Well Pam has done it again......

Pam Saxon came to our house the other day and took some pictures......I had great plans for these pictures, but that is another story, one which I will not go into here.

Anyway, here are a few of them...... a preview if you will.

She always does such a wonderful job...one day she will go professional and we can all say "we knew her when"........

Til next time.......

A few more baby steps.......

Well this week was another successful one.....Robin, the trainer, got on Duke again and rode him. This time for a good 15 minutes or so and she even got him into a trot, TWICE! This was a huge step and he was surely beautiful with his "gait" in that trot! We were both excited. I didn't video this time but I will have my camera with me in future sessions.

Also, Cisco has come a long way in just a week. Robin said she couldn't believe it, "he is a different horse this week than last", she said. There are a lot of things he did that I won't go into all of them here but he has made progress by leaps and bounds. We still have a long way to go, BUT he is on his way this week. She even got on him on Friday. It was not a "ride" by any stretch but she laid over his back and actually got on his back, sitting upright with his bridle and lead on. She was on bareback but was on his back just the same and I lead him around with her up there. This is another step in the right direction. Excitement has filled out house over these two events......these sound like small things, not really worthy of explanation here or excitement, but around here we are very excited. This is the very beginning of what we have been waiting for.

Til next time......

SUCCESS....even if it does come in baby steps!

For a number of months now we have had two horses here with us that we were given. I contemplated taking them, I wanted them and of course since I love all animals, especially horses, my tender side said yes....they can come and live with us! Mal was not completely convinced but he allowed it. I knew that the people giving them to us had come to that descision painstakingly, they loved them too, but had to find homes for them as they could no longer take care of all of the horses they had. Both of our horses were born in their care and they raised them from colts. I knew they were only giving them to us because they knew we would take care of them. The are registered Rocky Mountain horses and are what is called a gaited horse. Which means they have a very smooth ride, because they are gaited.

So, on with the story, although I really, really wanted them and was very excited about having horses again, I was skeptical because you know the old saying....nothing is ever really free! Well that certainly proved to be true when just three short weeks after they came to live with us, I ended up at the University of Florida Veterinary School Large Animal Hospital with them.. needless to say, that was far from free.......but I degress. They are much better now and we have begun training them...well actually we were put in touch with a wonderful lady (a Christian lady) who has been training horses for about six years. She has taught me a lot in the last three weeks and we have made progress. On just the second week with her our Duke had made such progress that she decided she would get on him the following week....AND SHE DID! I have posted the video of it. I was so very excited to see him under saddle and all tacked up that I could hardly contain my excitement. Although I love them, I am very glad that we have them and I am thankful that they were given to us....I have to admit that over the time that they were sick as well as the weeks after I was afraid that I'd made a mistake.....I want them here but I want to be able to ride them. I want Sutherlyn to be able to ride them and I was afraid that maybe we were never going to get there. But a few weeks ago, we did. It is a very small step but one that I have been waiting for. I look forward to many more....and to the day when Sutherlyn can ride Duke and/or Cisco. Duke had been trained and had been ridden before, briefly and a long time ago, but Cisco is another story. I hope that we can work with him and train too.....time till tell.


Til next time.......

Halloween and then some......

Here are some pics from a few weeks ago, during Halloween. We started things off by going to Wild Adventures a week or so prior to Halloween. We enjoyed their decorations and festivies for the occasion........then Sutherlyn's class had a party at school. After that, on Halloween night we made our rounds to the church for "Trunk or Treat" and then to Grandma and Grandpa's for pics....hope you enjoy our little "witch". We had fun.....

Til next time.......

What kind of an example will I be?

I have been "blog-surfing" over the last two weeks....reading lots of comments regarding our new Commander ......I have to say that most of my friends feel the same way I do. At first I couldn't even bring myself to say his name out loud much less think of him as my Pres-elect. I am very sad and discouraged that our nation has elected Barack Obama as our next President. He certainly was not my choice nor was he the choice of so many of my friends and other people I know....but, and here is that proverbial "but" , I am commanded as a Christian to pray for him as a leader. I do not agree with his policies and I am quite certain that I will never be happy about one single thing he does as President, (he hasn't actually done anything so far except give a lot of very nice, eloquent speeches, so we will see if that changes as he is now the pres-elect) but I am a Christian and I have to be an example to those around me, especially lost people, so I have decided that the election is over, we lost the battle but we have not lost the war. You may think that we have if you do not know who is really in control....God is control and no matter who is President of the United States of America or anywhere else in the free world, God's control will never change.

I am often reminded in these uncertain days of a song that I loved as a baby Christian...."King of the Jungle" by Stephen Curtis Chapman. The words spoke to me as I was struggling with being a new Christian and wondering what was happening in my life . My life was so out of control just before I was saved that I wondered if anyone was truly in control of me or anything else....when I did ask Jesus to come into my life and save me, things changed. There was a sense of order and peace...the jungle around me was calm and I wasn't worried about anything anymore because I was fully aware who had taken control of my life and who was ultimately in control of everything. I heard that song a few months afterward...the words are profound and they spoke loudly to me then as they speak to me now. God is still on the throne, HE is still in control, Barack Obama may be our new President but he isn't really in control of anything that truly matters for eternity. His presidency can only scare us if we let him. If we allow the fear and uncertainty of what he is going to accomplish as President overcome us then he is in control and we have allowed satan to win the battle. We know as Christians that fear and anger are the devil's work and I refuse to allow those things to take over my life. I know who holds the key, I know who is the Great I Am....and it is not Barack Obama (eventhough some think is the messiah, HE IS NOT!). There is only one who holds that title and He is sitting on His throne in Heaven!

So I will close with this....I am going to try very hard (and believe me i will have to pray about this a lot!!) to be an example over the next four years, this example I hope to be will only come from the grace of an Almighty God because my flesh is very unhappy and completely unwilling to do what I should. But, I never liked it (and still don't) when people said mean, ugly, untruthful things about my President, President Bush (whom I supported, even knocked on a few doors for him and stood at the corner of 100 & 21 holding signs of him) because he is/was President and that office demands a certain level of respect, at least it should. I do not have to like Barack Obama or agree with anything he will say or do, but I do have to pray for him, respect the office he holds and be an example for Christ......and that is what I am going to do.

And remember, "That which does not kill us, makes us stronger"....put on your seatbelt, batten down the hatches and get ready to hold on for the ride.......it is going to be an interesting one!

Til next time.....

Tis the Season......

We are still here....


And I figure I will go along with the rest of the country and skip Thanksgiving.....moving right on to Christmas. As you can see I have and my background is indicative of that.

I will be posting soon.....I have Halloween pics to post on my Christmas background.

Til next time.....

Some of the time there are no words......and that is OK.

I haven't blogged in a while....we have been busy around here with life in general and then overwhelming joy and then overwhelming heartache.

Some of you already know and some of you don't but....

About a month ago Mal and I found out that we were going to have another baby. Boy, were we in SHOCK! But after a few days of wandering around aimlessly, we pulled it together and began to feel great joy (after the shock wore off) in the fact that the house would be filled once again with the sounds of crying, cooing and "baby" giggles. All was well and we were looking forward to the future.....

Then, last week I began to have trouble and went to the doctor on Tuesday. The ultrasound didn't look good, but there was nothing to do but wait, so I have another appointment this Friday. I am quite confident that things have gone badly and that we are not going to have another baby.....but we will know for sure on Friday.

I can now say that out loud, at first it was very difficult, and I find myself crying, laughing and feeling as though I am going to die if I don't think of something else.

Friends and family who now know have all been very sweet with kind, comforting words. Expressions of prayers and love. We do really appreciate all of that more than words can say . Those thoughts and prayers have been wonderful over the last couple of days.

But I have learned something through this so far......as Christians we want to say something profound in the face of tragedy and unspeakable pain, we want to be able to say something to the person/persons who are hurting to make them feel better. The truth of the matter is that we cannot. There are no words to erase the heartache when a loved one is lost, a devastating diagnosis has been made, or a child is lost. There is nothing here on this earth that can make that feel any better ....Only GOD can do that. Only He can take the painful burden and wipe away our tears. Only He can give us a peace that truly does pass all understanding. I have learned that first hand this past week. I knew it to be true already but it has been revealed to me again and again over the past few days. There is nothing to say when a tragedy strikes.....we can only love each other. Pass the love of Christ on to those who are hurting and sometimes, most of the time through that pain, words are not necessary.

Thank you to all of the people who have expressed their concern for us, for all of the prayers for us, God knows we do need them. But I am reminded......God is the ultimate answer to all of this life's pain. The only thing that I can really do is love on the people around me who are hurting. Show Christ to them through that love and understand that words don't always have to be spoken. I have come to understand that this week. And God knows, that is hard for me cause I am a talker.

Thank you to our church family, our family and thank you to the Lord who is ALWAYS there and who does ALWAYS love us, no matter what. Praise Him for that. I am His through grace paid for on the cross, and no matter what that will never change.

Til next time.....

Friday Night Lights......Lemonade Saturday & Toothless Sunday......

This weekend was quite a busy one....

Friday night we had dinner with some old friends and then went to the highschool football game with them.


Sutherlyn, Jessie, Haley & Brylee had a good time running around and being silly while we chated (Amy and I) and while Gary & Mal watched the game. Sadly however, our team lost in overtime but they did made a great effort and we were excited to watch them play.


Saturday we had a day filled, starting with our monthly 4-H meeting and then Natalie came home with us to spend some time with Sutherlyn. They set up a lemonade stand on the Rails to Trails just behind our house. Sutherlyn has been wanting to do this for quite some time. Unfortunately, they only had 2 customers....one was Mal!


















Does this tell you how many customers they had? As far as they could see, not 1!








This was Sutherlyn's reaction when she realized that the person who was FINALLY coming in the distance was DADDY! Natalie was so sweet, comforting her.


Finally, someone to share the lemonade with.






One other kind man did stop and take some on his way back by. He was very appreciative for the drink, he'd ridden all the way from the other end of the trail, from the county line at the other end of it!


Sunday we should have been in church but Sutherlyn was feeling a little under the weather, so she and I stayed home. AND....she lost her 1st front tooth. She is really funny without it. We call her "toothless".....

it was fun-filled weekend. Hope you enjoy the pics.

til next time......

Here are just a few of my favorite things.....

Our ballerina..










One of our roosters.....










My kitchen..... I love IT!














Rachel Eatmon......














Sutherlyn & Tag.....















Aspen.....










Pajama day (last year..)


I have a lot of pictures that I haven't done anything with. As I looked through them last night as I added them to my computer (finally taking them off of the memory card in my camera) these were some of the ones that are my favorites....





The two of the child that is not mine are of Rachel Eatmon last February. We all went camping in Valdosta to go to Wild Adventures....we were surprised to find out that Wild Adventures was closed for remodeling! Can anyone say "Wallyworld"?!!

Anyway, we took the day and instead went to a nearby GA State park. This is what she did when she saw the camera. She came running up to me and said "take my picture"....she was posing! Too funny isn't it?


hope you enjoy the others too.

til next time....

Under the title.....

I have been trying to decide what I wanted to add under my 'title" for quite some time. I am moving forward with this "customization" of my blog and in doing so have pondered many things over the last few weeks.

Anyway, I was looking at another blog today and saw this text. It is a portion of a quiet time study that she'd read on "patience". Seeing as how I have "no patience" and I am constantly telling myself that I can at least pretend to have it and muddle through the process at best, the entire list of the quiet time text spoke to me, the sentence I included was especially thought provoking.

So on that point, Lord help me to have patience in the "chaos" that is life. When I am completely at my wits end, help me to "wait" and desire to do nothing more until you direct my path.....

thanks Jill for the inspiration.......

Here is one more thing....

I almost forgot....one more thing I see everyday but don't actually look at.....

The Gainesville Sun.....I ordered it a few weeks ago. We wanted to receive it Thursday through Sunday. I wanted the coupons, Mal wanted to see the sports sections and we were both happy to look over everything in between. However, when I ordered it I specifically asked for Thursday through Sunday ONLY! They bring this crazy thing everyday! I don't have time to look at it everyday. I have emailed them over and over to ask them to STOP bringing it 7 days a week, I only wanted it 4. Anyway, as I was out earlier taking pictures, this was still laying at the end of the driveway, I thought it was funny that it was still sitting there so I took a picture of it. It goes along well with my theme for the day.....things I see around here but don't actually look at.....

til next time....

Around the "farm" & then some.......

Boy oh boy does this make me laugh! I think about where I started, what happened in between and where I have (at this point in my life) ended up and I can't help but think....God does have a sense of humor....

Most of you know that nearly 3 years ago now Mal and I set out on a new adventure in our lives together. We sold our "forever here on this earth, til we retired & moved, and/or Jesus called us Home or He came back house" and bought just over 10 acres of land not far from there.

We are now here, on our "farm" and we couldn't be happier! We love it here. I use the term "farm" loosely as we don't really have a farm, we have a few animals, etc, but we like to laugh about the change in our lives. We love the land, the daily chores of keeping up with the animals, the grass, the "landscaped" part of the yard & most of all we love the peace and quiet and the fact that most nights we can see the stars in the dark, beautiful sky. There are no city lights to drown them out.

Mal calls our place "little oak" because of all of the little oak trees we have, thus the name of the blog...."little oak life".

I laugh when I think about this because if someone had told me 12 years ago when I met Mal that we'd end up here, I would have laughed really loud, in their face!

Most of you who know Mal well know why this would have been my reaction and most of you who know me can also imagine why this "life' we have now seems very foreign for us. To that I would say that most of you did not know me in my BC life (before Christ)......I grew up on a small tract of land and we had animals; a horse, cows, pigs and a pond full of catfish & my grandfather always, always had chickens and ducks. I rode my horse a lot, almost everyday in fact. I have actually always ridden horses, I was never formally trained, we just got on and tried our best to stay on. I rode from the time I was a little girl (around 7 or so until I became a teenager and I got a machine with lots and lots of horses, my 1st CAR!) I was probably around 16 or so when I stopped riding but always wished that I'd spent more time with her, my horse, instead of doing some of the other things I did.....anyway, I degress.

I am really surprised that we have ended up here, that we now have horses, I have horses again. I am very thankful for our home, our land, and our lives here. Sutherlyn is able to experience things that I never thought she would have the opportunity to experience and I feel as though I have finally come home again.....back where my heart has always been.

So, here is my point.....I stopped for lunch today and took a walk outside, the weather is beautiful. I took some time to photograph some of the things that I see everyday but don't really look at. I hope you enjoy them. Come and see us sometime, we will show them to you too, in person. We might even share some of our fresh eggs with you.

til next time.......

i have done it again.....

I FINALLY added the music, I hope you enjoy some of my favs!

til next time....

Thank yous.....

Thank you to Stephanie and Pam ....

Stephanie for suggesting that Pam could help me with the cool, new background, and Pam for actually helping me do it!

TNT.......

Sermons and my life....

I heard something the other day that made me stop and think...... "The best sermons are not preached, they are lived". What a profound statement I thought. I mean really listen to the words, say them out loud, I did. Think about it. What does this really mean?

I have found, for many years now, great comfort and joy in my church home and my church family. I have heard many great sermons from our Pastor and others who have on occasion filled in for him, each sermon very worthy on its own. I have, in my life, even given what some would call a "sermon" or two. But when I heard this said the other day, "The best sermons are not preached, they are lived", it caused me to stop and think. What does qualify a "good sermon"? Is it the character of the person who is giving it? Is it the words themselves that are spoken? Is it the message alone that has meaning and merit? I have come to conclude that it is all of these things. This goes back to the old saying, "if you are going to talk the talk, you have to walk the walk". I have to admit I am not always good at "walking the walk", it is much easier to say something than to actually do it. But after thinking on this for quite some time I have decided that what we say has no real merit unless we actually do it. When I hear a "sermon" at church or even give one myself, my words are just that, WORDS, those sermon words are just words unless we take them and give them life. I have to follow them up with action, in every way. And the person who is saying them has to have character and value to me and/or others or I don't take what he or she is saying seriously. Likewise, I have to have merit and character for my words to matter.

For example, I say I love Jesus, do I really live it everyday? I say that I love my family, do I really show them, everyday? I say I have a heart and a desire to see lost people saved, but do I do anything about it? I have to admit I make an attempt on all of these points but do fall short more often than I succeed.

Thank God that He is a forgiving God and that He loves me inspite of myself. I challenge myself to walk the walk, to live out the "sermons" in my life and be a person of character and conviction each and every day, not just when I really think about it and work at it......I have to admit it will be difficult at times but I do want to mean what I say, and say what I mean......when I really think about what Jesus did for me, for all of us, (eventhough He knew I would be a sinner and would fall short more than I succeed) it is the very least that I can do for Him.


Til next time.....

I did it!!!

Thanks to my friend Pam.....I DID IT! The pretty background is there and so are all of my posts!

Thank you Pam...now on to the music. I have also been trying to add that!

Til next time.....

Okay -can somebody help me? I added the pretty background but then all of th words and all of my old posts were gone, I switched back to another template and now the words are all here and my older posts are back!

I have finally added this pretty background...but now I can't find the words I keep typing in for the posts.....

What is happening? I have this pretty background, but no words!

I have been trying to do that for weeks.....

I have been trying to change the background on the blog to one from that "cutest blog on the whatever" site....I never thought of myself as computer challenged, but that one got me.

I have finally done it, I think I lost all of the other posts in the process! but here it is....my bedroom curtains, right here on the blog! Not really, this background just reminds me of my curtains in the bedroom.

Anyway, I am still trying to add more of that cool stuff, the music, etc. Anyone who feels they are less electronically challenged that I apparently am, help me!

Horses....Horses....Horses

I took a few pictures of Cisco here (he still needs to gain some weight from being sick, but he is looking better) This first picture is not very good of him, he looks better than he appears to in this one). Then I proceeding to take my camera over to Cindy's (where Sutherlyn takes riding lessons) and took some pictures there too.

These are some of the girls that Sutherlyn rides with, there are others but these are the ones I was able to take snap shots of......

This is Sutherlyn on Bonnie and Mrs Cindy is helping them get ready to go......

This is April and Gypsy......her horse Ziggy was tired out, she'd been riding him all day....Gypsy was filling in!

This is Kaylee & Tonka...

Here is Mrs Cindy's newest addition, This is Hillbilly, he is a Missouri Foxtrotter and boy did I think my Hawkeye was big, this guy is big and beautiful!! BUT he doesn't like dogs, Skye (the Border Collie) had to make a run for it several times while we were there. She finally decided under the picnic table was safe!

There they are, all of them in the round pen, going out on the trail...Sutherlyn was so excited!

Sutherlyn is at a halt for her learning advancement, she still has to get a little stronger and a little longer (taller) but she is funny to watch. Her and those big horses, she isn't afraid at all and they are funny with her too. They are good with kids . It has been a pleasure to get to know Cindy and the others out there, we really enjoy going and look forward to the days when Sutherlyn can "really ride" ! For now, we are all having fun!

Till next time.......