Christmas Day!

I'm too old to get up this early!!!

Enjoying the presents!

Dad had to hold him back!

Chloe having fun with the toys she got!

Peace on Earth and in the Rose Home!

Christmas Eve 2007

In our home we open a gift or two on Christmas Eve! Here are some for you and a picture of the tree BEFORE it is all torn upon Christmas Morning! The reason there are no lights on the top is because we have blinking lights and I could never get them all at once!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Merry Christmas from the Roses!

We wish you a very Merry Christmas. May the Lord bless you with an even deeper love than you have ever experienced.

Russ, Lisa and Jason

Tonight!

Russ played his first concert with the Capitol Heights Band and the Montgomery Chorale sang with them....it was a great concert! Jason sat and stared at "dad" the whole time!
Tis' the season!
www.capitolsounds.org

It's FREAKIN 82 DEGREES TODAY!!!!!!!

82 DEGREES???? December 11th? As I looked at the weather...this a.m. the whole USA has had an artic blast and there down in the right hand corner.....Alabama and a few others.....big ol' sun and yellow and orange colors!! I have the air conditioner on at home today and in my car! We are having a Christmas party and I am wearing sandals and a shell today! ???????

Lisa

The Coming of Christmas(Advent)

Read the following story and be reminded of the unexpected ways God's love appears to us.........

Will the Christ Child Come?
Written by Gaye Willis

One Christmas we had an interesting experience that I would like to share.
Halfway through December we were doing the regular evening things when there
was a knock at the door. We opened it to find a small package with a
beautifulceramic lamb inside. We looked at the calendar and realized that the 12
days of Christmas were beginning! We waited excitedly for the next night's
surprise and only then, with the gift of a matching shepherd, did we realize that
the lamb was part of a nativity set.

Each night we grew more excited to see what piece we would receive.
Each was exquisitely beautiful. The kids kept trying to catch the givers
as we slowly built the scene at the manger and began to focus on Christ's
birth.

On Christmas Eve, all the pieces were in place, all but the Baby Jesus.
My 12-year-old son really wanted to catch our benefactors and began
to devise all kinds of ways to trap them. He ate dinner in the minivan,
watching and waiting, but no one came. Finally, we called him in to go
through our family's Christmas Eve traditions. But before the kids went to bed, we
checked the front step - - no Baby Jesus! We began to worry that my son
had scared them off. My husband suggested that maybe they dropped the Jesus
and there wouldn't be anything coming. Somehow, something was missing that
Christmas Eve.

There was a feeling that things weren't complete. The kids went to bed and
before I went to bed, I again checked to see if the Jesus had come - - no, the
doorstep was empty. In our family, the kids can open their stockings when they want to, but they have to wait to open any presents until Dad wakes up. So one by one they woke up very early and I also woke up to watch them. Even before they opened their stockings, each child checked to see if perhaps during the night the Baby Jesus had come.

Missing that piece of the set seemed to have an odd effect. At least it
changed my focus. I knew there were presents under the tree for me and I was
excited to watch the children open their gifts, but first on my mind was the feeling
of waiting for the ceramic Christ Child. We had opened just about all of the
presents when one of the children found one more for me buried deep beneath the limbs
of the tree.

He handed me a small package from my former visiting teaching companion.
This sister was somewhat less-active in the church. I had been her visiting
teacher for a couple of years and then, when she was asked to be a visiting teacher,
she requested to go with me. I had learned over time they didn't have much for Christmas, so that their focus was on the children. It sounded like she didn't get many gifts to open, so I had always given her a small package -- new dish towels, the next year's Relief Society lesson manual -- not much, but something for her to open.

I was touched when at church on the day before Christmas, she had given me
this small package, saying it was just a token of her love and appreciation. As
I took off the bow, I remembered my friendship with her and was filled with
gratitude for knowing her and for her kindness and sacrifice in this giving me a gift. But as the paper fell away, I began to tremble and cry. There in the small brown box was the Baby Jesus! He had come!

I realized on that Christmas Day, that Christ will come into our lives in
ways that we don't expect. The spirit of Christ comes into our hearts as we serve one another. We had waited and watched for Him to come, expecting the dramatic "knock at the door and scurrying of feet" but He came in a small, simple package that represented service, friendship, gratitude and love.

This experience taught me that the beginning of the true spirit of Christmas
comes as we open our hearts and actively focus on the Savior. But we will
most likely find Him in the small and simple acts of love, friendship and service
that we give to each other. This Christmas I want to feel again the joy of knowing
that Christ is in our home. I want to focus on loving and serving. More than that, I want to open my heart to Him all year that I may see Him again.

"She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins."
Matthew 1:21 NIV

Osmond-mania!

When I was a little girl..well..about 12...I began a crush relationship with a boy named DONNY Osmond. For those who knew me back then, my walls were covered with his pictures and I KNEW we were destined to be married. Okay, so I was obcessed! I was of course crushed when Donny married...For years, I followed the Osmonds and their careers and now after 50 years in show business, they grew from a family of 9 kids to over 125 kids, grandkids, in laws and great grand kids! GO OSMONDS

The Osmonds then and now!

Steve Green

 

I had the opportunity to meet one of my favorite recording artists, Steve Green, this last week at the AL State Baptist Convention. He is a sweetie! Go to www.stevegreenministries.org for more information on Steve G. Steve came out of the Gaither Vocal Band a few years back and his great, classical voice is warming to the heart!

Lisa

Steve Green!!

 

Steve Green is one of my favorite recording artists and I got the chance to meet him in Mobile this last week at the AL State Baptist Convention....of course it was really late after the concert and we both looked a little haggard! He is a great guy. Check out his website at: www.
Lisa

To Our Son Jason

The first picture we ever had of our son...


Look how much he has grown!!

To Our Son.......

Not flesh of my flesh
Nor bone of my bone
But still miraculously
My own.

Never forget
For a single moment
You didn’t grow under my heart
You grew in it.

Fleur Conkling Heygilen

Happy Adoption Day

We are very excited to be celebrating our official 3rd anniversary being a family!
God is good!

Things Jason has accomplished since 2004:
Reading at grade level
Above grade level in spelling
At grade level in Math
Went from a special ed classroom to a regular classroom
Has manners
Thinks about others more
Helping special needs kids at his school..he is a "buddy" to Dakota who is Autistic
Grown 7 inches
Is a GREAT soccer player
Learning to be a "team player" at home
Doesn't curse anymore
Went on his first mission trip this past summer
Went to camp by himself
Hasn't had bad rage/tantrums in a while
Can cook mac and cheese by himself
Had a summer job this past summer
Behaves in class

There is much more too! God is good!

Thanks for all your support friends and family..but mostly the Lord Jesus for healing his life and stretching ours....

Friends and Family Join in the Fun!

Family and Friends Join in the Fun!

Alfalfa RisesAgain!

We went to a Wild West show at a church and they had lots of candy and games! We had a good family night! Enjoy! Everyone thought Jason's costume was clever and cute!
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Fall is Here...finally!

We found a great looking red leaf today which was a great little gift from the Lord!
AND....Jason is getting ready for Halloween with his Gingerbread Halloween house he and Nana made!
HAPPY FALL!

Nana and Gdad's visit!

We had a blast when Russ' parents(known as Nana and Gdad) visited Alabama this week!
Here are a "few" pictures that we took. Hopefully Nana will send some soon and we can put them on! We went to Jim and Nick's and had AL BBQ; Jason and Russ' parents took the Hyundai plant tour and watched a car being made; went to the FAMOUS Bass and Pro Shop; visited Jason's school and Nana made her famous Mac and Cheese....yum!
They were also kind enough to bring the rest of our belongings down to us from NY!

Also, notice NYC Russ on the riding mower! That was fun to watch!(-;

Some interesting thoughts........

I have heard some things that you may or may not find interesting.

*There have been 681 tornado watches in AL this year.
*300+ tornado warnings...

On another note...
There have been 34 homicides in Montgomery this year; 15 in NYC. hmmmmmmmmmmm

On a more spiritual note:
Fanny Crosby, the famous hymnwriter, wrote over 9000 hymns in her lifetime. She was sending at least 3 songs a week to her Brooklyn publisher. She was blind most of her life!

Some information to ponder!
Lisa

On a brighter note...our friend Jill had a baby this month....Addison. She was a little early but is doing fine. She may get to go home tomorrow night.
Yea to Jill and her hubby for creating such a beautiful little girl!

September 11th....

Well, we had a memorable September 11th here in Montgomery . Our good friend, Brian O'Neill who is a retired NYPD cop came down and spoke for our 9-11 fundraiser banquet for Montgomery's Police and Fire Chaplaincy. He was a celebrity that weekend....he spoke at several places and was on the the news etc. He did a great job and we got to spend some extra time with him as he came down early(the 8th)and we had time to visit.

Our other good friend, Kyle Matthews sang for us at the dinner and concert. He is a gem too! If you want some really really good music...go to his website at www.kylematthews.com and order some! You can hear snippets from each song. We love Kyle!

Enjoy some of the photos....








Don't forget to pray for the hundreds of families and friends whose loved one died that day. It is still hard. Go to www.dearallofyou.com for a great video to remember...Pray for your local public safety officers as they serve and protect our cities. Without them, we would all be in a heap of trouble! (-;

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