Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

So from our family to yours, we hope that you had a beyond blessed Christmas! We let Chip decorate the Christmas tree this year ...
which meant every ornament except about 7 that I put up were on the bottom 2 feet of the tree.
It was the prettiest Christmas tree EVER! He had a blast doing it and was so proud of it. We had to have a looooong discussion about not taking the ornaments on and off but it worked out.
He did great!!!
We made the whole season with no ornaments broken and no gifts unwrapped prematurely. The tree began to fill up with gifts as the days went by and he loved just sitting there looking at them.
Tony and Chip made a quick trip to meet Gaga in Crestview to swap the last gifts as well as to grab a quick lunch and that was fun for the boys! We spent Christmas Eve in Georgia with Gaggy, Aunt Lisa, Uncle Dan, Aunt MA, Uncle Danny, Aunt Ann, Shawn, Trey, Day, Faith and Hope. OH YEAH, and us, Hoppie and Papa. Chip had an absolute blast while there. The best part was that he got to dig in the dirt and jump in the hole he dug, kick it, throw it, and do everything with it that a boy is supposed to do. We opened presents, ate a delicious lunch and then came on home to get ready for Christmas day. Christmas day came and all Chip wanted was to be able to play with the 'map' that Gaggy bought him for Christmas. So we decided that we would chose to drink coffee and spend time in the floor with Chip playing with his trains and his map.
That went on until Hoppie and Papa came over and then the fun began. We opened presents, ate lunch, got to "go to church" with Howard and Dana over LiveStream and played with Thomas the train until all our hearts were content.
Chip refused a nap but did sit still for about 40 minutes to watch a new "Beggie Tales" (translation - VeggieTales) and when the credits began to roll, so did he! :) at 7:30, though, the wheels began to fall off when i made him sit still to hopefully watch Dr. Seuss's Grinch, then went to bed to read the Bible and i was going to let him snuggle in the bed with us for a little bit when he popped up and said "I go get my bed, mama!" well, that did it for us! It was bedtime for us all and the day ended around 8:30 - WHEW!!!!!

things were really crazy so i'm posting the few pictures before and after that we got. Enjoy what few there are. Hope that you all had a great Christmas! We sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and left it at that - besides, that IS what Christmas is - the birth of Christ! :-)

Carol-Van

So today we went with 10 other people, that's right, there were 13 total, caroling. It was a beautiful time spent with friends and spreading a Christmas cheer that can only be seen through the eyes of those who we were singing to! It was an experience that goes beyond any description I can give. I wished we had either taken a picture or gotten someone to take pictures of us all in synch pulling in and out of all the houses, driveways, neighborhoods, etc. we looked like a mob! It was awesome!

Christmas is just around the corner and the celebration of the birth of our Savior is beginning. BUT, Christmas doesn't end with the birth of Jesus, but it ends on Calvary at the death of the King of Kings. Remember in your travels, gifts, eating, time with family and friends and everywhere else you go and in everything else you do this season that God loves you so much! Being the mother of a boy and only imagining how Mary felt when she gave birth to her son knowing that she would only lose him is humbling beyond anything else. Mary did you know........ Merry Christmas! <+>< the Sharps

oh the reminders...

So today has been a day of reminders. Reminders that I am not in control, reminders that the Lord has us in situations and circumstances for a reason, reminders that the love of God surpasses the world, and reminders that we are to love God unconditionally and that we are to uphold Him as king of our lives. I am in a place in my life that I find myself looking to God daily for strength and purpose. I find myself asking "what about NOW Lord" about the same questions that i have been asking for over a year now. I live moment to moment and day to day knowing that God's plans are beyond any plans that I could have dreamed up. His plans display the ultimate purpose in our lives. By living through His will and staying connected to the Holy Spirit's guidance on my life, the Lord's will will prevail! Glory to God in the highest for He is the name above all names! Merry Christmas and stay the course!

Thanksgiving 2011

So this Thanksgiving was spent in Mobile with the Sharp family. What a house full of fun that was! 8 grandchildren, 8 children and their spouses, and 2 parents = FULL HOUSE!!!
There were fights over toys,
compliments about the great food,
hunting stories, and lots of lounging and catching up.
Two of my sisters-in-law took pictures throughout the weekend
and i thought i would share them with you all. What a blast we had and what great memories we have to be able to remember Thanksgiving 2011 with!
We have so much to be thankful for and I was reminded each and every moment how grateful I am for what the Lord has blessed me with! I have a beautiful family,
a home that is filled with laughter and love,
and a God that created the universe that loves me unconditionally!

I don't find it ironic that Thanksgiving comes immediately before we celebrate His birth. We are to enter his gates with Thanksgiving and His courts with praise...... and Thanksgiving enters us right into His birth with literal Thanksgiving! What a beautiful reminder of what He did for us on Calvary. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

a new year is on the way

The year 2012 is setting up to be an absolute about face from the life we have been living over the last few years. We are moving our office, restructuring our company, and a ton of other things. The year 2012 is beginning to appear to be a transitional year in our journey on this earth. God is moving mountains and we are thrilled to be able to be in a position to watch Him work His miracles. Continue to keep us in your prayers as we walk this road hand in hand with the Creator of the Universe!

We are going to be spending Thanksgiving this year in Mobile. Black Friday shopping without my mom isn't ever the same but we all have to grow up and live without our mommas! :-) Anyway, I will be making the famous Virginia Hornsby Lemon Meringue Pies and Tony will be hunting some, I'm sure. I'm going to go on and take my Christmas presents down because I've gotten that shopping out of the way and we'll be headed back late Sunday night. Hope that this season brings you all a little closer to the Lord and a little more grateful for your family and friends and what you've been given. We are blessed beyond measure and all have more than we deserve in Him! God bless and Happy Thanksgiving from the three of us!

the big 3-0!!!

So Tony left his twenties yesterday and found his way to the 30s! We had a great weekend spent kid-free and really enjoyed just being together. We layed in the bed 'til past 6:45 (which NEVER happens) and stayed up late talking. We spend those cherished moments of silence, just enjoying the other person's presence while the world continued to turn around us. We made a day trip to Blue Lake on Saturday which was refreshing to the Spirit and we laughed... A LOT! What a great way to spend his big day by making it a big weekend.

Chip spent the night with Hoppie and Papa which was, of course, a big treat. After every meal he got ice cream and cookies, got to skip his nap to play outside in the dirt with the trucks and tractors and had an endless supply of love, hugs, kisses, and giggles to top it all off.

What a great weekend we all had! How refreshing to be able to say that we spent it with family and we wouldn't have had it any other way. We are blessed beyond measure and we know it. We daily find time to praise the Lord as a family, whether in the morning or at bedtime, for what and whom He has blessed us with in our lives and the daily struggles are but a fleeting moment in the big picture. Take a moment today to thank your Heavenly Father for what you have and where you are blessed, because, we all, truly are, blessed beyond measure!

oh that time of year

So it is that time of year again and i have to say that the season is drawing near just like i feel like the Lord is drawing near in our lives. I feel so strongly that the Lord is doing a work in our lives along with drawing us near to him in this season. I don't have much to say today but thought i would leave you with a few pictures of our trip to the pumpkin patch. Happy Thanksgiving season and God bless you all :-)

its just around the corner

well, the season is drawing near that christmas music will be in all the stores, children will be making wish lists, and adults will be deciding what their new years resolutions will be. It is also a time of reflection for us as we look back on the past years losses, accomplishments, milestones and everything else. What an incredible year so far for the Sharp family here in Dothan! We began the couponing 'thing' this year and saved thousands, Chip grew leaps in bounds both physically and mentally, we will celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary in a month and a half and our marriage in this 6th year has been the best yet! what about you?

this weekend, we went shopping and got tons accomplished. Chip was getting over bronchitis (we went on and got that out of the way early this year with the weather change, apparently :-P) and so no outside fun for us on this beautiful weekend, but we got lots done. We did some major grocery shopping where we were very successful and we also did some christmas shopping! We got some great deals and even had coupons for the toys for all the 'littles' in the family. we saved over 50% average on all of our weekend shopping and what a nice feeling! Chip is feeling better, finally, and he doesn't sound like he has smoked for 40+ years anymore and so we are on the mend and grateful for what we have! Hope that this finds you grateful and doing well! Loving you all and missing you all even more!

Rebecca<><

a few pics

how 4 weeks flies!

Wow i can't believe it has been about 4 weeks since i have written a blog! It goes to show you that when you are keeping the roads hot, the time just flies by as you are trying to survive the unending piles of laundry, packing and unpacking, etc. In the last four weeks we have had the Dystance4Dystonia 5k, gone to Birmingham for a birthday party, Mississippi for a birthday party, cleaned out our garage, did a huge workday at the church and got lots done, and on and on and on! We have had a great four weeks, though. Chaos and all, it has been awesome! Tony got As in his classes, we raised over $13,000 for Dystonia research, spent great time with both sides of the family and have had some amazing things happening at church! Will load pictures of it all soon and hope you all enjoy them!

ahh... fall

Oh, fall, how I love thee!!!!! I am sitting outside, having gotten away from the office a little early today so that Tony could dodge out early to a meeting and am thrilled to be able to sit outside on my front porch while Chip Sharp is enjoying being a pure boy! He has gone from pulling leaves off the bushes to sliding down his slide, to digging dirt and now he is in the garage pulling out more toys..... here comes the tri-cycle! I love the cool weather and being able to let him be outside and 'just be'! What a blessing, thank you Lord, that he is able to be outside this fall. Last year we were under such attack with his allergies, letting him out to play was tough, but now, we are loving it! Things have not, in fact, slowed down here since September hit. We ended up having to have kitchen work done, chip got an ear infection, tony has had tons of school work, the Dystance4Dystonia 5k is this weekend, and then September will be over! Whew! What a start to the fall - but how beautiful to be a family that loves the Lord together, enjoys being together, and prays for each others' challenges, struggles and difficulties. We are looking forward to Laynie's big 3rd birthday in a few weeks and getting some vacation time over there with them! It seems like time has flown by so fast and that they have grown up so fast. What incredible milestones they hit in these early years and how incredible it is how fast they learn! anything, from songs to colors, to their alphabet and scripture, how they retain it at such an early age!

We have had some great times and are getting ready to go in and fix dinner, so for now, i am going to dodge. Be blessed and look around for a few minutes and realize how beautiful the world is, how fleeting the moments are, and how vivid the colors of the world are! Don't miss it! Take a day off early to sit on your front porch and be blessed, too! This has been good for my soul!

<><
Rebecca

September, how nice of you to be here!

So gosh we are all, as a family, so grateful that September is here! Yes, we got tons of rain this weekend and it was grey skies for this holiday weekend but how sweet it is to be able to spend the entire weekend with just the 3 of us as a family! September is beginning to fill up already as we are planning our 2nd annual Dystance4Dystonia run in a few weeks and the numbers are shaping up quite nicely! We are almost at $7,000 raised if my 'ish-numbers' are correct and how excited we are to be able to say that! I am so blessed that people are stepping up and are joining the fight for a cure and awareness of Dystonia! The year 2012 will be a fun new year in our lives as i have a couple of 'missions' that i have my mind set on for Awareness and we will see how, if at all, all of those ideas pan out. We hope that you will decide to join us for this amazing run/walk, even if it is for just the raffles we have! There will be gift cards, awesome gifts, great prizes and tons of opportunities to learn. If you can't join us to run or walk, please make your way over to http://www.dmrfevents.org/event.php?455233 and make a difference and help find a cure! Also, encourage your friends and family to do the same! It is totally tax deductable and the best part is that all of the 'new money' we raise, will be matched penny for penny up until December 1 so your $25 will really be $50! How amazing that your monies are really doubled! God be with you and bless you this week!!!

<><
Rebecca

P.S. Congrats to Deanna and Scott who got engaged this weekend in New York! Love you both!

CHOOSE victory!

So i've not gotten a clear message if i'm blessed because of all the poo-poo things that seem to be going on, if i will be blessed for surviving them, or none of the above, so i'm just going to choose to be blessed and share with you all about it! This August has been one of quite honestly, organized chaos in our lives. We have been out of town and apart as a family more than we have been together! I am so glad that on Monday, we had our first cooked meal that we sat down as a family and ate in the entire month of August! All of our experiences that we have had in August have been beyond amazing and excilting. we are overflowing with knowledge and love for others as we have had 'mountain top experiences' that have helped give us a vision of people and situations through God-lenses, and what an incredible way to view the world! Of course, though, with all good things, they must come to an end and with all God things, they must come with spiritual warfare, so i should have been a little more mentally prepared than i was for the drama to come! We got home and ended up filing an insurance claim for a 'bow in the floor' of our kitchen which turned out to be caused from our dishwasher. The claim is for approximately $3500 worth of repairs to be done to the kitchen - replacing the floor, laminate, removing the cabinets, resetting them, blah blah blah. The house will be a construction zone for a few days, for sure! Then yesterday morning as we were going out the door to go to work, the back driver's side tire was flat, and i mean FLAT! As i walked closer, there was a screw that was just as pretty as you can please in the tire! Well..... here, we go, get the spare, put it on and go to Scott Stevens Tires! They fixed it for us for FREE (praise the Lord) and we were still able to get to work by 9:00! Next, we came home last night from a meeting only to find our AC is broken. We thought it was just 'frozen up', as there was definitely ice on the outside of it, but i don't believe that ice has anything to do with the fan spinning! LOL..... so yet, again, Murphy's law won the battle, but our God will win the war, i promise! The spirit of our family is not broken! we slept with the windows open last night, which was actually refreshing, and our attitudes are that of laughter through this! What else can you do? well, actually, there is a lot of things we could have done - argued, cried, acted in anger, gotten discouraged, felt defeated, etc etc etc. But we choose the victory that we are promised in Jesus! Thank you Lord, for the situations in life that we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are in control and that you have the final victory! We hope that YOU have a great day and that the little things in life, instead of frustrate you, remind you of the final victory that Jesus has! XOXO - Rebecca

Sweet Home Alabama

SOOOOOO i have had such a wonderful couple of weeks but i am so glad to be back home! This past weekend mom and I made a quick, whirlwind trip to Chicago to the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation's Children and Family Symposium. What an experience that was to say the least! We were able to meet some amazing kids, brave parents, and beautiful people all around! There were people that have known they had dystonia for 50 years and there were people that were just weeks into a diagnosis. What a beautiful experience to watch as people connected through something so bizarre and so devastating but it creates such a beautiful bond among people! I am so blessed to have been able to go and hear the most recent on research developments, medical advances and all kinds of other things. Thanks to DMRF for the opportunity that i received and the blessing i got from it! WOW..... it will go with me forever!

California update

what a beautiful and learning experience we had in California! We went out to Saddleback Church (Rick Warren and John Baker) to a Celebrate Recovery conference. Celebrate Recovery is a Christian based 12-step ministry that Tony and I participate in through Covenant UMC in Dothan. Tony leads worship and I help out in the kitchen and we got the opportunity to go to this conference and what a blessing! We came back with immense amounts of knowledge that we are going to be able to implement in our ministry to continue to grow the Kingdom of Heaven through this ministry and also lots of great ideas to be able to reach out to all that are hurting. Pictures are coming soon but i'm actually leaving AGAIN tomorrow to go up to Chicago for a Dystonia Medical Research Foundation function. August has proven to be a busy, travel-filled month but what an experience! hope this finds you all well!

oh, PS, for those who want to know - Chip stayed in Mobile with GaGa and PaPaw and loved every minute of it. he got to have soy-butter and jelly every day for lunch, went swimming, to the movies, and ruled the roost (i'm sure) while he was there. He was in Hog Heaven! :-)

Love to you all!!!!! xoxo ~Rebecca

quick

so a quick note to let you all know that Tony and I are actually in California. I am going to post next week with pictures, etc. Will 'talk' soon :-)

pictures

SO I said last week that this would probably be a picture update, which seems appropriate! Hope that you all enjoy them! I will be out of pocket for a possible couple of weeks due to travel so for now, enjoy the pictures :-) ~Rebecca

wow! 3 in a row

well, so we have been doing great this past week. Last week we started our allergy shots and he did great with them.... as good as can be expected, at least. He got one in each arm and was very brave. today he went back and decided he was going to have a moment about it, but like tony said, "he will have to learn how to deal!" We all know that this is best for him and will not stop now!

Tony finished up his classes this summer and finished with As in both Accounting I and II and has a few weeks off before fall classes start. He will be taking intermediate Accounting, Finance and Management ( i think). He is doing so great and i am super duper uper schmooper proud of him for it! Work is going ok. So far, monday proved to be a tough day, just one of 'those' days, but i'm "More than a conqueror in Christ!"

some fun things that chip does and says now - for those interested in a great laugh:
1. "can i eat the lick?" - translation: "Can i lick the spoon?"
2. *knocking on the door in the morning* "it's me, Chip!!!" - translation: "GET UP!!!!!"
3. he loves to watch "Beggie Tales" (aka Veggie Tales)
4. he got a guitar for his birthday and he and daddy like to sing and make up silly songs, the latest of which "in the barn" is sung OVER AND OVER to the tune of Old McDonald LOL
5. Thomas the Train is still at the top of our list of favorite things in life
6. we put a sheet over our train table at night to tell them good night and in the morning, we take the sheet off and with EXCSTATIC enthusiasm, we say " *GASP* Good Morning, Everyone!!!!!!" right after i open the door as he is telling me that "it's me, chip"
7. Soy Butter/Jelly "toast" aka sandwich, is our FAVORITE thing to eat
8. we have almost conquered potty training during the day (nap time and bed time, not included)
9. he officially has the 'coolest' Thomas the Train, big boy room, with Thomas the Train sheets on our bed and great red and blue curtains in our room
10. he is "free years old!" to those that ask - translation: "i am three years old"

i think that is it for fun stuff and not much else to report on. next week is likely going to be picture updates! Hope all is well with you and will post again next week!

yay! so far so good

ok, so far this makes 2 weeks in a row that i've posted! YAY ME :-) lol.... ok, now to the important things! our life:

So last week was filled with allergy testing for Chip. We had 2 days worth of testing because of his size. So Tuesday proved to be a particularly tough day as he was tested for 32 things. The tests proved to be really informative, actually, as he is essentially allergic to every tree known to man, dogs, and the 'inside' mold. At this point, with the extreme allergy to the trees and dogs, we chose to go ahead and proceed with the other 20 tests that his back wasn't large enough to test for. We went back on Thursday to do these and it stayed right on track with what we expected which was more trees. Even the trees that aren't here in Alabama, like Maple, were off the charts. Due to the results, we chose, excitedly and gratefully, to begin a 5 1/2 year regimen of allergy shots. We start those, actually, this week, and the schedule will be every week for 36 weeks, then every other week for the next 5 years. We are hopeful and believe that the Lord will bless and cut this cute toddler some slack from the allergies that have proven to be so tough to deal with for 3 years. Will let you know how this goes throughout....

this is Tony's last week of class for the summer. after Wednesday, he will have had taken Accounting 1 & 2 in 8 weeks (4 wks for Acct1 and 4 weeks for Acct2)! We are excited that he has done so well and he loves it so far. he has had a great professor that he has really been able to learn a lot from and pending his final on Wednesday, will have made and A in both classes! YAY TONY!!!!!

Work is great. Had a closing last week, and have about 3 in underwriting right now that are looking to close in the next 3-4 weeks. The market seems to be looking up and getting busier and busier.

I guess this is it for my quick update this week. i hope that this finds you all doing great and loving life!

<><
Rebecca

mid-year's resolution

OK, so i have been personally convicted at how terrible i have become at this. i have to understand and appreciate that not everyone has Facebook and that this is a great way to journal for chip to have when he gets older. so i have auto scheduled @ 8:30 every morning that i am to journal for 10 minutes :-) we'll try and see how the reminder works with this task!

I'll go from the 'older news' to the newer news. We have had a medical scare recently with him that lasted a whopping 3 hours but i was convinced that it was an entire week. When you are potentially looking at emergency surgery for your baby, time stands still and the fear is unexplainable! LOOONG story short, and to spare you the gory details, he was diagnosed with torsed testicular appendix, which is a mile-long diagnosis for the fact that the appendage that would have become the fallopian tube had he been female (that serves no purpose) became twisted, bruised, swollen, etc. Created an immense amount of pain for him and a scare for us all. Praise the LORD, the whole process from beginning of walking into the pediatrician's office to walking out of a urologists office with a diagnosis was a total of 3 hours. i was super grateful at the response of everyone involved as it could have been much worse!

we have recently begun potty training and are actually having great amounts of success with it! We still don't make it through every night with a dry diaper but 50% of naps and night times end in a successfully dry diaper!

His allergies are still at a standstill, actually. we go tomorrow to be tested for more environmental allergens and depending on results will begin allergy shots soon. We continually pray for healing from this but know and understand that the Lord has blessed us in so many ways regarding this situation! He sure is a healthy little boy with lots of energy and a beautiful smile and we are well beyond blessed.

He just turned THREE YEARS OLD........ can you believe it!?!? I can't believe that three years ago we were talking about how he had entered our lives and captured our hearts! We had a fun party on Saturday the 2nd that was full of nothing other than Thomas the Train! That has been our obsession for about a year now! Dana decorated a perfectly fitting Cake with Thomas the Train coming out of a tunnel and it was delicious! There was a slip-n-slide, pool, sprinkler and water guns and beautiful weather! Fun was had by all and it was a great day!

We have just recently changed churches to where the Lord was calling us. He has been working on our hearts to step out and change lives for about 5 months and when we finally said 'yes, Lord' the call came the next morning by Heather Peacock coming into our office asking if we would join her ministry at Midland City UMC. She had a heart for the people there and believed that the Lord had laid us on her heart to ask to join her. how could we say no!?!? Anyway, last night we kicked off a 5-week long event of Block Parties, inviting all of Midland City to come and hang out with us each Sunday for 5 weeks. We were well beyond blessed and pleased at the response we had a total of about 50-60 people there with 12-15 of those being from the city. Praise the Lord and we look forward to the other 4 weeks!!!

i think this is it for now and I'll be back Monday! :-)

wow i'm pitiful

i can't believe it has been so long since i have blogged. just got busy i guess. we are doing great. we have outgrown the allergy to corn, rice and soy! this has opened up a whole new world for us with food. We also made it through christmas very well! Chip got an entire train table with all of the Thomas the train tracks and tons of trains to go along with it. We are doing great, pictures to come soon! miss you all and wish you all the best!