New Christmas Traditions

This Christmas was a year for making new traditions. This was the first year we were able to have the kids on Christmas morning. Therefore, we wanted to be with as much family as possible. We were more than excited to go back to Memphis for Christmas. It was a whirlwind of action though since we were only spending 2 days there, but I think we did pretty good considering the time constraints. 
Here are a few photos from the adventure. 

From the National Weather Service in Little Rock..........

Get your milk! Get your bread! Get a generator if you can find one!!!!

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SLEET AND ICE
ARE EXPECTED. GUSTY WINDS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE...INCREASING THE
THREAT OF DOWNED TREES AND POWER LINES DUE TO THE WEIGHT OF
ACCUMULATED ICE. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS OR
IMPOSSIBLE. INDIVIDUALS ARE ENCOURAGED TO CONTINUE TO MONITOR
FORECAST FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LITTLE ROCK FOR THE
LATEST ON THE DEVELOPING WINTER STORM.



PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

AN ICE STORM WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE
EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF ICE ACCUMULATIONS
WILL MAKE TRAVEL DANGEROUS OR IMPOSSIBLE. TRAVEL IS STRONGLY
DISCOURAGED. COMMERCE WILL LIKELY BE SEVERELY IMPACTED. IF YOU
MUST TRAVEL...KEEP AN EXTRA FLASHLIGHT...FOOD...AND WATER IN YOUR
VEHICLE IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY. ICE ACCUMULATIONS AND WINDS WILL
LIKELY LEAD TO SNAPPED POWER LINES AND FALLING TREE BRANCHES THAT
ADD TO THE DANGER.


To be continued............

A Very Busy Household now....

I apologize for the long break in posts.  Things around here have been quite busy to say the least.

As most of you know Tim and I were awarded sole custody of the children at the beginning of September.  They moved in on Labor Day weekend.  We got them enrolled in school the Tuesday after,  and we hit the ground running.
Of course not everything has been sunshine and rainbows.  The first few weeks went by and we were shocked that no one had a breakdown or any major issues {I guess they were still getting settled}.  But now, they have been with us over a month and they are realizing they are here to stay and they are getting more settled......the new is wearing off and they're not as shy about their thoughts and feelings anymore {we want them to be honest & open about their thoughts and feelings of course}.

This has been a very hard transition for all of us.  I can't imagine how hard it's been on the kids.  I can only know 100% for sure how hard it is on Tim and me.  But in the mist of all the struggle, we have had some fun. I sure hope the kids see that too.

Last weekend was CNH's b-day.  She turned 13!! Instead of having a birthday party she wanted to go to the State Fair. Here are some pictures from the day.

A Long Journey - Pt. 1

As many of you know, Tim and I have been on a rough journey for a very long time.  For those of you that don't know, stay tuned....

When Tim and I met he had just been through a divorce.  He had been married for 13 years and had 3 children. I knew that I was about to start dating a man that had 3 children and an ex-wife, but I had NO idea that my life was headed down the road that I am on now. With that being said, I would never take it back. Even with all the bumps, holes we didn't see, road blocks, and breaks in the road that God wasn't ready to reveal yet, I would still go down the same road.

Tim and I started seeing problems with the way the kids were being cared for in late 2009. This proceeded to get worse as we dated in 2010.  However we were in a really tight spot financially and geographically. See we weren't married yet {we had just gotten engaged in March} and Tim was still living in south AR. We felt so powerless. Little did we know that feeling would only get worse. And so would the care for the kids.

Tim and I got married in October 2010. Tim moved to Memphis the week before our wedding. That meant that the already sporadic visitation was about to get worse. The new meeting spot was Little Rock, AR. That drive was tough on everyone, especially the kids. We understood that. However, we also knew that it was very important that they spend as much time with us as possible. We started to notice that things were getting more and more strange at their house. When the kids would come for visitation one of them would start to tell a story about something and the other would say "No, we aren't supposed to talk about that here!"  Things were becoming very secretive and being kept from us.

In 2011, Nikole {middle child, 12 yrs old now}, was taken out of school by her mother in order to do Virtual Academy. As a result she did not pass the 5th grade. At this point we still didn't have enough information and enough ammo {for lack of a better word} to move forward and get a lawyer. Surprising, I know! But it's true.
Again, in 2012-2013, Nikole was pulled out of school by her mother and supposed to be in "homeschool". Again, she did not pass the 5th grade. Thankfully at this point we had already filed for sole custody. This could only work in our favor.

In July 2012 the kids mother had an accident. We are still unclear as to the cause, but somehow she fell and hit her head on concrete. She was taken to a hospital outside of the county in which she resides. Tim and I did not find out about this until the day after it happened. We had to call her husband to find out where the kids were staying while she was in the hospital.

Long story short, the next day we picked up the kids to come stay with us until their mother was well. Unfortunately that ended up being a few weeks. Tim and I discovered that there was a lot taking place in regards to the kids' mother that was cause for great concern. We did not feel comfortable sending the kids back home until we knew without a doubt that they were going to be taken care of 100%.
During this time {the month of July}, Tim and I decided it was time to act regarding custody. After seeking very wise counsel, we met with a lawyer in south AR {in the proper county} and filed for sole custody of all 3 children.

August 2012 we had an emergency hearing for change of custody. We honestly thought the judge would award us temporary custody pending the final custody hearing. We had so much "ammo" against her that we thought it would be a no brainer. God had other plans. We were not awarded temporary custody at that time.

Little did we know that the next year of our lives was going to be a complete whirlwind. God's plan for Tim and I was ever so different than our own.  But isn't that what usually happens? Praise the Lord that it is His Will be done and not our own!!!!

A New Look!

I've been wanting to change things up for a long time so when we moved I figured it was time. However, we have been so busy with other things that I couldn't decide on what I wanted.  This past weekend I finally made up my mind after looking at different templates for the last 2 years. :)  

Hope you all like it!! Let me know what you think! 

Hope everyone is doing well and we love and miss you!!

Stacey and Tim

Pinnacle Hike #2

We were fortunate enough to have Drake come stay with us for a week, but unfortunately, Tim and I had to work that whole week.  However, we found an incredible baby-sitter to come hang out with Drake during the day. 

On the Saturday we took Drake to Pinnacle Mountain for something new and fun to do.  It was quite the experience.  Here are some pictures from our adventure. The best part was the smile on his face {after complaining most of the way up} when he got to the top! 

Independence Day!

To celebrate the great independence that we have, Tim and I got together with our next door neighbors {our only friends - that are awesome} and had an all-day cookout! We had an awesome time! Others were invited but it turned out to just be the four of us and some pups.

Over the last few weeks, K and Tim have been constructing their own Cornhole sets. They are the official specs and everything.  K and C have painted theirs Arkansas and LSU colors. While Tim and I chose Arkansas and UT.  Needless to say, these will be used a lot!

We all know that the 4th is about food, drink and celebration, so we had plenty of all three! K smoked ribs and salmon. C and I tried to help out with the other items, but I'm pretty sure the ribs stole the show.
Being from Memphis, I felt right at home. The ribs were great! They dogs loved them too {my hands were too yucky to take a pic}. :)  We had smoked salmon, rotel, lil' smokies, and to top it all off...homemade ice cream!

A Busy, Busy Month {plus 2 weeks}!

Every once and a while we get so busy and caught up in everyday life that I just flat out forget to update everyone!  So for y'all that actually read this thing, I'm sorry. :)  With that being said, this is going to be one of those, "update" kind of posts {fair warning}.

The end of May and most of June has flown by for us.  Tim took Drake on his first "real" camping trip.  No electricity, no shelter, no showers, etc.  They had a blast! They even had to tough out a good thunderstorm too. But they did get to reap the rewards.

June has been really tough so far.  We have been really busy at work but also busy in our personal life. Hopefully we are starting to get a handle on things and July will be a much better month.

We have done some fun stuff as well.  At the end of May when Drake was with us I got to see my 1st livestock swap.  I tried to talk Tim into going home with a billy goat for $15.  However, I was told that billy goats tend to eat everything in site and it would somehow end up on top of my car one day.

We have also made really good friends with our next door neighbors, K & C.  I am extremely thankful for a friend in AR other than my husband and I'm sure he's really thankful for that as well! :)
In Little Rock they have a mini *music fest* every year called River Fest.  We went everyday just to make sure we got to experience everything they had to offer.  We ended up having a really good time.  The area down on the riverwalk in LR is actually quite nice and I really enjoyed it.  There was also some great people watching to enjoy as well. ;)

And of course, what is summer time in central Arkansas without some good thunderstorms.  One of the many things I love about being out here is the scenery! There is always a good picture waiting to be taken.

Here are some pictures from my iPhone that I have taken since the last time I posted.  I hope you enjoy!