The Wedding

Well, I mentioned in my last blog which has been 7 months ago that I would share how God intertwined the life of Britt and his future wife. Well, Crystal is now his wife, as of Oct. 23rd, and we are extremely proud to have her in our family. Britt and Crystal met in Nacogdoches while they were attending SFA. They dated for about 3 years before they became engaged. I will never forget the first time he went to Marble Falls to meet her parents. He called us and the conversation went something like this: "Hey, Mom/Dad--do you remember that huge hill Uncle Ken like to drive us down on the way to Buckner Camp? Well, would you believe that Crystal grew up right around the curve from that hill?! She has lived there all of her life. All those times we came to the Camp for holidays, she was living right up the hill! Isn't that cool?!" It was amazing to all of us.
Then when the time came for Britt and Crystal to look for a place for their wedding ceremony they just couldn't find the right spot. One day, as Britt was talking to his Uncle Ken about that very thing, his uncle told him he might want to look at the Camp. We met Britt, Crystal, and her parents on a Saturday morning at the Camp. As soon as we walked around to the ampitheater area, they both looked at each other and said."This is it!" You see all of this fits because Buckner is where Britt's life began and now the wedding would take place at Buckner Camp! God is truly amazing as he weaves the tapestries of our lives together.
The wedding was beautiful, even though it rained 10 minutes before it was to start and our best friends had to leave because their son and daughter in law were having their first child, it was still beautiful. Everyone saw the beautiful venue and then we all quickly moved inside to Faith Hall and had the ceremony. Many people have told us that they felt such a presence of the Lord in that room. We had a wonderful time and we have a wonderful daughter in our family.
God is to be praised for all He has done.

Happy Birthday Britton

It sometimes seems like only yesterday that we got the call from Buckner--"your little boy is here!" Danny and I had taken a group of youth from 1st Baptist Troup to Glorietta NM. As we drove through Dallas on Saturday and passed those famous red brick buildings of Buckner Family Services, I turned to a friend and adoptive mom and said, "I wish they would call next week to tell us that our baby was born!" Little did I know that Britt was already in a hospital getting stronger and waiting on us to return home! Danny received the call the very next Monday telling us the wonderful news! Then we had to wait until Tuesday afternoon at 4 to pick him up in Dallas. That wait was so long but nothing compared to the 3 years we had waited on the adoption process to be complete or the 7 years we had longed for a baby. Our pastor and his wife and their 6 month old son drove us to Dallas so we could just enjoy getting to know Britt. It was a wonderful time in our lives. We have such marvelous memories of these last 31 years with Britt.
Of course, as with every birthday, I give thanks for the birthmom that so unselfishly decided it was best for him to be raised by someone else. After all of this time, I'm still in awe of that woman! I have a huge respect for her. I sometimes try to picture what she looks like as I look at our handsome son--who, as most of you know, looks so much like Danny! Britt seems very content with us as his parents. Oh, we went through those times of questions and wonderings from him and I always doubted how I handled them. But God in all of His wisdom gave me the answers that were needed at the time.
I think it's odd--no really I believe it was God--that put a book and a TV show in my life this past week about adoption. Both were such positive but heart wrenching situations where these very young ladies made the choice of adoption for their children. Tears flowed as I thanked God for these young girls and Britt's birthmom.
So, on this the 31st birthday of Britton Ray Elliott I say "Thank you, birthmom!" God has blessed us so much with a wonderful son. I could not have asked for a better baby boy!
P.S. God has done another marvelous work and woven the tapestry together when it comes to choosing Britt's life partner and the location for the wedding--more on that after Oct. 23rd!

A Long Time

I can't believe it's been almost a year since I have posted anything on my blog. Since I joined Facebook it has taken so much time. I post pictures on that site and forget about this one. Here are a few from Easter in Tyler. I will post more after Mother's Day. I will be there again next week.

Father's Day 2009

We enjoyed the day with Danny! He requested a meal of grilled shrimp, Britt's famous roasted potatoes, and anything else we chose. Britt and Crystal worked great as a team to prepare the meal and added grilled squash and salmon. It was all very yummy!! Later, he had a small scoop of his favorite ice cream, Extreme Chocolate Moose. At the end of the day, I heard him tell Britt and Crystal how much he enjoyed them being around all day with him. He said it wasn't the gift or even the meal--it was their presence that made his day. He is a wonderful father and I love him so much for the role model he has been to Britt.

The Bucket List

Well, some friends at school have been talking about their "bucket list" and what's on them. Several it seems want a tattoo--EEEEEW--NO!! That's too much pain for the girl that had to be bribed when going to get a booster shot. The days are still fresh in my mind when I would ask my mom where we were going and she would say, "Oh just driving around!" Then we made the terrible turn toward the doctor's office.

Well, back to the list. I made the statement back in the fall that I wanted to run/walk the 5K Cowtown. It's no big deal to runners but to this "older" woman it is! So, this morning Danny and I did it. I'm so glad he "volunteered" to do this with me. We awoke to temperatures in the high 30's and the wind blowing 30mph! Great day for a run, right. We ate a good breakfast and were off to Downtown Fort Worth.

We did almost freeze and we sucked in a lot of cold air but we finished in 51.10 minutes! Now I know that's not fast--but we weren't last--not even close!Ha! Lots of people there to cheer us on--even some SFA fans. You can tell by my picture why they knew I was an SFA supporter. Would you believe at the finish line we heard someone call our names. Later, we saw that person and he was someone we knew from Nacogdoches! His son and Britt played ball together! His wife was running right behind us! It truly is a small world.

So, this item on my Bucket List is done. I will do more of these. In fact, I'm already committed to one in Oct.!

Here are a few pictures!

Mom's 90th Birthday

Well, last Saturday, Feb, 7th, Mom celebrated her 90th birthday! Wow! What a blessing to still have her and in pretty good health. She never ceases to amaze me with what she can do at her age. She told me the week before that she decided that she could clean her own house and so she told the lady that had been coming about once a month she no longer needed her. So, before the party, she cleaned the entire house. It looked better than what it had in a long time. I figured out that her energy level came from getting a call from the doctor earlier saying she was in good health. She had blood work done and he was concerned about her throyid. But all was fine!
We had a great time. About 75 family members and friends came to her house for punch and cake. So many brought cards and notes of love and encouragement. She said yesterday that she counted over 50 that she received in the mail and on that day. Mom said over and over, "I never knew I did anything special for these people to come and write such sweet notes!" Well, she has and she continues to be a sweet, sweet lady and mother.
My desire is to live my life like hers--a Christian wife, mother, grandmother, and friend. I pray that we can celebrate when she turns 100!! She is my role model for life!
Enjoy a few pictures!

Britt's New Hobby

Danny and I never dreamed that Britt would love to hunt and fish but we have been proven wrong. As a young boy, 6th and 7th grade he would hunt squirrels a little. He also went on a few campouts with the RAs at church but we never dreamed he would get up at 5 a.m. in the morning in freezing weather and go hunting. I credit his precious girlfriend, Crystal, reviving this hobby in Britt. She loves to fish and grew up hunting with her dad. They are having a lot of fun with all of this. I just wished we lived closer so we could enjoy eating the fish.

Here are some pictures that Britt sent to us this week.