The Reverend Sam Whitley

Something I've been meaning to blog about but forget, until I run across the note where I scratched it down, is a spontaneous prayer that came from Sam one pretty day when we took a drive through beautiful and historic Rose Hill Cemetery, here in Macon. We've driven through there before because several family members are buried there and quite a few famous folks, one in particular is Duane Allman. So, as we approached the entrance, out of Sam's mouth came this:

"Oh bless God! I hope these cemetery people be better and I hope they be strong and healthy when they start being alive again."

Needless to say, I grabbed any piece of paper I could find and jotted that down real quick-like! I was floored! He's never heard us, or anyone else that I know of, pray like that but I guess he was "filled with the spirit". We've also made it pretty clear that we believe that when you die your spirit goes to heaven. Sounds like ol' Sam has beliefs that lean a little more towards reincarnation.

Can I get an AMEN?!

Celebrations!

We've done lots of celebrating over the past few weeks....


It all began on Christmas Eve afternoon when we hosted Grammy, Beth, Emma and Avery at our home. All these little cousins together sharing in the excitment made for a VERY fun time. Afterwards we all headed to church for our annual Children's Christmas pageant...


...where our very own Sam was a fine shepherd!

After church we drove out to my parent's home, Pine Hill Farm, for supper and made sure to spread out lots of reindeer food so that Santa would be sure to make a stop in Macon!

Santa definitley found our house and how thrilling it was to wake up early Christmas morning to see what he left. Sam came in our room at 7:55 AM and told us that Santa had come! He began telling us what he saw as he darted from his room to ours and was a total chatter box in the few minutes it took us to climb out of bed and, at the very least, brush our teeth!

All of Christmas day was spent playing with the new toys.

The day after Christmas we went back to Pine Hill for Barfield Christmas. My parents were beside themselves to have all five kids, plus spouses, plus grands at home. Yes, that's 15 stockings! And it goes without saying that we were all very happy to be together.

Christmas and Sam's 5th birthday on the 28th brought a Lego explosion upon our house! We hope you've all experienced lots of joyful celebrations over the past few weeks. Happy New Year!

Ho, ho, ho!

Like everyone at this time of year - we've been BUSY! Here, in pictures, are the latest happenings in the wild & wonderful Whitley world...

A silly photo of Sam's class and teachers



































































Donuts with Dads, at Sam's school, was a fun treat in the first part of December.

St. Nicholas (aka: my Daddy, Sam & Brice's Papa) came to church for a visit, leaving oranges and golden/chocolate coins in all the children's shoes that were left in the breezeway.

Sam's Christmas program at school...

Brice's Christmas program at school, with lunch following. As you can see from the photos, I think he was much happier at lunch...

Begging for Momma...

And, last but not least, a trip to Bass Pro Shop to visit with Santa...and test out the ATVs!

Capitol Hill Wedding

Brian and I went to Washington DC for the wedding of one of the "Auburn Girls". We are so happy for Elizabeth and Sean! The time we got to spend sightseeing in DC prior to the wedding was great as was the gorgeous wedding at a small Episcopal church and the reception at Union Station. We visited several museums and the new Capitol visitors center but the highlight of the "tourist stuff" was a tour of the West Wing!


In the White House press room - which used to be a swimming pool back in the 1930's during FDR's administration.



Outside the West Wing with Rachel and Rob.

The Capitol

In case you don't know, this is a typewriter eraser - obviously, larger than life - in the sculpture garden in between the two National Gallery of Art museums.

There was more than one happy couple at the wedding!

The Auburn Girls

A hysterical moment doing a silly dance. This is one of my favorite pictures from the entire night.

No, we haven't joined the ranks of infamous party crashers. We were legitimate guests as was President Obama's Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel - who, I might add, was quite the booty-shaker! The groom is Rahm's Chief of Staff.

Our "new" house

Before


Before


After


After

The porch floor and steps have yet to be painted but we love the new colors! The flower pots will get planted one of these days...

Brice

He's fully (and easily, thank God!) transitioned into a "big boy" bed; happily sleeping with his puppy "Lifford" and a rabbit he named "Horse".


Brice loves to watch Sam "do work" on the computer (nickjr and pbskids) and give him commands for what he wants him to click.

Without a doubt, Brice is all boy and fully emersed in the "terrible twos". He's often a challenge (that's a nice way of putting it) but he also has his moments of comedy - which I think is a survival tactic. My mother once said, "He can be so bad but then be so cute." I explained I thought that was God's way of keeping him alive!

Family Photos...just for fun

My grandmother, Eleanor Katherine Harrison Sheridan, as a little girl. Her grandchildren called her Dinny.


My grandfather, Christopher Robert Sheridan, Sr., as a young man. His grandchildren called him Gonny.


My grandfather's mother, Alma Elizabeth Kennington, when she graduated from Mt. de Sales Academy.

Thank you so much to my Aunt Katy who, through the wonders of technology (email), has been sharing these priceless photos with her family.