Easter Egg Hunt

We had an Easter Egg hunt at our church. We had a tornado come through Calhoun the night before so we were very worried about people coming. We ended up having a really good crowd and a great time. Here are a few pictures that Nana was able to take at the egg hunt.

Easter!

Okay, so brand me the worst mother in the world, but I did not take any pictures of my children on Easter! We had such a busy morning, so fortunately we had family who was there to help take care of the children. They were the ones who took the photos, so below are some from both sides of the family. Jared (David's brother) is in the first picture with the kids, then there is their Grandma, and finally one with Emma and Uncle Matt(my brother). Samuel has the coolest blue sunglasses and he loves wearing them, so we let him! Church went great and we all had a good time. The kids painted flower pots during church, but unfortunately I don't have any pictures of those either! We tried teaching Samuel about what Easter means, but he doesn't really understand yet. Thanks to Veggie Tales, he at least gets to hear the story all throughout the year. We love Veggie Tales! I hope that everyone had a meaningful Easter that brought them closer to the Lord as we celebrated (and celebrate daily) the life that He brings.

Music and Guitars

Samuel loves music. He loves everything about it! If David pulls out his guitar, then Samuel is right there beside him with his pick in hand. Samuel even has to have his "music" (chord sheet) right beside David's. It is so cute to watch. Yesterday I saw Samuel carrying around David's music book, while looking for his guitar. Once he got everything together he sat down and played for a good 20 minutes. This may not seem like a long time to you, but in Samuel time that is equivalent to a few hours! I could not let this photo-op go without a few pictures! I will post some pictures of Emma soon. She is crawling now, and doing some pulling up. Just like Samuel, she would much rather be walking! I think that she will be cutting teeth soon too. Her gums are definitely looking a little swollen. It always amazes me to stop and see how much my children are changing and growing!

Conversation

For the past few days Samuel has asked for two things: to see his grandma, and to go to the ocean. Today he picked up my phone and asked to call "grandma", so of course I let him. Sometimes he is shy when he talks on the phone, while other times he is a chatter-box. Today, he was definitely in the mood to talk. He walked around the living room with the phone open, so that his grandma could "see" everything. First he tried to show her the birds eating at their birdhouse. He placed the phone on the seat next to him and both "looked" outside. Grandma graciously pretended to see everything that was going on! Then he sat down with the phone in his lap so that they could read a book together. At this point I knew that I needed to grab the camera! So here are a few pictures of Samuel with my cell phone, as he tries to show his grandma a couple of new books that he has gotten. The conversation (which is a word that Samuel is learning), ended with Samuel brushing his teeth, and me trying to get the phone away!

Nature

As I said in a previous blog, we are trying to cultivate a garden this year. Daddy bought Samuel a starter set and then had to come to Calhoun to help us till the ground. I got a couple of pictures of Samuel playing in the freshly stirred dirt with a shovel. Emma decided that she would just play with the grass. Too cute for dirt right now I guess! Also, we got Samuel a bird house so that he can watch the birds eat. David was working on seminary stuff, so good 'ole Grandpa (or PaPa) helped him hang it. We have a couple of birds that do come to it already, which is exciting! It is amazing how close God is to us even through nature. I guess just another nugget of God's goodness that He allows us to share in with Him.








This is the birdhouse that Samuel picked out from Wal-Mart for us to hang in our backyard.

Having Fun

David has been out of town this weekend for school and my mama has Emma for the weekend, so Samuel and I are having one big party! We have planted our garden, which I have been told will probably be a mess if I don't work on spreading it out some more! We planted squash, cucumber, cantaloupe, watermelon, tomatoes, peppers, and flowers. Samuel also decided to walk around the house with winter wear on, so I had to take some pictures of him. The last picture is of Samuel enjoying a Little Debbie! Just one of the many things that we been doing during our 3 day party!







This is a picture that I took of Emma a few weeks ago in her halter outfit! She looks adorable in it. Enjoy the picture, because if her daddy has any say (which he has a lot of!), this may be the ONLY halter outfit that you will see her in! Samuel was helping me take a few pictures!

Flawless Perfection

I was cleaning up the house today (which is rare!), and I was praying while I was moving from room to room. For those of you who don't know, Jennifer's (my sister-in-law) really close friend passed away on Tuesday evening due to a terrible car accident. Christy was a beautiful, smart, friendly young woman who had just completed her master's degree. She was not in a relationship nor had any children, but was getting to know my cousin who lives in Las Vegas. She was very close to her family, especially her mother, and just an all around sweet person. She was the type of person that when they pass away, for a little while after, the world seems to be a little darker or colder. So as I was cleaning, my heart just seemed to break for this family and the people that knew her. I was asking the Lord to speak to me, because I so desperately need His help to make some sense of this situation. I did not feel my spirit move any real distance but deeper into the heart of God. It is times like these that we are inclined to be angry with God and to take away from the divinity of who He is. Why would a just God not have prevented the accident or keep her neck from snapping? The truth is that to save Christy from any real pain for the rest of her life, allowing her to complete her life earlier may have been justice. We will probably never know in this life time what the Lord accomplished for His sake, or how His heart was grieved at such an untimely death. For Christians, we have the hope of salvation and the knowledge that Christy is in a place of flawless perfection. It is so hard for us sometimes to see death as not the final end. So how do we find healing and peace for our aching hearts while here on Earth? We must dive into the Word and through prayer. It is in this time before the Lord that we realize that God is still in control and that only He can bring us to full restoration. Anger and bitterness, if allowed to fester in our hearts, will prevent the bridge to healing to take place. God is always there waiting for us, but because He gives us free will, we have to move towards Him. God full of perfect love and peace, who is light, can meet us in our darkness but we cannot remain dark. It is at a point of decision that we allow ourselves to have relationship with God. It is in times of people's deaths that our faith is made evident. Either we trust the goodness of God while knowing that the world we live in is broken, or we turn from the One who gives us the very breath that we take. The amazing thing about God is, He can handle our anger, and it is okay to hurt. However, we cannot allow that to push us from God and to keep from moving from glory to glory. We must pray as Paul did, that seeing only dimly through this world that the Lord would remove from his eyes the veils that keep Him from seeing as how God views the world. Christy's story wasn't over the second that she took her last breath. For she stood before the King of kings, and Jesus took her hand and said, "this one is with me." She is now in complete fullness, the way that we were intended to be. And now she only knows good and perfect peace, and is experiencing everlasting love. That is the story and legacy that she will carry, and for that I cannot be angry.

Intentional Family Time

In one of David's classes at Asbury this semester, he is required to set goals for the church, his coursework, and for his family. I was thrilled when he came up with one of his goals for the family being "intentional family time." It is so easy for us to get busy with the kids and typical day to day stuff without really spending time together. So on our first "intentional" outing, we decided to go to state Park near the Tennessee state line. They had a beautiful waterfall and a little playground. We took a picnic and ate outside. It was a little cooler than we anticipated, but that wasn't a problem. We had a very enjoyable day, and it was nice to all be together with no need to be anywhere but together. Thanks for a great day David!

Scary Baby

Emma has learned to make this weird raspy noise, and does it often since her discovery. For a couple of days she would start laughing and then turn it into a growl sound. Well I overheard her in the bed making the noise so I tried to catch it on camera. Sorry for the shakiness of the camera, I was really getting tickled at the noises she was making.

Run Baby Run!

Most of you who are reading this probably are pretty impressed seeing the Gales each with a trophy. I am sorry to tell you that we did not earn these trophies from winning the Bobcat Ramble 5k this past weekend in Milledgeville. As a matter of fact, Daniel and I finished close to last. I never saw anyone cross the line after us! I have been working out for about 5 1/2 months now, but running has always been difficult for me. Josh on the other hand finished in 21 minutes, and Matt not to be undone by his younger sibling finished 6 minutes later and has not ran much since high school(that being 5 years ago). It was so much fun though for us to all get together and push ourselves be better physically. I think however that this run was better for me mentally. I have always played sports, but my brothers were always better than me. But this past Saturday that didn't seem to matter anymore, it was about us starting and completing something together. We all have had our struggles, what seems to be our on personal 5ks over the past few years. Daniel has had to endure a race that has the obstacle of losing a son, Matt knows the struggles of marrying young while trying to achieve his dreams, Josh has seen all of his siblings marry and move out of the house while still in middle school, and I have had my own bumps in the road. We never know what life may throw us, but if we aren't willing to try then we may not know what is at the end of the race. See on Saturday, Josh was able to be an encouragement and push Matt to be better and not give up. I don't know where I would have finished in the race on Saturday, but I wasn't going to leave Daniel behind. My race isn't about being the fastest (though I do wish I were faster!), but about enjoying the run. My brothers and I are all going at different speeds in life, but one thing is certain, we are all cheering each other along and will wait at the finish line to see each one through. As far as the picture above goes, we snuck those off the award table and snapped a photo(Daniel's idea by the way)! But there is so much truth in what you see, we are winners and we will finish this race triumphantly because our God is mighty and good!