Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Hello Cheeseheads in the great state of Wisconsin, oh wait a minute, if you go to Journey Church you will get that inside joke, if you don't, well, you should go to Journey Church, obviously!

Seriously, I did not send out the traditional Christmas letter this year so thought I would do it via my blog. 2008 has been a very eventful, and blessed year for the Mooney family. If you know us very well, you know there is rarely a dull moment and this year is no exception. As I mentioned above, we are attending a new church in Fernandina Beach FL. Let me just say that God is alive and well (and definitely kicking) at the Journey Church. We have made many new friends and are starting to get plugged in there. We are so thankful for God's leading us to this awesome church. Our other big news is the building of our new house. We had hoped to be in by Christmas, but it looks like we missed it by about a month. We are looking forward to moving and settling into our new home. (See posts below for progress)

Patrick's business Island Kitchen & Bath remains busy, thank you God, there is no lack in God's economy. He moved into his new 2000 sq. foot showroom/shop this past summer. He is slowly, but surely getting everything set up the way he wants it. We are hoping to do an official grand opening in the Spring. He is about to do his most exciting job yet, the cabinets in our new house. He says the homeowner is a pain to work with, ha.

Kaley has had a very busy year, as usual. She left her job at Old Navy in July and went to Gander Mountain as the apparel/footwear manager, in addition to going to school part time at Florida Community College of Jacksonville. In a new turn of events, she has decided to quit her job, and go to school full time. She doesn't have too many hours left to get her associates degree so she has decided to concentrate on that this semester. She will also be working part-time in her dad's showroom working with his customers and lightening his administrative load. In addition, she is praying about God's will concerning future mission opportunities. Please pray for her as she seeks His perfect will for her life.

Jordyn has been homeschooling for her senior year and turned 18 earlier this month. One of the highlights of her year was auditioning for American Idol this summer. What an experience we had! (To read more go to her blog page at: wokemeupagain.blogspot.com) She has become very involved with the music program at our church playing keyboard and singing on Wednesday nights for 250 youth and she has just begun playing/singing for our 3 weekend services as well. God has truly gifted her with musical talent as well as a real heart for worship. She is still looking forward to attending Hillsong College in Australia in January 2010. I believe God is really preparing her heart for a life of ministry. Also, please continue to pray for her as she seeks His perfect will for her future.

Colton is homeschooling again this year. He is a junior and just turned 17 years old. He finally got his drivers license and got a car. He is also very involved at church, with the technical side though. He is helping to run the lighting for both the Wednesday night youth service as well as the weekend services. He is looking forward to a mission trip to Mexico this summer with the youth group. Nothing to report on the girl-front as of now, I think his sisters have scarred him for life, ha. Those are some difficult girls, but he loves them in spite of it. What an awesome young man of God he has become, please pray for him as he pursues whatever God has in store for him.

As for me, not much has changed. I'm still at home full time taking care of my children. Just because they are adults, doesn't mean they don't need their mom. I also try to help Pat with the business as much as I can. Beginning in the new year, I will start spending some time at the new showroom greeting customers and answering the phone. I still try to volunteer as much as I can with projects at church and in our community. I am so thankful that God has given me the opportunity to be at home with my family all these years.

As we celebrate Christmas we pray that you will remember that Jesus came, not for the manger, but for the cross, and that through a personal realtionship with Him we can spend eternity in Heaven with our Father.

Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year,
the Mooney family

Long awaited house update

Master bath tub, it's also getting a wood front on it.

Master bath shower (not quite finished)

View into the kitchen, they just started laying the tile.

Back of the house.

Needless to say, we won't be in by Christmas. The floors should be completed by the middle of this week, then we can install all of the beautiful cabinets (I know a guy!). Looks like it will be the first part of January before we can move in. Please continue to pray for the sale of our old house.

Oh Christmas Tree!

Our first choice, a little "Charlie Brownish"

Look how excited they were!

So, for about the past 10 years we have been visiting Websters Tree Farm in Darien, GA to cut down our own Christmas tree. We have found that when they are that fresh you really don't lose many needles and it is much more fragrant. It has become a Christmas tradition for us. I can only remember 1 year that we didn't have time to travel the 60 miles to do it so we just went to Lowe's and picked one up. Pat really wanted to go again this year and despite the fact that there really wasn't time, we decided to go. Yesterday was Kaley's only day off so it worked out perfectly. After a yummy lunch at Barberitos in Brunswick, yum, we headed to Websters. Last year we got a beautiful tree and we remembered exactly what part of the farm it was from so we headed that direction. We had narrowed it down to 2 trees and finally made our selection, a 7 ft Virginia Pine. The tree guys roped it onto the top of our truck and we headed home, back 60 miles down I95. When we arrived home we all got out and proceeded to remove the tree, but when we approached the back of the Yukon we noticed something a little odd. Our tree appeared to be a little bare. Upon further inspection we realized that all of our pine needles must be lining I95 south. Who knew that it would not withstand 90 mph winds on the highway? Seriously, this had never happened to us before. We got to thinking about it and realized that in the past they would put it in one of those plastic mesh covering things, but I guess that didn't make it on the tree this year. So, here we were with a needle-less tree all the way from Darien. Thinking that maybe it would look better once we got it inside, we brought it in and put it in the tree stand. Oh my gosh, it was the most pitiful sight I have ever seen. There was no way this bare tree could stay. (If you have seen Christmas with the Kranks, picture the tree that Tim Allen brings home from the boy scout tree lot on Christmas eve.) At this point it just became funny, I literally could not stop laughing. Knowing that if I stopped laughing I would probably start crying, Kaley and Colton offered to go get another one, bless their hearts. So guess where they went, Lowe's! About an hour later, tree number 2 entered the living room. It stayed, and was promptly decorated. I am still thankful for the experience and the memory, that's what it's all about anyway. We still got to spend the day together and had good food. And if you know our family very well, this story will probably not surprise you at all.

Here is our little Lowe's tree.

birthday cake

My friend Cindy made this beautiful cake for Jordyn's birthday.

It was definitely blog-worthy!

Happy 18th Birthday Jordyn

18 years ago today

We were all so happy you were here, even Kaley.


My top 18 favorite Jaymoone quotes from over the years

• "I'm telling mom" (a favorite, most of her childhood)
• "Step Off" (don't make her mad or you'll hear it)
• "Colton....Can you do me a HUGE favor?!" (always involves going upstairs)
• "It's freezing in here" (no matter the season)
• "She stole my handwriting" (shout out to Michelle E.)
• "I love my new Raybands" (oh my, drop the "d")
• "I am sooooo tired, I have to go lay in my bed." (since the day she was born)
• "My truck is smelling bad and there's a weird brake light on." (ever heard of the emergency brake)
• "Okray"
• "We can't share friends" (as told to Colton the first night of x-change)
• "That is crusty, sketchy and legit" (everything & everyone can be described with one of these 3 words)
• "I hate my hair" (no matter the length, color, cut or style)
• "He is such a creepster" (pretty self explanatory)
• "We got ova 4 flavas of soda, we got brown ones and sure enough we got clear ones. How can you not smell that peppa?" (stolen from SNL)
• "I really NEED those jeans, that shirt, and those shoes" (A bottomless pit of wants & needs)
• "I'm gonna start drinking only water...tomorrow. Give me a sweet tea for now though" (yay for procrastination)
• "Where did that mailbox come from?!" (it jumped out in front of her side mirror)
• "I will wear those red cowboy boots with everything, they will be my only winter shoes." (and...she actually does, have you seen some of the outfits?!)

18 years ago today God gave me the gift of my Jordyn. She was by far my best baby. For the first year of her life she very rarely cried. Not so surprisingly, she was an excellent sleeper. She starting sleeping through the night at 3 weeks old (6-8 hours). Even during the first 3 weeks she would just wake up and look around and wait for me to feed her. No crying.....at least until she turned 1. Then she developed the other side of her personality, impatient and a little hot-tempered. I'd say she has a little bit of all of it today.

Over the past 18 years I have seen her grow into such a Godly young woman with a heart for God and Worship. I know God has an awesome plan for her and she is so ready and willing to be used by Him for His glory. I couldn't be any prouder of her.

I have loved every (yes every, good and bad) minute of being your mom and watching you grow and I can't wait to see who you will become in the future. You're a blessing and I love you. Happy Birthday Jordyn.