95 DAYS LEFT

This is the sign that greets us when we go to visit McCord at the prison.
TayJay on her way to see Daddy
cousins
Tay's pretty dress to go to church on Sunday

The countdown is on for Cord's release in April. He is asking where his old clothes, shoes, coat, etc. are for when he gets to join the human race again! Mike, Jana, Tay and I all drove through fog and cold to see him last Saturday. He really looks good. He said he received many Christmas cards and letters. He ordered different kinds of cookies and candy bars from commissary for his Christmas presents. Oh to be pleased by so little. It is the THOUGHT of our Savior's birth that matters.

Tay usually runs pell mell through all the tables when she sees Cord coming and yells' Daddy!"

It is heart wrenching. This time we had to sit out in the General area instead of inside the glassed room where all the kids go, because they were so busy and didn't have enough room for us in there. So we told Tay to hide behind the one wall and 'then when daddy comes in, he will look at us sitting at our table and not see her, then she can jump out and scare him when he walks by.'

The plan was going as scheduled and we told her that daddy was coming out, so when he walked by her...she started to jump at him and stopped in the middle of her leap.....WHAT IS ON DADDY's FACE???? Cord has been growing a beard....a very very BLACK beard!!! and tay did NOT recognize Cord at all. She held back when he went to pick her up and she acted scared of him until he brought her over to our table. She said WHY do you have THAT on your face? and How did it get on there???" She kept asking if he put mascara on his face. ha. She was scared of him for quite a while. She kept saying, Just shave it off. I hate it! So we'll see if he takes her advice or not.

She talked to Cord the whole time and loves to visit him...through the whole 2 hour visit. It is getting close to his release and we pray things will go well for his readjustment period, where to live, where to work, etc. We pray he will be able to stay clean and be a wonderful daddy to both of his beautiful children.

I can't believe it is the end of the year.....what WILL 2011 bring???

so far, our daughter, Kim's little girl will be born in March, Cord gets out of prison in April and Kyle gets to come home from Afghanastan to his little family in Tennessee! Hoorah!