Annual Resolution to Keep Up with our Blog!

So...it's that time of year when we reflect on the events of the year - the amazing blessings and memories which are too many to count! It also reminds us of all those we love that we do not get to see as often as we would like - and all those we do get to see but often don't have time to share the special occasions and memories that are created each day with our three biggest blessings - Sterling (now 7), Stone (now 4) and Sierra (already 16 months if you can believe it!)

We can't promise (as our history shows) to do a terrific job of frequently updating the blog - or being too wordy with our updates - but we'll do our best to highlight the Raleigh Hensley fun as the coming year gets underway!

To start - we'd like to welcome the newest angel to our family! We rescued an all white American Bulldog from a local rescue organization called Saving Grace. For a little background on Delilah – Saving Grace rescued her from a kill shelter in South Carolina. The belief is that her owner bread her numerous times to sell the puppies but neglected to care for her. When her malnutrition resulted in litters that didn’t survive they must have dropped her on the roadside where someone picked her up and brought her to the shelter. She arrived at Saving Grace skin and bone, full of parasites, heart worm positive and in need of lots of love. Three weeks and lots of food, medical care and love later Delilah was healthy (yet still very skinny) and ready to be adopted. As blessings go – this coincided with our arrival at the shelter about a week ago.:

Delilah is about 3 years old and is settling nicely in our home. When she was arrived she wasn’t sure what to think of a warm loving home – and especially one with plenty of food and comfy places to sleep. Her biggest challenge was figuring out what stairs were and realizing that they aren’t that scary. Only a week later she’s already put on some weight, tackling the stairs and loving belly rubs and play time. The boys love to snuggle with her, Sierra is already trying to ride her and Samson thinks his Christmas present of a friend is priceless!









If you have room in your family for a new baby - this rescue organization is run by an angel with several angel volunteers. It is truly an amazing place and should be your first stop if you are looking for a new friend to bring in your home. Or...if you are in North Raleigh and have time to volunteer or funds to contribute to a great cause!:

2009 NC State Fair Fun

Today we took part in a North Carolina tradition - The NC State Fair! This is an annual favorite for our family and Sierra's first exposure.

Like most state fairs the goal is to indulge in as many foods and activities that are extremely bad for your health. Mission accomplished as we took in corn off the grill, corn dogs, maple cotton candy, caramel apple, popcorn, donuts, pizza, chicken pita, ice cream and last but not least a deep fried snickers!

Of course, we also took part in the activities that are at the fair. The boys rode as many rides as they could.

They also rode the ponies, visited the petting zoo and milked a cow - all of which they like to do each year.

The boys added a new activity this year and did the bungee jumping! And Sierra met her first Llama.
However, what sets the NC State Fair apart from all the rest (even ESPN agrees!) are the Pig Races!!! This year the boys were chosen to captain one of the races. Needless to say fun was had by all!

Light the Night Walk

Our family walked with a team from our church in the Light the Night Walk on October 17th in honor of two very good friends. Gene Kennedy is currently battling Lymphoma and Sherwin Murphy was diagnosed only a few months ago with Leukemia. Both are amazing men and an inspiration to our family.

Sterling's Children's Choir Debut

When mom had finally given up on trying to get Sterling to join the children's choir at church Sterling surprised her and said he wanted to join. It seems that Miss Allana is a favorite of his! :-) He was so excited to wear a robe for the first time and did a great job singing and doing the signs that went with the song. We couldn't be prouder. :-) He sings again on 11/8.

A few smiles from a Pretty Girl

Over the last few weeks, Sierra has started to smile at us more and more. She is a very happy baby so far. We hope that continues. She reminds us a lot of Stone as a baby who was also a very happy baby. What we are unsure of is whether she'll be as free a spirit as him as she grows older. Only time will tell. If she is, the chances of Stone watching her while mom and dad go out for a movie will become less and less likely as we would be afraid of the party that would occur. :-) Here are a few of her addictive smiles for you to enjoy:

At 3 weeks...

At 5 weeks...

Hockey Town U.S.A.

Sterling's latest sport that he is playing is hockey. He just started taking classes called "Introduction to Hockey" where they skate for an hour each week. They don't actually play against one another yet but he hasn't complained.

His foray into this sport wasn't something that just started this fall. He has been begging to play hockey since the opening game of the Hurricanes in October 2008. We were not really into allowing him to play but he was persistant. His persistance showed that he really wanted to play. Being parents, you have to recognize what your child loves to do and allow them to do it even if you are unfamiliar with it.

As you can tell, he is really enjoying it. The smile that he gets on his face from playing is one of the true joys in life as you get to see your child truly enjoying himself. He is one of the smallest in the class but that doesn't stop him from doing all of the skating drills. He suits up in his Hurricanes jersey just like he is going to play with the pros. He has gotten a lot better over the weeks and now can skate backwards all the way across the ice. He even promised his dad that he would teach him how to skate. :-)

Sterling's Baseball Birthday Party

After our night out playing mini-golf we were excited to celebrate Sterling's birthday with friends and family the next day at his Baseball Party. Sterling had the great idea of having a baseball party at a local park that not only had a picnic shelter and playground but also had a full size lit baseball field. Everyone seemed to have a blast - especially Sterling!

The action on the field lasted for hours...

An exhausted crew waiting for eats...

And then baseball cake...

And then there was one tired 6 year old...