Christmas 2013

Merry Christmas from The Cooks!!!

In my last blog post I mentioned that I am just going forward with some flashbacks, instead of trying to catch everything up in one post. This is going to contain some flashbacks!

In September and October of this year, our family strengthened our walk with our Lord.  We found a church that is just up the road from us, Lake Martin Baptist Church, and began attending regularly. During that same two month period, Dale was saved and Baptized, Britt was Baptized, Jackson was Baptized and I was Baptized. I have been saved for a long time, but to be honest with you had never attended a church that I felt a connection with and thus had not been Baptized.  That all changed when we began attending Lake Martin Baptist Church. The 1st Sunday that we walked through those doors, the genuine love that we felt from the other parishioners and the pastor was overwhelming.  I knew that our family had found it's HOME!  This church is FILLED with the Holy Spirit and you feel it as soon as you walk in.  That being said, this Christmas was a very special one for our family!  Our church held a Christmas Eve service with Communion(The Lord's Supper).  It was very important to me that we attend this service as a family in Christ. Dale, myself, Britt and Jackson participated in Communion while the two little ones watched and learned. It was the best!  Little Clete wanted to participate, but we told him that this year he would have to watch and that maybe by next year he would be Baptized and could do it too.  Not long after Britt and I were Baptized(we were Baptized together, which was also extremely special to me) Clete prayed the sinners prayer and asked God to come into his heart! He can't wait to be Baptized, he talks about it all the time! 

After attending church service we came back to Dale's parent's house for a delicious turkey dinner and then opened presents with them.  They were overjoyed at all the gifts that they received and so were we! We have been so blessed this year! After getting baths with MiMi and Pop, we headed home to get ready for Santa to come, of course we had to pull up the "Santa Radar" for Clete to see.  The little ones sat in Dale's lap as he read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" to them. They then fell asleep to Bubba(Britt) reading Luke 2 from the Bible.  What a blessed time it was for us!  We have been soooooo blessed this year! From our close walk with the Lord to our new business that we opened, we are just so overwhelmed by God's grace!

Christmas morning was great! All the little ones went crazy over their haul, as did the big ones! There is still bits and pieces of wrapping paper and bows scattered throughout the living room.  After presents Dale cooked us a breakfast of pancakes, scrambled eggs and bacon.  After that, at one time or another we all took naps. During the afternoon Britt, Jackson, Dale and Pop got outside and put together their new playhouse, telescope and trampoline while Tripp road his 4 wheeler around!  Blessed, Blessed, Blessed!!!!! We hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas and that God will continue to bless you in the upcoming year! We love you all!!!!!!!!!!!

Introducing..... Cook's Market at Pug's Place

WOW!!! It has been so long since I posted on my blog!  So much has transpired since then that it would be way to long a post to catch up, so I think that I am just going to go forward with a few flashbacks every now and then! Christmas is only 1 week away and as per usual, I am not done with my shopping! We have been so busy with our new store that I have barely had time to think, much less actually get into the car and go somewhere!  For those of you who do not know, Dale and I have opened a store here in Dadeville. The store was originally just a farmers market and we had kept that as the main focus, but you know me, I have to add my own little kick to it!  In our store, Cook's Market at Pug's Place, we offer: fresh fruit and vegetables(including some organic varieties), frozen fruits, veggies, soups, stews and soup mixes, Das Jam Haus jams and jellies, Alabama Honey, Wickles Pickles, Amish Canned Chicken(this stuff is crazy good and contains no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives),Sorghum Syrup, Hot Boiled Peanuts(regular and cajun flavor) and a variety of other grocery items such as milk, bread, cornbread mix etc. Cook's Market also has it's very own cake caterer, Kelly's Cakes that provides cakes for us in the store as well as custom cakes to fit any customers needs!  We always have some of our soups and stews hot and ready to eat as well, so far our Brunswick Stew, Potato Soup(very much like Panera Breads) and Asparagus Soup have really taken off with our customers.  These are available for special order to our customers as well! If you eat at any of the restaurants up here, then you are eating some of our produce!  To cater to my creative side, we have a gift department that includes: jewelry, purses, fleece shoulder shrugs and seasonal decor. Right now of course, we have Christmas decor out, we have Christmas themed rag wreaths, cute Santa and Snowman tins that are great for candy or chips or just to have sitting on a table somewhere, Gingerbread Man ceramic coaster sets, doorknob hangers, stockings for your dog and Christmas jewelry.  Another service that we offer is vinyl customization, we can customize just about everything but you! Right now we have some tooooo cute drinkware and dinnerware that we have customized for Christmas.  After Christmas we will have customized stationary, invitations, drinkware, dinnerware etc.  You can buy something that we already have customized, order something customized or bring in your own items for customization!  We also do wall decor and auto decor!  Cook's Market also has garden items such as pinestraw, fire pits and firewood.  We have seasonal garden items as well, our Christmas trees went very quickly this year and we had to do a re-order on live wreaths.  This Spring, we will have a great selection of tropical plants and garden/patio furniture.  Basically we have a little bit of everything!  After the beginning of the year, we are adding a full service fresh meat market! It has been  alot of blood, sweat and tears(literally), but we have been blessed by our Heavenly Father with a wonderful business and an awesome group of customers so far.  Alright, with all that being said, it is now time for me to get ready and go up to the store, I do alot of work from home, but I do have to get up there as much as I can!  Hope everyone has a blessed day! Love to all!