My family and I sponsor a little boy in India named James Kaltu Malto. A group of bloggers from Compassion International are going to Calcuta, India to visit several Compassion Sites. You can follow their blogs with me!

I have subscribed to their blogs to follow the journey. They arrived today, so it's not too late to follow on your own!

Sick Again!

It seems like our little Melyana is just destined to be sick! She is now at home sick with Pneumonia! Don't ask me where that came from! Out of no where and with no warning!! On top of that, she has a double ear infection. This is our third ear infection in the last 4 months - could be up for a second round of tubes in the ears! We hope not, but you never know! So looks like we'll be missing some work this week and have time to blog alot!
Anyone have any home remedies for comforting a bad cough? She's on an antibiotic, but I know just coughing is painful! Hopefully we can knock it out in a day or two! We'll keep you posted!

We Win!!

February 22, 1980,

The United States was emerging from a terrible decade in our history. An ugly end to a war in which hundreds of thousands died and with little hope left. Watergate, rampant inflation, unemployment surging and an energy crisis of epic proportions. The soviets had just invaded Afghanistan reigniting the Cold War. Americans had been taken hostage by the Iranians. And so here we were demoralized, deflated, scared, frustrated, concerned… hopeless.

The Soviets Hockey team had won eight of the last nine gold medals in Olympic History, including four in a row. The Soviets winning streak was now 21 straight games. They had not lost an Olympic Hockey game in over 12 years – 3 straight Olympics. They were widely recognized as the World’s Best Hockey Team – a dominate superpower that could not be beat. Invincible…

The Russians had played the NHL All-Stars a few months back and beaten them by a score of 6 to 0 – a shutout. The USA Hockey team had played the Russian Red Army Team at Madison Square Gardens and had been beaten 10-3 and Jim Craig, the goalie says it could have been 20-3. And the USA now found themselves faced against the giant in the winter Olympics on American Soil. A win was improbable…

For the past 4 Sunday’s, we have been on the demoralizing, frustrating, hopeless journey of Jesus down the Road to the cross. We have seen him be dominated by a superpower that appeared invincible. We have seen his defeat at the cross and felt like victory was improbable.

At each of the Stations of the Cross, we find Jesus treated so unfairly and so wrongly. I’m sure the Christians felt demoralized, deflated, scared, frustrated, concerned… hopeless. The Jewish Leaders could not be beaten. Pilate had tried to defeat their arguments, but the religious leaders won. They even challenged Jesus to save himself, when he did not, victory felt certain! I’m sure they felt invincible that day when Jesus was finally killed. All of the talk about “coming back” or “living again” that Jesus spoke of in his ministry seemed improbable.

Well, I’m sure that you know the end of the story – as the Hockey Game progress, the Russians strike first and the US tie it up to end the first period 2 -2. The starting goal tender for Russia was yanked from the game because of his poor performance. The soviets come back in the second period and dominate the entire second period to end the second with a score of 3-2. Entering the third and final period, the US began to feel like there might be a chance at the biggest upset in Olympic History, and score a tying goal making it 3-3 with 11 minutes left in the game. Just a short time later, the US takes the lead on a mistake by the Russians. They underestimated the speed of the young team and turned to puck over in their own zone. The US scores a goal making it 4-3! The US was able to hold off the Russians for the remaining time and with three seconds left, the announcer says, “Do you believe in Miracles? Yes!! We Win!!”

The crowd, the players, the coaches, the fans and the United States rejoice and celebrate a victory! The celebration is recorded and shown on national television for no less than 4 minutes. All the while, the Russians stand at the other end of the ice in stunned silence, watching the celebration continue!

More than 2000 years ago, on that Friday, Satan struck first. He managed to have Jesus beaten, killed and buried. His victory seemed so secure. But, he underestimated the power of our God! On that First Easter Sunday, as the women go to Jesus’ tomb, the angels announce with excitement, “Jesus is not here. He is Risen, just as he said!” We win!! Our celebration continues today while Satan stands at the foot of the cross in stunned silence!

The US Hockey team goes on to celebrate one final victory in winning the gold medal in the 1980 Olympics, having the final say so in who is the best team in the world.

We celebrate his victory over death today! We thank him for his faithfulness and his promises that have been and will be fulfilled! We know that we will have one final victory at the return of our Lord. He will then have the say so of who is the winner!

So as we celebrate this Easter Sunday, I ask, “Do you believe in Miracles? Yes!! We Win!” Let’s celebrate today!

Easter Wishes

I know we are a little early for Easter Wishes, but I could not resist! The fine print at the bottom left corner narrates the show for you! Enjoy the show!

Make a Smilebox greeting

Spring Program

Marshall's class had a spring musical program! It was very cute. I cut my two favorite songs from the program and added them to the blog! Hope you enjoy!

Update

Catching Up!

Okay - I've opened a blog for school and have become "proficient" in it. So I think I am ready to tackle the family one with a little more frequency and a little more gusto!

We had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends. Our holiday began with family pics taken by an old high school friend, Marc Brandenburg. He did a great job. He has his own company and will be doing some bluebonnet pictures soon. You can find him at his website.

After pictures, we did things like the Adolphus Children's Parade. Made cookies with Nana. And we visited the Ice Exhibit at the Gaylord Texan.

Then came the real fun. We had our traditional Christmas Eve with the Loftin side of the family. My grandparents (great-grandparents to the kids) made the trip up from Houston. It was great to spend time with Gigi and G-pa. On Christmas Morning, we opened presents! Santa brought the kids bicycles. He also brought Marshall a racetrack and Melayna a baby doll room (stroller, bed, high chair, carrier). It was a great time. That afternoon we made the dash to Canton and shared Christmas with the Murry's. It was fun for the kids to be with cousins! The following weekend, we were finally able to top of the holiday season with Christmas with Peggy, Cyndi and the boys!

Whew! What a time. We hosted a small gathering for New Years. Everyone was gone before midnight even got here! Boy are we old! Marshall rung in this New Year awake for the first time! He then kissed mommy! It was sweet!

I'm sure there are many more things to tell you about, but at least you've gotten the most recent update!

Starting Out

Well, I saw a really fun blog of a friend - she tells me it's as easy as pie to do - so here we go... our first attempt at creating a family blog!



Welcome to the Murry Family Blog. We are a busy clan with lots to share and lots to say - we'll see how quickly this gets done.



First there is Marshall - 4 years old and in Pre-K. He is learning how to read and write! He enjoys school alot. When you ask Marshall about his favorite part of his day, he says, "going outside." He's all boy and a great big brother.



Next there is Melayna - 2 years old. Melayna is quite precocious and all girl. He favorite things are her babies, her lovie and Mickey Mouse! She, too, loves school. Her teacher brags about her all the time. My Melayna funny of the week is when the teacher told another child to "pull up their drawers", Melayna put her hands on her hips and said, "Ms. Bonnie, those aren't drawers, those are pants."

Check back for updates when we get them!