Myla Grant is TWO!

Happy birthday to our precious, spunky, sweet and smart Myla Grant! 

 The last two years of loving you have been amazing!  

We are so thankful the Lord blessed us with you!

A FUN Snow Day

Not long after "snowmageddon", and on Hank's birthday, we got more snow.  This time it was fluffy and fun, instead of icy and dangerous AND we were home to enjoy it!

"Snowmageddon"

"Snowmageddon," as the media dubbed it, will not soon be forgotten in Alabama or the Powers household.  I dropped the girls off at school and headed to run errands.  I met a friend at the Summit to pick something up as the snow started falling.  I left there immediately and headed back to school; planning to pick the girls up early and head home in case it accumulated.  Ten minutes later the roads were icing over and within fifteen the small county road to the girls' school was iced over and completely backed up.  After a couple of hours of trying to drive in snow and on ice, with Myla Grant in the backseat and tears falling down my face, I gave up on getting the the girls.  I called a sweet friend, Tiffany, from the adoption world, who happens to live close to the girls' school and to where I was, and detoured to her house.  At the time, I thought we would be able to get to the girls' at some point that day, but the temperature stayed low and the ice remained, so Adair and Emalyn spent the night at school and we spent the night at Tiffany's house.  While the Powers girls were stranded in Birmingham, Hank was stranded in Cottondale.  Thankfully, he was able to get a hotel room and didn't have to spend the night in his car.

Tiffany and her family were such a blessing to us.  I am so thankful that Myla Grant and I were able to get to their house where it was warm and dry.  So many Birminghamians spent the night at work and in their cars.  It was a very scary day and I was a complete basket case that my babies were spending the night at school!

The next morning, Tiffany's husband, Steven, went walking to see what the roads looked like, so I (somewhat jokingly) mentioned trying to find someone with a four wheeler and see if they would go get the girls from school.  Well, he just so happened to run into a perfect stranger on a four wheeler who offered to help.  The gentleman couldn't get the girls on the four wheeler, but he took Steven to his neighbors house who had a mule.  They then drove to Hilltop, picked up the girls and brought them to me.  Such an incredible act of kindness by complete strangers and I will always be grateful for those men, whose names I don't even know.

Thankfully, things improved enough by late afternoon that Hank was able to drive to Birmingham and he and my dad were able to come get us.  We still couldn't get to our house, but we were able to get to my parents' house.

On the third day, we finally made it home!

A sweet mom who got stuck at school with her children, emailed me this picture during the whole ordeal and reassured me that the girls were doing fine.  It was a bright spot in the experience for sure!

It's a BOY!

Welcome Two Thousand and Fourteen!

We had so much fun welcoming the new year (a little early at 8 pm) with our friends, the Beasons!  We made "sparkler" cupcake toppers, a balloon drop, wore fun hats and tiaras, and a countdown.  We also had our own minature fireworks display.

Happy Birthday Jesus

And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be a sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manager."  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!"  

Thank you, God, for sending your one and only son to be our salvation!

We are trying to instill the true meaning of Christmas in the girls hearts from an early age,

 but we do enjoy Santa and gifts and stockings, too.  

Christmas Fun

Decorating gingerbread houses at Christmas has become a highlight of the season and one the girls look forward to.  I was amazed to watch Adair decorate her house completely independant of our help this year.

As much as Emalyn wanted to do it herself, she and Hank worked as a team.  They came up with a pretty neat design, too!

Myla Grant and I worked as a team...I decorated and she ate the gumdrops.

We had fun with the Hassenfusses and Halcombs at the Homewood Christmas Parade, another highlight of the season.

Zoo Light Safari is also something the girls look forward to each year.  They love all things with Christmas lights.  In addition to the zoo lights, we also love going to see the lights on Barry Avenue where a Homewood resident decorates his house with lights set to music.  His effort is such a blessing to all of the kids in our community!

On Christmas Eve, we baked cookies with Nona.  The girls had so much fun mixing up the dough, rolling it into balls and then in sprinkles.  They were delicious, but certainly not germ free.

On Christmas Eve night, we celebrated Christ's birth at our church.

Visiting Santa

Once the girls get to a certain age, visiting with Santa is a highlight of the Christmas season.  Adair and Emalyn loved whispering in his ear this year, but Myla Grant couldn't get out of his lap quickly enough!  

Fall Leaves

Adair has been begging to rake our leaves into a pile to play in, so once they finally got crispy enough, we decided to go for it.  All three girls had so much fun jumping in the leaves and hearing them crunch!

Happy Thanksgiving

We have so much to be thankful for this year...people, things, freedoms!  Our marriage, our three precious girls, our parents and extended family and, of course, our new addition expected in June!  We are also incredibly grateful for shelter and food and the means to provide for our family. Above all else, though, we are thankful to serve a loving, grace-giving God and for our salvation.

We celebrated Thanksgiving at my parents' house this year.