Of birthdays and remodels

August 22nd was Mom's (Denise's) birthday! We had fun giving her gifts and celebrating around the supper table as a family last night.
 Happy birthday from all of us, Mama! :) Thanks for being the best! Proverbs 31:28

Speaking of supper tables, most of you know we have been in the throes of a DIY remodel project for a couple years now. :) We started by adding a bedroom for the guys (Dad calls it the Bull Pen), a laundry room, bathroom, and carport.     More recently we've been working on a new dining area off the back wall of the existing kitchen... the idea being to create more space for family meals as well as for entertaining lots of guests (one of our favorite things to do!) So yesterday the guys knocked out the wall between the old and new rooms and left us all AMAZED at how much space we suddenly had! Any of you reading this who have been a part of our *crowded* larger gatherings can rejoice with us! ;) We are so thankful for God's provision and blessing. Here are some pics of the action yesterday....ya'll are all welcome to come see it in person anytime!

Demolition at it's finest

Luke analyzing the situation

someday, this will be finished...

the wall that used to be :)

the dining room viewed from the backyard

dining room entry from the deck-to-be :)

part of the crew. (the haziness of this shot is due entirely to the insulation dust that was floating EVERYWHERE)

Levi, working hard as usual.

Looking inside the first time we used the new space....it felt huge!

Lana’s 22nd birthday!

We celebrated Lana’s birthday at Nanny and Papaw’s house with a loud happy crowd of family. Ah, memories! J

It was a ton of fun to throw a party for Lana, because she typically is the one doing it for everyone else. Lana is an amazing sister, and I (Allie) love the way she brings happiness and hilarity into everyday situations, whether it’s by singing (at the top of her lungs) WHATEVER pops into her head, or getting cracked up at the funny or ridiculous side of something, or by simply being ALL the way into whatever she’s doing...you gotta love it!

Seth says to say she cooks good. ( I agree.)

 Memories

 seriously?!

putting on a necklace from Seth and a "queen thing"... aka crown... so named by Daniel

 Hannah made a beautiful decoupage recipe box, full of recipes on custom made cards.... she knows Lana well :)

Jacob and cousin Ben enjoying themselves as usual

Cousins

smiley faces :)

Daniel's gift- he wrapped it all by himself!

Lana's biggest surprise...a birthstone ring from her amazing family:) (note the crown and necklace, made by Seth)

Admiring the ring :)

Glad the ring was a TOTAL surprise!

two sets of sisters, one set of cousins... four awesome friends :)

Lana, for those of you who don't know, is easily amused.

Before there were blogs...

…there were journals. Lana fell in love with journaling as a twelve year old, and hasn’t stopped since. J She loves having a written record of ten plus years of daily life, adventures, answered prayers, family events, hilarious things the little ones say or do, moves, road trips, new babies….pretty much everything. Recently she and Allie decided to do a fun photo shoot with the journals she’s filled so far… hope ya’ll enjoy!

~ A few of the memorable comments made by Wilson kids, selected from random journals~

 “Pepper!” – Rachel at around age 7, in response to the question, What is your favorite season?

 “Danger ate my toad!” – Seth at age 3, after discovering a pet frog had escaped.

 “And then she turned into the real Nanny.” – Seth at age 4, after being shown a picture of his grandmother in her teens.

 “An ox is a biblical cow.” – Jacob at age 13

 “How come we can’t see the medicine comin’ out of the sun?” – Daniel at age 4, after being told that the sun gave him vitamin D.

 “Get mark, setty ready, GO!” – Seth at age 4, announcing a contest.

 “My neck has a heart attack in it.” – Daniel at age 5

 “Oh, the tummy of an unclouded day.” (Oh, they tell me of an unclouded day) – Jonah and Rachel at ages 8 and 9

"No, fe-mammals lay eggs" - Levi, at around age 7, after being told mammals did not lay eggs.

What we've been up to

Life has been decidedly busy this summer. J From singing at churches to selling livestock, putting up garden produce to celebrating graduations and birthdays, working on the (never ending) remodel project to brainstorming songs for a new CD, there  hasn’t been much we haven’t done around here! Here are some recent, random snapshots and comments… (not necessarily in chronological order J). From our house to yours!

Levi warming up the bass for a church jam session

Joe, Seth and Lana "breaking up the fallow ground". Unfortunately the garden didn't do so well (Lana tried) but, well, you know.

Are these not adorable!? If one-hour-old baby nubians won't melt your heart, I don't know what will. :)

Precious :)

Jonah is our resident goat and chicken farmer... at the time of this writing flocks and herds are all doing well. :)

*words not needed*

 This is Jacob at the historic Windsor Ruins, Port Gibson, Mississippi.

these guys are moving up in the world :) ... Another Windsor Ruins  shot

This, my friends, is Levi. Words fail me.

... Jake, Luke, and Levi.

Lana with cousin Emily, cheering on a backyard kickball game.

Lana being squeezed by her favorite person, Daniel!

Play it sweet now, ya'll....

Daniel in the audience at one of our concerts

Lana with a friend's baby

Allie by the Mississippi at Grand Gulf Military Park

So we made a blog.

Our resident cowboy :) (Seth)

Congratulations. You are reading the first post ever on this blog! We look forward to sharing bits and pieces of our music ministry, life at home, and what God has been doing around us. Here are some recent snapshots of our ongoing renovation projects... enjoy!

Seth, Jonah, and Levi working on the roof of the new barn.

Clark and the boys putting up the new dining room walls. Progress!

The guys working on "new quarters" for the goats.