Now that we are well into the new year....

...how are we all doing with our resolutions? I had a few this year. One, I am not doing to badly with. I wanted to run the River Run this year. My husband scoffed and said that nearly 50 year old women shouldn't run the River Run. I can partially understand where he is coming from. He does pay the Chiropractor bills. I was insulted none the less. As for the progress, it is going well. I should be running 4 miles by Saturday, I am currently running 3.5 of them, I should be there by Saturday. I have a very encouraging friend to spur me on. I think I will accomplish this resolution.

Another resolution was to improve my interpersonal relationships. This is not going as well. I am not very much of a people person and this takes work on my part.

A few goals we have are to go to Guatemala and I would like to finish my quilt. We will see how I do with those.

Tennis season is almost underway, conditioning started last week. This will be another struggle for me as I am not always pleased with the philosophy of the coach but I have tried elsewhere and right now this is the best we can do team wise. It will be a test of my interpersonal skills that I lack. Andrea should do well. This is Krista's first year, she is the one I am concerned with, I do want her to have a profitable year.

I am still working on learning spanish, I am not sure that will ever be resolved.

I guess that, overall, my list is still intact.

Merry Christmas from the Tysons

My husband put us on a tight budget for Christmas this year, therefore, I mailed out no Christmas cards. We gave cards to our friend here but I did want to share with those around the world that have impacted our lives. So I decided I would post a blog and send a link to all the friends. I write in this all year so you can keep up with us here and on facebook. A while back I upgraded my camera again so I still take millions of pictures.

2008 was a very difficult year for me. My oldest daughter decided to spend her first year out of high school in Argentina. Argentina is closer to Antarctica than it is to the United States. She was a long way from home and not very good about keeping in touch. She actually left in Sept 2007, but she was returning in December and all was kind of new. When she left in January, that was a different story. She left Saturday night and Sunday I had to leave the church service because I couldn't stop crying. She had a wonderful experience but it was tough on mom and consequently on the rest of the family. Briana returned a grown-up with a heart for serving the Lord. She will take classes at FCCJ in January and is applying to Flagler College. Right now she wants to major in Spanish and travel. She finally got her license and is driving, if you can believe it, a truck. Those of you that knew Bro. Miller, think of his green Mazda truck and there you have it. Andrea calls it the ghetto truck. But is runs and is reliable. She has been working in the middle school as a sub and hall monitor in the afternoon. She has a nanny job 2 days a week. It is great to see the Lord meet all her needs. She returned from Argentina with with $10 in her bank account and now she has more than she needs. I can hardly believe it was 20 years ago that we brought her home in a stocking on Christmas Eve. Pray for Briana as she makes those decisions that we all made at her age.Briana loaded and heading to the airport for Argentina

This is Briana when she returned from her year in Argentina.

Andrea turned 17 in October. She also got her license, BEFORE Briana. She has her own car, Esther, a 2000 Bonneville. She is still quite the tennis player. She played this year at Ed White. It was an experience to say the least. They don't play much tennis in the public schools, especially on the west side. She made all conference and went to state for the second year in a row. She was a blessing to the team and a testimony to the girls. One of the girls even came to church with her. She will be able to play at Trinity again this year, but her year at Ed White matured her and I think she is mentally a tougher tennis player. She began dual enrollment at FCCJ this year. She is only taking one high school class. She works 20 hours a week and plays tennis 15 hours a week. She still does well in school. She is working to go with the teens to Africa next May. They are going to work with the Aldermans, helping JJ get the camp going. We are very proud of Andrea.

Andrea and her team after she won the singles district title

Andrea working out at tennis camp.

Joanna is working diligently in school for the first year of her life. She has always been apathetic at best about school. This year she works independently and has all A's. She likes working with computers. She is taking a Web design class and is doing very well with it. Her sisters call her Hacker. She has been doing step aerobics and kick boxing. If any of you know her, you know that this is quite an improvement. She has never liked exercise but we have always encouraged her to stay active. She goes every week to class and has made friends with all the ladies. It is a great experience for her. She completed her discipleship requirements and will get to go skiing with the youth group next week, her first time.The girls doing their favorite thing, taking pictures with the dogs.

Krista is still Krista. She is also working better in school. She still struggles in some areas. She entered the youth group this year. She has jumped in with both feet. She loves it. She also earned the right to go on the ski trip. The discipleship was difficult this year, especially for her. It is a very good program and she has done well. This year her tennis game has improved. She will play her first real tennis season this year. She has grown 5 inches this year and is still growing. She gets taller but doesn't gain any weight. She has a border collie that she has taught to play basketball, soccer and tennis. He loves any sport with a ball. She practices her serve in the driveway and Lucy gets it for her. It is a little slobbery but Krista doesn't care. This dog was rescued by one of our friends that is a dog catcher. She had been in a kennel for about two weeks and had difficulty walking so I called her Loonis. We are so glad we have her and she has been a friend to Krista. Krista has gone through a few obsessions the last two years, the first being Pirates of the Carri bean, the latest is 24. Her dog is the continuous obsession.


Jimmy has preached in Spanish several times this year. He is doing well with his Spanish, me, not so well. Jimmy's favorite saying is People do what they want to do which is oh so true of my spanish. I have started subbing this year and it has been interesting. I have been working mostly with young children. Jimmy spent alot of the year rebuilding and 86 celica. It still has issues but he hopes to have it on the road soon. It was originally intended for Briana, but after seeing her driving skills, we decided she would never be able to drive a stick.

We send warmest wishes to all our friends. Have a very Merry Christmas.

Thanksgiving 2008

Thanksgiving began at the Tyson home as usual except for the fact that I had an awful cold. We got up casually, daddy lit a fire and we continued our family tradition. We gather and read verses from the Bible that remind us what to be thankful for. We each make a list of the things we are thankful for and share it with each other. This year we had a prayer time where each of us thanked the Lord for our blessings and prayed for those in our family that were in need.

To eat we all went to Hilliard to the Villareals house. There were many people there. We ate and fellowshipped and ate again. There was also a softball game, which I refrained from joining. I have had too many injuries.

We came home around 6:30. Jimmy had to go to work the next morning and Briana had plans for the rest of us. 11pm we headed down to St. Augustine. The outlets opened at midnight and we were going to be there. Two miles from 16, we came to a dead stop in the right hand lane. We didn't exit the highway for 45 more minutes. It was another 45 minutes until we were in the parking lot. I didn't realize how angry I would get at all the people that cheated and didn't wait. I am surprised I wasn't shot. The girls were excited about the bargains they got, especially at J Crew, me I was still mad. We left the Outlets at 3 am and made our way to the Avenues. From there we went to Target, then the Orange Park Mall. We got back home at 12 pm. I think I am nearly done with my shopping, if I can only recover from the lack of sleep. I still have the cold, but I am watching season 6 of 24 so I can see the season 7 movie that my brother in law saved for me on his big new television system.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.

There are now four teenagers in the Tyson home.

When my girls were young, I was often told to enjoy these days because it is oh so much harder when they are teenagers. While I do think those days went by quickly, I do not think they were the easiest. They were the busiest, most difficult days of my adult life. Little ones are demanding creatures and added to that is their daddy. They were great days that I wouldn't trade, but I don't want to go back to those days.

Teenagers are another breed that brings a new set of problems. For one thing, they develop opinions and they express them. I try to remind my kids that it is not what they say but how they say it but that takes a while to sink in. Then there is the selective hearing. They never seem to hear my instructions and often to my response to their negligence I receive the "I didn't hear you" response. The biggest issue now is the driving. I have two driving. This does make my life much easier, for example, I used to take them to tennis practice and have to stay or return. Sometimes they can play for up to 5 hours and still want to keep going. Now I can stay home and get things done. On the other hand, with the driving comes worrying on my part. The consensus of the members of my family is that they don't have to worry because I do it all for them. I do worry about them and driving. They are very responsible and have been taught to be a tough target but there are really crazy people out there.

One of the worst things about teenagers is that they are closer to being out of the house. I am not one of those moms that are counting down the days to my "freedom". I will miss my girls as they take their place in the adult world. They may stay close, but they may not. Regardless, their roles will change and I am sure I will adjust. Until then I will Love them while I can and remember that These are the best of times.

The Choices We Make

Our lives are all about the choices we make. Our daughters play tennis. In Florida, tennis is an all year sport. Tournaments happen on the weekends. To advance in tennis the conventional way, you play tournaments. Saturday is not always a problem for us, but Sunday is. The ministry in which God has placed us happens on Sunday. Consequently, the girls have never participated in a tournament. Currently, Andrea is the best tennis player in the house. She has been blessed greatly in spite of our choices which are not understood by most in the tennis world. She really wanted to play in the Deerwood Fall Classic which took place this weekend. We entered her. When the draw was posted, all the 18's matches were on Sunday except one, the one Andrea was in. This was a single elimination draw and we hoped she would pass the first round and maybe play a second on Saturday. It didn't appear that that would be the case. Andrea's opponent was, we thought, Russian. She was not seeded. We had no idea what she would be up against, but I was very concerned that she would only play one match. The second round was 11 am Sunday.

When we got to the match, Jimmy and I were talking to the girls father. What an amazing story. The girl, Anastasiya Kharchenko, is actually Unkranian. She is the number one player in the Ukraine and fifth in Europe. Her "father" Scott Paschal is a pastor in Palm Coast. He heads and organization called International Christian Tennis Association. He brings in kids from all over the world and teaches them tennis. Back to Ana, he rescued her. She played tennis in the Ukraine until her parents ran out of money and they arranged for her to come to the United States. She was given to coach that abused her and eventually left her in Juarez, Mexico. This is where missionaries from Scotts organization found her and brought her to him. He eventually adopted her. She has given her life to be a missionary to the tennis world. She is a great tennis player and will probably be seen in the pros soon.

When we told Scott that this was Andrea's first tournament, he was concerned about her. He wanted to make us understand that Ana was not what she would normally meet in tournaments. She was there as a missionary and to help the local tournament. We, unlike most people, have a different prospective. This, to us, was a blessing from God. Our hearts are with missionaries of all kinds. Scott has a unique plan to get the gospel to the Godless tennis arena. He has a website that tells it all christiantennis.net. It may be an opportunity for Andrea to use her talents for God. God blessed our decisions and when we decided to enter a tournament, through divine providence we met a wonderful group of people. What a blessing, she only played one match, but that match was profitable for more than tennis.

Krista

Krista aka Kwistamo will turn 13 on Monday. It is so hard to believe. For so long she has seemed so young, but this year has been a year of changes. For one, I think she grew about 5 inches, she is exactly the same height as me. She has quit talking like a child and now talks like a teenager. Speaking of teenager, she entered the youth group too. This was difficult for me when each of the girls started youth group. Krista has always been Krista, not quite like everyone else. She lives in her own little world, maybe she will let you in and maybe she won't. You can tell her something to do, tell her again, and again and she will still forget. She has great intentions but they often don't get fulfilled. On the other hand, Krista is very loving and has a servants heart, just ask Andrea. She loves dogs. We have four. Her personal pet, Lucie ( I call her Loonis, but that is another blog all together) is just like her. The dog lives in her own little world too. Krista loves sports and can play anything she wants to. She has taught her dog to play soccer, basketball and tennis. It is really incredible to watch. Krista spends much of her free time playing tennis. She is very good and will play her first year on the tennis team this spring.

Happy Birthday Kristamomo, my beautiful brown eyed, black haired, brown baby. I love you!!!!

Sarah Palin in Jacksonville

We saw Sarah Palin yesterday. It was a grand experience. We arrived at the Landing around 6:30. We stood in line until it began moving at 7. We went through airport style searches. Krista caused agitation at the checkpoint. She brought her ipod and DS to keep her entertained for the several hours we had to wait (this included and old phone of ours that no longer worked). They wanted all electronic devices turned on. Well, the old phone didn't turn on, and she neglected to turn on the DS and Ipod. The lady checking it was irritated and spoke to my oldest daughter. I had already gone through the line and my cell phone rang on the table, I was dealing with that and saw none of this exchange. Briana reacted in classic Briana form and proceeded to tell me that I needed to deal with my child and do it exactly like she thought it should be done. I reacted in the classic Melody form and ignored her.

We made it inside and found a great photo taking spot. At the beginning there was plenty of room but as the day went on it became very crowded. There should have been many places to exit as the area was round with steps leading out all around. As it turned out ours was the only area where the volunteers were keeping a space open for entrance and exit. As the crowds increased this became the only place to enter and exit. Paramedics, coffee fetchers, bathroom goers etc all passed by us. Every time they came by, we shifted and moved closer to the media pit beside us. Needless to say by the end of the day we were quite close.

I, normally, am not much for crowds and people, but on these types of days I resign myself to situation and enjoy it. The people you talk to in these situations will probably not be seen again, so it is easy to converse for me as there are no strings attached. Two of the ladies beside me were democrats, but clearly in our park politically. There were alot of young people there. One thing I thought was ironic was the presence of minorities. There were none with the exception of a fairly decent representation of the Asian community. I saw one sign in Spanish and one talking about the islanders coming across the ditch. I am not completely sure what this meant.

I was slightly distracted with photographs during the speech but here are some of the things I picked up. She spoke to our strong military crowd admonishing Obama's poor view of what our guys are actually doing in Iraq. Promised to support the troops as she has a son in those ranks. She addressed the gas situation by promising to support alternative methods of energy. Nuclear was very popular with that crowd. It gets such a bad rap, but she is for it and I heard no negative comments from the crowd. At least one of the other politicians mentioned it too. She is in support of drilling off shore, "according to what the state desires". I did like her reference to this being a state decision. She spoke of education, very similar to Bush's "no child left behind". She spoke of lowering our taxes and quoted my favorite president, Ronald Reagan. Actually I was very surprised at how often Reagan and his ideas were discussed favorably.

She is a lovely personable woman. I have issues with McCain but am impressed with his choice of Palin. The crowd was behind McCain as a hero. I so love these types of rallies. They are so American. When God Bless the USA was played hands were raised everywhere. The local NFL football coach led the pledge of allegiance followed by a beautiful rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. We only saw respect for the flag and our country. There is no place like the United States of America.