Latest Pics of Hannah and Brian

Last Game of the Season....

And they WON!!! Hannah had not played for 2 weeks due to her trip to Jamaica and her trip to Boone to Appalachian for Cheer Camp. She came back and played the last game and did great! I was really shocked at how well she performed. She hit a double her first at bat, got hit the 2nd at bat and ended up scoring both times. She caught 2 throws form the catcher for 2 outs with base runners trying to steal 2nd base and she caught a pop up to end the game! It was great! She loves the game of softball so much. I thought these pictures of her and her friends were so cute I wanted to share. Hannah played shortstop. Thanks to her Daddy for these great pictures, especially the one of her double as you can see the ball coming off the bat...Wow...Doug is good! lol!

My Lovely Girls......and Tucker...lol

More Jamaica Pics

They are back from Jamaica!

They stayed at Burchell Baptist church in Jamaica which was over 100 years old and they had very primitive accommodations. Hannah was in a room about 20 x 25 with 13 women and all their stuff in it. Doug's room didn't even have any air, just fans. The community they worked at was called Cantebury and was very volatile. There was only one way into the community and one way out....a bridge was the entry way to the city. The drug lords were watching all the movement coming in and going out. They were nervous at first but Doug said it was amazing at the change of their hearts over the week. There was a definite chain of command among these men and they were very skeptical of the mission's team at first, but after all the kind acts and love of Christ that these men witnessed they became more comfortable with the team and actually very protective of them. They asked the question "Why would you come help us? We are evil." Doug ended up giving his sunglasses to one of the men and felt he had made a friend. He said that by the end of the week he would not have been afraid to go there by himself. Hannah visited the school there and the children, did VBS, helped work on the outreach center, cleaning etc. The children were so pitiful and so hungry that it moved the teens on the trip to put all of their spending money together to buy staples at the market for these families so that the children could fill their empty stomachs. Hannah had one little girl ask her if she had a momma and daddy....Hannah said "yes I do", and the little girl said "Will you take me home and be my momma?" It really touched Hannah. She held the little girl, gave her love and attention...the best she could give at the time. She also had them playing with her hair and hugging her and following her around. There was a little boy named "Leon" that she especially liked. The stories of how God worked are so many and so miraculous that there is no way I could tell them all. I do want you to know that your prayers and financial support were not wasted. There were 17 professions of faith and many, many lives experienced the love of Christ through our missions team. Doug and Hannah both want to return to minister again in Cantebury next year and take Hope and I with them. I hope you enjoy the pictures. God Bless you all!


The picture of Hannah and the young man with the visor was one night at VBS and he made her visor for her. This same young man was attached to Doug as well. He loved and was amazed by Doug's magic trick! The food in the picture was "jerk chicken" their first meal...many of the meals had some "kick" to them! lol! Jamaica has no garbage cans in the city....everyone just throws trash down or in these bins....those goats are eating the trash. The block buildings on the hillside are the homes of Cantebury...no electricity.
Doug and Hannah arrived back in Greensboro (with the rest of the Mission's team) around 8:45 on Friday night. They were so happy to be home but so thankful for their experience. They were full of stories and emotions. I think it was almost a sensory overload that they experienced.

21 Years today!!!!

Wow....is it possible?!! Doug and I have been married 21 years today....that's the age he was when we got married! lol!

I just wanted to say publicly that I love my husband! He is absolutely the most amazing husband and father I have ever known. The devotion he has for his family is precious. He always....and I do mean always....puts us first.

I still love to be with him, hold his hand, share all of life's ups and downs with him, he is my husband and my friend. What a blessing and inspiration he has been to me over the years. I truly am unworthy of such a man.

I pray that God will allow us to serve him together until he comes and that the next 21 years will hold even more joy than the past 21.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY DOUG.....I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

Jamaica Update

Hey everyone! Well, preacher Paul spoke with Leah yesterday briefly and here's the scoop. They are working in an area called Cantebury and it is the poorest of the poor. It is also dangerous. The Jamaican church there doesn't even minister to these people because of the drug problem, poverty and danger. They had over 60 children attend VBS and 3 accepted Christ as their Savior! (Hallelujah!!) One of the men in our group is a plumber by trade and he converted a toilet only bathroom to having a shower, toilet and sink w/vanity and they think he is a miracle worker! lol! They have built a retaining wall to keep the sewage out and today they were going to clean a man's house that had been burned (it is made out of cinder block) and they are going to scrub it down and try to get it ready for him to move back into (he is in a wheelchair) They are working from the time their feet hit the floor until late in the evening.

The poverty there is such as they have never witnessed. Some of the children that were at the VBS had not had food in 2 to 3 days. Friday was to be the day our mission's team was free to site see and buy souvenirs, etc. but they have all decided to work on Friday as well and take all their souvenir money and buy cornmeal and other staples so that the children can eat. I can't imagine what our teens are thinking and feeling. What an experience this has been for them.

We ask that you continue to pray for their safety and health and a safe return on Friday evening. I can't wait to see the pictures and post them for all of you to see.

They are in Jamaica!

Doug and Hannah and the missions team left yesterday morning for Jamaica and arrived safely yesterday afternoon. They are staying at the church in Jamaica in a poverty stricken area and they are locked in the gates when the come in and locked out as they go out. The women are staying in a room about 20 x 25 and there are 20 women in that room....close fellowship! lol! They visited the outreach center yesterday and did some magic tricks for the kids and gathered in a pretty good crowd and invited them to VBS which will be started tomorrow. Please pray for their continued safety and that lives will be changed for eternity! If I hear anymore I'll post it. If not, I'll post more after their return with some pictures. Pastor Paul had spoke with the head of the missions team and relayed the info. to me.

8th Grade Graduation

I can't believe it!!!.....I have to daughters in High School! How did that happen? ...Where did the time go?? A Senior and a Freshman....Wowsers! The 8th grade awards ceremony was sweet. So many people were recognized including Hannah who won 4 awards. At the end they showed a powerpoint presentation of all the kids....over 300 of them, caught in their everyday settings with friends and set it to music. It was so sweet and in a way sad. I couldn't help but think that some of the relationships they have formed and developed here will remain but some in high school will take different routes and those relationships will dissolve. It was a sweet morning though, and here are some pics for you to look at.

8th Grade Graduation!

Braces Are Off.....................waaaahoooooooooo!

Here are some pics of Hannah without her braces. Lauren's mom was gracious and let me check out Lauren to go with us....she was there for support the day Hannah got them on....and there to celebrate the day she got them off!