Haddon makes a Profession of Faith!

Last night while getting tucked into bed Haddon told Daddy he wanted to be saved. Daddy talked to him for a while to make sure he understood what that meant. Then he knelt with Daddy and prayed, asking Jesus into his heart! It's so amazing to see our children grow, learn, and make such important decisions. God had blessed us with four, soon to be five, beautiful children and I pray that each one has the desire to love and honor Him. Thank you Lord, for all of our blessings!

Click Here to Listen to the Plan of Salvation!

Haddon's Birthday!

Haddon turned 5 on July 16th! In the morning I baked a sheet cake and let the kids decorate it themselves. They did a great job!

We picked up a pizza and met Daddy at the park on his lunch break. We had pizza and cake and Haddon opened presents from our family. It was a lot of fun! It was HOT, so when Daddy had to go back to work, we headed home to try out Haddon's new sprinkler!

Haddon's "official" party was on Saturday, July 21st. It was my Saturday to work, so Daddy was in charge of the preparations. He did such a great job! When I got home he was setting up for all kinds of neat games. The theme was "sports" and Haddon had a chocolate baseball cake and a yellow basketball cake. The kids hunted for toys in the grass, played several relay games, broke a baseball pinata filled with candy and toys, and had a water balloon fight! It was a lot of fun for everyone. I give Daddy all the credit!

Camping Trip!

On Friday afternoon we went boating and camping on Norris Lake with friends. This was our first camping trip since having children, and it was quite an experience-especially being 8 months pregnant! We put the boat in the water and went to find a camping spot. Once there, the kids immediately got in the water while the tents were set up and the fire started. We had sausages and the kids roasted their own hot dogs...well, kind of. After dinner we went back out on the boat and found a nice spot to swim. Everyone went for a swim...it was great, but I had some serious trouble trying to get back into the boat. I thought they were going to have to pull me back to the campsite. Haha!

When we got back to camp everyone changed into dry clothes. The kids looked so comfy in their jammies! We built the fire back up and had Bible Time around the fire. Hayley fell asleep on my lap, exhausted after an exciting day. Around 10:20, John, Eric, Harley, Luke, and Haddon set off for some night fishing. Susie and I sat around the fire talking while the kids played in and out of the tent. Helene found a "grasshopper" that she insisted "really likes me." I had to convince her to finally put it down so he could go back home. The kids went to sleep about an hour later. We tried but ended up back out by the fire shortly after. We kept rebuilding the fire and the guys came back around 1:30. Luke and Haddon had only stayed awake for a short time on the boat. John, Susie, Harley, and I stayed up talking for an hour or so. Eric spent the night/morning fishing. I slept approx. 3 hours, waking up at 5:39am for good. I got out of the tent about 6:15 and a few minutes later Harley joined me. We went for a walk along the beach and made friends with an unidentified animal swimming in the lake. I wish I had my camera with us so I could have zoomed in on him. We still don't know what it was, but we guessed an otter, or something like that. He was just as curious about us. He would duck under the water and come back up and look at us. He did this over and over staying right in front of us until eventually he swam off.

Once everyone was up we had breakfast and wondered where Eric and the boat were. Finally we were able to reach him by cell phone and he told us the battery was dead and he wasn't sure where he was. Thankfully it wasn't the battery after all. He got the boat started and John guided him back to us. We almost had our very own "Gilligan's Island." After his return, we packed everything up and loaded the boat. We took the kids swimming again and a brave Havana and Daddy tried tubing behind the boat. Havana was the only kid to try it and she had a GREAT time! John went too...until he broke the tube! Haha! All in all it was a great time. We got home just in time to deliver a birthday cake, go out for a yummy lunch, and hit the bed for a 3+ hour nap.

A Reunion & The Beautiful Smokies!

A couple of weeks ago I was able to reunite with one of my friends from college, Rhonda-Ponda!! It was a short visit as she and her husband were just passing through on the way to a surprise party for her brither-in-law. We met at Chick-Fil-A and she got to meet the kids for the first time, and we got to meet her husband Tony. It has been 7+ years since we have seen each other! We're hoping to plan a weekend trip to Atlanta sometime to visit her and to go to Atlanta's new aquarium.

After our visit, Harley took the kids and I up to the Smokey Mountains. We had a great time! The kids loved collecting stones in the streams and we even took the several mile scenic loop on the mountain. We were looking for deer and bears. We saw several deer, but we missed a big black bear by 5 minutes! Mommy was so disappointed! We stopped once more on the way home to see if we could find some more neat rocks in the water. We found a great swimming area and although we were not dressed to swim, everyone got in the water. It was a soggy ride home, but we had a wonderful day and hope to get back there soon!

In baby news, I had my fourth ultrasound last week. Hudson weighs approximately 6 lbs according to the ultrsound. The placenta has "moved" out the way and that is no longer a concern! Everything looked great and I am at 2 week appointments now. I will have one more ultrasound at 37 weeks to re-check his size. Here is a picture of his profile, you can see his eye, nose, and lips and the top of his little body. Oh yeah, he has a head full of hair!!

See you soon!

More Summer Fun

We've been having trouble with our computer lately so unfortunatley I haven't been able to update in a while. We're having a new modem delivered on Tuesday, and we had to get a new wireless card today. Laptops are not so kid friendly! I have to assign some of the blame to myself as well, since I was the first one to step on the original wireless card. Poor Daddy, we just don't mix well with his electronic devices.

Anyway, things are going well with the pregnancy. Harley took this picture last week. It was around 9pm, an hour beofre I was sound asleep! We were playing around with the black & white option on the camera and I loved how it came out! I just wish I had thrown on a less-wrinkled skirt! I am 28 weeks in this picture...

I have my next ultrasound on July 3rd to check the placenta. It is low, but hopefully it will have changed position! I would hate to have a c-section for my last birth! They will also be checking Hudson's estimatated weight. My midwife said she will most likely have another ultrasound done a few weeks later to check his size again. I am planning to birth in the hospital with my midwife, just in case he is as large as Hayley (10lb4oz) *shudder*

I took the kids to the indoor play place at the mall a few days ago, because we were kicked out of the house for yet another showing! They have so much fun there. Here are a few pictures...

Havana was invited to a birthday party for three of her friends at The Little Ponderosa on Thursday. She was thrilled to hear there would be pony rides and a petting zoo. She is the biggest horse fan ever! Daddy, Mommy and the whole crew were able to tag along, and we had a great time. I wish I had it on video, but Havana was feeding the donkeys grass and one donkey would not take the grass from anyone but her. When she stopped feeding it, he started braying so loudly. She turned around so quickly with such a look on her face. It was priceless!

Sun & Water Fun!

On Friday we met quite a few friends at Powell Station Park. They just recently turned the fountains back on and this was our first trip of the season. There was a great turnout, 5 or 6 ladies, and too many kids to count! :) We stayed for close to 3 hours...the kids had a blast playing in the fountains, playing on the playground, and eating pizza. Daddy even got to stop by on his lunch break!

It's Memorial Day weekend and we headed to Norris Lake for the day. Last time we were there, Hayley was still in Mommy's belly! At first she was unsure of it all, but she ended up having a blast swimming and playing in the sand! Havana was in the water from the minute we arrived right up until we left. Helene preferred dry land but was busy at work in the sand and finishing the chips. Sadie even got to come with us and go swimming. I wish we had a picture of her swimming....she looked like a rat! We are looking forward to spending more time at the lake this summer.

Welcome to our family blog!

We set our up our blog months ago and are just now getting around to making our first post! To say the least our first post will be a veritable smorgasbord of recent events. To start off, a week before Christmas we found out we were expecting our fifth baby, and no...I could not wait until Christmas morning to make the announcement. Here is HIS ultrasound picture from March...Mr. Hudson Taylor Bryant...

Christmas was very nice this year. We celebrated with our family of six, and one in tow, as well as with a college girl from our home church. We celebrated our traditional way, by waking up and having a big breakfast, sitting down together for the Christmas story from the Bible, and then on to presents, and then the preparation of our big dinner.

We listed our house for sale at the very end of February. We are praying that it sells soon, as we will be moving to Spokane, WA to help in our home church, under Dr. Greg Boyle. Hudson is due in August, and Havana and Haddon will be starting school at Faith Baptist Academy in August as well. This summer is full of major changes for the Bryant family! We are so excited about being close to family and especially watching the kids with their grandparents. Now, if we could only get Grammy and G-Dad back to the States!

We had a nice low-key Easter. The kids decorated eggs the night before and Mommy & Daddy stayed up and decorated some more after the kids went to bed. Hayley wouldn't participate in the picture Sunday morning, but here are 3 of our 4...

April was a big month for Havana! She celebrated her 6th birthday with a Princess party, and lost her second tooth (she lost her first tooth in March.) Helene also had an eventful April, as she had a Tonsillectomy & Adenoidectomy during the first week of the month. Thankfully everything went well and she recovered quickly. We are so thrilled with the results of the surgery, as she is sleeping and breathing much, much better!

Well, that wraps up our first entry. Check back often as I plan to update regularly. Thanks for stopping by to visit "Harley's Angels!" See you again soon!