An "Almost" Slumber Party

When our children turn nine, they have a birthday party with their friends. Hayley will turn nine in April. We knew if we waited until then to have her party we would not have been in Texas very long and were afraid she might not have any friends to invite! We asked Hayley if she would like to have an early celebration with her Kingsport friends. She thought an early party was a great idea. Being in the midst of our move I wasn't up for making a meal, planning crafts and games, etc. We decided to have an "almost" slumber party.

Hayley's friends arrived around 5:00 p.m. on a Friday evening. I then took Hayley and her 6 friends to Pizza Hut for dinner. I enjoyed listening to the girls talk with each other. They had a great time trying to think of all the jokes they knew. After dinner we returned to our house for cake and ice cream. The girls then changed into their pajamas and watched Hayley open her gifts. The final activity of the evening was snuggling in sleeping bags and watching Kit, one of the American Girl movies. The girls were all picked up by 9:30. The girls were able to enjoy the "activities" of a slumber party, but everyone went home to sleep in their own beds.

Christmas Festivities

We thoroughly enjoyed being "home" for Christmas. We were able to participate in many of our favorite activities and even host one. Each of the girls had a special time with friends while we were home. Ashley attended a movie and went out to lunch thanks to the organization of a dear friend. I let Emily invite friends over to our house. We decided to have a gingerbread house decorating party. In addition to the gingerbread houses we also make some other holiday crafts. I think the girls had a great time.

A few days later we attended one of our favorite Christmas activities...cookie decorating at the Saulsburys. There were icing and sprinkles everywhere! The older kids took up the challenge to see how many decorations one cookie could hold. The younger children wanted to lick the knives used for applying the icing. Even though the time was messy and a little chaotic, it was a lot of fun. Wonderful memories made with wonderful friends!

Before leaving California, the children had begun practicing for the Christmas program at the church we were attending. They were disappointed that we would not be there for the performance, so they made up their own program. They presented it to Brian and I a few days before Christmas.

The girls also played several pieces on the piano. Andrew decided he wanted to participate too!

Back On-line

Greetings from Sugar Land, TX! Our family moved to TX at the end of January. We have been here for a little over a month. The boxes are unpacked and life is beginning to return to normal. Hopefully we will have another 5 weeks of "normal" before baby #8 arrives. I have lots of posts to catch up on but am currently unable to upload any pictures. I'll do my best to get the blog up-to-date in the next few weeks.

Taking a break

This will be my last post for awhile. Our family will be moving back to Tennessee on November 1st. We are looking forward to time with our family and friends. We are also looking forward to worshipping again at Westminster. We will be in Tennessee for about ten weeks.

In mid-January we will be moving to Sugar Land, Texas for the next phase of Brian's work project. Sugar Land is a southwestern suburb of Houston. Unless the project gets cancelled, we will be there 2-3 years. This is not the course I would have chosen for our family, but it is the one God has placed us on. We look forward to seeing how He might use us for His glory in Sugar Land.

I have struggled with the thoughts of being away from family and friends for so long. A dear friend recently sent my a quote by the 19th century Christian author Elizabeth Prentiss. Here is the quote along with commentary by Christian radio host Nancy Leigh DeMoss.

Nancy Leigh DeMoss: When she was in her fifties, the 19th-century writer Elizabeth Prentiss found out her husband had gotten a new job. She’d have to be uprooted from her home in New York and move to Chicago. It meant leaving a lot of friends, and the move would be dangerous to her fragile health.

Here’s what Elizabeth wrote in a letter to a friend:
“Place and position have next to nothing to do with happiness. We can be wretched in a palace, radiant in a dungeon. Perhaps this heartbreaking is exactly what we need to remind us that we are pilgrims and strangers on earth.”

Nancy: Maybe you’re facing a big, difficult change. Remember, true joy doesn’t come from our circumstances; it comes from our relationship with the Lord. He can help you be radiant today, even if you feel like you’re in a dungeon.

I wouldn't call Texas a dungeon, but I do pray God will help me to be radiant no matter what my circumstances. If you are facing difficult circumstances, may this quote help you remember where our true joy comes from.

With all the moving we will be doing in the next few months, I'm going to take a break from my blog. Look for more Joyner news in February.

The Haircut

Andrew had his first haircut about 3 months ago. It was a terrible experience. He screamed the whole time. Because of the traumatic experience (for him and for me), I waited a long time to get it cut again. Andrew's hair has some natural wave and as you can tell from these pictures, it had become quite curly.






I took Andrew and the other boys to get their hair cut the day before Andrew's birthday. This time he sat perfectly still and only cried a little at the end. I couldn't believe it was the same child. I must say he looks a lot better now. The pictures in the birthday post reflect his new look.

Double Birthday

On Saturday, October 11 th we celebrated two birthdays at our house. Andrew turned 1 on the 11th and Luke turned 7 on the 12th. Luke didn't mind having a shared celebration, and I was grateful. He chose a Batman theme for the party. We had cheeseburgers, hashbrown casserole and baked beans for dinner. Dessert was a Batman cake with chocolate ice cream.

This was Andrew's first experience feeding himself cake. At first he squished his fingers in it. He wasn't quite sure how to get it to his mouth, so at one point he actually put his head down on his plate!


He finally got the hang of it.


Luke received a wooden race car to paint, a football, a soccer ball, a Buzz Lightyear and a set of UT football players.

Andrew received clothes, shoes, bib, sippy cups and a toy. I told Brian he probably had the most boring first birthday of any of our children. When you are one and have six other siblings, you just don't need much. I hope he will experience the same thing with his own family some day.

Andrew is 10 Months

Andrew turned 10 months old on August 11th. It's hard to believe he will be having a birthday soon. (It's even harder to believe that we will be celebrating it in California.) He started crawling a few weeks ago. He now loves to crawl around exploring the house, playing with whatever he can get his hands on and searching for crumbs! I should probably buy him some knee pads as our entire downstairs is tile.

Andrew loves his walker. He can move it (fast) with a purpose. The other day I watched him chase Hayley around the island!

Kathryn enjoys helping Andrew with his bottle.

Here are a some pictures I took of the kids before we left for church this morning.