Happy Halloween!

Savannah is a very busy little girl. She is into everything any second that you turn your head. So it really shouldn't surprise you that while I was cooking breakfast this morning, Savannah crawled over, opened the cabinet, took out a container of raisins, opened them up, and started to put them in piles (one pile on top of the other container, and one pile on the floor). Whenever she gets quiet, I know she has done something. And as I was cooking I thought it was awfully quiet in the kitchen!

After a day at home, we headed over to Emma's house so we could trick-or-treat with her and her parents. Emma was a chicken and Savannah was a fairy. Aren't they cute?

Savannah was mostly interested in picking apart the mums.

And Emma was mostly interested in Savannah's wings.

They were a tough pair to photograph!

Savannah really liked the scarecrow too.

Finally, we went trick-or-treating. Savannah rode on Daddy's shoulders, and Emma had her own wheels.

After we got back, we had to check out the candy stash.

And sort it. For those of you that don't know this, Savannah is kind of turning OCD on us. She has developed a sudden obsession for sorting things. Her sorting does not seem to have any rhyme or reason, but everything has to be put in piles. Laundry, candy, the raisins from this morning, toys, cans of food out of the cabinet... Anything she finds all grouped together she will dump out and put in separate piles. Haha! She is also obsessed with wiping her face. She always takes our napkins to wipe her face off. Just the other night, we were out to eat, and she didn't see a napkin within her reach, so she wiped her face on the tablecloth. We'll have to work on manners. :) Anyway, back to Halloween... she sorted her candy...

And Emma ate hers... wrappers and all...

And then we returned home with a very exhausted fairy.

Hope your Halloween was just as much fun!

Our Journey to the Promised Land

Genesis 12:1, "Now the Lord said unto Abram, Get out of your country, from your kin, and from your house, and go to the land I will show you."

Genesis 12:4,8, "So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken...and Abram journeyed..."

Genesis 13:14-18, "And the Lord said unto Abram... lift up your eyes and look to the north, south, east, and west, for all the land which you see I have given you and your children...arise and walk through the land, the length and the depth, for I have given it all to you...and Abram praised the Lord."





In August, we really felt strongly that God was leading us to sell our house before winter hit our area. We listed it in September and prepared for a few long months of people touring our house, with the real estate market being as it is right now. We were pleasantly surprised when our house sold the first part of October. We weren't exactly sure what our next step was... we had strongly considered building something small on the land that my parents own. We prayed and discussed the options, but when it came down to it, neither of us felt a peace about building right now. I thought, "oh, great. now we're homeless!" We discussed looking at houses on the market since everyone claims that it is a "buyer's market" right now. We went through several potential houses, but they were either nasty, run down, a bad location, or would require a lot of work. I began to get a bit discouraged. Then, on our second day of house hunting, we went into a house that I really liked instantly. It was cute, had its own unique charm, had a perfect location for us, and had already been mostly remodeled. It had all kinds of wonderful features... a big picture window, a wood burning fireplace, big bedrooms, a cute sunroom... I started to get excited, but it was out of our price range, and the owners had already dropped it once! We considered our options again, and in the meantime, Sunday rolled around and we went to church. In a plan that only God could have orchastrated, we missed Sunday school and church because we had the three-year-old nursery when the workers called in sick. When we were reviewing the lesson, it was about Abram following God, even when he had no idea where to go. I was immediately struck by the parallel... Abram felt like he should get out from where he was, and he started a journey, and had no idea where he was going, but God provided. God spoke to me in a lesson planned for three-year-olds (no wise cracks, please)! My hope was renewed that the same God would provide for us that provided for Abram. On Monday, we placed a low offer on the house that we loved, knowing that it was far less than what the owners expected, and not anticipating it to work out, but trying it anyway. We were prepared to counter offer a little higher if they turned us down, but not much. Today we got a call that they took our first offer, no questions asked. We couldn't be more thrilled. So, the pictures above our the Beckner's new house as of November 21. Thank you, Lord, for always providing for us so faithfully!

Mercury-free flu shot, please!

Today, Mommy and Savannah got flu shots (Daddy will get his on Friday). We are a little sore but Mommy thought it was a much better shot than last year, because last year her arm got super sore and she felt sick after, but this year it was almost nothing! Hooray!

Savannah got her flu shot too, which she was NOT thrilled about. The tears were quickly dried up when the nurse produced a lollipop for her though. I made sure that Savannah got the flu shot that was free of mercury (there is only one for infants/toddlers that is completely mercury free). I felt like this was very important since there have been significant risks associated with mercury and the brain developement of infants, toddlers, and babies who are yet unborn (so pregnant women should get mercury-free shots too!) Anyway, I just wanted to share that info to all of you who are considering the flu shot, that you should ask for the mercury-free one. It doesn't cost any extra, the doctor's office usually has it, or will order if for you if they don't, and it causes you less worry. If you'd like to read more, you can click below and it is explained really well.

http://www.askdrsears.com/thevaccinebook/labels/Vaccine%20News.asp

Pro Pageant Pics

Here are the professional pictures from the mini-national pageant.

Here she is competing in Wee Baby... excuse the pose, I was sitting her down.



All of the wee babies...Savannah on the far right...



Crowning ceremony, loving her trophy...



Getting crowned...

Such a big crown needed Mommy's help to stay on...

Cover Miss Eastern America...

Look at the height of her trophy, haha.

Portrait...

Portrait...

She sure was one cute little sweetheart! :)

Crazy Busy!

We have been ever so busy! Here is what has been going on...

Savannah got an Elmo trick-or-treat bucket. She prefers to carry it everywhere and put everything she can find in it.



Mike, Lauren, and Anna came to visit! Mike is ready for twins now.



Savannah showe Anna the wonder of chocolate.



And Anna helped her pull all of the magnets off of the fridge.



Asher Jude Albert was born to our friends, Troy and Mitzi! He was absolutely precious and Mommy was just smitten with his perfect little face and head full of hair.




We had to stop all of the craziness and cheer for the Hokies, of course.



Go Hokies go!

We had a family get together on Mommy's dad's side of the family and Madison entertained Savannah... or did Savannah entertain Madison?!

Mommy used to babysit Madison and Brooke... now she thinks they will make great babysitters for Savannah one day...

Family picture...

Savannah, Lauren, Dad, Ben

And, last but not least, we sold our house! So we are now packing, packing, packing! Sorry the updates are so few and far between!

Mini Nationals Pageant Weekend

This weekend, we went to the Tiny Miss Eastern America mini nationals pageant. It was a very fun, but exhausting weekend! They pack many events into a short amount of time, and we always end up very tired, but we sure enjoy it!

Savannah did great, and we were so proud of her! We didn't get any pictures of her competing, because they don't allow you to take pictures inside the ballroom for the protection of the children (we'll get professional ones later, and I'll post them), but here she is with her trophy afterward. She placed 2nd runner up in her age division, separated from the winner by only a few points! She waved and blew kisses on the stage and did really awesome, but the competition was pretty stiff! :) We sure are proud of her though! She received $50 for her savings account (which is rapidly growing, thanks to pageant prizes!) and this trophy.

Savannah was also crowned Cover Miss Eastern America for the whole pageant. Here is her picture inside the cover of the program.

For winning Cover Miss, Savannah received a savings bond, a trophy, a crown, a set of luggage, a medallion, and a cabbage patch doll (the doll has earrings, by the way, haha)! Here she is in her dress before the crowning ceremony...

We didn't get any pictures of her with the crown on or with her big trophy, but we'll get professional ones later. Savannah was not in the mood to have her picture made because the ceremony was right during nap time! :)

The pageant had trick-or-treating in the hotel one night while we were there, and it was a blast! All of the parents involved with the pageant were given pumpkins to put on their hotel room doors, so the girls would know where they could knock. It was a lot of fun to see all of the costumes and the girls really racked up on candy (and in Savannah's case, Mommy got a lot of candy! haha). Here is Savannah in her butterfly fairy costume.

After trick-or-treating, they had a Halloween party for the girls and their moms. There was a costume contest (for scariest, most original, and funniest), pizza, cake, and games. Savannah had a blast! Here she is waiting to get in with Reagan, a bumble bee (Reagan was also the Wee Baby Miss Eastern America winner).

And here she is eating pizza with Sadie. Sadie was last year's Wee Baby Miss Virginia, and crowned Savannah this year at state. Sadie is also the reigning Wee Baby Miss America (maybe she'll crown Savannah again there?!). They are going to be good buddies with this pageant stuff, I'm sure of it. :) Sadie's mom has been a wonderful friend to me as well, and a big help as I'm just learning the ends and outs of pageantry! We are very thankful for them!

All that competition can make a girl hungry!

Here is Savannah on the stage in her costume. I don't know why she has her ankles crossed. :)

So when it was all said and done, we had a lot of fun, and are so glad we went. We made some good memories with our friends and won a few awards. But now, we're going to need a few days to recover!

We'll post more later as I'm sure we'll get the professional pictures and some snapshots from friends! But for now, its naptime in this house. :)