Christmas Extravaganza!

Christmas is always fun but its even better when you get to watch little people experience it!  They bring extra wonder and excitement to the season that us grown ups have all too often forgot.

Due to busy circumstances the tree was not up yet when Chris and I got to Mom's, so we got to help pick it out!  I was really excited about doing this because for the first time in our married life we did not put up a tree this year. Since it was so close to Christmas the pickn's were pretty slim at the place we usually buy trees but we were instructed to check a new place down the road.  They still had some beautiful trees at a better price, but the owner was now where to be found!  Eventually a neighbor came and helped us and we were off with our tree!

Tying the tree down...

Hannah forgot her coat but was still gorgeous!

Once the tree was home it had to wait a few days to be decorated since little brother's emergency happened shortly after we brought it home.

In preparation for Christmas we made a trip to town to get all the fixin's for breakfast and meals to come, along with some special things for Christmas.  During this trip Daniel found some decorations he wanted to contribute to the tree.  Once home again it was time to decorate!  Since we had lots of fragile ornaments, I passed them out one at a time for the younger ones to put on the tree.

Finding just the right spot...

Dan with one of his contributions...

Mom and Bubba enjoying the show...

Dad getting Daniel's ornaments open.

 Christmas morning brought the excitement only a nine year old waiting on Santa could convey.  "Can't you wait?" was Hannah's quote of the week leading up to Christmas in reference to not being able to wait for Santa to come!  The kids kept asking us what we were going to get for Pandora, we assured them several times that we wouldn't need to get her anything since she would be excited about all the boxes and paper... we were right!  As soon as the first box was open she climbed in and made herself comfortable, that ended up being her spot through the rest of present opening!

Lining up youngest to oldest...

First sight of all the presents!

The first present to be opened!

Alex was excited about this movie!

Pandora dived in as soon as Hannah was done!

Deborah was sooo excited about this game!

Deborah and Mom often listen to Dave Ramsey's talk show while washing dishes, as such Deborah is a huge fan and really wanted to try one of the games Dave created.  Apparently you see who can get out of debt first, the first one out gets to shout 'I'm debt free!'

While doing some Christmas shopping on ebay, Mom and Dad discovered that folks were selling some toys that they both played with as kids!  Johnny and Jane West with their horses!  They figured out that they were probably playing with them during the same years when they were kids and hadn't even thought of each other yet.  For me this was just one more conformation that God made my parents for each other!  They decided to get some of these toys for the kids to play with, partly just because it was fun and brought back memories but mostly because they have been trying to find modestly dressed dolls for the girls to play with.

Beth liked her flying pig!

 

 

 

 

 

Some very special horses!

Dad and Granddaddy guarding some presents!

 Granddaddy coming to watch us kids open presents on Christmas morning is a really neat tradition that started several years ago, I'm not really sure when!  It is always fun to have him over and share in the excitement of the morning, and breakfast after the present explosion!

Sleepy present openers!

 It was so nice to be with the family over Christmas!  I got a special present the night before, a fresh snowfall!  Yes, I know I'm kind of obsessed, but snow on Christmas Eve is just so cool!  Now on to play!

Poor Brother...

Mom always jokes that I bring the chaos, I just think Gos waits til I'm there so extra hands are available to help!  Maybe one day there won't be such huge drama when I come to visit.

The drama this trip fell on my youngest brother.  The day after we got to Mom and Dad's his stomach began to hurt.  He sometimes has stomach issues so we didn't think too much about it, but it continued and intensified through the night until Mom decided he needed to go to the emergency room the next day.  We were supposed to go to one of the family's parties, so Mom headed to the hospital and we loaded up everyone else.  It was nice to visit but we were all distracted with concern for little brother.  Alex however was fun to watch since he has never been to an American Christmas.  He was so excited when he got his present and did a great job thanking everyone for it, once it was open I don't think he put down his new game until we got home again!

Apparently at the hospital they began running tests on Bubba to figure out what was going on.  He wasn't running a fever and the blood/urine tests came back fine.  They eventually did a CT scan to be sure he didn't have intestinal blockage.  This made us all nervous since we have had family members with severe reactions to the dye used in the procedure.  Fortunately he did not experience a reaction, but the CT scan didn't reveal much either.  They ultimately decided to remove his appendix since nothing else was showing up.

Once the decision was made the operation happened fast, he was in OR within 40 minutes and finished about 45 minutes after that.  When he woke up later he felt much better and he was able to come home the next day.  Unfortunately the pain killers he was on upset his stomach, which hurt his incision due to him clench his ab muscles.  The poor guy really wanted Mom or Dad there as much as possible so Chris and I did as much as we could to help in their absence.  Once we got him off the pain killer, and it got out of his system, he started improving quickly and was up and around in a couple days.

While he still can't lift stuff, he was well enough to travel by Christmas and to help wrap presents Christmas eve.  Near New Year Day he got a gun he'd been saving for and was doing well enough to go hunting with it! Praise God for doctors and His healing hand on little brother this Christmas season!

My husband the Lumberjack!

The shavings stained his pants green!

Both Chris and I always look forward to the wood stove at my parents house.  It is so nice to sit beside the stove and just 'let your bones bake' as my Dad says.  In addition to enjoying the wood stove Chris was looking forward to helping fuel the wood stove!  After learning how to cut wood a couple summers ago Chris has been a huge fan.  He tells me he enjoys the sense of accomplishment he gets when cutting wood, he is able to tangibly see his progress and enjoy the fruit of his labor.

There were three hedgeapple trees down at the other farm so Chris and the boys worked on it soon after we arrived at Mom and Dad's.  Hedgeapple is really good to burn in the wood stove because it burns hot and for a longer time than many other woods, but this quality is derived from how hard the wood is which means it is also harder to split!  Fortunately, most of the tree was small enough in diameter that Chris only needed to cut in into appropriate lengths for the stove.  After Christmas the weather warmed up and the ground was too soft for them to work at the other farm, so Dad helped take down a tree near the house that was rotting out in the center.  After a full day of practice and work with the chain saw Chris got to 'graduate' to a new chain, this made his second day easier until the new chain became loose and he had to switch to one of the other saws.  In spite of sore muscles I think this was one of the highlights of Chris' trip home!

Splitting with Alex...

After the snow melted...

The boys stacked and took brush away.

Alex helping stack.

Nothing as cute as a Beagle pup!

Jill couldn't hold still while she had her toy!

Mom and Dad recently got a pair of Beagle puppies for the boys to go rabbit hunting with.  They had some Tennessee Walkers for them to go raccoon hunting with before but they got too big for the kids to handle and were returned to the sellers.  The idea with the beagles is they will stay small and easy to handle even when grown up.  Additionally they are really friendly and will make great family dogs.  The trick is to keep them from running off!

Beagles love to go hunting on their own and, unless they have a good relationship with their handlers, will refuse to come when called once on a trail.  To try and form a good relationship with the dogs and the family these dogs get something almost no other Garland dog gets, to live inside!  The idea is that they will be around the family enough to like them and hopefully listen to them more.  The advantage for the rest of us is that we get to see and play with them quite often!  They are a brother and sister, the boy's name is Jack and the girl is (you guessed it!) Jill.  Dad has always felt it good to keep hunting dog's names to one syllable so you can give them commands more quickly.

Mmmm, Rope!

Hannah, our biggest dog lover by far, has taken much of the responsibility for the pups by letting them in and out, feeding them and cleaning up after them too.  And boy do they love playing with her!  Near Christmas we got them some rope toys, and even though there were two of them they found it much more fun to fight over one or the other.  I don't think any serious injuries have been sustained, but they sure sound serious when they fight!  Even though she is smaller Jill is definitely the boss and more vocal.  Pandora was not a fan and fled to safety whenever the pups were in the kitchen!  Hope you enjoy these pics as much as we enjoyed the pups!

Hannah took refuge when the pups got rambunctious!

Jack was itchy!

My Toy!

Jack the chunker!

Snow Part Two!

The kids were so excited about the snow and ready to have fun!  Here is some photographic documentation of the snow day!  Unfortunately Andrew was sick (more on that later) and couldn't join us...

Old Buddy Bill!

Chris is prepared for the snow!

Chris and Hannah on the toboggan!

Dan is getting really good at Snow Boarding!

Alex on the disc!

Back up the hill...

Dan is actually snowboarding, he looks so natural...

Chris strapping Hannah in for a try...

Deb giving the snow board a try...

Snow Ball Fight! Every time Alex tried to use a shield he became the target!

More snow balls!

Watch out!

Ready, Aim, Fire!

Snow Angels!  Alex didn't get it...

Frosty XXL

I tried to copy one of Calvin's creations, but you can't see it well.

The head was a little too big...

The attack of the cute brigade!

Finished Frosty!

SNOW!!!

The old apple tree...

Feel free to laugh or moan, but weeks before heading to Mom and Dad's I began to pray for lots of snow during our trip North!  I think snow is one of the most beautiful parts of the changing of the seasons as ordained by our Lord!  Just think, no two snow flakes in the history of the world are the same (just like no two people are ever exactly the same)!  That is so hard for me to wrap my mind around, especially since conditions must be just right in order for snow to fall in the first place.  One would think similar conditions would produce a similar product, but our God is so much bigger and more creative than that!

I was on the lookout for the first signs of snow as soon as we hit Atlanta on our way North, but didn't see any until north of Chattanooga.  We just saw patches until getting close Lexington, that's when the ice started!  I'm sure it caused problems for folks when it fell, but the way it coated everything along the road was just gorgeous!  It turned the briars in the fences into glazed works of art and the trees into crystal statues.  Once north of Lexington the ice disappeared and was replaced by more and more snow. Thankfully the roads were great all the way, even up the hill!

Puppy prints in the snow...

On our third day we got a fresh snow and though I didn't think it was possible my excitement increased!  I had almost forgotten how fresh snow outlines all of the branches on a tree and all the clusters on a bush.  It is almost like God planned for the snow to enhance the architecture of the trees while them seem so naked and barren to some people.  On our way to Grandpa's I just kept drinking in the sight of the snow and got even more of a treat to see the rocks and boulders in the creeks highlighted by the snow and surrounded by the dark water... so yes I'm rambling, did I tell you I was excited about the snow?!?

Here are some of the sights I was able to savor while at Mom and Dad's...

Old Ice Man

I loved how snow sat on the fences.

The hay-barn and corral.

One of the old tobacco barns...

Along the drive-way...

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The bat wing bush hog

One of the discs.

 

The First Committiee Meeting (Que dramatic music!)

Shortly after Christmas my first committee meeting was scheduled.  In order to understand the significance of this you need a bit of background information.  I have spent the majority of the semester, in essence, preparing for this meeting.  I have been looking up papers to confirm that this experiment hasn't been done before, what other experiments have been done that are similar, learning about peaches in Florida, looking up around nitrogen rates around the country, determining if zero nitrogen should be used in my study, looking up and making possible field designs... and all the other details that I could collect that might come up in my meeting.  

Additionally, I was creating a working hypothesis, which included my purpose and plans for the study, expected out comes, design details and measurements to be taken.  This continued to grow as I found new information.

Also during this semester I have been searching for people to be on my committee.  I needed three people from my department and one person outside my department in addition to my adviser.  This was especially intimidating to me since I am new to this department and university.  I worked my way through faculty member's pages until I had a pretty sizable list ready to run past my adviser. She helped me weed it down to the best options, with some backups because a lot of the people I picked are very busy.  Once chosen I need to meet with these members, giving them a mini-proposal of the study, and see if they were interested in being on my committee.  To my great amazement all of my first choices agreed!  All but one of the potential members was very positive and excited at the prospect of my project... one of the members expressed concerns that I had enough to make a PhD quality project.  This really concerned me but my adviser counseled me not to worry too much until after my first meeting.

On top of all of this I was trying to lay out potential classes for my next four years.  To earn a PhD UF requires students earn 90 credit hours, potentially 30 hours from my Masters could transfer so I was under the impression that I had to come up with 60 hours of classes.  Due to this I combed the listings and had a sizable list together before the meeting, but I was unsure of how many research credits I was allowed.

The meeting came and I was FREAKED OUT!  I had combed over all of my information multiple times but I still didn't know what to expect... and you all know me and planning!  Somehow I managed to miss sending the Working Hypothesis to one of the members so I ended putting the whole thing up on the dry erase board.  This proved beneficial for discussing all of the questions we had however, since we could all see what one another was talking about.  Introductions were made, and as I put the information up on the board the questions started.  Fortunately Mercy (my adviser) answered most of the questions, I was told by my friend Rachel that advisers will continue to help you through questions and even answer for you if you are unsure until your qualifying examinations, from that point on you are on your own.  The scariest question for me came about half way through when one of the members asked if my project was PhD quality, to my relief no one agreed with her and thought my project was completely acceptable for a PhD!  After discussing numbers, rates, designs, tree ages, measurements to be taken and seemingly a million other details we came to my class list.  I was surprised and excited to learn that technically, if your committee approved, you could take all of your credit hours in research and never sit in a classroom your whole PhD program!  Obviously they wanted me to take a few classes, but if they are all offered at the times promised I should be finished with classes the Fall of 2012!

With a few changes to my Working Hypothesis, a new field design and a whole different plan for my class schedule I left my first committee meeting greatly relieved!

This first semester has been a great deal more stressful than I anticipated, especially since we are pushing to get the study planted this Spring I pretty much need a lot of my Literature Review finished and my whole design and plans for my study done.  While the Lit. Review isn't written, I feel confident through the research I have done to move forward with this project.  I know I've gotten a lot doe this semester, but I came out of it much more drained than I anticipated for my first semester.  Part of the difficulty comes from my desire to be in control and on top of things, and I really didn't feel that way this whole semester as far as my project was concerned, I always felt behind, and it overwhelmed me on several occasions.

Now, at a point where I can both look back at last semester and forward to the next, I am bracing myself for another busy season of planning, installing, planting, fertilizing, writing and recording, but trying to acknowledge the progress I've made so as not to despair.  Hopefully after this Spring my years will get into more of a rhythm and will return at least my illusion of control!  

One thing this semester has pointedly reminded me of is God's provision through my lack of control.  You'd think I'd have learned my lesson by now, but apparently this is a hard one for me to grasp!  The Lord is continually putting me in situations where I need to depend on Him, and reminding me that He will always pull through on my behalf and provide as He promised.  This year has certainly been lesson after lesson in trust... and as my Blog title reminds me; Trust is still a work in progress in my life!