It’s 2012, the end of the year,
Christmas is coming, it’s practically here!
Brandy is recovering from eye surgery
So this wRap may be stilted and a little bit jerky.
First on our list was Murfree Spring,
A Discovery Center full of really fun things.
In February David asked, “Pretty please?
Can I spend my sixth birthday at Chuck E Cheese?”
Atomic-heart cookies and assembly-line valentines,
Boys served crackers and bologna for their parents to fine dine.
Gary finally finished Levi’s front-loader bed
Now to work on an elevated train for the boys overhead
So in March we headed to a model train show.
To see those train layouts set the boys’ eyes all aglow.
In April spelunking was the name of the game,
In Kentucky’s cave country, TEN CAVES?? HOW INSANE!
But we found all the spots where Jesse James hid out,
And rode in a chairlift where Levi nearly slid out,
Mom shouted orders from high in the sky
When David got stuck amid a quarter-mile slide.
Horse-riding, sluice-mining, Wigwam-Village and such
Kentucky’s Stonehenge, Dinosaur World, a little too much?
Civil war parks, Abe Lincoln’s birthplace & boyhood home
A Historic Railpark, Corvette Museum and Jellystone.
At Big Mike’s Mystery House, we found a funky ramp out
This trip we learned to take sleeping bags when we plan to camp out.
Our greatest moment as parents came in May with a shiver,
When Stephen and David were baptized in Cumberland River.
These boys decided to accept Jesus, their Lord,
The gift that no one on this earth can afford.
We then wrapped up our year of U.S. studies
From memory, Stephen mapped the trails, features, and major cities
{We finished World War projects, not realizing a future trip
Would have us walking across a real WWII battleship!
In Clarksville, we boarded the LST-325
Where our history lessons just came bursting alive!}
Now with Cycle 3 Memory Master achieved,
We celebrated by visiting Wilderness of the Smokies.
And then went to a dinner show, Hatfield & McCoys,
We were all laughing silly, especially those boys!
Before heading to Oklahoma to visit family,
Stephen turned nine with his LEGO party.
Our new niece Teta Marie was born in No Man’s Land
We played with her big sister Lena, of whom we’re really big fans!
In August, another annual CC Cookout we hosted,
Many a marshmallow there was that we roasted.
This fall we dissected an owl pellet and bagworms,
We identified trees, went to plays, and learned lots of new terms.
The boys joined 4-H, Kidz Choir, and Cub Scouts
These people are crazy with 40-degree-weather camp-outs!
Pontoon boat fishing: we hooked Levi’s first fish
But to stay at the dock was David’s first wish
It was not too long that the drama did last
He later kept asking for Daddy to drive the boat fast!
At Callaway Gardens, we enjoyed hot air balloons
Gary transferred to Brazil, not a moment too soon.
Levi’s fourth birthday was full of dump trucks and sledgehammers
Enough sugar to cause kids to stutter and stammer.
A few miracles have happened, too surreal to believe,
And Brandy’s eyes are now healed, to God be the Glory!
As we write this year’s wrap, we leave out lots of things
Because there’s a message more important – the hope that it brings
Almighty God as a babe, wrapped in swaddling clothes
Why He’d leave His heavenly throne, nobody knows
His love is far greater than we can understand
This was just all part of God’s great master plan
To save sinners and bring great peace, grace, and joy.
It all started with the birth of this simple baby boy.
No matter what you’re facing this Christmas – gain or loss.
Remember the Lord’s lasting love, forever leading to the cross.
Merry Christmas!
Gary, Brandy, Stephen, David and Levi Ferrell
