A few pictures...more to come

William Anderson "Andy" Gilliland

This is Andy, Granny and Justin at Justin's surprise 30th at Logans.
And again.


Here is Emma Claire with her Papaw Andy :)

We are back home from our crazy week and still saddened and shocked from the loss of Justin's dad and the girls Papaw Andy. I have more photos coming and even working on a slide show that they played at the funeral that is just beautiful. I want to save it to our blog so that we always have it to look back on. Such a wonderful, loving man that is dearly missed...it all still seems so unreal...

We are doing okay though, no worries. The girls had a great Christmas and an outpouring of love from everyone and we are so thankful! Thank you to my family that tended to us all week and for those that helped with our children as we were back and forth,"THANK YOU". Also, I do have to say thank you to Andy...you brought us all together for Christmas and I know that is exactly how you would've wanted it to be. We just wish you could have been there with us...Hadlee reminded us all that you got to spend Christmas with Jesus....what a sweet grand-daughter you have.

Merry Christmas

I want to wish everyone a very merry and blessed Christmas! I hope that each and everyone of you enjoys this time with your family and friends.

I don't know how to say the right words exactly...this Christmas is a difficult one for our family. On Monday night around 10:55 pm Justin's dad, Andy, passed away in a tragic accident. We recieved the phone call around 3:30 am and are just still in shock. He was such a loving man. A great dad, a husband, and our daughters "papaw andy." This is very hard for them to understand and they are very sad and confused. We just saw him on Saturday and celebrated Christmas with him, granny Jenn, and granny and pappy(andy's parents).

I ask that you please pray for the family during this time. I especially ask that you pray for Andy's parents, as this is their 2nd child they have had to bury. Anytime you lose a loved one it is difficult, but for some reason, losing someone so dear at the holidays makes it a little more difficult. Maybe because the holidays are truly meant for spending time with your families and making memories. We are so thankful for the time that we got to spend with him on Saturday, we had such a great visit and he even got to watch home videos of the girls and he enjoyed that so much.

Andy, we love you very much and you will be missed by so many! We can't wait to see you again someday in heaven. Until then we are so blessed to have you as one of our angels watching over us each day.

Live each day to the fullest and always tell those near to you how much they mean to you and that you love them because you never know when the Lord will call us home....

Be blessed!
Amber

*we are out of town at the moment with our family...when we return I will post some pictures of Justin's dad and the girls Papaw Andy*

Hannah has a blog now

Well Hannah, our 9 year old, has been begging me to start a blog/journal of her own so tonight we worked on making her one and getting it started. We picked out her background, added pictures and her kind of music to it, its cute. She is such a sweet little girl and we are both so proud of her and how smart she is. She is in the 4th grade this year, which is really hard for me to grasp! I just can't get over how fast she has grown and how she changes daily. It seems like just yesterday she was Emma's age, brings tears to my eyes thinking about it. Oh how I sometimes wish time did not fly by so quickly. Cherish these moments you have with your little ones because one day they will be just as big and you will be wondering where the time went.

So if you get the chance go take a look at the things she will be blogging about. I added her page to my blog list on the side bar that you can click on. And Miss Hannah if you are reading this...we love you dearly and we are so proud of the little lady you are growing up to be!

LOTS to blog about!

Emma's first haircut, she did so well and sat so still.

I think the comb on the back of her neck was relaxing, it was cute watching her.

She sat in her daddy's lap..

Hannah and Hadlee rode the train at Barton Creek mall after visiting Santa.

There's Hadlee, the train moved too fast for my flash!

Oh man! Loves looking at Santa pictures and the huge blow up Santa in the yard, but as soon as we sat her in the "real" Santa's lap it was over!

Emma pointing at mommy and daddy..aw, she was like help me please.

Look at her looking up at him :(

Enough! She said...and yes I paid $30 for a 5x7, 3 1/2x5 and 2 wallets. You couldn't take your own pics unless you purchased the smallest pckg...rip off! Its memories though, hopefully next year will be smoother.

Emma taking a bite of Oreo cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory. Yes she only had 1 bite though and she def wanted more than that! It was so yummy. That is one of my favorites, I could make myself sick on the Tamale Cakes appetizer, delicious!

Hadlee all dressed up for her Holiday performance at school, such a pretty girl and you have no idea how excited this child was. We video taped it so once I figure out how to add that one I will.

Emma in the bathtub with a mo-hawk her daddy gave her, she recently decided that she HATES to have her hair washed! She will scream and stand up, it is a fight. You would think after 3 kids I would know about this part but Hannah and Hadlee never had a problem with this, so this is all new to us.

Wow! We have been so very busy so I posted alot of pictures from the past week. Bathtime fun with Emma, Hadlee had a Christmas program at school, Emma's first Cheesecake Factory experience, Visit with Santa and Emma's first haircut!! And there is more to come. Hannah has open house at dance tonight so I will be posting about that too. Enjoy!

Can't be left out...

Well, I couldn't possible leave my Hadlee out! Emma had a post, then Hannah and now here is Hadlee's. She is such a sweetheart and a stinker at the same time. She amazes us each day. This picture is from when we went to my brother Kyle's playoff game in Pflugerville. I made them outfits to wear to show our support. Unfortunately they lost but the girls looked adorable :)

Hannah's Field Trip and Its Fixed!

A few weeks ago Hannah had a 4th grade field trip to Inner Space Cavern in Georgetown and Justin voluteered as one of the chaperones. They had a really nice time and said it was really neat and a great learning experience. Here is a picture of Hannah inside the cave! (and yes, we fixed the picture upload somehow...not with the help of Dell Support though)

One Picture

Here is Emma Claire in one of her cute little Christmas outfits. And yes there is a picture, but we did it through J's laptop and not the home computer. He was determined it was the blogger website that was messed up and not our computer and I was right it is our settings on our computer that is not allowing us to load pics from it. So now he says send me the pics you want on here and I will post them...no. I want to be able to do it from my computer!! Its new and its being difficult...I think Dell Support will get a call from me today :)

Update

So...for a while now I can't upload pictures onto the blog for some reason. This is why there are no new post and pictures. We can't seem to figure it out. I think it has something to do with Java. Justin in finding out from the tech guys at work and hopefully they can fix it and then we will be up and running again because I have lots of photos to share. I don't like blogging without attaching pictures so just bare with us family and friends. We hope everyone had a very blessed Thanksgiving!! We did not get to travel to Lufkin as originally planned because Miss Emma decided to be sick with fever and a runny nose. We are going in for Christmas now as long as everyone decides to stay healthy. Check back soon and hopefully there will be pictures :)

A Powerful Word!

This blog that I came across and read reminded me of the important things and the ones we seem to get wrapped up in that are not so important. Everyone is guilty of this and no one is perfect. So I am thankful for these reminders that God sends my way in times of need or staggering. It was very powerful and moved me to tears so I wanted to share some key words and ideas in hopes that it touches others as it has me. It reminded me of the power of prayer, of which I do alot of, never enough but alot. I would consider myself a "private prayer." I pray when I am alone and everything is quiet. I pray in time of need and for guidance always, because I never feel like I give enough...whether it be to myself, my husband, my children,my God and to others. I believe its something we can all emerge ourselves in and never can do it enough. Most importantly I thank God for all of His blessings. I realize that I should also be more of an "out loud prayer." Not only for myself but for my family and as an example to my 3 girls. Oh how I want the very best for them! This blog showed me importance in specific prayer and I am so thankful that God chose to speak to me today and fill me with more knowledge by this discovery.



Spend time asking God to give your children "undivided hearts (Psalm 86:11)," and pray "that they will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel when they open their mouths (Ephesians 6:19)" Pray that God will help them to become good stewards of their time, their money, their words. Pray for their character, their faith, their decisions, their (future) husbands. To be wise, Godly women who chase after the Lord.



Something that she suggested was to make notecards of these prayers which I most certainly will do!! I feel like God lead me here because I do need to live my life more in prayer. Too many times we push His nudges aside and think "oh I will do it later, I've got plenty of time. The truth is, we don't though. We have to treasure these gifts and days that God has given to us. As their parents we do owe them the gift of praying for them each day more and out loud with them. The woman that wrote these (Angie) does 7 prayers a day and has a reminder for each one and she does this everyday. Something we should all do and I will commit to doing today!



#1 "Let the morning bring (name) word of your unfailing love, for she has put her trust in You. Show he/she the way he/she should go, for to you he/she lifts up her soul." Adapted from Psalm 143:8



#2 "Therefore, as God's chosen child, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Lord, help him/her bear with others and forgive whatever grievances he/she has against others. Help him/her to forgive as the Lord forgave him/her. And over all these virtues, help him/her put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." Adapted from Colossians 3:12-14



#3 "Teach (name) the secret fo being content in any any and every situation whether well-fed or hungry. Whether living in plenty or in want. Teach him/her that he/she can do everything through Him who gives him/her strength." Adapted from Philippians 4:12-13



#4 "(name), do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - His good , pleasing and perfect will." Adapted from Romans 12:2



#5 "Lord, give (name) clean hands and a pure heart, and let him/her not lift his/her soul to an idol or swear by what is false. Let him/her recieve blessings from the Lord and vindication from God his/her savior. Let him/her be part of the generation of those who seek Him, who seek your face, O God of Jacoob." Adapted from Psalm 24:4-6



#6 "The Lord your God is with you; He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing." Zephaniah 3:17



#7 I pray that (name) will do everything without complaining or arguing so that he/she may become blameless and pure, a child of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which he/she shines like a star in the universe as he/she holds out the word of life - in order that he/she may boast on the day of Christ that he/she did not run or labor for nothing." Adapted from Philippians 2:14-16



Thank you for taking the time to read, this was a long one. I just hope it touches someone else as it did myself.



Have a Blessed week!



In Him,

Amber

My [not so] Happy Birthday...

So I am just going to start by suggesting that it be a law that you cannot get sick on your birthday! I along with Hannah and Hadlee had a terrible, horrible stomach bug! We were sick all night Wednesday night and most of the day on Thursday and did not really start feeling better until Thursday night. Needless to say our plans to go to Cheesecake Factory fell through. Fortunately we were feeling like brand new women on Friday and the girls returned to school and I stayed busy getting everything ready for us to go to the football game that night to see Kyle play. I made the girls cute outfits but did not get the chance to do their bows since I had gotten sick :( They looked adorable though. On Friday we also took Emma to her doctors appt for her shots and well check. She looks great he said and she did really well until the nurse came in and they held her down for her shots...how traumatizing (sp)! She was in an ok mood that afternoon and that night at the game, aside from the fits she was throwing...I kept having to remind myself that she did get 4 shots today! She finally got wrapped up like a taco in the fleece blanket and went to sleep on my chest. The cold front was blowing in so it was soooo windy and cold! This unfortunately played a big factor in the football game and it did not go the way we wanted it to. The Montgomery Bears (kyle's team) lost to Elgin, 28-15. Enjoy the pics! (as soon as they will load I will post them...for some reason it is not letting me today)

Coming up...

Whew! Its been a busy week and only going to stay busy :) Tomorrow is my 27th bday so we will go out to eat and shopping with the girls. Can't decide between Cheesecake Factory or PF Changs...hmmm. Another thing, I know that I am not old by any means but I am showing the first signs fo aging! I have found some grey hair...yes grey hair. I get Justin to pull one out everytime I find one. I do not like this discovery at all! So I am thinking one of my gifts will be highlights to cover up what I've found :/

On another note...I am soooo excited about this Friday night! For those of you that may have read my "shout out" to my brother Kyle b/c we have been unable to make any of his games this year....well, they made the playoffs!! They will play Elgin in Pflugerville at 7:30 and this is only like 10 minutes from our house...yay! I am making all 3 of the girls tshirts to show our support and matching hair bows too. They are going to look so cute! I will be posting pics soon of them and of course of the football game. I know this is just high school football, but we are so proud of him :) He has been playing really well and getting recognized for this. Last Thursday he was on the front page of the sports section. If he can keep this up along with his grades this is good for college you know. So be checking back for photos and highlights from the game.

Memories...

Ok, real quick...our neighbor friend Elli...practically a part of the family! Well, she borrowed my Pep Squad Captain uniform from Junior High East (9th grade) as her costume this year. She looked so cute in it and it brought back memories of dancing and cheering at football games, so much fun...those were the days. She also reminded me of how skinny I once was!! Haha :)

Just Pictures

The girls with their friends, Elli and Alexa.

Emma with the abundant amount of candy!

Emma with McGruff...which she was really unsure about ????

Hannah and Hadlee with McGruff too.

Candy, candy and more candy!

Hannah at Justin's office.

Emma was afraid of her sisters so she would not stand with them that is why J is in the picture.

Love this picture!

Mad kitty cat! (Emmatude)

Emma has discovered her belly button and points it out along with pointing out EVERYONE'S!

Ok so I have been trying to figure out how to do this Halloween post...3 kiddos makes for more pictures and stories to tell. So I am going to post a variety of pics of all 3 of the girls after the post, possibly a whole album since I can't simply just pick out a few...sorry. Our day was a fairly busy day...Hannah and Hadlee obviously went to school and then their daddy picked them up a little early so that they could go to work with him and trick or treat. We started getting costumes and makeup on around 2:30 and off they went. I stayed home and picked things up and worked on my never ending piles of laundry. Justin gave Emma her first sucker, oh my! Once they got back home we relaxed for a bit and then fixed dinner so we did not fill up on just sugar. We were unsure when to exactly start the whole trick or treating, but finally decided to just go around 6:30 so we would be done pretty early. The evening started off ok...we strapped Emma in her wagon and Hannah and Hadlee had a couple of friends go with us too. Then the evening started to crumble...Em was tired, did not care one bit about going up to stranger's doors with her sisters and just wanted to sit in the wagon. So she got her wish...then that wasn't what she wanted either, she wanted to get out and run around in the road...well of course we weren't having that. So then the Emmatude came out! I decided me and her were coming home to hang out while the girls and Justin continued. Of course after rocking for only a few minutes she crashed. The girls and Justin returned around 8 with LOADS of candy, I mean enought to feed a 3rd world country! With all of the excitement from them and their friends Emma sure enough woke up ready to go and in a great mood...yay! Justin sorted through their candy and made sure it was all safe...which they do not even understand why we do this. So Justin explained to them the reasons why we have to check their candy and then quickly put it away b/c this will definitely have to be handed out at our discretion. We sure hope everyone had a nice Halloween and got lots of candy. Goodnight :)

Happy Halloween from the Gillilands!!

Hadlee, the cute little Witch!

Hannah, the Spa Girl

Emma Claire, the little cute kitty cat! Meow!

Happy Birthday Aunt Shanna!

We love you and miss you and hope you have a great day today!!!

Shout out!!

Okay so I have to make a quick "shout out" to my little bother, Kyle. Yes he may be bigger than me but he is still my little brother. He is a Junior at Montgomery High in Montgomery, TX and plays football. We have been unable to make any games this year which is a bummer. His games are on Friday nights and its a 2 hour drive and with 3 kiddos its not as easy as I would like it to be to get up and go. This last game on Friday he made 2 touchdowns and they won 35 to 0. I really hate that I was not there to see this one! So, I just wanted to say how very proud of him we are and how much we miss him. Love you brother!! We will definitely make it to as many games as possible next year. BIG hugs!! Also, his number is 6 and for those of you that would like to see more pics go to http://www.joanallenphotography.com/ and click on Varsity football and you can look at all of the albums...there are some really great photos of Kyle in action and making his touchdown Friday night. Enjoy!

Growing up too fast!

Okay, so Miss Emma Claire is only 1 year old...but she thinks she is much older being that she has 2 big sisters to keep up with. She seriously wants to do EVERYTHING that they do and gets very frustrated when she can't...this is what we refer to as the Emmatude. She tries so hard to "tell" us what she wants, but the words just don't come out the way she wants, which leads to the Emmatude. She refuses to sleep in her crib and Justin and I can't have her in our room so I decided to give her a big girl bed since she sleeps so well in a regular bed. So far she is doing great in it. Here are a few pics of her "new" room :) And I say "new" because I have had this bed for a long time now. We caught Pier 1 Kids when it was going out of business and everything in the store was 95% off so we practically stole it. Enjoy the pics.

Emma's "new" bed...

Pumpkin Patch

Today we all went to the Pumpkin Patch and Fall Festival here in Round Rock. The girls had alot of fun getting their hair colored funky and getting their faces painted too. There was a dunk tank and Hannah and Hadlee both gave it a shot. Hannah can really throw the ball well and fast, but just missed hitting the target! Hadlee stepped up next and she hit the target right on the 2nd chance, she was so excited!! Then we traveled over to the pumpkin patch to get some cute pictures of the girls and pick out a few pumpkins. Hopefully we will head to Marble Falls in the next couple of weekends and go to their Pumpkin Patch, but this weekend we decided to stay close to home. Enjoy the pics and check back soon for more. Halloween is coming up and the girls are excited about their costumes and trick or treating.

Pumpkin Patch Pictures

The Gilliland Girls
Pumpkin Patch
Emma Claire
Hannah Elizabeth
Hadlee Anne

Hair coloring

Face Painting
Emma picking out a pumpkin
Justin helping the girls pick out a pumpkin