all.

Brother Charles Carlton was able to attend Church for the first time in 11 months last Sunday. He was there again this Sunday, and looks wonderful. It will still be sometime before he is back to his old self, but by all appearances he is out of danger. It has truely been the Lord's work in healing this brother. There were so many times where the doctors said he wouldn't be here much longer, and so many times where infection just kept coming back making him weak, but we were overjoyed to see him with enough strength to start attending Church again.

Sister Gayle Smith is doing really well. She is no longer on chemo and she looks well after having the emergency surgery. Hopefully they can get back to normal life now.

Sister Sarah Griffin had her little girl on Tuesday, April 27, a little after 3:30 pm. Harlow Karen weighed 7 lbs 4 oz, and was 20 inches long. We've not been able to go over and see her yet, but she has a THICK headful of beautiful, long black hair. Looks like a little china doll. Momma, daddy, and baby are all doing well.

Sister Kerry threw us all for a loop last Friday. She is one of that very small percentage of women who has had all of her children on their due date (without being induced). She went into labor on Friday, but the doctor's sent her home saying that she wasn't far enough, or progressing enough to keep. She's hoping this new little one will make his or her appearance any day now.

Megan is doing well. Her little girl is right up in her ribs, and driving her crazy. She's hoping for a May birth, and has been talking with the doctor about all her labor plans, and looking for a pediatrician.

We had a great time over at Vero Beach this weekend for Antioch Church's annual meeting. We saw Nathan Ferrel while we were there. Oh, Britt just loved following him around the Church. Joshua is the only other little boy that Britt has to play with and I think he loved seeing someone other than all the usual girls. Nate looks great right now, and is pretty stable medically. They still want him to gain weight, though.