My Little Girl...

It seems like yesterday Daddy and I found out you were growing inside of me. Where did all the time go? Today we celebrate your 18th birthday.

You have been a joy from the moment you were born.

It's so hard to believe that you are now a young woman. My, how time flies. So many people told us to make sure to cherish every moment of every day with you because in the blink of an eye, you'd be all grown up. And that's exactly what happened.

I think of all the mom and daughter nights those two years you were in tap dance. We had so much fun. I then think of the three years of swimming practice four nights a week and swim meets several times a year that we had together as a family. Those have been very precious times with you. Then I think of the times when Dad would stay home with the boys so we could have a girls day out and all the conversations we've had. The late nights we've stayed up and talked about everything under the sun from just plain silliness to very serious topics.

Getting a dog has brought so much laughter into our home between you and me.

I love your sense of humor and your smile lights up a room. You have beautiful eyes and a beautiful personality.

You are a beautiful lady. I am so proud of you.

You are such an encouragement to me. I see your love for the Lord and it encourages me to keep serving Him. Your zeal for the Lord is incredible. I love knowing that you desire His will for your life.

Happy 18th Birthday, Lyndsey! I love you very much! No matter how old you get, you'll always be my little girl.

3 Valuable Gifts I Received

Ok - I must admit - it was my birthday yesterday.

Lyndsey gave me a handmade card that was great (by the way - I think she makes incredible cards!).

Tyler won the behavior award in Jr. Church a couple weeks ago. He won a box of "Lemonheads." He loves 'em. On to the story...he made me a card and taped a small container of lemonheads (his most prized possession at the moment) to his card. Boy, did I feel special!

Then it was time for bed. Phyllip came out of his room to give me a hug goodnight. Phyllip not only gave me a hug but a kiss, too! To some, that doesn't seem exciting. But to this here mom - that's incredible! See, I haven't gotten a kiss from said son for over 6 years! He just doesn't like it - giving or receiving. I quit trying to get a kiss from him a very long time ago! But I was pleasantly surprised.

It was a FANTASTIC birthday!

12:27 PM

It was at this exact minute our miracle baby, Phyllip, was born 11 years ago today.

Phyllip today - age 11

1997 - couple of months old

We had Lyndsey 14 months after we were married. We waited a couple of years and decided we were ready for our 2nd child. But it seemed that we wouldn't be able to have another natural child. There's 6 1/2 years between Lyndsey and Phyllip.

We went to see a doctor for infertility and found out I was pregnant. But I lost that baby shortly after.

Not knowing if we'd be able to have any more children (though the doctor hadn't been able to find anything wrong with either one of us) we decided to look into adoption. We found out just how hard it would be to adopt through an agency. The waiting list is years long and the price is astronomical! We decided that wasn't the way to go. However, we heard of a preacher that handled adoptions so we contacted him.

Phyllip was 8 in this picture

He had been contacted by a family whose teenage daughter was pregnant and didn't want the baby. He interviewed us and got background on us as well as the girl. We met her over the phone as she was in Chicago and we were in WA state. Things seemed to progress well with the whole situation.

Then I found out I was pregnant in the middle of the adoption process. We didn't tell anyone involved with the adoption. We decided to let God close whichever door He chose. He chose to close the door of adoption.

And on June 30, 1997, at 12:27 p.m., we welcomed Phyllip James into our family. He truly was our miracle baby. He's such a blessing from Heaven. He's tenderhearted, loves to laugh and make jokes, always wants to play, will bend over backwards to make his momma happy, and he's got his daddy's outstanding looks!

Walter made a makeshift wagon and we would pull Phyllip up and down the hill around our house when he was little.

Happy 11th birthday my son! Your momma and daddy love you very much!

Gotta Love Those Kiddos!

Saturday night after we left Legoland we stopped for dinner. We ended up at a restaurant called "The Old California Mining Company." It was a neat place. Anyhow, four of the five of us decided to have the all-you-can-eat soup and salad bar. Walter comes back with a plate of salad that included alfa alfa sprouts. Lyndsey says, "Dad, it looks like you are eating grass." To which we laughed quite a bit. This was said while Phyllip was up at the salad bar himself. When he got back to the table and looked at his dad's plate he said, "Is that hay on your plate?" Of course we all laughed for a long time and hence the picture of the infamous plate of salad!


Yesterday Walter and I taught Jr. Church during the worship hour. We have come to love working with those kids. You just never know what will come out of their mouths! Hence the following conversation with this precious gem of a girl!

Kaylyn: Hey, Mr. Pettis, did you know that you have the same Bible as my daddy?

Mr. Pettis: Yes I did know that. Pretty cool, huh?

Kaylyn: Yes.

Mr. Pettis: Does that make me cooler than your daddy?

Kaylyn: Huh?

Mr. Pettis: Does that make me cooler than your daddy?

She thinks for a few seconds.

Kaylyn: My dad is the pastor!!!! He's cooler!!!!



And finally, tonight we were on our way home from church when Tyler said the following.

"Hey Mom, Pastor barely preached an hour tonight!"

Translation - He didn't preach very long!

When a kid says that you know he's been going to church for a long time!

Happy 9th Birthday Tyler!!!!

Yesterday was Tyler's birthday. My how time flies! It seems like just yesterday my little man was born. Now he's 9 years old! This is our last year with a child under 10.






So we decided against a birthday party this year in lieu of having a family day at Legoland. We hadn't been there in at least 6 years and we hadn't really done anything as a family in quite a while, either. It was a gorgeous day. Legoland is located about 1 mile (maybe 2) from the beach. We stopped for the view and a couple of pictures.

We had a blast. It was so much fun there. We stayed until closing (which they are only open until 5:00 p.m.). The weather was great (not too hot and not too cold). I think I took over 100 pictures. We made lots of memories. Walter and I had more fun watching the kids having fun.


The boys rode the boats by themselves. There is a funny picture of Phyllip down below when he was in his boat.





Ahhhh! This is the life! Phyllip did actually say that while riding in his boat!

























Thought I would throw this picture in. A couple of weeks ago we had a wind storm the likes of which I have never seen. We had 98 mph winds go thru here. It was so strong that it knocked one of the windmills down.






And just to prove again that the desert does in fact turn green, here's another picture.

Happy Birthday...

to Lyndsey! She turned the BIG 17 yesterday!

(In case you don't know, Lyndsey is on the right.)

Where does the time go? It seems like a few days ago Walter and I had welcomed her into the world and into our lives. And now here she is almost all grown up.


Lyndsey had a slumber party last Friday night with a few of her friends. We (Mom was included, too) played lots of games, ate ice cream pie, watched a chick flick, and stayed up til 3 am (the afore mentioned Mom DID NOT stay up til 3 am, though).

Pictured up above (in left to right order) are Megan, Ciarra, Kayla, Sarah, Grace, the birthday girl, MacKenzie, and our pastor's wife, Sileena.

Up above is Megan, Sarah, the birthday girl, LeeAnn, MacKenzie, and Kayla on top.

Here they are again - Kayla, Sarah, MacKenzie, Megan, and the birthday girl on their laps!

A winter storm decided to move through the valley that night and it rained "cats and dogs" all night. It caused a power outage at 3 am and sounded our security alarm. Needless to say the girls were scared out of their wits! Shortly after that, the girls decided it was time to sleep!

Lyndsey had a great time and is SO HAPPY to now be 17!