Today

My oldest daughter went to her 1st Feature Film Audition.

It was for the part of Mattie Ross in the
Paramount Pictures/ Coen Brothers
remake of TRUE GRIT
starring Jeff Bridges, Josh Brolin, & Matt Damon.


The casting director loved her-
but told her that she was a little too young for the part.

Hannah was disappointed but wants to continue acting.
The "Bug" has bitten!

What a great"How'd you spend your Christmas Holiday?" story for any little girl.

On the bright side, her best friend and cousin(LAYTON) got call backs and screen test!

xxFINGERS CROSSEDxx

We might get to kiss Matt Damon after all!

ELF on THE SHELF

yeah.... I know!

But I can use it to black mail him later. ;)

Early Lyrics

Oh Holy Night!
The stars are brightly shining
It is the night of the dear Savior's birth!
Long lay the world in sin and error pining
Till He appear'd and the soul felt it's worth.

A thrill of hope
the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks
a new and glorious morn!

Fall on your knees
Oh hear the angel voices
Oh night divine
Oh night when Christ was born
Oh night divine
Oh night divine

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand
So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming
Here come the wise men from orient land
The king of kings lay thus in lowly manger
In all our trials born to be our friend.


Truly He taught us to love one another
His law is love and His gospel is peace
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother
And in His name all oppression shall cease

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy name.

Fall On Your knees
Oh Hear the angels voices
Oh Night Divine
Oh Night when Christ was born
Oh Night
Oh Night Divine

A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS SURPRISE!

At 9 am this morning~
Fed-Ex left my LOA at the door!!!!

No~one was expecting it
and
I DO MEAN NO~ONE!!!!!

Next we get our TRAVEL APPROVAL!

We should be spending Chinese New Year with our Daughter--

Merry Christmas to ME!!!!!!


God is Good!

Precious

Last week-

I opened an email to find a 20 minute video of our new daughter

and her foster parent and foster siblings.

Now I am not really sure if I am supposed to post this link.....

yeah......this one right here (http://vimeo.com/8091048)

and I am probably not supposed to give anyone the case sensitive password

(Nanchang) ........

cause that would probably go against some sort of rule

(that I do not know about)......

But I will take this opportunity to say that I only post this link to

prove that I have the coolest agency EVER and to use it as

advertising -

just in case there are families who may be considering adoption and

would like to know what sorts of things Lifeline offers its parents...

ya know.....in the form of updates, pictures, videos, etc.

...cause everyone knows

"A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words"-

So........

Can you IMAGINE what a video must be worth????

3 months....

Of Tango Lessons: $900.00


Ballroom Dance Shoes: $200.00



Tango Costumes: $400.00




Teenagers Realizing That Hard Work
REALLY DOES
Pay-Off: $$ PRICELESS $$





With TWO perfect 10's and a 9-
Caleb & Dakota are officially
AWARD WINNING Ballroom Dancers!

1st Place Winners of Dancing Like The Stars 2009

Not too shabby for a couple of kids who just started dancing in September, huh?

Sweet!

COOL IDEA!

Pass this on to your church, co-workers, family, and friends.

What do you have to lose but 44 cents, what do you have to gain ----------- more than you will ever know?
What a clever idea!
Yes, Christmas cards.

This is coming early so that you can get ready to include an important address to your list.
Want to have some fun this CHRISTMAS?
Send the ACLU a CHRISTMAS CARD this year.
As they are working so very hard to get rid of the CHRISTMAS part of this holiday, we should all send them a nice, CHRISTIAN card to brighten up their dark, sad, little world.
Make sure it says "Merry Christmas" on it.

Here ' s the address, just don't be rude or crude.
(It ' s not the Christian way, you know.)

ACLU
125 Broad Street
18th Floor
New York , NY 10004

Two tons of Christmas cards would freeze their operations because they wouldn ' t know if any were regular mail containing contributions.
So spend 44 cents and tell the ACLU to leave Christmas alone. Also tell them that there is no such thing as a "Holiday Tree". . . It ' s always been called a CHRISTMAS TREE!And pass this on to your email lists.

We really want to communicate with the ACLU!

They really DESERVE us!!

For those of you who aren ' t aware of them,
the ACLU, (the American Civil Liberties Union) is the one suing the U.S. Government to take God, Christmas or anything Christian away from us. They represent the atheists and others in this war. Help put Christ back in Christmas!

THE ELISON PROJECT has a KICKIN' DRAWING
going on RIGHT NOW!

HOP ON OVER AND TAKE A LOOK!

ANY OF THE ITEMS WOULD
MAKE A REALLY COOL CHRISTMAS GIFT!!!

http://elisonprojectblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/spread-cheer_26.html


Thank you,

A

Just So Ya Know................

Leaving on Saturday for a week at Disney!


We are having Rachel's 6th Birthday Party
at the Magic Kingdom........
Should be interesting.;)

Songs for Maria

I managed to pick this up, walk to the counter ,and purchase then it.

It is the songs that have been written over the course of the last year
without Maria.

If you will notice, Steven is on a mountain ledge in China.

I imagine it is one of the few places his heart has peace.

I would think that it is the only place in the world he can go and feel
a little closer to the precious baby that God has called home.

I cannot tell you that the CD is good......only because I have not be able to listen to a single song at length.

The words are beautiful and bone crushing at the same time....it is almost unbearable.

To have enough strength to write the words is one thing, but to be able to
sing them over & over in a studio is more than any human could be expected to do.....and he does it.

I stand in awe of him, his family, and how they have managed to share their grief and faith in the LORD with the world after the death of Maria Sue.

It is amazing , to say the least.

Nashville..Day 3! Can I Cry Now?

Last Day in NashVegas, Last day with Brett, Last day with Chris.
Last with the Ausie's, Last day with the Drivers,Last day for Room Service,
Last day of stalking Jason Aldean.....Can we cry , now?



We are going to miss these guys.
Caleb will miss Estelle. He developed a little crush on her.
Guess which one she is. :)


Caleb flirting with Estelle,
and Nicole looking at him like he is a dork.



They were so much fun. They even helped Caleb with this "Aussie Accent"
and we helped them with their "Southern Accents".
Funny Stuff.



I will miss this crazy man.
I think the kids will, too.



Nicole's last session with Chris.
He is just a great guy.



Nicole when she realized that she would be leaving Nashville
without seeing JASON ALDEAN.
Not really..she is doing a vocal exercise. :)



Packing up the car.
They looks so sad to leave.

One last look around.



Nicole playing guitar for the tourists...OK...the valets
but still.


Good-bye, Nashville!
We will be back......
OH YES.........We WILL be back.

Nashville Day 2

Ready to work on Music Row.

Caleb sits in on Nicole's Session.

Chris teaches Nicole to "Open " her mouth.

Apparently talking like Patrick from SpongeBob can help...who knew?

The Aussie's sit in.

I thught of you, Chelley.

They are precious!

Caleb has a mini=crush on Estelle..the chick in the middle.

Nicole sits in on Caleb's session with Brett.

Last night we hit the OPRY at THE RYMAN.

Had the best seats in the house

Saw some awesome acts

Hung out with some Nashville buds.

Went back to the hotel and Caleb and Nicole decided to waltz around the
Hermitage Ballroom before dinner.

Homeschooled kids are just the neatest bunch of people.

How many teenagers do you know who would INSIST on

doing that before they left a hotel?

Today is our last day.

It will be a high of 35 degrees today...Cold for a Mississippi Girl!

Obama and Playing With His Little Niece

OK...
so he FINALLY does something I agree with .

First Things First.......Prepare for some MAJOR CUTENESS!

Mama & Daddy sent the Little Muffin a few goodies to share
with her friends.
Check out the cheeks!


Isn't she just the most precious little thing?
Looks like they are two seconds from a party!

God is Good.
I can't wait to hold her.

THE BLUEBIRD CAFE'

My friend Max said that I could not leave Nashville without taking the kids to
"open mic night" at the BlueBird Cafe'....


Soooo we blew off the Seminar
(yeah we will totally have some explaining to do tomorrow)
And stood in line to get in.



I think it is safe to say that they had a good time.




We got to hear it ALL-
Folk songs





Songs about "Mama"



A kickin' little diddy by a cat named Lauren.
He is one to remember!



Songs about lost love



One little dude sang
"when did i go from Young & Pretty
to Young & Pretty Dumb"
Funny Stuff



A couple of them were pretty bad...
so i took pictures of lights



She was cute with a cool guitar....
unfortunately...that was it.....



Finished up and headed "home".



Caleb wasn't ready for the night to end.....
Here he was standing up for his RIGHTS as a "teenager in Nashville".

He settled for the peach cobbler on the room service menu.

Tomorrow we have lessons, the Ryman, and the Grand Ole Opry.