the past week and a half

Here are some pictures from the past week and a half. Please read the post I just made before looking at these so that it makes sense.

Lydda Grace and I in Chapin before leaving for Yadkinville on Christmas Eve.

Meeting Uncle Nick for the first time in Papa's hospital room.

NC State outfit from Granna and Papa... Lydda Grace can make anything look cute :o)

Reading the fire truck book with Uncle Nick.

Getting some love from soon-to-be Aunt Mandy

Petting Finn, she's really starting to get curious about him!

Sleeping on Mommy's shoulder after Papa Wylie's memorial service. Lydda Grace was such a trooper as she met and smiled at all the friends and family who came.

Playing with Daddy's bow tie after the service and visitation.

Photo memory table at the visitation after Papa Wylie's service.

answered prayers and a different kind of Christmas

This picture is the last picture we have of Lydda Grace and Papa Wylie. Thank you all for your prayers over the past week and half. The Lord does answer!

On Christmas Eve Jon's brother Nick arrived home from Iraq and was able to spend some time with his dad. Later in the day Lydda Grace and I were able to go for a visit and Lydda Grace had lots of smiles for Papa.

A little after 1pm on Christmas Day, Papa passed on to his heavenly home. He made it in time for the big birthday celebration!

We are so thankful that he is now free from the pain and burden of cancer.

This challenging time certainly made for a different kind of Christmas and my perspective has changed radically. Tradition has always been really important to me. I love the sights and smells and tastes of Christmas... the very feel of the season brings me such joy.

But I've realized there is a big difference in feeling like it's Christmas
and knowing that it's Christmas.

It's just as much Christmas when you're home as when you're in the hospital,
just as much when you're laughing as when you're crying,
just as much when you're together as when you're alone,
and really... when I think about it... it's just as much Christmas on December 25th as it is on October 14th and February 3rd and July 8th and August 29th....... because we're not celebrating the tradition or the sights and smells and tastes, we're celebrating the Person of Jesus Christ.

And He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.

out with the wash

gifts

Lydda Grace and I are leaving today to head back to Yadkinville to be with Jon's family as Tom has now moved and is in a room where Lydda Grace can go to visit. Because of this we have done a few random openings of gifts with my family over the last day or so.

This video was taken before Dad and I got back from our walk, Mom and Bethy were trying to see what Lydda Grace would do with the gifts.

fun with friends

Mrs. Dixie, Beth and Claire came by to play this morning! It is so much fun to watch the babies interact. Claire is almost exactly 2 months older than Lydda Grace, so it was fun to see all the changes that will take place in two months... teeth, sitting up, entertaining herself... Lydda Grace has got a lot of learning and growing coming up!

Thanks for visiting friends! It was great to see y'all and meet precious Claire!!

first Christmas present

Mark leaves tonight so Lydda Grace opened her Christmas present from him this morning.

sending hugs and kisses

Jon's last post is especially pertinent at this time as his dad is currently in the hospital in the end stages of a long battle with cancer.

As Jon and his mom are at the ICU all day, Lydda Grace and I have come to my parents for a few days until we are needed back in Yadkinville.

We love you Daddy, Papa and Granna and miss you bunches!!!!!!

We all covet your prayers during this challenging time. Specifically please pray that the Lord would pave the way for Jon's brother Nick to get home as quickly as possible from Iraq.

Resting

Along life's struggles, the path can be burdensome, painful, and tiring. Resting can sometimes be hard. With this thought it leads me to a great message for me today. I have been meaning to write in my journal about the message during Lydda Grace's baptism, however, still I have not accomplished that task. So today is the day!

Lydda Grace was baptised on October 5, 2008 and the message of that sermon was from Hebrews 3:7-19 was about entering the rest of Jesus Christ. Jesus provides rest for both the present day (rest for our souls) and the life to come (eternal rest). What an encouragement this is for my family as we are in the hospital with my dad. As believers we are to be diligent to believe. The greatest struggle in life is not what to wear tomorrow, or what christmas gifts to buy, or what we are to eat for the next meal but is to believe that God the Father raised Jesus from dead and believe Jesus is Lord. Oh may our minds focus on the one and only God. The great news for believers comes from the mouth of our Lord,

"I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." Matthew 11:25-30

My heart rejoices in this good news. My prayer is to remember the Jesus has revealed the Father to me and Jesus gives me rest. What an encouragement! May all who read this realize if you are burdened like me you can find rest in one and only Jesus Christ.

Grace and peace,
Jonathan P. Wylie

Favorite Christmas Recipes

So I thought with the spirit of Christmas I would share some of my favorite recipes from past Christmas':

On a side note, I could not find the plural form of Christmas, so I decided to look it up using swagbucks and I got a buck searching for "what is the plural form of Christmas"! So, I went with the apostrophe because my mother says that makes Christmas plural.

Here are the much awaited recipes:

Dad's Cheese Ball
2 - 8oz softened cream cheese
1 - 15oz crushed pineapple - well drained
1 - tbl chopped onion
1 - medium green pepper chopped
dash of seasoning salt
2 lbs chopped pecans

mix all ingredients together including 1 lb of chopped pecans and then crust outside with remaining pecans and chill overnight. Serve with crackers.

Aunt Kay's Coffee
6 cups dark thick brewed coffee
8oz can sweetened condensed milk
squirt in Hershey chocolate syrup (when you think you have enough put more in)

Shake well in jar and serve chilled

Mrs Scott's Russian Tea -- in a big stock pot:
1 cup sugar
2 cups orange juice
2 cups pineapple juice
6 cups water

bring all these ingredients up on low heat to dissolve sugar - never boil - will spoil taste
add:
2-3 sticks whole cinnamon
1 tbl whole all spices
2 whole cloves (added by Aunt Clair)

-- meanwhile:
1.5 cups hot water with 2 family tea bags steeped until strong

add tea to pot and stir -- the longer you leave the spices in, then the more spicy the Russian Tea becomes

Brian Hopkin's Taco Salad

1 head of lettuce
1 lb. of ground meat
2 Cup of shredded cheddar cheese
1 bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos's (crushed)
Tomatoes (amount as desired, I usually buy cherry tomatoes and use the whole container)Creamy Italian dressing (Ranch can be used as well)

Then just mix it all together. Here are some other notes:Let the ground meat cool before adding it to the salad and strain it well. I usually make it the day before and let it refrigerate over night. Don't crush the chips too much and add them shortly before mixing (they can get soggy quickly).

I hope all enjoy these recipes. If you wanted to share your special recipes with Emily and I we would appreciate it.

Grace and peace,
Jonathan P. Wylie

Writing on a Blog

So today, I (Jonathan) read some articles about how to improve your writing for school. Several articles stated that if you practice writing then you will improve. My goal is to improve my writing, so that when I turn in papers for Grad school I will be able to articulate my points to my reader. One of the recommended suggestions was to blog. So I thought it appropriate to add to the teamwylie blog to improve my writing. I have no clue what I am going to write about but I am sure something will come to mind: Emily, Lydda Grace, Beer, Nascar, etc. Oh by the way, Emily and I have been married for 1085 days today!

I hope all enjoy my post as I intertwine them with what Emily posts. Oh by the way, today is Nicholas Wade Wylie's birthday as he is 24 years old!

laughing

i can't decide!

What do you do when you have lots of cute pictures in the same outfit?

You just post all of them!

i don't need mistletoe to get kisses

The fluffy cloud looking thing she's sitting on is a bumbo with a blanket over it. She's also wearing white pants which doesn't help with the cloud look...



The ornament to the right is Lydda Grace's first ornament, from her Gran and Grandpa! I love the pastel colors. So sweet (she was getting tired of pictures at this point... poor kid...)

saturday fun

Today we went to Pendleton to just walk around, go in some stores, and have a treat at the bakery. When we got there they were having a kind of craft show type thing too which was fun. Jon and I tried an apple galette at the local bakery. I have been wanting to make these ever since I saw this recipe. So actually eating one was encouragement to give it a shot!

pretty feet

A friend from Columbia sent Lydda Grace some tights that look like ballet shoes and some socks that look like little mary janes. They are adorable!

those teeth are coming

Lydda Grace has been drooling and chewing on stuff like crazy lately. I think I can feel some teeth under her gums, but nothing is showing yet. She really seems to like rubbing the plastic of her rattle across her gums. Listen and you can hear it squeaking!

away in a manger

My mom came up on Monday to watch Lydda Grace while I ran errands and got some Christmas stuff done (thanks Mom!).

She surprised us with this adorable nativity scene for Lydda Grace to play with. I feel like this is such a wonderful way to make the story of Christmas more tangible and real to Lydda Grace as she grows and learns about Jesus.

As you can see, right now she's more interested in chewing on the cow. But we're working on giving Baby Jesus kisses... maybe next year :o)

fun with friends

We had a potluck after church on Sunday with our Sunday School class and all their families. Needless to say Lydda Grace got LOTS of love! She was a trooper and had a great time being passed around.
Lydda Grace was laughing really hard right before we started shooting this next video, but of course, she stopped when we started filming.

fun with family

For Christmas this year my sister's and I and our special men opted to forego gifts and instead adopted a Christmas child together. We went shopping for our little girl (of course) the other night and had a potluck dinner and played games afterwards. It was a great way to celebrate together!

talking

rolling along

The day before Thanksgiving is the only time she has flipped from back to tummy so far. With Aunt Bethy, Mark, and Daddy coaxing her, she mastered a new skill today. (Jon calls it the "wrong way" b/c it's opposite of last time).

4 month check up

Weighed in at 16lbs. 11 oz and 26 inches long. That's the 95th percentile folks.

Took her first shot like a champ... didn't even flinch... wailed on the second one... I can't blame her!

12/2/2008

I cut your finger when clipping your nails tonight. You cried less than a minute but it made me so sad! I never want to hurt you or see you in pain, it breaks my heart!

thanksgiving

We had a busy but very nice Thanksgiving week!

Tuesday we headed to Papa and Granna Wylie's house (Jon's folks) for Thanksgiving. It was great to spend time with them. Lydda Grace and Finn both traveled very well (within the first 3o minutes of our trip we had 3 poops between the two of them and I was VERY worried how the rest of the trip would go) and pretty much slept the whole way!

We came back late Thursday evening, shopped some on Friday, then had a bunch of folks at the apartment on Saturday to tailgate after the Clemson vs. USC game since the weather was too chilly to truly tailgate. It was a lot of fun and of course Clemson won which made it even nicer.

Additionally, football season is over, which for us is super nice as our parking and weekends will be a bit more evened out for the rest of the school year.

In Lydda Grace news... she rolled over!! She's only done it once, while we were at Jon's parent's house and we all got to see it happen which was great. Once she rolled she hated it and started to fuss... I think she scared herself. We're just wondering how long it will take her to roll again.

Enjoy the pics.

12/1/2008

You rolled over the day before Thanksgiving! Daddy, Papa Wylie, Granna Wylie, Uncle Paul and I all saw you! You didn't like it :)