Abigail's First Birthday & Storm Update

Since the ice storm last Thursday evening, hundreds of thousands of homes in this area have been without power. Please pray for all of the electricity, cable, and phone workers who are doing repairs... along with the many families who are trying to keep warm. Thankfully, little by little, power is being restored.

Jeff, Tracy, Tressa and Abigail came over to my house on Friday to stay over since they had no electricity (therefore, no heat) at their home. The challenge? Abigail's first birthday party and brunch was scheduled to be held at their home the very next morning. The solution? Since their power still wasn't restored by then, everyone was called and asked to come on over to my house.

Abi is very funny, and her eyes are so expressive. You can usually tell what she's feeling with just one glance. She's becoming better and better with using sign language for food, milk, all done, more, etc. And, she is cuter than ever! We can't wait until she says more words. Abi's life basically centers around being amused by her family (especially her sister, Tressa) and eating (and yelling for) CHEERIOS! So, Jeff and Tracy thought that Cheerios would be a great party theme for this first birthday! We think all of the church folks, the children and their parents had a fun time!

Here's the birthday girl who is getting ready to devour her cake. What a cutie!
Tracy is soooo good at decorating cakes. This one is quite plain compared to most of her creations, but we think this expressed the theme very well. This was a very delicious half yellow, half chocolate cake. And, yes...(because I know most of you must be wondering), that bowl is made out of cake. It is covered with red icing, the milk part is white icing, the cheerios were thrown on top, and Abi's spoon was inserted for the final touch. Pip pip cheerio, Abigail!

This is definitely the "AFTER" shot. Abi sure LOVED that icing!! YUMMY!

After the party wrapped up, we had an enjoyable day resting around the house, trying to stay warm, and watching movies. Because our church building was without power on Sunday, we met at a local funeral home (right by our pastor's house) for worship and heard a great sermon on the responsibilities of a father and husband. We weren't able to hold our usual noon "potluck" meal because most of the members still didn't have power to be able to cook, so we drove to Highland to enjoy a delicious lunch together at Farmer's Restaurant. You should have seen how many tables were strewn together. What a bunch! Jeff and Tracy were relieved to discover that their power was restored, so they left my house. It was kind of sad for me as I enjoyed having the company for a few days, but I know they were relieved to finally go home. We also received the good news that Sister Elaine and Brother Tom, Sister Wandena and family, and Sister Barb and Brother Paul all received their power back late Saturday or late Sunday. We're still praying for Brother Alan and his parents, my boss Phillip and his wife Shelley, and so many others we know from church, from work, and around the area who don't have power.