Lunch with Friends :-)

What a special treat it was to spend time with Holly Fordham and Beth Barnard during our meetings in SC! We enjoyed lunch at a Mexican restaurant and talked and talked and talked! I really needed that time with them, and was sad for it to end!

Angry Birds

John Jr. loves all things Angry Birds, and now he's into Space Angry Birds. Here he is with his fruit snacks, t-shirt and pillow!

Strawberries in South Carolina!

It was wonderful to be in SC when the strawberries were first coming in! We got up Monday morning last week in Anderson and picked beautiful ripe red strawberries, then went home and made strawberry jam. It was fun and delicious!

Meeting up with a dear friend!

It was so special to meet my very good friend Christy Ingram in Cleveland, GA a few weeks ago! We got together for music, nails and lunch - what more could you ask for?? It was so special! Here we are getting our toe nails done. It was sad to say goodbye!

John Jr's special friend Josh

We had the privilege of Josh spending the night with us after John's birthday celebration. Josh has been such a special friend to John, Jr... kind of like a big brother. We are so grateful for this kind of friendship in John Jr.'s life!

John Turns 50!

It was a joy to celebrate John's 50th birthday at our house. We had friends over and enjoyed supper together. You can see a beautiful arrangement of fruit our friends Bill and Kim sent us! It was delicious and the huge hit of the night! A very special evening :-)

South Carolina Presidential Primary

We are in South Carolina this week. As you know, the SC primary is January 21. I was hoping we'd get to see some candidates while in the state. Tonight the SC GOP hosted a barbeque, featuring a forum with Speaker Newt Gingrich and Senator Rick Santorum. It was $30 per person, but worth every dollar spent! We enjoyed it so much. It was wonderful to shake hands and meet both Gingrich and Santorum. They and their wives were so gracious. Here are some pictures of our evening. (The Santorum picture was taken on my camera, and the Gingrich ones were taken on my phone because my camera batteries were dying. You can tell my camera takes better pictures!)

Lunch with the Lynch's

It was special to meet up with Mac and Beth Lynch for lunch yesterday in Brevard, NC. We're having meetings in the Asheville area, so we drove out there to meet them for a delicious lunch at the Hob Knob. It was a wonderful time for all of us!

Spending the week at MeMom's

I love taking pictures of John Jr. when he's sleeping. Here we are at my mom's (known as MeMom to her grandchildren). We stayed at Mom's while John was in Ireland. He slept on one couch, and I slept on another. He thought that was the coolest thing! Thankfully she has extremely comfortable couches. It was so much fun!

Lunch with my mom

If you want the best southern cooking in a restaurant, Cateran's in Greenville, SC is the place for you! I love that place, as you can tell by my loaded plate. Sorry for the bright window behind my mom. I highly recommend this place if you're ever in Greenville. But they don't take credit card, so come with cash! :-)

Visiting family in Spartanburg, SC

My brother-in-law, Bill Bethea, is married to my sister Kathryn. He pastors at Westgate Baptist Church in Spartanburg, SC, where we'll have revival meetings starting this Sunday. It was great to see them last week while John was in Ireland. Here they are with their son Will who is in Combat Control school with the Air Force. He's doing very well in the program! It was so good to see him while he was home for just a short time for Christmas.

Christmas Day

Here we are as a family on Christmas Day! We had Sunday School and church, and then (because of a hectic several days and just because!) we ate at Palm Palace, a wonderful Mediterranean restaurant. Then we spent the rest of the day at our house, playing Nerf guns, losing Nerf ammunition, looking for Nerf ammunition, not finding Nerf ammunition, realizing we need to buy more Nerf ammunition, talking, eating some more, and just having a very sweet time together! We are so thankful that Gary puts up with us so sweetly! :-) Of course, we have to put up with him too! Ha ha! Seriously, he is such a blessing to us!

Christmas Eve Concert

It was a privilege to have a part in our church's Christmas Eve concert! We had lots of visitors, and the Lord blessed with every part of it. Here is a picture of our trio (with Tizzy and Tabitha Burtt), and we sang Jeanine Drylie's "He's Emmanuel." It seemed that the folk were greatly blessed by the message of this song. Definitely one of my favorite Christmas songs! Also, it was great to sing with Tizzy and Tab!

Christmas 2011

We celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve, and it was such a special day! Here are some random pictures as we opened gifts.

Ladies Christmas Brunch

Our church, Ann Arbor Baptist Church, held their annual Ladies Christmas Brunch at the Sheraton. Mary Rice was the speaker, and we thoroughly enjoyed her two messages on the subject of joy! It was very well attended, too! Her husband, Bill Rice, preached on Sunday on the subject of the home. I believe our church folk greatly benefited from their ministry! We loved having them stay in our home too! We've known them for years and so appreciate their friendship and help to us.

Mac & Beth Lynch

It's always wonderful to see our dear friends when we're in meetings. During the Cleveland, SC meeting, Mac and Beth came to see us, and we had such precious fellowship with them after church and almost didn't let them go home! Mac and Beth have encouraged us over and over. By the way: They have a new CD that I highly recommend - "It Was His Grace" - tremendous songs filled with hope and grace during the trials of life (www.wilds.org). You will want to have a copy of this wonderful CD!

Michigan meets Ohio!

We now live in Michigan, and we do the U of M thing, but we are not die-hards. I'm more of a Clemson fan, since my dad went there. A few days after Thanksgiving we visited some dear friends of ours - Tom and Ellen Clark (who may claim they are FORMER friends now!) who have a cabin in Cleveland, SC, and they are Ohio State die-hards. John always wears his Michigan jacket, and he wore it over to their cabin, totally forgetting their affinity for OSU - only to meet Ellen in her Ohio State jacket! To make matters worse, it was the same day Michigan played (and beat) Ohio. We had no idea Michigan even played (and beat) Ohio that day. Proof that we are not die-hards. So I had to get a picture of them together. So thankful that they are still our friends!

Sleigh Ride

It is a family tradition that my sister Kathryn and I play "Sleigh Ride" at our holiday gatherings. They beg and plead for us to play it over and over and over again! (Do you catch the sarcasm?) Anyway, my brother-in-law Bill dutifully video-taped us performing it and posted it on YouTube. Here it is, for your viewing and listening pleasure! :-) Don't you love how I keep looking at him to see if he's started recording? So embarrassing! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FI-zw2jzkmY

A lovely mom and her 4 darling daughters!

Here we are at my sister Kathryn's house on Thanksgiving Day. I have 3 sisters, no brothers, but some wonderful brothers-in-law! But they're not handsome enough to be in the picture. Just kidding! They are, but I think they were golfing when this picture was taken ... Anyway, from the left it's me, Kathryn Bethea, Noele Neidig, my mom (Pat Poore), and Kimberly Poore.

Visiting my mom - Greenville, SC

I'm originally from Greenville, SC where my mom still lives. It was wonderful to visit her and my sisters for Thanksgiving. Had a wonderful time with family. We love to go to Golden Corral with her. We tease that she doesn't like to read menus, so this the ideal place for her! We sure do love Mom and love being with her!