Ansley Katherine Solly

Ansley arrived just after 12am on December 24! What a wonderful Christmas present, for sure! Congratulations to my cousin, Daniel and his wife (my dear friend) Katie on the birth of their precious little girl. I hate that I don't live closer so that I can visit them and hold sweet little Ansley, but I am thankful for technology so that I can see lots of pictures of her! I'll post pictures as soon as I can! I love you guys!!!!

Our 2nd anniversary

On December 15th, Christopher and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary. I am so blessed to be married to such a wonderful man. Chris has such a passion for life and puts his all into everything that he does. He is the love of my life and I am so excited to spend the rest of my life with him!

These past two years have been full of adventure for us-- we have moved 4 times, Chris became a Dr. when he graduated in May from the Medical College of Ga where he studied physical therapy, we went on a cruise, bought a house, lost loved ones, bought a beautiful boxer puppy and named her Bailey, started new jobs, went on mission trip to Trinidad and so much more. Over these two years we have grown stronger as a couple and have learned so much about each other. I am so proud of the man that he is and want you all to know that I am in love! :) Happy 2nd anniversary, Christopher!

Alabama graduation

That's right, my sister graduated from college!!! I can't believe she is old enough to be out of school.... it makes me feel a little old, too! Amanda graduated on December 12 (a semester early) from the University of Alabama with a nutrition major. She plans to get her personal training certificate this next year in order to help clients with their overall health and fitness. It was a great weekend and I am so proud of her. Most of our family was there to help celebrate with her. Now, it's welcome to the real world. ROLL TIDE and Congratulations, sis!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

I cannot believe it is already Christmas time! I love this time of year! Friday night Christopher, Bailey and I went on family outing to get our christmas tree. It was such a great night. We turned on some christmas music, put on our pj's, played with Bailey, I drank hot chocolate and Chris had his eggnog and we decorated our tree. Here are a few pictures of some of our decorations!

Uncle Anthony

In my last post I wrote about my uncle who had been in a car accident on November 18. He was in the ICU on a vent for just over a week and this past Friday, November 27th (The day after Thanksgiving) he went to be with the Lord. I know he is in a much better place now and has no more pain. Please pray for my aunt and his children as they begin their lives without him in it. Please pray for comfort and peace during this time for the entire family. We will be making our way to Ga sometime in the next few days for the funeral.

We will miss you Uncle Anthony!

emotional week

We have been in constant prayer for my friend Jon May and his family over the past 7 weeks. He was admitted into the ICU on October 10 with double pneumonia and H1N1 and was not expected to make it through the night. The next 5 weeks were an up and down roller coaster for Jon and his family. He was put into a medically induced coma and was on a ventilator for just over a month. This past week he was finally released from ICU and is now in a live in rehab center. He is on a much smaller trach and ate his first full meal this past week. He continues to make small improvements, but we continue to ask for your prayers for he and his family. This will be a long and frustrating process for Jon as he begins physical therapy after nearly 7 weeks in a hospital bed. We are praising the Lord for all he has done and all he will continue to do in the coming days and weeks.
We heard of Jons improvement on Monday and Tuesday of last week and were THRILLED! Then, on Wednesday afternoon I heard from my mom that my Uncle Anthony had been in a terrible accident and was in surgery in Panama City. He was driving down the road when a lady pulled out of a car wash right in front of him causing him to t-bone her. He broke both legs, several ribs, his nose and shattered his forehead. Uncle Anthony was in surgery for 8 hours and has been in ICU on a vent ever since. Tomorrow the doctors will be inserting a feeding tube and trach. He is in very bad shape only made worse by his pre-existing conditions of COPD, Congestive Heart Failure and diabetes. Please be in prayer for him. Also, please pray for my Aunt Tara who is faced with many decisions and a long road ahead. She is exhausted.

What a week.... the joys of Jon's recovery and the news of Uncle Anthony's condition have been a lot to take in.

Weekend in Birmingham!

Last weekend we went to Birmingham and stayed with Chris' brother, Justin, and his wife Adriane. We had the best time catching up with them and watching Bailey play with their dog, Piper. They loved eachother-- though Bailey was definitely trying to be the dominant one. She would take Piper's toys from her and lay in Pipers bed rather than her own. Then, when Piper would walk NEAR Bailey's bed she would go and guard it so Piper couldn't get to it, poor Piper. On Saturday, Justin, Adriane, Chris and I took the dogs over to Samford and let them run around on the quad. They had a blast! Bailey kept chasing after Piper's tail (according to my father-in-law, Ed, she has major tail envy!) so we would throw a tennis ball and Piper would chase the ball and Bailey was chasing Piper's tail. They were definitely entertaining! Amanda met up with us for a little bit too. It was great to see her!

I loved being back in Birmingham and walking around Samford's campus. The campus is so beautiful and the fall foliage against that blue sky made the campus even more gorgeous than it already is! Chris and I got to walk through the new student center on campus and are really jealous they didn't build it when we were there!

Saturday afternoon Chris and I went to visit Luke and Ali and their new baby girl, Savannah. She is so beautiful and so tiny! I could have held her all day long. Ali was doing great- I'm so proud of my friend! Mae got home from an afternoon with her grandfather just before we left so she got to play with Bailey for a few minutes. I just love that girl! I wish we lived closer to them.

The weekend was perfect-- beautiful weather, fall foliage (we don't get to see that down here in FL), family and friends.