I may just start blogging again......

I'm not sure why but today it was on my heart. I woke up thinking about Joy. True joy that comes from service to Christ not through anything on this rock but through the Hope we have in Christ Jesus. I have been expecting joy would come from the wrong places lately. I have put too much credit on the shoulders of friends and those around me. We may all be doing this more than we realize. "My Hope is in you Lord" I know my joy will be found in Him and Him alone. Even the joy that I see in my friends only comes from the Christ that I see in them. When you give and give and give only to be torn down by those close to you and you let that hurt you it is only because you/I have desired approval from the wrong source. If the giving and giving that is part of my life is as unto the Lord then nothing else matters. So where do we go with this? Just serve, just serve wherever and whenever called and serve as unto the Lord. Love those God has put in your life even if they do not love you back. Love and Serve.

Colossians 3
"17And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him. ...

22Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 23Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. "

Lord give me a heart like that. That all i do will lead to your glory and your honor. Cast aside this prideful heart and make me small Lord.

Adoption 1

Just a quick note to let you know that we are getting very close to travelling to Poland to pick up our sweet little girl. We got back a major federal approval form last week. Stephanie sent this form off for a state appostille and it has been returned and forwarded to the agency. Please pray for Stephanie as it appears the paperwork will never end. As soon as she jumps one hurdle there seems to be another bigger one waiting. We have yet to receive a single grant or loan for the adoption. Not due to lack of effort. Stephanie has filled out and filed all the forms but 3 of the first 4 were returned because the assistance group was not active any longer. You would think that they would take down their websites if they are out of business. Stephanie is working on the next big set of documents that we will take with us to Poland. She has worked so hard to keep this process moving. Please pray for favor in Poland, for housing, for travel, for $$$. We love you all so much.

Trey and Stephanie

KNOCK KNOCK!!!!

Knock knock!

Who's there?

Tired toddler!

Tired toddler who?

Tired toddler who fell asleep at the top of the stairs when Daddy went to find the dear lad for bedtime. We were in the living room and had heard the door leading to the garage open and shut and open and shut a few times with Jordan playing peek-a-boo. We smiled and played along, a bit later Trey went to get him for bed and almost stumbled on him. Thank Heaven Jordan is a sound sleeper and hadn't rolled over!! Our boys sure do find the most unusual places to fall asleep. Anyone remember the pictures of Joseph asleep in the middle of the driveway?:)

We Paint!!

Joseph's prize from preschool "treasure chest" was a paint kit and boy did Joseph and Jordan have fun with it. They painted away while Mommy got lunch ready and ate on the back porch while they painted. Jordan loves it when Joseph brings home prizes.

Guys Night Out Camping

The boys and I went camping with some of the other dads and boys from church this evening. We had orginally planned to go to a boy scout camping area but they informed us we could not have any open fires. With the likelyhood of 45 degree temperatures we chose to camp at The Hydeaway and build a fire. We had a great time around the fire and fishing. We made "Hobo Packs" for dinner Friday Night and watch a movie (Evan Almighty) on the big screen in the middle of the field. It was really cold but we all had a good time. Steph showed up with coffee on Saturday and that was the perfect final touch to a good camping trip.

Fire Department Field Trip

Joseph's first field trip with his k-4 class was to the Pehlam Fire Station. He took a tour of the station, seeing where the firefighters sleep, eat, watch football, work out and how they sweep and mop the fire engine garage everyday!! He was a bit apprehensive when the firefighter came around the corner in full protection. He said the firefighter sounded like Darth Vader!! He had alot of fun seeing what all was on the truck and he kept telling them "my Daddy has that", "my Daddy has lots of tools", "my Daddy's Dung Beetle Jeep tires are bigger than these". No doubt this little boy loves his Daddy! Jordan got to go along on this trip too and was most fasinated by the fire station cat!

Knights and Dragons

Every good Knight must practice for that day when he has to defend the honor of his beloved princess. Today I watched as one of my knights prepared for battle against a vicious creature that he found in our yard.

(Warning!! The following pictures may be to graphic for some viewers. You have been warned.)

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The beast attacked from the West across the sandy desert.

The ferocious dragon immediately went for the gugular of the noble knight. It appeared early on that the battle would be short and all hope would be lost......

but the brave night continued to fight in the face of this horrific advacery. With pure grit and determination he fought with all his might.

When the dust and blood of battle had cleared both warriors were on the ground. From a distance a mothers cries could be heard as she feared the worst. Then slowly our hero began to rise, bruised and battered the victory was his.
The scary dragon was captured and convinced to never attack this place again.

First Day of School for JJG

Well my third son has started school. He did not understand when I told him that he would be going to school for the next 14 years straight and maybe 18 years or more without a break. Even at 4 years of age that did not sound so good to him. How is that possible that schooling takes 18 years. Isn't there a crash course we can take so the kids can just be done at 12-14 and get a job. Although it seems like a long time I cannot believe how the boys have grown up so fast so early. They already speak of being authors, and ball players, and knights. They are planning their lives and they are not out of elementary yet. It all makes my head spin when I stop to think about it. At least I still have my baby for another two years.

Various Summer Shots

Jordan loves the water. All he wants to do is play in the hose. I was fine with that until we used 12,242 gallons of water in May.

Our little danger rangers. They love to ride down the hill and wreck when they get to the bottom.

Jordan cheering on his brother.

Everybody survived but stunt work is exhausting.

Grammy and PawPaw come to town

Stephanies parents came to town to catch the last regular season game of the season for Elijah. His team went 8-1 in the second half and this just happened to be that 1. We still had a blast and love it when the grandparents are here. Hopefully we will get to Texas this summer to see my parents.

Paw Paw and his fishing buddy...

Grammy getting in one more kiss...

Summer Hair Cuts

Well its summer time and the boys went in for a trim. Elijah has been talking about a flat top all year and we finally found a place that would do one. I had no idea that flat top cuts were becoming a lost art. He looks so good and cool.

Morgan was all set to get a mowhawk but at the last minute lost the nerve and just got a regular hair cut. He was not happy but we let him make his own decision.

We still have not talked Joseph and Jordan into getting those blond locks cut off yet maybe later this summer.

Trey and Morgan go to Tellico, NC

Morgan and I set out Friday evening for Tellico, NC. This is the east coast mecca of offroading. I have been wanting to go here for years. I was very excited about the fact that we have not had any rain. Lots of rain makes for nasty difficult trails but as I found out no rain makes for more dust than the sahara desert. Morgan and I almost choked just getting into the woods. Once there we had a blast.

We stayed at an awesome cabin in the mountains with 15 of our other jeeping friends. Morgan and I slept in the attic which had been turned into a sleeping loft.

Parking at the cabin next to Chris and Christine..... We drove up some amazing trails.
I know the baby blue windshield doesn't match but it works when you are throwing things together at the last minute.

After about 9-10 hours on the trail we loaded up and went in hunt of some food. We found a great Rib Country BBQ resturaunt and did we ever do some damage to those ribs. After a full plate of meat we made room for apple cobbler and choclate cake and ice cream. When we were all done we decided we had had enough and hit the highway heading for home. It was a great trip and we will definitely be back again.

Trey and Joseph go to Gulfport, MS

We have a good friend that was hurt in a bad car accident on Feb. 13 of this year. The jeep club that we are members of decided to jump in and fix his jeep up. Well one thing snowballed into another and this turned into a complete overhaul. This became a whos who of offroad vendors project.

Before....

After....

We got donations from.....

JC Whitney

www.jcwhitney.com

Soft Top, Center Console, Front Suspension Seats, Rear fold and Tumble seat, Front 5-point harness w/ camlock, 5Star tranny shifter

White Rhino Fabrication

www.whiterhinofab.com

Chris and Chip also were responsible for lots of the vendor contact and donations and coordination so I will let them fill in most of their items.

Custom roll cage built in one day, Tube Fenders, Rock Sliders, One Sick Dash

Performance Offroad

Chris & Tony and the crew did alot of the grease and sweat work for the drivetrain on this job as well as coordinating vendor donations. Shocks, Custom built Stinger, Final set up and pieces for the steering system

Randy's Ring and Pinion

Front axle locker and gears

Gulfport Powder Coat

Terry layed down some nice powder for lots of the pieces on this jeep. I don't know if he has a website someone update me if so.

Klien Muffler

Eddie Klien and his boys did the exhaust system with a Magnaflow muffler and a blingin tip.

Advanced Audio

Kings offroad enterprise

http://www.kore4x4customs.com/ DIY Beadlock kit & HD Crossover Steering

Stan's Powertrain

Yoke and Ujoints for the rear end

Majestic Tires

Rich in Mobile provided the spare tire and beadlock rim.

Interco Tires

www.intercotires.com

Interco provided the 36" Iroks for an at cost price. I am not sure who picked up the tab for the rest of the tires.

Solid Axle

Northridge4x4

Corinet Bolt and Screw

Yukon Gears

Aussie Locker

Inchworm

Hummer Club of Jackson

Powertank

Searchers 4wd

A1 Radiator

Advance Auto Parts - Grant Steering wheel and install kit

O'Reilly's - Trans Temp

B3Concepts did the from bumper

12 Volt Guy - http://www.12voltguy.com/ - donated a custom switch panel for the Critter

More pictures can be seen at this link.

http://msstate.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2073637&l=cd3e2&id=26502552