The Korker Bows...

Finally, they are all done... As many of you know I have been working day and night for the past month to make 600 korkers for Strausburg.. Thanks to Laura, Lydia and Joy Keck for helping me we finally got them done... Well Tuesday and Wednesday a man who shall be left nameless because he doesn't want anyone to know how well he is at cutting and fray checking spent over 20 hours with me to get these bows done by 9:30 on Thursday morning. Now this man is one I love very much.. he shall be left nameless but he is a great father and husband.. :) We finally wrapped them all up.. I must say I was glad to see them go.. Here a few shots.. please remember that this is only about 450 because I had already turned in about 150...

Merry Christmas

Christmas day was very fun and relaxing.. Brandon, Aleeza and I spent Christmas morning here eating a yummy breakfast and opening gifts. We had a good time just the three of us. Aleeza had a lot of fun opening her gifts. She was very into this gift opening thing this year... so next year should be way fun. :) Brandon bought me new dishes and silverware.. long story why.. but trust me they were needed. :) Aleeza loaded up herself. After a enjoyable morning we went to Nana and Paw Paws for lunch and more gift opening. What a fun time. Aleeza just enjoyed herself so much. Nana and Paw-paw really showered her.. but that is what grandparents are fow. We had a very good time as a family. What a blessing to have Christian parents who are so supportive of things you do and love you no matter what. Mom and Dad are the prime examples of this. I know one thing.. Brandon couldn't ask for better in-laws.. :) Thanks for a wonderful day... The Evans, Boilings and Jacksons came for lunch. We had a great time of fellowship and yummy yummy food.. :)

Christmas Eve at Aunt Susan and Uncle Malcolm

Tradition has been to always go to the Hampton Park Christmas Eve service so once again... we went.. Aleeza's first time of course she had to spend it in the nursery.. After that we went to Aunt Susan's house for some food and fellowship.. Aleeza was the star as usual..

I am a cheese..

Aleeza has really learned how to turn the smile on!!! Nana taught her to smile big.. :)

Beautful little girl

So adorable... Please take note of the Christmas bow that was whipped up by me.. in between what felt like thousands of other bows I was making... pictures to come..

Christmas time will all the cousins...

Being related to the Bundy's by marriage makes for fun times..... We had a good time at their house last Saturday night.. Aleeza loves K.K ,of course everyone else.. but K.K... just means the world to her right now.. :) She had fun being highly entertained though while we were there. They gave her the Little People Farm which she just loves all the animals.... :) thanks for a fun night.

Our Christmas house....

Brandon finally talked to me into going fake this year for Christmas.. and we found the most beautiful tree that is fake.. :) It is 10 feet tall.... Our house looked too pretty.. :)

Our little tom boy...

She loves to put on Daddy's hats and eat fruit... the whole piece...so cute.

WOW.....

Well, needless to say these past few weeks have been fun, very tiring, exciting, demanding, different, and last but not least not normal.. :) Brandon and I have been through a lot the past few weeks but needless to say the Lord always always always prevails and shows His mercy and grace to us when we lease deserve it. The Lord was very good to us this Christmas. Brandon finally got over his pneamonia, which has made him feel a ton better. The Lord brought some very hard circumstances in our life which in turn has taught us both many lessons and brought us closer together and closer to Him. WE WOULD NOT TRADE THE LAST FEW WEEKS FOR ANYTHING!! Wow.. hope this does not sound depressing... it is not depressing. We have learned so much and are thankful. Well, about the buisness... call us crazy but Brandon can't just own one company.. :) so now we own three.. we are official now... we own Abbott Builders, INC., Abbott Framing, INC, and Abbott Grading and Landscaping , INC... You might ask if we are trying to take over SC... and the answer to that is no... well not right now.. We have a new employee who has moved down from the great state of New York.. an old friend of Brandon''s is going to be taking over the Landscaping.... and we still have our strong 5 that are doing framing and just hired two more great guys to start next week.. of course we still have our one great boss... Brandon!!! :) and great secretary... me.:) The Lord has been so good to us. We are excited to see what the new year will bring us... Well now for the pictures.. what we all want I know.. :)

Will keep us guessing.....

Just so everyone knows... we had our doctors' visit this past week to find out what we were having.. the baby choose not to partcipate in the event.. :) The ultrasound tech was leaning towards a girl but not sure at all. We go back in about 3 weeks to do another one. Everything was great though. Baby was right on schedule and totally healthy and mommy has only gained 2 pounds.. yeah for me.. :) Hope everyone is doing well.

Playing Dress Up!

Aleeza playing dress up. This is her new favorite thing to do.... so cute...

Finishing out Thanksgiving

Again, Sorry... what can I say.. Life is too busy. Soon I will post pictures of the bows the bows yes the many many bows that have been taking my time... Soon.. I will have all 600 done. :)
Rest of Thanksgiving... fun fun. We were able to spend time with two great grand parents. Here are some pictures from our visit.

Playing with Kenzie

Besides the animals the two cats and a dog which were a huge hit with Aleeza, her cousin Kenzie was the best. They played the entire time. Non stop. Aleeza had the best time with her. Here they are playing their famous duet.

Fun shots

Cousin Kenzie and Aunt Liana!

Picking out Christmas trees

We had fun finding the perfect one.

Moo cows

We took Aleeza down to the barn to see the cows. Now normally the girl is crazy over animals and loves to stop near our house and look at the cows. I don't know if since we were very close to them and they were very loud if that is what scared her but she was not happy. She finally warmed up the the idea but it took some time.

Thanksgiving day parade

This parade put Aleeza right to sleep. You can't really see her but she was all cuddled up in her cousins' chair and feel asleep. Very cute.

Back and blogging

Yet again sorry for the delay. Some of you have really been pushing me for those Thanksgiving pictures so here goes. We had a great time in New York. The weather was very warm much like here that week. Flying went really well and was much better than driving. Aleeza did amazing while flying. She kept calling the airplane the "birrrd". She would stare out the windown with Brandon and just poing at things. I don't think she had any idea how high we really were in the air. We were able to stay for almost a week. Poor Brandon was sick pretty much the entire day. He sat at the Thanksgiving meal on Thursday and just stared at all the food eating nothing. He is still not completely well but eating now. So needless to say the first part of the trip was not too much fun for him. We had a great time visiting with family members though. On Wednesday we just pretty much layed around and got some rest. Brandon and I drove to the "near by" mall so he could get a hair cut. Of course Thursday was Thanksgiving. We spent the evening at Great Grandmas house and Aleeza got to play with some cousins she had never really met before. On Friday we did the day after shopping for only about 3 hours. Brandon drove us.. :) We did find some good deals. Saturday was spent searching for the perfect Christmas tree and decorating it. Up there you can buy trees , the most beautiful trees for $25.00. Find it, saw it, haul it off. Very nice. Down here we are looking at like $75.00. Oh well... That night we did Christmas with the family. Aleeza is much more into gifts this year than last. We had fun. On Sunday we were able to go to church. This is the church Brandon excepted the Lord in almost 5 years ago. I love going back there and thanking the Lord for saving him. That church has a special place in my heart. Sunday afternoon Brandon was able to spend with Jesse and old friend. It was fun sharing old stories.. :) Mom Abbott got really sick Saturday night so Sunday was not much fun for her. She had planned this big meal and everything. Well, we did enjoy. Monday was spent with visiting Great Grandma one on one with Aleeza. Four generations. How special. We headed on Monday night. That is the trip in a nut shell. Enjoy the pictures.

Sick

This past Saturday and Sunday Brandon and I were down and out. Yesterday we had plans for lunch with my parents and had everything ready when I woke up pretty sick too. So... Grandpa was more than willing to come pick up Aleeza and she spent Sunday and Sunday night with them. Thanks so much!!! This was so nice for Brandon and I to be able to sleep whenever and just lay around. More baby would have been bored out of her mnd had she been here. Thankfully she has not gotten sick yet so that is good. I am feeling tons better but Brandon is still not back to normal yet. He is still feeling aching and feverish. Pray he will get better soon.

Also please pray for my Uncle Ernest. He is having some serious hip surgery today. Pray that everything will go smoothly and there will be no complications. We love you!

HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY UNCLE JARED!

I will call you! Have a great day!

HAPPY 85TH BIRTHDAY GREAT GRANDMOTHER POWELL!

Hope you have a great birthday!!! We love you! See you soon!

Getting caught up!

Sorry again for the delay in blogging.. everyday just seems to rush right by. We have a praise and a prayer request. Brandon has been able to secure another house to build. This is a blessing. We also have some people who are seriously looking at our house to buy. Please pray the Lord will work out His perfect will. We are open to whatever happens and had already decided to take it off the market till Spring.. we will see. ( they are coming back in a week to look again) Well, I secured our plane tickets to NY for Thanksgiving so we are getting ready for that trip. We are looking forward to a vacation and away from work. Also Grandma and grandpa Abbott have not seen Aleeza since she started walking so that will be fun. This past week was full of voting, Kindermusik, libary, house showings, a fun Holiday bazaar last night for Bows for best friends and many other adventures. Well, that about wraps up all of our week. Hope everyone is well.

Here is Aleeza with her good friend Beatrice Cheatham in the PJs!!!

Abbott Builders hires a new employee!

What dad?? you are kidding right?? Pumpkin heads can't build houses!!

Blessings from God

Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd , I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures:
He leads me beside the quiet waters.
He restores my soul:
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His name's sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for Your are with me Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me
You prepare a table before me in the precence of my enemies: You have annointed my head with oil , My cup overflows.
Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever!

Wow last night at church Pastor Minnick read this passage with us. What an encourgement. This past week the Lord has allowed me to see how He has truly directed my path and has lead me in the path of righeouness. The Lord has brought some very disturbing things to my attention this past week of people I have graduated with or friends I use to have. It is all of the Lord and His grace that I am not where they are or acting how they are. This is nothing I did on my own to get to where I am and as Christians we still have a lot to learn daily about living the way we should. There are plenty of days where I go about thinking how good I have it and how I must have gotten here and leave God completely out of the picture. It is only of His grace and mercy that he saved Brandon and directed our paths together. Brandon and I were discussing last night how blessed we are and how much the Lord, I do mean the Lord has given to us. We have a beautiful daughter and a child on the way. What more could anyone ask for than to be saved, living for God, doing what you know is right and a wonderful family. We take for granted how the Lord has spared our lives and how it is only by His grace that we are not living in some dark alley. My eyes were truly opened this week to thank the Lord daily for His provision for us and His loving grace and mercy on our lives and for our salvation. Brandon and I wouldn't be where we were either if it were not , not only for God first of all , but our parents. Both sets of parents trained us the way they should. It took Brandon a little longer:) but his parents faithfully prayed for him and that changed his life. Thank you to our parents. Also we would not be where we were if it was not for our church, Mount Calvary and the godly preaching we are exposed to every week. Thank the Lord for such an assembly of believers! We have so much to be greatful for. Let us not forget!

Too cute for her own wings!

Our Little Cutie and First Place Winner!!!

Pumpkin carving

Fall fun

Last night after a long night out at a "carnival" the kidos carved pumpkins. Marissa, Kendrea, Kyla, Devon and Kayla carved away. I watched. Supervised the young adults with the knives. Cleaned up their messes. Cleaned up their mess some more. Watched Devon get lamblasted by Marissa and Kayla with pumpkin guts. Cleaned up their mess some more. ( i think you are getting the idea) They made a mess... Actually Devon ended up cleaning up most of it.
Well, last night Grandma went with us to the Sleepy Hollow event. Aleeza had a wonderful time. We were said Daddy had to miss it. He is away on his hunting trip until Saturday night. But we were glad Grandma could come. Aleeza had fun petting the animals, playing some games and entering the costume contest, which by the way out of 25 contestants her age she won first place... like duh... she is the cutest. I bought this lady bug costume off ebay and about lost it when I put it on her. She was so adorable. We also got to ride George. ( the mini train) Thanks to Grandma for going with us and chasing Aleeza around. We had a very fun filled evening.

Love Daddy's shoes

Aleeza loves shoes.. typical girl. She tried putting on Brandon's work boots last night so he helped her out..

Love Love Love Ice Cream

We love to get out and go for a treat to Brewsters!!

Heart beat!

Just wanted to let everyone know that I heard the babies heart beat today. That was very exciting. I have some fun pictures to post of Aleeza soon.. hopefully tomorrow. Very long week and it is not even half way through.
Thanks for your prayers!

Blogging again!

It has been hard lately to keep up with blogging. There is so much that goes on every day but when Aleeza goes down, I have been so busy with accounting stuff for the buisness and ordering my thousands and thousands of ribbon that I need for my 600 bows for the Strasburg order. Yes they ordered 600... more to come I am sure. So I have a month and a half... should be fun. The Lord has been so good to us this past week. Brandon has been so busy with work and trying to finish up this house at the lake. The end is in sight... We can see it. I will post pictures of the house when it is done. Very very beautiful.. Brandon did a fabulous job!
Our house showed twice this past weekend.. not unusual. We have had no offers yet.. Please pray we will sell soon. Now that the holidays are approaching the market is really slowing down. We are just praying that the Lord will sell it soon.
Well, Aleeza is just growing like a weed.She got to spend the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa and had the best time. She came back all grown up. Her latest thing is purses.. she loves to carry them around and put them on her shoulder.. It is so cute. She is trying to say more and more words. Her latest and most favorite word is no.. everything is no... not that she says it in a bad way ... but she could be laughing and say no. We are working on what no really means... Here is Aleeza and Brandon being really silly. She loves loves loves this hat she is wearing. She will just walk around all day with it on her head... it is so cute.
This past weekend, I did the Back to Nature event and sold bows. Laura and Joy went with me. We had a good time.Not to much buisness but fun laughing at people.... There were quite some funny people up there.
Last night Alysia and Ethan and there two kids cam over. They are visiting from Michigan looking to move down here.. we hope they do!!
Aleeza had the best time with Ryker and wanted to hold Leila so bad. So we did give her a little chance to hold the baby. We would find Ryker and Aleeza just playing away in her room. It was so sweet. Leila was really enjoying Aleeza holding her.. really!! Leila was my model for the night with my korker bow... way too cute!!

Answer to the previous post

Are you kidding me?? One of Devon's friends found this picture and thought it looked just like Aleeza. The little girl does resemble her but we would never let her kiss let alone lick a pig. Let's just say Brandon flipped his lid when he saw the picture until Devon and I explained to him. Quite funny!!! Have a great day!

Would we really let her do this?

This picture was recently taken of this little girl..... Aleeza or not Aleeza.. you decide!!