Count your blessings...

...name them one by one. Count your many blessing. See what God has done.

I decided to dedicate our last post in 2009 to counting a few of the many blessings God has bestowed upon us and our family in the past year.

Jesus Christ---First, as in this and every year, we are most thankful for the everlasting gift of salvation granted to us by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Family---In 2009 God saw fit to bless us with a new addition. We love both of our children so much and look forward to watching the plans God has set before them unfold. Ryker is not the only new baby in 2009. Our extended family is growing as well with the addition of our beautiful niece Zoey. We are so thankful to have Bryan's family here with us in Va and even though my family is not able to be as close we are thankful that we were able to have several visits with them in 2009. And last but certainly not least we must mention how thankful we are for our church family. They have always been so good to us and we love them so much. The love and bond that we share through Jesus blurs the line between friendship and family.

Friends---Both near and far. Life keeps us so busy that we rarely find ourselves with enough free time to express to all of our friends how much we love and appreciate them. In 2009 God blessed us by moving some of our best friends, the McCormicks, here to Va. We were also blessed with a visit by the McFarlands in March and several visits by the Mallards. We are so excited to be kicking off 2010 with a visit by the Vaughns in January and we are looking forward to seeing who else may stop by in 2010.

Health---As frustrating as it is to have babies that keep the sniffles during the winter months, we realize how truly blessed we are to have such a healthy family.

Our job---or should I say our calling. I love my life as a preacher's wife. Even though it come with it's sacrifices, the joy and peace that come from serving the Lord full-time is indescribable. As a result, we have seen over 45 people come to know Christ in our church this year and countless others though various outreach ministries of our church.

The list is really endless, but I felt that these main topics summed up what what was weighing heavy on my heart to share at the end of this wonderful year. We know that 2010 will hold new trials for our life but by focusing our eyes upon Jesus and the many blessings He brings us each day we will make it through and be a stronger, wiser, more loving Christian for it.

I have never been one for New Year's resolutions. Lose weight, eat better, keep a cleaner house---I guess I never really found one worth keeping. I plan on kicking this year off a little different. I have a blog resolution. God has blessed me with this blog and I intend to use it for His glory in 2010. Post will continue to share with all of our "blog stalkers" updates on our family and our children, but this year more than ever I resolve to make sure God's love shines through each post that goes up. It is by His grace that we even have things worth blogging after all.

We love you all and wish you a very blessed 2010.

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
--Jeremiah 29:11

Christmas blessings...

Hope this post finds all of our blog stalkers blessed with a wonderful Christmas holiday. It was so exciting to enjoy this Christmas as a family of FOUR! So exciting in fact we found ourselves up much earlier than past years. Here are a few pics and video to share our holiday with you:

Our first video is my father-in-law, Sebby, receiving his TWO earned doctorate degrees. We are so proud of "Dr. Dr. Volpe"!

Cheyenne singing at our Christmas Eve service. Sorry it is so dark. It was a candle-lit service.

Christmas morning:

Please pardon Rykers little "poot" in this next video. He is all boy---what else can I say?

A little holiday cheer...

Click here and enjoy!

We've been elfed!

I am back...

The blog break lasted a little longer than I had hoped. Now it is time to play catch up :)

Thanksgiving was a great but very busy vacation. Ryker did great on his first road trip and we were so excited to finally introduce him to all of his Florida relatives.

Here is me with my little bros...and below, is my little brother Matt with Ryker.

Granny Williams cuddling with Ryker.

While we were down in Fla my dad and Nancy gave me a great surprise...TICKETS TO THE FLA VS. FLA STATE GAME for me and my brother Matt (Bryan already had tickets with our friends the Vaughns)!! Thanks, Dad!

We even got 4th quarter invites to the sky box to hang out with Rob and Sarabeth. It was a great finish to a wonderful night!

Snow, snow and more snow...

These were taken the Saturday after we got back to VA. We got about 4in that day.

Ryker's first snow...he looks so excited, right?

Then came a blizzard...well not really, but it was to us Florida folk. A total of 20 inches we got this past Friday and Saturday! Here is Cheyenne up to her bum in snow!

Our car...it is in there somewhere.

Parents day at dance class:

We were invited in class so that the girl were able to show us what they have been learning. Here is a pic of Cheyenne with her teacher Ms. Sara.

And here are a few clips I took during class:

Whew...I am almost caught up....Just one more thing...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I hope to be a much better blogging mom with our Christmas pics.

Stay tuned...

Break time!

In the morning the Volpe 4 will be south bound. We are headed to Florida for the holiday week. This means I will be taking a little blog break, but don't worry...I will be back on and blogging as soon as we get back. I am sure I will have lots of photos to share when we return so stay on standby blog stalkers:) Love to you all and a Happy Thanksgiving!

Jesus Loves Me!

Let me tell you all...I had a total mom moment this morning. As Cheyenne got up to sing in church this morning for the first time she wasn't nervous a bit, but my hands were shaking like crazy. She did so great. I was definitely the picture of a proud mom, smiling from ear to ear as she came off the stage!

Another one bites the dust!

Pardon the blood... Congratulations, Bryan---on your first deer of the season. He is calling this the "Prayer Buck". He said this nice little 4 point came charging at his tree stand after praying: "Please Lord, give us some meat to put in the freezer!". Well, guess He heard Bryan's plea and saw fit to bless us! Thank you, God!

'Tis the season!

That's right...our tree is already up! Now I can cross it off of my "to do before our Thanksgiving vacation" list. Only 9 more days before the Volpe 4 will be Florida bound!

A big "Thank you" to Cheyenne, my little tree decorator!

Church Fall Festival

It was a great night. I am pretty sure all of the kids had a great time. Thank you to all who helped make this years fall festival a great success!

Fall Festivities

Downtown trick-or-treating. Me with my little cowgirl and my baby pony!

Cheyenne riding her stick horse down the sidewalk.

Bryan toting the stick horse for the last half of our walk downtown.

It's raining babies in Virginia!

Congratulations to our good friends the Hartless Family. On Saturday morning they welcomed their new adopted daughter into the world, Emma Grace Trinity Hartless. Yesterday we were able to go and meet her for the first time. Of course I had to take some pics and post this beautiful girl on the blog :)

Here is a pic of the new mommies and their newest arrivals. Since Ryker's birth there has been a new baby born in our church family every month...and still one more on the way ( due in Dec.).

Me, Ryker(8 weeks), Brandy, Zoey(4 weeks), Alice, and Emma Grace!

I know, I know...

...a new post is way over due. So here it is!

I made sure to take plenty of pics and a few videos to share our pumpkin carving with the blog world. We tried to get fancy this year and not do the typical jack-o-lantern face. Instead Cheyenne picked out Mickey and Minnie Mouse patterns to carve on our pumpkins. I think they turned out pretty cute and Cheyenne was very proud of them.