Iraq Veteran Shares His Message...Dear Mr. Obama

JUST CLICK THE TITLE OF THE POST TO HEAR THE MESSAGE.

Mermaids, Motorcycles and Midnight Oh My....

Here are some shots from when we visited Nana & Papa. We had fun hanging out outside in the beautiful weather and just relaxing with family. In the above shot the kids were finishing off their afternoon popsicle and Kate was just gearing up for a ride on her "hog." She loves to ride on the motorcyle at Nana & Papa's because it plays music and that fits in perfect with her need to dance!!

Sam is always loving on Kate and squeezing the you know what out of her neck. She is usually a good sport, except when the hug becomes more of a "choke hold." He says, "It's ok princess, I love you."

Sam loves my parents cat, Midnight, and quite honestly the cat loves him right back. It is funny because Midnight is not one to love on just anyone. They have definitely bonded. I am allergic to cats, so this is the ONLY cat Sam will bond with:)

Here's Kate with her serious game face...she looks ready to ride.


My First Mermaid!!!

In Celebration of a Life Lived for God...X.L. McMahan March 30, 1919-September 16, 2008

Last week our family lost a precious man, my papa, X. L. McMahan. Yes, that is his real name, believe it or not. His parents gave him initials for a name that stood for nothing. I always thought to myself as a child that was the oddest name, but I as a I grew up and began to know the man behind the name, it turned out to be just one of the things that made him unique. A little background on my papa I feel is necessary. He became my papa, and my mom's father, in February of 1975. Valentine's day to be exact. My grandmother was widowed at an early age when her husband, Loran Brannon, whom I am named after, died from a heart attack. My grandmother was left as a single mom to raise my mom, of which she did a fabulous job, if I do say so myself. It took many years, for my grandmother to decide to date again, but when she did, she did so only after receiving permission from my mom. My mom wholeheartedly said yes, because she knew that would not only make her dad happy, but that her mom would have the chance to live out her life possibly with someone and love again! X.L., papa, had also been widowed at a much too early age, when his wife Ruth, died of cancer. Before her death, she made X.L. promise her that he would marry again and live his life fully. My papa said that there was no way anyone would make him as happy as she did, and Ruth stopped him and said that she knew someone whom she would pray he could find someone like and that was my grandmother, Margaret. Amazingly enough over time, my papa, searched out my grandmother and asked her out on a date and the rest is history. It makes my heart smile when I think that God worked so beautifully a plan that two people could find love twice and not just any love, but a godly love that left impressions on anyone they met, but especially the amazing legacy they left for me and my sister. Once they were married my papa became a part of our family and we never once felt the "blood is thicker" concept. He treated my mom as if he had been her biological father all along. He was an unselfish, loving, caring & wise man who brought joy to all of our lives daily. He unabashedly loved my grandmother and you would often hear him say to her "you are my bride, and I love you." It was so sweet watching them hold hands and travel the world together as if they were the youngest of lovers. He was a man of God and would always start his prayers with the powerful yet simple phrase, "thank you God for the privilege of prayer." Our family will forever be changed by him and our lives will be enriched with the memories and legacy he has left behind. He is now with our loving God, serving Him in heaven, as he fully served Him here on earth. We love you Papa!!

Dancing with the Fiddlers

I will be the first to admit that this video wears me out just watching it...I trimmed down the video, this went on for awhile!! He loves to dance more than just about any 2 year old I know, especially to this silly Mother Goose video that we have. Usually Kate joins right in on the action, but for some reason today she was none to interested. Anyway, the video is just a snip-it of how excited Sam gets when this goes on (usually during dinner preparation time.) Notice the slight trance-like spasm he has...who knows???? Be sure to turn off the music player on the blog first to get the full effect. Hope everyone is well...

Labor Day Lake Time

We've been Meaning to Call...

Well August is gone...can't quite believe that, but I have been meaning to catch everyone up on the goings on of the DeFoor house, but just haven't settled into the blogging mode recently. Most nights when the house gets quiet, I aim directly for the bed and dreamland as fast as I can. Lately, I have been wondering and thinking that maybe all this blogging stuff isn't for me, that maybe it is just silly to be typing away about our "normal" lives and that nobody really wants to read this stuff, but then I realize that our life is filled with fun, silly, complicated, strange, interesting, challenging and encouraging memories that I don't want to lose. And rest assured they would be lost if I didn't have some form of documenting them, because my brain is as good as gone most days as soon as my head hits the pillow. So......thanks for sticking around and being a part of our "normal" world. If we could pick up the phone and call everyone daily we would, but for now:

Sam says "One two buckle my shoe, three four shut the door...etc." or "Do you know the muffin man?" This is often what is echoing around our house each day all day....the kid loves to sing!

Kate says, "No, No, No" or "Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma ........."