Mary and Joseph

We made this video last year in December 08-- thought it would be fun to share again!!

Welcome to Bethlehem

How sweet, Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus.

The kids had so much fun dressing up this morning and Ella did a great job of telling us the story of His birth.
Baby Jesus is a little too big for his basket and he was a little confused as to why we woke him up to put him in the toy basket?? Funny!!

The latest happenings..

It was kinda of an emotional night in the Ferguson home. Riley had her first boy/girl school dance. I'm just in shock! I seriously can't believe I just dropped her off at a semi-formal dance, this day has came way too soon. And daddy is in serious freak out mode! He is worried about her (in a loving way) but most off all I think he is worried about the 14 year old boys that will be present.
She was so excited and just looked beautiful. We are so proud of Riley, she has such a great caring heart. She shines in everything she does.

This is the outfit that Ella HAD to wear to school this week. They had a birthday party for Jesus and she wanted to dress up for it. Anything that has sparkle, fur, glitter, a big bow, and includes wearing tights is right up her alley! She did pretty good with not getting too messy at school, just a little pudding on the sleeve.

Yes, this is a smile! Pretty funny huh?
Drew loved the crown that he got from school at his birthday party for Jesus.

Seth loves for Ella to sing to him. He is so laid back and takes in all the craziness in our house so well. When it's just me and him at home he actually looks around like 'where is everyone? why is it so quiet in here?"

Ella (aka:The Princess) Gets Her Ears Pierced

Here's the big girl right before!! As cool as a cucumber..

On the first ear Jeremy and I were more worried than Ella

2nd ear, not even a flinch!

All done, this was no bid deal!!

They look a little purple from the ink they used to mark the spots.

Ella has turned into our little Diva lately. She wants her diamond necklace on everyday, she puts on glittery makeup, has to do her own hair and absolutely has to pick out her own clothes!! It's pretty funny how she just loves to get dressed up and look cute, but it's also a little scary since she is only 4 years old!! It makes me wonder what it will be like when she is a teenager???

Her latest thing was she had some fake earings that she wanted to wear all the time. So I've been asking her for weeks if she wanted to to get her ears pierced. She has been saying no all this time, until Monday. Monday she woke up talking about wanting earings and I told her I'd take her after school (if she didn't chicken out). Well she didn't chicken out and she didn't even flinch!! Seriously I was worried for her and Jeremy looked like a disaster when she was sitting in the chair. I actually think he was getting sick to his stomach he was so nervous for her. But she sat up there and didn't flinch, didn't cry, didn't even move! It was crazy, after the lady did the first ear Ella kind of looked up at her like 'is that all you got?" Pretty funny.. Anyway, we now have pink sparkly earings and she shows them to everyone.. She can't wait to show them to Grandma Missy and Papa Charlie and Christmas!

Our Little Man Gets a Tooth!

We just put up the Chrismtas tree this weekend and he has already figured out how to maneuvre over and pull on the decorations. I remember that my brother actually pulled the tree over on top of him when he was in a walker at this age!!

We had a little surprise Sunday morning when Jeremy stuck his finger in Seth's mouth. He had a tooth! I couldn't believe it, I mean I knew it was coming he's 6 1/2 months old and has been chewing and drooling alot. But I couldn't believe my little baby already had a tooth!

It's seems like I am experiencing things a little differently with Seth. He is our last baby and every little milestone with him seems more dramatic and final. I just don't want him to grow up. I love babies (obviously I have 4), but I really really love the baby phase. I love to snuggle and squeeze them, I love all the little sounds they make, I love to just sit and watch them sleep. I have tons of pictures of our children where I've snuck into their room at night and taken pictures of them sleeping. They looks so sweet and peaceful I just can't resist.

So it's official in the Ferguson home we have experience our last first tooth!!

A very fun Thanksgiving....

We woke up on our last day and it was snowing!! It was totally crazy.. I really really don't like cold weather or snow. But it was a great surprise for the kids and they had fun playing in it before we headed home.
This was the first time Drew had really gotten to play in snow. Riley made him a big snowball.

Aunt Sarah is playing the piano and Grandma Missy is singing in the background. The kids LOVE it , I'm very thankful they got the music genes from Jeremy!

One of Ella's favorite things is for Grandma to read and sing to her.What a pitiful face? Looks like Grandpa thinks it's pretty funny!

Thanksgiving pictures

Uncle Luke is getting a lot of practice with his nieces and nephews.

He'll be an old pro when he becomes a daddy!
Uncle Nate and Aunt Rachelle.
We already miss you guys!

Uncle Luke and Aunt Sarah with Riley.
We already miss you guys!

Riley and Kaden climbing the apple tree.

Carter and Ella have a blast when they get together.

We spent Thanksgiving in Illinois with Jeremy's family. It's so much fun when we all get togther. The kids have a blast playing with Grandma Missy and Papa Charlie. And they LOVE to see their cousins!

Happy Thanksgiving!! Gratitude is my attitude.....

Look at these boys!! How sweet is this?

Drew and Seth are only 14 months apart and already best buds!!

Our little Pilgrims had their Thanksgiving Feast and performance at school today. This is Ella's 3rd year so she is an old pro! Drew had a case of stage fright and didn't do as well, but he sure looked cute!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

This weekend at church Pastor Ron spoke about having gratitude in all that we do. Even when we are frustrated and anxious we should find gratitude and thankfullness. Sometimes that is very hard to do. He even recommended starting a journal and keeping track of what we are thankful for. I also get daily devotional emails and this morning I got the exact same message in my email. It was basically saying the exact same thing and quoting statistics from the exact same survey that Pastor Ron used. How crazy?? It's seems that God is really speaking to me to be more grateful and less complaining. We started the journal last night with the whole family. Ella was thankful for horses (crazy since we don't have horses and are never around horses), Drew is thankful for The Wiggles (which is now playing 24/7 in our house), Riley was thankful for her new digital camera that she just bought off of Ebay. It's pretty easy to find gratitude in these things. But I think the big challenge will be in finding gratitude in the hard times and during times of frustration.

This morning I took Seth for his 6 month check up and he had to get his vaccines. Of course for any parent this is a terrible thing to have to experience. But in the moment I thanked God for allowing us to have access to vaccines. There are millions of children throughout the world that do not have access to these life saving vaccines. So even though it is absolutely horrible to hear your baby scream and look at you like 'why are you letting this happen to me'? I am very grateful at the same time. This was my first lesson this week in finding gratitude in a stressful time. Ron said a great quote this weekend "Gratitude is the attitude that allows you to see all of life as a gift" Wow, I love it!

Have you considered sponsoring a child?

Do you sponsor a child?

Do you sponsor a child? Have you ever conisdered sponsoring a child in need? What better time of the year to give back? Thanksgiving is right around the corner and then Christmas will follow. This is usually the time of year when we are trying to pick out that 'perfect' gift for our loved ones. How about this year we pick out that 'perfect' child and sponor them on a monthly basis. We sponsor a child through Compassion International, the cost is only $32 month. Can you believe that only $32 gives a child the chance to get an education, clothing, food?? I can easily spend that a month on Peppermint Mocha Twist Lattes from Starbucks (my latest addiction)! There are many creditable organizations out there or click on the link above for more info.
We currently sponsor a 5 year old girl from Haiti named Roody. The first letter we got from Roody was so special. She told us how thankful she was that we are her sponosor family and that she prays for us. On her letter she had colored a small picture for us. I just ran my fingers over her drawing and imagined her coloring this. It was really special for me to stop and realize that this was actually in her hands and that she had colored it just for us. Miles away this little 5 year old knew that someone she has never met loves and cares about her. Ella and Riley love to send her letters and drawings. We keep Roody's picture out so we can keep her in our thoughts and prayers. We are thankful for Roody and who knows maybe one day we will visit her in Haiti?? You never know what us crazy Ferguson's may do...

Fall Photos.

Here we are.. The Ferguson Family of Six!!

It's pretty hard to get everybody looking at the camera and smiling at the same time. But I think we did pretty good.

Thank you to our good friend Danea Johnson for taking all these great pictures for us!!

I decided to put our photo in black and white. Jeremy and I are pretty pale people and we tend to look a little better in b/w photos!! (haha)

Fall Photos!!

Little sweetie pie Seth is now 6 months old!

Riley couldn't stop smiling!! We've always called her 'smiley riley'!

Ella has always LOVED her picture taken!!

Drew has those big brown eyes!

Here they are.. Our four amazing kiddos!!

Feeding the Ducks...

Check out Ella's Hannah Montana boots. She only takes them off to sleep!!!
Riley almost had the ducks eating out of her hand.

Drew had a little problem.....he kept eating the stale bread that was meant for the ducks! yuck!!

The Forgotten Beauty of Fall..

Aren't the colors of fall just awesome? I think all the orange, browns and red colors feel so warm and cozy. Over the years I've taken for granted the amazing beauty that the turning trees and falling leaves offer.
Recently my aunt was in town from Houston and she said she just wanted to go driving around to see the trees and colors. She also made a comment about hearing the wind. Hearing the wind? I've never stopped and thought about hearing the wind blowing through the trees. Once I stopped and listened it's is a beautiful and relaxing sound. If you stop and close your eyes and listen to the rustle of the trees it almost sounds like waves in the ocean. (Now that's something I can relate to, I LOVE the ocean!) My aunt lives in the city so she doesn't get hear that sound of the trees rustling. It made me thankful for our changing of seasons. We do get to experience a beautiful season of fall here.
Over the weekend our good friend Danea took some really fun and cute fall photos of our family at the the park. (I will be posting them soon) And we also had time to take the kids to the park and feed the ducks. Feeding the ducks is always a special treat the kids love!
So take time and enjoy the colors or close your eyes and listen to the wind. Unfortunately it will all pass too soon and winter will set in. (You won't find me saying as many nice things about the winter. I do not like cold weather!) Yeah for the beauty of fall!!!

It's Not Ok With Me!

I just finished reading one of the best book I've ever read (and I tend to read alot). It was given to me by a friend and it's called 'It's Not Ok With Me" by Janine Maxwell her website is http://www.heartforafrica.org/. It has completely changed by life. Her story is an amazing story of sacrifice and love! She gave everything up to love and care for suffering Africans. Her organization, Heart For Africa is doing amazing things in Africa. If you like a good challenge or if you feel God leading you to get out of your comfort zone or even if you have been down or depressed you MUST read this book!

I am almost at a lost for words to describe how I've felt over the last few days. The smallest things like giving my 20 month old a bath has forever changed in my mind. The thought that these children have never had a bath in their life, they have no food and eat from garbage, they are basically left to die. I can't even think of the words to write, you just need to read for yourself..

I've added a video clip at the top of the blog about one of the orphanges that Heart For Africa supports. It's just 3 minutes long and it's a story of a 2 year old left under a tree to die. Amazingly this little girl was rescued and now is being loved and cared for in one of the orphanages.

Check out: http://www.itsnotokwithme.com/

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Double Trouble!! Our totally adorable cowboy and cowgirl!

Seth enjoyed his first Halloween as a tiger!

We celebrated Haloween this year with our 2nd annual Trunk R Treat. Our small group heads up the Trunk R Treat at LaCroix south Cape outreach center called The Bridge. We serve chili, have games, balloons and hand out tons of candy to all the kids and families in south Cape. We have a blast doing and the kids love it!!

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Jeremy's Sumo Wrestler outfit is always a huge hit with the kids!

Ella and her BFF Svea!

Svea is a refrigerator how funny is that??

Ella doing the Gator at the wedding!!

Wedding Photos:

Lindsey and Seth

Me, Riley, my mom, Ella

Drew in his fancy suit!

My First Ever Blog!!

ok here goes....This is my first ever blog. I still can't believe I've actually created this blog all by myself! I'm pretty proud of myself. I have been reading a lot of friends (& total strangers) blogs lately and decided to create one for the Ferguson Family. A lot of our friends and family live out of town and we don't get to see them very often. Now I can share stories and pictures of our family with everybody!

The latest news with our family is my brother Garrett got married this past Saturday. We are so excited to have Aunt Lindsey 'officially' part of our family. They have been dating for four years so she already was family but now it's official. The wedding was beautiful and it was absolutley the most beautiful reception I've ever seen!! I was a bridesmaid, Riley was a junior bridesmaid, Ella was the flower girl and Jeremy spoke at the ceremony. Now they are soaking up the sun in Hawaii!!

Ella is the party animal in the family. We joked about her being born to be a flower girl, she did awesome! She walked down the isle like she had done 50 times before. And at the reception she danced and danced and danced! She even did the gator! I think Drew would have given her a run for her money, but he went home early with the babysitter.. Riley, Jeremy and I were so tired by the end of the night and we had to drag Ella off the dance floor! Wow, the energy of a four year old.


Ok, well I think I did pretty good for my first blog. I'm attaching some wedding photos. ~~Raelenna